Sue,
Yes I did. They have been in various Topic post and in Best Practices and agree they can be hard to track down.

One way to find them easily might be to go to irv2's Photo Gallery at the top of the Forum. While on the Photo Gallery home page, select search...type in workshop and it will bring up all the photo's and drawings I've posted. All drawings are uploaded at 'letter size', so after you click on the thumbnail view it will appear as a larger view. If you click it again it will enlarge to letter size for printing. Just right click and select print image.

Have several of the drawings on the 12volt system that I've been playing with and need to stop myself from getting side tracked with other items to post and get them uploaded. I need to stay focused I guess.

Will try and get them done soon.

Hope this helps,
Chris

Several times in the past 6 months comments have been made about feeling a cool air draft within the unit. I have felt the same thing and never gave it much thought.

Assumed to know what I thought was the cause but as of yet have not corrected the problem. Thought I would post before I corrected, that way you can look at yours and see if the same conditions exist. Should not be that difficult to correct. Can just tape over the existing openings if your's is configured the same. Only have one mechanical slide extension opening to deal with. The second is within a compartment.

Will most likely make a small aluminum plate that fits over the slide extension opening and use two self tap screw to hold it in place after drilling the holes. The openings created by the slide driveshafts has been taped to reduce the opening size. Road side has held up for 7 yrs the curbside looks to have had a hard life. Will tape for now and look at options later if not tape.

If you did a square inch measure of the openings I have, they would measure 'bout 26 sq in. or a 2 x 13 opening. While using the bath exhaust fan last week, it occured to me that I could feel air flow beneath the door. Knowing I had no windows open I went look for the air that was being removed from the unit. It was coming from the air return grille at the bottom of the step. This grille is used to return the cooler interior air back to the heater to complete the heating cycle.

Had a pretty good breeze. Used my 'toilet' paper draft detector to determine how much flow. Usually use 4 sheets, hold by one end keeping the sheets hanging straight and place near the area of concern. The 'T' paper is light enough to detect slight movements in air flow. Who needs fancy test equipment. Even with the fan off and all windows closed, could still detect a slight movement through the vent.

By sealing these as well as any opening in the basement area it should increase the performance of the furnace and air conditioning as you would not have to try and condition the air from a 2" by 13" opening.

One other area to look at and didn't think of till now is the area where the 'waste' plumbing exits the enclosed basement. If the insulation blanket is positioned correctly it should not be a problem. Just need to look at your unit and find the openings if it's a concern.

Edited for bad spelling, help me please.
Edited to change slide linkage to slide driveshaft.

Hope something helped.

Chris

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Workshop,

Chris,
Once again, another great job! As usual, you've done something I've thought about but have done very little about. I did however, use some of that expandable foam on openings from the inside to the basement. Caution, a little goes a long ways (get bigger when it dries). Areas like where the water hose go thru the floor. Thinking more about bug infestation rather than air! I did do a rework of the tape in the slide driveshaft area(you call slide linkage). I simply remove the original tape, cleaned it up and installed the black Gorilla tape. Trimmed it up closely to the shaft and get a decent looking finished look (very little clearance).

Chris do you think we are "getting a weird" on this stuff? For goodness sakes, this thing is just a $100,000 camper! Used to "ruff it" up at the lake! Just funnin'

BTW...are you using those used pieces of T paper....Debra is watching your budget like a hawk!

I did notice your tape job when we were looking at your unit. Was looking harder than you think. Since your's was the only other Excel I've seen, Had to take in as much as I could in a short period and do it quickly, it was cold that day. Realized then that using tape was the 'normal' way of sealing that area. I can't make it perfect....only make it better than it might be.

Your right about the slide linkage, driveshaft is a better term. Blame it on my doctor's appointment. It's his fault, I'm on drugs again. Can I say that. Third sinus cold in as many months.

When I was the Facility Manager for a large Church in Jacksonville I purchased that foam for the Dinner committee in the Fellowship Hall. They had purchased several large 'fake' palms to use in the decor. They placed the palms in a larger plastic 'clay' pot and filled the space between the two pots with foam . What a mess.

Funny you mentioned the un-used pieces of "T" paper. We came back from the trip on Tuesday with 'bout 1/8" of paper on the spool and it was the last one. As soon as it went on....DW remined me and every time she came out of the 'room' it was the same thing. What are we going to do. Kept saying it will be ok, but was praying under my breath. I know she didn't conserve.

Yes, as usual would have to agree. Wonder what I did before the Excel. Lag bolts, air access through the frame, Heater drawings. Sometimes do miss the Slide camper I had for the truck in my early life. Things seemed simpler then.

Thanks Tom.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Workshop,

Here is a drawing of the Heating System I posted in Renovation 101. Drawing plus a picture post. Sometimes hard to 'figure out' where to post some information.

As it was related to the 2001, posted it there. Will post it here is short form to get input on how the bones of the heating system might be on more current models.

Know it would be hard to cover all floor plans, but wonder is the heating ducts and location would be that much different than mine. Look and see. Where are your ducts...not ducks...ducts.

If I'm given info to put together a simplified 'current' model I'll work on it for Best Practices.

Thanks,

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Workshop,

Well Sue, you embarrassed me into getting back on the computer to finish the drawings titled 12 Volt Power that I have been playing with for longer than I should.

These are a series of four drawing that should provide a simplified “Block Diagram” of the 12 volt system on our Excels, at least on mine. When you break down the current flow, there are very few items or components involved. Hopefully the drawings will help take some of the mystery out of how it gets from the 12v source to turning on a light.

The inspiration for doing a series of drawings started in October of last year when several members had various power problems. In one case, everything worked when on ‘shore power’, 120/240v, but failed to work properly from the batteries. The batteries read 12 volts when checked with a meter and after more troubleshooting the TV was connected and the systems checked good using it as a power source also. This started me thinking about what the differences in the power systems were using the battery, TV and the converter, which provides the 12v while operating from AC voltage. As a result the drawings were made.

The first is a drawing and picture post. It’s of the TV primary and Battery secondary. It will show the drawing symbol and a picture of the item. Sometimes I know it could be hard to figure out what the diagram is trying to say…..so thought this might help. On this example, I have the 7-Pin plug labeled ( 1p ), meaning primary source of power, the Battery as ( 1s ) for secondary source. One might question the TV as primary because the battery will always be providing power to the unit and the TV when connecting and operating supplementing that power. In a since that’s true but in the troubleshooting case above, it proved that the unit operated correctly from both the TV and AC power but not on the battery. So it is my belief that one will always be primary and one secondary when two sources of 12 volt power are available. To show that my theory doesn’t always hold up……It’s likewise possible for the TV to be at fault and not providing the proper voltages to the unit. But give me a break, as I had to label them somehow.

In this drawing the power enters the plug on pin-4. When the engine is running, on my vehicle, this can be between 13.4 to +14 volts. When the engine is not running it will depend on the TV batteries state of charge. The voltage passes through the 12 breaker in the generator compartment; mind is located on the road side vertical frame. I have this labeled as ( T ) for test point. I have found that all the voltage readings when testing the various sources can be read here. This means the battery, input from the TV and the output from the converter. Power is then sent to three DC breakers ( 2 ) located in the main storage compartment. Yours may be located differently. As you can see in the dawning, the TV, Battery and Converter outputs are connected to the bottom terminals of the breakers and routed from the top terminals to the 12 volt Fuse Panel ( 3 ) and other components/systems on the unit.

Notice that items ( T ), ( 2 ) and ( 3 ) are the same in all drawings and the Battery ( 1s ) is listed twice. The power, current, flow in each drawing is represented by the darker red lines. When troubleshooting the system you need to determine what the problem is, what it has in common with other things and where the power is coming from. Is it the power source or a bad fuse that causes something not to operate? In the case above it was a battery that tested correctly with a meter but failed under load. Knowing that everything on the unit operated correctly using the TV and Converter power, one can rule out the 12 Volt Breakers ( 2 ) and Fuse Panel ( 3 ). It had to be the Battery or associated wiring as the cause in this example. As it turned out, it was the batteries, corrosion on the terminals that allowed the batteries to read correctly but fail under load.

By locating the 12 volt breaker labeled ( T ) on your unit and using it for your test points it could provide you with a lot of information while troubleshooting your 12v systems. The diagram/picture post shows a meter plugged into a 12v receptacle. Mine is connected to the common lug on my multiple battery switch/disconnect. I posted this several months ago in Restoration 101 on Testing for 12v Power. Another useful place to have connected this meter would have been the input or output terminals of this breaker. The breakers purpose is to provide protection to the unit from the incoming 12v from the TV and as such would be an ideal place to read the voltage being provided by the TV. As with any troubleshooting, one has to have a starting point. By using the input side of the breaker when dealing with a TV voltage problem, it could rule out the TV, plug connection and wire harness at this reading. By then checking the voltage on the other side of the breaker, it would rule out the breaker if the voltage is correct and indicate the breaker is bad if the voltage is 0 volts.

As indicated in the drawings, as long a the unit has 12 volts available, 12 volt power will always be available at Pin #4 at the plug, and any of the 12 volt breakers, either ( T ) or ( 2 ) and can be read there. I just find using ( T ) to be convenient on my unit.

The Converter Primary has a few more components involved but basically the same when dealing with the 12v side of it. The converter operates on 120vac and provides an output of 13.5vdc. If it fails check the dc voltage output, its AC breaker and the two fuses. These fuses only provide 12v reverse polari1y protection for the converter. Unrelated: if you have an ‘older’ Progressive 9100 series converter, might consider adding the plug-in Charge Wizard. I did and haven’t looked back, what a great option.

Hope something helped.

Chris

JGDARDEN.COM
12V SIDE OF LIFE 1
12V SIDE OF LIFE 2
WIND and SUN FAQ
BATTERY STUFF.COM
CHARGE WIZARD

These two drawings had been posted in other Topics. Thought I would post them here so they would all be together in one place.

If something needs to be changed or added....let me know.

As suggested, I have moved this discussion to the Best Practices area.

I have posted my completed motion light project at:
http://tinyurl.com/3ajurm
While this project used SmartLight motion sensing lights, the technique would work for any additional lights that you might want to add. Hopefully, some of you will find this article useful--or at least entertaining...

Cheers,

quote:

Originally posted by Workshop:
Well Sue, you embarrassed me into getting back on the computer to finish the drawings titled 12 Volt Power that I have been playing with for longer than I should.

Chris, certainly not my intention to embarrass you But I am very impressed with your schematics. As a GC in building construction, I find them very clear, but then again I do have an advantage.
Thanks for the pics!

Sue,

I wasn't thaaaaat embarrassed. You gave me the push I needed to 'just quit playing' with it and post them. Life is so much simpler now.

Chris,

Nice project. Don't know if I'll add the motion lights but have wanted to add a light at the rear of the unit and using the cabinets to work out of was a good idea. Know detailing the project probably took longer than the project. Thanks for both.