98 Beaver motorcoach issues

[Randy Keaveny]

Good morning just returned  to motorhome fur a short stay.   Few things I have questions on

Ran in to town to fuel up.   Tank only reads 1/2.  But I couldn't get anymore fuel in  pretty sure when I moved it here the Guage worked correctly

On board computer. Seems most things ot reads are accurate.  But some.   Not really.   All my gages are magnum.

Same with propane level.   Only reads half.    Actually the entire board that reads levels is off.    Common

After plugging  back in.   My 12 volt would not come back on.    Is that a sign of something going wrong.    Took a few seconds.   Then I heard a thud. 

Inverter.  I turn off when I'm gone.  Bit turn on when here.  I am plugged in.   Year round.   Is there a internal battery charger on the inverter?? 

Had 2 outlets  that worked fine when I git here   used them both.  Then 1 day nothing.      I did get them to work finally.  But. Not sure how.  Lol. 

So.   Older 98 beaver motorcoach.  Still beautiful on the inside.  Just a few quirks.   

Thanks in advance.

[David T. Richelderfer]

Most Beaver coaches must be spoon-fed their Cat food very slowly.  Most times I am unable to place the nozzle on the slowest fill notch unless I pull the nozzle well out of the hole such that it seems to barely hold itself in the hole.  Many times I have to use a long-stemmed screwdriver to hold the nozzle's handle so that it will very slowly fill the tank.  I have found that using a car nozzle, as compared to the fast-fill truck nozzles, makes filling a bit easier.  Also, tipping the coach over away from the pump seems to help the fuel run more easily into the tank.  It can take 10 to 20 minutes to top off a half-full tank.

Our gauges seem to work okay so I've never been into them.  I rarely look at the dash gauges.  I use the Aladdin and Silverleaf screens for checking gauges.

We leave the inverter powered up.  Our coach is almost never without power, either a generator is ON or it's plugged into shore power, and of course when traveling the engine's alternator supplies power.  This past Summer I replaced the transfer switch because it had become intermittent when it switched between the generator and shore power.  Sometimes it just wouldn't make proper contact to transfer all the voltage and amps.  If you have a loud "thud", then your transfer switch may need maintenance or replacement.  I know there is a delay built into the transfer system before allowing power into our coach.  If you're using a surge protector or have one internally mounted, then they typically have a delay before allowing power into the coach.  As long as your batteries are charged, then you should have 12v power because that power comes from the batteries.  I believe the inverter only makes 12v power when it converts it from 120v which comes from either the generator and shore power.  But that 12v power from the inverter is a result of its battery charging function.  That 12v charging current from the inverter is sent to the house and chassis batteries where it is subsequently sent to power 12v devices in the coach.  The inverter generates quite a bit of heat and will buzz when it's powered up.

Our coach's outlets (120v) have both circuit breakers in the main panel and a GFI on each circuit.  If a 120v receptacle has no power, then either the inverter is not inverting (perhaps not ON) or the coach does not have access to a generator or shore power,... AND/OR a circuit breaker has been tripped,... AND/OR a GFI has been tripped.

Now... so you and others know, my knowledge comes from this Forum and my experience with our 2004 Marquis Sapphire.

[Randy Keaveny]

Thank you for all of that.  Mine.   As u have seen. Is a 98.  Model.   It has its own quirks for sure.   But after a year of sitting. I decided it's time to drive and fill up.  Ran great.   Drove great.  Just.  Couldn't get anymore fuel in her.  Literally.  So.  Next time I take her on the road.   We will see what happens. 

Thanks again

[Fred Cook]

As like David, I have a tough time putting fuel in to my coach. The nozzle produces too much pressure and it keeps tripping off. The fuel must go in very slow and I use one of my keys under the handle to keep it flowing. You know your tank is full when it starts sloshing out of the intake hole. My fuel gauge was inoperable for a while until I found a loose ground wire around the tank and connected it to the frame. It now works out very well. It takes a while to work out the gremlins on these coaches but when you do….. it should be smooth sailing for a while.

[Jeff Johnson]

Randy,
One thing I've found with my with my fuel gauge is when I turn my dash lights on, I'll get a 1/8 of a tank drop with the dash lights on max, compared to being off or on very low.

Has anyone tried opening the opposite side fill cap while filling?

A possible issue while you're plugged in on inverter, is to keep an eye on the battery water level, or at least check when leaving and arriving. Also You might consider an Xantrex Echo charger or other alternative to keep your chassis(starting) batteries charged too.

Bet of luck,
Jeff

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Randy, Jeff,
The fuel gauge issue you are experiencing is due to either a poor ground connection at the tank or the 12v reference voltage at the dash is dropping as you turn on the dash lights and draw increased current.
The slow fuel fill is endemic on Magnum chassis coaches of your period. It is due to a number of factors: The tank is mounted fairly high in the chassis, decreasing gravity impact on fill flow. You will notice that the fill hose between the fill port and the tank is almost horizontal. The fill hose is not at the top of the tank, but  enters the tank about 1/2 to 2/3 up from the bottom. So, once tank fuel level reaches this point fill gets slower.
Steve

[Randy Keaveny]

After looking more closely I see what everyone means about the tank.  And fill.   Pretty sure I got it full.   But.  Really wondering about this magical ground.    Since none of my 12v guages.  Indicators seem to be reading right. Something must be loose or corroded somewhere

As far as the inverter.  And it having a charger for the house batts.   No clue yet.  I do now have a float charger for the starting batts.   

And the onboard computer for the engine systems.  It seems to read right.  Thru the cycles it shows.   My speedometer arm is broken off.  Magnum all the way around  for the gages.  But to have it removed and repaired was astronomical. 

[Eric Maclean]

Randy
The speedometer in the early Magnum chassis where built for Magnum by the Teleflex corporation who make gauges for all sorts of things you can verify simply by looking closely at the bottom of the gauge face they usually have there name printed in small letters there.
You could pick up a new speedo on Amazon or eBay or if all else fails try Visone RV salvage but they're not cheap .

I believe in your coach you have the heart freedom 20 inverter mounted up between the frame rails just ahead of the tank bay .
It has a built in battery charger capable of 80;to 100 amps and is a float charger to maintain your coach batteries but as you already know the early Beaver coaches didn't come with a battery combiner to allow the inverter to charge the chassis batteries in later years they made use of the echo charge unit to do this but there are other options as well even a float charger will work as you are doing now.
The inverter is powered by a 30 amp breaker in the main panel as well as the coach batteries through a 250 amp ANL fuse mounted on the isolator wall under the foot of the bed
The inverter has two 120 volt outputs with push button style breakers mounted on the inverter itself.
I have sent a pdf to Steve for the freedom 20 in hopes he can put it in the coach assist as I can't load it here as an attachment.

Your gauge problem is common among these coaches and usually is caused by loose connections at the back of the gauges more specifically a bad ground to the gauges this can be tested by supplying a known good ground.
It's a idea to check all the gauge connections.
It's also common for the fuel gauge sending unit to have a bad ground connection as it is mounted on the side of the tank beside the left front wheel .

The fuel fill is slow on the top 1/2 of the tank fill at the best of times but if it's real bad there is a possibility that the vent hoses are collapsed or kinked they connect at the top of the rear of the tank and there is a tee and two boxes one for each fill port if the hang down in the middle they will collect fuel and not vent properly making fueling the top 1/3 almost impossible

As mentioned before the dash gauges are not all that accurate how ever the intelledrive read outs are feed there data from the engines ECM making them your trussed information when you need to compare.

All 12 volt coach power is feed through another 250 ANL fuse on the isolator board it goes to the sales man solenoid on the isolator board where it then is feed to the 12 volt fuse panel
The salesmen switch at the front door can turn off all the coach 12 volt power accidently or some times by kids leaving you scratching your head.
Occasionally the solenoid will go bad and not allow power into the coach may people have just eliminated it to avoid these problems
Hope some of this helps
Eric

[Fred Brooks]

   Randy,
Another consideration is to have the speedo repaired if you can find someone. I am not sure if your odometer is part of your Teleflex speedometer. The issue you may have to deal with down the road is called "TMU" (true mileage unknown) If it becomes apparent that the odometer has been changed, the value of the coach can go down in value by 50%. You may have to go to your local dept. of motor vehicles and get a form to fill out to validate original mileage and replacement reading.
   Welcome to the adventure and take the time to read your support systems owners manuals to get a broader sense how everything works. Hope this helps, Fred

[Randy Keaveny]

Oddly enough.  The odometer is working.  I checked this time to make sure.   The arm for the speedometer is laying at the bottom of the Guage.   The tach. Works perfectly.   I use the on board computer for my true speed while driving

[Randy Keaveny]

Eric.  Wow.  Thanks so much.   Now that I am gone from there.  I can't look at all of this.   I'll certainly remember to look once I get back.  Curious on this board tho. Is that the one under the hatch cover up front.  Driver side  where u can also slide the Gen set out

[Carl Boger]

Randy,

The 12 volt distribution panel is indeed on the left under the drivers area, and on mine anyway the switch to extend the generator is also there.

[Eric Maclean]

Randy
the isolation board is under the bed hatch it contains the battery isolator ( blue aluminum finned device with 3 wires conned) which the engine alternator chargers both the chassis and coach batteries through when the engine is running.
 The isolator board also has the two large ANL fuses one chassis power and the other coach power fuse there is also the two solenoids one being the boost solenoid and the other is the latching solenoid known as the salesmen solenoid which controls the 12 volt coach power it is also where the solar panel connections solar charger controller and fuses are.

The fuse panel for coach 12 volt functions lights, fridge, etc is located as part of the main breaker electrical panel in the bed room.

The front driver side electrical bay contains the 12 volt system feeds for the chassis the buss bar on the left side of the ignition solenoid are powered all the time and the buss bar on the other side of the solenoid is only powered up with the ignition key turn on .

Hope this helps
Eric