Kirk W

If you are near the place that took your slide out to repair it, they are the first people that I would ask about this problem. It may not be related, but the work is a prime suspect.

From the service manual that can be found in the link above, page 18, DC power requirements...

 

The operational range of the unit is a minimum of 9.6 volt DC to a maximum of 22 volts DC. The unit will automatically shut down at 22 DC volts or greater, and come back on when voltage has decreased to 18 volts DC. The refrigerator requires at least 9.6 volts DC for proper operation, however the panel lights will continue to be illuminated until voltage has dropped to 4 volts DC or below.

The 11.8V is a bit low as far as the battery condition is concerned but not low enough to account for the refrigerator not working.The schematic on page 22 shows a 4a fuse in the red wire between the 12V supply and the relay which could be part of the problem if you have not checked it. That is in addition to the 3a (dc) and 5a (ac) fuses located on the power circuit board. On page 4 of the manual there is a trouble shooting guide that lists the following:

No operation - no panel lights

Each of those suggested problems then has a reference to the appropriate page for instructions in what to check next.

A good place to start if you want to trouble shoot the refrigerator is to visit Bryan RV and download a copy of the 1350 service manual, which is free. The 12V power connection to your refrigerator is a terminal block which is shown in a drawing on page 18 of the manual and it is also in this photograph.

The white plastic terminals are what you see in the drawing and in this case the power is two white wires, but RV manufacturers do not have a standardized wire color code.

The lights and all control functions of your refrigerator are powered by 12V-dc from the RV battery/12V system. That is also true for your interior lights in the RV so the first hint is if those lights will turn on and at proper brightness? Did you check for 12V or more at the RV batteries? If it is there, then you need to check for 12V at the refrigerator connections. It is highly unlikely that something in the refrigerator failed while it was turned off. An RV refrigerator must have a good 12V-dc power supply for it to be able to work from either 120V-ac or from propane. The lack of any display or refrigerator interior light tells me that it is not getting 12V power.

My best guess is that the problem is in the 12V supply, not the refrigerator at this point, but we need more information to do anything more than guess. Did you take any voltage readings while you were checking fuses? You should read 12V across the 3a fuse holder when you remove that fuse.

Along those same lines...one of the features of the Wal-Mart Ap for your phone is a "savings catcher".

Pam has been using the Walmart phone app for quite sometime now as well. She has seen it as high as $12 in one month but she says that lately it has dropped off to $3 or less per month. Last month it was only $1.09. But a dollar is a dollar...........

My opinion is that you are going in the right direction. I have come to a point that I do not use the two detector/one package products at all for several reasons. I keep a CO detector in my home base located in the living area and a second one in the bedroom, both of them are the 9v battery type. I also have a propane detector mounted behind the propane heater in our living-room that is plugged into 120v-ac and has a 9v battery backup.

In my RV we have the single sensor type of propane detector and I plan to take the one from the house out to use as a test system, just to insure that I don't have something legitimately triggering the present one. When the propane bottle to the RV has been turned off for a long period but the alarm goes off, I feel pretty comfortable that the problem is not caused by propane, but haven't yet figured out what it is. Maybe we will both get lucky?

Some time back I started a thread on this same subject and several folks informed me that it has to be propane. Somehow I doubt that as the last time it alarmed, there wasn't even a propane bottle attached to the RV.

While I'm not sure that it has anything to do with your problem, which propane detector do you have? Ours is the one from MTI which seems to be most commonly found in RVs. I've considered changing brands.

The use of the test button is a way to avoid saturating the sensors - but all that really tells you is that the test circuit is working, not whether the sensor actually picks up the vapor or not. While I wouldn't use the butane all of the time, once in a while it is not a bad idea. 25 yrs of doing EH&S work, I always calibrated my test equipment with small known samples of the particular material of concern.

In addition, you don't shoot pure butane into the opening with the lighter as it will mix with air and I have found it does just fine held a couple of inches from that opening. It really doesn't require a very high concentration of the butane or other hydrocarbon to trigger the alarm. I'm sure that you could damage the sensor is you held the lighter there long enough or had a large enough supply, but most lighters just don't put out that much gas.

Rich, like Barb I think that you probably are getting an alarm caused by something other than propane, but it may be tough figuring out what. The problem that we have had with ours don't seem to have much pattern, other than always being at night. I have suspected that at least part of our problem is one of "out gassing" from construction materials. I am about to get back to work on ours for coming seasonal travel. The RV has been stored and I disconnected the alarm when it went off one night with nobody in the RV and the propane had been shut off for a month. My first attempt will be a new detector but mine is separate from the CO side. I don't like the combo units just because they are too hard to pin down, but it does help that yours has a light to say which side is alarming. I've seen some that didn't have that light.

Using a butane lighter to test a gas detector is a good way to ruin a perfectly good detector.

It don't harm anything and I have done so for years, after learning to do so from the manual that came with one of our detectors. Propane and butane are both products of petroleum distillation and either will be detected by the alarm. The alarm actually detects hydrocarbons which both contain, along with several other gasses. From propane dealer association.....

 

An easy test for a propane / LP detector is to activate, but not light, a portable propane/butane lighter next to the propane / LP detector. If the propane / LP detector is working, the detector should quickly activate with an alarm.

We all seem to be assuming that it is the propane side that is alarming, but do we really know that for sure? Does your combination alarm indicate which detector is alarming or does the same alarm go for either one? It is important to know what it is that is alarming before we jump to any conclusions. It can be very difficult to pin down what is causing what seems to be a spurious alarm, but one should make sure that it is a false alarm. I had a problem of that sort with the propane alarm in our RV not so long ago and it was happening with the propane all shut off. The alarm is only 4 years old so should be good, but I have ordered a replacement for it and will be replacing it. There are also propane alarms that are battery only operated and there are some from places like Lowe's and Amazon that use 120V-ac power.

As a test, I'd turn off the propane and then see if the alarm goes off. It is pretty difficult to actually prove that a detector is working properly. You can test if it goes off by using a butane lighter that isn't lit and pointing the gas jet into the opening of the propane detector. It should alarm. There are hand held combustible gas detectors, but they are a little bit expensive to keep in an RV.

Interesting calculator. This is something that should be introduced to those in their prime earning years. In fact, I just sent the link off to our three sons. For me it is just a little bit late since we are already into the required withdrawals. Even so, it is kind of fun to play with.

What do you call it when a "Full-timer" parks it for 3 months at a campground or at a "lot" they own somewhere.

I just wait to see what the person I'm speaking to calls his lifestyle. Much less conflict that way.

Take above vehicles out, then my average for 16 years would be $20,556 a year. Which includes 7 months a year every year of no campground fees.

It's really difficult to find a way to level the expenses with our different styles of RV living, but the reason I chose not to include vehicles is wide difference in amounts spend for RVs and other vehicles. It was an attempt to let others know what our average expenses run for daily living of the lifestyle. I'm sure that even things like food budgets vary quite widely but there is a clear pattern to the typical costs as you look at the results. While that won't tell anyone exactly what they must have to survive, it should give some targets to work with, or at least I hope that it does.

I looked at my t-shirt, jeans, and sandals and wondered what I could do to "lower" my clothing costs in retirement?? There are advantages to being a Forester!

We at least stopped wearing ties a few years before I retired but even then it was "business casual" with only collared shirts and no jeans.

the one thing I really pushed my wife for was to make sure all bills were paid off,so we went into this with only food and other costs you can't do without and it has worked.one thing we did was to practice living on what our retirement was going to be to make sure we could handle it.

We did exactly the same as you, starting a bit more than 1 year before we actually left the house. Since our house was not paid off but the RV would be, we did pay the house payment over and above our living amount but we kept all other spending to what we would have after retirement and we put the excess into savings. We didn't do that in one stage however, but started to pare the budget in that direction at 2 years out with that as our target.

What we found interesting was that once we were actually retired our budget was not nearly as tight as in that year before since there are expenses associated with a job that most of us do not realize. Our clothing budget was a particularly large drop. And the fuel that we burned to get to and from work was nearly enough to supply fuel for our travels, if you leveled it out over a period of 90 days.

Makes one wonder if there are going to be changes in other states approach to the issue. I wonder if they keep the LEO's in FL aware of such things, let alone those of other states. Just for fun, why don't you drive a few states away and then do something to get stopped, just so we can hear the "rest of the story?"

Just an observation: Whilst it's early days, it's interesting to see that half of those responding thus far, fall in that $30K to $50K range, which more or less brings it on average target for the suggested $41K, which within plus or minus 10% we've found from tons of our research the majority have fallen into we've spoken with.

Without a doubt, the very best writing on the subject of fulltime budgets that I have ever read was a column that I read in Motorhome Magazine way back in 2001, titled How Much Does It Cost and written by the late Gaylord Maxwell. It applies just as much today as it did at the time of publishing. I really think that it is worth reading for anyone who has not yet done so.

Although this survey would give a 'general' idea it would really be beneficial to see a questionnaire where one had to actually fill in numbers and answer questions such as what kind of RV, towing a vehicle, etc. as this makes a difference in fuel costs, etc. so that everyone submits the same itemizing and also some extra questions as to how much you stay in a place before moving on and what type of RVing you do - private parks only, public parks only, boondocking only or a mix of the three. With that additional information a newbie could then zero in on the kind of RVers they are and get a little more realistic idea of cost.

While I do agree with you, I really don't know how that could be done via the forums. If there were a way, I'd sure give it a shot. It might be possible to publish a list of questions about such things here and ask others to respond to those items if they have such data available. Otherwise it mean a series of polls with one question each.

 

Just to clarify... you're asking for "nut" budget figures, right? Just what's necessary for day to day travel/life, lodging, maintenance, etc. Minus any 'optionals' like entertainment, donations, upgrades, etc. Ie., include things like internet, cellular, satellite, clothing budget, eating out, etc., but exclude entertainment/sightseeing, donations, one time costs.. like a roof replacement, etc? Just so everyone is on the same page.

Good question. I read it to mean everything except indebtedness.

I included everything that we have spent living on the road. Averaged over the 3 years we have been doing so.

That is what I had in mind. Whatever you spend, excepting payments on an RV or vehicle, since that is one of those things which many choose not do have at all. The idea is that if we narrow things too much it becomes a very personal lifestyle thing. We all spend something on entertainment, hobbies, and a lot of other things. My thought process was that by lumping everything into a single category, we can remove some of the differences from personal choices and preferences. Most of us adjust our optional spending downward when repairs or such are needed but then spend more on entertainment and such when we have a budget excess. It is an attempt to arrive at some very loose ideas on what people spend on the road to live reasonably well and enjoy our travels.

Why the big range from 50-75K? All of the others were 10K range, that one is 25K.

My thinking is that it was enough once we reached an annual figure of $50K, and first had that as my upper number as $50k and up. So I did go back and edit the responses to $60, $70, and $80 and up. If you were in the $60K group you may want to edit your response. One has to stop somewhere.

It has been a long time since we had done this sort of general poll but the cost of living on the road is always one of the concerns that those who contemplate taking up the life must consider. While it is a very individual thing and is influenced by lifestyle, domicile, and a host of other things, I still believe that there is value to the researcher in knowing a range of what most other people find to be sufficient. Before we returned to part-time we posted our annual budget and while it is still available, it is also becoming outdated. How about folks here anonymously sharing the total amount they spend in a typical year of travels on the road?

I ask that you simply lump in everything you spend with exception of any RV or vehicle payments, savings plans/investments, or other optional expenditures. If you have some expense that is likely unique to your situation, please also leave that out. Since this should be a general figure it isn't critical that each of us combine the exact same things into the numbers or that they be totally accurate. Lets just do our best to give those who are new to the road some idea of the range in actual expenses incurred in a year of travels.

If you wish to post some general information about your response or more specifics to your budget, that too might be helpful but nothing is expected or required. Because we have now been part time for nearly 5 years, I am not contributing to the poll as I hope to keep the information current.

Thank you in advance for your assistance in helping others to life on the road!

I am starting on it again tomorrow, so I will post pics of the (Disgusting!) interior the

Before you go too far, examine all of the walls, ceilings, and floor for any signs of rotted wood as that RV most likely has wood wall construction. You want all traces of dry-rot removed before you start to reassemble things. That could be your biggest challenge. You want to be certain that the structural parts are solid and in good condition.

You will be working with the RV inside, I presume?

Somehow, the stock market seems like it is suffering from inflation.

Can it be that too much money was pumped into the economy and it fled to the stock market?

Answer that one and you can become very rich and famous!

When I first saw this post I thought that it was a joke..... It seems that Amazon has a bunch of them so this must be real.

It seems like it may be an expensive problem ....

It very likely will be and you should be very careful about what RV shop you take it do as many RV techs are weak on refrigeration and air conditioning. You will probably need a new cooling unit and if the refrigerator is 10 or so years old it may make better sense to replace it.

 

It did not work on propane that i know of ..

Do you keep propane available to the refrigerator, as in the valve open, tank full, and the refrigerator controls set to auto? If not you should try supplying it with propane first to see if it will work. You will need to try at least a half dozen times to make sure that any air has vented from the lines. This is an important test as it will go a long way to narrow the possible causes If you know that it has propane available and then observe to see if there is a spark that attempts to light that propane, it helps as the two heat sources use the very same control systems.

 

If the fuses are good could it be a bad circuit board?

Yes, that is possible but it is only one of a lot of different things that it could be. Circuit boards are not inexpensive and if you buy one and install it you will not be allowed to return it for a refund. I know of no company that will accept a circuit board for return if the package has been opened. The reason is that they have no way to know that the circuit board was not subjected to something that will cause it harm. If you look at the service manual in the most common problems section, for your symptoms they list 6 possible problems. You should do some trouble shooting to narrow things down.

If you have no panel lights, then they suggest it could be either of two circuit boards. If you can get it to operate on propane the possibilities change markedly. If you don't have propane available, the 120V heating element should be checked as it can cause it not to cool, with power available and the fuse good. The element in yours should read 44 ohms through it with power removed. Low DC voltage can also cause the unit to fail to cool. The voltage to the circuit board should be between 10V & 14V, even though the panel lights will continue to light up until the DC voltage falls to about 4V. For either circuit board, most RV repair facilities will test them for you as it is very difficult to do with an ordinary meter. There mat be a small charge for testing. If not the manual does have a procedure for testing with an ordinary volt/ohm meter.