Jerry's Hurricane mods

[DinoC41]

Originally Posted by DenverTransplant

I have had the 100 Watt version of the Eco-Worthy for a couple of seasons. Electrically it works fine. My version is a polycrystalline cell. With the monocrystalline cells you get the extra 20 watts.

When the case folds up the cells are exposed so I use the pieces of foam that were in the packing and secure them with a couple of suitcase straps to protect the cells while its stored.

The support legs are rather flimsy and the folding side supports have broken on one leg. That hasn't impaired using them though. Ill get around to replacing them with something more substantial.

The battery wiring is rather short (about 6 feet) so I made up a 20 ft #10 extension with plug in connectors. I cut off the supplied battery terminal clamps and put on the connector and made up a pig tail connected to the batteries to plug in the extension. I use this for connecting my air compressor and external maceator pump too.

Wire
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Connectors
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[SuperD]

Just got back from a trip to Galveston, stayed at Jamaica Beach RV Park. Nice park with a lot of amenities, 3 pools, lazy rive, miniature golf, and outdoor movies. All concrete pads with nice picnic tables, my only complaint was very poor wifi. Nicest power pedestals I have ever seen! Here are a couple of pics.

[SuperD]

Also a pic of our water filter setup, whole house filter in a stand with a carbon filter, good water and no loss in flow. I used a 4 foot hose with 2 90 degree adapters to hook up, just the right length. Also a pic of the 90 elbow I added to our grill propane hose.

[SuperD]

Had a problem start about 75 miles before we got to Galveston. Started out as a loud klunking or popping sound, appeared to be coming for the rear of the coach, sometimes could be felt in the floor. The sound was infrequent at first but became more frequent the closer we got to Galveston, could not correlate to any bumps or specific action.

When we got to the park I crawled under the coach and inspected everything closely with a flashlight, nothing appeared loose, no oil or grease leaks anywhere. Looked at u joints, carrier bearing, springs, swaybars, exhaust, pretty much everything. I also checked the slide to make sure it hadn't moved, it was solidly in. Nothing loose in any of the storage compartments.

On the way back Myra noticed that the noise occurred when I moved the steering wheel to the left like I was changing lanes. I tried swerving slightly to the left several times and heard the popping noise almost every time.

Any ideas or has anyone else had or noticed this problem? Got me stumped! ANY thoughts or ideas would be appreciated!!!

[halfprice]

Welcome back Dave. Sorry cant help you on the noise problem

Jerry

[SuperD]

Couple of more items from our trip.

The new 9" monitor is fantastic!!! I changed the view to full screen rear, in the heavy Houston traffic is was amazing. Even though there are posted speed limits I've come to the conclusion that people in Texas drive at whatever speed they want. I could look in my mirror and there would be nothing, seemed like as soon as I turned my head around someone went flying by. Traffic in Galveston was heavy due to the holiday, the view on the monitor made changing lanes and merging in traffic much easier and safer! The addition of the monitor has turned out to be a great mod, now I just need to add a better camera!

Just before leaving I changed the engine oil, used 5W-30 Mobil 1 Extended Performance oil. Normally I set the cruise at 64-65, this time I set it at 62-63. The first 4500 miles I was averaging about 7.5 mpg, on this trip I averaged 9.2 mpg. I have a ScanGauge and get my mileage from it, since I have the generator running it would be difficult to get an accurate mpg from gallons and miles driven. Amazing what a couple of mph and better oil can do for mpg. Even though I didn't buy my coach for mileage, obviously, the difference in mpg is pretty significant! My new cruise control settings will pretty much be 62-63 from now on. The total trip distance was a little over 600 miles, temp in mid 90's, some stop and go traffic in Houston and Galveston.

I do have the 5 Star tune on the coach but have made a couple of trips with it and was at the 7.5 mpg average. I will say the tune difference is very noticeable. Shifting pattern is better and quicker, acceleration from a stop and when merging on the freeway is much better. The 5 Star isn't cheap, but considering the differences it made, I would absolutely buy it again.

HAPPY 4th of July to everyone!!! Hope you have a safe and great holiday no matter where you are!!! Please remember the men and women in uniform that paid for our freedom and the police officers who work hard to keep our streets safe!!!

Our best wishes to everyone on the forum! Dave and Myra

[DinoC41]

Originally Posted by SuperD

Had a problem start about 75 miles before we got to Galveston. Started out as a loud klunking or popping sound, appeared to be coming for the rear of the coach, sometimes could be felt in the floor. The sound was infrequent at first but became more frequent the closer we got to Galveston, could not correlate to any bumps or specific action.

When we got to the park I crawled under the coach and inspected everything closely with a flashlight, nothing appeared loose, no oil or grease leaks anywhere. Looked at u joints, carrier bearing, springs, swaybars, exhaust, pretty much everything. I also checked the slide to make sure it hadn't moved, it was solidly in. Nothing loose in any of the storage compartments.

On the way back Myra noticed that the noise occurred when I moved the steering wheel to the left like I was changing lanes. I tried swerving slightly to the left several times and heard the popping noise almost every time.

Any ideas or has anyone else had or noticed this problem? Got me stumped! ANY thoughts or ideas would be appreciated!!!

Welcome back home! Glad you guys had a good time!!

Check out your mud flaps on your left side, they may be rubbing on your tires causing that popping noise when turning left.

Good idea on the 90 degree adapters!!

[SuperD]

Originally Posted by DinoC41

Welcome back home! Glad you guys had a good time!!

Check out your mud flaps on your left side, they may be rubbing on your tires causing that popping noise when turning left.

Good idea on the 90 degree adapters!!

Thanks Dino! Checked the flaps, couldn't be anything that simple!

P.S. Added the AC drain hose under the hood, got lucky and had a piece of 1/2 inch hose left over from when I did my water pump mods. Ford or Thor one dropped the ball on that one.

[rmblaster]

Originally Posted by SuperD

Had a problem start about 75 miles before we got to Galveston. Started out as a loud klunking or popping sound, appeared to be coming for the rear of the coach, sometimes could be felt in the floor. The sound was infrequent at first but became more frequent the closer we got to Galveston, could not correlate to any bumps or specific action.

When we got to the park I crawled under the coach and inspected everything closely with a flashlight, nothing appeared loose, no oil or grease leaks anywhere. Looked at u joints, carrier bearing, springs, swaybars, exhaust, pretty much everything. I also checked the slide to make sure it hadn't moved, it was solidly in. Nothing loose in any of the storage compartments.

On the way back Myra noticed that the noise occurred when I moved the steering wheel to the left like I was changing lanes. I tried swerving slightly to the left several times and heard the popping noise almost every time.

Any ideas or has anyone else had or noticed this problem? Got me stumped! ANY thoughts or ideas would be appreciated!!!

On my last trip I had a banging sound turns out it was the fold out bed frame on the couch it was hitting the wall

[DinoC41]

Originally Posted by SuperD

Thanks Dino! Checked the flaps, couldn't be anything that simple!

P.S. Added the AC drain hose under the hood, got lucky and had a piece of 1/2 inch hose left over from when I did my water pump mods. Ford or Thor one dropped the ball on that one.

We also installed the drain hose and it got a good work out from our 600 mile round trip this past weekend. Worked like a champ!

[David1912]

Hope I'm on a topic not covered before....I am taking delivery of a ACE 29.3 next week...will be adding solar (won't go into details here).... but as I look at solar components that will be necessary in the coach I am wondering about the possibility/doability/wisdom of removing my outside tv and making this enclosure kind of a partial 'electric control room'....at least for a solor controller, buses ...the battery enclosure is close and a good thing....

storage space is limited in this coach in this coach due to the outdoor kitchen and chances are we would almost never use the outside tv....as I don't yet have the coach I don't know the tv enclosures dimensions...the key will be the usable depth (probably 5-6"?)...thoughts of others would be appreciated

[SuperD]

Originally Posted by David1912

Hope I'm on a topic not covered before....I am taking delivery of a ACE 29.3 next week...will be adding solar (won't go into details here).... but as I look at solar components that will be necessary in the coach I am wondering about the possibility/doability/wisdom of removing my outside tv and making this enclosure kind of a partial 'electric control room'....at least for a solor controller, buses ...the battery enclosure is close and a good thing....

storage space is limited in this coach in this coach due to the outdoor kitchen and chances are we would almost never use the outside tv....as I don't yet have the coach I don't know the tv enclosures dimensions...the key will be the usable depth (probably 5-6"?)...thoughts of others would be appreciated

You should be able to use the outside tv compartment with out any problems. Not familiar with the ACE layout but on the Windsport the is a huge area under the bed where the transfer switch and inverter are located, lots of extra room there.

[David1912]

Thank you..Yes, I will be interested in under the bed too....but I've read larger inverters than the stock 1000w.... my interest woukd probably be 2000w throw off some heat and need to be ventilated.... some higher end pure sine units have a fan and there is some noise....I'm not sure. Under the bed seems best for inverter...but solar controller might best be in tv space.

However some of the 2000w inverters may be 6-8" deep and could. Eva bit too deep for the outside Tv enclosure...I haven't reasearched much yet...at this point just checking if others with units broadly similar to mine have experience.

Thanks

[jpmihalk]

Originally Posted by Classictint

Anyone using solar either permanent or portable?

Yes, we have 4 100 watt Renogy solar panels on our roof with a PWM controller. We did the install ourselves, the scary part was drilling through the roof but it has sealed perfectly and we have had no issues. We have space for at least 4 more, but so far so good. We would have to change our controller if we add more panels.

[halfprice]

Ok its work day on the mh. Ill be crawling under the front end for a couple hours. Pic to follow.

Jerry

[SuperD]

Just crawled out from under mine, have to do projects early in the morning before the fires of hell are lit!

MAY have solved my popping/klunking noise. When I did my chf I didn't have any blue loctite and I had broken my torque wrench weeks before on another project. When I checked the Z bolts on the lower rear links the right one was snug but not tight. I had purchased a new torque wrench and a bottle of loctite so I removed, loctited, and torqued the Z bolts properly this time, checked the front while I was at it. My fault for not doing it right the first time, and I know better!!! Will have to take a test drive to see if that was the actual problem, hoping it was!

I was reading another post about the front window locks being kinda worthless, and they are! The other member had drilled holes and put pins in his windows, he has an ACE and the windows may be a little different. I didn't see a good place to drill so I bought these window locks at Lowes, about $2. There is a forward facing lip on the fixed window just wide enough for the locks to grip, easy to install and remove and they seem very secure.

[DinoC41]

Originally Posted by SuperD

Just crawled out from under mine, have to do projects early in the morning before the fires of hell are lit!

MAY have solved my popping/klunking noise. When I did my chf I didn't have any blue loctite and I had broken my torque wrench weeks before on another project. When I checked the Z bolts on the lower rear links the right one was snug but not tight. I had purchased a new torque wrench and a bottle of loctite so I removed, loctited, and torqued the Z bolts properly this time, checked the front while I was at it. My fault for not doing it right the first time, and I know better!!! Will have to take a test drive to see if that was the actual problem, hoping it was!

I was reading another post about the front window locks being kinda worthless, and they are! The other member had drilled holes and put pins in his windows, he has an ACE and the windows may be a little different. I didn't see a good place to drill so I bought these window locks at Lowes, about $2. There is a forward facing lip on the fixed window just wide enough for the locks to grip, easy to install and remove and they seem very secure.

Attachment 5658

Attachment 5659

Sweet!!!!!

[DinoC41]

In the event you have any problems with your front motorized roller shade, please view the attached files!

[SuperD]

Thanks Dino, saved in my picture files!!!

[DinoC41]

Originally Posted by SuperD

Thanks Dino, saved in my picture files!!!