Electrical-How Fun

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BoboBob

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Jun 30, 2018
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Been having fun the last 2 days doing some upgrades and repairs on the Brown Bomber. Today
pulled one of the old AC's out of the middle hole and installed a new Atwood Air Command.
Hardest part was getting the old one down and the new one up. With lots of help from
my bride we got things moved around. Rated at 15K BTU and 14 AMP does a nice job. Quite, nice
digital display and auto mode, has a heat pump built in and a remote. Hope it lasts a long time
and the price was great too-$750 for everything delivered to the door.

That was the easy one.
Yesterday installed a new 9260 Inteli-Power Converter to replace the old 9145 that was not working.
Easy install but the refrigerator was not working. Was plugged into shore power but no green light.
AC power to the unit but still not working. Also no 12V power to the unit. Checked the fuses and one was out,
replaced it and still no go. Turns out at some point a PO had wired it direct to the house batteries and that connection
had come unhooked. Hooked it back up to the batteries for now just to get it going and we were getting cold by dinner time.
Replaced an LED light over the table, nice and bright, and we were ready for bed. Checked things after getting the AC
going today and fridge was not cold anymore and no lights inside. Converter still working but I'm thinking that a PO
for what ever reason unhooked the converter when it was bad and now I get to go trace that down tomorrow.

Worked a bit on the upgraded MacNeal dash-all the gauges work but not one of them reads correctly. Maybe at some
point there was a power surge that took them out and changed their readings.

Electrical-How Fun to try and figure out what a PO owner has done and to get things back the way they should be and
working right again ;)
--
Bob Broadwell
76 Eleganza II-Rebuilt performance engine, Manny trans, Manny 1-ton front end living in Las Vegas
 
If they updated the frige then they did the right thing by running a new 12V feed. The 12V fuse panel and wire from the swing motor factory setup is
not adequate as absorbtion DC heaters are about 3x more Amp draw. However I would check their work and wire for chaffing and be sure there is an
autoreset breaker very close to the battery
Are you removing a DuoTherm Super Supreme? I need a good picture of the shroud decal so I can reproduce them. Mine are too faded.
--
John Lebetski
Woodstock, IL
77 Eleganza II
 
Electrical things are the lifeblood of the GMC. ANY time you find yourself tracing a circuit, be sure to label both ends of the wire. I use a Brother label maker and for the labels and attach the label as a flag on the wire, then using the GMC provided wiring schematic as a starting point, update the drawing with that new wire. Include both the wire size and color. Any documentation that you do now will serve you and the next owner well.

As for the ALL the instruments reading wrong, the most likely suspect is the ground connection from the instrument panel to the chassis connection. Because of how our coaches are built we have a condition where we are connecting electrically to aluminum parts, which will need to be cleaned and then reconnected, a little No Al Ox will slow the inevitable corrosion between the lug and the aluminum. Do NOT use steel wool to clean the connection point, either the brown or green Scotchbrite pad is the right stuff.
Note that the instrument panel has a common ground that is also shared by EVERYTHING. So if the P.O. replaced the radio with something newer that uses more power, the common ground needs to be increased in size, all the way back to the battery.

Doing any kind of electrical troubleshooting. You need to be constantly asking yourself if what you are looking at is "a symptom or a problem". As an example, a blown fuse is NOT a problem, it is a symptom. Look for things that happen simultaniously "all the gages read wrong", that tells you that the problem is related to something that they share in common. The most important tools for this kind of work are your imagination, a pencil, paper, a nice cup of coffee, and a little quiet time. Don't start off by tearing everything apart.

>
>
> Been having fun the last 2 days doing some upgrades and repairs on the Brown Bomber. Today
> pulled one of the old AC's out of the middle hole and installed a new Atwood Air Command.
> Hardest part was getting the old one down and the new one up. With lots of help from
> my bride we got things moved around. Rated at 15K BTU and 14 AMP does a nice job. Quite, nice
> digital display and auto mode, has a heat pump built in and a remote. Hope it lasts a long time
> and the price was great too-$750 for everything delivered to the door.
>
> That was the easy one.
> Yesterday installed a new 9260 Inteli-Power Converter to replace the old 9145 that was not working.
> Easy install but the refrigerator was not working. Was plugged into shore power but no green light.
> AC power to the unit but still not working. Also no 12V power to the unit. Checked the fuses and one was out,
> replaced it and still no go. Turns out at some point a PO had wired it direct to the house batteries and that connection
> had come unhooked. Hooked it back up to the batteries for now just to get it going and we were getting cold by dinner time.
> Replaced an LED light over the table, nice and bright, and we were ready for bed. Checked things after getting the AC
> going today and fridge was not cold anymore and no lights inside. Converter still working but I'm thinking that a PO
> for what ever reason unhooked the converter when it was bad and now I get to go trace that down tomorrow.
>
> Worked a bit on the upgraded MacNeal dash-all the gauges work but not one of them reads correctly. Maybe at some
> point there was a power surge that took them out and changed their readings.
>
> Electrical-How Fun to try and figure out what a PO owner has done and to get things back the way they should be and
> working right again ;)
> --
> Bob Broadwell
> 76 Eleganza II-Rebuilt performance engine, Manny trans, Manny 1-ton front end living in Las Vegas
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
 
All automotive gauges read wrong. That is the norm. If you want exact
readings, use scientific quality digital readout gauges that can be
calibrated exactly for known variables like temperature, pressure, input
voltage, sending unit variations, etc. That should give you plenty to worry
about as you are driving down the road.
Oh, you say, no need for that much accuracy, you just want to know how
your engine is doing. Well, then get a digi-panel with alarms set for
anomalies. If it gets too hot, or oil pressure gets too low, etc. then a
warning light comes on, or an audible alarm sounds to alert you.
Then your seat time can be better spent looking out those big
panoramic windshields at traffic or scenery, instead of down at the dash
gages.
Jim Hupy
Salem, Or
78 GMC ROYALE 403

On Thu, Aug 9, 2018, 10:36 AM RICHARD/MARLI SHOOP
wrote:

> Electrical things are the lifeblood of the GMC. ANY time you find yourself
> tracing a circuit, be sure to label both ends of the wire. I use a Brother
> label maker and for the labels and attach the label as a flag on the wire,
> then using the GMC provided wiring schematic as a starting point, update
> the drawing with that new wire. Include both the wire size and color. Any
> documentation that you do now will serve you and the next owner well.
>
> As for the ALL the instruments reading wrong, the most likely suspect is
> the ground connection from the instrument panel to the chassis connection.
> Because of how our coaches are built we have a condition where we are
> connecting electrically to aluminum parts, which will need to be cleaned
> and then reconnected, a little No Al Ox will slow the inevitable corrosion
> between the lug and the aluminum. Do NOT use steel wool to clean the
> connection point, either the brown or green Scotchbrite pad is the right
> stuff.
> Note that the instrument panel has a common ground that is also shared by
> EVERYTHING. So if the P.O. replaced the radio with something newer that
> uses more power, the common ground needs to be increased in size, all the
> way back to the battery.
>
> Doing any kind of electrical troubleshooting. You need to be constantly
> asking yourself if what you are looking at is "a symptom or a problem". As
> an example, a blown fuse is NOT a problem, it is a symptom. Look for things
> that happen simultaniously "all the gages read wrong", that tells you that
> the problem is related to something that they share in common. The most
> important tools for this kind of work are your imagination, a pencil,
> paper, a nice cup of coffee, and a little quiet time. Don't start off by
> tearing everything apart.
> > On August 8, 2018 at 11:54 PM Robert Edwin Broadwell <

> >
> >
> > Been having fun the last 2 days doing some upgrades and repairs on the
> Brown Bomber. Today
> > pulled one of the old AC's out of the middle hole and installed a new
> Atwood Air Command.
> > Hardest part was getting the old one down and the new one up. With lots
> of help from
> > my bride we got things moved around. Rated at 15K BTU and 14 AMP does a
> nice job. Quite, nice
> > digital display and auto mode, has a heat pump built in and a remote.
> Hope it lasts a long time
> > and the price was great too-$750 for everything delivered to the door.
> >
> > That was the easy one.
> > Yesterday installed a new 9260 Inteli-Power Converter to replace the old
> 9145 that was not working.
> > Easy install but the refrigerator was not working. Was plugged into
> shore power but no green light.
> > AC power to the unit but still not working. Also no 12V power to the
> unit. Checked the fuses and one was out,
> > replaced it and still no go. Turns out at some point a PO had wired it
> direct to the house batteries and that connection
> > had come unhooked. Hooked it back up to the batteries for now just to
> get it going and we were getting cold by dinner time.
> > Replaced an LED light over the table, nice and bright, and we were ready
> for bed. Checked things after getting the AC
> > going today and fridge was not cold anymore and no lights inside.
> Converter still working but I'm thinking that a PO
> > for what ever reason unhooked the converter when it was bad and now I
> get to go trace that down tomorrow.
> >
> > Worked a bit on the upgraded MacNeal dash-all the gauges work but not
> one of them reads correctly. Maybe at some
> > point there was a power surge that took them out and changed their
> readings.
> >
> > Electrical-How Fun to try and figure out what a PO owner has done and to
> get things back the way they should be and
> > working right again ;)
> > --
> > Bob Broadwell
> > 76 Eleganza II-Rebuilt performance engine, Manny trans, Manny 1-ton
> front end living in Las Vegas
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > GMCnet mailing list
> > Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> > http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>
 
The AC unit I pulled off was a Brisk-Aire by Duuo-Therm but the outside has been painted to no luck.
--
Bob Broadwell
76 Eleganza II-Rebuilt performance engine, Manny trans, Manny 1-ton front end living in Las Vegas
 
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