Restoration. Saftey/ dependability

[Bob Dunahugh]

It's been an interesting year to say the least with a burned 78 GMC Royale =
14 months ago. And then literary building another 78 Royale from what seem=
ed to be. Scratch. And the large cherry on the cake, was when we had our fi=
rst real night in it. At the GMCMI Rally in Mansfield. When Linda woke up t=
hat next morning. And said. This is heaven. WOW. My first goal had been ac=
hieved. And with Linda in a powered wheelchair. So now my next goal needs =
to be reached. It's like the Apollo 13 trip to the Moon. Failure is NOT an=
option. The plan was simple. If something could fail. And put us to the s=
ide of the road. It had to be replaced now. That plan worked with the burn=
ed GMC. 13 years. And 36 States. The point is. These GMC's are very depend=
able. Even if you just keep the simple maintains up. And if you have proble=
ms on the road. Most parts can be obtained at most auto parts stores. And s=
pending some money to be a member of GMCMI, and local clubs. To avoid bein=
g broke down for many days due to parts. Replace the parts that can't be bo=
ught at the local parts stores. Some that come to mind. Get the front whee=
l bearings greased to protect those bearings. Replace the rubber rear brak=
e hoses. And your high pressure power steering pump hose. Happy trails=
. Bob Dunahugh

 

[sean kidd]

Don't forget the oil cooler lines, transmission vent, and the rear battery cable where it passes through the bulkhead adjacent to the fuel filler on
early models.

Lastly I read a great snippet: "if you carry a baseball bat in your car/coach, also carry a baseball mitt, your lawyer will thank you" author unknown.
--
Sean and Stephanie
73 Ex-CanyonLands 26' #317 "Oliver"
Hubler 1-Ton, Quad-Bags, Rear Disc, Reaction Arms, P.Huber TBs, 3.70:1 LSD Honda 6500 inverter gen.

Colonial Travelers

 

[Bob Dunahugh]

In the e-mail below. I didn't include the engine oil cooler lines bec=
ause you can pull the cooler adapter out. And just put the filter back on t=
o get you down the road. And many auto parts stores can make you new ones.=
I had mine made out of 4,000lbs hydraulic hose. With both for $62. The rea=
l nice thing. Is that most of the common parts we need. Can be bought at an=
y parts store. Bob Dunahugh 78 Royale ______________________________=
__ It's been an interesting year to say the least with a burned =
78 GMC Royale 14 months ago. And then literary building another 78 Royale f=
rom what seemed to be. Scratch. And the large cherry on the cake, was when=
we had our first real night in it. At the GMCMI Rally in Mansfield. When L=
inda woke up that next morning. And said. This is heaven. WOW. My first go=
al had been achieved. And with Linda in a powered wheelchair. So now my ne=
xt goal needs to be reached. It's like the Apollo 13 trip to the Moon. Fai=
lure is NOT an option. The plan was simple. If something could fail. And p=
ut us to the side of the road. It had to be replaced now. That plan worked=
with the burned GMC. 13 years. And 36 States. The point is. These GMC's a=
re very dependable. Even if you just keep the simple maintains up. And if y=
ou have problems on the road. Most parts can be obtained at most auto parts=
stores. And spending some money to be a member of GMCMI, and local clubs.=
To avoid being broke down for many days due to parts. Replace the parts th=
at can't be bought at the local parts stores. Some that come to mind. Get =
the front wheel bearings greased to protect those bearings. Replace the ru=
bber rear brake hoses. And your high pressure power steering pump hose. =
Happy trails. Bob Dunahugh

 

[Rdenney]

Bob, Sean may have been thinking of things people sometimes forget that can
cause a fire if they fail. The transmission vent and cooler lines may be
more important there--leaks there can spray right onto very hot exhaust
parts and more than one coach fire has been attributed to that cause.

As to the rear battery cable, one reason I still keep the separate
generator battery on my '73 is that I don't really want that #2 welding
cable running the whole length of the coach from the front house battery
without circuit protection in case of catastrophic short. I added a 50-amp
magnetic breaker in the back, close to the converter, to the wire that
connects my front-mounted house battery and the converter. And the coach
should already be equipped with a thermal breaker in the front (mine is
rated at 80 amps), just before the isolator (in my case, combiner)
connection. That way, if I drive a screw into that wire running in its
conduit along the side of the coach (ask me how I know about that one), or
if it rubs through the insulation where it goes through a bulkhead, it
won't draw the entire current supply capability of the battery, which is at
least 600 amps, and destructively melt. That wire can have power sources at
either end, and thus needs protection at both ends, it seems to me.

I have a 10-AWG wire running from the generator battery to the converter (a
relatively short run), through a second combiner located next to the
converter, to tend the generator battery. That seems to have worked pretty
well so far. I don't have any protection on that wire, except for the
combiner itself, which is in the wrong place to really protect it. A
fusible link at the battery might be a good idea there. I think on one
occasion I actually started the generator through that wire when the
battery had terminate its existence, but the combiner is current-limited
and the outputs of my converter are fuse-protected. Plus, the starter on my
little Generac probably doesn't draw that much current.

The main battery cable to the engine starter is also unprotected, but that
is a short run that is well managed.

Few of us remember how easily a shorted wire to a battery can go red-hot
with destructive consequences. I mounted a 12-volt power cable to my lawn
tractor, which has a motorcycle-size battery and a 15-amp dynamo, to the
back of the tractor to power a trailer sprayer that has a 12-volt pump. The
connection at the engine was using a couple of alligator clamps on the
starter terminals. Well, you know where this is going. I managed to wear
through the insulation where the wire got caught under the seat, and I
didn't notice an issue until I noticed the red-hot wire illuminating a
smoky path adjacent to my right leg. I was grinding up leaves on that
occasion (part of the Annual Great Leaf Emergency, which, come to think of
it, is schedule for the next two weeks) and how it failed to ignite all
that dried kindling it was running through is beyond me. I'm glad I was
wearing gloves that day.

Rick "whose safety agenda put catastrophic wiring shorts pretty high on the
prevention list" Denney

>
>
> In the e-mail below. I didn't include the engine oil cooler lines because
> you can pull the cooler adapter out. And just put the filter back on to get
> you down the road. And many auto parts stores can make you new ones. I had
> mine made out of 4,000lbs hydraulic hose. With both for $62. The real nice
> thing. Is that most of the common parts we need. Can be bought at any parts
> store. Bob Dunahugh 78 Royale
>
> ________________________________
>
>
>
> It's been an interesting year to say the least with a burned 78 GMC Royale
> 14 months ago. And then literary building another 78 Royale from what
> seemed to be. Scratch. And the large cherry on the cake, was when we had
> our first real night in it. At the GMCMI Rally in Mansfield. When Linda
> woke up that next morning. And said. This is heaven. WOW. My first goal
> had been achieved. And with Linda in a powered wheelchair. So now my next
> goal needs to be reached. It's like the Apollo 13 trip to the Moon.
> Failure is NOT an option. The plan was simple. If something could fail.
> And put us to the side of the road. It had to be replaced now. That plan
> worked with the burned GMC. 13 years. And 36 States. The point is. These
> GMC's are very dependable. Even if you just keep the simple maintains up.
> And if you have problems on the road. Most parts can be obtained at most
> auto parts stores. And spending some money to be a member of GMCMI, and
> local clubs. To avoid being broke down for many days due to parts. Replace
> the parts that can't be bought at the local parts stores. Some that come
> to mind. Get the front wheel bearings greased to protect those bearings.
> Replace the rubber rear brake hoses. And your high pressure power steering
> pump hose.
>
> Happy trails. Bob Dunahugh
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>

--
'73 230 "Jaws"
Northern Virginia

 

[robert mueller]

Rick,

There's a fair few new folks here that may not be aware of this document:

http://www.gmceast.com/technical/Mueller_GMCer-Fire-Guide.pdf

Regards,
Rob M.
The Pedantic Mechanic
USAussie - Downunder
AUS '75 Avion - The Blue Streak TZE365V100428
USA '75 Avion - Double Trouble TZE365V100426
USA '77 Kingsley - TZE267V100808

-----Original Message-----
From: Gmclist [mailto:gmclist-bounces] On Behalf Of Richard Denney
Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2016 11:25 PM
To: gmclist
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Restoration. Saftey/ dependability

Bob, Sean may have been thinking of things people sometimes forget that can
cause a fire if they fail. The transmission vent and cooler lines may be
more important there--leaks there can spray right onto very hot exhaust
parts and more than one coach fire has been attributed to that cause.

As to the rear battery cable, one reason I still keep the separate
generator battery on my '73 is that I don't really want that #2 welding
cable running the whole length of the coach from the front house battery
without circuit protection in case of catastrophic short. I added a 50-amp
magnetic breaker in the back, close to the converter, to the wire that
connects my front-mounted house battery and the converter. And the coach
should already be equipped with a thermal breaker in the front (mine is
rated at 80 amps), just before the isolator (in my case, combiner)
connection. That way, if I drive a screw into that wire running in its
conduit along the side of the coach (ask me how I know about that one), or
if it rubs through the insulation where it goes through a bulkhead, it
won't draw the entire current supply capability of the battery, which is at
least 600 amps, and destructively melt. That wire can have power sources at
either end, and thus needs protection at both ends, it seems to me.

I have a 10-AWG wire running from the generator battery to the converter (a
relatively short run), through a second combiner located next to the
converter, to tend the generator battery. That seems to have worked pretty
well so far. I don't have any protection on that wire, except for the
combiner itself, which is in the wrong place to really protect it. A
fusible link at the battery might be a good idea there. I think on one
occasion I actually started the generator through that wire when the
battery had terminate its existence, but the combiner is current-limited
and the outputs of my converter are fuse-protected. Plus, the starter on my
little Generac probably doesn't draw that much current.

The main battery cable to the engine starter is also unprotected, but that
is a short run that is well managed.

Few of us remember how easily a shorted wire to a battery can go red-hot
with destructive consequences. I mounted a 12-volt power cable to my lawn
tractor, which has a motorcycle-size battery and a 15-amp dynamo, to the
back of the tractor to power a trailer sprayer that has a 12-volt pump. The
connection at the engine was using a couple of alligator clamps on the
starter terminals. Well, you know where this is going. I managed to wear
through the insulation where the wire got caught under the seat, and I
didn't notice an issue until I noticed the red-hot wire illuminating a
smoky path adjacent to my right leg. I was grinding up leaves on that
occasion (part of the Annual Great Leaf Emergency, which, come to think of
it, is schedule for the next two weeks) and how it failed to ignite all
that dried kindling it was running through is beyond me. I'm glad I was
wearing gloves that day.

Rick "whose safety agenda put catastrophic wiring shorts pretty high on the
prevention list" Denney