Another debate or opinions

[tinkerer]

On my Discovery coach about 4 years ago I made a habit of starting it driving it for about 10 miles, cycling the slides,the trouble some electric jacks, and the generator every other 30 days. The slides work so much smoother, it ended my electric jack problem. My opinion is it not good for a motorhome to just sit for months without use. One poster pointed this out when I post my last post about the C7 fan pulley bearing. By they way we are parked in Arizona for 3 months and I still start it up and cycle everything but don't drive it. Before I did this the brakes had a tendency to hang up a little bit after sitting for 3 months. This ended that problem. Just interested in opinions on this subject;)

[WILDEBILL308]

tinkerer wrote:
I started the exercise because I happen to have those troublesome electric Power Gear jacks. Since I have exercised them I have had zero problems. Didn't use the washing machine for a year and when we used it the pump wouldn't function so I was able to spin it backwards with electric drill for a while and it worked. We run that once in the summer and haven't had a bit of problem since. I am convinced that any electric motor that has brushes need to be exercised. Some don't agree but I plan on continuing my routine as it seems to work.:D

Do you have grease fittings on your jacks? Try wiping them down with a good silaca spray or WD40. I have less problems when I use/exersise the jacks than when they just set.
Bill

[WILDEBILL308]

wolfe10 is absolutley right. I run my genarater at least an houer but ushaley 2 houers under 1/2-3/4 load. I drive my coach at least 30 miles. Last mounth we went about 65 miles to a rally and back so I ran the genarater at the same time.
Bill

[tinkerer]

I started the exercise because I happen to have those troublesome electric Power Gear jacks. Since I have exercised them I have had zero problems. Didn't use the washing machine for a year and when we used it the pump wouldn't function so I was able to spin it backwards with electric drill for a while and it worked. We run that once in the summer and haven't had a bit of problem since. I am convinced that any electric motor that has brushes need to be exercised. Some don't agree but I plan on continuing my routine as it seems to work.:D

[Two_Jayhawks]

I need more exercise and my coach gets exercised when we use it. I don't put unnecessary starts on the engine unless I am actually using the coach. I am stingy about opening/closing slides especially the FWS. I am quite sure it has a finite number of cycles before a malfunction why would I want to waste one just exercising it.

[msmith1199]

Everybody has different opinions, but my Caterpillar owners manual says don't let it sit for too long without running it and running it so it reaches normal operating temps. Same for the generator. I usually don't have to go start mine just to start it, as we live in California and normally we use it at least every two months. But I do try and make sure it gets driven every two months even if we aren't using it. And it's not just for the engine. Everything that moves needs to move every once in a while. The rear end, the turbo, the tranny, the wheel bearings, etc.

A friend of mine was just telling me a story of looking for a used motorhome. I forget the brand he found but it was a DP with a Cat engine on a Freightliner chassis. I think it was a 2006 model and had 10,000 miles on it. The owner admitted that he would let it sit for a year or more at a time without using it. So before they did the deal my friend had him take it to the Freightliner dealer for a full checkup. They came back with a list of things wrong and an estimate of $9,500.00 in repairs. He said the mechanic told him everything was related to letting it sit. He did not get into details of what was on the list that needed fixing.

[TNGW1500SE]

If you've got to "exercise" an RV it might be time to think about selling it. Mine sits for about 3 months a year and I start it maybe twice. Other than that I worry more about miles adding up.

[valhalla360]

I'm a firm believer that more RV and Boat engines die from lack of use than wearing out.

As someone else pointed out, 10miles might be marginal to get everything up to temp and exercised.

[barmcd]

We take our coach to the campground about every 5-6 weeks so I don't drive it to exercise it. However, the owners manual says to run the generator two hours at 50% load every month if it's not being used so I exercise it monthly.

[wolfe10]

Topics like this are very difficult to evaluate.

Some post "best practices", some "what I choose to do" all the way to "what I got away with".

Best practices from your engine's standpoint is to not start it unless you can drive 25 highway miles. Diesels are too efficient at light throttle to do what you need. It is not possible to get the oil/crankcase up to operating temperature except under load. If oil does not reach operating temperature, you are adding moisture to the engine.

[sailor_lou]

My MOHO sits every winter between Oct/Nov until Apr/May without starting. I did the same thing with the gas and diesel engines in all the sailboats I owned for over 25 years without issue. I'm in the camp that believes frequent cold starts are more damaging than sitting, but do agree if you are going to start it ensure you drive it long enough (or load it up in the case of the genset) to sufficiently heat the oil to drive out any moisture. Good luck.

Lou
05 Travel Supreme Envoy

[rgatijnet1]

All of that exercising is fine but occasionally stuff will still break. No amount of exercising, or travel use for that matter, will prevent the inevitable failure of some mechanical parts. The problem is that you just can't predict when a part will fail. Preventive maintenance helps but, as many have found out, sometimes the replacement parts are not as good as the original.

[Ivylog]

I have diesel powered heavy equipment that often sit for a year+ and put fresh batteries in and they start right up... one dozer is only 45 years old. I agree tires last longer if exercised. The three months snowbirding is usually the longest my DP sits and on the day before I plan to leave I crank it up for the first time and let the coach air up. There is lots of farm equipment that sit for 4-5 months in the winter... many 40+ years old.

I have a portable welder that sits outside, often so long between uses that the magnetism collapses and it will not weld. Spark the leads to a 12V battery and it's good to go. It was probably 20 years old when I bought it 40 years ago. Do you think I exercise my generator every 30 days?

I guess if you have nothing better to do, then taking your rig out for a 20 mile trip running the generator is not going to hurt anything, but just cranking them up will. Different strokes for different folks.

[Dale_Traveling]

The one change I would encourage would be to drive it a bit further each month. Your objective is to get the transmission up to normal operating temperature. If a 10 minute drive achieves such then disregard. I'm fortunate enough to have the coach in the driveway and the interstate 5 miles away. Drive a couple of exits turn around and come home. Run the generator at the same time to keep it happy.

[J-Rooster]

I start up my coach, genset, as little as possible.