How many of us are there? Owners of Dodge based RV's?

[whiteknight001]

I'm new here, and curious.

How many of us in Class C own Dodge B300 incomplete
cab/chassis based RV's? I know two others- Steve aka
Ripsaw, with a 1977 Brougham, and Leroy aka 1978_Dodge
_Delta who owns a 440V8 powered sharp looking 1978
Delta RV. I would like to ask, and offer, help, idea
swapping and comparing notes on our particular RV's
which are based on the Dodge B300 van chassis.

Yeah, I know. These are low tech, podgy old RV's that
would be considered "entry level" for folks like me,
but I have a deep and abiding respect for the quality
of these old "monsters of the open road". And anyone
wanting to pick brains, joke about, share notes or just
brag about our old A- Dodge-io's are certainly welcome
to PM or email me. Between all of us we can form a real
good support group, and help each other with problems
we know we'll encounter with an older vehicle.

Sure. I'd love a new RV. But I'd rather have an older
one already paid for, and a lotta great memories. Call
me frugal, an old hippie, or whatever you will. I'm proud
of my old land yacht.

Mopar Madness Manifest in the flesh,

Mark aka White Knight

P.S. Mine's a '72. Is there an older one out there someone's
motorvating in? Maybe even a Travco? W/K

[OldDodgeJohn]

proceed_net wrote:

OldDodgeJohn wrote:
I found a spec sheet for my "converter." It has two separate 12 volt circuits. I'm guessing I've blown a fuse on one. Thanks for all the help. I've been working on a more pressing problem, kingpin replacement. Fun, fun, fun.

Can you post the Schematic to the Converter? Thanks, Scott

Hey, I hadn't checked this thread lately.

http://www.amplepower.com/apps/converter/

That site was the best explanation I've seen of what a converter does. The sheet that came with my motorhome just shows how to wire it up, not what's going on inside.

[unionguy1019]

Any one have any ideas to help me out? Took the heater out of the MH to clean the burners. Only about half of them worked during my Dec. camping trip. Since reinstalling, I now have a problem with the unit backfiring and blowing out the pilot. It will cycle 6 to 8 times before this happens. Have tried cutting down the air and also have increased the air to the burner. I was thinking that maybe the main gas valve was leaking to the burner and letting the propane build up to cause this backfire. Shut system down and purged with the blower. Let it set about an hour. Then run a sniffer inside burner chamber, no gas detected. Other than this backfiring the unit works very well in getting the MH heated. Fired it up last week with temps outside at 18 degrees, took 20 minutes to heat up interior, thermo cycled unit 6 times over next 2 hours, small backfire and blew pilot out.

Any ideas?

[whiteknight001]

New V'er

You betcha. We're up to 44 pages- that's gotta be
a near record somewhere...

Mark aka whiteknight

{modified to comply with the no advertising rule}

[new_v_er]

Helloooooooooo Anybody out there? This is a good thread. We Dodge oldie owners know where to go for dedicated info for our rigs. Is the thread worth preserving?:)

[proceed_net]

OldDodgeJohn wrote:

donran wrote:
I have a unit that looks like a charger, but when it receives AC a relay cuts out most 12V devices from the house battery and supplys power to them thru a transformer. The water pump is not cut out and stays on the house battery. This isolates the battery so it can be charge from a seperate battery charger. This charger was missing when I bought the rig and I spent lots of time trying to figure out why the battery didn't charge when the rig was plugged into the AC. Testin the water pump with isolation and non-isolation revealed it just work better when isolated, which is what the rig manufacture intended.

I found a spec sheet for my "converter." It has two separate 12 volt circuits. I'm guessing I've blown a fuse on one. Thanks for all the help. I've been working on a more pressing problem, kingpin replacement. Fun, fun, fun.

Can you post the Schematic to the Converter? Thanks, Scott

[proceed_net]

More than one, whiteknight! I'm begging to scan the entire manual in for the B300 series @ http://rvhelp.net. It's far complete, but I anyone needs I'll skip to the chapters they want. And, don't worry, I'll have a better method of page loading (for dial-up) in a few weeks. Ummm, the real reason I'm here is that I don't have an owners manual for my 1977 M40 (MB400) that's on my B300 chassis. I don't know how to use the water heater/ forced air / refrig. etc... Any help would be welcome. Scott in Denver

[OldDodgeJohn]

donran wrote:
I have a unit that looks like a charger, but when it receives AC a relay cuts out most 12V devices from the house battery and supplys power to them thru a transformer. The water pump is not cut out and stays on the house battery. This isolates the battery so it can be charge from a seperate battery charger. This charger was missing when I bought the rig and I spent lots of time trying to figure out why the battery didn't charge when the rig was plugged into the AC. Testin the water pump with isolation and non-isolation revealed it just work better when isolated, which is what the rig manufacture intended.

I found a spec sheet for my "converter." It has two separate 12 volt circuits. I'm guessing I've blown a fuse on one. Thanks for all the help. I've been working on a more pressing problem, kingpin replacement. Fun, fun, fun.

[donran]

I have a unit that looks like a charger, but when it receives AC a relay cuts out most 12V devices from the house battery and supplys power to them thru a transformer. The water pump is not cut out and stays on the house battery. This isolates the battery so it can be charge from a seperate battery charger. This charger was missing when I bought the rig and I spent lots of time trying to figure out why the battery didn't charge when the rig was plugged into the AC. Testin the water pump with isolation and non-isolation revealed it just work better when isolated, which is what the rig manufacture intended.

[OldDodgeJohn]

unionguy1019 wrote:
Hi All,
Finally got time to sit and give a story of my winter camping trip. Took the Chuck Wagon up on the hill Wed. before Thanksgiving, come back out on 12-04-05. ....

Great story! I'd call that camping. Far cry from parking at an RV resort. 🙂

[unionguy1019]

Hi All,
Finally got time to sit and give a story of my winter camping trip. Took the Chuck Wagon up on the hill Wed. before Thanksgiving, come back out on 12-04-05. The area we go is owned by a local timber company, they allow camping during the deer season when they open the gates. The only amenities here are what you bring!! The place I had it parked is 1 1/2 miles as the crow flies from the nearest paved road. Had to put the chains on to get up the hill. Got at site about 6:30 pm just kinda got set up for the nite. Thur. am set up the site with firepit, canopy and pallets to walk on. Snowed 10" overnite. Cooked a Deep fried turkey for thanksgiving dinner. Fri my son and I cut about 2 cord firewood for the week. Had a few adult carbonated beverages in the evening. Sat got the camp stew pots fixed up. Kept them on the fire until we left. Must of been good, with all the visitors we had off and on 3 gal beef pot was totally gone and only about a gallon of chicken pot left out of 6. We went up for the Pa. deer season. Mrs is not a hunter but she had a ball during the week. The only misforntune during this trip was on Sun. leaving to come down. A chunk of ice kicked up and pulled the transmission cooler line apart. Didn't know it until rig wouldn't move anymore. Fixed line and had son run to town and pick up ATF. Filled tranny back up and had no problem. Even took it for an extended ride home on some hills and the highway just to see if it shifted alright. So far so good. Below is a link to view some photos of our trip, after looking at them let me know who is game to go with me next year!!

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/unionguy1019/album?.dir=/b8a6&.src=ph&.tok=phNjEHEBpPRsjz5C

[huskyhauler]

Sportscoach wrote:
Wow did'nt know there were that many of us. Just purchased a 1978 Sportscoach M500 chassis. There has been quite abit of work done on this unit but still needs work. 440 engine is overheating, the water pump, fan clutch, and thermostat have been replaced. but it still overheats if you feel the radiator it is very hot on top and much cooler on the bottom, it has been chemically flushed could it still be plugged and in need of replacement If you have any answers let me know as this is my home away from home in Las Vegas and would like to get him repaired before I return. Thank you in advance for your reply!!

chemical flushs do very little. what needs to be done is to have the radiator boiled and rodded. it takes a small amount of calcium to plug a radiator. i always used distilled water - anti freeze mix, never tap water in my shop. if you are getting combustion gases in the cooling system, it will constantly over pressurize and pop coolant into the over flow or on to the ground. i would do a simple block test, and have the radiator boiled, in that order. call your local Napa and they can supply you with a " Block Test Kit". it will come with instructions, and is easy to do. a competent radiator shop can handle a "rod out" on the radiator. be advised if the radiator is real bad, it may need a re-core, or replacemet, either case is often a pricy one..

[OldDodgeJohn]

Thanks for the support. I'm getting closer. In further checking out the panel I discovered something. The water pump works fine off just battery. There are two 15 amp circuits in the panel, one for the water pump and one for everything else. So I've got it narrowed down to that. Kind of like you did, I could just run a new line to run the 1/2 that's not working but I'll find the problem if I keep at it. I bet the one side isn't connected or has an inline fuse somewhere. A day piddling on the RV beats a day at work for sure!

[new_v_er]

Hi John,

My Midas had similar problems. I made sure my fuses (in the converter)were ok by replacing or testing them vs. just looking at the element inside. Next I checked all the established connections around the converter. I noted that there is a automatic switch that has a part in charging the house battery when the motor is running. That had some corrosion. I found that the battery was questionable and replaced it. Lastly there were some connections near the house battery box under the counter cabinets. I replaced the connectors to no avail. Lastly, I found the 12v circuit that supply's the fridge and tapped in to the + side of the circuit and ran a wire back to the house battery with a fused line and a switch to charge the battery when on shore power. Everything works now. I may have bypassed a bad connection somewhere.;)

I'm just a shade tree mechanic and not an electrician. So take my info cautiously.

Good luck

[OldDodgeJohn]

HiTech wrote:

OldDodgeJohn wrote:
1st "issue" is that I only have 12V cabin lights if I either run the generator or plug into my home AC. I do have a well charged house battery. The house battery is "connected" because it gets charged when I hook up AC. I also show voltage on the gauge on thh electrical panel inside the RV w/o hooking up AC or running the generator. So I have 12V at that panel but not anywhere else.

I'm confused - the only lights built into my motorhome are 12V lights.

I'm confused, too. How the heck can all the 12V lights work when I have generator running or AC plugged in but nothing when just using the battery. And the battery shows voltage on the volt meter in the RV. Something's disconnected somewhere. 🙂

Also, thanks for the VIN # help.

[Dannbo]

I think eleven number vins are pre 1973. My 1973 manual for Dodge motorhome chassis refers to a thirteen number vin. Who knows?? I have spent many hours on the search for things. Try to google VIN search and go from there narrowing down as you go.

Quite often I'm told that the chassis were purchased from the manufactures one or two years ahead of the actual build. You could check with some of the experts on this site, but I think vin numbers changed from whatever??? to thirteen numbers around this time. Good luck in your search.