Three questions

[michbill]

This is Michbill. We have a 2009 Monaco Dynasty Regal IV. We have three questions that are related:

1. As a result of a family emergency, we will have to spend the fall/winter in the mountains of NC. I am looking for suggestions to help keep the coach warm, safe and damage free. We are on a cement pad next to a home. We have 50 amp service, and we have water until it starts to freeze. I have heat tape and pipe insulation for the hose but not sure it will do the job.

2. Is it possible to tap into the coach camera system and use it as a security system transmitting the images to my cell phone?

3. Does anyone know where the fluid reservoir for the HWH room slides is located? Also, how do I check the levels? What fluid is used in this system?
Thank you all.
Bill

[D_E_Bishop]

Re' the security system, there are about 30,00 of them. You can google them, go to ebay, Amazon, or Home Depot/Lowes. All of them have some sort of wireless camera that can have the receiver in the house and connected to the phone line. I looked into a wireless door bell/camera with a recorder and wifi connection. They run from a couple of hundred to several thousand. Also a local security company will be able to fix you up.

Sorry about the family health problems.

[JimM68]

I've run ours in the very cold. Not quite a Dynasty but still a Monaco.
If the inside temp in the coach is kept at 45 or higher with the furnaces, mine only froze the icemaker line (before the valve, the valve and fridge feed line are heated) and this only happened twice, both time daytime highs were in the middle teens.

[michbill]

Thank you all for the great suggestions and tips. Last night it went down to 28-32 degrees, depending on which side of the coach you were on, so all the information was put to use.
et2 have you set up such a security system?
Thank you
Bill

[Ivylog]

Bill, assuming you are not going to use the bath in the house, your grey will fill up before the black. One trick I do when the grey is full, I open both dump valves which puts grey into the black. Instead of the regular cap I use one with a hose fitting on it plus a hose valve so I can let out the small amount of stuff after the dump valves before I take the cap off to dump the tanks. No, you do not open the valves without a cap on.

[Ivylog]

There is an adjustable Tstat in the bay with the water valves and the A Hot up high passenger side. Mine does not have any degrees on it and before I stored inside I used several freezing mornings to help figure out it's temps. Left the bay door open and then I could hear the click when I turned it. I agree that it was set higher than necessary. I was able to keep it warm enough with just the electric portion of the A HOT, but we were not living in it here in the GA mountains. During the day when your are not there I would run the inside Tstat way down and then raise it back up when you get home. Will not take long for the diesel portion to bring the temp up.

[et2]

You can buy security cameras at Costco or SAMs , online etc. If you get a internet cable connection and wifi setup many of them you can look at the camera locations through a App on your phone ( Qsee). Anytime anywhere you are.

[gemert]

michbill wrote:
Thank you all for the great responses' You guys are great!!
Mark, thanks for the specifics!
Ivylog, For the black and gray tanks I have the "honey truck" come and pump us out. Can you tell me where the " Dynasty's heater" switch might be. I have never heard of it. I have Aqua-Hot system.

Has anyone set up a security system in/for the coach? The area is not a "big" problem but we have to be at the nursing home for a lot of hours a day and I would feel more comfortable with some kind of system.
Thanks
Bill

Most of the Monaco products with an Aqua Hot that I know have a heater outlet in the bays where the tanks are. It is usually set about 40-45 degrees. If you leave the AH on it will heat your bays if everything is working correctly.

[michbill]

Thank you all for the great responses' You guys are great!!
Mark, thanks for the specifics!
Ivylog, For the black and gray tanks I have the "honey truck" come and pump us out. Can you tell me where the " Dynasty's heater" switch might be. I have never heard of it. I have Aqua-Hot system.

Has anyone set up a security system in/for the coach? The area is not a "big" problem but we have to be at the nursing home for a lot of hours a day and I would feel more comfortable with some kind of system.
Thanks
Bill

[Executive45]

Mr.Mark wrote:
If your 2009 Dynasty is like our 2008 Monaco Dynasty, we had the Slide Reservoir under the entry steps.
MM.

Ummmm....Mark, you SOLD your Dynasty...:W....as nice as it was, I'm sure Ms. Liberty isn't happy if you're two timin her....:B:B.....Dennis

OP, you already have your answers....Dennis

[Ivylog]

You need to fill your water tank when it's not way below freezing and then drain the hose and put it away using your 12V pump. Dump both of your tanks when it's not freezing and support the sewer line so it drains the waste out... no reason to store it if it does not hold water. When it's below 25 you need to run the Dynasty's heater so it warms your tanks. The rest of the time I'd use electric space heaters so you do not use up your propane and have to take the rig to get more propane. If you have AquaHot then less of a problem as 100 gallons of diesel will go a long time... the last 20 gallons you cannot use.

2. Guess anything is possible, but wifi camera systems are fairly cheap assuming the house has wifi to send the picture to you although I doubt security is an issue plus aren't there people living in the house?

3. Agree under the steps and ATF fluid.

[ferndaleflyer]

How cold does it get in the NC mountains???? 32 degrees last night! 16 Oct

[Mr_Mark1]

To answer #3, WIlliam B. is correct. If your 2009 Dynasty is like our 2008 Monaco Dynasty, we had the Slide Reservoir under the entry steps. You lift up the lid on the step storage and unscrew the screws around the plastic bin (lots of screws) and lift it out.

You will see the pump and hydraulic lines right there. This pump is just like the level-legs pump in the generator bay.

Good luck,
MM.

[William_B]

1) You shouldn't have to do any extraordinary things to spend the winter. The coach is capable as it is. Make sure you crack the ceiling vents once in awhile as moisture can be a problem when it is closed up in cold conditions. A heat tape wrapped around the water hose and encased in foam insulation will enable you to use the water all winter. Watch out with your sewer though, you may want to let the tanks fill then dump if it below freezing.
2) Are you in a security challenged area?
3) It is probably under the entry steps. ATF

[silvercorvette]

#1 I don't know the answer but knowing what area you will be staying and how cold it gets would help
#2 Probably not the coach camera but they do make home alarm systems that may work
#3 don't know Probably some kind of electric screw drive, or if it is hydraulic it probably uses the same stuff that is used in hydraulic jacks. These are just guesses and the answers can depend on the manufacturer of your coach. Maybe someone with a 2009 Monaco Dynasty will know the answer.