brincker
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Re: Manual inflation of Freightliner suspension
Freightliner chassis usually has a Schrader valve (like on your tires) somewhere at the left front corner and typically accessible via a bay door or maybe the generator access panel. It is used primarily by tow truck operators to air up the suspension for towing, but can also be used in a repair shop if they need to inflate the suspension.485Views0likes0CommentsRe: Consequential damages coverage?
No, it's not the same thing. "Exclusionary" refers to the components that are covered under the contract, i.e. that all components are covered unless listed under "excluded". It does not refer to the type or amounts of damages (repairs) that will be paid for. An excluded component is not covered at all, but a covered component is still subject to the other provisions of the contract, e.g. restrictions as to why and how the damage occurred or the type of costs that will be reimbursed. For example, the contract might pay for an actual replacement part and installation labor, but not pay for shipping the part to the shop or storage fees while awaiting repairs.474Views0likes0CommentsRe: Absorption fridge tests and new safety device
I doubt it too, especially in their current legal situation. Any changes now would be tantamount to an admission that their designs were deficient to begin with. I was merely lamenting that neither of the major RV fridge makers bothered to make an inexpensive and simple improvement that could have eliminated leveling concerns for RV owners. A lack of innovation that is sadly typical of RV appliance makers. RV builders buy their appliances for every RV made, regardless of quality, so they have no incentive to ever make improvements or spend money on R&D.1.3KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Absorption fridge tests and new safety device
I should clarify what I learned during the ARP field testing and the "long term damage" claim. It became evident that the cooling unit functions perfectly fine until the tilt reaches a point where there is insufficient return flow to the boiler, and then the boiler temperature skyrockets past the point where temperature damage (crystallization of the sodium chromate) begins to occur. That degree of tilt is not something the RV owner can readily determine and it differs by fridge make/model and the direction of the tilt, so there is no useful "rule of thumb" except to keep it as level as possible. Most of us encounter some brief periods of off-level operation during travel, during rest or fuel stops, checking in at a campground office, etc. and each of these may trigger a high temperature episode. It's a classic "death of 1000 cuts", so some RV owners will never accumulate enough "cuts" to cause a total failure while others might reach the critical point fairly quickly. So, those who say they don't have problem with off-level operation or high boiler temperatures may indeed be right. The concern is that none of us really know where we currently stand with respect to the damage threshold or how often we will add more high temperature events in the future. With an ARP doing both the monitoring and preventing an over-temperature condition, this source of potential future failure is eliminated. The value of that level of protection is something only you can decide. The thing that bothers me the most is that the fridge makers could have easily and cheaply built in this level of boiler management and off-level protection. All the RV fridges made in the last 20+ years have circuit boards that could easily include the monitoring function and the temperature sensor for the boiler is only a few dollars in mass production quantities. The increment to the fridge selling price would be tiny, if any. If Norcold had built in ARP-like monitoring, they would not now be pouring millions of dollars into the 1200-series fire recall and compensation for victims of the failures. Dometic has had similar fridge issues, though not on the same scale that Norcold has had. It seems to me this was all preventable.1.3KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Absorption fridge tests and new safety device
I'm the guy who wrote that piece on irv2.com and have been involved in testing of the device in real world use. I don't know if everybody needs an ARP or not - I discussed that very point in a follow-up to the original message. Nobody says your fridge is going to roll over and die if you don't get one of these devices, just like your wiring isn't automatically going to burn up if you don't have a surge protector, or your engine isn't going to immediately blow up if you don't change the oil at 3000 miles. But we do know that a percentage of RV fridges fail prematurely, and that a percentage of those actually catch fire when failure occurs. Managing the boiler temperature to stay within the optimal range in all operating scenarios is intended to make sure your fridge has a long and happy life. And in doing so, it should also provide a safety shutdown in the event something goes seriously wrong.It's a better way of doing things. There is solid science, backed with years of experimentation & testing, that shows that long term damage will accumulate with even modest off-level operation. You can learn more about that by reviewing the videos on Absorption Refrigeration on the healthyrvrefrigerator.com site. I know Paul Unmack and his wife. Both are fully-qualified mechanical engineers, licensed and experienced in the design and building of industrial process control equipment and applications. This is definitely not a gadget invented by a backyard mechanic.1.3KViews0likes0Comments
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