New Coach on the Road Home

[lloyd&pamela]

We left LA Saturday morning driving our new 1991 Prevost Country Coach to Nova Scotia. With the help of so many members on this forum: Jon Wehrenberg for virtual inspection buy hundreds of photos, Ray Davis for great references and advice, Steve Bennett for walking me through the coach, and so many others we have a solid coach with a few vintage issues that we will resolve quickly. Thank you all.

Prevost in Mira Loma did a DMI and Level 3 inspection. They identified several issues that needed attention: front shocks, front wheel bearing seal, bad compressor, bad leveling valve, etc.

Jon has been a wonder, he has held our hand virtually throughout the entire process. Tomorrow I will have the opportunity to shake his hand personally in Knoxville and say thank you. He has offered to put the bus over his pit and show me how to maintain it going forward. I will never be able to thank him properly.

Had a nice afternoon at Pomona with several of the POG members looking at the new Prevost conversions. It was nice to see some of the features I can afford to buy in 10-15 years.

In the mean time we look forward to making this coach our home on the road. We will see everyone at TN rally. And then we intend to begin full-timing in June. We will make our way to the Iowa Country Coach Rally and the St. Paul FMCA Rally. Then off to the west to see the Canadian Rockies and then down the coast. We look forward to spending this winter in the SW and then wherever we feel drawn.

Thank you again everyone,

Lloyd

[Ray Davis]

Congratulations Lloyd, and safe travels to you. It was a pleasure to meet you at the FMCA rally, and I hope if you come through CA again, please give us a call. It would be nice to all go out to dinner some evening!

Drive safely, and enjoy your new "ride".

Ray

[truk4u]

Lloyd,

Great post and glad to hear your on the road. I'll be at the CC rally in July also
and if you haven't made a reservation yet, you may want to call ASAP to assure a site.

Has Jon sent you his bill yet?:p

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I ran out of paper for the itemization. As soon as I get more paper I will beable to submit the bill to Lloyd.

In the meantime, all you CC guys, especially those with experience with early 90's coaches, stand by. Lloyd is asking me house questions I cannot answer. He has some good questions that maybe POG members can help with.

I can think of a few...How can he turn on his Webasto? Is there a circuit breaker for the chassis battery charger, and if so, where is it? Right now the charger is on whenever he is on shorepower or the generator runs.

Beside the Webasto, is there any other heat sources for the coach, and if so where are the switches or circuit breakers?

[dalej]

Let's just hope Lloyd can hold on until TN. A walk around his coach will tell a lot. bus's are so individual when it comes to what the converter was doing that year.

Lloyd and anyone else that has items that can't be explained, or just questions can make a list to have at the next rally.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

If I can't answer Lloyd's questions I'll just make something up.

[Ray Davis]

I'll try my best from what I remember with my 93 CC.


I can think of a few...How can he turn on his Webasto?
There is a button over the driver which is labled something like "heat control". That had to be turned on (a light would turn red on that bank of switches). Then there were three other switches labled "heat exchanger", which turned on the 3 circuits (dash, salon/kitchen, bedroom). Each of those areas had a separate thermostat.

NOTE, if you had your water heater switch (there are two) turned on AND also hit the "heat control" button, then that would turn on the webasto to heat the water, perhaps in addition to the electric heater.


Is there a circuit breaker for the chassis battery charger, and if so, where is it? Right now the charger is on whenever he is on shorepower or the generator runs.

On my coach there was not. I'm not sure if mine was standard, but I had separate chargers, independent of my inverters. They were always on when I was plugged in or on generator power. Perhaps there was a circuit braker in the panel, but I never used it, if there were.



Beside the Webasto, is there any other heat sources for the coach, and if so where are the switches or circuit breakers?


My CC had another switch in the dining area called "Electric Heat". This also was controlled by the three thermostats in the coach.

Ray

[truk4u]

Ditto most of what Ray said and I suppose it depends on year.

When I turn on the Webasco, the hot water gets heated by default. The two buttons controlling the water heaters on mine are electric only.

No electric kick heaters in mine and I sure miss them.

[mike kerley]

Ditto to what Ray said. Electric and Webasto controlled by same thermostats. One in the living room and one in the bedroom. Master electric heat switches in bedroom and galley. Webasto switch over drivers area. When diesel heat is on, water is heated as well.

We had no chassis battery charger and added one that we plug in when needed.

Our electrical panel (front of first compartment) also hits the joey bed, but we can lift it enough to swing it out. When I find a great metal saw, I'll trim a bit off the joey bed and it will swing past it.

Enjoy your new coach, we sure love ours.


Mike and Karen

[Ray Davis]

Just a minor clarification, you guys might try it on yours.

Normally with the webasto heat on, it wouldn't fire until a thermostat caused it to fire. In my CC, with the webasto heat on, turning on the water heater switch turned on the webasto, regardless of themostat settings.

Ray

[MangoMike]

Also the Webasto won't fire if the coolant temp is over (140 to 154 depending on your version).

MIke

[lloyd&pamela]

Truk4U - registered today for Amana, look forward to seeing you there. If Jon finds any paper I may have to hock the bus to pay him, his advice has been priceless.

Dale I have a list started already.

Ray I have 5 switches over the drivers area:

Bedroom AC
Dash AC
Galley AC
Central Heat Control
Interior Heat Exchangers

On the consol to the right of my legs there are:

Bedroom blower (off, low, med, high)
Living Rm blower (off, low, med, high)

Note: these two dials are repeated in the kitchen with the same choices.

There is a thermostat in the living area and the bedroom.

If I switch on all the switches and turn the thermostat up the webasto comes on ("heater on" indicator lights up between the central heat control and interior heat exchangers switches), BUT even turning the fan to high yields no hot air from the vents and very little air flow at all.

There is also a separate fresh water heater switch in the panel over the passenger front window.

While driving the water temp has been around 200.

[Ray Davis]

Lloyd when you turn on the Central Heat Control, and adjust the thermostat do you hear the Webasto start up? It will sound like a small jet engine, very noticable.

If you are not getting airflow, I would assume your fans intakes/outtakes are dirty and may need a cleaning. If it's not hot, then the webasto may not be running. Note, the Webasto will not run, IF the water in the system is already hot enough, like if you've been driving.

Ray

ps: I may be wrong, but the switches you're describing by your right leg are for the A/C system. I don't believe the heating blowers are affected by those. I don't remember any controls on the heat blowers. They didn't blow real hard, but if hot air is coming out, you don't need a ton of force.

[lloyd&pamela]

When the thermostat is turned up the Webasto does come on. I can hear it and feel the exhaust out the back.

What turns on the fans? The vent is located under the stovetop. Is the fan located there also or remote?

If the blower controls on the console are not for heat, are the ones located in the kitchen for heat and the ones on the console for cooling?

[JIM KELLER]

Lloyd, I have been reading this thread and I am sure you know this but still worth a mention. On our coach the thermostat has to be turned up like you are doing and the mode has to be set on furnace to allow the heater blower motors to run. The mode "heat pump" is for roof units only.

[lloyd&pamela]

Jim where do you set the mode?

[JIM KELLER]

On the thermostat itself. What is the year and who is the convertor of your Coach ? May not be like ours.

[JIM KELLER]

On the thermostat itself. What is the year and who is the convertor of your Coach ? May not be like ours.

O.K. I just found it. Not quite awake. Perhaps our thermostats are not the same.

[truk4u]

Lloyd,

There are coolant shut off valves on most of the buses. One is the flow to the heat source and one is the return. On your vintage I'm not sure if that loop is tied into the Webasco, but if it is, you may not be getting coolant to the heat exchangers if someone closed the valves. On my 97 Marathon, closing those valves stopped all coolant to the dash heater core, but I don't remember if the Webasco was in the same loop.

Jon?

[mike kerley]

Loyd,

The Bedroom and Living Rm blower (H M L) switches are for the chassis driven AC unit on our bus. They provide the air flow over the evaporator coils for CC version of over the road air. Central heat Control switch and Interior Heat Exchanger buttons on and thermostats set to above ambient temps will bring on a small flow of air over a heater coil under the sink area and in the front of the bus by the entrance door or in the bedroom. The only fan control we have is the thermostat. Fan comes on when heat is called for by the thermostat. Speed control not an option.

Kick heaters (electric ones) come on with the same thermostat, but have a different location and again, fan speed is not adjustable.

Mike K

[Denny]

Lloyd,

On my 99 Country Coach, the Central Heat Control is for the bay heaters and there is a separate thermostat in the plumbing bay behind a removable panel. This controls the bay heat for winter use.

The Interior Heat Exchangers controls the coach heat. On my bus there are individual Heat Exchanger panel buttons in the front above the pass. side, one in the galley and another in the bedroom. If you push these switches in, they change color and give a different fan speed. These are two speed fan motors.

The temp is controlled by the thermostat setting when on the Furnace mode.

Thermostat must be on Furnace mode and the Interior Heat Exchanger and Central Heat Control buttons above the driver's seat on for Webasto to work to give heat up and down.

Denny

[garyde]

Boy, I've been reading these posts and my head is spinning. Maybe someone should call Llloyd and walk him thru his switches.

[rfoster]

Gary: He is probably at the best place he can be to get help. He is at Jon's Place.

[lloyd&pamela]

Jon solved the Battery Balance problem and stopped the leaking water pumps by replacing them.

I found the basement thermostat in the plumbing bay. I am able to turn on the Webasto now and will try the fans tomorrow when we are out of Jon's garage.

Denny thanks for explaining the central heat control.

I think the procedure for starting the living and bedroom heat is:

1. Turn on the Interior Heat Exchanger
2. Turn the thermostat to the desired temperature in the living or bedroom
3. Switch on the living or bedroom ac switch
4. Wait for the "heater on" light
5. turn on the blower speed
6. hope that heat begins to blow out of the vents.

Is this correct?

Does seem overly complicated to me. But then again I am still a newbie and used to radiant heat at the house.

One day we can have a radiant heat in our next bus.

The coach is 1991 Country Coach. Thanks everyone.

[lloyd&pamela]

We have heat from the webasto.

I just realized that the heat comes out of a different set of vents from the CC AC. Foolish me to think they would use the same ducting.

I am going to need an illustrated map to figure out how to turn on all the different systems. At least it will make it easier for the next owner.

Thank you everyone for walking me through the options.

[Ray Davis]

Lloyd, glad you got it working, but I believe there is a small problem in your list below.


I think the procedure for starting the living and bedroom heat is:

1. Turn on the Interior Heat Exchanger
2. Turn the thermostat to the desired temperature in the living or bedroom
3. Switch on the living or bedroom ac switch
4. Wait for the "heater on" light
5. turn on the blower speed
6. hope that heat begins to blow out of the vents.


Here's what I believe works for your era coach:

1. Turn on central heat control - that is the master switch for the whole system.
2. Turn on the heat exchanger for the zone you want to heat.
3. Adjust thermostat to desired temp

You should not need to turn on the A/C stuff, that is completely separate animal. Nor do I believe there are any blower controls for the heating system. The blower controls are A/C specific.

So, it should be easier than you've indicated! Also note you don't need to wait for red light. The light will come on when the heater turns on, as required by the thermostat.


Ray

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Lloyd and Pamela are two fine folks that are a great addition to this collection of whackos. He has shared his plans for travel in the coach with us and it is great to know he is going to make the coach a big part of their lives.

[lloyd&pamela]

Thank you. It seems to be working great now.