Emergency Brake Stuck

[Bill Dator]

Two weeks ago we left Ohio and headed home at the first rest stop in Pa. we were about 75% into the parking space when suddenly the emergency brake was applied automatically and I could not move no matter how hard I tried. I immediately called Prevost Pass and was told them the problem. They said I was in luck that their top man was on call and he would call me back. In less then 5 minutes a gentlemen with a French accent called me. He suggested I check the circuit breakers for the slide. Believe it or not I knew where to look for them. The lights on the board indicated that all slides were in lock mode. I pushed each black button but it would not release the brake. The tech advised me to push each red button, as I did there was a rush of air. I was now able to release the emergency brake. The tech assured me that it was safe to drive the coach home.
We drove 5 more hours and arrived home safe. I attempted to put out the slide and it would not operate. I went back to the circuit board and pushed each red button and the slides now work. I have not yet moved the bus but hopefully the slides will retract and the emergency brake will release. Will report further.

Lesson learned Prevost was excellent in their response and saved me dealing with a local mechanic. I need to get the tech's name so I can thank him for his professionalism in dealing with an amateur like me. Second I would suggest that if you have slides you investigate where the controls are and I guess you would call them circuit breakers are located.

I know Jim Keller will object but I have another question, my bus seems to be dropping down more than it did before when parked in my barn. Should I be concerned? Can I drive it to Florida or should I have Prevost look at it here? Thanks

[JIM KELLER]

Bill, I'm proud of you ! Before we know it you will be giving seminars on circuit breaker locations. In ref to your Bus dropping down. Do you mean it has an air leak ? Does it lower evenly ? There are members on the forum that have more knowledge than I about how to proceed with air leaks. I think the only member with an air tight, leak free Bus is Hector. The rest of us just put up with various degrees of leaks.

[Gil_J]

Bill,

A call to Prevost is almost always the right first call. A mechanic would have been focused on the air system, not knowing what interlocks Prevost installed.

You certainly aren't the first that I have heard of having this issue. If I had a coach with Prevost slides I would look at the possibility of installing a override function for the emergency brake interlock. Yes, it would have an obvious flashing warning light and resettable alarm buzzer, so it would never be accidentally activated. A similar situation happened to a Prevost owner that needed to exit the Alaska ferry and he was the first that needed to exit. In his case, he was racing against time as a wrecker that had been called to pull him off.

I would also report what occurred to you to Prevost engineering and Bill Jensen. There should no way the emergency brake can be activated once the emergency brake has been released. What you describe suggests the the emergency brake can automatically applied if the slide lock logic commands the emergency brake to activate, regardless of whether or not you are moving. This is a huge safety issue if true. I hope you actually stopped short of being fully in the parking space and there is speed sensing logic that only allows the emergency brake to be applied when the vehicle is not moving.

As for the coach dropping down, I'm guessing your temperatures are beginning to drop too. Cold whether affects the rubber o-rings in the valves. Over time, dropping or leaning seem evitable for most coaches. If it bothers you, you can chase down the leak or leaks. There is an electrically controlled solenoid that blocks the suspension air system from the rest of the coach when the ignition is off. Once that has been checked, identifying the leaks is limited to the suspension air system.

Slow suspension related leaks won't affect the safe operation of the coach. Check your aux pressure gauge while you're operating the coach. If you are on a pretty flat roadway there won't be much change in aux pressure. As the rate of leaking increases the engine compressor will cycle more often. Some, incorrectly, say this will reduce the compressor's life. That's not really true as the pistons in the compressor are engaged whenever the engine is running. The down side of the compressor supplying air too often is the life of the dryer cartridge is reduced and the compressor's governor cycles more often.

If you get to the point of wanting your air leaks identified and corrected you should talk to Joe Camper. He has an earned reputation of finding and correcting leaks.

[Bill Dator]

Thanks all for the suggestions and comments. It is the reason one should join POG and never leave home without it.

Gil, I was applying the brakes and barely moving when all of a sudden the emergency brake came on. I will check with Prevost. Thanks