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RV Doctor ColumnRV Doctor #281 Dear RV Doctor, I have a 1989 Kit Companion travel trailer with an old Trav'ler Duette stove/oven/furnace combination. The instructions are worn off of the unit and I have no idea how to light the furnace. The stove seems to work fine. The pilot light will not light and the fan won't come on. There is 12-volt power to the fan switch. Any help would be appreciated! Nate Gose, (Colorado Springs, CO) Nate, Try this; open the oven door and manually depress the spring-loaded button on the side of the oven opening, (I can't remember which side of the oven it's on). This allows LP to freely flow to the pilot assembly. Be sure the LP container is opened and the pressure is correctly set to 11.0 inches of water column. The pilot flame should stay lit when you release the button. If it does, close the oven door. After setting the temperature on the thermostat, it will seemingly take an abnormally long time for the main flame to ignite. If you open the oven door to check, however, the flame will not light. A hidden lever encased in the side of the oven unit pushes the LP safety valve only when the door is closed. The fan should engage sometime after the burner has produced enough heat to be delivered through the vents at the bottom of the oven. Dear Gary, I have a 1993 Holiday Rambler travel trailer which the local repair shop says needs a new power converter. Can this replacement job be done easily or should I have the dealer do it for the $200 he has quoted for a Progressive Dynamics 40-amp unit? Steve Webster, (South Bend, IN) Steve, Most converter installations are fairly easy, especially if the new one is the same brand and model of the one you are replacing. But if indeed you are replacing a Progressive Dynamics with the same model, then $200 labor is a bit high for that task. It should take an experienced RV tech no more than an hour to an hour and a half to swap it out. If you are serious about RVing you might want to consider switching to a multi-stage "smart" converter such as the Statpower Truecharge 40+ which uses charging criteria developed specifically for RV use. It optimizes the charging parameters by taking into account the battery temperature, the total amp-hour capacity of the battery bank and the type of electrolyte used. Here's a brief overview of how it operates. The multi-stage charge sequence begins with a bulk charge which basically pours all of the converter's output into the depleted battery bank until the voltage approaches the gassing point, (around 14.2 - 14.4 volts). This bulk stage will bring the battery up to about 75 -80% capacity in the shortest amount of time. Next is the absorption stage. In this stage, the battery is charged at 14.4 volts until the current decreases to about 5-amps. At this point the battery bank is considered fully charged. Then it enters a maintenance type of charge sequence called the float stage. This float charge is commonly referred to as a "trickle charge." A constant voltage of about 13.3 to 13.5 volts is applied at a low current of about 1 - 3 amps. This is the point at which most other converters begin to boil the electrolyte. The Truecharge 40+ eliminates this fear and most all RVs can be left plugged in indefinitely when equipped with this charger. The exception is when the battery bank consists of true deep cycle batteries such as two Trojan T-105, 6-volt golf cart batteries. Most true deep cycle batteries are best utilized when charged and discharged deeply between charge cycles. They are not designed for prolonged periods of float charge. The Truecharge 40+, however, considers this and allows you to choose a charging cycle sequence that only includes two steps - the bulk charge and absorption charge. A third, constant output voltage mode can also be selected if necessary. A fourth, equalization stage is also available. This equalization mode is simply a controlled overcharge designed to minimize or prevent sulfation from occurring in flooded batteries. During normal charge cycles, especially in the hotter climates, higher temperatures and impurities in the electrolyte may prevent some cells from attaining a full charge while allowing a higher degree of sulfating on the plates. Since not all batteries require a regular equalization charge, (most sealed, lead acid batteries in fact, do not), this feature is user-induced rather than automatic. Other advantages of the Truecharge models include the ability to choose between gel, flooded or AGM battery types. Since each is constructed differently, the charging patterns should also be different. It also has three separate outputs for charging the engine start battery of a motorhome, the auxiliary battery bank and perhaps a separate generator starting battery if so equipped. Over-temperature protection, overload protection and reverse polarity protection are additional benefits. And the good news is that it is quite simple to install. The 120-volt circuits of your PD panel will stay intact and just the DC circuits will be switched over to the Statpower. In most every case, an upgrade to one of these highly efficient, "smart" power converter/chargers is a wise investment and may very well eliminate or at least minimize the 12-volt battery charging woes so prevalent today. Check one out during your next visit to Camping World. Dear RV Doctor, I would like to know whether I can use my vacuum truck for portable toilets to pump out RV black and gray water holding tanks and will it or could it do any damage to the RV. The vacuum is like that of a septic truck but works at a lower vacuum, about 17 - 25 inches. Do you have any general procedures to follow? John Garrett, (Campbell River, BC, Canada) Granted John, this isn't a question I receive very often, but I think I understand why you are asking; you probably want to offer this service at campgrounds or other groupings of RVs. As long as you can make a leak-proof connection from your suction hose to the termination outlet common to all RVs, there should be no reason why you cannot use your low vacuum truck. Twenty-five inches of vacuum should do no harm to any component in the waste holding system. All the plumbing from the tanks to the termination assembly are connected pieces of cemented SCH 40 ABS pipe along with the appropriate fittings. I would, however, avoid connecting the suction hose to any flexible sewer hose for obvious reasons.
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