PT40 inspection prelims

[Terry Neal]

Don, my wife's uncle has a PT40 which I think now has 8 or 10 Trojans in
it. He revamped the entire Inverter/battery system as he needed more
power for everything + they boondock a lot in AZ. I will see him next
week & can get you the details / pictures if that might help in your
plans? The rest of the inspection seems to be things that can be
corrected. I would definitely have the seller fix the propane leak(s)
as well as verify the correct operation of all the gas appliances if I
were buying it. Good luck with the purchase should you decide to go
forward.

Terry Neal
Bozeman, MT
82PT40
74FC34



Don Bradner wrote:

> I had a 90 PT40 (the one I've mentioned before in Phoenix) inspected
> today. Won't get the photos until later tonight or maybe tomorrow, and
> the written report a day or so later, but I have the highlights that I
> thought I would share for comments.
>
> Positive things:
> Coach condition generally good, inside and out. Engine ran well, no
> sign of leaks, belts and hoses look good.
>
> Problem areas:
> Bad propane leak. He said when he turned the gas on, he could both
> hear and smell it. Of course the seller says they will take care of
> it, but???... As a result, no testing of propane appliances has
> occurred. Refrigerator worked on AC.
>
> Batteries are shot. Had to get battery cart to start the coach, and
> the coach set were so bad that he had trouble testing some of the
> things that only run from the inverter. Seller says they will replace
> batteries. Generator started OK (presumably separate battery - can
> someone tell me if that is the case in a 90? - I know it was later).
> I'm told it has 6 Group 24s, 3 chassis, 3 coach. That would be pretty
> marginal for me, I'm a pretty heavy power user for electronics. Don't
> mind running the generator for the boondocking we do (primarily a
> month in Q every year), but not if they run down in a hurry. Anybody
> out there who has undertaken to add batteries to a coach like this?
>
> Signs of water staining on walls at windows behind both front seats.
> Worrisome for someone who spends a lot of time in Eureka California!
> Hard to test to tell if anything has been repaired or not. On the plus
> side, we do have experience with doing our own window removal and
> replacement, but I don't know if the Bird windows would be different.
>
> Some cracking of formica walls in bedroom. The inspector felt it was
> probably not abnormal wear and tear.
>
> A specific comment from the inspector: He said it had been awhile
> since he had inspected a Bird, and he had to refer to the manual a few
> times to locate some items. He said he's had quite a few jobs recently
> on "ordinary DPs," Winnies, Monacos, etc. that are 2-4 years old. He
> said it was a real pleasure to do one on a Bird where everything was
> so solid and well-built.
>
> Don Bradner
> http://www.arcatapet.net
>
>



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