Slides on Newer Birds

[Lloyd Chaffin]

Thanks David, right when you think you have figured something out
there is always someone who has a good insite and some great
information to help. I have already adjusted my air seal pressure
down to 12lbs, was at 23lbs. Can't wait to try playing with your fix
for the Aux compressor at the races this weekend. I have always been
bummed that it has never worked right. By the way I am seriously
thinking about having the HWH Active Air system installed on my coach
and that should replumb a buch of stuff and maybe fix some strang
problems I am having with my air systems. Or maybe I will add some
more stuff to go wrong! Ha

Lloyd Chaffin
2004 M380

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, David Brady
wrote:
>
> Hi Lloyd,
>
> Regarding the aux air compressor not pressurizing the
> system, many of the older birds have the same issue.
> Try this: when leveling your coach and before you turn off the
> ignition but after everything else is set, try turning the susp dump
> valve back on for about five seconds before you turn off the
> ignition. This changes the air flow circuits and should allow
> the aux compressor to pressurize the system. It's worth
> a try. This info is from Bennie.
>
> I've always wandered why more 380/450 owners don't
> speak up. On the one hand you may be granted more
> factory favors by remaining silent, on the other, banding
> together on a public forum will certainly pressure BB to
> step up to the plate and provide real solutions. Thanks
> for the clarification on the types of failures you are seeing
> and on the complexities of the systems on your coach.
> Wow, very enlightening. I now better understand your
> frustration. Your systems are quite a bit different from mine,
> but the wanderlodge community is a real hands on set of people,
> and can probably offer solutions for many of your issues.
>
> Over inflating a slide seal may actually cause leaks. If you
> consider that the seal is say 40 ft long and 1" wide even at
> 10 psi it exerts 4800 lbs of force on the slide. This can deflect
> the sides of the slide causing the gaps between the slide and
> the coach to enlarge. Also, when installing the air seal, special
> attention must be paid to the corners. The HWH instruction
> sheet details this, but many installers ignore the instructions.
> If not installed correctly, the corners can crimp which allows
> a gap for water to enter, and over inflating can actually make
> the crimping worse. Install a pressure gauge and turn the pressure
> down.
>
> Best of luck,
> David
>
> Lloyd Chaffin wrote:
> >
> > David thanks, that is some good information and I thought we might
> > better start another thread since I got so far off of RIV. My
seals
> > have always leaked when it rains. A new seal made it somewhat
better
> > but still leaks. Wendell at Fort Valley actually raised the air
> > pressure in my seals to 25lbs because I complained about them
leaking
> > and he said that is all you can do. He said that would not hurt
them.
> > After getting your post I will go check my pressure and make sure
I
> > turn it down to what you suggest because keeping it high has not
> > helped my leaking issue.
> >
> > You are very very lucky to have the HWH slide. Count your
blessings.
> > Our slides where designed and built by Bluebird. The bedroom
slide is
> > run by a 12V electric screw motor which needs 120V to work. Yes
that's
> > correct. They put a 120v to 12v converter on the bedroom slide to
> > make it work so you must have "shore power" to move your "12v"
slide.
> > Go figure. The living room slide works off of air pressure and
needs
> > over 100lbs of pressure before it will move. So when you get
ready to
> > move your coach in the morning you must start the engine and air
up
> > the system while waking people up just to put your slide in. Yes,
I
> > have a 120V Aux compressor but it will not air up the system with
the
> > suspension dumped. It just runs forever and never airs up but if
you
> > start the engine it airs right up. Fort Valley says that's
> > normal.Both slides have separate computers with "software"
involved
> > along with several different sensors, air activated and electric
> > locking pistons, and a few other goodies to make either slide
work.
> > The computers often get confused and have to be rebooted. The
> > hardware and software that run the slides was not made by Bluebird
> > and is very difficult to get or fix. Shall I go on? That's just
for
> > starters.
> >
> > Yes, David I really like my M380 or I would have gave up on it
> > several months ago. It does drive like a dream and is very well
built
> > frame and suspension wise (I never even mentioned the ALUCIBOND
> > issues whish is another whole story). I know I sound like a
> > complainer but I have really spent over 2 years working on my M380
> > and taking it back and forth to Fort Valley. I
> > think I have earned a little venting time. Believe me I have
wanted
> > to talk to other owners who have gone through this but there are
not
> > a lot of M380 owners to talk to but I do have a couple good M380
> > friends and yes they have had hell too getting their coaches
fixed.
> > Yall have problems too but at least there are a bunch of people
> > to talk to on the older coaches. I may be wrong but one reason
why I
> > am talking now on this forum is because nobody seems to know what
> > happened with M380's and LXI 450's. We have been kind of a quiet
> > group mainly I think because we all had so many problems that we
> > didn't want to talk about publicly in fear that we may never get
our
> > coaches fixed. Some comments have been made like "greedy" and "not
> > supporting CCW". Even though I didn't buy my 380 new I still
> > purchased
> > a almost new (had 7K miles on it) Bluebird when I could have
bought a
> > Prevost or something else. Don't you think that maybe the 380 and
450
> > owners pumping millions of dollars into CCW buying these coaches
has
> > possibly helped keep them a float? Just a thought. Would CCW
already
> > be defunked if nobody bought a 380 or 450? So why does CCW
> > treat us like crap? Again I feel so sorry for the 450 owners
because
> > there problems surpass mine by far. My heart goes out to them. At
> > least I can use my 380 now and I'm only out 10 to 15 thousand and
> > hundreds of hours getting mine fixed (Under Warranty). Some of
these
> > people's coaches are still sitting and can't be used with no fix
in
> > sight. The only reason why I'm not in that boat with them is that
I
> > couldn't afford a 450 when I purchased my 380 or I would have
bought
> > one and my dream coach would be parked at Fort Valley too.
> >
> > Thanks for the technical tips and I am going to go check my seal
> > pressure right now and turn it down. I haven't given up yet and
> > thanks for letting me vent some!
> >
> > Lloyd Chaffin
> > 2004 M380
> > Haslet TX
> >
> >
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