DP owners, educate me..

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motoxbob

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 20, 2011
Posts
120
Today at a nice RV park I ate my lunch outside listening to a huge pusher across from me idling as they prepared to leave. I timed it. They ran the engine for 40 minutes while they wandered around. I wanted to ask the fellow if that was something that was really necessary but thankfully my wife kept me from walking over to his site! (God love her)
    So I'll ask the forum. Was that a requirement of owning such a vehicle or just bad manners?
 
Good question. 40 minutes is excessive. However, DP's need to idle/run for some time in order to:

1. Bring the suspension up to 'ride height'.

2.  Be able to release the brakes. Unless the air pressure is high enough, the brakes won't release and you won't go anywhere.

Some DP owners are either inconsiderate or forgetful, and allow their engine to idle beyond the time required for the above.
 
It depends on whether the owner 'dumped' all air the night before. If we're just staying overnight, I don't normally dump the air, and usually don't need to idle in the morning.
 
I have to idle the engine to bring the slides in, but before I can bring them in, the engine has to idle for about one minute to stabilze the chassis voltage, because the engine air heater pulls a lot of power. If I try to retract our coach's two large slides before the engine air heater shuts off, I'll get a low voltage error code, and the slides won't operate properly.

So I have to idle for a little more than a minute before I can bring the slides in, then it takes a little less than a minute to retract all three slides, and about another two minutes to retract the jacks and get the coach up to ride height. All that can easily be done in five minutes.

Excessive idling of diesel engines has been a pet peeve of mine for a long time. I'm convinced that those who do it are just advertising that they are a member of "the diesel club" and they want everyone within earshot to know it. Even our owners manual says to avoid prolonged idling (although it doesn't say exactly what that is.) You're right. It's just rude.

Kev
 
Thanks for the info from the DP owners. I had a feeling that I had a legit concern. "Warming up" is one thing, but idilng like at a truck stoop is another.
 
By the time I air up to ride height, lifted the jacks and checked the connections to the toad, it is 5-6 minutes. I try not to annoy the neighbors by idling too long.


Bill
 
I know it can be annoying to others. I try to hurry as quick as possible. 5mins tops. Pulling in late at night also. Pull in and shut it off. Have respect for others.
 
The folks who idled for 40 minutes give us all a bad reputation. There is absolutely no need to idle for 40 minutes. The manufacturers (both Cummins and Cat) tell you not to do it. 5 to 6 minutes to get the air up and you?re ready to go.

It?s rude, inconsiderate and ultimately bad for the engine to idle that long.
 
Funny, no sooner does this topic pop up and the guy across from me starts up.  With this topic fresh in my mind I look at my watch and look over to see what's going on.  He's still hooked up to the shore, kids are running around and I can't tell if he's getting ready to leave or just running to put air in the tanks.  So I go about doing some chores, head to the dumpster and I notice the kids and wife are over in that part of the park.  Anyway, turns out they're leaving but he idled there a good 20 to 25 minutes before getting underway.  An old Beaver and it was noisy.
 
I would love to have a dp someday..Might happen might not. Sometimes I wonder if some owners think they are BIG Rig drivers and let there engines run on because they sound cool or like Kev said trying to show off a bit...Oh well its only an annoyance for a little while.. :))
 
This morning I had to leave early (6:30) to get some work done on the rig. Yesterday I retracted the jacks and inflated the bags. Disconnected everything except electricity. This morning I unplugged, started, was moving about 1 minute after start. Idled out, and was on a public road about 3 minutes from start. I had ample suburban travel before high speed travel, so no worries about warm-up. I realize this was an ideal scenario, but you really can get a diesel out early in the morning without bothering anyone if you try
 
Interestingly I have seen excessive idle periods from more  pickup drivers than motorhomes. And all the trucks have to do is back under the trailer pin. I don't think its exclusive to just big rigs, the truck crowd likes the smell of diesel in the morning too.
 
I can't say all that idle are doing it to show off or be inconsiderate. Face it, a lot of them are older folks, and have always heard/been taught that diesels need to idle and warm up, and are set in their ways due to what they learned in the old school. I think it's mostly a matter of being uneducated about the operation of a diesel.
many states have adopted no/minimal idling laws. below is an old link I had bookmarked, and probably has been updated.

https://cdllife.com/2014/idling-laws-state/

 
I certainly agree about the excessive bit being excessive.

I would like to add two more data points, just to protect myself.  ;)

My last coach (2005 Newmar Dutch Star) required only about 5 minutes to be ready to go - as others have shared.  My current coach can take a bit longer for the air to come up depending on high or low idle and how long I've been sitting there. If overnight, or three, pretty quick. If a couple weeks, I'm afraid it may be in the ten minute range - maybe a bit more. I've never timed it but will try to remember to do so next time.

This long idle time really bothers me. To the point that I have a potential solution planned. I've purchased a 24volt air compressor and will be hook this into the air system. I would run it prior starting the engine.  Sadly, it isn't exactly "silent" but certainly not as loud as the engine. My initial attempt failed so I have to study the air system a bit more to figure out how to best plumb things.  My only point to all this is that I think there are solutions even for coaches that require a long time to air up.
 
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