What was my brother fixing in the RV??

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DJQsyndo

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Joined
Feb 5, 2019
Posts
14
Hi there!

My brother passed away on Thanksgiving week 2018, he has a 2001 Newell 45 footer RV.

I'm trying to figure out what he was fixing, From what I hear, my brother was fixing the compressor to raise the RV since it can't drive right now because the compressor isn't working?

I've attached a picture of what he was working on. If anyone can help that would be great!
 

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Here's pic #2
 

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It looks  like he was working on the air suspension.  The portable compressor is. Not part of the system.  He may have been using it to troubleshoot the compressor that is part of the actual air suspension system.

Edit;  you could call the Newell plant in MIssouri and ask them about the small parts in the picture, maybe air valves.

Good luck, you will figure it out.
 
Welcome to the RV forum DJQsyndo

Sorry about the loss of your brother.

Everything I see in the picture appears to be parts to the compressor.

Here's a link to the new compressor. And what should look like when put back together.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/California-Air-Tools-Quiet-Flow-1-6-Gal-1-0-HP-Portable-Electric-Oil-Free-Air-Compressor-1610SPQ/305524454?cm_mmc=Shopping%7CG%7CBase%7CD25H%7CMulti%7CNA%7CPLA%7c71700000032394431%7c58700003837562558%7c92700037599062080&gclid=EAIaIQobChMItaKL3Nak4AIVDL7ACh1NHALvEAQYBCABEgK3YPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

As far as what your brother was working on...It looks like he may have been rebuilding the heads of the compressor.
 
Sorry to hear about your brother.
It looks to me like there may be 2 projects he was working on. In the 1st picture, I can see the Home Depot compressor in the background and it has been disassembled. Also, I can see the a motor housing for something else. Maybe he was working on the unit for the coach and was using the portable air compressor to blow out parts and it may have broken and he was now trying to fix it at the same time.
The motor case in the 1st picture is pretty much corroded so it's telling me it sits outside of the coach someplace. 
 
Rene T said:
Sorry to hear about your brother.
It looks to me like there may be 2 projects he was working on. In the 1st picture, I can see the Home Depot compressor in the background and it has been disassembled. Also, I can see the a motor housing for something else. Maybe he was working on the unit for the coach and was using the portable air compressor to blow out parts and it may have broken and he was now trying to fix it at the same time.
The motor case in the 1st picture is pretty much corroded so it's telling me it sits outside of the coach someplace.
Click to expand...

 

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If I were to make a guess it would be that he was attempting to replace the original electric powered air compressor, likely the weathered thing in the first photo  that operated an air levelling system with a scavenged head from the the California Air Tools home air compressor.
 
Sorry to hear about the loss of your brother.

The air levelling system in the motorhome is normally driven by the engine mounted compressed air system that also provides high pressure air to operate the air brakes.

This means if pressure has bled down overnight, the engine has to be started and left to idle for 15-20 minutes to build up pressure before the RV can be moved.

Some RVers added an auxiliary electric air compressor to the system, so they could use it to fill the RV's tanks in the morning instead of idling the noisy main engine.

It looks like your brother was doing this, replacing an earlier air compressor with a newer, silent one. The old compressor shown in the first picture is fairly noisy, the California Air Tools compressor in the later picture is very quiet.

If this is the case, all you have to do is locate where this compressor tied into the RV's air system and cap off that line, returning the air system to the original configuration that will build and maintain air pressure whenever the main engine is running.

A call to Newell can verify if your brother's RV works this way.
 
The Beaver I had included a 12V aux air pump, but it apparently was primarily to add air to the air leveling system to compensate for any leaks. I'd had it over a year before I first heard it run. So perhaps that's what was under way. This pump was located just above the rear drive wheels, but under the floor.
 
Thank you all for your feedback and condolences.....it's been a tough few months and many more to come.

I was talking to his wife and she said that the two side panels that come out of the RV were not working, does the compressor run this part of it too? She also told me he had temporarily plugged up an air leak so that it would hold pressure...

If I can't be able to get this properly done, how much would something like this cost to fix?? The RV right now is in AZ and I'm trying to get it to run so that I can drive it back to California.
 
DJQsyndo said:
Thank you all for your feedback and condolences.....it's been a tough few months and many more to come.

I was talking to his wife and she said that the two side panels that come out of the RV were not working, does the compressor run this part of it too? She also told me he had temporarily plugged up an air leak so that it would hold pressure...

If I can't be able to get this properly done, how much would something like this cost to fix?? The RV right now is in AZ and I'm trying to get it to run so that I can drive it back to California.
Click to expand...

Where in Arizona?
 
DJQsyndo said:
I was talking to his wife and she said that the two side panels that come out of the RV were not working, does the compressor run this part of it too? She also told me he had temporarily plugged up an air leak so that it would hold pressure...
Click to expand...

Generally speaking I have never heard of Slides working off of air pressure.
Most are either hydraulic or gear/cable drive with an electric motor.

You say the wife said he plugged an air leak.  Have you tried to start the Motorhome? 
I assume there should be air tank gauges on the dash (front and rear) and after starting the air pressure should start to rise slowly.
If it didn't I would start looking for a leaking sound etc. 

IF you can't do that a Mobile Mechanic might be an option if you can't move the MH yet.
I can't say what it cost but most things with an RV are not cheap especially if you have to hire someone to do the work.

Good luck and Please let us know what it took to get it running and how much it cost you.
 
You really need a mechanic that is familiar with this specific brand of coach, or at least with the underlying chassis for this model year to determine what the problem is.

Compressed air is used for a all sorts of things on diesel pusher coaches, not just the air brakes and the leveling system, a few months ago someone posted to one of these rv message board with a catch 22 situation, his coach used compressed air to shift the transmission, someone had pulled it into a paint shop, turned the engine off while still in drive, left it there for days so the air bled down.  When they went to start it, they could not because the transmission was left in drive, could not shift to neutral because there was no air pressure, this coach only had a an engine driven air compressor, so no way to re-pressurize, could not back feed from the tire fill pressure port due to 1 way check valves that isolated the various air operated systems, etc...
 
    As for the slides not going in, have you checked the charge on the batteries.  The coach batteries on mine had to be charges to allow them to operate.

Ed
 
Hfx_Cdn said:
    As for the slides not going in, have you checked the charge on the batteries.  The coach batteries on mine had to be charges to allow them to operate.

Ed
Click to expand...

The slides are in, it's flushed, I just hope whatever my brother was trying to fix that it wasn't anything too crazy but i know its more complicated than that.
 
DO NOT TRY TO START THE ENGINE until you determine that your brother hasn't removed any parts off the engine.

If he removed the engine driven compressor and it's laying on the work bench then you don't want to start the engine.
 
Got it...I won't start the engine or anything until I know for sure... I've been looking at repair shops near Laveen, AZ but i'm not sure which to go with, can anyone recommend one??
 
I had good service from

Massey's Diesel & RV Repair
1417 S 59th Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85043
602-233-1700
https://www.masseysdiesel.com/


They are just south of Buckeye Rd. on 59th.
Tom Kszepka is the Motor Home Service Advisor
 
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