Greetings from Las Vegas: 6:16 AM @ 83 degrees, been going to 104 these days!

I have not liked the location of the propane generator (7KW) up front on my Breakaway, it is way to low and I have been catching the front of the housing on steep road accesses if I don't go in at an angle.

Well, I figured out a way to relocate it, very easily!!!!

Go over a speed bump at 10 MPH!

I am trying to make light of what could have been a very serious incident, we were leaving a casino after a late night breakfast and on the way out I hit a speed bump, not your average speed bump this one was about 5 feet across and was about 7-10 inches high. I did not see it until it was right at the front bumper. The Barth was launched, front tires left the ground and when it came down, the first thing that hit the pavement was the generator box. It was moved back 4 inches and up 3 inches. Part of the box punctured the radiator. It will require complete removal of the generator and housing to inspect for further damage, I don't think the generator itself was hurt but---Thank God no one was hurt!!

We are cutting our trip short and going home tomorrow after dark because now without AC and now roof A/C across the desert, will be bad for our guests. Will take pictures later and will post on my website.

Grrrrrrrr

wow, that sounds like a real bummer...that surpasses my recent accident with my satellite dish....ahem...

And just think, in another time those bumps were called "kiss me quick" bumps!! Don't know exactly why, but an old friend, (older than me), said that's what they called them in the 'good ol days'.

Years ago, on our way from I-10 to the VA Hospital in Loma Linda in our FWD GMC motor home, we hit a deceptive railroad track like Ed's speed bump. It launched our front wheels off the ground, & by the time I got off the throttle we'd picked up several hundred RPM. We hit the ground with a screech, a thump, & a crack.

A front end alignment resulted, & something had gotten out of shape far enough that a couple dimensions were maxed out to get it in specs. Never saw any visible damage, but I was a lot more careful after that.

On our current Barth, the genny muffler is the lowest point, & that got wiped wiped out a couple years ago on a grease rack.

Made it safely home, stopped by a RV shop for an estimate of repairs needed. The alignment appears to be uneffected as it tracked straight with the wheel centered. It has a solid axle and the generator housing took most of the hit, I am sure the springs bottomed out but the rubber stops don't look like they were even contacted. Had a discussion with the Casino and took pictures of the cross walks, it was very evident that these needed to be identified much better, there are divits all over them from others that have done the same. They were not painted and only had a very small "stop" painted just at the edge of the hump. That was also very faded and hard to see even in broad daylight.

After I catch some much needed rest, I will start to disassemble and find out how serious the generator damage is.

I think someone posted but I can't find it that there is a place that has the manual for the Kwyatt 7.0 Help please, thanks

quote:

Originally posted by olroy:


On our current Barth, the genny muffler is the lowest point, & that got wiped wiped out a couple years ago on a grease rack.

Ours is the same. The Kohler muffler is solidly attached to the exhaust castings, which crack on impact. The part numbers in the book are wrong, and the prices are a cardiac event. I have a very good weld shop, but even the proprieter has problems making a durable weld. Breaks are at the same place every time, right through the old weld. I blow up both rear axle bags before suspected clearance issues. Ah, the joys of off-road RVing.

Bill, I used schedule 10 SS weld els and pipe to remake mine. The old one was made of water pipe and was rusted badly and hanging WAY down. Could make one for you but would need the old one for a pattern.

Regards,

I too go off road with my Barth so I had a muffler shop tuck the muffler up out of harms way. Total charge:$40

Check on eBay for genny manuals. It looks like quite a few have been copied to CD's.

What doyou need from the manual? I might be able to find it in the books I have. Ihaven't read all thats there yet but I can look.

quote:

Originally posted by MWrench:
Bill, I used schedule 10 SS weld els and pipe to remake mine. The old one was made of water pipe and was rusted badly and hanging WAY down. Regards,

Mine seems a little different. It has two tubes extending straight up from the muffler, each slipping over an exhaust casting from each cylinder.



I see nothing like pipe fittings. I have given thought to having an exhaust pipe come out of each exhaust casting and make a 90 degree bend rearward as soon as clearance allows. The bent pipes would join a Y which would connect to a muffler located out of harm's way. I just need to find some really sharp radius bends.

This, of course, is balanced, time-wise, against my plan to replace the Kohler with the Honda that is taking up space in my shop.

Yup, that is quite abit different then mine, but the offer stands to you and any other Barther that needs a custom generator exhaust made of SS, just send me the one you want to replace and I will do my best to duplicate it in schedule 10 SS. The wall thickness of schedule 10 is about 2.5mm (0.10")

UPDATE:

Generator is out and I have straightened the front frame rails. The bumper is now almost striaght, a little more work and it will be perfect (Whew)!

The generator seems to be OK, the only thing that got really hurt was the radiator, the radiator shop is looking at this now and should have it finished in a couple of days.

Have changed the timing belt, checked the valve clearance, ignition and a general clean-up/rearranging of fuel and wires to the gen set. Cleaned up the propane delivery venturi, had a lot of oil around it, common problem. Bob Schwalm of Schwalm Inc. has been very helpful and a source of parts/manual etc. Goofy thing is the output wires from the gen set to the coach were 12 guage geeesh! this is a 7.0 KW unit, sure the cable was only 6 foot long but this is not right! I now have 8 guage and have fashioned a plug/connector set up so that I can plug my house into the genset. We do lose power here occasionally and we are in earthquake country, so better to be prepared!

I have changed the outlet of the exhaust so it exits the housing at the rear instead of the bottom, the muffler is in the same place but now nothing hangs below the housing.

Today, I am off to the metal fab shop to get the pieces of metal I have cut bent to fab up a completely new housing.

This time I am takng pictures and post when finished.

In all this I now have a very leaky brake master cylinder (1 of 2) so that is on order for replacement before the next trip in late August!

quote:

quote:
Originally posted by MWrench:
Bill, I used schedule 10 SS weld els and pipe to remake mine. The old one was made of water pipe and was rusted badly and hanging WAY down. Regards,

My set up is still rusty water pipe.

I have a little list, LOL.


This posting has been very helpful, thank you.

Timothy

Goofy thing is the output wires from the gen set to the coach were 12 guage geeesh! this is a 7.0 KW unit, sure the cable was only 6 foot long but this is not right! I now have 8 guage and....

12 gauge wire is rated for 20 amperes total load. What size breaker protected it? If you have 240 volt output, perhaps each 120 leg is "only" carrying half and the total connected load is less than 40 amps?? Is it possible only part of your coach is connected to the genset, e.g. the electric water heater/A/C/some of the receptacles don't work on the generator? It is hard to imagine Barth doing this, esp with a high-end coach like the Breakaway. Possibly the generator was added later? 7000 watts of power supplies a total of 55 to 60 amps - that is a lot for a small (relatively) motorhome.
Curioser and curioser.