In fact, the parts cost a bit under $9, and saved having to buy an over $100 (if you buy a Kwikee brand motor), or around $60 (if you buy one from an auto parts store).

Help brand plugs

If your Kwikee steps simply get jammed, and you are getting power to them (you can hear the box click when you open or close the door, and the under step light is going on and off), quite often it is just these small plastic parts that are bad- not the whole motor. The symptoms of failure for these parts are that the step will get stuck in the extended or retracted position, yet the step is still getting power.

Let’s take a look at how to replace them…

These parts are actually 1/2 of the kit that used to be available from Kincor, the gear isn’t included, but most times the gear itself is fine. Note that the new Kwikee steps use an “Integrated Motor and Linkage assembly, so if it doesn’t look like these pictures, this fix will not work, but it’s fine for most.

You start by removing the motor- MAKE CERTAIN THE STEP IS UNPLUGGED BEFORE WORKING ON IT!!!- IT IS POSSIBLE FOR THE STEP TO BE IN A BIND, AND ACTIVATE WHEN YOU REMOVE THE BIND- something that can be dangerous to fingers and hands. There is always a 4 way plug within a foot of the step- unplug this.

The motor is held on by 3 machine screws- 5/16″ hex head, and is connected to the control box by a weatherproof connector- note that newer styles use a snap together “Packard” style motor connector.

Remove these screws and disconnect the leads, and the motor should pull straight down. By aware that there is a small pin in the end of the gear which might stay in the gear housing, or might come out.

Once the motor is off of the step, take it to your workbench and remove the plate covering the internal gears- most I have run in to take a torx bit to remove this screw.

After removing the cover, you will see the output gear with a larger gear adapter and the plastic gear set with the plastic gear plugs. The adapter simply lifts off, then to remove the output gear you will snap off a small “C” clip from the shaft (being careful not to lose it). The output gear will lift off, exposing the plugs in their triangular cutout.

(click on any image for a larger view)

Replacing the plugs is a simple matter, though the replacements will be tight. I put a bit of grease to hold them in place while I start the output gear, then press the whole thing back together.

Now it is simply a matter of reversing the order- replace the “C” clip, cover plate, output adapter, reattach the motor to the step gearbox, hook the motor wires back to the control box, and last- making certain your hands and fingers are clear, hook the 4 way connector back up.

These motors very rarely actually burn out- they really don’t make that many revolutions in their work, so normally this will fix them as good as new. Of course, while you are under the rig, it’s a great time to lubricate the step.

Hope this helps!

–Chris

The move lost a bunch of my links to other blogs- I believe I can resurrect them, and some of internal links have changed.

But… stay tuned-

An eclectic collection of short fiction and poetry explores the challenges faced by men as they age.

The author, now in his 80s, begins with a prologue reminding readers that “old age is neither a crime nor a sin,” but merely another stage of life with challenges and potential triumphs. Reflecting on the fact that more and more people are living to advanced ages, Bryant offers his work as a report on the road conditions from one who has traveled it, to those coming up behind him.

Old Men the book website.
I like it!

–Chris

This will create 180 new jobs right away, with over 200 jobs in the long run. They are closing an 80 year old plant in Sweden, and chose Elkhart over opening a plant in China or Mexico.

Props to Dometic!

–Chris

So far so good, but I switch back and forth between the old and new servers. I promise not to loose any comments, though

To add to the fun- I had eye surgery which didn’t go as well as hoped, and then fell off a ladder, resulting in a hematoma in my chest…. argh!

–Chris

Thankfully, I was wrong.

Dinosaur N series board

This new board replaces the following Norcold part numbers:
621267,   621667.001,   621268,   621268.001,    621269,   621269.001,
621270,   621270.001,   621271,   621271.001,   619360,   619361,   632168.001

You can read more about it at the Dinosaur website

1977 Airstream

factory parts for it, though a door lock is a mind numbing $500+, simply because it is hand machined, but I can still buy one.
On the Norcold burner, there is a new burner that will fit right in. The only difference is the original uses a compression connection, with a ferrule and copper sealing ring, and the new one uses a flare connection. A modification to a flare connection should not be at all hard, and it really wouldn’t be hard for Norcold to come up with a retrofit kit- a more reasonable one than the $200+ kit they have for the 900 series. All the kit would need would be the burner and a new tube (soft aluminum). I just cannot see telling a customer that their perfectly good 1996 refrigerator is not repairable because I cannot get a $30 part, and they have to spend $1200-1500 for a new one. On the other hand- I take a bit of liability on my shoulders by modifying a part like this, so…..

Even though I grew up in a very affluent period (relatively), a large reason was my parents remembering and observing the old adage- “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”

I’ve also been running in to range parts being not available (safety valves and thermostats)- this time due to mercury content. While I understand this a bit more, it still isn’t easy to deal with.

Ah, well….

–Chris

There is a difference between Digital and HD. If you are going to buy a digital converter box for your RV, if you have an “HD capable” television, you will need to buy a high definition converter box. If, however, you have a standard tube type “SDTV”, one of the cheap , err…. inexpensive converter boxes will do just fine.
There is a good comparison of “Coupon Eligable converter boxes” at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_CECB_units

Thanks to the many members of the RV.Net Forums, I found out about a couple of expanded recalls (the service centers are always the last to know!).

Norcold has expanded the recalls on their 1200 series “4 door” models to units built before February 2001 (the old cutoff date was March 1999). The official Norcold recall site still doesn’t have the information, but it can be found in this letter from Norcold to the NHTSA, which spells it out (basically, you are looking for the cooling unit serial number (not the refrigerator serial number), which is on the outside tank of the cooling unit- the new recall adds cooling unit serial numbers from 1008701 to 1273700.

The Dometic recall has expanded to add refrigerators built between May 2003 and September 2006- they have updated their recall web page to include this information.

The expanded Dometic recall- adding another ~750,000 to the ~925,000 refrigerators already recalled may have something to do with the recent change in cooling unit policy- adding another $40-50 million has got to hurt a bit.

Called to order a new cooling unit, and was told that Dometic is no longer replacing failed cooling units out of the warranty period.

Needless to say, I am not a happy camper.

–Chris