[Peter]

Charles, short term, just leave the bus plugged in to either 50 or 30 amp and leave heat or AC on whatever minimum is called for. Leave fridge on. If parked outside you can use auto-gen just in case of power interuptions or failures. We still check on the bus every couple of days.

[Jerry]

How high is up? Just like that question your question cannot be answered without having a lot of information to help put it in context.

Do you have the coach plugged in when not in use? Do you need to keep it warm, or just parked? Is it stored indoors?

The apparent best way to store a coach, regardless of how long is to keep it powered up. If nothing else keep power to the inverters because they are the best way to maintain the batteries.

But if there is no power available, then the answer goes in a completely different direction, because even if you turn all the power switches off all of our coaches have phantom loads that are going to deplete the batteries. In that case you have to go through a full shut down procedure. I think the newer the coach the greater current draws, so the age of the coach and the length of storage time might determine how you store it if there is no power.

If you need heat to protect from freezing or some type of environmental protection such as something to keep mold or mildew from the coach then the answer goes in a completely different direction depending on avalable power, indoor or outdoor storage and temperatures.

Specific to your coach if you have power available, as George or Corey said, just plug it in and leave the inverters on (battery charger switches one and two). If power is not available and the temps are not an issue, turn off the inverters at the remote panel, turn off the circuit breakers for the battery charger switches one and two, verify your generator watchdog does not have a specific procedure for power interruption, (follow that if it does) and then turn off all the house battery switches. You can also turn off the chassis 12 and 24 volt switches.

One thing to be aware of. If you have house battery issues the lack of inverter power could result in dead batteries. If you are sure they are OK kill all power if you choose, but if you are not certain leave the inverters on if power is available.

[Jerry]

At this point, it is stored outdoors and without power (working on indoor/powered storage). Since we are on again/off again in terms of temps (some nights is fine, other nights are right at freezing, and then some other nights drops down just below freezing) I am watching it every day/other day. So the lenght of storage time is one/two (at most three) days. On the nights it gets below freezing (27 or so is the lowest we are seeing) I run out to the coach and run the generator, wabasto and bay heaters (I drain the tanks/lines/pump/filters) later in the evning to get some overall heat into the coach to help it out over the night. Warmer nights I just let it go with no heating it up. This is for short periods of time (one/two weeks).

So it’s not a complete power down for long term storage, but it can be for 2/3 days of it sitting by itself. Want to make sure the inverters dont drain and then put a drain on the batteries is really my concern.

Right now I am shutting down the inverters at the main panel (as well as shutting all switches to the off position), then going to the inverter bay, powering off the two inverter switches, unplugging the watch dog and then the main house battery switch. I leave the 12/24 volt chassis switches on for now.

Should I be doing something different? or is this sounding like a good plan till I have it indoors and powered (hopefully will have a place lined up in the next couple weeks).

Thanks

[Archived]

The issue of freezing temps is a concern, but I also sense that you are in a position to check on it a lot.

I will put the answer in the context of how I would store my 97 Liberty under the conditions you describe.

First, I would fill the water tank. Then I would fill the fuel tank. The water tank is a big supply of warmth for the water bay if the temps drop. That bay should be freeze protected to an extent if the temps do not drop to low and it is not windy. The water pipes upstairs however are unprotected so to help to the maximum extent possible I would close the shades to help “insulate” against the cold air that will be spilling off the glass. In winds that coach is going to get cold fast. If the temps are going to drop below 29 or 30 overnight after a day in the sun with temps in the high 40s or fifties I think it would be OK in no wind conditions. But if it doesn’t get warm in the sun during the day I’m going to run the generator and the Webasto so the question of powering it down becomes moot.

But if it remains above freezing then I would just shut it all down. I would follow the shut down procedures for the Watchdog, for the inverters, and the chassis and just leave it alone. While it is true the inverters will draw power if left on, even with them off you are still drawing power through phantom loads such as the alarm system, the clocks, CO monitor, and other behind the scenes current draws. As long as the temps are above freezing I wouldn’t touch a thing.

But if the temps drop, fire up the generator and the Websto. Make sure the switches for the inverters are on and the house circuits are on. Let the generator run (that’s why the full fuel) because the webasto as installed has a significant current draw and you need the batteries to be charged as long as the generator is running. The generator under low load conditions can soot up, so if you trust the auto-start you might want to use that, and to set the various heaters to come on when the generator powers up. and just allow it to cycle. If you are not trusting of the auto start turn it on and let if run. It is only going to burn .3 to .4 gallons per hour.

[Bob]

We store our bus a few miles away under cover but without power. I turn off all battery switches, 12/24V chassis and 24V inverter batteries. There are still some direct loads (DDEC and alarm) but the batteries handle those for several weeks. Every three weeks or so I charge up the batteries and exercise all the systems. I winterize the bus before freezing temps hit and de-winterize just before we head south. This has worked well for 18mo. Just another option.