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House electric issue
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All great advice, as usual! Talked to the shop foreman today and he agrees with what I thought, and what everyone here says – alternator is not the issue with the TV. Of course, this is all happening last minute so they can keep me stressed out! But they pulled the bus in this afternoon, and will work on it tomorrow. The mechanic (last guy was an interior guy) said the first thing he would always do is check that the alternator belt was tight. It was not. We put a new belt on. Will check the results in the morning and see if that helps any.
Any suggestions on inverter/chargers? Ya’ll can tell me what you think… My bus mostly goes down the road. If it is parked, it is either plugged in or has the generator on. It is very seldom that I ever sit with just the inverter on. With this in mind, would you get the inverter/charger or just an inverter? I don’t know if there is a difference in price, or what advantages/disadvantages of each. Thanks!
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Inverter charger without a doubt. Unless you drive the coach 100% of the time, the inverter chargers are the device that will maintain your batteries any time the coach is not being driven.
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You will undoubtedly need to have a thorough evaluation of the cabling, breaker sizes, related transfer relays, and battery cabling to see what is the best replacement item. Inverter-only devices were common when your coach was built, but very uncommon now. Please have someone evaluate and suggest the appropriate options. There are a lot of hacks out there, and a lot of things are being done to coaches these days that are not “sound” and as a result, we are hearing of more and more bus fires! Don’t risk it, please, for your safety sake!
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Ben is too modest to say it, but I will. He is an absolute expert when it comes to the electrical side of a coach and when he offers advice regarding your electric systems pay close attention. Better yet, contact him and set up an appointment to have him set your systems up and make them right.
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Dale, if your bus has an inverter and a converter (or two) as was common in the early 90s, it is the converter that charges the house batteries from shore or generator power. That set-up generally works well. I looked at changing to an inverter/charger on the previous bus and found it wasn’t worth the expense because it would be necessary to rework the electrical system. Replacement converters are cheap and the modern ones have two or three stage charging, which is kinder to your batteries. Based on the use described, and assuming you have converters, you may find it more cost efficient to upgrade your inverter and converter without combining the functions into one device.
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