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IS Otr/bus air a must have or like to have?
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These guys are doing it and doing it well!
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Volta is for sure doing it right as a total package and can be found in new Liberty’s.
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Like
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Alvie and Elsie
You learn something new everyday. Never heard of Volta. They sure look like they have their act together.
Ron
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Lake Havasu
Thanks for sharing. What would you call extreme heat? I read that some folks wet down the pad to cool it off so the CA will work better.
Ron
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This thread has gone to hell because it started with OTR and is not an LI thread.
I formally invited Volta to participate in a discussion about Li and to expect hard questions. If that happens I hope tokeep it in a new separate thread. I am opposed to we who have a lot of opinions but fewer facts debating an issue that I think is important. Ben started a thread and if Volta opts to participate I will encourage Ben to join.
I think instead of speculating about AH, battery life, costs, how many inverters and other devices are needed let’s hear from the people that really know, and let’s get the hard questions on the table.
As to OTR, keep in mind there are folks that like Fords and folks that like Chevys and they are both right, nobody is going to change their minds and a potential buyer does not have a clue until they actually have experience under their belt because what is a comfortable temp for one person may not be close to what another person thinks and everyone is defending what they have.
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Jon says “THis thread has gone to hell”
So do you think Cruise air will cool it down, Or do you think CA and dash air, or do you think we better get the OTR going?
Ron
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Ron: Some people (incl the owner of Liberty) will argue with me, but I can tell you that with an XL coach you will not hold the interior temp to 80 (on the cruise-airs) if the ambient gets to 100 with the coach in the sun and low humidity conditions. The cruise-airs will do a little better in humid conditions. In addition to climbing interior temps once ambient exceeds 100, the cruise airs will start to randomly shut down due to overpressure on high side. I would suggest strongly to you that anyonr who disagrees with me SHOW you I’m wrong!
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I’ve not experienced Cruiseair shut downs while parked, but for sure have had them shut down on the road and at that point without OTR you’re screwed. I think the vintage makes a difference, when I have used the Cruiseairs with my H on hot days to cool down the bedroom before stopping, I have not had a shut down. On previous Cruiseair XL’s they did shut down.
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Lake Havasu and Tom,
This is very important info. Thanks for sharing.
Ron
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Edit: Sorry Jon, I posted this before I realized I was on probation and suspended from new posts until I answer the questions on my Electrical thread. DK
Ron and Jane:
I think a big part of the decision about OTR vs Cruise-Airs vs roof airs depends on how you’re going to use your coach. Will you be spending lots of summer time in the Southwest (Arizona, Las Vegas, New Mexico)? Lots of summer time in the hot and humid Southeast?
In my book, North Carolina gets pretty hot in the summer. But look where I’m from, everything is relative.
Or will you use your coach like we have ours and expect to in the future … summer up north and eventually Canada and Alaska … winters down south, hopefully TX, AZ, and maybe CA this winter. I do want to regularly go to Bonneville in August, September, and October going forward.
You indicated that you’ve never owned an RV before, pretty similar to our situation. Our pre-purchase learning curve was drinking from a firehose. The learning curve upon delivery was like drinking with a second fire hose. Then came the learning curve of how the coach works when we use it, how we use it, how it behaves, what it tells us, what we can and cannot expect from it. It is beginning to tail (or tale or is it trail) off now, but I learned an important lesson this week (that would be off topic).
Ideally, you should rent a Prevost for two weeks and take a trip in one. Doesn’t make much difference in my opinion which converter did the conversion. Use it, drive it, live in it. Learn the idosyncracies of a Prevost motorcoach in general. Of a large motorhome in general. I think then it would help you make a better first buy decision.
I think all the first-time Prevost buyers … like the first time buyers of luxury yachts and private jets … go through the same process you’re going through. In the end, most all of us love the coach we purchase!
I suspect that if the coach is parked in the sun with high temps outside (like CA or AZ or NV in the summer), and you’re cooling via Cruise-Airs, anything that can be done to cool the surface under the coach will help the Cruise-Airs get rid of their heat like running water under the coach will make the Cruise-Airs more effective.
I want to make a quick comment about electricity in the coach, but debate proctor has chided us to keep on subject; so I won’t.
Dick
PS: I look forward to the discussion about Li-Ion in another thread in the Electrical topic
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While an expensive option when new, for the vintage of coach you are looking at there is no longer a premium for having OTR. You get better heating in the winter too. So why not go for it? You lose a bit of storage. Other than that there are few downsides.
We have 3 Cruiseairs with OTR in our ’99 XL. It is a good combination. Without OTR, I’d want at least 4 Cruiseairs plus driver A/C. After owning the coach for 5 years I have finally read up on charging the OTR myself. It was straightforward with the help from the folks in this forum.
Gerald
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Ron, I consider the owners of Volta personal friends but that is not why I brought up their company. It’s because they have a darn good product!
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Alvie
That is good to hear. You think they will come to the forum and share? I think it would be helpful for all.
Ron
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I have emailed both Jack from Volta and Ben from Parliament to the discussion on another thread and I am sure we are going to get active participation from both guys. I believe we can benefit a lot by dealing with facts from people that build and install Li systems and because this industry is maturing we may see prices falling and some if not all of the problems early systems had being resolved.
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