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Lost Power to Bus
Morning all,
Went to the barn today and found that I had lost my 50 amp power to the bus. It was a bad breaker. Quickly changed it and got everything turned back on. Since it had only been two days my fridge was still cold. My power box showed 11 volts and everything was in the red. Once I got my power turned back on the inverters kicked on and started running. One or both sounded like a jet plane, well maybe not that bad but I could tell it was running hard charging things back up. I have never had that issue before and wonder if there is anything I need to do except let everything charge back up.
Signed , Green Horn -
27 Replies
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Dear Green,
You did all you can do. Let the inverters do their work and all should be good.
If you were down to 11 volts you were deeply discharged but unless you have made a habit of doing that it is likely the batteries will not have suffered any ill effects. However, Tom is the ultimate expert on batteries.
Don’t beat yourself up over this. Nobody can predict failures such as in a circuit breaker that has never given a sign of having issues.
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Jeff Rowe told me that if I was ever going to leave the coach unattended for any length fo time, I should turn off all the power.
Chassis: Cut the chassis batteries by turning off the 12 volt and 24 volt switches in the engine bay.
House: In the electrical bay, turn off the switches on the main lines from the house batteries. If you have a “24 volt coach” there will be both 12 volt and 24 switches.
Toss the ice in the freezer and make sure the refrigerator(s) and freezer(s) are empty.
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“Any length of time” needs to be defined.
I cannot speak about every coach but some coaches require a specific procedure for shut down and on some the length of time the coach is unpowered begins to create problems for some of the electronic devices.
I don’t think anyone should plan on shutting things down unless the know the specific procedure and sequence, and that they have considered if some of the operating systems or devices are going to lose memory.
I don’t doubt Jeff, but he might be thinking a week or two and a coach owner might be thinking six months and between the two lengths of time there might be a line not to be crossed without consequences. For example, how long can the Liberty PLCs be without power before their memory is gone? Restoring the memory might be a big pain in the butt compared to leaving the power on and monitoring the coach.
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Unplugged vs plugged in to a 50amp service….If in 50amp shut waterpump off, in case of a leak. If a XL I would shut off 24v and 12v disconnects on chassis batteries…otherwise good. If in no power or 15amp type power then you may need to do more, especially when it gets cold out…
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Often wondered what folks did when there coaches were away from them and how to safeguard the electric systems if kept plugged in and ready to roll. I’m one of the ones that has mine right outside my door inside pugged in and and all systems up except water pumps.
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Mr. Fowler, sorry to hear about the power loss. We all worry about things happening while we are away from our babies.
There is an advantage with Liberty i-Link. I check on the bus probably 5-10 times a day with my i-phone.
I check the power supply and turn the heat on and off as needed (air in the summer).
It does give me peace-of-mind knowing what is going on with the coach when I can’t be with it. I set the genny to come on if power is lost.
Mark
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Mr. Mark…Could you please upload a few Liberty i-Link screenshots from your iPhone. Especially the Power section. I’m sure a bunch of us would love to see (and dream about) the latest technology.
You probably know this, but just hit the On/Off button and round Home/Touch sensor below the screen simultaneously to get a screenshot saved to your Photos.
Thank you.
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Oops
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Here is my I-link Power section.
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When I hit ‘A/C Monitor’, this screen shows my power volts on each line.
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At the risk of perhaps sending the converters even deeper into system complexity, it occurs to me that as long as you can monitor everything, plus operate everything from your phone, it no longer makes sense to have the electrical panel with circuit breakers and information displays. Eliminate that and use the phone. That will open up some free space for a wine rack or in Tom’s case a place to stack the dues money.
I have simple needs. I just want to open the damn pocket door between the kitchen and bath with a button on the wall next to the door.
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“I have simple needs. I just want to open the damn pocket door between the kitchen and bath with a button on the wall next to the door.”
Or even just walk up to it and for it to open by itself making a ‘sschheesing’ noise as it opens. 🙂
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Andy,
That is the very kind of thing that a converter would install to do the typical “one upmanship” that has brought us systems mere humans cannot fix without special computer programs, passwords, and a nerd who spends his day on computer games when he is not fixing the systems he programmed.
Because you suggested it I fully expect future buses to have voice recognition programs so that when you say “open the damn pocket door” the TV turns on.
Folks who are blessed to have coaches not encumbered with fancy electronics would be very pleased to hear that Di and I were parked next to Terry and Deb in Lakeland last month and we found each of us could operate the other coach’s shades, TV, lights etc.
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Jon,
It’s even more fun when you can operate the ‘air doors’ from the i-pad. We have two air doors, one between the kitchen and bedroom and one for the bath in the back.
Also, I can close the awnings from i-Link if I were to forget about them.
If I couldn’t remember if I locked the coach… no problem, check i-Link!
Mark
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And no worries MM, if you left your shitter full you could flush it from Berlin.
Later
bv
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