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Storage and electrical requirments
Hello again,
As my search continues for a new (used) coach, and gaining knowledge from reading other posts on this site, it has become apparent that my current storage facility might not be adequate. I currently rent an un heated, indoor spot with available 20 amp service. That was plenty for my previous coach (Fleetwood American Eagle). From all that I’ve read, most people have 50 amp service. Is there a way I can effectively store my coach with the available 20 amp service? My budget dictates I look at XL’s from the late 1990’s. I live in northern Illinois so it gets a bit chilly. Thanks in advance….Alain -
10 Replies
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alain
I have run my coach with support for battery charges, fridge, bay, block heaters and a space heater (and lights) with no problem. Just need to manage it properly.
I also tried to store it at a uHual facility (covered with power) and it would trip with just the battery chargers. My suspect is it was actually 15 amp GFCI outlets and not 20 amp GFCI outlets that caused this.
If you have a true 20 amp outlet/breaker that is on it’s own circuit you should be able to get basic capabilities out of it and manage to store the coach in moderate cold temps (I would try to keep it in Wyoming all winter with just 20 amps). I am sure having it inside does help as you reduce any wind chill,making it easier to maintain an even temp inside.
I stored mine outside for a winter in north GA with 20amp for the most part. There was a week where it was down in the low 20’s/high teens and I moved it to a facility that had 50 amps so I could really keep it warm, but once it warmed back up into the low 30’s it was back to the storage facility on 20 amp and carefully managing usage.
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FYI. You can not plug the coach into a GFI it will blow the breaker it needs to be a non GFI receptacle
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I could not keep 20 amp breaker ( not gfi) from tripping. There was nothing on except inverters,I thought maybe the charger side of them drew to many amps. And maybe if they were in full float charge it would not trip.But I don’t know if they were fully charged .at that time. I have heart 2500 inverters.
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Peter,
I could get the GFCI plugin to work, if I managed a single charger at a time and let them charge up to get them both to float.
Then the GFCI plug would support keeping them both in float. But once I added anything else, it would trip the breaker at the plug. I didnt feel like baby sitting it that much, so I pulled the coach out of uHaul and moved it back to the original storage place that I was using 20 amp to pretty much cover the basics.
At the time I figured it was due to the 15 amp plug rather then the 20 amp plug? I did see other coaches/trailers that were plugged in that were not tripping the breakers on the GFCI plugs, but then again they probably didnt have all the batteries we have in our coaches that they were trying to charge at once.
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Charles it does not have anything to do with weather it is 15 amp or 20 amp or 30 amp it has to do with the GFI , most coaches have a GFI and you can not have two GFI together it will blow the breaker on the shore power every time. You can have a GFI breaker at the shore power for a 30 amp and plug bus into it and it will blow the breaker every time. On most coaches, sorry for not explaining that
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Here is free advice regarding coach storage, especially if the coach is not monitored……
You need a solid gold assurance the power to the coach is uninterrupted. If you have to have power to the coach to protect against freezing you have to check it daily, or have some way to be sure the breaker will not trip and leave you with both dead batteries and busted plumbing.
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thanks for the good advice. The wall outlet at my storag facility is non GFI, and i plan on dumping all water just in case. Keeping in mind I haven’t purchased a coach yet, am I correct in assuming the inverters are also what keep the batteries charged? Or does it depend on coach builder?
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Yes they do charge the batteries
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Jon’s free advice is spot on…here’s some cheap advice in the long run. If you’re in a cold climate and can’t monitor the bus on a daily basis, store it in a warm one and use it from there in the winter. Geo.
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To winterize the typical Prevost is a mind numbing chore. It involves a lot of appliances and devices that all hold water, and they either need anti freeze run through them, or they have to be blown dry with compressed air. This is true of both supply water lines and all drains because of the traps.
Personally I don’t think the attempt to winterize the coach is going to be worth the risk if there is a low spot in the piping and it busts and happens to be sandwiched in a wall someplace. You end up finding the leak by seeing it in the carpet or dripping on the concrete pad at Disney World.
Geo has the right idea because you can fully charge the batteries and then shut down the entire electrical system(s) and every month top off the charge in the batteries. Then you are safe from freezing, have the excuse to head south, and aren’t keeping your fingers crossed that the next snow storm will kill power for a week or two.
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