gordon
Forum Replies Created
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Call Dana at AAP.
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There is no cost per say.
Some states require a refundable deposit for the device.
All are pre-funded and self replenishing when the balance reaches a certain
level. They can be funded by credit card or direct debit.
The fuel you will save by not stopping and waiting is more than worth it.
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On ours the solution was a locksmith who said the keys wear. He made a new key using a shim under the old key in the key follower on the key grinder. New key worked like a charm. Fast and inexpensive.
also, search for what to do if the door latch lock mechanism fails locking you outside the bus. It is possible to knock out the round cover and use a metal piece inserted through that hole to unlatch the door from the outside. New latch mechanisms are available from Amazon for $30 or so while the same replacement latch with a few additional lever pieces comes from Prevost in a $500 + kit.
Jerry
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Hi David,
i am out in the field doing real world testing of this dual house battery set up while dry camping so did not see your post earlier.
Actually, we are in a nice Elks Club along the Oregon coast but not using their power pole. Everything is working flawlessly. Consumption and recharge times are tracking the projected patterns so I am ready to put the finishing touches on the article and tell the publisher it is a go. I will ask if it is ok to post a pre-publication version in the Articles section of this post.
I followed with interest your post about your ability to dry camp for up to three days on 8 4D AGM batteries. That is certainly more than most owners I know could do. Your refrigerator must be either propane or far more efficient than most residential refrigerators. Most refrigerators consume between 100 and 150 amps per day all by themselves so are by far the biggest energy hogs on the 120VAC side. With a 12VDC house system it would be difficult to run AC for very long so I exclude that from my analysis.
Besides running the refrigerator, cooking meals, watching TV, listening to a nice home stereo system, running hair dryers, Cpap Cpapmachines and other normal day to day necessities will consume most of the battery power available for the 120VAC loads every day. In our setup, the way we live in our coach, we use around 60% to 70% of the Li portion of the house battery bank which is devoted to 120VAC loads each day. Because it is not cold where we are we are using less than 50% of the lead acid (AGM) portion of the house battery bank that is devoted to the 12VDC loads.
‘The best living pattern that is emerging from both my theoretical calculations and this real world testing is to run the generator for an hour in the morning while cooking breakfast and heating water for showers and for an hour in the evening while cooking dinner. Our two Magnum 2800 inverter/chargers are set to CC/CV (constant current/constant voltage) with 14.4 VDC supplied to the 400 amp hours of Li batteries. That brings them to full charge quickly with just these two generator hours per day. The Progressive Dynamics 9270 converter/charger sees the AGM AGM batteries as being only partially discharged so leaves itself in absorb ot float mode unless I manually push the boost button which forces it into bulk charge mode. If in bulk charge mode, they come up enough during these two generator hours to keep them well above 50% day in and day out. If we were dry camping in cold weather the additional 12VDC draw of the Webasto heating system plus the reduced cold weather performance of the AGMs AGM batteries would perhaps require longer generator run times, perhaps three hours per day to keep the AGMs AGMs performing up to snuff.
I left solar off so I could get a good read just from the generator as the only source for recharging both halves of the new house battery bank. When we are south of the 37th parallel this winter I will add solar and upgrade the tests to see how much that changes anything in the real world.
In the article I make the point that no two people live the same way even if in the same coach so what is adequate power for one might fall short of expectations for another. Your experience of being able to dry camp for so long on AGM batteries alone certainly bears that out. And, to answer your question, given your experience with what you now have, I would recommend you not change a thing!
For others of us, to get the benefits of Li batteries with only half or so of the up front investment while also being able to enjoy the life remaining in our existing lead acid batteries is a real win-win.
Jerry
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Correct. The door right under the driver’s window.
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I left mine as they came out of the box, as recommended by Koni.
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Your confused Fast Freddy, I’ll be living in the garage. Will be a cold walk for Nancy though..
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Corinthian leather latch (with velcro) for the upper doors.
Lower drawer latch hand made from nonatainium by me.
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Jeff
My 95 marathon had the stabilizator system installed,the rear hydraulic units were both leaking, i have removed the system entirely, it now operates as any other coach, when i activate the tag lift / dump the rear squats but will eventually lift the tag to an extent that they almost clear the wheels, depends how long you wait for it to air fully up. it now operates faster than it did with the non functioning stabiliiizator system installed.
I believe the system is now obsolete and it was just something else underneath that wasn’t operational and not needed.
I also had the Howard steering system installed, my catch tank contained all of the steering system oil, indicating that the ram seals were leaking, i also removed this system along with the ram fitted to the front axle, coach steers as normal and freed up a lot of space in the steer compartment bay into which i mounted an auxillary air compressor, which i can connect either into the auxillary air system if required or use to air up external items.
Gordon
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Jeff, It is my understanding that the Howard Power Steering Assist system is no longer supported.
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My retarders are far more effective than my Jake was.
When I have run out west with 7% and 8% grades I was often able to descend hills without exceeding my self imposed limit of 230 easily, sometimes without ever touching the brakes.
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Glad to see this. It is a good thing To do.
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My primary is the big Racor 1000FG that Jon described, also w/30 micron pleated filter. I use the Fleetgaurd# FS20203.
My secondary is a 10 micron filter Fleetgaurd# FF5206 which crosses over to a NAPA# 3120 or Wix# 33120. -
It has been my experience that fixing a radiator is a waste of time (core repair), and that replacement of the entire radiator or a complete re-core is the best way to go for long life. Unless your radiator has been changed out before, it is pretty old. Just taking it apart and fixing a tube or two stresses the entire core to some extent. You are better off to replace it, especially if you plan to keep the coach for an extended time.
We used to have a radiator shop do repairs on truck radiators years ago, but found out it was better, quicker and less expensive in the long run to just replace them with either an entire assembly or at least a new core if the tanks were in good shape.
If I find a leak, I will replace it. No doubt at all.
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Verify my numbers with Prevost. I think they are correct, but all my log books in which I logged seal replacement went with the coaches so I cannot look up the numbers to be sure.
I have to go to my garage to get the socket size, and will post it as soon as I can.
I do not know what your service manual says, but one tightening method is to torque to a specific value and back off about 1/4 turn, but my other service manual said tighten and check runout and I forgot the allowable or desired value. I do not know why two methods are listed for different vintages that took the same hub seal and had the same size nut, but I will get the information and post it about the socket.
I replaced a seal on a friend’s coach and whoever replaced it previously not only did a lousy job because it was leaking, but they did not install the lock on the nut that secures it by bending the tabs. The dumb asses over tightened the nut to keep it all together and it is a wonder the bearings weren’t cooked.
