needtocamp
Forum Replies Created
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Thanks Gil. I will try them.
The covers seem to be really nice. Non-magnetic stainless. A little pricey at about $750 for the set but I like the look. I will post a couple pictures.
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My unit does have an aux tank. Are the air systems of aux air and engine air parallel with each other? I did see the comment about the check valve on aux air from accepting over pressure from engine air.
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Buddy,
I may be worrying needlessly but anytime I see a coach supported in the rear under one axle only, and then under just the outer wheel I think of if the belts on the tires are being damaged, if the air bags are being over pressurized (they have a 100 PSI limit) and if the sudden drop from a blowout would cause the bus to flip or otherwise come down.
At one time in one of the Prevost shops a lift which supported both drive tires per side was used. This is 20 years ago and it would have been in Jacksonville at the old Wilson Avenue shop or the Lyndhurst NJ shop. The tag axle was just left to hang. But I saw a coach with a single lift in the rear in a Detroit Diesel shop and the lift only went under one wheel. That tire was almost flat on both sides because of the weight each was carrying and it was scary to see. The tech worked under the coach without a care in the world.
Maybe I am all wrong. But I doubt it.
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Great looking ’66!
Call us anytime we can do something for you.
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NiCad batteries will in fact develop a memory and unless drawn down regularly their storage will be adversely impacted. These batteries are typically used in aviation and are handled much different than the types we use.
Our types of batteries, lead acid, AGM, gel are all going to benefit from recharging at some point around 50% or less. The information is available on many sites around the internet, but constant deep discharges may end up with the battery used up after XXXX cycles, but only drawing them down 50% may yield many times more charging cycles.
FWIW the length of time a battery takes to be drawn down 50% is significantly longer than the time to draw it down the remaining 50%.
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I’m sticking my neck out here because I haven’t discussed this with Di, but count me in. When I factor in the price of diesel it will make the lobstah prices pretty expensive, but it will be worth it.
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Over the years I have found the best way to do rallies is to create them.
If you learn where various Prevost owners live or who will be in your area reach out and make any excuse you can think of for a rally. Oysterfest which is held in the lower Alabama area started because three of us were on our way to another rally in TX and decided to find a good overnight spot with benefits. The first Oysterfest was in Mobile and there were just three of us. The next year we announced we were going to meet again for oysters and about a dozen coaches showed up. It has grown ever since with Michael and Vita kicking off the one for 2013.
No rules, no agenda, no schedule. Just a bunch of Prevost owners showing up so we can pig out on oysters and shrimp.
Over the years we have gotten together at the EAA Air Venture at Oshkosh, in Port St. Lucie in FL, and many other venues. All with anywhere from 3 to 30 coaches.
If Rick can assure us of lobstah I am guessing a bunch of us will meet sometime in Maine in 2013, all because he has teased us with his bragging about the lobstah he is preparing and freezing for this winter.
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DKO, I lack knowledge of the specifics of a Vantare except I believe everything on the coach runs through the inverters. That is significant if true because it means you can run anything you want as long as the batteries have sufficient power.
But your batteries are affected by how you use them. To extract the greatest life from a battery minimize or eliminate deep discharges. If you never allow them to be drawn down deeper than 12.25 to 12.3 volts they will last much longer than if you take them down to 12 or less. You have to balance the benefits to determine what is most advantageous to you. There are numerous sites on the internet that offer very good information on batteries and the impact on life span the amount of discharge has. That also ties in with how the batteries are charged and the voltages for the three phases of charging.
As to how your autostart works relative to what battery voltage initiates the start and if the generator run time is related to time depends on how your autostart is set up. Mine is initiated at a specific voltage and runs for a predetermined amount of time. Yours may vary. A true charge is also impacted by how your charging current is set up. Because I use my coach as you do, running from shore power to shore power I have set my inverters to a very low charging current to bias my power consumption towards other loads such as air conditioning. At the current level set for my inverters it is doubtful a deeply discharged set of batteries in my coach will be fully and properly charged in the alloted generator run time so I manually control my generator to avoid deep discharges.
We have some very astute Vantare owners on the site and perhaps they cah share their knowledge regarding your questions.
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The fan can be replaced without pulling the radiator. If only some are damaged or missing pieces I would be concerned about balance and vibration.
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Ok my set-up appears to be similar. It seems I have two 2500 watt inverter/chargers.
The “A” inverter/charger appears to be a Freedom 458 series with a remote control panel. It allows me to set the house battery type and total size and set the AC in breaker size. I can also start a manual equalize cycle. The built in charger supports 3 stage charging with voltage set by the battery type. I can see the Charge amps drop as the batteries are charged.
The B inverter charger appears to be a Freedom 25. It also has a remote panel with an on/off switch. It has an built in charger but it must be slaved to the A inverter as the charge amps are always zero. Both units show the same battery voltage.
Both of these units can be turned on/off from the BASS panel. The remotes are mounted in the steering compartment. The inverter/chargers are mounted in the spare tire compartment as are the 4 255 amp hour Lifeline AGM batts. I have not yet dropped the front bumper to verify which inverter is which but these are the component manuals that I inherited. I have been leaving the inverter and by defination the charger turned on at the remote and turning them on/off at the BASS panel.
I assume the inverters are “stacked” but from a wiring perspective I don’t know what that means – parallel perhaps? The BASS essentially has 4 columns of breakers (Are those breakers or just disconnects?). One column for 12V DC, two columns for 120V AC which I assume are the two 120 volt legs of the generator or shore power, and one column for the inverter loads. Both inverters must feed this column of breakers.
So back to the procedures …. When I start up the coach, I close the 12V and 24 V disconnect in the engine compartment and start the big noise maker. I close the 12V DC breakers at the Bass and can run the inverter loads. Is my assumption correct that the inverter loads are some how fed from the 24V alternators on the engine? or in fact is this power coming from the house batts?
When I stop. I turn off the big noise maker and open the 12V and 24 V disconnects. I can then either run the generator or plug into 50 amp shore power. There is an automatic transfer switch but I don’t plan to ever run the genny and be plugged in at the same time.
When I go cold and dark. I have been turning off the generator and then opening the A and B inverter breakers on the BASS panel. If I’m following the couple of reply above I should in fact be openinging those breakers (for that matter all the AC breakers) before either shuting down the generator or opening the disconnect at the shore power and unplugging. Lastly I open the 12 V DC breakers on the BASS. All lights on the BASS are out at that point.
Do I need to take other actions at the remote panels for the inverters before I turn them off at the BASS? Do I need to do things in a different order? Manuals might be useful to get this order correct!
The build sheet indicates I have 2 alternators. One I can see is belt driven (I assume this is the 75 amps 12 volt) and I assume (but have not looked to verify) the 24 V alternator is gear driven on the front of the engine. The engine compartment also has two 50 amp vanner equalizers. I assume the 24 V alternator and vanners are stictly for the chassis systems and the small 12V is connected to the house system. But I’m not sure how this tie is made. Will it charge the house batts going down the road or only run the inverter loads?
And to finish off this long winded electrical help session. One of the AC amp meters on the BASS does not work. It always reads zero. The second is ok. And I have a couple of the lights which do not work on the individual breakers. Any help in repair of these items or who to contact for replacment parts is great.
So just let me know where I’m headed in the wrong direction. I’m just a newby on a hunt to break something expensive.
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The OTR air is what I am having them check out, as well as this 12V problem. The owner of this RV place owned a fleet of Prevost buses, supposedly he is well versed in them.
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Our first foray into the dieselized world as I remember it was about $1.40 per gallon or in that neighborhood. And it has just spiraled upwards ever since.
Unfortunately, I am not a kid, not any more, I am not sure what it is that I am, that is because the medicine often confuses me.
I am old school Jon, you know that. Stuff like this, turns me on. You ever see a ’53 five window coupe with duallies? I saw one this week, sure was tricked out.
BCO
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I agree with Ken in that it is likely the TPS.
While it is possible for a TPS to fail, one thing to check is the connector which might be the problem.
I think it is a 4 pin connector that you can access from behind the front bumper and it may be clamped to the roof of the area behind the bumper. Separate and join the two halves a few times in case there migh be some corrosion or a bad contact.. That area behind the bumper can get some moisture in it when running in the rain.
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Strong
application agreement with Jon.Creative
power management will go a long way to get you through a hot day. Turn off the
hot water heater, inverters, aux air compressor and the refrigerator. You
should be able to run 4 AC units on 30 amps of 220 until outside air temperature
drops. The water will stay reasonably hot and the refrigerator will stay cold
for 6 hours or so. As the day cools down, turn off one of the AC units and turn
on the refrigerator etc.If you managed to get into a park that only has 30 amp service, remember that
its 30 amps at 110 volts, not 220. If the spot beside you is not used, you
could run a 30 amp extension cord over and end up with 60 amps at 110 volts or
30 amps at 220 volts depending on the phase. DO NOT TRY this if you are not
positive what you are doing. -
Thank you for all of the help, advice and encouragement you have offered me in this post. I appreciate it very much. These inverters have had stumped me but Ed has helped me a bunch with that today.
I found this tucked away in a file today. It was dated February 1998 and was from Trevor at Vantare Service. Matches the order Ed gave me with the exception of turning off the AC breaker and unplugging the shore power. I guess they assumed that one. You guys were right on.
This note may have been transcribed from a recorded phone conversation. The original owners left several pages of notes like that. This one doesn’t say.
February 1998 was only 25 months after this coach was originally delivered. If they were having trouble with batteries at that point they sure did not receive good service from those batteries. I wonder what brand was installed in these new in 95/96?
I know the second owner replaced the batteries in spring of 2002. I have that work order and receipt.
I plan to start about 5:30 Wednesday morning if nothing prevents me. It is only supposed to be 101 in the afternoon. If anybody is near Miami, Oklahoma and feeling particularly frisky you are welcome to come by. We will have plenty of cold water and a lawn chair for you to sit and offer advice. I am sure we will have some lunch too!Thanks again for your help and all of the information.
DKO