Ronald
Forum Replies Created
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David, the Classic with its 2 alternators uses the smaller of the two alternators for the house because the large 50DN output is needed for the over the road air power requirements of the chassis.
Unfortunately the small alternator has an internal regulator that is not adjustable.
As to why it is failing or has failed I cannot answer, but the key to a healthy alternator is to keep the loads minimal because they generate heat when working and heat is the enemy. One possibility is if your 3 house batteries are being nearly depleted overnight, with every start up the alternator is putting out a lot of current, more so if you are not topping them off after a day of driving with the generator or shore power supplying power to the inverters.
Our coaches are energy hogs and we have a lot of phantom loads we not only are unaware of, but we have no way to turn them off to reduce the draw on batteries overnight. We have burglar alarms, there is power to the TVs, we have clocks, and all sorts of devices that are powered from the house batteries.
Then if the house batteries are not topped off after driving all day they begin to lose capacity and the loss of capacity continues through their life. I am in the habit of connecting to shore power or running the generator after driving all day so the inverters can get power to do a bulk charge at about 14.4 volts in the case of the Classic and then dropping back to float. The alternator is likely limited to 13.6 to 13.8 volts which is only a maintenance charge.
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My back up camera picture kept getting more and more blurry over time. I thought the camera was failing and I’d need a replacement. But, on closer inspection, I removed the lens cover suspecting a water leak. Sure enough there was a gap in the top of the lens cover and over time dirty water leaked onto the camera lens and ‘crudded’ it up. After some careful buffing and polishing of the camera lens and cover and new caulk it’s nearly as good as new.
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I was lucky. Mine was stored in a hanger at a flying club. The owner gave us both driving lessons on the runways and taxiways.
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We use an Apple TV and haven’t turned on the Directv for almost a year now. We have what Bill is talking about AT&T’s MIFI with an unlimited plan for I believe $25 a month, the only catch to getting this you have to have had their unlimited plan on you phones for a number of years, its an older plan. And as Bill said most of the employees know nothing about it, but they can check your service plan and tell if you have the old plan and then hook you up, with no throttling so far.
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There is exactly ZERO chance that you need a water sanitizer “system”. You might want to sanitize your fresh water system when you buy a new coach (some bleach added to your water, run through out, let sit and then flush with clean water) but otherwise, there’s not much you need to sanitize unless you plan to suck up river water as your main source of fresh water.
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In comparison, we have owned our ’99 Marathon now for 7 years and about 33,000 miles. Total cost of maintenance, repairs, upgrades is $35,100- almost exactly $5000/year. This does not include fuel but includes couch recover, tires, batteries, air bags, shocks, new A-arms up front, etc. I do a lot of the simple maintenance myself, but have Prevost do air bags, A-arms etc. Overall, much cheaper than a boat or air plane.
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Let’s start a conversation with facts and not emotions. I get sick of the BS about these driverless vehicles being developed for safety reasons.
When folks started driving (and records were kept) in 1921 there were 21 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles driven. That number has been declining and by 1988 there were 2.32 fatalities per 100 million miles driven. In the ensuing 30 years that number has fallen to 1.16 fatalities per 100 million miles driven. Keep the drunks and druggies and cell phone users off the roads and those low numbers will drop to almost nothing.
And not a single computer controlled vehicle contributed to the gains in the safety of our roads or the cars currently being sold.
Do we have a parallel to what is unfolding with driverless cars and trucks? Yes. Aviation. For several decades the commercial planes such as the Boeing and Airbus aircraft have been push button planes and pilots might actually have hands on control for a few minutes. The rest of the flight, including the landing in some instances is conducted by the pilot providing the aircraft with data such as assigned altitude, airspeed, waypoints, etc. Aviation is safe, very safe, but by keeping the pilot’s hands off the yoke the pilots were (are) losing skills needed when the computers puked.
The two latest 737 accidents are the most recent examples, but do a search about Airbus fatal accidents and you will quickly see technology is going to lead to a situation where drivers will begin losing basic skills and the trend toward continuing safety improvements will stall.
We are not going to escape technology. People who are going to get hurt the most by it are the ones forcing it. If you cannot get enough employees to do the needed work, machines will be developed. If employees price themselves out of the market such as we are seeing with minimum wage fast food jobs, we are going to end up with a computerized McDonalds taking orders at a kiosk, which starts the process of building and wrapping the sandwich and sliding it down a chute into the customers hands.
Can’t get enough drivers? Buy a computerised truck, but understand instead of poorly trained marginal drivers to deal with you get to deal with a computer technician who will eventually be replaced with a computer with artificial intelligence.
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I got that e-mail and it is much appreciated! The blizzard appears to be over. We had 96 MPH gusts and snow most all day long. The low was the same as you would see in a Cat 2 Hurricane!
Historic is a word being bandied about!
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Thank you, I was just looking at portal
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why I am starting the bus once a day or so (more like every couple of days now) is, that I am losing bus air at a rapid rate and was losing accessory air even faster. Starting the bus and letting it run for a while pumped-up everything, for a while anyways.
My aux air is doing better since I replaced the California air compressor, which had sounded like an old farm tractor of late.
I could use the engine block heater but find the Aqua-Hot much easier. Flip a switch and its done.
The temperatures are improving here in Hot Springs, AR. They were in around 30/low 30‘s overnight.
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Sounds like a old parts man Al
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Hi Jeff, The Black Hills is a destination of ours as well. Maybe one day we can meet at a mutual place of interest. BTW Jeff, Michigan in the winter may not meet that interest… I know you’ve been known to call Lindsay sunshine but she may well be the only light.
Harry
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What is unsaid by anyone building their own conversion is the systems, systems logic, quality, and ease of use isn’t ging to come close to a professional conversion. It literally will be the same as comparing a meal cooked in a kid’s easy bake oven from a meal at Ruth’s Chris. Both will be edible but the difference will be in the details.
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Hey guys,
i am at a swap meet event that we produce in Allentown, PA. I’m flying back to Sarasota tomorrow (I Hope). I will call into the office and check into all of your concerns.
i also have a few cool updates to post as well. One of which is the fact that we will be giving away two vintage airplane rides specifically to the Air and Coach group!
I’ll be back to handle all of this Monday and I look forward to seeing all of you. We are currently over 20 coaches and getting several more every week.
Bill III
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🙂