[Will]

I’ve heard that it’s illegal to have the dump switches at the dash, but have never seen the law that prohbits them. Mine can be dumped from the driver’s seat.

[Will]

Tom raises and excellent point I should have recognized from the beginning. If this is a consignment coach the owner may be tying the seller’s hands and not allowing the seller to put any money into the coach for repairs. My comments about my concerns still stand because as I first said a brake problem that has not been repaired is a strong signal.

[Will]

Thanks. In about 16 months we will need to consider which state to call home when we go full time. It can’t come soon enough.

[Will]

Tim, note to self, the Eagle is not a bus.:)

[Will]

My info was 3 or 4 years old, and mine might be a problem because I have a 12/24 volt house which requires additional equipment.

[Will]

Thanks Tom. I will have to get out there without being rushed and see what is happening and not go by memory. It may very well be charging at 13.3 vdc but I will not be able to do any load testing where the unit is stored. A big issue that I have had is trying to learn the coach’s system while the coach is not operating normally. I need to spend some quality time with it when it is operating as it should so I can tell when something does go out of whack.

The coach has the original 2012 (6) 8D Lifelines. Gil thought about going down to (4) but never did. I’ll check in a couple weeks and hopefully I will see the 13.3 vdc with the shore power connected.

I was was hoping to get another year out of the batteries but we’ll see if I can. If they need replacing I am strongly considering Li-ion. Aside from the cost, everything else seems to run circles around AGM’s; performance wise. They charge faster, don’t have to be topped off and can be discharged to a lower state without affecting their life and they won’t discharge as fast on demanding loads. They are lighter and have a quite much more charge/discharge cycles. They are now available in 8D sizes with either a remote panel or monitored through an app on an iPad. I understand that temperature may shorten their life somewhat but I need to research them a bit more. We do plan on doing some boondocking and I would prefer to run the generator less. The Magnum inverter/chargers that I just bought will work with Li-ion so I should be covered there. However, I would be interested in knowing other counterpoints besides the price.

If I do go with AGM’s I will buy them from you.

Happy Thanksgiving,

[Will]

Andy,

Suggest you get the batteries to float voltage around 13.3 unhook the cables and load test each battery. At 4 years and possibly being discharged way below even 12 volts, the batteries could be your problem. Since Inverter Service did your work, I would say it’s been checked out by the experts. Do you have the original number of batteries or has your bank been reduced? If you need batteries, I can help you out.

Also, there will be a white round sticker on your batteries with 2 letters. I can tell you the manufacturer date with those 2 letters. Oops, this is Tom, I see I’m signed on as admin.

[Will]

Update, Phil had what should be his final surgery on Sunday, all went well….Today he was moved to a rehab center for now. He has a lot of hard work ahead of him.

[Will]

Hello PC! Just an update, I’m still searching for a Prevost and haven’t givin up yet! Another big thanks to Dan for giving me and my family the grand tour of his CC this summer. Haven’t forgot about you met friend. It’s definitely a big journey! I look at everyone’s post and try to learn as much as possible. Just kind of sitting back being quiet on the forum and taking in as much as possible. Taking Jons advice, don’t rush and research! Thank you al and I will keep you posted. Our thoughts and prayers are with the gentleman involved in the head on accident. Don’t know Jeff personally, but sounds like one hell of a man! Thanks for letting me be a part of your community and hope to meet you all someday soon! Kent

[Will]

If this issue is not resolved, look into the following. As
I recall, the Country Coach battery system operates in two separate battery
banks (4 batteries each bank), top and bottom, if you have 8, 8D batteries like I do. The top and
bottom bank are joined together in the power panel, located on top or the
battery housing, between inverters. Each bank (upper and lower) is tied
to main battery buss with a fuse for each bank, 200 amp (don’t remember exact value, but big) or higher I
think. Check each fuse to assure one has not blown.

It sounds (my guess) to me you could be running off of one half
of your batteries. There is a nut that needs to be removed, then slide
the power panel out to check the fuses. Remember, this is a high amp
area, so be careful.

You can check the amps on each bank when charging (after
draining your batteries to lower state) with both inverter/chargers. If one bank is significantly different, check
the power panel fuses.

Again, be careful, this a high DC amp area, one slip of an unshielded
tool can cause major problems.

I also own a 1995 Country Coach and have rebuild the battery
compartment and replaced both inverters with Magnasine, pure sine wave
inverters. They have run flawlessly
since installation 7 years ago. I also
upgraded all the wiring and connectors in the battery box area. Country Coach did no invest in high quality
wiring or connectors in this area.

Good Luck.

Hector

[Will]

I do not remember who coined the phrase, but when I first found this group a couple years ago, whenever there was a “Gathering” he ask for “BUSS PORN” pictures.

So like the man said we need to see pictures of the rally.

Thanks, Jim

[Will]

Not to dimish the report of the defective ground strap, but to indicate this is the first time in my memory anyone has posted this problem.

Having said that I don’t think it is a bad idea for all of us to do a check to verify we do not have such a potential problem. At one time if my memory is not too far gone the 8V92 engines with the gear driven alternator had an issue with field wires because not enough slack in the wiring was provided and they would fail at the terminal.

[Will]

Pres,

Becky and I just returned from Ruidoso Motorcoach Ranch and your description could not have been better. Lisa and Jimmy couldn’t be nicer and their manager Wally is great too. Jimmy is still talking abut you. The air, the views, deer, elk and an evening of UFO’s with Colorado Bus were all highlights for us. I highly recommend this park and the directions Pres posted are spot on. Lisa told us GPS was not reliable and she was right so be aware. The park is 29 of the best sites I have ever seen, all with spectacular views.

[Will]

Great report and even nicer was knowing there are still businesses that treat us as we would like to be treated.

[Will]

I’m not completely sure that is correct.

The Watchdog is more than a starting device. As the name implies it is monitoring the generator operation and in the event of some value being out of range, like oil pressure or coolant temp it will shut down the generator. Without that protection a broken fan belt can allow the generator to overheat, and eventually destroy the generator as an example.

With regard to auto-start if a coach gets too warm inside that presumes the AC units will come on when they see generator power. I cannot speak about other coaches or conversions, but my AC units (Cruiseairs) will not start if power is applied. In fact as it is set up I have shore power disconnect as a generator start feature. If power is tripped at the power pole, my ACs that are not on the inverters will shut down. Even if the generator starts and restores power to the coach those ACs that shut down will not restart.

It might be possible for a coach control system like Crestron to be reconfigured to initiate a restart cycle. My point however is before thinking any generator start system has a feature such as maintaining cool coach temps it should be verified, especially if you plan to leave the coach with pets inside.