saflyer

An RV tech showed me an item in the front run bay that is connected to the Trombetta. Said if I pull one item out it keeps the alternator from charging the house batteries but the emergency boost function is still available. Unfortunately I don’t remember what is to be pulled and that tech is no longer around. Another thing to consider. I installed a Trik-L-Start to keep my chassis batteries charged while on shore power. That company says it won’t work with lithium batteries but their latest models of Amp-L-Start will. Ultimately I tend to agree with not charging the house batteries from the alternator and just figure there will always be enough solar while I drive to run the few things operating, mainly the refrigerator.

Turns out the JC Engineering unit and the Amish one are the same, according to JC.

Are JC Refrigeration and the “Amish” unit the same thing? As I understand, JC Refrigeration has two cooling unit upgrades. One a straight replacement of the original electric/propane cooling unit with an improved design. The other is a conversion to a 12v cooling unit. That is I the one I am interested in. Ed

I’m not looking for troubleshooting tips. My post was a request for the experiences of those who have done JC Engineering conversions, particularly the 12v DC cooling unit. Energy use was my particular focus. A small group, to be sure, but I’m sure some of the forum members have insight. Ed

Thus my question “Anyone else have experience with it?” Ed

I had read the JC 12v cooling system uses about 25 ah per day. Anyone else have experience with it?

Is that “7-13 amps” per day? My Whirlpool 17cf residential draws 90-95/day and I consider that good. I still have the Norcold 1200 and have considered converting it to the JC 12v cooling unit for better boondocking. Ed ‘05 HR Ambassador

I have two hot water problems. Are they connected? First, the hot water at the sink for the last few days has fluctuated hot and cold. Then we started getting hot water through the cold water sides in the sinks and shower. This morning there was a light flow of hot water through the water heater pressure relief valve. I don’t know if it’s a leaking valve or doing it’s pressure relief thing. In February I winterized for the first time. Hope I did it right. I think I put the water heater bypass valve in the correct position, vertical, but the placard on it is not visible in the compartment. The owner’s manual picture is a little ambiguous. Does anyone have any advice? Ed ‘05 Ambassador 40PLQ

Didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about the items. One is a temperature sensor to alert me if my dog might get too hot when I am not there. But that doesn’t have to be operating when I am there. I should be able to turn the Starlink off some or a lot of the time. Of course all of this presumes I remember to turn it off. I still hope they make the portable unit more energy efficient. Ed

Yes, I would put a switch on the Starlink to reduce it’s power drain. But there are internet connected items that need that connection 24 hours a day. My hope is the mobile unit will be redesigned to use less energy. Ed

Without the Starlink I use 150-175 amps, maybe another 25 if I need heaters. My original plan was 740-840 watts of solar panels. Three hours of good sun should cover a days needs. But the Starlink’s 90-95 amps would indicate a need to increase the solar by about 50%. Ed

Another question, does the unit use more energy when you are actively using it to access the Internet as opposed to when it is idle? Ed

I put a Killawatt meter on my Starlink. After almost 22 hours the daily rate works out to 1.15 kw. I think that works out to about 95 amps at 12v? May have to bump my solar install up nearly 50%. Next I’ll be checking the speed of the service at various times of the day. Since it’s a worldwide system time of day may not make a big difference. Ed. ‘05 Ambassador

Got Starlink Saturday. I’m in NE Oklahoma. Speedtest that day was 85 MB’s. This morning, 187! Can’t wait to get it for the motorhome. Ed. ‘05 HR Ambassador

Yes. Exchanging a Magnum MS 2012 for my ME 2012. Pure sine wave with lithium setting. Decided to keep it as simple as possible so stayed with same brand. Should be a connection for connection replacement.

I had the same problem. Had the switch changed by a respected shop. Didn’t really solve the problem. Usually the beeping only lasts a few seconds but worry it won’t stop someday. Don’t know whether to have it changed again by another shop or try something different. Ed. ‘05 HR Ambassador

After originally planning installing four 210w panels from Continuous Resources for $194 ea. I’m thinking instead of going with two and possibly later a third 370w solar panel in my motorhome. I’ve found two products to choose from with wildly different prices. A Seraphim 72 cell mono from Santan Solar for $158 ea. or a REC 60 panel one from Wind and Sun for $357.67 ea. How do I decide? https://store.santansolar.com/product/seraphim-370w/?ref=errolprowse https://www.solar-electric.com/rec-rec370aa-alpha-series-370-watt-module.html Ed ‘05 Holiday Rambler

Great idea. Thanks

Please don’t take this wrong but my thinking is if you’re tired of a subject don’t click on the topic. As for me I find occasionally someone adds something I didn’t know. Ed

Picked the coach up from the shop. Tech had checked the dip switches and reset the thermostat. Also used his RJ-11 wire to check. Still no heat pump.Funny thing, though. I brought it home and exercised the generator. To get the load up on it I turned the forward heat pump on but since I don’t have rear HP now I turned that unit on A/C. But instead of cold air, hot came through the rear vents. So whatever mode the forward unit is in must override any mode of the rear unit, except OFF. A similar thing happened on my last trip in January. That was the first time using the motorhome after the heat pump problem began. The weather was cold so I turned the forward unit on HP but since the rear HP didn’t work I put it on furnace. But when the rear furnace came on the forward unit went from HP to furnace. Is this the way the system is designed so you can’t split the modes?Ed

Interesting Chris. I have an engine analyzer in my plane that I can download tons of data from and show in digital and graphical form. Also have a subscription service that uses a computer program to analyze and maybe predict problems. These engine analyzers along with widespread installations of EGT sensing are two of the best things to come along in decades. While our coaches don’t have the number of parameters that we can control while driving nor go through the range of environments on a given day as an airplane something like this would be useful? Maybe they could upgrade the Scan D line of products to have a similar function. Ed

How do I learn about this for my coach? As far as I know the engine brake function is disabled when using cruise control. Ed

I have Dometic Penguin A/C’s with heat pumps fore and aft. Last fall I had my roof seams resealed which required lifting them. Now the front unit works properly but the rear one no longer has the heat pump setting. When I move through the mode selections there is not one for heat pump on that unit. What might have happened? Ed ‘05 HR Ambassador

I’m going down the same road as you. Sounds like we have similar layouts in the after rear compartments. Try diysolarforums.com and explorist.life. A lot of good information. Ed ‘05 HR Ambassador

Thanks Vanwill52. I have read a lot on IRV2 but your explanation pulled a lot of it together. “Wheat from chaff”? At least one poster there discussed changing the coolant fan led to power improvement. Your thoughts? Ed