jimc99999

In 1965 the median grocery store pay was $1.65/hr, and the median new house was $21,500. Average pay nowadays for cashiers seems to be around $13-15/hr. Seems like a huge increase, right? Median new house is now $340,100, 15.8x higher than in 1965. While 15.8x that $1.65/hr would be $26/hr. In 1965 average new car price seems to be around $2600. In 2020 that hit $45000, a 17.3x increase. So while it may be blowing your minds that a grocery store worker might be making $15/hr, if their pay had kept with with a couple of the biggest expenses it would be $25+/hr. And if their pay had kept up with healthcare costs, it would be around $60/hr. It's entirely possible that "let me go ask the store manager" was cashier-speak for "I'm going to waste some time to make this dumbass person asking a dumbass question stand around a while".

On my 97 Windsor the battery boost solenoid never worked properly (at least since 2018 when I bought the coach). It clicked, and I tested continuity, but it apparently couldn't pass enough current to accomplish anything. I never thought to test voltage differential. It's been replaced by the BlueSea ML-ACR now.

I'd be curious if there were differences. I could see the engine stresses being a bit different between cruiser V-twins and sporty motors. I didn't really want to use Mobil1 but I was traveling and didn't feel like hunting down Redline or Motul. By about 1K miles into the first fill with the M1 Racing 4T the clutch no longer slipped in 2nd/3rd gear. Interesting about the 2-stroke not working well with Redline. I used to run only Redline tranny and diff fluids in my cars because it could hold up to track days, and Rotella T6 for the motors. I was always curious about Royal Purple but always felt it was a little over-marketed, like the Lucas oil stuff.

I used Rotella T6 in my Triumph Sprint for many years (40-50K miles), and then they changed their formula to include some friction modifiers that caused the wet clutch to slip a little. I had to switch to motorcycle-specific sythetic since I'm pretty sure Rotella T6 was the last diesel synthetic without friction modifiers. So if your bike has a wet clutch you may want to skip the Rotella and go with something specific for motorcycle wet clutches.

The Teslas get about 100mpg-equivalent, comparing the amount of energy in a gallon of gas to KW/hrs. The reason gas cars don't get 70 mpg is because the effective efficiency is around 25% for most driving. So that already puts most EVs ahead of gas cars on efficiency, even if all charging power came from coal. The reality is coal power is decreasing and is only around 20% of the power supply at this point. Gas turbine plants are pushing 70% efficiency, a level that will never be achieved by an internal combustion engine in a car. And since wind and solar are now cost-effective to install and generate electricity basically for free, wind and solar installations will continue to increase as well. As for innovative uses for solar, some friends stayed in an RV park somewhere in CA's central valley last summer (travel nurses). The RV park had erected solar panels over the RV parking spots. So the panels were both providing shade and power which I thought was kind of cool. Despite the 100+F days, their electric bill was pretty low.

The most interesting thing about this topic is that we have here an obviously one-sided "story", presented in a particular way to make a specific impression, with no comparisons or supporting evidence. And in order to have acquired a Monaco diesel motorhome of any vintage, most of us here have had to have at least a small amount of success in some kind of career. Almost all careers involve specialized knowledge, an ability to learn and process information. And yet, this unsupported story has many otherwise relatively not-stupid people nodding along and agreeing. It's not even about whether the numbers presented in the story are accurate; it's that they aren't compared/contrasted to the alternatives. Or a lifecycle cost is presented as if it's a big thing, when compared to the lifecycle cost of alternatives it may not be. Take rooftop solar on an RV, for example. Ivylog DIY'd 1KW of solar for $1200. Sounds like a lot of diesel fuel, right? It probably generates 8KWhr on a relatively average sunny day while dry camping. Assuming that the entire 8WK/hr can be used, it would take the generator at least 2 hours to push an equivalent amount into the batteries, since they charge slower as they fill. So we'll go with 1g of diesel used by the generator. At $3/g, that's 400 days. At 60 days dry camping per year, that's 6.6 years to essentially break even only comparing to diesel that would have been used to generate that power while dry camping. Extend the dry camping to 90 days and that drops to 4.4 years. That's a pretty short life expectancy if you still don't expect to break even. And that's also not accounting for other benefits of having normal power in the coach when it's not in use.

You can tell the "story" in the first post is pretty much bull**** because there's no direct comparisons. Sure, an 8MW wind turbine is pretty big, and the manufacture and installation has some environmental cost. But how does that compare to an equivalent amount of coal-powered generation, in terms of construction of the plant itself and the fuel extraction and transportation? How much of an old coal plant is recycled? How much of the old coal extraction machinery is recycled? We've all traveled somewhat, and have probably all seen things like this just rotting away. Is the concern really about recycling wind turbine blades? How many birds does the OP (and those agreeing with that "story") think that coal strip mines like this might have killed? How many fish killed from acidic mine runoff? The OP may not know this, but coal power plants require millions of tons of concrete and steel for construction. It's hard to find specifics but a couple references indicate around 400 tons/MW; the numbers from the "story" would indicate about 100-200 tons/MW goes into a wind turbine (those numbers seem to be pretty close to the weight of an 8MW wind turbine). By the time you take into account the fact that the wind turbine may not last quite as long as the coal power plant, the kg of concrete/steel per lifetime MW/hr produced are pretty close. And after a coal plant is constructed, it requires about 1200 tons of coal per day per 100 MW. From http://www.iaeng.org/publication/WCE2013/WCE2013_pp532-541.pdf But sure, talk about some unrecycled wind turbine blades and toss out some large-sounding numbers about how much material it takes to construct a wind turbine and try to make that the story. And here's some facts and context on wind turbine recycling, for those who are interested. They can also be turned into useful things.

If you're doing a full repaint including top I like the 90s white/gel upper and colored skirt. My 97 Monaco is similar to this. I could do without the swoops and upper stripes personally. All the white keeps the coach pretty cool in the sun. And if you want retro 70's candy and lace job then having it as a lower skirt won't be "too much".

I will likely be interested in this info at some point. Why not just share the info here so when people search for info they can find it?

My bouncing tach was a precursor to alternator failure. On my 97 Windsor the tach signal comes from the alternator.

The configuration that came with my coach wasn't free, it was included in the price I paid for the coach a few years ago. It is now 25 years old. The "Big Boy" battery boost contactor never did work properly; it clunked and made a connection but couldn't pass enough current to start the generator, although regular jumper cables from the chassis to house batteries were able to accomplish that. The Lambert charger was failing, it no longer worked all the time. And when the alternator stopped working I figured it could be the isolator, or maybe the external exciter wiring had a problem, and I already had the ML-ACR so I installed it. Turns out the SSI may have still been working, or maybe it had a problem and killed the alternator. But it doesn't really matter now, and a new SSI by itself is $200+, and the ML-ACR which replaces all 3 devices was $160. The alternator itself made it 25 years and 75K miles, with 25K of those in the last 3 years. From what I've read here far younger alternators have failed, and there's plenty of discussion about problems with these electronic battery charging components so it's not like these parts haven't served their purpose with a reasonable lifetime. And now that the ML-ACR is installed, I technically don't need the alternator, the generator and inverter/charger can sustain 75+ amps to the chassis batteries if the house batteries are charged which seems like plenty. Turning on the headlights increased the charge current by 20 amps. Considering that a 5 hour trip a couple weeks ago with a flaky 5 amps or less maybe being provided by the Lambert took 0.5V off the batteries, normal daytime operation doesn't seem to actually draw that much power. However, adding a sustained 50A charging to the 25 year old Xantrex inverter/charger sounds like a good way to hasten its demise. I called around and was told they don't rebuild alternators much anymore unless it's rare or expensive. A new 170A Delco 28si is around $230, and they'll swap the pulley for me, so that's not bad. I just need to get back to the coach to remove the alternator. That should be fun, that old Leece-Neville looks like it weighs at least 40 lbs! Thanks everyone for the suggestions!

It appears my alternator has failed. I've verified I have chassis battery voltage and ground on 2 of the terminals on the rear of the alternator. On our last trip across the country the tachometer started acting up, and last time out the tach didn't work at all and there was no alternator charge voltage. It still drives fine, so apparently the Allison gets its rpm signal from a crank sensor and the dash tach must run off the alternator. I have installed the BlueSea ML-ACR so I don't necessarily need a DUVAC alternator anymore. Is it more reasonable to get the old alternator rebuilt? Or just get a new/reman self-exciting alternator? I'm not sure if I have anywhere local to get the alternator rebuilt. I know I saw someone mention a shop that does exchanges but I can't find it now. I haven't tried hitting it with a hammer yet. Wish I could read the plate on the bottom. I guess I'll have to try to hit it with a brass brush and see if that makes it more legible.

I haven't wired up the remote yet, but here's a before/after. The battery aux relay showed continuity and gave a big clunk when the "aux boost" dash button was pressed, but it couldn't flow much current. When the house batteries got too low to start the generator I had to use jumper cables from the chassis to house batteries because the aux boost couldn't do it. And even though the green light is showing on the trickle charger it had also stopped charging recently. House batteries are AGM, chassis batteries are sealed lead acid. Now that the inverter/charger can charge them at much higher current, should I set the inverter to AGM or flooded battery settings? Or does that really matter much?

I'm now replacing my 24 year old electronics in my 97 Windsor with the ML-ACR. Thanks for the tip on using a step drill bit, it works great to enlarge the holes in the wires. I do have a couple questions. Is it necessary to set up the start isolation if you are starting the coach while plugged into shore power or with the generator running? Also, should the second isolation circuit be configured to prevent connecting the sides while both the alternator and the generator are charging (I.e. running the generator while driving)? Or does that not really matter too much?

I have a 97 Windsor, Cummins C8.3 with Banks kit (installed before I bought it so I don't know what it includes), with pre-turbo EGT gauge. EGT is around 800-900 at highway cruising speed. In the east (lower elevations) at full throttle EGT will move pretty quickly to 1000-1100. After about 30 seconds going up a hill it will start creeping up to about 1250 and stabilize; below 1600 rpm EGT will continue to creep, downshifting manually to keep rpm higher will keep EGT lower (the Allison like to downshift around 1400 rpm which I think is too low). Climbing the bigger passes out west above 6000 feet, I have to watch EGT much more closely, and occasionally back out of the throttle some to keep EGTs under 1300.

I'm not sure if Source Engineering just outside of Eugene, OR does much electrical stuff but it can't hurt to give them a call and ask. If they can't do it themselves, they may be able to refer you to someone.

There is a trap door under the fuel/oil filters, unless your slide blocks that for some reason. That will let the fuel filter easily drop out the bottom.

My battery disconnect switches look and feel ok. That Blue Sea ML-ACR looks interesting. I guess you'd connect alternator charging directly to the chassis batteries, and inverter/charger/solar charging directly to the house batteries, and let the ML-ACR balance the charging?

I fixed it! I took off the front panel and there was the governor, oil and fuel filters, starter and solenoid, etc. One of the white wires going to the governor had broken at the terminal. I put on a new terminal and that was all it needed. For anyone with the generator mounted in the bay and not on a slide, this is what you'll see when you remove that front panel. The panel is a pain to reinstall (it's tough to line up the bolt holes), so removing it to replace the oil and fuel filters instead of working through the trap door on the bottom may not be worth it.

I've tried disconnecting the battery for 15+ minutes, and holding the "stop/prime" button on the generator for 1 minute to attempt to reset codes. When I try to start the generator there is a very faint click and it shows the error code. Research shows mentions of both governor problem and AC short. The generator is not on a slide. Is it likely this is a problem I can resolve by removing panels I can access from the generator bay door or bottom? We're crossing the country for my wife's new job and the generator quit last night while we were sleeping with the generator powering the rear AC. The coach AC systems do work plugged into shore power. As it's 90+ across much of the US, the weak dash AC couldn't keep up so we finally had to stop at an RV park in the heat of the day. I guess I'll have to drive mostly at night until we reach our destination. Unfortunately we stopped just west of St Louis so I'm now waiting for serious thunderstorms to pass so I can try to cover some ground tonight.

Adding water didn't help the batteries, they were still a bit weak starting the coach even at normal voltages. I stopped by O'Reillys and they load tested the batteries, one was in the last 25% of its life. The manager decided to warranty both of them and with 2 new batteries it cranks much better.

I noticed my exhaust brake wasn't working today. After a bit of poking around at a rest area, it started working. The brass knob (circled in pic below) spins freely and wobbles; seems like some kind of air release. Turn it just so and the cylinder works when you press the brake button, otherwise you just get a hiss of air through a valve. Where did you get the air release valve? Is this the part you replaced? Jim

They are 2 year old O'Reilly's Super Start Extreme, size 65, 850CCA. I got those because I don't think I can fit 2 group 31s, they are all listed at 12.5" long and my tray is 12x20. For some reason I thought they were AGM, but I cleaned them tonight and saw they're standard flooded. I popped the caps off one of them and the water is about 0.25" below the plastic, but still covering the plates. Should I add some distilled water? I thought everything was working fine again, but we boondocked this weekend and the chassis battery voltage dropped to around 12.3V. I charged them back up with the generator powering a battery charger. After driving the coach 7 hours today, I removed the chassis batteries and am letting them sit disconnected overnight to see if the voltage drops if they are not being charged. If not, I guess I'll have to figure out what's draining them. After being charged all day from the alternator, after I removed them from the coach to clean, them both measured 13.03V. With the coach idling this morning, voltage across the batteries was around 13.6V. I forgot to check voltage with the engine running when I arrived this afternoon. They measured 12.95V just after turning the coach off and 13.02V after the coach was plugged into shore power about 30 minutes. On a side note, there was 14.3V across the chassis battery cables after turning off the battery disconnect and removing the batteries. I've previously checked continuity across the disconnect and it seems to actually disconnect. The engine bay trickle charger (pictured above) should be disconnected by the switch. It was almost dark so the solar panel shouldn't be producing any power, in case the heliotrope is wired directly.

The Heliotrope can show those numbers at night, so it seems like it's attempting to show battery voltage. Recently it has been accurately displaying battery voltage. It does show voltages for each set of batteries, although the chassis batteries are connected to the house side.

Duck Duck Go sells ads, and they sell those ads based on what you search for. They don't track your activity and sell your data to the same extent Google does, but your activity still makes money for them. For any service you use "for free", either someone is paying for you to use that service, or you are the product that is making someone money. Watch a "free" youtube video? Youtube makes money. Post on Facebook? Facebook makes money. Have a "free" bank acount? Bank makes money from both your money and your data. I haven't reviewed the terms of service for Invision Community's cloud-hosted forums, but it's entirely possible that while Bill D is paying them $70+/month to provide this forum for us, Invision Community may be aggregating and selling our data as well to "make money off your content". Edit: forgot to mention there's a google analytics tracker on this forum. While browsers are working toward trying to prevent these trackers from identifying users across websites, the data aggregators (Google, Facebook, etc) are constantly working to defeat those privacy efforts. So it's entirely likely that Google can still make money based simply on the fact that you viewed this website.