wamcneil

Ok, got it out of the AC. Mine is 2003 dometic 630515.321 Part number on the solenoid is not legible, but looks just like this one: http://www.nwrvsupply.com/product/3310714005.html IMG_4330.HEIC

I’ve got an AC for parts. Let me know if you need the solenoid. I suspect the reversing valve was this unit’s problem, but I believe the solenoid is good. Cheers Walter

I use a small battery disconnect switch (rated for 48v) on the positive solar feed wire. No harm in using a circuit breaker, but the solar panel cables don’t need overcurrent protection. Cheers Walter

Nice setup! Thanks for sharing that Michael

Could this instant hot issue is revealing a separate problem with the 50a service coming to the coach? I’m not an electrician either... but I believe there should be one point in the 50a distribution panel where the neutral bus, grounding conductors and ground rod are all connected together. But maybe the chassis is disconnected from ground while transfer switch is on external 50a service? Cheers Walter

No huge loads like AC. It’s mostly to run the microwave or induction cooktop and warm up leftovers without feeling like I need to fire up the generator every day. Recharge mostly with solar (1100w). It’s looking like I may have an extra 270ah lithium battery to use for the house loads. I haven’t tried to calculate the house loads separate from the inverter, but that’s the big power consumer (fridge mostly, coffee maker, computer, tv). Other house loads are just led lights, water pump and in winter the aqua hot would probably be the biggest consumer. Cheers Walter

Hi all, I've got what might be a crazy idea. The problem: My batteries are waaaaaay at the back of the coach right-rear. But my inverter is up forward on the left. 4/0 cables between, but still a lot of voltage drop at high current. No easy way to fix this, unfortunately... Moving the inverter closer to the batteries has entered my mind, but then I'd need to re-route a lot of wiring.😞 What if I replaced the inverter with a 24v inverter? Dropping the current in half should get my voltage drop down to the 3% range. Other than the obvious voltage change, a 24v Magnum inverter/charger would be plug-n-play swap for the existing MS2012. Solar controller can run 12v or 24v, so that would only be a dip switch setting. It would be pretty simple to separate the 4/0 cable run from the high-current run-bay and repurpose it for 24v, then wire the existing house batteries in series for 24v Magnum AGS is good with 12v or 24v I've got enough room on top of the batteries to install another 12v battery for the house loads and run cables back to the high-current run bay to feed everything except the inverter. Add small 12v charger or 24v/12v converter for new house battery Anything I'm missing that might make this plan end in sadness? I remember needing to connect the neg inverter cable to the chassis and the neg battery cable. I suppose I'll need to connect the new 12v battery neg to the chassis when I disconnect the inverter from the chassis. Thanks, Walter

That's a good idea. I think I'll look into LED in my driving lights.

Here’s my experience installing led bulbs in my BMW housings. https://www.irv2.com/forums/f115/diy-2003-monaco-dynasty-led-headlight-upgrade-379517.html Mine are the older variant without the angel eye rings. So might be a little different than yours. It took some fiddling, but the end result is a huge improvement. cheers Walter

From a code perspective, is there any reason why the 50a receptacle needs the be wired with a 50a breaker? If you've got a 50a breaker, you need 50a wire. Bit I'm not sure it would be a code violation to wire the 50a receptacle with a 30a breaker and 10 ga wire. Nothing unsafe about that. But as you noted, just need to be aware that you can't run more than 30a worth of loads on each leg of power. That would be a lot like plugging 4 hair dryers into a bathroom 15a circuit. Nothing wrong with that as long as you know you can't turn on more than one hair dryer at any given time. Cheers, Walter

No, there is not because it would not be code compliant. The motorhome has two hot conductors, one neutral conductor and one ground wire. Your adapter has two hot conductors and a ground wire. So you’re sending neutral current down the ground wire in your adapter and then through the ground wires in your house. These days, the ground wire isn’t allowed to carry load currents. Using the ground wire for current is potentially unsafe. Cheers Walter

Yes, I believe it is a regular GM truck ignition switch. But I'm hearing the front solenoid click, so I'm thinking the problem is not in the ignition switch? Maybe resistance in the switch is giving reduced voltage to the solenoid? I'll check that out. The part that really has me puzzled is that it started working normally after having run the engine. Maybe running the engine raised the chassis battery voltage, and maybe the increased voltage is the difference??? Maybe a combination of a sketchy ignition switch and a sketchy solenoid? Thanks y'all, Walter

Hi all, For a while now I've felt like starting the engine with the front key switch is a little sketchy. Most of the time, it works fine, but sometimes I need to turn it to Start 2-3 times before the starter engages. While I don't use the rear switch often, it always seems crisp and never had to hit it twice. So last time I went to start it, just a click from the front. Couldn't get the starter to engage with multiple attempts. I can hear a solenoid/relay clicking in the front run bay, but don't hear anything in the back. And then I go back to the rear switch and it turns over just fine. Shut it back down again and now try the front key switch again and now it's working again. So, in summary, it seems like the key switch and front solenoid/relay are working, and there's some kind of issue between there and the rear run bay. I haven't started troubleshooting yet. Any suggestions on where to get started? Thanks! Walter

That's an interesting idea... but crazy prices and they're not the only game in town... Poly Performance Portable CO2 Tire Inflation Kit w/ 15lb Tank (2304) I keep a 15 lb CO2 tank around for making carbonated water. Maybe I should get a regulator and try that instead of the compressor! Or... there are really cheap options for putting a tire inflator on a dive tank.

I take it back... There are a fair number of new features that would be nice. "If your inverter does not have the required compatibility level for a feature/setting you want, contact Magnum Energy to determine if there is a software upgrade option for your inverter." I suspect the 'upgrade' comes in the form of a new circuit board... Here's the ME-ARC compatibility matrix. Apparently I don't have 'level 4'. It would be nice to have the Rebulk setting in Final Charge Setting Features are determined by the combination of ME-ARC and inverter revision. Apparently I have a 'Level 4' inverter, but need ME-ARC version 4 to see those additional charger features (my ME-ARC is version 3.01) 😞 Magnum Remote Compatibility | Magnum Dimensions (magnum-dimensions.com) Cheers, Walter

Well, I lost enthusiasm for spending money to replace the control board in the middle AC unit. If anyone has a CCC2 board laying around from a failed unit they'd like to donate to the effort I'll try it. But couldn't find a cheap CCC2 board with ambient sensor. Almost there on the middle AC though!!!! I found a deal on a new Penguin II for the middle and am starting to wire it to the front CCC2. I managed to push a fiberglass fish alongside the duct from middle to front unit. The hard part was keeping the fish from going up and riding on top of the center ductwork. Once I managed to hold the fish from riding up to the top of the cavity, it made it to the forward register and underneath the foam baffle beside the duct pretty easily. Once I'm ready to replace the bedroom unit, I think I can use the same technique to push a fish from the middle unit back to the bedroom and remove the bedroom CCC. Should be able to repurpose the wires from the bedroom CCC to place a remote temp sensor in that location and drive all 3 units from one CCC2. Cheers, Walter

I I don't think they're built for that. Probably not without swapping out a circuit board. But I don't think there are any significant new 'features' in later versions of the inverter anyway. Maybe they have some additional preconfigured charge profiles, but those are nothing but a preconfigured set of charge parameters that can easily be duplicated in the custom settings. Nothing magic about them. Don't be afraid to set up a custom charge profile to match whatever Trojan recommends. Cheers, Walter

I’m kind of a tool snob... but for some things I go to harbor freight. For stationary intermittent shop use, I think Harbor freight compressors are hard to beat. If it’s not being moved around, a bigger tank is always better IMO. But for MH tires I keep a small Bostich 1.2gal in the forward bay. I find the oil-free pancake compressors to be unpleasantly loud. For me, noise was a primary criteria for the portable unit. Cheers Walter

That's a lot of work. THANK YOU!

Yeah, I'd think switching under a load like that would be bad for the transfer stitch and the loads. I turn all my big stuff off before plugging/unplugging/starting generator Don't forget the battery charger. The charger can contribute a lot to the AC load when you plug in and it's bulk charging. With 2 ACs running, three's not much left out of the 30a service.

Look up underneath it. You'll see a tab against the wall. Gently pry down on that tab, pull the bottom out away from the wall and then lift the front cover up.

Here's an explanation. What is Amp Hour Capacity? : Technical Support (rollsbattery.com) The label means if you discharge the battery at a rate of about 34amps, it'll do that for 5 hours before the voltage falls below 10.5v. 5hr x 34.2 amps = 171 ah. If you discharge the battery at 5 amps, you'll get more than 171 ah out of it, If you discharge it at 75 amps, it'll do that for 115 min and you'll get about 144 ah out of it. if you discharge at 100a, you'll get a lot less than that. Cheers, Walter

Not sure if this entirely relevant to the conversation, but something I’ve seen only recently. Since upgrading to a new penguin II and CCC2, I’ve noticed that it switches itself from heat pump to AH right about freezing. The CCC2 still indicates AH, but it turns on the heat pump instead. Once ambient temp rises, the HP comes back on. As far as I can tell, I don’t have any control of the behavior cheers Walter

Sure. Will do. I've got a new rooftop unit sitting out beside the motorhome to install in that middle hole very soon. My plan is to run a fish tape up beside the duct overhead and try to pull a cable between the two units. Wish me luck... Cheers. Walter

I can't speak to the cost specifically, but I think I understand the requiring requirements . At least in my RV... The wall thermostat is connected to the first rooftop unit by a phone cable. you should already have that cable, and that first unit will be Zone1. Then the other rooftop units are daisy-chained to Zone1 with a phone cable (Thermostat>>Zone1>>Zone2>>Zone3>>Zone4) Only the first rooftop unit (Zone1) can use the temp sensor in the wall thermostat. Any other rooftop units that are daisy-chained off of Zone1 will each require a remote temp sensor to be connected to each rooftop unit. Otherwise, I'm not sure any more rewiring is necessary. The wall thermostat isn't connected directly to the furnace or aquahot. It's the rooftop unit circuit boards trigger other features like the furnace or aquahot when told to do so by the thermostat. And all that other wiring should already in place. Example: In my case, I've got a middle AC that is Zone2 on the bedroom thermostat. I would like it to be connected to the front thermostat instead. I believe I can run a phone cable overhead from the front AC to the middle AC, disconnect the phone cable that presently connects the middle AC to the bedroom AC and I think that's all that is needed. The middle AC already has a remote temp sensor located in the bathroom because it is currently Zone2 on the bedroom thermostat, and not controlled by a dedicated thermostat. Does that help? Cheers. Walter