wamcneil

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

I didn't read all of that review, but in Final Verdict he thought the user interface isn't polished enough to justify its price, but he mostly didn't like it because the protocol is too secure for him to hack it for use with his highly complex self-developed automations systems. I'm wishing I'd tried one instead of the CCC 2. That's a high-volume product that should (IMO) absolutely be engineered a lot better than it is. I think I can forgive a clunky UI in the low-volume aftermarket unit, in exchange for a LOT more functionality. Other than an easier reading screen, I'm not a big fan of the CCC2. And I'm especially irritated that it's twice the size of the thermostat it replaced, AND it requires a BIG GRATUITOUS HOLE IN THE WALL behind it. Cheers, Walter

They're here! The box is very nice and tidy. All the seams welded, rivnuts on the fasteners. And the box is built exactly to my dimensions. Everything is glued together inside so I can't get a good look at the cells without peeling it all apart. The BMS is about the only part I can get to without peeling away a bunch of adhesive, foam and insulating panels. It's locates on the top. The BMS appears to be adequate.. It's 'advertised' as: Continuous charging current: 100A Continuous discharge current: 300A Maximum charging current: 150A Maximum charging voltage: 14.6A Minimum discharge voltage: 10V Low temperature protection Charging protection Automatic balancing I'm sure the discharge current is highly exaggerated. The BMS main conductors are twin 8-ga wires. They're charging now. Will probably be balancing the cells and testing the BMS over the next few days.

Nice. Interested to hear how they do on the trip.

Today's the day!!! 2-1/2 months later... Batteries are on the UPS truck for delivery.

Yeah... he did say that... I'm really curious to find out how he plugged into something other than a NEMA 14-50R receptacle!

X2. And NEMA 14-50r is the only dryer plug I have ever seen that an RV could be plugged into without getting pretty creative.

No, the 30a RV plug is 120v. It’s one hot, neutral and ground, just like the 3-prong outlets in the house. The one hot leg is jumpered to both hot legs inside the 30a-50a adapter. I doubt he could have done anything bad here unless he kludged his own adapter with kitchen utensils and tinfoil. And even if he did... I think the transfer switch will catch the hot neutral and not engage. Cheers Walter

What????? He doesn’t say what kind of dryer plug it is, so potentially there’s a problem if he’s got an old 3-wire dryer plug with no neutral conductor . Or if he somehow connected the old 3-wire 240v dryer plug like it was a 120v 30a RV plug. But if he’s got a 4-wire plug in his laundry room... there’s no difference between a NEMA 14-50R 240v outlet in your laundry room and the same NEMA 14-50R outlet in the RV park power pole. Except maybe the dryer circuit has a 30a breaker in it. (Which won’t hurt anything) True, there’s nothing in the RV that uses BOTH legs of 240v power, but make no mistake, 240v power is most certainly coming in to the RV through the 50a connector. Cheers Walter

Well, I’m hoping I don’t need to rapid-charge the batteries from the alternator, so no plan to modify the alternator at this point. DC/DC charger is on the short list. But initially I’ll just isolate the house from chassis and see how that works out. I figure I won’t be running a lot of house loads while underway, and I should still have solar underway too. So maybe I can just keep them isolated (except for the combiner relay). Ive got a small battery maintainer to plug into the block heater outlet to keep the chassis batteries charged while parked. 2 more days till the batteries arrive! Cheers Walter

Ugh. Almost 2 months later... and batteries still not arrived. They cleared customs, and then sat in the port in CA for couple weeks. Now finally in the possession of UPS and will arrive next week!

It’s been about 4 yr since I’ve looked at them. At that time there was very little selection in compact home-theater-in-a-box. Samsung was about the only one I could find that would fit my cabinet, I think Samsung discontinued them tho... Might be able to find a used one cheap on eBay without the speakers and reuse yours. Cheers Walter