wamcneil
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Posts posted by wamcneil
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2 hours ago, Tom Cherry said:
DO some reading first. If you have the 5 button T'stat, then you can not install the new 12 (actually 10) TStat. It will NOT WORK.....we have a LOT of threads here on that.
Ok, now I'm really confused. Maybe I just don't read that good.
I've actually done a lot of reading on here, and I read the entire thread you linked. And as far as I can tell the new Penguin II is set up to work with the new CCC2. But you're saying that the new Penguin II will NOT work with the new CCC2 thermostat!?!?!??
Maybe I wasn't clear. I'm wanting to change out my front A/C where one unit is connected to one 5-button CCC. Is there something I'm missing?
Walter
14 hours ago, Ray Davis said:Walter , I just replaced one in the bedroom . Bought it here http://www.adventurerv.net/ I bought it there because they had one , they may have more , I didn't ask .
The regular freight was a little slow but it got here ok . I had some 14 ft 2x6s that I used to make a slide which I placed one end on a picnic table the other end on
the coach . I used a rope , got on the roof and pulled it up box and all , unpacked it up there and sent the old one down in the box .
One thing I found was the holes on the A/C didn't quite or exactly match up with the holes in the coach so you could easily cross thread the bolts .
I think the mounting holes on my coach are just a little off so yours will most likely be correct .
The threaded holes in the A/C are 1/4 " standard thread so I cut 4 all threads approx 6 in long . I preinstalled those into the A/C and had someone
carefully guide them from the inside as I lowered it into place then I used nuts inside to secure .
If your duct is ok now you shouldn't need anything for it but foil tape might be a good idea to have on hand .
This is the drain kit you will need https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dometic-3107688016-Auxiliary-Drain-Pan-Kit-New/124302386404?epid=1023679643&hash=item1cf0ffe4e4:g:yP0AAOSwUDhfNG-2
Ray Davis
Thanks Ray.
I've asked adventurerv to check their stock.
Cheers,
Walter
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Hi All,
So now that the Penguin II heat pumps are in short supply, I need one...
I'm about to place an order (and wait...), but this is my first time lifting up an RV AC unit, so I could use some guidance. The installation manual looks like it only covers use with a ceiling-mounted distribution box, but I've got ducts in the ceiling. And I'm not sure what to expect once I pull up the old unit.
I'm replacing only the forward unit ( one single rooftop unit controlled by one single CCC), so I'm also replacing the 5-button CCC with a 10-buttton CCC2.
Besides the rooftop unit (651816HXX1C0-01) and CCC (3314082.011), what else will I need?
For example, I probably need a new drain kit to route the condensate to my drain tube (3107688.016)? I've found the drain kit for sale on various websites, but I oddly can't find this kit on the Dometic website...
Anything else required to seal the new AC up against the built-in ductwork?
Thanks,
Walter
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I’ve got two of their panels, and I like them... but hightec solar doesn’t have some kind of advanced physics mojo that nobody else in the industry has. Mine came with test certificates that showed the test was run signIficantly colder than ‘standard’ conditions.
The construction of the panels is almost identical to my other Grape Solar panels and I think folks buy components on the open market and then just assemble the panels in US.Maybe 4-vs-5 bussbars make a difference, but I suspect the mono crystalline cell wafers are a commodity product and all pretty similar.
cheersWalter
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Thanks y’all. One of these days I’ll find an extra wire and put a light up front
cheers
Walter
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A Mud Dauber ruined my Toad Brakes...
Sounds pretty random, right?
I flat tow with a Roadmaster TowMaster braking system. When we got to our first stop on this trip, I noticed the toad brake lights were on. I thought 'that's odd, why would the toad brakes be on?'. And I found the air cylinder stuck in the EXTENED position and the brake pedal pinned to the floor.
And of course the brake rotors are fried. The brakes still work, but the rotors are warped and chunky. Reminds me of the brakes in cars I drove in high school...So I was pretty mad and started thinking about the scathing message I would send to Roadmaster customer service that their cylinder would fail in this manner. And then I scrutinized the dump valve and found a nice dirt blockage up in the exhaust port.
And I'm not mad at Roadmaster anymore. A mud dauber did indeed ruin my toad brakes.
Lesson: make sure to check the toad brake operation EVERY time before leaving.
Cheer,
Walter
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3 hours ago, Ivan K said:
I am using 200+ watt panels from a company selling on eBay. This was my 4th panel. They come with warranty and a test chart. Once a while he sells some that tested well over 200w and that's what I get. They are 12v, perfect for my serial setup. The company is High-tech Solar, I think in Michigan, no complaints.
I've got a couple of those also, and some 180w Grape Solar from Home Depot.
I like the shape and size of the 180-200 panels. They fit nicely between the ACs and the edge of the roof.
Cheers
Walter
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Thanks John. That picture is perfect. That's the exact spot I'm concerned about!
Looks like it can coexist with the fan thermostat.
Cheers,
Walter
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Hi all,
I've google'd till I'm blue in the face and I can't find a spec sheet that lists the CCC2 10-button dimensions. The only dimensions I can find are the outer BOX dimensions,
Can somebody tell me the actual width of the 10-button CCC2?
Thanks,
Walter
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13 hours ago, Jim McGarvie said:
Can anyone point me to a good website to learn the basics? I have been through most of the AM Solar site (https://amsolar.com/diy-rv-solar-instructions/) and it is very helpful, but I still have questions.
Thanks for any help and advice.
Jim
Sounds like you already have a good handle on the basics, but rvwithtito.com has a good beginner guide and some videos walking through his setup and explaining the decisions that drove each part of his system.
He gets really detailed; shows his rooftop junction box and talks about roof penetration. I copied his junction box and DIN rail terminal block. And I’m jealous of his symarine battery monitor...Personally, I ran big wires down from the junction box to the controller and then combined the panels in series (2 strings of 3 panels each). That way if I later decide that shading is a problem, I can rewire the junction box and run the panels in parallel without causing much hardship.
Cheers
Walter
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3 hours ago, Ivan K said:
I think you'll find that you'll have no need for the extender but since you already have it, why not. My Asus router covers 80' shop even with one of the 3 antenna ports hooked to a flat directional antenna on the outside wall, feeding our house and porch area more than 100' away.
X2. I’ve got a little travel router in the cabinet above driver seat. No problem getting good WiFi all the way in the back, even with no external antennas on the pocket router.
cheersWalter
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Here’s what I use:
GL.iNet GL-AR750 Travel AC VPN Router, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07712LKJM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_o4UeFb95R0VY5
Routers with support for USB WAN are fairly common , but not all routers work with the Mobley USB. I also successfully used the ASUS router mentioned earlier but wanted a compact device to fit in the cabinet easier.
The Mobley is connected by USB and the router is configured to use the Mobley for internet. The Mobley sees only the router as a ‘client’ and is unaware of the downstream devices .
if you’re technically-challenged, you might need help with this setup . The router has multiple modes of operation and dozens of settings.
Using this setup came with two nice surprises:
1-the Mobley became much more stable and I no longer had to reset it every few days
2- I get better throughput using the router -vs- the Mobley’s internal WiFi
cheers
Walter
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Hi All,
I just got done removing a fully functional Motosat HD and Nomad controller from the roof of the rig. We cut the cable years ago have no interest in ever having a satellite tv subscription.
Last I tried it in open sky it acquired just fine, but information on the RF Mogul website tells me the Nomad controller software will not find satellites reliably, and a $900 Eagle controller is required to keep it going.
Are these old dishes worth anything? It's carefully broken down into pieces and I could pack it into 3 reasonable size boxes, but shipping it would be a hassle and expensive.
Should I try selling it or put it in the scrap metal pile???
Thanks,
Walter
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There are multiple “signal” wires coming out of the back of the keypad. 555 triggers the lock signal wire. Your code triggers the wire associated with the main door solenoids. After you enter the normal code to trigger the main door signal wire, you hit another button to subsequently trigger the bay door signal wire. My bay doors are on the wire triggered by 9/0, but yours may be on another button. The instructions that came with the keypad should describe this.
cheersWalter
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Looks like it might be worth a try. Maybe cut the button extensions off the extra button(s) if they collide with something on the panel.
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On 7/9/2020 at 1:28 PM, saflyer said:
What does a Big Boy look like? Who makes it? Does it have a model number?
Here's a picture of some big boys that I snagged off the internet. From what I understand, the "big boy" is used to automatically combine battery banks for charging purposes.
I don't know about your 2005 HR, but my rig doesn't have a bigboy per se. I've got diode-based battery isolation between the alternator and the house bank (so alternator can charge house batts), and another between the house and chassis batteries (so the charger and/or solar can charge the chassis batts).
I do have one really big relay to combine the chassis and house batteries, but it's for intermittent manual battery boost, triggered from a switch on the dash.
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What does the other side of your circuit board look like?
These look pretty similar:
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I know this isn't exactly what you're looking for... but thinking outside the box...
Seelevel gauges will let you feed two monitor panels off the same set of sensors. So, if you're not happy with the original gauges, might not be a huge task to change it all out.
Cheers,
Walter
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On 7/8/2020 at 8:04 AM, Tom Cherry said:
The water pumps used in the late 90's and early 2000's were typically rated at 45 PSI. The later pumps, which were the diaphragm pumps were rated into the 70's. Many folks have upgraded to the higher pressure pumps with no issues.
The RVIA code is hard to find....but GENERALLY.....the RV's used Schedule 80 Pex or piping....so the systems were good for 80 PSI.Prudence says not to push something.....especially when it is vibrated all the time. 55 PSI to 60 PSI using a Quality (not an inline) Pressure Regulator should not be an issue. I kicked up my regulator to 62 and then backed it off a few trips later to the factory 55.
The note in the Dip book says "55 or above is considered as HIGH" pressure. It does NOT say that the RV is only rated to 55 PSI.
I have no idea what the system's design rated pressure is, but mine has seen as high as 110psi and nothing burst, thank goodness.
My pressure pump had been shuddering and struggling as it got close to the high pressure cutoff.
When I put a gauge on it, I found that the electronic pressure switch had gone haywire and was hitting 110psi before the pump cut out! Needless to say I turned it off and replaced it asap.
Cheers,
Walter
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3 hours ago, saflyer said:
One point made by someone is my inverter is fed by 2/0 wiring but should have 4/0. All of the wiring of my batteries and batteries to the coach is 2/0. I’m the second owner but can only assume this is what HR factory specified. How can I determine if the wiring needs/should be 4/0?
EdSorry, just saw this question.
Voltage drop is pretty straightforward to calculate. I tend to use the Ancor marine voltage drop and ampacity charts on westmarine.com, but there are plenty of online calculators that all do the same thing. Less than 2% voltage drop is considered good for most applications.
- Estimate your distance ( the West marine tables are round-trip, not one-way)
- Estimate the max amperage
- Look up the required wire gauge in the table
Magnum's manual doesn't get into max voltage drop specifications, but recommends (attached):
- MS2012- if you've got 5' or less between the batteries the inverter, the cables should be 2/0. If it's between 5-10' they should be 4/0, 10-15' should be double 4/0.
- MS2812- if you've got 5' or less between the batteries and inverter then 4/0, 5-10' then double 4/0, and farther than 10' is "not recommended".
- And if you're cables in conduit (ie- bundled with other wires where the resistive heat builds up...), the cables should be even larger.
So the short answer is that your existing cables are probably at marginal (at best...) even for your old 2000w inverter. That's why I keep harping on how hard it is to feed a 3000w inverter. And it's why folks were talking earlier about going to 24v system rather than beefing up their 12v systems (1/2 the amperage to deal with).
The longer and skinnier your battery cables are, the more voltage will drop on its way to the inverter. And the more battery energy you'll lose in heating up the cables instead of running the appliances.
If you've got 600AH worth of lithium batteries and they are literally right next to your inverter, then it's pretty easy to feed the inverter 300A. But if your rig is set up like mine (4 GC batteries all the way at the back, inverter in the middle of the rig on the other side) then it can be a big deal.
Cheers,
Walter
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1 hour ago, saflyer said:
Wamcneil,
What do you think is the difference between the MSH2012M and the MSH2012RV
Ed
I think you mean MSH3012M and the MSH3012RV?
Installation diagram of MSH3012RV posted above. Here's the one for MSH03012M (MSH03012M Installation diagram below)
I haven't scrutinized the documentation, but it looks like MSH3012RV is similar to MSH3012M except it has 2 legs of 50A pass-through. It looks like only one of the legs is powered on inverter.
It's still not quite the same as 2-in /2-out like the MS2X12 inverters. The MS2X12 inverters bridge both output legs together when inverting, so both output circuits are powered. I believe the MSH3012RV is only powering one leg of output while inverting.
Edit:
No, that's not right. It combines the two output legs with relays while inverting just like the MS2X12 inverters (MSH3012RV internal Power Flow diagram also attached below). The AC Output Relay is connected to AC HOT 1 OUT and in inverter mode AC HOT OUT 1 is bridged over to AC HOT 2 OUT.
And I think the diagram also indicates that the 'hybrid' features would only apply to AC HOT leg 1, which makes sense. It's not a 240v inverter, so like any of these inverters, it's only capable of inverting a single leg of 120v.
Walter
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On 7/3/2020 at 2:03 PM, vito.a said:
I installed a new MSH3012 hybrid inverter. ..
One caution on the MSH3012 hybrid is that it uses a single 50-60 amp supply wire where your ME-2012 uses two separate 20 amp legs.
Hey Vito:
I just found this on the Magnum website: Check this out!
MagnaSine Hybrid MSH3012RV. Is this new?
I sure didn't find this option back when I was researching inverters. This RV model appears to be the best of both worlds: a hybrid inverter with TWO IN and TWO OUT!
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I doubt you'll benefit from a 2nd inverter. You've got a 2000w inverter now, right? Has that proven to be inadequate?
Just make sure not to run the microwave AND another big consumer like hair dryer or coffee maker at the same time. Everything else, including the refrigerator is tiny in terms of the load on the inverter. My residential refrigerator normally draws 104w, somewhat more while defrosting.
I can see a good argument for adding a small sinewave inverter for the fridge when the main inverter is square wave. But then only to keep from having to buy the big sinewave inverter.
W
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4 hours ago, saflyer said:
That’s good news, I hope. You would think the MS2012 and MS2812 would be identical other than capacity and hopefully same wiring as my current ME2012.
I tested my system on inverter with the refrigerator compressor running and few other loads. About 25a. Adding the microwave it goes to about 125a. Add a few lights and the TVs and would be pushing that 2000w limit of the MS2012, if I am right. Would really like to go with the MS2812 if it’s not too complicated.
Ed
I believe the 2012 and 2812 are physically identical except for their weight. You can download the manual on their website that covers both models.
Look at the wattage of the devices you need to run, and then determine if you need 2800 watts.
The inverters can deliver far more in surge than the continuous 2000/2800w ratings (see attachment- 5 sec surge is >150% of continuous rating), so don't worry too much about peak startup currents. And don't think that your refrigerator compressor starting while the microwave is running will somehow overload the inverter.
2800 watts of output is equivalent to >235A at 12v. Probably well over 250A accounting for losses. The spec sheet says max continuous current rating for the MS2812 is 373A. It takes a BIG lead-acid battery bank to keep that up for very long. Personally, I'd rather resign to only running one big load ( like the microwave OR the hair dryer) and not try and upgrade the 12VDC system to support the bigger inverter.
If your batteries and wiring can support 250A, then there's certainly no harm in having a bigger inverter. But if your battery and wiring isn't up to the task, then might as well save a few $$$ and get the smaller inverter. I found a smoking deal on a brand new MS2012 on ebay, but there were very few deals to be had on the MS2812: I assume because everybody is thinkin' "bigger is better" and wants to upgrade to the MS2812. If you're buying through standard retail channels the price difference is much smaller of course.
When you load down the inverter and your batteries/wiring won't supply enough amperage at 12v, the voltage will drop and the inverter will hit the low-volt cut out. And I discovered that Magnum's accessories like AGS and BMS will drop offline earlier and reset anytime the voltage drops to about 11v. So I found that if I really load down the MS2012 (with 4 golf cart batteries), the voltage doesn't drop low enough for the inverter to cut out, but my BMS will reset and then I lose my state-of-charge calculations until after there's been another charge cycle and it can recalculate. Very annoying.
I've got a plan to bypass my original high-current circuit breakers and a bunch of other wiring connections to make a shorter electrical path between the inverter and my batteries, which should help. But ,I'm just struggling to get good power for 2000w. My point here is that the original Monaco electrical system might be a big bottleneck to overcome if you're needing more than 2000w of inverter power.
Cheers,
Walter
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According to the Magnum owners Manual, MS series inverters 2012, 2812, 2024, 4024 and 4048 are dual-in, dual out.
see attachments
cheers
Walter
Replace Penguin Heat Pump: what's involved?
in Mods & Upgrades
Posted
That's what I thought, but Tom's unequivocal statements to the contrary and his kind suggestion for me to go do some reading has me confused .
My front CCC controls exactly one Penguin. I'm changing out the one CCC and the one A/C connected to it.
Thanks,
Walter