wamcneil

Did you put back the battery cables exactly like they were originally attached when you replaced the inverter? As I recall there’s a chassis ground on the inverter that doesn’t seem like it would be needed, but all the dc loads go through that ground strap so that the inverter’s internal shunt can read battery current. Cheers Walter

Ah. That link in the 2nd post has them for $214 per pair...

EEK! Very nice... But at $400 they really need to give me a lot of Wow, WOW, WOWWW!!

I'd give you my settings... but 1) any assumption that I know what I'm doing is shaky at best, 2) there's no way I could remember what all I changed and 3) you wouldn't like my lithium settings anyway!

Yeah, I might need to put a voltmeter on it and just see what it's doing... Since the tiny current of a relay was enough to fool the ECM, I was assuming it held a small voltage on the circuit and used that to determine if the pump was good. Kind of like my car can sense when a bulb is bad, even when the lights are off. If the harness doesn't work out as-is I could just cut off the ECM plug and use to make a dummy load.

Not real concerned about the ECM... I'm pretty sure it's just a standard bosch-type automotive relay. Same type that folks use in FASS installs as a dummy load to fool the ECM into thinking the factory lift pump is still present.

Ok, so I've been talking to airdog support. They have a cummins harness that looks like it may save me a bunch of work. It's got a plug to go in place of the factory lift pump, but their tech support didn't know if it would run the pump full-time. As I understand it, the ECM runs the lift pump for 30 sec at startup, right? And then it shuts down the pump. But it apparently holds a voltage on the pump and will throw an error code if the pump isn't detected. So folks install a 'dummy' relay to fool the ECM into thinking the pump is present. Does anybody know if that pump-check diagnostic signal is sufficient to keep the relay engaged? If so, it sounds like this harness would keep the pump running all the time by virtue of whatever diagnostic voltage is held on the lift pump. I guess if that doesn't work out I could modify the harness to trigger from a different ignition source. Here's the diagram:

Thanks all. I'm certainly not opposed to the fass/airdog systems. But I've already got a pretty robust filtration system and I just don't think I need a new one. If this were a modded pickup with weak factory filtration, I think the combined lift pump & primary & secondary filtration system would be compelling. I think that cheap PPE pump I linked would work fine, but diesel forum folks complain about frequent failures and I don't think I want to take a chance on it... So now I'm thinking about Airdog's Universal Raptor 100 gph pump for $317. Thanks Walter

Good point!

That'd need to be done with a FASS system also though, right? (Edit) Ah. That's nice. I didn't realize the kit would plug in place of the factory lift pump. Does the original lift pump need to be disconnected? Or just if the new pump is located in the back and installed between the primary and secondary pumps? I'm inclined to put mine up front at the tank and leave everything alone in the back by the engine.

Ok... Maybe a more cost effective pump might suffice? Like this: PPE Electric Fuel Lift Pump - GM Duramax, Diesel Engines | 113050000 | Thoroughbred Diesel

Ok, so I totally get that the CAPS pump operates under vacuum, and that's bad for it and can/does lead to a lot of expensive failures. As I understand it, the 'problem' is that the CAPS is working against a vacuum, so pushing fuel under positive pressure to the injection system should address the issue. And a lot of folks install a FASS or Airdog system for that reason. But I'm not convinced that I have a big problem with entrained air in the fuel. And my filters don't get clogged a lot, so I'm not real motivated to go out and buy a fuel polishing system. Why not solve the CAPS problem with a pressure-regulated pump at the tank, and otherwise leave my fuel system as-is? I've read a few write-ups of folks that have taken this route. Looks to me like a pump would be at least couple-hundred $$ less than an air separation system and somewhat easier to install. Is there something I'm missing? Thanks Walter

Within limits, adding freon really shouldn't change the pressure much. It's driven by boiling point of the refrigerant, not like adding air to your tires. Once you've got some minimum amount of refrigerant in the system, the pressures should pretty much plateau until you have too much refrigerant in the system. The low-side pressure rises while you're actively adding refrigerant because you're upsetting the equilibrium and adding more volume of refrigerant behind the compressor. The compressor sends high pressure gas through the condenser, from which it emerges as mostly liquid. That liquid accumulates in the reservoir (receiver/filter/dryer) and high pressure lines downstream as the liquid is waiting to be pulled from the bottom of the RFD and metered through the expansion valve. So until the RFD and lines downstream of the condenser are full of liquid, the pressures should stay mostly the same. Have you considered posting your issue on a refrigeration forum? In the past I had good results searching and asking the community at autoacforum.com (was formerly ackitsforum.com) Cheers, Walter

What kind of xantrex inverter do you have? Are you certain that coil on your pos cable is connected to the xantrex? Seems strange that they'd use an inductive loop where everybody else in the industry uses a shunt. Maybe it's something different from the way my 2003 was originally set up: trace/xantrex rv2012(?) with RC7 panel. It didn't have a current loop connected to it. It measured current with an internal shunt in the negative cable inside the inverter. Cheers, Walter

It's ok... I think he's just using the term 'amps' when he means 'amp-hours'. Here's a diagram showing the front run plate terminals feeding the front fuse panels

I think you're right. I've got that same arrangement, but I do NOT have the lower jumper wire. The top terminals connected by the bar are chassis and feed the generator and hydraulic pumps. The lower terminals I believe are Domestic Hot and switched domestic. And if so, those should NOT be jumpered together. One is always hot and the other comes through a salesman relay. See attached wiring diagram. You should be able to trace wires coming from the terminals to the fuse panels that they feed.

On my 03 dynasty, that circuit breaker connected straight to the battery feeds the ‘domestic hot’ fuse block in the front electrical bay. It’s the bank of fuses to your right as you look into the electrical bay. With the halogen lights eliminated, I don’t think the house loads would ever exceed 50a, so the two solenoids are way overkill. A solid state relay like Rocketman suggested would be pretty slick... and anything bigger than the 65a model he suggested would be overkill. My original configuration involved one latching relay that cascaded to a continuous relay. After swapping out the 70-80 amps worth of halogen ceiling heaters, I was able to remove the continuous solenoid and put all the salesman-loads through the one KIB latching relay (rated at 60-65a I think). You've got house lights, water pump and a few other things, so there's really not much of a load on the salesman switch once the halogens are gone. Each of your continuous solenoids draws about 750ma , so that simple change would save at least 36amp-hours per day right there. Good quality DC clamp meters are kind of expensive, but a really great tool for figuring out where your current is going. Cheers, Walter

I have a new scissor arm that I’d sell for $100. There are several different ones. This one is approximately 21” long and 1-1/4” wide. Turned out to be the wrong size for my 03 dynasty. My original is 21” length, but 1” wide. Veurinks rv parts (findmyrvparts.com) has a video describing the variations. Cheers Walter

Right? I’m not sure what the thought process was, but that temp sensor is for the middle AC. As soon as I get around to installing my new middle AC I’ll move it to the front CCC2. I’ve already got a phone cable pulled alongside the duct from the front unit to the middle unit. The data cable to daisy-chain from front to middle should be all that’s needed to move from an old penguin on rear ccc to a new penguin II on my new front ccc2. Of course the temp sensor will still be in the bathroom… no easy way around that unfortunately. Whenever I get a replacement unit for the bedroom, I’ll probably make ithe bedroom zone3 on the front ccc2 and replace the bedroom ccc with a remote temp sensor. cheers Walter

Did you figure out which remote you have? As I recall there is one different button, maybe ‘favorite’? You could also pull it out from the panel and look at the label on the back.

I don't think your hose is 'deformed'... I think the tubes don't line up exactly and it was probably installed that way when new. If the hose is solid I'd leave it alone until something requires removal of the hose and replace it then. Like others have said, installation will be a miserable ordeal if you can't pull the rigid tubes apart and make room for the hose to easily go in between. There's no rule that says a piece of hose must extend all the way down the clamping surface and butt up against something. There's a bead on the end of the tube and the clamp needs to be past that. As long as you've got enough hose to go 1/2" past the clamp that's all that's needed. You've got plenty of hose for the hose clamp to do its thing. Either way, you have my sympathy... I too suffer from a strong compulsion to fix things that are not broken. 😳 Cheers, Walter

I wouldn't expect any problems. The battery charger will see the elevated voltage like a fully charged battery and should just sit there at its float voltage (which should be below the alternator voltage so producing no current). Also, there should be a switch on the dash to turn off the block heater outlet and power down the charger. Cheers, Walter

Ok… so you’re removing the relay in order to isolate the house batteries from the alternator and chassis batteries. Right? Jumpering the chassis batteries to the house batteries defeats that purpose. The dc/dc charger will siphon some current from the chassis batteries and alternator and give it to the house batteries when the engine is running (assuming you connect an ignition wire to make it active only when engine running). And you’ll need some way to keep the chassis batteries charged while parked. I have a small 10a permanent mount battery charger in the engine compartment for that purpose. Plugged into the non-inverted. block heater outlet. cheers Walter

That's great! They sound like really good batteries. I hope they work out. If they live up to the specs for continuous output amps of 100A each you should be good. Running my microwave draws about ~165A from the batteries. The refrigerator and other base loads add at least 15A. So with a TV on and other loads it's pretty easy for my system to pull 200A when running on the inverter. The magnum specs for 2000w inverters say maximum continuous power draw 267A. So, if it were me... I'd beat on those batteries mercilessly and try my best to break them before the amazon return window closes. If they survive a torture test, they should be good for a long time! Cheers, Walter

What you're describing could be consistent with a salesman relay failure. I assume you hit the salesman switch again after having turned on the battery switches? You can check it by testing voltage on the input and output terminals of the salesman relay. Cheers, Walter