TomV48

BattleBorn promotes a battery charge isolator that seems to be bi directional and cycles on and off to protect the charging circuit. I went with the DC to DC charger which limits how much charge is available and thus how much you can SUCK out of your alternator. In my case my Renogy, 40 amp DC to DC, will put out 39 -41 amps and seems to draw about 50 amps by my crude measurement, off the chassis system/alternator. Between that and 600 watts of solar I am always fully charged when I get to my destination. AS FAR AS A SACRED formula goes I have no idea. Without a Residential Frig there is probably no earthly reason I will need 600 amps of LiFePo batteries but that is where I went. 400 would probably have been plenty but I got carried away building them myself a few years ago before store-bought ones came down so far in price. For our non Res Frig situation, the 40amp DC-DC and 600 watts of solar which puts out in real time between 29 and 39 amps at solar noon gives us more than we need or are likely to ever use. If they ever go really low the Magnum running on the Generator seems to put about 70-80 amps an hour in them so in a emergency/pinch I can live with a few hours of generator. GOOD GOD that make me feel better to hear you say it. I sit mid coach at the table and have to strain my arm out into the hall to get my shunt or solar charger to read

I just filled the home printer with paper (Twice) and printed a copy at home. Then discovered that I had saved a copy on my phone from a download. Challenge is just to find it when I need it and am too lazy to get the big old printed one down

I feel that way too. Ours is still the original 2005 Sharp

Thank you Tom Cherry, Moderator's EDIT. Tom and myself have discussed this offline and there is a SUBTLE difference in the "Generic" name of the Battery Boost Solenoid. Like calling tissues "Kleenex". In the early MH, there was a Trombetta Solenoid with WAS RATED for Continuous coil voltage. Then Monaco evolved and adopted the Intellitec "BIG BOY". It was actually TRADE NAMED BIG BOY. But, every Battery Boost Solenoid is NOT a BIG BOY. So, one MUST know what was originally installed or is in there now. What makes it EVEN more confusing.....there were TWO models of the BIG BOY. The 100Amp one was OK for Continuous 12 VDC voltage on the coil....but the 200 Amp one was NOT. It required a lower (pulsed actually) voltage and that kept the coil from burning up. Meanwhile, Intellitec has come out with a 200 Amp LATCHING solenoid....which by definition....does NOT have any COIL CURRENT....once it is Engaged and Magnetically LATCHED ON.... There may be a pop quiz....LOL.... SO....that was the confusion.... I am pretty sure that my BIG BOY 200 Amp Trombetta is designed as a full time engaged Charger relay from the Chassis battery over to the House Batteries. It is both my factory charging relayl and my manual BOOST control. Without hitting my boost button, it activates on about a 10 or 15 minute delay, from the IRD--Ignition Relay Delay, off a small board that can be replaced with the BIRD ---bidirectional control, but it seems that it was designed for conventional battery chemistry. The Big Boy Battery Isolator Relay Delay by Intellitec is rated for 200 amps continuous and draws about 5.? amps to keep it engaged. The IRD may have cycled to protect over draw, but I do not know. Mine might have fried when I first put the LiFePo's in there, or might have failed with the prior owner who was dedicated to being a full hook up guy and would not necessarily have noticed on hauls from hook up at home to hook up at camp as he had a pretty big set of AGM's in there. It looks like I could disassemble that Big Boy and repair it but I just do not want it. BTW, I realize on direct charge the factory 2-0 would be appropriate but I run the 6GA from chassis system to the 40 amp DC to DC. and from there to the House batteries. I think Renogy showed 8GA for my short run, but I like overbuilt and fused or breakers for everything. I did not want the BIG BOY Boost Solenoid (200 Amp) to charge the House batteries after I went to LiFePo because when SOC gets low on 600 amps of LiFePo's they can theoretically pull 600 amps charge and that would suck that alternator up to full rated 160 amp output and keep it there until it smokes. Victron has a video where they demonstrate a stock truck Alternator burning up from high continuous draw to lithium batteries and they promote a certain heavy duty alternator with a heavier duty cycle and some cut off protection. Anyway the LiFePo chemistry offers near Zero resistance and CAN smoke a mere mortal alternator, thus BattleBorn promotes a battery charge isolator designed for LifePo, a Li-Bim 225, that cycles on and off to protect the charging circuit and others offer the DC to DC charger which limits how much charge is available and thus how much you can SUCK out of your alternator. In my case my Renogy, 40 amp DC to DC, will put out 39 -41 amps and seems to draw about 50 amps by my crude measurement, off the chassis system/alternator in order to do that. Between that and 600 watts of solar I am always fully charged when I get to my destination.

Wanting to upgrade for the Pure Sine Magnum myself but as long as it works DW would have a fit at my spending another $1800. Meanwhile, I do not know your coach and I know that there are a couple different "factory" charging arrangements from the alternator, but if the alternator is "only charging the Chassis batteries" then something it wrong. for me it was the BIG BOY relay that was out. It normally should have activated when receiving 12v from the Ignition Relay Delay. The solenoid is dead (replacement cost $90 on Amazon) but I did not want alternator direct to my LiFePo 600 amp bank for fear of burning up the alternator, so I just took the hot from the Ignition Relay Delay to activate the Dc to DC which I installed with 6 ga wire all in the battery bay. Only problem for me is when the relay kicks in, maybe too soon, an often, the chassis battery recharging must still be pulling high alternator voltage, like over 14 v, and the RENOGY 40-40 goes in to error mode and will never reset itself. So I have wait a while then go to the battery bay and disconnect the Renogy from both sides of the charger, with the DC breakers I installed on both sides of the device. Then pause briefly and flip back on to re-energize and my batteries start to charge fine for the rest of the day. Moral of story, I am not liking the Renogy DC -DC like I should and their tech guy was, LET ME BE POLITE and say NOT HELPFUL. Cause that sounds nicer than saying, an IDIOT BROKEN RECORD of stupid answers, like oh no YOU HAVE TO COMPLETELY REMOVE THE POWER WIRES FROM BOTH SIDES AND THEN REINSTALL and that will fix your problem. Like he did not know enough electricity to understand that pulling it out of the circuit with breakers on both sides was the same as disconnecting it.

I think I would do everything I could do, like pay the difference, and go to the pure sine unit. I know DW will have a fit I upgrade before to original fails or mine would be not only pure sine but probably the 2800 watt unit. On a serious note, I have plenty of battery bank, but our microwave just doesn't sound right on the modified sine unit so wife always starts the Genset to do micro.. Is it bad if I pray for and inverter failure???

I think that Tom Cherry is correct. It is still in a standby mode with inverter off, and I have not tested to see what happens if I tern the charger off too. I think it is still in a standby status too so probably some parasitic load. I'm just spoiled that I do not have watch it too close with 600 amps of LIFEPO.

When I am on 15 amp at home, I leave the inverter off. Both of the pass-through 15 amp circuits that would be fed by the inverter, if not on shore power, still pass current. So with at least my 17 yr old Magnum 2012 it's no problem to shut inverter off and still use the shore power. At least that way if you lose shore feed the battery will not have a load.

When mine failed I traced it back to the "salesman switch" and found a loose connection. The connection point had a lot of draw through high resistencecand was easy to find. The connecting point had so much resistance that it was too hot to touch with bare fingers. Hot is bad!!

Hey are any of those Residential units a replacement for the Norcold/NOcold gas units. Either way where do they vent the heat, at your feet or up the back? The reason I ask is that I have seem YouTube's where the installer or tech blocks the old air inlet cover or the upper roof vent after Residential install for heating and Air Conditions effectiveness. I always wonder if, when they are done, they have reduced air flow over the coils to the point of accelerating failure of the new unit from excess heat. Probably hard on battery power too if it labors harder and longer on Inverter power. With any reduction of cooling in Res Frig my first go to is the coils underneath. Especially my garage frig, those pug up with dirt and other garage fuzz much faster than in our kitchen. I wonder how fast they pug up with dirt in an RV?

I concur. In my case an empty water bottle on the floor, unseen, was a sly devil. When I took the slide in, if rolled up between the slide and my (N/S facing) Night stand. When I ran it out the bottle wedged between the wall and the slide facia. The slide stopped 4 inches short of open. Like a dummy I kept going. Fortunately the only damage I causes before I wised up was popping the Oak Facia Facade off and I was able to clean it up and Glue it back to the rear edge of our bedroom slide. LESSON ----"If something seems to be off<<---- STOP BEFORE IT BREAKS"

Do you think you could find the specific order information on those lights. They look a lot like my 2005 Ambassador and I could not find a snap in LED replacement, let alone dimable which DW would love.

You may want to look at this post and his whole series of posts on upgrades by Mike Hughes. I have been in his coach and his work is of course beyond beautiful. I cannot remember if he told me his heater was under the Frig but there was a problem that he overcame with a thin shelf or heavy gauge metal for the new frig to rest upon. If you email him he may be able to help you out. He IS MONACOWATTS (sales@monacowatts.com will probably get him) and he is a genius of the Eight (and probably ten) air bag suspension too. https://www.monacoers.org/topic/606-modernizing-my-2008-safari-cheetah/#comments

The lab instruction spoke of that like a last resort. But it is what I did. Thanks

Well my old 1200 went out and the new one a 1210 came in. Passenger seat out. Frig doors off and I'm thinking coach door may have come off. Not a scratch on anything. I only regret that I had to work and couldn't stay to watch them do it. That's about what they did to change mine. Absent the sawzall.

Well, try as I will I cannot get the quarter inch fluid sampling tube down the dipstick tube to the fluid. Can't get it down the fill spout to the fluid. And cannot get it down the transmission fill spout to the fluid. Vacuum pump seems to work fine. 2005 Ambassador with Cummins 8.3 Haven't even tried to find the radiator cap yet although I took sample from the overflow tank I don't think that's a valid sample. The two vacuum pumps they gave me with the kit both work just fine

If you want to shut off the solar system, I can see slight merit to worry about gremlins. However, best rule is to isolate solar before disconnecting from batteries. My panels will generate measurable current if I park under good parking lot lights. Although with small systems I've never seen a problem, the safe rule is that battery current needs to be present before solar current is introduced to the charger.

DITTO Never move without the TPMS UP AND RUNNING. When our tires were less than brand new I think what I did was prudent. I took it to an exclusively TRUCK TIRE shop who is a dealer for our brand of boots. Currently Hankook. I had them all pulled off, inspected and then balanced the old way-- on a spin balancer. Annually thereafter until replaced.

Well, we have the MonacoWatts kit on the front which all but completely eliminated roll and the cross braces, also from Mike Hughes, on the rear trailing arms which substantial eliminated tail wag. Both amazing mods. Tempted to add the cross links to the front too, but, thinking I need to be rid of the Sheppard M100 steering gear in favor of a TRW box first.

I second the vote for a Victron VM 712. I got sold on the Victron Smart Shunt and now wish I had spent the $80 more for the full metered 712 w gauge. And there is this. We have two good RV friends with res frig. Both had 6 wet 6v batteries and could seldom get through the night. They were turning the frig off at bed time and back on at crack of day. Still had to run generator 5-6 hours a day. Now both are sporting six Battle Borns and 800 watts of solar. Problem pretty much solved.

Just a thought on chasing problems. The rule of thumb for trailer hook up was always CHECK THE GROUND. That meant ground line between tow and trailer. But I had a similar ghost in our DP. Everything on the "Salesman Switch" or house power switch at the door as you enter was hinky every time the water pump cycled on. That pump would then chirp and labor to get back to pressure shut off. Water pump company said there must be air in a line making it hard to come firmly back to cut off pressure. The prior owner replaced the water pump and then put the perfectly good one in a box for me. The problem was easy when you looked the right place. Contacts on the Ratcheting relay (yes ratcheting not full time load relay that some of you have) was burning hot to the touch. The ground on the relay was soooo loose that it is miracle that anything was working and it hadn't been a fire. Tightened up the lugs, repaired and replaces all the connectors from that relay to the the water bay and no more problem. I had the same problem on a Toy Hauler with a poor connection on the main ground leg from the battery to the frame. Again really bad ground and probably got that way from corrosion and the passage of time and then one day stuff started to act up and malfunction. Sad thing is the Volt meter is only a tiny draw so it will not cause the problem to occur so all looks normal. Just a thought where the ghosts can live in electrical. Chase the ground

This is all math and don't let the math get you. Even the GIANT 90 lbs + Lifeline GPL-6CT 6 v batteries, in a pair are only 12 v@ 300 amps rated. So two pairs offers you 600 amps theoretical rating WHEN NEW. With prudent battery use, 300 amps takes you down to 50% at roughly a rested voltage of 11.9-12.0 volts. Rested voltage is not that false reading of 12.5 v you might see on the volt meter right after you turn the generator off. That would be RESTED with no load and no charge for hours. That false sense of the batteries being charged when you first shut off the charger is just a surface charge like a sugar rush when you have to run a marathon. It is momentary and fleeting. And that 12.7 volt 300 amps usable is the day they are BRAND NEW and really well topped off. Then we run them down to 11 volt cut off a few times and bye bye 300 amps usable. Our big rigs use a lot of power any way you slice it so Probably a bad idea to expect too much off grid time without charge, especially running any kind of compressor frig. And even when things are charging correctly, running the generator for a couple of hours helps, but by no means will that top off the battery bank for a long night of quiet time with Res Style Frig running. To avoid that battery struggle, we waited a 7 month plus on a back order to replace our Norcold 12 cu ft with another gas frig. I was tempted by the convenience of a Res Frig and their ready availability at the big box store, but discouraged by all my friends, even those with the little 12 compressor units, who struggle to make it through the night on battery until the sun shines on their solar and or quiet time is over so that the Gen can come on to make their coffee. (and don't get me started on WHY NOT A COFFEE POT on a burner versus the ELECTRIC HOG COFFEE MAKERS)

Yes. The alternator SHOULD BE CHARGING THE HOUSE BATTERIES. Turn off the frig. With engine off test voltage on truck batteries and house batteries. Then start engine repeat voltage check. In my 05 ambassador there is a "BIG BOY" RELAY that adds house to the charging once the engine batteries have a chance to charge up a bit from the fast heavy load of starting. The control comes from the front elec box under the driver's window. "IRD" Ignition Relay Delay. The Big Boy sits on the wall at the back of my battery compartment (right near the rear) My friend, with an Imperial (couple models above our Ambassador) has a different cross charging system so I know there are variables. I put in a DC to DC charger which puts out 40 amps when I go down the road. When the propane system in the fridge failed, we had to limp on electric while waiting for replacement frig. A Norcold 1200 pulls 40+ amps through the inverter to run full time on ac so we got a work out. Your res frig can pull a lot, but if cooling correctly it does not run 100 % duty cycle like the a/c propane dorst. That's just my first level suggestion. Good luck. Oh.. And there is this. We have two good RV friends with res frig. Both had 6 wet 6v batteries and could seldom get through the night. They were during the frig off at bed time and on at crack of day. Still had to run generator 5-6 hours a day. Now both are sporting six Battle Borns and 800 watts of solar. Problem pretty much solved.

300 mpd sounds like me on a good day, but only push that far if on Interstate. With near hourly "rest stops" between her bladder and mine, that makes for 7 hrs on the road. We are lazy, slow starters in the morning and DW prefers we be parked by 4:30 pm but absolutely before sunset.

Our 2005 HR Ambassador lacks a bunch of fancy electronics so I added a Scan Gauge and set the display to show me Engine Temp, RPM as well as Current MPG next to total MPG for the trip, which turns out to mean, since last time I shut the engine down. That gauge helps my normally heavy foot stay under some level or control, BUT I NEVER BELIEVE the electronics. The one in my CRV Toad, lies by about a half a mile per gallon and the one in the 2004 Ford Diesel Truck lies by a full MPG. SO I just DO THAT MATH miles/gallons. I do my "Level Best" to use a fuel bay that looks most level as I pull up. I take my time and let the foam settle a couple of times squeeze the nozzle lightly until I can see fuel level visually. I usually fuel after about 500 miles. All that effort and driving with the lightest touch on the fuel peddle and at About 30,000# pulling another 3900# in and of the CRV , with our Cummins 8.3L,, I have nailed it down on Interstate highways to 8.2 mpg plus or minus .2. Then I surprise myself on the occasional trip with no Mountain passes and No Continental Divide with an occasional tank at nearly 10 mpg.