Coach Batteries

[garyde]

I just purchased four new lifeline batteries, http://www.lifelinebatteries.com/rvdeepcyclebatteries.php

These are made available to POG members at a discount. Now the next step is to get the old ones out of the belly of the beast and the new ones in.
These are for the Coach itself. Next year, new glass mat for the Chasis.:D

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Gary,

Take pictures of what you have to do to get them out of there. That would make a good article and would encourage folks to really take care of their batteries so they don't have to go through the changeover.

[truk4u]

Gary,

It's great that you bought from Lifeline and like Jon said, we need to see the pictures, I understand it's a Liberty Stress Test!:(

[BrianE]

When we changed batteries in Tom's coach any photos would have looked like two cats fighting in a gunny sack with their butts hanging out. UGLY :eek:

Gary, Find two big guys and you be the supervisor and camera operator. Safer that way.

[MangoMike]

Gary,

These guys are a bunch of sissies. Just changed mine on the Liberty. So Man Up you can do it.

Mango

[phorner]

Mike,

Did you have to remove the entertainment center?

I think that's the case with mine, so I'm not looking forward to that day.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Mike thinks everybody's are in the area behind the tag axle.

If he saw what Gary is going to have to go through he wouldn't be calling anybody a sissie. In fact if Gary can lift his batteries out of where they are installed, Mike might want to consider running like hell the next time he sees Gary because Gary will have to lift a 160 pound battery with his arms outstretched. If he does that from now on he will be called "Sir".

[truk4u]

When I opened the compartment on my Liberty, 1st bay dead center rear of the compartment where the 3 8d's live that Brian changed out, I got the same feeling that Jdub had the night at Branson when he realized his big screen was still on the porn channel and he couldn't understand why so many people were standing outside his bus!:eek:

Jerk Chicken Boy - Your house batteries can't be where mine are if it was easy!

[garyde]

I have a plan. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

[LarryB]

Gary, what does an 8D Lifeline sell for with the POG discount?

Larry

[garyde]

Here are some photos of my removal of the existing Batteries today.

http://picasaweb.google.com/garydeinhard/GeneralPhotos?authkey=p8XaXLN6Lco#

It took about 3 hours to remove the 4 old Batteries and install the 4 new ones. With a 10 foot stick of 2 inch rigid conduit, 2' unistrut, and a Jack stand & rollers, I was able to do this solo.

[Ray Davis]

Now THAT is engineering!

[MangoMike]

GD,

I stand corrected.

You're not a sissie.

mm

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Brilliant, not only for figuring a method to do it, but for its simplicity.

What the photos do not show is all of the work leading up to the replacement and then the re-installation of all that had to be disassembled and removed just to get access to each individual battery. Great job.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Very, Very, nice Gary. Clean and simple.

JIM

[truk4u]

Great job Gary, you make it look easy!;)

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Gary, wondering, do your new batts have the same terminals as the old?
How easy was it to get the new batts?

JIM

[rfoster]

I am impressed. I thought Left Coasters required a lot of help. I stand corrected for the maybe the first time in my life. Add that to your resume.

All kidding aside. you did great.

[Kevin Erion]

Gary, if I didn't know better, I would think you are an Electrical Contractor! What at great Idea!

[garyde]

The Lifeline batteries are 162 lbs each (GDL-8DA) http://www.lifelinebatteries.com/rvdeepcyclebatteries.php
A little heavier than the Deka Gel Batteries.
I had them shipped to my office and the shipper dropped them into the back of my Truck.
I had looked into several other methods of removing and replacing my batteries but here was nothing I could find that would reach into the center of the storage bay so I spent a while assembling my Pole and Lever method.

[dale farley]

I'm impressed Gary. Low-tech confiugration with high-tech results! Great job.

[dreamchasers]

I have looked at this post numerous times. Each time my amazement grows as to how applying simple techniques to get results. Being able to prune ideas such as these makes owning one of these huge machines much more manageable. This technique certainly goes along with my principal of Keeping It Simple!

Thanks for sharing.:D

Hector

[Gary & Peggy Stevens]

Great Job Gary De. You really made it look easy. :)

I can hear everybodys mind whirling with their own ideas, of when they can use your idea in their own bus. :)

Gary S.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

The Lifeline batteries are 162 lbs each (GDL-8DA) http://www.lifelinebatteries.com/rvdeepcyclebatteries.php
A little heavier than the Deka Gel Batteries.
I had them shipped to my office and the shipper dropped them into the back of my Truck.
I had looked into several other methods of removing and replacing my batteries but here was nothing I could find that would reach into the center of the storage bay so I spent a while assembling my Pole and Lever method.

What inverter do you have in your bus?

Will it be easy to change the charge settings from the gel type to the new glass mat?

Gary, you indicated above that you bought GDL-8DA. I don't think that is a typo as the P and D are on opposite sides of the keyboard, what are the specs of the GDL-8DA, or should it have read GPL-8DA?

JIM

[Danss]

I am just lucky I guess, as my batteries are on a Joey bed. You just pull it out and lift the batteries up! You would think that some of these new and fancier coaches would have this wonderful feature!!!!!! They must have known that I have 0 mechanical ability and gave me a break.

[garyde]

Hi Jim. Heart 25 Inverter/chargers. Yes, it is GPL. The settings for the Lifeline are so close to what the Gel settings were, I left them as is. The Heart 25 is a 3 stage charger, and the requirements for charge were 13.5 to 14.4 volts which is within the specs for the lifeline.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Gary, my inverter settings are:

Left / no 1 Right / no 2

#1 off #1 off
#2 on #2 on
#3 on #3 on
#4 on #4 on
#5 on #5 on
#6 on #6 on
#7 off #7 off
#8 on #8 off

are yours the same?

JIM

[lewpopp]

About 2 months ago upon arriving here in Fl, I called Lifeline to see what the POG cost ov the 4ds would be and at that same time they informed me they had a price drop.

Enough of that, I found the closest place I could get the batteries was in Charlotte NC. shipping would be approx $150 or more and I would have to pay someone here several Lewbucks to put them in. I'm not beyond that, but the local rv mobile people don't even know what Lifeline is. Just the same, I have decided to pas thru Charlotte on the way home in May and have whomever they suggest put them in. I am seriously thinking og going from gel cell to AGM. I was told by Jon that if I had good service from the gel-cell to stay with them. I don't always do what I'm told, but if enough of you guys think the new owner would readily except either, well I may reconsider. (note: how I spelled reconsider, not reconcider) Here I go again, ADD setting in again.

[sawdust_128]

Gary:

Nice! Just curious. Would an engine hoist work or is the boom too short?

[truk4u]

Louie,

I think your better off with AGM's, even Lifeline says the charging cycles of AGM are about twice what you get with Gel and that means they will last longer.;)

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Just some general comments....go here to get a better understanding of batteries and their characteristics:

http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm#Using%20a%20deep%20cycle%20battery %20as%20a%20starting%20battery

It is my opinion that each type of battery has its strengths and weaknesses. I think the factors that decide which battery to use depend on how the converter set up the coach. Space available, temperatures, ventilation, and battery connections all are considerations.

On a coach in which all the batteries are in parallel the owner has some flexibility in deciding how many batteries and what size and type. If the coach is a 24 volt coach with the batteries in series and parallel so 12 and 24 volts is available swapping batteries out for a different quantity of a different size may not work without revamping the battery wiring.

If a coach has AGM, switching to a gel may not work with out insuring the location is relatively cool, and without changine the charging voltages. On the other hand, switching from a gel to AGM is OK and less likely to result in failed batteries even if the charging voltages were not changed.

Do not expect the battery salesman to have a clue about your batteries. You need to make sure you understand how your inverters or chargers are set, whether the location is OK for the type battery you want to buy, and how you use your coach determines to an extent what batteries will work best for you. The salesman will sell you anything you say you want.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

I think the beauty of Garry's tool is in the fact that almost anyone, anywhere can mock up such a devise from easily acquired materials, and get the job done without getting hurt or damaging the bus, and cheaply at that.

The engine hoist night work, but I think it's arm would be too high. It also has the potential to ram the bus and damage the SS.

IMHO, if anyone else is contemplating Garry's tool, please be very careful in using a metal piece through the battery straps to lift with. There is a very real potential that you will short out between the + & - terminals and get yourself in real deep DO, DO. :eek:

At a minimum wrap the piece on the ends by the terminals with several turns of electrical tape.
You could also make a sleeve for the whole tube from a piece of larger PVC tubing.

Those of you that want to make the tool can do so using a suitable piece of wood such as a 2x6 of a suitable length (depends on your weight)

A four wheel dolly

A fulcrum (made in the shape of a triangle from 2x6 and placed on the dolly.

A cross bar for the battery

suitable connectors between the (2x6) lever and the (cross bar)

The other big thing is the smooth floor on which to roll the dolly.

JIM

[garyde]

Gary, my inverter settings are:

Left / no 1 Right / no 2

#1 off #1 off
#2 on #2 on
#3 on #3 on
#4 on #4 on
#5 on #5 on
#6 on #6 on
#7 off #7 off
#8 on #8 off

are yours the same?

JIM

Hi Jim. Left is correct, Right I have not checked yet.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Thanks Gary. I'm going through everything I can think of to be sure everything is up to specs.

JIM

[garyde]

Jim, the reason I used metal conduit, uni-strut, and metal jack: I needed to make certain no single componant would fail or move. The rollers were the only item which I wanted to move. Wood may work, but the cross arm would be a weak point depending upon how it was secured to the pole. My pick points were a 2 to one leverage, but the upper shelf battery was a longer reach and I had a 10 ft. 1 1/2 rigid conduit slid into the end of the 10 ft. 2 inch rigid to leverage that battery out. The batteriy positive stud was taped off.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Hi Jim. Left is correct, Right I have not checked yet.

Gary have you checked the right inverter no.2, settings yet.

They are the ones I am most interested in as I am having intermittent difficulties with same.

JIM

[garyde]

HI Jim. I had no reason to check . Should be the same as the first one. When I get a chance , I'll check it out. It's not in a good location to easily check. Because I changed from Gel to AGM, the settings were fine.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

OK, and thanks Gary, I am concerned because I will also be changing to AGM in the future, and feel that I should know what settings you, with the same conversion, same inverters, and your electrical knowledge were using.

You say they should both be the same, well no. 8 position on mine are different, so that is the one I want to know about most.

I do have GEL batts. installed in 2003, so their time may be coming soon.

JIM