Idle Time

[GDeen]

Just curious, how long will you let your bus idle on high running the A/C? EG, if you pull into a rest stop for a 15 minute lunch break, do you fire the generator and house air or leave the OTR (or drivers air) running with the engine on high idle? If not, what is the limit before you switch over?

[Joe Cannarozzi]

You can idle that bus for as long as you want. Is it prefferable, no, but it will not hurt anything especially if it is idled up.

A few times when I parked the Pete in spots where there was no plug, in Feb, in Chicago, I let it idle all weekend if I knew I had a good gig lined up for Monday morn I didn't want to miss.

[dalej]

Gordon, I have a 8v so I let mine idle just long enough to get my hand to the key switch after I pull the park brake. :)

BUT.... If I had a 60, I would start the generator a few minutes before reaching my stop and start the air. I just would rather run the generator then a big diesel under my bed.

That is the way I do it. I pull into rest areas to sleep.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

This is my habit and is not influenced by whether prolonged idling is good or bad.

When we are going to have lunch I start the generator usually at the rest area sign and run as many cruise airs as I think we need to stay comfortable. I do this so the generator is getting exercised. If we are just doing a single day drive it is likely we will be connected to shore power at the end of the day so this is an opportunity to blow the cobwebs out of the generator.

If I am pulling off the road just for a quick rest room break I just let the engine idle.

Before I shut the bus engine off I let it idle at low idle, AC off for a couple of minutes to cool down the turbo. On the 8V92 I would use the pyros as a guide to when the temps were down and it took a few minutes so I do the same with the current bus. If the turbo is hot when it is shut down you can get problems with coking of the oil in the bearings.

[phorner]

If we're only making a 10 - 15 minute stop, I'll let the bus idle. Other than that, I shut it down.

For us, running the generator during longer breaks depends on whether we need the AC or not.

Most generally, if we will be stopped for more than an hour or so, the generator will be fired up and, if we're spending the night, shut back down at bed time.

Does the generator good to use it.

[GDeen]

Alright, thanks guys. I know it is best to minimize idle time on the big engine but was just curious how anal everyone is on this topic. With the weather I have been traveling in lately, shutting down the A/C for any length of time is a non starter.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Truckers idle their engines all night long so it is highly doubtful that if you choose to do that instead of running the generator you will do any harm.

[Jerry Winchester]

With OTR AC, I just put it on high idle and let it go. If I am going to be more than about 30 minutes, I'll start the generator or depending on the temp, just run the AC off the inverter.

I did learn to kill the OTR before I put the bus in the hanger. It generally pukes out a liberal amount of water when it shuts down. And I let the engine idle on low to cool the turbo off as well.

[GDeen]

I did also learn (was taught by Steve B) the value of shutting down the OTR compressor before driving on gravel, dirt or other loose debris. Creates quite a whirlwind of stuff blowing around. Interestingly, the Marathon owners manual suggests shutting off the OTR before pulling up to a fuel island as a matter of courtesy. Guess that demonstrates how powerfull the system is.:cool:

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Steve is in a world of trouble.

Telling a newbie to turn off the OTR AC before driving on gravel or dirt is just plain wrong. We never tell the newbies that because it is so much fun watching them pull into a dirt or gravel road and then seeing the dust storm that would make an Okie proud.

That's like giving away the secret handshake.

[GDeen]

Steve is in a world of trouble.

Telling a newbie to turn off the OTR AC before driving on gravel or dirt is just plain wrong. We never tell the newbies that because it is so much fun watching them pull into a dirt or gravel road and then seeing the dust storm that would make an Okie proud.

That's like giving away the secret handshake.

Steve had that bus so pretty he wasn't about to let me mess it up day one on his watch.:D

[hhoppe]

Near this subject of blowing sand and dirt. I posted an experiance long ago about going through border checking stations. I accidently floored the bus after given a go ahead. That 8V smoked the inspection guy out of his little booth. My fellow traveler following me gave me the word on the CB that guy was choking and verry unhappy with me. I now tell them politely they may want to close their window until I pass. I then get it rolling and coast past the toll booths. Common courtesey. Our exhaust points right into their booth.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Harry,

We need to talk. In fact we need to correct your thinking.

There was a benefit to the 8V92 engines that would roll out the black smoke on heavy acceleration. They were built that way on purpose to punish surly toll booth people. I miss having the ability to smoke some snotty toll collector.

More than once we encountered a guy with attitude. He would blame us if the guy that gave us the ticket many miles back forgot to consider the toad, or he got pissed at us because I insisted we were not a commercial bus but a motorhome. Any time I encountered these people I would idle the bus forward until the exhaust was right at their door and then nail the gas pedal to the floor. I knew I was successful when the exhaust blew through the opening under the door, and rolled out the top of the booth.

99.9% of the time I would not use the accelerator, but would idle past the booth before stepping down on it. But there were those rare idiots that just inspired me to smoke them out of their booth. There are times I would give up the Series 60 just to be able to do that again.

[truk4u]

I just pulled a Jon in June on the NY Thruway after getting crap from the toll dude about paying with big bills. Idle up and nail the 8V for a free skeeter foggin!;)

[michaeldterry]

Harry,

There was a benefit to the 8V92 engines that would roll out the black smoke on heavy acceleration. They were built that way on purpose to punish surly toll booth people. I miss having the ability to smoke some snotty toll collector.


For the past 27 years, I've spent much of my summers driving buses for touring drum & bugle corps on the Drum Corps International Summer Music Games tour. I gotta tell you, being able to "smoke" a snotty toll booth operator at about 3:00AM in the middle of an overnight run to the next competition city was some of the best fun I ever had! For years, we had 1970's vintage Eagle 05's with 8V-71's and 5 speed manual transmissions that smoked like an oil refinery fire on heavy acceleration. I got no more satisfaction than smoking a rude toll booth rat who bitched loudly that our "convoy" was blocking/slowing his/her lane (our convoy like most touring drum corps, consists of 4 buses, 2 semi-tractor trailers (one kitchen & one equipment truck), a 14 ft box truck towing our 24 foot souvenir trailer, 2 large plastic coach RV's that carry our volunteer kitchen/cook crew & our admin staff, and our lead vehicle - a Ford Expedition pulling a flatbed trailer with our golf cart that then pulls the same trailer at the show venue to haul all the pit percussion instruments (tympani, marimbas, xylophones, chime sets, auxillary percussion) from the parking lot to the competition field. The beautiful thing was that I could control the smoking to a large extent by how aggressively I accelerated from a stop and can honestly say that I never intentionally smoked anyone who didn't have it coming! :rolleyes: The MCI 9's and 102's that we ran in more recent years still had the ability to lay smoke, but the new Prevosts and Van Hools that we lease/charter these days are no threat to an errant toll booth rat! :mad: I guess all "good" things must come to an end. My dirty looks just don't have the same impact as a nice thick layer of black diesel smoke! :p

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I felt bad whe I posted that because I thought maybe I was being excessively nasty, but I have to admit I really enjoyed the comments that followed.

There are two smoking success stories that always bring a smile to my face when I think about them. One was a young kid in a toll booth on a bridge or skyway just south of Chicago on the way towards downtown. He charged us for the bus and just before I closed the window to proceed he nastily screamed at us about the toad. He was rude and sarcastic, as though I was trying to cheat him. I paid for the toad, and as I got the exhaust next to his booth I nailed it. He had to have been on the job a short time because he never saw it coming. His booth doors were rounded out and there was a six inch gap beneath them.

I never saw the exhaust leave the tailpipe, but I sure saw it rolling in black clouds from the opening above the doors which stopped waist high. Like the Mastercard commercial says, that was priceless.

I'm going to guess he overcharged every Prevost he ever encountered after that.

[edsaylor]

I never had an 8-V, so it looks like I missed some fun. There have been a number of occasions where I would have loved to be able to smoke someone good!

[GDeen]

I felt bad whe I posted that because I thought maybe I was being excessively nasty.....

Now your nose is growin!:)

[Jon Wehrenberg]

You are right Gordo.....truth be know I was enjoying the hell of of it. And I did not think it was nasty, just well deserved in all the cases when I did it.

There is a flip side to the story. Coming up I-77 toll road through West Virginia is an absolute joy. I can't t remember what they charge, but it seemed cheap, but what I do remember is how pleasant the toll takers on that road were. They always had a smile and were extremely polite, but the thing that I will never forget is that for years we went north and south along that road on our way to Florida from western New York. One year we were on that road on Christmas Day.

As I got to the booth with my money in hand the lady wished me Merry Christmas and said the ride was free. Here was a gal that had to work on Christmas and she was as happy and nice as can be. Instead of just opening up all the lanes West Virginia had people in the booths to wish us a Merry Christmas. What a nice gesture. I'll bet nobody smoked those folks.

[michaeldterry]

As I got to the booth with my money in hand the lady wished me Merry Christmas and said the ride was free. Here was a gal that had to work on Christmas and she was as happy and nice as can be. Instead of just opening up all the lanes West Virginia had people in the booths to wish us a Merry Christmas. What a nice gesture. I'll bet nobody smoked those folks.

What a great story, Jon! I always hear "Virginia is for lovers", but apparently West Virginia is, too!

[Will Garner]

Just to say ditto to what Jon and Tom said. This June Carole and I had a wonderful vacation trip. I was kind and considerate to all but one toll taker. Most of the toll takers were very pleasant and laughed at my joke about getting that tail gater off my back bumper - danged thing has been there for the last 1,500 miles. Or see the guy in the pick up behind me for collecting the toll. However, as is always the case, there was one that was surly, sour and just plain not friendly. I got my change and my receipt, shut the side window and then just put the pedal to the metal - twice! There won't be any bugs around that booth for a while.

I doubt I'll be traveling that way any time soon!