Locked Out of Bus - Power Failure

[Jerry Winchester]

Well this was a new one for me. While I was gone to Alaska, we had a power failure in the hanger and my coach shut itself down since I didn't have the generator on auto-start.

In doing so, it was locked and both sets of keys were in the bus. Lesson one was about the keys. Lesson two is don't count on the keypad if the batteries are off line.

So after some planning, we rigged up a wire to reach thru the side door in the engine comparment (XLII) and pull the release for the back doors. Once the doors were open, a screwdriver will get the side door open.

With the side door open, you can now see the solenoid (directly over the chassis batteries on the Marathon) that ties the coach batteries to the house batteries. You can jump the solenoid terminals together and now the chassis batteries are providing power to the house. The keypad comes alive and poof the door is opened.

I now have a spare key outside the coach but thought someone might want to know how to jailbreak their coach with the keypad if the power is out.

JDUB

[Gary & Peggy Stevens]

You mentioned, you DID NOT have the generator on AutoStart in the Barn.... That is the way it should have been correct?

I was told you don't want your generator to auto-start for any reason while in your storage unattended. TRUE ? All the fumes in the barn would be getting into the bus and wreaking havoc on your stuff.

Gary S.

[BenC]

I have actually been involved in insurance claim inspections involving coaches that came on during a power outage and sooted up the entire interior and exterior of a Prevost while unattended for a period of about a month (the customer admitted to this time period, but it is not known how long/much the gen actually ran). It isn't just fumes, but the diesel engine soot that can and will reek havoc on the occupants of an enclosed building. The answer, if you have the resources to do this, is to have a flex exhaust duct installed in the building from the generator exhaust to the outside and to leave the gen auto-start ON. This will ensure that you don't have to replace your batteries after a prolonged power outage (if Gel-cell or AGM batteries are completely discharged for long, they become what we call "boat anchors" lol) due to dead batteries, or have to call your insurance adjuster with news that you ruined your coach due to diesel exhaust soot damage if you left the coach in Auto Start.
You should also check your coach when stored in a building (or anywhere for that matter) at least every few days or weekly, and more often during inclement weather situations.

Just a few thoughts on the matter....hope they help someone.

Ben Cummings
Coach Worx LLC

[Jon Wehrenberg]

While I am sure others have significant confidence in allowing a coach to sit unattended and make use of the autostart to keep the batteries fully charged, I come at this from a different perspective. If my bus were to be unattended for any length of time I would put it to sleep.

By turning off all batteries, including tripping the DDEC CBs if necessary depending on length of time involved I would be more comfortable I would have an undamaged bus when I returned. Ben's next to last sentence indicates he also has concerns similar to mine.

[GDeen]

Interesting topic I have thought about quite a bit. I leave mine with the autostart turned off, and check the bus every few days. Luckily, it is less than a 15 min drive out there so I can even run out after a thunderstorm and ensure there is power. I figured I would rather deal with the ramifications of dead batteries than the genset firing and running in an enclosed building. For me, the ideal situation would be an alarm that would signal my cell phone that my bus had lost shore power. I am sure there is a way. Even if I was out of town, I could still get someone out there to sort it out.

Another interesting point is locking the bus up or not locking it up. I decided to leave mine unlocked so that if someone broke into the barn and was determined to get in the coach, at least they wouldn't tear it up trying to get in. There are plenty of tools right there to help with forced entry so I just leave it unlocked.

[garyde]

Liberty Coaches don't have a jumper solonoid for Chasis to Coach battery jump. The 1st day at Liberty when I purchased my coach, they told me to ALWAYS keep a spare key outside the Coach. And it has come in handy more than once.

[BoaterAl]

Great advice, I'll be hiding a key tomorrow. I also leave the entry door unlocked in storage in case of break in..
Just for conversation.....In the boating world they have a device that will call your phone if the bilge pump goes on. Theres an idea for some young engineer trying to build a better mouse trap. Lose of shore power and your cell phone gets a call.
AL
2005 marathon XLII

[Jerry Winchester]

Well I am in my hanger almost every day when I am in town, so this is about the longest I have left it unattended since I owned it. I have a flex pipe for the gen exhaust, so having the generator come on is not a problem. I typically keep the coach locked since several folks have access to my hanger from time to time.

My first mistake was thinking the keyless entry pad was tied to the chassis batteries. That was not the case. The auto-start is back on and the fridge mess cleaned up.

It was also good to know that Marathon had a set of keys just for my coach and they made copies and overnighted them to me. Also know that Prevost does not have a suitable key code that you can take to a locksmith and get a key made.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

This comes under the heading of small things to find alternatives for.

In the case of Liberty Coaches with the batteries behind the entetainment center and no way to connect chassis power to house power it is vital that the owner make provision to either recharge the house batteries, or get inside the coach. Since batteries cost so much I would guess there needs to be some thought to protecting them from a discharge.

We always learn of things that can be improved after someone has experienced a problem.

FWIW, on XL coaches this is not that big of a deal because the windshield can come out in minutes if access is required.

[Gary Carmichael]

Gents a question, How long can this piece of flex exhaust pipe be with out harming generator?

[Kevin Erion]

It would be my guess, as long as needed. But I would think that you have to be careful not to create to much back pressure.

[Jerry Winchester]

If it is of sufficient diameter (ID larger than the exhaust OD) I would not be afraid to run it +20 feet. Mine only has to run about 5 feet.

[akcabin]

I have an old rig with some "issues". So, rather than trying to figure out all the phantom loads on the house batteries and risk damaging 4 new lifeline 8d's, I found a product called a Battery Brain HD. http://www.batterybrain.com/batterybrain.pl?sid=1gl8602koy&action=home
It automatically monitors the batteries and disconnects them when they reach a certain voltage which prevents over-discharge. (There is an override switch to reconnect.) There is also a remote kill switch to allow you to manually isolate the batteries anytime you want. In addition to disconnecting the 12 and 24 chassis breakers, I also engage the battery brain remote disconnect as part of my process for putting it in storage. It works great thus far, and we will see how it survives a long Alaskan winter very soon.
E

This comes under the heading of small things to find alternatives for.

In the case of Liberty Coaches with the batteries behind the entetainment center and no way to connect chassis power to house power it is vital that the owner make provision to either recharge the house batteries, or get inside the coach. Since batteries cost so much I would guess there needs to be some thought to protecting them from a discharge.

We always learn of things that can be improved after someone has experienced a problem.

FWIW, on XL coaches this is not that big of a deal because the windshield can come out in minutes if access is required.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Dumb question..........

If the battery brain is going to disconnect the batteries when the voltage reaches a certain low level, then why not just shut the bus down from the git-go and put it to sleep? It is far better to shut down the bus with fully charged batteries than to wait until they hit a low voltage.

If the answer is in case power goes off, then are they still shut off when power is restored? If the bus is stored for a long time and is dependent on power to keep batteries from discharging and pipes from freezing then the storage of the bus is a risky situation. My bus is 15 paces from the door of the house and I still monitor it to insure stuff is OK as long as I have power to it because so much can happen that requires some action on my part, such as inverters that decided to act up recently.

[Ray Davis]

When I first moved my bus to a new storage facility about a year ago, I drove out 5 days later to find that the idiot security guard had plugged in an air conditioner on the same line as my "garage" and had blown the circuit breaker. My coach proceeded to invert itself to death. Same problem with keypad, however, I did have a key and was able to enter the bus.

Since then, I now put my inverters in charge mode when storing for any period of time. Charge mode allows AC to pass when shore power is present, charges the batteries. However, if shore power goes away, it WILL NOT invert, and in most cases my house batteries will last a considerable amount of time when nothing is running. I will lose everything in the fridge if this happens, however, I won't ruin a set of $4000 worth of batteries.

Ray