6D vs 8D and also how many of either.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Huge advantage being able to access the inverter area. That is a perfect solution and anyone that wants a simple project can do something like that.

Good pictures Joe.

[rahangman]

Joe, when we get to your place, would like to have that simple solution put to my bus. I find myself running the genset for AC while traveling

[Joe Cannarozzi]

We might be able to get that done.

Jon I pull my freezer and 2 panels and it is in the middle of the second bay in front of the aux fuel tank, gen and its radiator other side.

I was very nervous when we first bought but now I zip through stuff.

plumbing bay 015.jpg


If you look on the right wall high there is a louvered vent and the panel I removed is perforated I have passive ventilation. When the freezer is on (always) it is passing its heat too. I think I am going to do that better.
electrical photos 003.jpg

plumbing bay 012.jpg

Getting back on thread

Question: is it possible to have a bus with 8 8-D batts AND otr a/c or is design forced by function on this?

If I was setting a bus up it would have all that plus cruise airs and an aqua-hot and long range fuel tanks. Is there enough basement on an XL to set one up like that.

[dale farley]

The last time I checked the drain on my batteries (3 year old batteries), I could run the refrigerator, lights, etc. for about 9 hours before the batteries reached the 50% level.

[phorner]

When checking the battery voltage prior to generator start-up (either auto or manual) what are you using?

I just have the bar graph on the inverter panels, and they only register half-volt intervals, and I'm not confident as to their accuracy.

Is there a better indication that I'm missing? I do also have an analog display on the dash..... more accurate?

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Paul,

On mine they are quite accurate.

I have measured my voltage at the batteries with the meter and that voltage, the voltage at the equalizer, the inverter panel voltage and the dash house voltage gauge were all close enough for government work.

[phorner]

Jon,

Thanks. I like to keep an eye on the dash analog gauge.... just seems to give me a "finer" reading of voltage, but I can't come up with any logic to that.

[Steve Bennett]

Our coach has 6-4D AGM Lifelines, and 2-Heart 2,800 watt inverters. It will stay up for 12+hours above 24 volts with a good charge, running the refrigerator, satellite, TV's, lights, & Webasto for hot water. We need to run the generator for the Cruise-Air A/C's if it is hot.

[jack14r]

I have 6-8D's gels and Liberty wants to keep the gen off as much as possible so the watchdog does not activate the auto start until 21 volts.This low voltage has killed the batteries in 1 year,I am going to get 6 new lifeline 8D's tomorrow.I figured out how to fool the watchdog to auto start at 24 volts and it works perfect.My coach has 2 outback 3500 watt inverters and it will run 2 cruise airs off the batteries,I knew I had a problem a few weeks ago when the batteries would not last 8 hours without any AC on,on Friday I smelled a battery venting and I called Lifeline.I have the panels etc.out and the batteries are ready to come out.I should finish the install by Tuesday.The POG deal on Lifeline 8d is 434.16 and they have a warehouse near me.Thanks POG/Jim Skiff.

[garyde]

In my Trade, Installing UPS equipment and Generators, Panels etc. The design is base upon Generator failure, and the UPS batteries are a backup to the generator. We purchase qty of batteries based upon the amount of minutes or hours the customer wants to keep their Computers, servers etc. up and running. UPS is not designed for a/c or motor load.
In the RV design, it's the other way around, RV folks depend upon their batteries when dry camping and the Generator is the back-up.
The difference is in the purpose of use. Rv folks don't want to run their generators if they don't have a need. That puts all of the load and use on Batteries. Each 8D battery weighs approx. 150lbs. Four batteries is 600lbs. and 8-8d batteries is 1200lbs.
The same issues with both design is the amount of time the batteries will last. On the Building design it is critical because the generator has failed. On the Rv side its less a critical failure and more a convienace matter. You can always shut load off, or start he Generator or Engine for that matter.
I have no idea why Liberty has such low settings for Gen start on low battery but you can extend the minutes on your batteries by reducing loads.