Hotlanta - Not

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

I always keep the grill clean and ready to go.

[michaeldterry]

As far as snow, we only got enough to barely cover the ground. Our daughter did manage to build this sad little 8 inch snowman on our grandson's kiddy pool on our back deck.




Our back deck during yesterday's "blizzard"


Our daughter, Mary, trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue as the snow "event" started


Vita tried to capture the snowflakes with the camera looking out our front door as the snow started... uuhhhh, not so much.

Obviously, we are easily entertained in Woodstock, GA! LOL! (It's funny because it's true...) Maybe it's because this extreme cold gives us southerners brain freeze!

[michaeldterry]

Since we do not have electric available at our current storage location, Vita and I have left the main switches on in Evangeline and are running the basement heaters with the thermostats set at 55 degrees, the AquaHot unit, and the midship toe kick heaters upstairs on low to hopefully stave off a freeze event. I set the generator to auto-start on the inverter menu so it will crank up and recharge the batteries when they get low. I intend to check the bus daily until the temperatures here migrate back above freezing to stay for a while. We're going to be travelling in the bus for the next three weekends, so I don't want to go through a "winterization" process every week!

I just got back from checking on the bus today and the generator was running when I pulled up. So at least I know the auto-start works! What I don't know is if/when the generator will shut off! For safety sake, I shut it off manually while I was there and will go back tomorrow afternoon to check it again. Am I doing something stupid here? Any other/alternate suggestions/advice on what I should do to keep the plumbing from freezing given the limitation of no shore power available?

Someone please educate me before I ruin a beautiful bus!

[ajducote]

Michael,

Make a note of the hours on the generator each time you go check on the bus. That way you can determine how much you are actually using the generator. Also make sure you are not trying to charge the batteries to 100%, that takes a long time. You may be able to set your autostart to run for X hours the shut down. I would recommend 1 to 2 hours each time.

Other then that maybe consider just using the aqua hot and not the electric toe kick heaters. The aqua hot will likely run much longer before the batteries run low then the time the toe kick heaters run. If you do not winterize, you have to keep some heat in the bus. Seems like you have to run the generator once in a while to get it done.

[michaeldterry]

Michael,

Make a note of the hours on the generator each time you go check on the bus. That way you can determine how much you are actually using the generator. Also make sure you are not trying to charge the batteries to 100%, that takes a long time. You may be able to set your autostart to run for X hours the shut down. I would recommend 1 to 2 hours each time.

Other then that maybe consider just using the aqua hot and not the electric toe kick heaters. The aqua hot will likely run much longer before the batteries run low then the time the toe kick heaters run. If you do not winterize, you have to keep some heat in the bus. Seems like you have to run the generator once in a while to get it done.

Thanks Andre! I'll start recording the genset hours tomorrow and turn off the toe kick heaters!

[jack14r]

I don't remember,can you set the amount of current during charging to the batteries with the trace inverters?If you can,then set them at a high charging rate if you are only going to run the generator for a couple of hours.Also do the toe kick heaters run off the inverters?My heater only runs off shore or gen,if that is the case I would turn them on to come on with the gen,otherwise I would not run them on the inverters because they consume too much current.

[Denny]

Michael,

My generator will shut off after 4 hours of running when it starts by Auto Start. It will then start again when the batteries call for a charge. Yours may work the same way as many operate this way.

[truk4u]

Michael,

Your kick heaters won't run off inverter. The only time they will come on is when your gen starts and runs. Since your using the aquahot, why not just set the cabin temperature down low to say 50, forget the kick heaters, make sure the bay heat portion of the aquahot is on and let the autostart maintain the batteries. I am assuming your bay heaters are aquahot heat exchangers and not electric. If they're electric, your in trouble because they will only work on shore or gen, just like the kick heaters.

PS - Make sure you enough fuel, lower than a 1/4 could/will kill the gen and aquahot.

[michaeldterry]

Thank you for the responses and advice Jack, Denny, and Tom! It is really quite comforting to know that POG buddies have your back when you need advice, direction, or instruction regarding our magnificent machines! I am forwarding your advice to Vita via e-mail to insure that it is remembered and followed (I can't be trusted to remember things - if I remember my name in the morning when I wake, it's a good day! - thank God for GPS!)

[sawdust_128]

I will try to re-check all of this, but here it is to the best of my knowledge.

You are doing the same thing that I am doing to ward off the cold. I suggest that you use the Aqua-Hot more than the toe kicks.

Michael has a Vantare'. Everything runs off the inverters. In my coach, 4 toe kicks in the cabin, 2 in the plumbing bay and one in the storage bay all will run off the inverter and will suck the batteries down in a matter of two to three minutes (if all are on). (Here's something I will check, maybe the fans power up but not the heating elements, although that doesn't make sense to me).

The Xantrex invereters can be reprogrammed to put a high charge rate onto the batteries, but I believe it should already be doing so with the bulk charge cycle. In bulk charge mode, it is typically set to do charging at 15 amps. If you are running toe kicks, the inverters will stay in bulk mode for a very long time as the charge is not making much head way against the consumption. This is observed even when on shore power.

Here is the routine I have found to be the most effective.

When I first land, hook up to shore power, and need heat,

1. Aquahot for heat and HW.
2. When Aquahot shuts off, power up stepwell and mid electric toe kicks and plumbing and storage heaters.
3. Fire up electric HW after inverters drop from Bulk Charging mode into Float Charging Mode.

I also leave the generator in auto start as I have learned not to trust power in campgrounds in the winter, especially from 4:00 to 7:30 pm. Cooking and too many others running space heaters.

In storage, I depend almost exclusively on the Aqua-Hot and the generator. Once a week, I pre-heat and run the engine up to normal for engine and tranny.

Whatever routine you use you need to manage to allow the bulk cycle to complete or you can reduce the rate of charging during the bulk cycle so more power is available for you to use. For short runs in storage, maximize bulk charging.

Also, I believe that the bulk cycle charging rate is programmed in the setup menu on the Xantex 4024 Inverters.


P.S. on edit:

Auto start shutdown trigger is based on the condition of the battery charge. It doesn't care how long it tkaes to get there. And "there" was determined to be what is best for your type and brand of batteries.