Hotlanta - Not

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I will emphasize for those experiencing the dangers of prolonged freeze periods for the first time....KEEP THE WATER TANK FULL!

Now is not the time to take chances. Overheat the coach if you have to because if you break a single water pipe and it is hidden from view a lot of damage could take place, not only immediately, but later if the leak is not detected, and nothing will destroy a coach's value quicker than the smell of mold and mildew.

The cost of diesel fuel to run the generator or Webasto continuously is chump change compared to repair costs. I urge you consider back up also. I used electric heaters strategically placed as my primary heat source but backed them up with other heaters (our propane furnaces on the first coach for example) in the event of a failure. This week we used the toe space heaters as prime, but the Webasto as back up.

[sawdust_128]

As I said I would, I checked and the electric heaters in the storage and the plumbing bays operate off the inverters as well.

As a heads up to all interested, Jon and I are having a running discoourse off-line which I hope will result in a description of how the vantare' school of electrical system engineering is different from the liberty/marathon school approach.

[michaeldterry]

As a heads up to all interested, Jon and I are having a running discoourse off-line which I hope will result in a description of how the vantare' school of electrical system engineering is different from the liberty/marathon school approach.

That would certainly be a most welcome and much appreciated educational read for me! Go for it, gentlemen!

[Jon Wehrenberg]

It is not easy for Ed and I to understand. He undoubtedly has a firm grasp on how his coach is set up, but we both have some serious unaswered questions that we need to sort out before either of us can get this nailed down.

Is there a Vantare owner that knows how his coach 120V AC system is set up? My biggest struggle is if everything runs through the inverters, which have 33 amp continuous load capacity or 4000 watts, with 2 inverters having a 8000 watt 66 amp capacity. Why then would Vantare install a 17,000 watt generator? I see no provision for generator power to bypass the inverters when the loads exceed inverter capacity so the inverters become a choke point.

Is there anyone out there that can explain the logic or clear up this mystery. Other than that I think Ed and I do understand the Vantare system, but like Columbo we need to tie up this loose end.

[Ray Davis]

Does perhaps the 33A capacity you mention not include the battery charging circuit?

I know on my coach that the battery charging amps are generally clamped to the input cord size, so perhaps the inverters can provide up to 33A load and 15A battery charging?

Just a guess.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Ray,

The 33 amp is the continuous output listed in the specs for the inverter.

Charging current is 120 amps 24VDC, or about 24 amps AC current draw.

The AC transfer switch is listed as 60 amps but I do not know if that includes the charging current. Your question prompted me to re-read the specs off the PDF file for the owners manual (about 150 or 160 pages so there is a lot of data) and after re-reading it I think I have now answered a question that has been nagging me in part.