Battery/Inverter Upgrade - 1

[dreamchasers]

A few Poggers are aware that January was a very busy month with numerous upgrades to my coach. All upgrades are aimed at increasing reliability and managing obsolescence issues. With Country Coach being auctioned off within the next few weeks, the timing is perfect.

The first upgrade is the replace my worn and tired batteries. All batteries were first removed, then the inverters, then the case was removed for sandblasting and repainting.

I will post several post to show pictures of work. The forum only allows five pictures per post. I think?

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The picture above shows the inverter bay with batteries being removed. Note the Freedom 2500 inverters, the original inverters

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After removing all batteries, I glanced up under the top of the battery case. You can see by the rusted bolt, the battery case was a failure about to happen. The rusted bolt is one of the 12 volt taps that goes through the case and provides 12 volts to one of the inverters. Not good!

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All the batteries and inverters removed. Years of charging flooded batteries have taken its toll.

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The battery case is stripped and almost ready for removal.

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Battery case being removed. Case is half way out. This sucker is heavy, so have plenty of help.

More pictures to come.

Hector

[HarborBus]

Looks like your doing a great job Hector. the compartment isn't as bad as I would have imagined after 15 years. Looking forward to seeing the finished product. Carry on.

[dreamchasers]

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After the inverter case was removed, the rear of the case was rusted also because of a water leak.

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After sandblasting and painting the case look good. Here is a shot of the new Magnum Energy inverters being fitted.

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All battery cables were upgraded to Excelon welding cable with MIL spec heat shrink. Note the original Country Coach on the right with the light duty lug using electrical tape of heat shrink. The new lugs were heavy duty clad coated copper. Very nice!

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Battery case was "dry fitted" in the inverter bay.

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Here is a shot of the battery case, mounted, with new inverters being mounted.

[truk4u]

Nice job Hector!

[dreamchasers]

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The finished product. All new inverters, Magnum Energy units. New Lifeline batteries installed in a fresh case. The inverters work great and came on line with no troubleshooting.

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The East Texas Electrical Inspector cam by to inspect the on going work. We were ticketed for not having a permit for the modification. Also, he checked our handy work for accuracy. He gave us an approved POG inspection sticker. (Most know Loc as a fellow Pogger who happened to be in the neighborhood.)

I am sure a few articles will result from all these upgrades. I will post about the other upgrades as time permits.

Hector

[MangoMike]

Hector,

Nice job on the upgrade.

I especially like the attention to detail in the Excelon welding cables.

Mike

[phorner]

Hector,

Your upgraded compartment looks great!

Did your new inverters have the same "footprint" as your old Freedom 25's?

[Pete]

Hector, it looks great!
As usual, inspector "KILOWATT" shows up AFTER the work is done!

[Denny]

Hector, Great job!

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Very nice Hector, thanks for the picture post.

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