The plastic battery box did not inspire confidence that it was air tight, but when I got the vent hose out for inspection I was shocked. From the panel wall to the van wall it was disintegrated. If gasses were venting it was going between the walls, not outside.
Converter has been doing more damage than good set at 13.5 volts. New set up is at 14 volts and then I have installed a smart charger to do the last two stages of charging. So it is really a weird 4 stage. The first is as I drive home at 14.7 from the alternator. We will see if the battery has been permanently damaged from never getting a full charge in the past.
sept 14. the "smart charger" was not so smart. it was holding the voltage above 14, so now converter is back to 13.5 and being used to maintain.
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Wiring
I was in the 12 volt fuse box and found it installed upside down but wired right side up. So what is labeled one is actually six etc. Yea I figured it out, but really? Was this built on a Friday? How bad can the rest of it be?
So I crawled under the thing and traced the wiring looms. The wire from van battery was too close to the header and the protection melted off. No fuse, just straight from the van to the coach battery. Then no fuse at the battery between it and the loads, just 4 feet of wire to the fuse box.
All the Starcool wiring had the same problem. Not cool, pun intended. The harness protection melted down and the insulation of the individual wires crispy and discolored. Between the plumbing and wiring the Starcool is really a rats nest, but only near the header was there a problem.
Then there are the after market electricians. The brake controller guy opened up the Ford harness near the header, the worst place possible. Now a perfectly good harness has the wires exposed to heat. The brake wire he used has crispy discolored insulation.
Not to forget the alarm guy. Mount the metal plate over two positive terminals and put electrical tape between them for insulation.
So I crawled under the thing and traced the wiring looms. The wire from van battery was too close to the header and the protection melted off. No fuse, just straight from the van to the coach battery. Then no fuse at the battery between it and the loads, just 4 feet of wire to the fuse box.
All the Starcool wiring had the same problem. Not cool, pun intended. The harness protection melted down and the insulation of the individual wires crispy and discolored. Between the plumbing and wiring the Starcool is really a rats nest, but only near the header was there a problem.
Then there are the after market electricians. The brake controller guy opened up the Ford harness near the header, the worst place possible. Now a perfectly good harness has the wires exposed to heat. The brake wire he used has crispy discolored insulation.
Not to forget the alarm guy. Mount the metal plate over two positive terminals and put electrical tape between them for insulation.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Silver Lake
I was just at Caples Lake, you would think I would have driven the couple of miles to do Silver Lake then. However Francesca wasn't interested. Now after reading a book she had to go to Silver Lake.
Pretty nice, no complaints from me. On the east end is a Forest Service Campground. The Sportsmobile or any class b is so cool because you can find all the short spurs with the tent campers and pretty much guarantee there won't be any generators.
However like Caples Lake we just moved to the lake for the day. We could park right next to the water which makes for a very nice day.
My only Sportsmobile issue is the coach battery is only lasting for one day. At the beginning of the summer it lasted three.
There is some pressure to use all the toys. I have to get over this because I have too many toys. The kayaking was great.
I really like this sailboat. I think they call this a gaft rig.
Great shoreline.
The mountain bike was a little disappointing, but I did find this neat slab of rock.
The motorcycle was great fun. I went to an area called Mud Lake road. There are even some single track for motorcycles.
On the way home Francesca was reading her book and got all excited about Bear Lake. Guess what? It is only a couple of miles down from Silver Lake.
Pretty nice, no complaints from me. On the east end is a Forest Service Campground. The Sportsmobile or any class b is so cool because you can find all the short spurs with the tent campers and pretty much guarantee there won't be any generators.
However like Caples Lake we just moved to the lake for the day. We could park right next to the water which makes for a very nice day.
My only Sportsmobile issue is the coach battery is only lasting for one day. At the beginning of the summer it lasted three.
There is some pressure to use all the toys. I have to get over this because I have too many toys. The kayaking was great.
I really like this sailboat. I think they call this a gaft rig.
Great shoreline.
The mountain bike was a little disappointing, but I did find this neat slab of rock.
The motorcycle was great fun. I went to an area called Mud Lake road. There are even some single track for motorcycles.
On the way home Francesca was reading her book and got all excited about Bear Lake. Guess what? It is only a couple of miles down from Silver Lake.
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