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New Owner

Reply #25 –
Yahoo Message Number: 11406
We are Rick and Bobbi Aquino and living in North Myrtle Beach, SC.
I have been reading this site for about 2 years and also follow some of the personal web sites.

We purchased a 2001 Intrigue, #11285, 40' DS last month and just love it. We picked the CC because of all the positive comments I have read and it is living up to our expectations. I have contacted CC support on 2 occasions and I am impressed with their response to questions. I feel like I know a lot about this coach due to following these posts for the 2 years but also know we are in for a big learning curve, these are complicated machines.

I have a question that I feel users could better answer.
I parked the coach at home last Friday, I do not have access to shore power, with the idea of leaving the fridge running, in gas mode, for a couple of weeks till we take off again. I turned off everything I could think of in addition to the invertor. I did not turn off the 2 switches in the back storage area. I checked on things Saturday and all was fine. Had to go out of town on Monday till Thursday night, I still have to work. LOL. When I went to check on the coach this morning, Friday, the steps did not come out when I opened the door and the floor light did not come on. Checked that the step switch was on and realized there was a problem. The fridge was off and warm so figured there was a battery issue. Tried to start the genset and it wouldn't start, guess it starts off the house battery. Started the engine and then started the genset, guess running the engine charges to house battery. Backup monitor comes out but no picture. Steps and fridg work now, I probably have to reprogram the backup monitor. I didn't check on anything else. I just ran the genset a few hours and turned it off and then did turn off the 2 switches in back.

With all the things not working at the same time I fugure the batteries were completly dead. This is a 2001 and I have no problem getting new batteries if that is the problem. They all had plenty of water in them.

I would have thought that just running the fridge and whatever other loads are there that I don't know about still would not have run these batteries all the way down in 5 or less days unless they are just about gone anyway.

The question is should I be able to just turn the engine off and leave the coach for a week or so and not run the batteries down? Assuming I only want the fridge on and turn off everyting else. Or is there so much of a load with the 2 switches left on that the batteries won't last a week? I assume with the switches off I can not run the fridge.

Long post but wanted to understand if I am doing things correctly. If I can't leave the fridge on like this I will just clean it out each time and turn off those 2 switches and probably won't have the problem again.

WOW, that is the only expression I can think of to use. This is one quality machine.

Re: New Owner

Reply #26 –
Yahoo Message Number: 11408
Welcome, Dick and Barbara. I know you'll be glad you decided on CC. Re your battery problem, we have some electrical experts on this board who know a whole lot more than do I, but I think you'l find the refr. pulls some amps even when operating on gas. We always turn our refr. off if home for a week or more. You might want to add a solar panel or two to trickle your batteries while parked since you have no access to shore power.
Being an 01 coach your batteries may be about gone if the originals, but that is easily checked. I suggest you get an inexpensive hygronometer ? ( the tube with the beads in it to measure specific gravity) at any auto parts store to give you some indication as to status of the batteries.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy your coach as much as I have the three CC's I've owned.

Walt Rothermel
03Allure30811

Re: New Owner

Reply #27 –
Yahoo Message Number: 11410
Yes, a very COMPLICATED quality machine...
I have solar panels so running the refrig on gas mode when parked usually is not a problem. However, there are many phantom loads that are running even with the two battery disconnect switches set to OFF! If you want to run the frig though you cannot turn off the house batteries as 12v is needed at the frig. Your TV and VCR are phantom loads but unplugging them on my 2000 Allure means having to remove the TV. I did that one time and added a multi outlet with its own on/off switch into the small compartment next to the frig. If you have an on/off switch over the door for the inverter make sure that is set to OFF as the battery charger uses lots of juice. Others should have far more knowledge than I. Enjoy your coach. rvmike 2000 Allure 98 CRV toad.
On Sat, 04 Sep 2004 04:21:20 -0000 "Richard Aquino" rlaquino2728@...> writes:

Re: New Owner

Reply #28 –
Yahoo Message Number: 11411
I don't know how far a 110v plug is from your coach, but if it is not too far, get a heavy duty extension cord and an adaptor to plug the cord into the 50amp cord. That way you can at least keep a charge on your batteries. If you have wet cells you will need to check them more often to make that there is enough water in them. This is what I did with my '87 coach but before I got the Allure I had a new pad poured and had 50amp service installed. Enjoy, enjoy, and enjoy more!!!!!!

"Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouller"
Egon

'99 Allure #30321
'02 Tahoe Z71

Re: New Owner

Reply #29 –
Yahoo Message Number: 11412
Hello Rick,

Another thing to check is if your inverter on/off switch really does turn the inverter on/off. I bought a used 2000 allure and found that the tv was still working when the inverter switch was set to off and I didnt have the coach connected to 110V ( dont have the generator running either )to the coach. Turns out that there is a switch on the inverter itself (which is located in a compartment just above the batteries) which was set so that the inverter was always on. Dont know if the inverter on the 2001 has the same switch or not, check your owners manual for the inverter.

Happy Trails, Bob...

Re: New Owner

Reply #30 –
Yahoo Message Number: 11416
even with everything turned off your coach may use up to 5 amps per hour. tv's clocks, radios ect, all use a little when off to keep settings in memory also propane have electric starter

Re: New Owner

Reply #31 –
Yahoo Message Number: 11419
Hi there, and welcome to the CC forum! We've got 11320, so we're "near you" in coaches...
We don't do much dry camping, but all I can tell you is that I wouldn't expect the batteries to last that long from our experience.
LOTS of phantom loads we've found. If we dry camp, our batteries will only go about 24 hours before we have to put the generator on to replenish the charge...and that's not using the power too much, and turning off the inverter at night.

Also, what inverter do you have? The 2001's like ours came with an Invertrix inverter which never seemed to work right...so many of them had them changed out for Trace inverters which so far, seemed to have worked better, at least for us.

We're also going to check our batteries next week when in JC to see if it's time to replace them since it's been 3 1/2 years, which for wetcells is a good time.

Enjoy the coach...
Jan McNeill, Fulltimer
2001 Intrigue 11320

Currently in Bend, OR...on way to JC Sept.9-?

Re: New Owner

Reply #32 –
Yahoo Message Number: 11420
If you want to know how much juice you are using get a ammeter tester ( the type that just clamp around a wire) and turn the batteries on. Then check the current with everything else turned off. This should give you an idea of how much power you are drawing with everything off. You can actually start pulling fuses and be able to monitor a drop in amperage. When you find a circuit drawing power the gauge should reflect this. Next turn your fridge on and check the draw from it.
If for and example your fridge drew 1 amp and you had a 100 amp battery you would draw your battery down to 50 percent in 50 hours. This would help answer battery question particular to your coach. You would also have a better idea of what you can do and can't do.
The life of most batteries is suppose to be about five years. Batteries can sometimes be brought back to life if they aren't towards the end of their life. If you take your coach to someone that just deals in batteries they might be able to recharge your batteries or fix you up with new ones that would last. The place where I go in the Seattle area says the stores they sell batteries to are always bringing back batteries that are still good. They told me about 75% where still usable. So this is worth looking into.

Re: New Owner - Battery Question

Reply #33 –
Yahoo Message Number: 11426
Thanks to all that responded to my question about batteries and the suggestions received. Also to Damon who has been talking to me off line; he lurks here and I have felt he has been an asset and gives valid information to the group. And no, I did not purchase from him.

I did get a great education on the batteries and the systems that support them and rely on them.

This coach is like some of the boats I have owned. Use them daily and you probably will see little problem. Let them sit and well you know.
It sounds like it is not practical to run the fridge if the coach is going to sit for long periods of time, mainly due to the other loads on the batteries. That is unless I install a solar panel or use shore power. I could also go out there every few days and run the genset; good reason to check on it. It's not a big issue and I will just clean out the fridge each time.

I am going to test the batteries just to see how they are but at 3+ years I am going to get new ones anyway. These batteries probably should go 4-5 years but just like in Nascar, putting on 4 new stickers gives you a much higher level of confidence. I will also look into replacing the inverter with the Trace and at the same time look into some type of Autostart system; from what I have read this should be a standard feature anyway.

Again, thanks. Great group for an excellent product.

Re: New Owner - Battery Question

Reply #34 –
Yahoo Message Number: 11431
Richard, you might consider installing a Link 1000 as an inverter controller if it fits what you have. The primary feature making it attractive is it measures current into and out of your coach batteries which is much more useful and accurate than the traditional voltage reading.

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I am going to test the batteries just to see how they are but at 3+ years I am going to get new ones anyway. These batteries probably should go 4-5 years but just like in Nascar, putting on 4 new stickers gives you a much higher level of confidence. I will also look into replacing the inverter with the Trace and at the same time look into some type of Autostart system; from what I have read this should be a standard feature anyway. Again, thanks. Great group for an excellent product.

Re: New Owner

Reply #35 –
Yahoo Message Number: 11432

Try equalizing the batteries if your inverter has the feature. That's what equalizing is for.

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The life of most batteries is suppose to be about five years. Batteries can sometimes be brought back to life if they aren't towards the end of their life. If you take your coach to someone that just deals in batteries they might be able to recharge your batteries or fix you up with new ones that would last. The place where I go in the Seattle area says the stores they sell batteries to are always bringing back batteries that are still good. They told me about 75% where still usable. So this is worth looking into. Richard Aquino wrote:
 

Re: New Owner - Battery Question

Reply #36 –
Yahoo Message Number: 11434
Richard, you could not have said it any better--a coach is just like a boat, let them sit and you will have trouble. Ours does not sit for too long at one time, therefor we have 65,000 miles on it. If we get the chance to get away for a couple of days, fill the water tank and put clothes in along with a stop at the grocery store and we are out of here. You have to use them--kind of like a bunch of us older guys--the more we sit around, the harder it is for us to get going. Speaking of this, I guess I better get off my duff and get some things done outside.

Egon

'99 Allure #30321
'02 Tahoe Z71