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We're pleased with our choice and being a member of the CC gang!

Yahoo Message Number: 63822
I want to take the time frist to thank the board members. The info in the files and databases, and what I call the School of Hard Knocks Brain Trust of this board - has helped me soo much on my learning curve on CC's.
We just returned from our second trip, which we considered our 'shake down' large (for us) trip. We did a loop from San Diego to Zion, Teton's, Montana, Hope Idaho, then ran down old highway 395 from just South of Spokane to home, stoping in Burns, Or and Carson City, NV as over night stops. Just shy of 3100 miles.
We found our 04 Allure, 40' High Cascade with Tag, ISL 370 - to be a very comfortable and capable integration of equipment. We learned many new things about our rig on this trip.
I found I came to search the board, many times on a few questions. I also appreciated the input via responses, and Emails, from a few questions I posted.
We had some items pop up that we will need to figure out, fix, replace - but we expected this as part of the experience. I'll post a few questions for input in follow up posts.
The main thrust of this post, was to complement CC on the fine rig they built, their documentation. But mainly to thank the collective on this board, for sharing your knowledge, and being so supportive.

Best to all,
Smitty

04 Allure 40' Tag, High Cascade - 31017
04 Allure Sold to a nice new owner! Now enjoying a 07 Magna Rembrandt 45' ISX600 #6775
"We're ONDROAD for THEJRNY!" (Toad and Coach license plates, say Hi if you see us!)

Re: questions on battery wear down with a new Brake Buddy on our car

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 63825
This trip is giving us some new bugs to work on! If any of you have experienced what we have, I'd be grateful to know what you found out. We're towing our 2 year old Buick Enclave for the first time. Our RV fellow installed the Brake Buddy. I read in the Brake Buddy book that I should stop every 3-4 hours and run the car just to keep the battery up. When I did that yesterday, and after I had put the car in park in order to start it, I discovered that the battery was dead as a doornail. I have a little charger that after 1 1/2 hours gave enough of a charge to start the car and get it out of park in order to get going in the coach again. When we arrived at our campground about 3 or 4 hours later, the car battery was dead again.

I did have our car battery checked at our Buick dealership after the Brake Buddy was installed to make sure that our battery was okay, and they said it was. But, I doubt now that they tested it under any load. So I'm going to have a new battery installed in Cadillac, MI, where we'll be this week, and also a battery disconnect. I'm also going to run a separate line from the coach to the car, a 12 volt line, with its own plug in line for the brake system.

Is this what any of you have done? I'll wait to do any of the above and hope for some knowledge from you folks on our excellent forum.

Mike Frederick
06 Inspire 51784

Re: questions on battery wear down with a new Brake Buddy on our car

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 63827
Not all batteries are built the same. For this application I would use an Optima Yellow top. If memory serves, the Yellow top is for starting and deep cycle. The Optima will stand up better in this service then any other battery I can think of. It has lots of capacity and recovers quick. Not cheap, but you get what you pay for.

Leonard Kerns
97' Magna 5418

Re: questions on battery wear down with a new Brake Buddy on our car

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 63828
Mike as you suggested , the best bet is to run a wire from your coach engine battery through your plug to the car battery. You will want to be sure to put a diode in the line , which restricts flow of electricity TO the toad only. These are available at most camping stores/Camping World. With that wire supplying voltage to your battery, you will have no need to stop. I am surprised you are using that much amps , that it draws the battery down that quick. It is worth to have checked for amp draw

Ron Baran 09 Magna 7025
 

Re: questions on battery wear down with a new Brake Buddy on our car

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 63829
When I first discovered Optima batteries I was surprised at how little internal resistance there was, as it spun up my starter faster than I had ever heard it. There is some scuttle butt on another forum (very battery intensive, very knowledgeable folks) that maybe Optima is not quite the battery it used to be. Just a heads up, I have no first hand knowledge about that. Any I have had have been superior to most I have known.
I addressed the Brake Buddy question a little differently. ("Different" seems to be my lot in life.) My towed vehicle was (is) elderly, and I thought I might be trading it in, so did not want to buy a new battery. The Brake Buddy would kill the battery after a few days towing. So, I ran a dedicated 10 GA power cord from the house batteries in the coach through a 30 amp in-line fuse, to a cigar plug in the towed for the Brake Buddy. No more worries about the towed battery.
I have since replaced the battery in the towed, in this case with a Costco house brand, as that is where I was last year when the old one finally gave up. Happy so far. If I was going to replace the battery in a "keeper" car, I would get an Optima, or research what is superior to them, if anything. So far my 1993 Toyota Land Cruiser at 228,000 miles serves well, flat tows fine, and is an excellent gold digger repellent. Some day it will die, and be replaced, but has been an old friend for many years and adventures.
Jack Nichols, 2003 Intrigue 11527