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'new' CC owner (former Foretravel owner) with questions

Yahoo Message Number: 57488
Greetings to all,

We have just become CC owners after 11 yrs with a 1994 Foretravel that served us very well, and are very happy to see there is a Country Coach community still available for discussion and trouble shooting (and sharing enjoyment of a quality product despite the company folding).

A few questions should anyone have the time or interest to assist:
We have just purchased a 2007 Country Coach Tribute 260 Glacier (37') from a dealer. This is the first time it has been sold to a consumer and it has been sitting on the dealer's lot since 2007 and has probably been run from time to time.

We have run into three issues that we hope you might be able to help us with.

The satellite receiver is located in a cabinet facing the rear at the front of the coach above and to the left of the driver seat. The VHS and DVD players and the signal switching box are located in the same cabinet. We got the satellite receiver working just fine but, during the day, with the sun on the front of the coach the receiver got hot enough inside to turn the white plastic access card brown (like it was burnt) and slightly deform it. When the card got hot enough it stopped working but started working again after things cooled down. Has anyone run across this problem and do you have any solutions?
On its first outing, the Deka 708D (wet) 12 volt starting battery lost its charge (while being hooked up to 30 amp shore power) and was unable to start either the generator or the main engine. We used the Battery Boost to get the main engine started but were not able to get the generator started. We think that the starting battery had been allowed to completely discharge (perhaps more than once) while sitting on the dealer's lot and may be ruined. I looked online and have been unable to determine if this battery is a deep cycle or SLI type. If it's a deep cycle then the discharging should not have damaged it but if it's an SLI then this could be the issue. Any thoughts? (or any additional info re: the generator non-start)

The coach has four (wet) 6 volt deep cycle house batteries. These seem to be functioning okay but we intend to have them tested along with the starting battery. After the first outing and the problem with the starting battery, we opened each of the 12 cells on the four batteries.
Each cell required about 8 ounces of distilled water to fill them up.
Our previous coach had gel type batteries and we did not have to deal with filling the cells so we are unfamiliar with the wet deep cycle batteries. Is it normal for the batteries to get this low and how often should the water level in these batteries be checked?

Thanks for any help you might be able to offer.

Best regards,

Carrie & Ted Chase

'07 Country Coach Tribute Glacier

Carrie: RN during week, either showing Corgis or judging AKC shows on weekends

Ted: golfer on weekends CPA during the week

Re: 'new' CC owner (former Foretravel owner) with questions

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 57490
Carrie and Ted,

welcome to the CC group and family. You will find a lot of information and very helpful folks in the group. On your first issue - many folks have found the electronics cabinet gets very hot due to lack of air circulation especially when it's hot out. CC has added fans in the compartments to draw air in which has helped some of the issues. We will be removing our VCR that we never use and spread the components out more. We also leave the door open when the electronics are on and this seems to help as well. Next step after that for us is adding a small 12 volt computer type fan. As far as the checking of the batteries we had to monthly when plugged in. You don't want the distilled water to get below the plates but don't fill them too high our they will vent and you will start getting corrosion. Make sure you keep all corrosion neutralized so you don't weaken the structure that supports the batteries. We just converted to gel since it was time for new batteries.
Again welcome to the group and hope to see you on the road.
Safe Travels,
Kathy

'06 Inspire #51782

Re: 'new' CC owner (former Foretravel owner) with questions

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 57495

Carrie and Ted

You might also want to consider the tires. Sounds like they have been sitting for up to four to five years. Thats the worst thing you can do to a tire.

ddtuttle

aka Billy Byte (trusty hound)
2000 Allure #30443

Re: 'new' CC owner (former Foretravel owner) with questions

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 57499
We had a DVR in the cabinet (06 Allure) and while the card never 'burned' it got quite hot in the cabinet.
Initially we added 2 computer fans (fans that woudl fit in a computer on a card and removed the card) that we velcroed in place to the sides o fthe DVR after removing the plastic cover.
When we eventually upgraded from the DVD & VCR to a BluRay (done at Oregon Motor Coach) we had them redo the ventiallation and they did a great job adding 2 hidden intak and 2 exhaust fans that are thermostatically controlled.
In addition, we had them add 2 thermostatically controlled exhaust fans for the front tv cabinet as the TV coudl get quite hot when we were in the Vegas area sun with a dark coach.
Regarding the batteries, we had something similar happen in that the coach on the lot about a year and the wet cells pretty much shot. When we replaced them we put in AGM's.

Re: 'new' CC owner (former Foretravel owner) with questions

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 57501
Carrie and Ted

Welcome to the CC forum. Just FWIW, on my coach, the house battery starts the generator. Reference QUOTE below. Also, I have an Echo Charger to charge the engine battery and recently found a blown fuse on it, which prevented my engine battery from being charged. On my coach, the Echo charger is located in the same bay as the inverter.
QUOTE: On its first outing, the Deka 708D (wet) 12 volt starting battery lost its charge (while being hooked up to 30 amp shore power) and was unable to start either the generator or the main engine. We used the Battery Boost to get the main engine started but were not able to get the generator started. END QUOTE

Larry , 03 Allure, 30856