Matt_Colie wrote:
Well Drt,
You got a set of answers from one of the tribe that gives good juice answers. What he was too kind to say is,"ARE You out of your Mind?"
A 3000VA inverter will require a forklift battery for support and real welding cable to attach it.....
Also as Mex said, the existing converter is probably junk. If it is a big heavy box, it most certainly is. Replace it first. If you replace the house bank with a pair of 6v golf cart batteries in series (to make 12v) and figure out what generator you can shoe horn in there, you will be worlds ahead. You should be looking for a 40~60 amp three or four stage converter/charger.
My coach is only 7 years older, and I can tell you about a lot of mistakes to not make. Idling the main engine to charge the house bank would be a good one to not make. First off, the alternator output isn't all that much, but then you also have to include the fact that nothing good happens when an engine is idling.
Now, about older coaches. They can be reliable. The only reason mine is not on the road to day is that the engine was getting weak and burning oil at about 95K miles. The thing to thing about is that all the rubber stuff is dying of old age. Not just the tires. I hope someone told you that tires live to a maximum of about 8 years under the best of treatment and that is with no regard for miles. I have see tires with mold nubbies still attached blow up...
All the belts and hoses should at least inspected and the cooling and brake systems both flushed and the fluids replaced. Also look at any rubber fuel line. Fuel lines have a double whammy. First is age that would be a gotcha in any case, but then the new "motorfuels" are real tough on old materials.
Shop locally for a good used generator if you plan to do anything but FHU "camping". To run a single A/C, you need about a 4kW unit. Just make sure it runs and the carburetor is clean before you shoehorn it into the space. There are lots of used units around because so many people have not taken care of the roof leaks (that is a hint).
If you have other questions or problems come on back here.
Matt
What I have done already:
Found an 87 D350 being parted out to get replacement 16" coined dual wheels, put brand new tires on them. Nobody makes 8-16.5 tires anymore, and 8.75R16.5 tires are getting harder to find (and really expensive). I will not run a tire with a DOT date code greater than 6 years old... and I used a silver sharpie to "highlight" the codes on the new tires.
Replaced belts, hoses, fuel lines, etc, and all new fluids.
Replaced all the clearance lights with LEDs.
As for the inverter, I know it is overkill but that is the point... to be able to get a cheaper sine inverter that will last for a while, since it won't be driven hard at all. I would be running a dorm fridge off it (98 watts), a 21" flat screen TV (28 watts), and a blu-ray player (15 watts). I used these same components in a conversion van with an 800w inverter, no problem. It will also have the occasional electrical draw of a milk house heater/fan as a backup to the furnace (1200 watts), or a small-ish portable AC (1400 watts). There is no rooftop unit on this RV.
I know the alternator isn't the greatest, since the largest factory internal fan alternator for these coaches is 60 amps. I do want to measure and upgrade to an external fan unit, that way I can get a decent 160+ amp unit in there (yes, I will replace the charge wire, too).
