ctrout
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Re: Time to retire the 7.3 OBS?
Thanks for all of the replies. This was a very hard decision, but for the price these are going for in my area and the condition that mine was in, I decided that it's best to let this one go. The front suspension was in need of quite a bit of work. The AC was not working, interior is pretty tired, windshield is broken, tires are getting thin, and brakes are probably due soon. All together, if I were to fix everything and get the engine sealed back up (front and rear crank seals, oil pan) I would probably be looking at spending $6-$8k to make my truck worth maybe $11k. If I find that the issue it is having is repairable, I can pay for the repair and sell it for around $4500. If it is not repairable, I can keep the junker around my house for 6 months while I wait for someone to give me $600 for it, or I could take it to the scrap yard. I'll know more when they tell me what is wrong with it. In the meantime, I bought a 2006 5.9 Cummins in exceptional condition yesterday. It has brand new tires, AC blows cold, interior is in excellent condition, body is excellent with no dents and great paint, all glass is good, 103,700 miles on the clock. Now I just hope that this one lasts as long as my Ford did and hopefully it tows at least as well as the 7.3.562Views0likes0CommentsTime to retire the 7.3 OBS?
I've had this 1997 F250 diesel for over 15 years and in that time, it has left me stranded just 3 times. Once a dozen or so years ago when the fuel bowl heater shorted and took out the ECS fuse with it, once when the water pump catastrophically failed after about 500 miles into a trip from Idaho to California, and today when I was towing my camper into the mountains for a weekend deer hunting trip. I'm not sure yet what the failure was. I was towing up a steep grade that usually has me down to about 60mph as I reach the top. Today I was at 40mph and still losing speed. I found a turnout so I pulled over and the truck immediately stopped running. I suspected a clogged fuel filter so I pullet the filter to look. The fuel in the bowl was either boiling or air was blowing through it from the lift pump. I could not get the truck to start again so I had it towed to the dealership. The last time I had the truck in for maintenance they said that I really should get the gaskets and seals redone because I have numerous, significant oil leaks. They said that this will be an engine-out repair and would cost roughly $2-$2.5k. The truck has about 230,000 miles on it. The AC hasn't worked in about three years (Idaho, 90-105F in the summer). I am feeling like it might be time to put this one out to pasture and get something newer, but I don't have $30-$50k to spend. My wife and I prefer to pay cash for everything because we are approaching that time in life when income will soon become pretty fixed. Our house will be paid off in 6 months and we will be debt free. We were right in the process of saving to pay cash for a new to us camper sometime in the next 12-18 months so I do have a tiny bit of cash to work with ($5000). Would I be better off pouring the $5000 into getting my Powerstroke overhauled, or selling it for maybe $5-$6k and finding a bulletproofed 6.0, or something else that I could get maybe in the spring when I have maybe $15k to spend? We are planning a trip to Italy next summer so we weren't going to do too much camping anyway. I may possibly be able to live without a truck for a year and a half and save even more to buy one the following year but that would not be an ideal plan from my point of view.6KViews0likes28CommentsRe: Battery question
I'm pretty sure it's input power. I just checked the sticker and it's actually 1380 watts. The sticker says 11.5 amps, 120 volts, 1380 watts. (11.5 x 120 = 1380). I'm seriously considering just skipping the microwave. The next largest thing that I would run is a tv at 40 watts. That would greatly reduce the cost of inverter that I would need. Of course that would also mean that I have grossly overbuilt my power for this rig. At 330 ah and 300 watts of solar, I could literally leave every electrical device in the camper on 24/7, including the tv but excluding the microwave and ac and I would never run out of power.499Views0likes0CommentsBattery question
I have three 110ah 12v agm batteries connected by 2/0 wire. The specs are here. I will eventually be getting an inverter sized to run anything in the rv up to and including the 1350 watt microwave. No, I have no plans of running the ac at all or the microwave in conjunction with all of the other electrically powered items so the largest load that I will ever run will be the microwave by itself. Expected run time should not exceed 5 minutes at a time for a total of no more than 15 minutes in any given day. I'm planning on getting the Samlex SA-1500 inverter which I'm pretty confident will manage the load. I'm also confident that the 2/0 cables from Northern Arizona Wind and Sun are sized appropriately to handle the load. Please correct me if I'm wrong on the inverter or cable sizing. My concern is the batteries. The draw on the batteries will exceed 100 amps. Will a 100 amp continuous draw for up to 5 minutes be a problem? I know that lifepo4 batteries could sustain that kind of draw with no problem but I didn't have $6000 to invest in lifepo4 so I have agm. Can a 330 ah agm bank support 100+ amps for 5 minutes? Incidentally, my solar panels were pushing 61 volts to the charge controller the last time I read them in full sun.2.8KViews0likes10CommentsRe: Down sizing LP tanks and adding scissor jacks
I just went through this myself when the valves on BOTH of my 30# tanks failed. New valves are like $30 each. I had a 20# tank and the gas co gave me an expired 20# tank for free. I can still get them filled cheap when I want but I can exchange them if no filling station is available and if a valve fails again, I can just do an exchange and let the blue rhino or Amerigas people deal with it on their inspection. After all, that's why we pay a higher price for the exchange.185Views0likes0CommentsRe: Best/most reliable inverter
I'm really leaning towards a Samlex SA2000 right now. All things considered, it seems to hit all the criteria at a price point that is tolerable. Speaking of price, I probably won't have it this season like I had hoped but I've lived without it for 44 years, one more season probably won't kill me.521Views0likes0CommentsRe: Best/most reliable inverter
2oldman wrote: ctrout wrote: Magnum Energy MS2012 Inverter 2920121 2000W 12VDC 120VAC Pure sine wave $1,719.20 Now you're being obtuse. That's an inverter/charger. You said just an inverter. Not trying to be. That was the first recommendation in this thread from another member. That's why I'm asking what price point brings a good reliable inverter without spending that kind of money. If someone in this thread hadn't recommended it, I wouldn't have brought it up.520Views0likes0CommentsRe: Best/most reliable inverter
Magnum Energy MS2012 Inverter 2920121 2000W 12VDC 120VAC Pure sine wave $1,719.20 Not $2000+ but close enough. This is the 12v version of the one that someone posted on the first page of this thread as "the best" They posted a link to the 48v version with a $2200 price listed.520Views0likes0CommentsRe: Best/most reliable inverter
I was mistaken on the Samlex. I was looking at the 24v models at just a hair over $500. The 12v one is $736. So If I don't need the charger portion (which I don't) and I don't care about the transfer switch (which I don't) then is there really any sense in spending $2000+ for an inverter? I guess I should have qualified the term "best." Best to me means, runs all of my stuff reliably, won't **** out after a season or three, won't kill any of my electronics. The one that does these things at the lower price is the best. Beyond what I have listed, what else does an inverter need to do? I guess I might pay a little extra for one that splits my kindling for me.520Views0likes0Comments
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