neonjohn
Explorer
Joined 8 years ago
User Profile
User Widgets
All Activity
Re: Abrupt end
pickjare wrote: I am sorry for anyone who is killed or injured in an accident that is the fault of an airbag. But I respectfully want to ask you to reconsider what airbags do for occupants. Though their are problems with them, when everything works correctly they can save your life! That is, when seat belt fastened correctly, head rest positioned correctly, and automobile has nothing that will cause airbags to malfunction. Right now many modern vehicles have multiple airbag related recalls from various manufacturers...those must be done too. Many people add on accessories such as seat covers that stop correct deployment, different bumpers that can cause impact sensors to read incorrectly, etc. I read your post and am not arguing anything, but I advise anyone who operates a vehicle with airbags to NOT disable them. I appreciate your concern but I've personally seen too many needless injuries and at least one death from air bombs. The National Motorist Association shares my opinion and has done a great deal of research in this area. Let's go back and examine my wreck in more detail. I had two different functions to perform about a second apart. First I had to try and steer away from the oncoming car. That attempt failed. That impact would have detonated the air bomb, had the vehicle been equipped with one. During detonation, the bag would have blown my hands off the wheel, making the second half impossible to accomplish. The second half was, seeing that I was going down an embankment (more like 25 ft than the 6 I initially reported because the nose was buried up in the dirt at the bottom and the rear was still below road grade), I had to steer the rig into the direction we were headed to remove any lean and to make sure it didn't tip over. That effort was successful. IF there had been an air bomb, it would have expended itself on the collision and been unavailable for the impact 20-something feet off the roadway. I would have been stunned from the explosion and my hands would have been off the wheel. I would have been at the mercy of the events unfolding. One final item of note and then I really am going to shut up about air bombs. This is for those of you who believe in air bombs based on the NTHSA's statistics. The National Driver's Association (a group for driving enthusiasts) smelled something rotten in the NTHSA's air bomb claims. So they investigated. Filed a few FOIA claims. Discovered what was really going on. On the Uniform Traffic Incident Report form, there is a block for each vehicle titled "did air bag deploy". If the traffic officer checks that block, the NTHSA counts that as a life saved. This is how they cook the numbers to make themselves look so good. That's all, folks John501Views0likes0CommentsRe: Abrupt end
gbopp wrote: Good to hear you and your wife were not hurt. Could you tell us about your RV, make, model and year? It sounds like it held up fairy well in the crash. Sure. It was an 05 Fleetwood Tioga Walkabout. 25 ft. It wasn't what I was looking for but for the price ($5000 and in almost perfect condition), I could not resist. I insisted on a class C because I know that the van cut that it was based on, in this case a Ford C350 van cut, had to pass the applicable federal crash testing. The van did it's thing properly. Crush zones crushed, the proper automotive seat remained in place and of course, the seatbelt worked as designed. The Tioga-built part, not so well. Everything that was stapled to the walls is now in the floor. Cabinets, stove, refrigerator, everything. Basically, the rig is totaled. This was not a major accident as accidents go. I was doing about 30. Don't know what the girl was doing but it was fast. My racing instincts took over and I tried to steer to where she wasn't. That is, behind her. I didn't quite make it. The impact on the passenger front corner spun the RV around enough that I knew I was headed down the embankment. I steered into the direction I was traveling which resulted in the rig going straight down the embankment and remaining upright. Had it rolled, we'd probably be discussing a different outcome. I appreciate everyones' expressions of concern. We'll settle the claim with her insurance company and then we'll get another rig. One where the steel or aluminum cabinets are bolted to the composite body and not stapled. That's the way my last rig was built (Itasca Spectrum). John350Views0likes0CommentsRe: Abrupt end
jwoods61us wrote: I'll take those odds (1:52,499,800) and keep my air bags; especially after having been involved in two serious accidents (neither my fault), one with seat belts only and one where the air bags deployed (also wearing seat belts) and in both I was uninjured. This is the last I'm going to comment about air bombs. Your experience shows just how unnecessary air bombs are. In both wrecks, you were protected by your seat belts. The air bombs were superfluous. In my youth, I had a very serious wreck when a drunk drive (0.3 BAC) dropped out of the opposite lane and hit me head-on. I was in a brand new Datsun 280Z. The police speculated that he thought there was a turn lane. I was cruising at about 60mph. The drunk was probably doing 30. The crash pushed the entire front end up to the firewall under the car Datsun built the driver's capsule strong enough that not even the door was jammed. I was holding the wheel at the standard 10 and 2 positions. The seatbelt did its thing in letting me move forward a bit. Enough to bend the steering wheel down around the steering column. The seat belt got so hot from absorbing energy that it melted and when it was cool it was rigid. I had a large thermal burn where the belt had been resting. I was otherwise uninjured. That really opened my eyes to the value of seat belts. The Z had a simple ratcheting mechanism and I had gotten in the habit of tugging the belt tight for a snug fit, mainly to avoid having that loose feeling on my chest. That was critical to saving my life, so said the accident reconstrutionist. If air bombs were so vitally effective then we'd see them in race cars. What we do see is a mega version of seat belts - a 5 point harness. I'd have one of those in my vehicles it it were practical. Finally, I'll refresh everyone's memories about air bombs. When the government first forced them on us, its claim was that they were there to protect the un-seatbelted. They made no clain of protection of properly belted people. The rest is typical mission-creep. John404Views0likes0CommentsRe: Abrupt end
austingta wrote: Sorry about your RV. As far as your fear of air bags, I must assume that you don't wear your seatbelt either, as the risk of you being trapped in a car by one in an accident involving fire or deep water is measurable too. Wow, what a critical thinking fault! I wear a belt to move a vehicle around my property. I raced cars and motorcycles during the first half of my life so I know the value of proper safety equipment. In addition to the two casualties close to home I've seen numerous others as a former volunteer EMT and as a consulting engineer to a local law firm. If you're comfortable with air bombs then good for you. I'm not and today was just another example of why. John277Views0likes0CommentsAbrupt end
Well, that was fun while it lasted. Today my "new" RV was totaled in a head-on collision with a woman who had lost control of her car and spun into my lane. She had been forced out of her lane by a large crane truck that I was following and who rounded the curve in the wrong lane and at high speed. Of course, she didn't have any insurance. This being my first wreck as an adult, I've learned several things already. * Liability-only insurance does not cover towing. We gotta pay for that. * Coach-net.com does NOT cover accident towing. So if you have an inexpensive rig like we had and have only liability insurance, be sure you have the resources to have your rig towed if you're in a wreck. Fortunately neither of us were hurt. Seat belts worked again. Praise the Lord that our MH didn't have air bombs. The woman's car had air bombs that came out from everywhere and beat her up badly enough that she had to go to the hospital. I've been encouraging people for years to have the air bombs disabled on their vehicles. I've seen so many injuries and one fatality from air bombs. One of my aunts was killed by an air bomb deploying during a relatively minor side impact. The bomb broke her neck. My wife's son recently had an eye blown out in an otherwise minor wreck. Seat belts save lives; air bombs take them. Soooo... Until we collect from the crane company's insurance, I'll be on the RV sideline again. John12KViews0likes55CommentsRe: inverter, charger, battery bank add on for 5th whell
pnichols wrote: You might want to also consider this battery model in your system - they are 115 AH each and are warranted for 5 years: http://www.fullriverbattery.com/product/batteries/DC115-12 Thanks. That looks like a nice battery. Any idea the cost? pnichols wrote: Regarding the squealing belt on your E350 while spinning it's alternator under load: There definitely must be a way to stop this. Our E450 has a 130 amp alternator and at times dumps over 70 amps (with the V10 idling) into our two paralled batteries of the type in my link above ... and there is no belt squeal. Yes, the solution is NAPA's super-premium belt. I had the same problem with my last RV after I upgraded to a 130 amp alternator. The belt solved the problem. The belt that is on the rig is of unknown vintage. One of the things on my list to fix. Thanks John513Views0likes0CommentsRe: inverter, charger, battery bank add on for 5th whell
MrWizard wrote: "So the watts are 120 volts * 13.5 * 0.7PF = 1134 watts. BUT. The generator has to supply the total volt-ampers or 1600 VA" You are right that roof to a/c uses a lot of power But your numbers are low 120*13.5= 1620 . 1620/0.7 =2314va A poor pf means it uses more power not less It uses 2314 va to do 1620w of work Nameplate volts times nameplate amps yields volt-amperes on a less than 1 PF load. So. 120 * 13.5 = 1620 VA and not watts. To get watts, which is always less than VA when the PF is < 1.0, multiply by the power factor of 0.7. As I did. 1620 * 0.7 = 1134 watts. John513Views0likes0CommentsRe: inverter, charger, battery bank add on for 5th whell
time2roll wrote: Not sure I would install a big 2000 watt inverter if I had an on-board generator. Maybe something like 300 watts is way easier to run or charge small items. For microwave, hairdryer, A/C just use the generator. Or do you need electric coffee before generator hours? I don't like to run the generator unless it will be on long enough to fully heat up. That way moisture from combustion won't remain in the crankcase and muffler. The large inverter is primarily to run the minisplit generator. That it can run other heavy loads is just a convenience. John514Views0likes0CommentsRe: inverter, charger, battery bank add on for 5th whell
MrWizard wrote: Still a no go for A/C, oh a big inverter will start it But for a roof to unit your looking at 100 amps or more to the inverter to get the 1400 Watts for the a/c, that means approx 2 hours runtime to 50 percent battery charge Welcome and have fun True. Which is why the RV rooftop AC has to go in favor of a >20 SEER mini-split. Let's do the math. SEER mean Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating or BTU moved divided by watts consumed. First, let's look at an RV AC. I had this project planned on my last rig when I got sick. I measured the Coleman Mk III 13.5kBTU rooftop AC. It drew 13.5 amps with a power factor of 0.7 (one reason so much generator is required to run it). So the watts are 120 volts * 13.5 * 0.7PF = 1134 watts. BUT. The generator has to supply the total volt-ampers or 1600 VA. The SEER is 13,500 BTU / 1134 watts = 11.9 SEER. This calculation does not take into account the approximately 60 amps of inrush current for starting. Now let's look at a 13.5kBTU 20 SEER minisplit. The watts draw is 13,500 watts / 20 SEER = 675 watts at full speed. In other words, a modest 1kW inverter, though I'm using a 2kW because I have several on the shelf. Furthermore, since all the motors are variable speed, driven by 3 phase inverters, there is no inrush. With the Mitsubishi unit I'm used to installing, when the "thermostat" calls for more cooling, the compressor is sped up. The condenser fan speed is controlled to maintain a constant high side pressure. The evaporator pressure is controlled by a variable expansion valve. This last feature keeps the evaporator cold even at low demand for proper dehumidifying. Unlike an RV and most home AC units, a minisplit does not turn off and on in response to a thermostat. The speed of all components varies as the temperature deviates from the setpoint. That means that the unit runs at full capacity until the desired temperature is met. Then the temperature controller backs down the speeds until the temperature is maintained. The unit runs all the time but at reduced load. Back to our calculations. Let's look at worst case, full load - that is 675 watts - all the time. The 5 battery bank is (120amp-hour * 5) * 12.2 volts = 7.32kWh. To 80% DOD*, the minisplit can run (7,320*.8)/675 = 8.7 hours. A night's sleep. But that's worst case. I have a duty cycle data logger which I have attached to my new rig's AC. In 85 deg weather, after the rig is cooled down, the unit operates 62% of the time. So if I take that same average load of 13,000BTU * 0.62 that equals a time-averaged load of 8,000 BTU. A minisplit's electrical demand varies close enough to linearly with load to assume so. So if I take the above 675 watts and multiply it by 0.62, the unit will draw continuously about 418 watts. That gives a run time of (7,320*.8) / 418 watts = 14 hours. A typical day and night would be to run the generator in the afternoon (or earlier if it's quite hot outside) to cool down the unit and fully charge the battery bank. When bed time arrives, the generator is stopped and battery operation commences. We sleep about 8 hours so we will have used just a little more than half the available battery capacity. At this point, all I lack is buying the minisplit and installing it. After I reverse-engineer it, of course. I've traditionally used Mitsubishi but a fellow HVAC friend recently pointed me to the chicom-made Pioneer brand. Same specs at a fraction of the price and available on sleazebay. This is probably the one that I'll be purchasing but with a ceiling evaporator. http://www.ebay.com/itm/3D302289255519 It is larger than I need but that's no problem. It'll simply slow down a bit more to maintain the set temperature. * 80% DOD does not harm an AGM battery. I've been told that by manufacturer's engineers. Through the bankruptcy, I gained access to the AVS bus company's battery data. The DOD cutoff for the buses is set at 80%. In Chattanooga, TN, their largest deployment, each bus would typically run to near 80% DOD and then be fast-charged twice a day.182Views0likes0Comments
Groups
