Golden_HVAC
Explorer
Joined 22 years ago
User Profile
User Widgets
All Activity
Re: AC getting amperage spike after an hour use.
If you are plugged into the house, say the garage outlet, it might also run the bedrooms, or something else? The RV will have come loads run all the time, unless you shut them off. The converter will charge the battery. In my 97 Bounder, the converter would also trip the GFI. So you might be very close to or slightly over 20 amps going from the circuit breaker to whatever load it is connected to. What size wire are you using? #10 should be used, or plug the RV power cord directly into the wall receptacle. You might have a weak or bad compressor run capacitor, they are about $18 at Amazon, so worth replacing it if it is over 10 years old.1.1KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Stuck in yard, ruts. Install driveway? Ideas please.
SCADAMAN29325 wrote: I was going to mention the cost, but forgot to. It was initially $650, but after developing a blister on my palm, I asked about how much to scrape the grass off the top. So $680 was the final price. I rounded it to $700 and had him fill in a few low spots with the scrapings. BTW, his dually got stuck dumping the load and had to use his bobcat to pull it out. The price of labor and rock in South Carolina must be a lot less than most areas of the Country! You got a wonderful deal. In my area, a HVAC guy will cost about $150 per hour, and you got this guy, his truck, crush and run material, bobcat, all for $650 for a entire day! Even renting a bobcat for 1/2 day here is $450 including delivery, and $650 for a full day. Looks like you got two loads of crush and run? At 6 tons each? Overall the project looks great. I am glad you paid the extra $30 to avoid moving the dirt by hand with a shovel! Putting down the screen under the rock was a great idea, and will prevent the rock from disappearing in the soft clay.1.3KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Tire Pressure?
Ford put the same sticker on every E-350 they produce, and they know it will be put into a RV chassis, and should be close to the maximum GVWR. So if Ford says 65 PSI, that will give the most comfortable ride. 80 PSI and it will feel more bumps in the road. The tires should last 7 years - and you normally do not wear them out in that time. You really should not keep the tires once they are 7 years old. Fred.463Views0likes0CommentsRe: RAM EV
FishOnOne wrote: Without detailed specifics, RAM is essentially saying all your EV truck concerns (Specific shot at the F150 Lightning) will be a non issue with their EV truck. This truck maybe so good it's forcing Ford's hand to redesign their Lightning already. It takes Ford 5 years to go from a design to produce the tooling to install that tooling in a factory to actual production of a new vehicle. So if the 2025 F-150 EV is coming out in September of 2024, then 5 year before (September of 2019) is when Ford decided what it will look like and started to change the design from a computer drawing into the tooling they need to produce the truck. By January of 2021, Ford knew what the 2025 F-150 looks like and has the tool and die makers producing that stuff. Ford could make a minor change, such as changing from a 130 to a 150 KW battery pack at this point, but by the spring of 2024, it will be to late to make such a change. And they want something new to put into the 2026 model refresh, so they might not want to start out with a 150 KW battery option until the 2026 model year update. Ram is making a ridiculous 190 and optional 230 KW battery pack. By using 8 bolt rims, it seems to have a over 8,500 GVWR, so the highest of all the Big 3 at this point. Towing a fifth wheel is actually going to be possible. With the battery cell cost of about $150 per KW, that is about $15,000 for the 100 KW battery pack, twice as much for this size truck, no wonder they will not give out the total price! Maybe RAM is hoping that the price of batteries will drop below $100 per KW by 2025. People towing with a Rivian and Lightning are getting about 1/2 of the rated mileage when not towing. So the 500 mile range, if they actually reach that, expect about 200 - 250 miles while towing a travel trailer that is lower profile, and a little less in a fifth wheel that is taller and more wind! That is still acceptable, as your can charge it very quickly because it is 800 volt battery, and can get about 200 amps X 800 volts or 160 KW into the battery - so a 30 - 45 minute charge will fill it a lot. I think that most cars are currently limited to 400 volts from the charger, and the power cord is limited to only about 300 amps maximum. The RAM has some great specs. I just wish they had come up with the design before 2020. And could have it in production by the end of 2023. But as the superbowl ad says "We do not want premature electrification". I also think Ford thought the EV F-150 would not be popular, and that only 10,000 a year might be sold, and might end up collecting dust on the parking lots. Where they wrong with that prediction! Lets hope that Ford has a heavy duty F-250 EV truck planned for 2026! I think they will need it! Fred.407Views0likes0CommentsRe: Need Solar Guru Help!
Many of the MPPT charge controllers are designed to have several panels in series, hopefully they are the same watt rating panels? So one I have now is rated at 150 to 450 volts input, and I have 2 KW of 250 watt panels for my house, and the plan is 8 each 33 volt in series, and 8 amps. Output can be 48 volts in my case, or 12 volts in your case. I would check the panels and charge controller input limits, and see if you could wire them in series, there will be less voltage drop into the charge controller. It seems to be working normally. Your RV is drawing about 1.8 amps to run things like the LP detector, refrigerator, and so on. The battery is getting about 2 amps, the RV is using 2 amps, the total of the solar output is about 2 amps because the battery is mostly full. Now if your battery was reaching 12 volts or less by morning, then ask what is wrong. If it is 12.5 volts, everything is fine. If you use more than about 50% of your battery power each night, then I would expect it to stay in the absorption charge rate for a few hours each morning. But if you only use 25%, then it will quickly top off the battery, like what you are seeing. I think everything is fine. Fred.1.3KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Largest Lithium AMP Hour Battery - 2023 Arctic Fox 865
I recently learned that a Lithium battery can accept power at greater than 100 amps. So the RV in question had a limiting device on it to restrict the amperage going into the Lithium battery pack, so not to melt the alternator. In your case, you might have a 20 amp circuit breaker feeding the camper +12 circuit, and that fuse would quickly trip if the truck is 14 volts and the battery 12.5. A auto reset circuit breaker might help, or run a second power line that is sized at 30 amps and a auto reset circuit breaker that size? With 500 watts of solar, that is about 2,500 watts per day. So a 100 AH battery at 12 volts is 1,200 watts. 2 batteries would seem enough to save all of 1 day power, and then some. I used to have a 400 watt solar system on a 97 Bounder and 400 AH of 12 volt batteries. Of course that battery should only be depleted by 50%, something the lithium does not care about. I was never without power, especially after switching from the tube TV to a flat screen that used much less power. Personally I think you will be fine with only 200 AH, and being so expensive, buying more battery than you will ever use is just expensive.636Views0likes0CommentsRe: time for a diesel?
I guess it actually depends on how many miles you go each year. Do you really want to pay for a new $50,000 truck to go up a hill 10 MPH faster with the 7.3L gas engine? Or stay with your current truck and take a extra 10 minutes on each trip? As for the diesel engine option, while you will get a little more money when you trade it in 10 years, the difference is probably not the $10,000+ more you will spend to buy the truck this year. So if you drive a LOT of miles, a diesel can be a little less expensive for fuel, but not for oil changes, and other yearly maintenance, and especially insurance costs. So if the diesel is costing about $50 more a month to buy insurance, are you really saving money? And yes it will go about 10 MPH faster up those few miles of really steep hills. So you will save about 10 minutes on a 3 hour drive? Personally, I think I would stay with the 6.2L that is probably already paid for! I bought a brand new Bounder class A back in 1997. I put on about 45,000 miles in 16 years. If I had paid more for a diesel, I would have saved a little on fuel, been able to have a longer RV, but not saved on oil changes! I am very satisfied with my gas motorhome. It served me very well, and I even lived in it for about 8 years. When I took a cross country trip, twice, the fuel was expensive, but acceptable. I don't think a DP would have been less expensive to drive. However insurance was much lower cost, so a lot of savings there. On my trip in 2005, I was estimating about $0.50 per mile to drive the RV, so I kept the trips as short as possible, but still see what I wanted to see! Have a great time deciding what to do! Fred.310Views0likes0CommentsRe: F150 3.31 gears vs 3.55 gears
I would rather have the 3.31:1 rear axle ratio, than the 3.55:1 ratio. I don't think it would manner if you are towing 10,000 pounds, the truck will not magically blow up because you are towing 300 or 500 more pounds than the recommended amount of weight. Of course buying used truck, it is nearly impossible to pick a rear axle ratio, as you are relying on the dealership back in 2015 deciding to order a bunch of F-150's with either the 3.31 or 3.54 rear axle. And the new buyer picking the truck that you want, and now wanting to sell it today. Not actually good odds, and I would not hold my breath until the right rear axle ratio shows up. Just buy the pickup and enjoy it. Know that the 3.31 ratio will typically get slightly higher MPG. But who really cars? If you drive the truck only about 5,000 miles a year, then you will perhaps spend as much on insurance as gas.1.7KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Back to truck campers
I guess the advantage of the truck and camper is that you could use the pickup when you have a place to unload your camper. I have seen some campgrounds that allowed unloading the camper at the site, but some have rules against that. Electric jacks can be helpful, and unload the camper in a few minutes. But I guess the easy way to go camping is a class C motorhome, in the 18- 24 foot long range, perhaps with a rear full size bed, (sometimes with the bath on the drivers side) or queen in the back with a split bath that is forward of the bedroom. It would end up about the same length of the truck camper, without the very high center of gravity. Being built into the van chassis, the water tank, and most of the weight is not 3 feet off the ground, like in a truck camper. I had a truck camper, then moved up to a 27' class C, and then up to a 30' class A without a slide out (1997 model). I liked each of them, and each was a improvement in water tank size, stability, and easy use. The camper had about 20 gallons of water, the class C about 25, and the class A has 100 gallon fresh water tank, 17,000 GVWR, and 2,734 pound of cargo rating (including water and anything else you might want to add to the RV). I lived in the class A, and was able to get 3 weeks without refilling the fresh water tank, and dumping the black water. I don't think I would ever move back to a camper, but might get a A-Frame hardside pop up, like Aliner. That is something that is light enough to tow with my Ford Edge, and get about 15 MPG, instead of the 7 mpg of my class A motorhome. Even at 7 mpg, the motorhome did not cost all that much in fuel, because I never really drove it over 5,000 miles in one year, so the $1,200 insurance and fuel costs of around $2,500 a year made up most of the cost of owning it.820Views0likes0CommentsRe: Roof Damage - Need Repair
Much as you hate to, you bought insurance for a reason. You might get an estimate to have it fixed right, and then consider if you put in a claim for $3,500 with your insurance agent - will you still be friends? But it is the right way to fix your sidewall / roof.551Views0likes0Comments
Groups
Bucket List Trips
Bucketlist destinations you just can't miss. Which spots stick with you?Jun 03, 202013,487 Posts Chefs on the Road
Campground recipe recommendations, restaurants, and more!May 06, 20252,136 Posts Fifth Wheel Group
Interested in fifth wheels? You've come to the right spot.May 02, 202519,011 Posts Full Time RVers
Thinking about becoming a full-time RVer? Ask the experts.Dec 28, 20241,587 Posts Motorhome Group
Join in here to discuss all things motorhomes.May 10, 202538,718 Posts
