whyverne14
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Posts posted by whyverne14
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Not sure what that means. A 144 cube diesel engine needs around 300 amps @ 9 volts to start at 70 degrees F. So -much depends on how much current the battery in it can supply and how much you have to add. Just 50 amps of boost can do the trick at times. If you had a 100 amp boost-charger and it only put out half of it's rating - the tractor still may of started just fine. Don't know because you give no specifics. Just an anecdote.
Fact remains that just about every RV converter out there that is based on a simple transformer and set of rectifiers (like just about all the older ones are) - can't hardly make half the power it makes on grid-current when plugged into a portable AC generator. A 10 amp charger in an older converter will be lucky to make 1-2 amps when plugged into a small AC generator (not an inverter generator).
I ran a test awhile back on 4 different chargers and 2 different RV converters - hooked to 10 different gen-sets. The results are consistent with what I've mentioned. Many solar equipment sells post results of much more comprehensive tests.
Did it with a Marquette Silver Beauty 60 amp charger/100 amp boost model 8270, Schumacher 12 amp/50 amp boost model SE-1275A, Everstart 6 amp model WM-82-6, Iota DLS-45 charger/converter, Bassler 15 amp RV converter, and a Power Dynamics 30 amp RV converter.
Generators used included a Kohler stationary 10,000 watt, Fairbanks-Morse stationary 17,000 watt. PTO powered 13,000 watt, Homelite 4400 watt HL44, Jetman 1200 watt GG1200, ETQ IN1800 inverter generator, Honda 3500 generator, Subaru Pow'r Guard 3500, Coleman Pulse 1850, and a Honeywell 2000i inverter generator. The two big stationaries, the PTO powered, and the Honeywell inverter unit all worked as well as grid power. The rest cut charge power in half or less. But to my surprise the Coleman 1850 Pulse did much better the all the other portable AC gensets.
Are you a wizard? Why do you think Coleman dropped them gensets? I see one on eBay right now. Looks like a deal.
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No it will never stop venting until all the propane is gone. What is venting is the gas that you want to use. It's a liquid in the bottom of the tank that changes to a gas in the top of the tank. Sounds like the vent is doing it's job. This is why you never want to store propane inside. It's very susceptible to temperature changes.
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I hope my head doesn't explode. Now the battery is back down to 12.17 according to the after-market gauge the PO installed even though nothing was on all day. I thank you all for the interesting information. I think I'm going to stop worrying about this until I actually run out of power, which I haven't so far.
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does the cheap Charlie charger have a 12v out hookup?
No, unfortunately.
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Proving this Forum right again. Which always costs me money.
I can't get a cord to the Dolphin cause it's across the road. So I figured I'd get one of those cheap generators just to charge the battery and run everything while I'm working on it. Coach battery was down to 12.16. Hooked up generator to power cord. Half an hour later battery was up to 12.17. Went down and got my battery charger, hooked it up to battery and generator. Half an hour later, battery was at 12.70. Full charge.
Well I did read it on this Forum. The old converters are trickle chargers. Probably work better to just run the engine for a half hour. Or make some jumpers for the coach battery so that I don't have to slide it out to connect it to the charger. Well the new converter box moves higher up on the priority list.
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Yeah, I can actually get my thumbnail into some of those cracks. I work for an auto parts store and we use this shop. I'm going to call them in the morning. Planning a trip soon to Cherry Springs State Park, PA. Supposed to be the darkest place in PA. Need some good weather to star gaze. See how the old rig handles the Eastern Mountains.
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This may sound like a dumb question - but did you check both sides of the tire? DOT date code is only required to be on one side of the tire. Most tires have been date codes since the early 1970s although the older codes do not give an exact year.
What? Crawl under there with the bees and the biting flies? I hate them biting flies, they never give up. HeeHee. No but I see cracks in the sidewalls. I don't like cracks. Thanks.
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I swear I can't find a date on the rear tires. The front tires are obviously brandy new. The PO probably didn't want to spring for rear tires. I was laying on the ground with a flashlight and couldn't find anything that reads DOT. There's a blank space with a star asterisk thingy, but nothing is there.
Anyway, they look older even though the tread is fine. So I'm going to go for it. A local shop's site says they have the Hankook RA08s. Walmart says they can get 'em a little cheaper but I don't know if I trust them for duallys. I also took into consideration that there are Walmarts everywhere if I have a problem, but since none of them stock that tire, is that an advantage?
On the theory that it's easier to let air out than to put it in, I think I'll tell them to start at 60 psi.
Is there anything else this Newbie should be considering? Have a good one.
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If you are talking about the same light I am (on the left of OD OFF) . . it's supposed to light up when you turn on the headlights/tail-lights/dash-lights. If it does not glow the bulb is burned out.
I should have taken a picture. You're right. Two lights for the OD, one for OFF. To the left of that "Hi Trans Temp" lens. It says that right on it. And to the left of that, space for another but it's capped. I should check the "Hi Trans Temp" bulb first, I guess.
Yeah, the Rust Belt. Which I worry about. This Dolphin spent most of it's life in Florida; so the underneath looks better than my 99 Buick, even though it's 13 years older. I got no place to put it except in the gravel driveway. I'm wondering if giving Zeibart some money might ease my mind a bit. I'd like to keep this Toy going for awhile.
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Thanks, jdemaris. The "Hi Trans Temp" light looks original, it's above the radio by the Overdrive light; which does work. Most dash "idiot lights" flash when you start the engine, so at least you know something is working. Not these ones. I'm adding this to my ever lengthening ToDo list.
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I have the same on the 86 Dolphin. Still low on the priority list. Takes longer to fuel. I've heard that there is a vent on the charcoal canister that gets plugged by bugs and such. Seems to be an easy fix. No, I haven't located the charcoal canister yet. By the gas tank I'd guess. There's also a on-board recover ORVR valve that could get stuck.
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Speaking of which, I have a "Hot Tranny" light on my 86 Dolphin. But it never lights up. Which is good but how do I know it's working? Probably another big job huh? Sorry don't mean to hijack but it's another worry that just popped into my head.
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Thanks again everybody. The Dolphin is the same as the Sunrader, all the outside lights branch out from passenger side rear. Last night I actually had every light lit for the first time since I got the rig. None of the outages was caused by a burnt out bulb. None. Just because wires are connected, doesn't mean they are "connected".
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Dang, just got the alternator fixed. So I went out as it was getting dark and I was going to check the lights. I knew I had a couple of clearance lights not working. Well now none of the clearance lights are working and also none of the driver's side tail lights. Dang and double dang.
I remember Linda saying that the rear passenger side was where it's all going on for the outside lights. I looked under there and saw dangling wires that I hadn't noticed before. Three white wires twisted together and two greens and a black twisted together. As I'm sitting here thinking about it, I'm wondering if someone had those two twists stuck in a big ol' wire nut and the nut fell off.
Do you think think that could be it? I'm going to try putting them together in the morning. If they don't belong together, will that hurt anything? I checked all the fuses and bulbs. I hope it's that easy. Thanks for any advice.
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Though the PO did a good job of Dicoring all the seams, I didn't believe him when he said "You won't have to worry about any leaks for years". I noticed that back by the propane tank on the dogleg of the Dolphin, the siding had pulled away from the channel and the Dicor just wasn't going to hold it together.
So using a technique that I developed while living in an old trailer, I tried this fix. A narrow strip of aluminum foil to initially bridge the gap, several pieces of Gorilla Tape to give it some body, and topped off with aluminum foil tape. I added some extra pieces of aluminum foil tape down in the channels to make sure it was sealed.
If you ever tried to get this aluminum foil tape off, well it's pretty danged sticky. I figured if you got a leak, you got to fix it now. Worry about doing it right later. I added some dots of reflective tape to gussy it up a bit. We'll see how long it lasts.
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The mechanic called and said, "Hey, your Toyota's done; but I got to get out of here in half an hour". I got out of work as quick as I could and went racing to the garage. Caught him just as he was pulling out, threw a handful of 20s at him; left my car there and drove my baby home. This is the support group for that sort of behavior, isn't it?
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Not much but I did install some new compartment locks. Gee, that's so easy even I could do it. I think the old ones were OE, they barely moved and the key was about ready to break.
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Updating. New alternator in. Drove it home, about 15 minutes. Went in the back, the coach battery gauge is showing 11.7 and everything works. So the mystery remains, why did everything in the back shut down when the alternator went kerpluey? And why should I care? As long as it's working again. Thanks everybuddy for the input.
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Thanks everybody. I'm going new front battery and alternator today. Then I'll see what happens. Back battery is already brandy new. One problem at a time. I bought a volt meter!
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Thanks. Since the battery says it's over 3 years old and I just took it down to nothing, it might be wise to replace it. There was a local mechanic at the campsite who said he would do the alternator today but I didn't want to miss work so I took the chance and barely made it home. And besides I had it in my head that it wasn't the alternator. I just found a post on "open roads" who described the same symptoms and said it was not the alternator, it was the isolater.
So I'm thinking if the isolater is that little salt shaker on the firewall there, maybe I should try going around that after I get the new battery. All I need is shore power for this weekend, I got to figure out why that wasn't working. Maybe it tripped a breaker. I'm on that learning curve. Thanks again.
And I just found another post on here that said it was the alternator. Well full test on alternator first.
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I've been searching, but I don't know. On the 86 Dolphin, both the charge and brake light came on when I started it. I heard a few clicks. Put a tester on the battery, less than 12 volt. Bad alternator, right? Well I still have the coach battery; no, nothing. Well, I'll plug it in, no, still no power in the back.
Managed to get it home, barely. I can't get a cord to it where it is. So I'm thinking about getting a new front battery and running it to a shop. I don't have the time to work on it. I'm just puzzled about the brake idiot light being on and the lack of power in the coach. If you have any thoughts, thanks.
Otherwise a successful first trip. We had fun. Still better than that tent in the car crap. HeeHee.
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I swear I get a bigger kick of simple hack fixes than I do from doing it "right". The rear roof vent was working fine until the Dolphin was baking out there in the sun. Then it didn't want to open. You know, just when you need it the most? So I'm thinking that the goop on the roof is softening up in the sun and sticking to the vent. That lifting thingy looks kind of cheesy and I sure don't want to force it. If the ladder was still there, I could climb up there and check; but it isn't. Hmmm.
So I walked down to the house and got a wire coat hanger and cut off the bottom part. Went back up and poked a tiny hole in the screen, inserted coat hanger and "pop" opened the vent. Then I threw the wire into a drawer and checked another problem off the list. Done and done.
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Wow, looks like a steal.
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Lot of little things to fix yet. The speed isn't bothering me at all. If there's someone behind me, I try to stay at the speed limit. If not, I just let it do whatever it seems happiest with. I've been sleeping in it in my driveway every night! I was thinking even if I wasn't poor, what would I buy that has two nice big separate beds like that? This is for my son and I and we're both over 6 foot. Heading out on our first trip this weekend. Thanks to everybody for all the advice.
Old Converter Is A Lousy Battery Charger
in Electrical
Posted
I didn't know that. Wow.