Drinking the Koolaide... 😊

[Tybalt39]

Time to modify the sofa benches....

I have two facing 72" jackknife sofas on strong 3/4" plywood bases (built with good support and anchored into the floor using aluminum angle-iron on all contact edges with the floor; T-nuts in the wood floor and brass threaded inserts pushed into the metal rails at the sides of the coach).

The original plan was to have the two sofas meet when down to form a king-size bed. Positioning the benches close enough to make this happen put them too far from the wall; it looked goofy! So, now they are approx. 8" apart when down. I also have a few inches of storage behind the passenger bench to store the 5ft dining table (supported by two recessed floor-mount pillars). But, accessing that storage/table is a pain.....

Potential solution...
Heavy-duty (250lb or 500lb/pair) 12" locking drawer slides mounted to 2" or 3" angle-iron on each end of the sofa (facing away from the sofa; the benches are a few inches longer than the sofas) and attached to the frame of the sofa. The slides would be mounted flush to the bench surface so they are not supporting the sofa/bed. Then, I could slide the sofa out a bit to better access the table storage, and bring the beds together (hopefully locking them together; we shall see) to create the desired king bed.


Small steps, Ellie.....

 

[Bhart]

Finished installing the Sully Bag system with a manifold capable to air up tires.

 

[dsmithy]

Finished installing the Sully Bag system with a manifold capable to air up tires.

View attachment 18346

That looks like a really tidy installation and I like the ability to air up tires. I wonder though, if you have enough slack in the line to the air bag to accommodate full deflection of the suspension for leveling and if you lose a bag. I'll just assume you checked full deflection. Nicely done!

 

[Bhart]

That looks like a really tidy installation and I like the ability to air up tires. I wonder though, if you have enough slack in the line to the air bag to accommodate full deflection of the suspension for leveling and if you lose a bag. I'll just assume you checked full deflection. Nicely done!

Doug you were right. I had to lengthen to supply line to the bag.

 

[Tybalt39]

I know I'm repeating myself, but it's amazing the difference shaving/truing the tires makes in the ride. I used to get constant vibration and interior noise due to vibration at speeds over 60mph. After the latest balancing/truing I have so far hit 75mph with no vibration or interior rattles. And the coach just feels more secure going through curves and passing other vehicles (yes, I pass slower traffic in a 50 year old class A RV).

If you are experiencing roughness in the ride or vibration at highway speed, I strongly suggest having the tires trued/shaved. You may have to hunt for someone offering that service, but WOW, the difference it made for me on original radial steel wheels and Firestone Transforce tires.

That said, it wasn't inexpensive (almost $900 for balancing 7 and truing 6 tires) and I will probably not do it again before buying 16" aluminum wheels and more common tires. But if 16" alloy/aluminum wheels aren't in your future, DO IT!

 

[Tybalt39]

Ordered Keith's LED telltale pod.

I had a functional pod but decided to install LEDs instead. They wouldn't light (but the same LEDs worked in other locations in the dash). Put the original incandescent bulbs back in and still nothing. Probably messed-up the foil traces....

Not going to troubleshoot; replacing the whole thing instead.

Just waiting for the LED tail-light assemblies to be available again....

 

[Christo]

Hey @Tybalt39, I'm switching over to a lithium house battery system this year and was debating which DC-DC charger to get to charge the lithium system from the alternator. Since I already have a Renogy MPPT charger I had just about settled on swapping in the Renogy 30A DC-DC Charger with MPPT when I saw that you had selected the Redodo 12V 40A DC-DC Charger with MPPT because it supports reverse charging of the starting battery. The Renogy appears to only be able to do this via the solar input, whereas the Redodo appears to have a manual switch that will charge the starting battery from the house battery.

How is the Redodo working out for you? Have you ever used/needed the reverse charging capability?

One of the other things I'm considering, which was suggested by someone else on the forum, is to keep my old Progressive Dynamics PD9245C and just use it to charge/maintain the starting battery.

Thoughts?

 

[Tybalt39]

Hey @Tybalt39, I'm switching over to a lithium house battery system this year and was debating which DC-DC charger to get to charge the lithium system from the alternator. Since I already have a Renogy MPPT charger I had just about settled on swapping in the Renogy 30A DC-DC Charger with MPPT when I saw that you had selected the Redodo 12V 40A DC-DC Charger with MPPT because it supports reverse charging of the starting battery. The Renogy appears to only be able to do this via the solar input, whereas the Redodo appears to have a manual switch that will charge the starting battery from the house battery.

How is the Redodo working out for you? Have you ever used/needed the reverse charging capability?

One of the other things I'm considering, which was suggested by someone else on the forum, is to keep my old Progressive Dynamics PD9245C and just use it to charge/maintain the starting battery.

Thoughts?

Honestly, I haven't yet wired the DC/DC function of that unit. I was concerned about damaging the alternator so I was waiting until I installed the 200A kit mentioned by Jim B.
Kelvin D. (Cascader's president) just finished installing his 40A (50A?) DC/DC and hasn't yet had issues with his 100A alternator, so I may complete the installation of mine this summer.

Sorry....

FYI, that Redodo unit is available from multiple "manufacturers" in different colors and at lower capacities (20A?). No idea who actually builds them.

 

[Christo]

Yeah it seems a bit less, er, premium than Renogy. Between that and the manual operation of the reverse charge switch (fiddly), I'm leaning toward reusing the PD9245C.

Cc @Richard RV @RF_Burns

 

[RF_Burns]

Yeah it seems a bit less, er, premium than Renogy. Between that and the manual operation of the reverse charge switch (fiddly), I'm leaning toward reusing the PD9245C.

Cc @Richard RV @RF_Burns

I'm using the Renogy 20 amp DC-DC converter. I didn't know they had a 50% mode or I would have bought the 30 amp version which was the highest current at the time. As for chassis battery charging, I just clip a jumper across the boost solenoid when needed. Lead acid is happy with LFP charging voltages, but I usually only do it while my charger is in float mode (13.5V).

 

[Christo]

I'm using the Renogy 20 amp DC-DC converter. I didn't know they had a 50% mode or I would have bought the 30 amp version which was the highest current at the time. As for chassis battery charging, I just clip a jumper across the boost solenoid when needed. Lead acid is happy with LFP charging voltages, but I usually only do it while my charger is in float mode (13.5V).

Good perpective, thanks! Also answers some contemplation about keeping the boost circuit.

 

[Tybalt39]

Good perspective, thanks! Also answers some contemplation about keeping the boost circuit.

I too have decided to retain the boost function and a second starter battery. There are multiple benefits to having an on-board jump-starter...

 

[Christo]

2nd starter battery? Too expensive weight and cost wise for me. My redundancy for engine start, other than boost switch, is a Weego jump pack.

 

[RF_Burns]

Since the LFP batteries sit at a higher voltage, you can take advantage of this when needing to Boost the chassis battery. Just bypass the front boost solenoid, or flip the boost switch if it isn't a momentary... and let the LFP charge the dead chassis battery for 5 or 10 minutes before cranking the engine. This will put some charge into the chassis battery and lower the current required during boost from the LFP battery. I only had to do this once and it work very well.