Winter Exercise

[Jim Stoltz]

Tried to exercise the generator today - it wouldn't stay running. It wasn't getting any fuel. 

Figured I'd start the 454 up to give it a little exercise, too. Battery was dead despite the Trik-L-Charge. Ugh. I have the Trik-L-Charge hooked up with the alligator clips rather than hard-wired. It was blinking the green light, which is when it thinks there's no charge current from the house batteries. Loos alligator clip.

I jumped the rig with my truck and as it was warming up I figured what the heck - I'll just take it out for some fuel. The gauge doesn't work so it might be below 1/4 which is where the pickup for the generator is.

I unhooked the shore power, removed the wheel chocks, locked up the storage doors and set sail. I've never driven it in the "cold" (cold being mid-high 30s) but the cab heat did remarkably well.

I put 20 gallons in it and hit the generator button - it fired right up. I'm glad the generator works but not happy that it was out of fuel. Rough estimate would be that it's getting 4-5 MPG based on my fuel logs (again, gauge doesn't work).

All in all it was cool to get it out for some exercise. Scrape the rust off the brake rotors, get the fluids moving around. There was some water pooled on the roof from melting snow. It found its way inside as I drove despite my roof-sealing efforts this past summer. Adding that to the to-do list.....

[Lakota Wolf]

Sounds good.that ya rotated the.tires and blew off some cobb webs. With the cold rain here today me and a friend went looking at the new 2015 models RV's. Don't feel bad about your roof leak. 2 brand new rigs was leaking like sivs all around the roof vents and one was leaking real good around a back picture window. Told the salesman I would give him $2500 for his premiere 5th wheel that he had for sale for $77,999.00. he didn't like that offer. I assumed it was a fair offer concidering water damage already apparent. lol.

[Jimco_W001]

Yes Lakota,water damage never sleeps.And all RV's leak starting when new.So as a rig gets older it can be pretty much shot.Unless it's stored in a building.But RV's needing new interior's can sure be a great buy if you can do the work yourself.

[Jim Stoltz]

As many of you know, my Allegro sat for about 6 years in a tow yard with a blown engine. It was about as neglected as you could imagine. BUT, it wasn't abused - just left there to rot. The previous owner had taken really good care of it. In those 6+ years, leaks developed pretty much at every protrusion through the roof and at every mounting point for the "luggage rack" and ladder. I paid $200 for the rig with no engine. The Allegros are built with an aluminum skeleton, so I knew there was no structural damage. Once I got it sealed up it dried out nicely. Damage is mostly cosmetic and confined to inside the cabinets, with the exception of the front corner of the rig by the driver's door. The ceiling is pretty ugly looking in about a 12" x 12" spot. But, I've walked every square inch of the roof and there aren't any soft spots. 

This "new" leak is particularly frustrating. They're so hard to track down - it could be coming from anywhere because it depends on how it's sitting. All the air leaks out of the bags when it's cold (takes a few days), so it was leaning a bit to the right - water was dripping out of the light fixture just inside the entry door. Grrrr. I aired it back up yesterday and put jackstands under the frame to keep the water running where I want it. It seems to stay dry if it runs off the front, to the left.

[david craft]

Did you coat the entire roof or just the seams? I wrote the ac blog with you in mind jim...did you do the ac gasket? What form of coating did you use? Did you scrape first?

[Jim Stoltz]

I just did the seams. Otherwise it's just a big sheet of aluminum. I did do the a/c gasket - it was leaking. Upon closer inspection, I found the clamps that clamp the a/c unit to the roof weren't tightened. I don't think it's leaking anymore. I think this leak is the fridge vent. It was pretty rough so it may need more goop. "Goop" being Liquid Roof. It's great stuff. I scraped and wire-brushed all of the seams before I applied it. I had to apply the Liquid Roof a few times on the ladder because there was a pretty big gap where it meets the roof. A few applications filled it up. I assume I need to do the same thing with the fridge vent. 

[david craft]

liquid roof is great...you can touch up with some dicor caulk since they are compatible

[John "T" Nordhoff]

  Jim, yeppers that occasional exercising is the best thing a body can do for his RV over the winter. Seems like Onan recommends they be started at least every 30 days (maybe even more) and they also recommend you connect an actual electrical load to exercise the genset as well as the engine. I always use/keep a ton of Sta Bil in my gas tank all winter so the treated gas gets into the genset carb as they can gum and varnish up when setting long periods.  I've been exercising mine at least every couple weeks so its ready to rock n roll and head south right after Christmas, then it gets some 3 or 4 months of hard core use and serious exercise. I keep the 4 Stage Smart Charger on the four house batteries most of the time as it floats them at 13.2 volts once fully charged and unplug and pull it out into the sun now n then to let the Smart Solar Charge Controller get its exercise. Come to think of it, Im really into exercise, too bad its not as much for my old body as it is the RV lol

 John T 

[Jim Stoltz]

I keep mine plugged in 24x7 when it's not moving. I have a new PowerMax converter that has a float function. The batteries seem to be doing fine. The chassis battery is not connected to the converter, but it is not via the Trik-L-Start.

The Sta-Bil is a good idea - I'll have to dump some in the tank. They say to fill it up to keep moisture from getting in the tank but I don't have the budget for that right now :)

[Jim Stoltz]

When I said this:

The chassis battery is not connected to the converter, but it is not via the Trik-L-Start.

I meant this:

The chassis battery is not connected to the converter, but it is now via the Trik-L-Start.

[Rich Thomas]

 Marine grade Stabil or a methanol treatment might be a good option for you Jim. 

[david craft]

John's got a good point about running the genset under load. I was thinking about how when I'm checking out an RV. I run the furnace long enough to fire the AC and have the compressor kick in. A simpler load would be to just hook up an electric heater for a load. But at least once during winter the previous idea would be a good one for a couple reasons. Furnace motors sometimes squeal or loose RPM after prolonged running. This could give the furnace a good test. The rotor vanes in the compressors of ACs will have a tendency to stick and lock the rotor, especially when they age and have sat dormant for a spell. They make a device called an "annie" primarily for freeing stuck rotors. If you ever have a stuck rotor, try this before you trash the unit. Ironically, I just freed one today...
p.s. the amp draw will around 7 amps in cold weather so you could use the AC in conjunction with the electric heater for a better load.

[Jim Stoltz]

When I first got mine all 4 motors were cranky - 3 squeaked (both furnaces and front a/c) and one was inoperative (rear a/c). As I mentioned, my rig sat for a long time. I put it on the road this past May. A full season of use seems to have gotten everything working again. The rear a/c did quit once, but all I had to do was reach up in there and give the squirrel cage a spin.