Arctic Family Bus

[Frochevy]

Glad you made it! Sounds like just in time for the birth of a baby! Congrats on the trip and the new born on the way! Thanks for sharing your adventure.

[Biscuitsjam]

No baby yet. I parked my bus at the Fort Benning RV lot. Interestingly, I'm right next to another bus - a 1976 tour bus that looks like it has been professionally converted with "retired army" license plates. I have unlimited access to the lot about 5 miles from my house, but I'll be limited what I can do in the lot, and I'm also limited on when and how long I can park the bus in the driveway. I think any major outside work will need to be at a friends' house about an hour away.

[Biscuitsjam]

Every trip, I have had significant electrical issues. There is nothing more aggravating than stopping for a few hours to diagnose and fix problems or having your trip severely limited because you can't boondock or have your air conditioner shut off unexpectedly or...

A couple summers ago, my Xantrex Inverter quit working because its remote switch quit working. It took a lot of time with their tech support before I figured out that it wouldn't turn on at all unless the switch was removed (Xantrex tech support is great - they eventually sent me a complete new inverter with expedited shipping).

After I figured that out, I learned that my residential A/C powered fridge pulled far too much electricity and drained my battery bank in a hurry. I replaced it with a two-way propane/AC Fridge. However, the propane burner was damaged in shipment. The AC mode was incredibly power-hungry and drained my battery even faster than the residential fridge. The AC mode on that fridge failed after just a week of use. Home Depot allowed me to return it for a full refund. I've been using a dorm fridge temporarily, but I haven't decided on a permanent solution.

Last summer, my generator would shut off after just a few seconds and completely fouled the spark plug and carburetor. On a 10-day trip, I was unable to boondock and had to stay at crowded campgrounds with hookups instead because I had no other way to charge my batteries. I finally figured out that my Nash Fuel propane trifuel conversion kit was the problem and removed it. I may eventually contact the manufacturer to see if they can help me get it working.

I've also spent a lot of time constantly flipping breakers on and off. Every time I switch to generator or shore power, I need to turn the breaker on for the chargers. If I forget, my batteries run dead. Every time I switch to inverter power, I need to turn the breaker back off. If I forget, my automatic transfer switch chatters on and off... It is aggravating. I also constantly turn my air conditioner breakers on and off so I won't accidently run A/C off of batteries. A few times, I ran electric heaters or the microwave off the inverter and almost instantly drained the batteries that way.

On this last trip, I bypassed one of my transfer switches because it kept chattering on and off (disabling my ability to use the inverter in the process). Because of the problem, I had no electricity for a day and was in danger of losing the food in my fridge. I eventually discovered that I had a light plugged in with bad wiring.

So, I'm going to redo a chunk of my system.

1. I'm adding a second generator. Two Honda EU3000IS will be super-quiet and relatively fuel-efficient when running and give me the ability to run both air conditioners at the same time. Honda no longer sells the parallel kit, but I can buy one from another manufacturer, modify it to make the cables longer, and get 50 amps of power. Both hot legs of the 50A circuit off the generator will be in phase with each other, but I don't think that's an issue for what I'm doing.

2. I'm going to change the wiring of my transfer switches. This change allows me to split the power into two circuit breaker panels (more on that later). For now, I'm not going to upgrade my 30 amp transfer switch, but the option is open in case I want to in the future.

3. I'm going to split my circuits into two circuit breaker panels. One will have all my ordinary power circuits, such as electrical outlets, lights, refrigerator, etc. This will run off of any power source. My other circuit breaker panel will only run off of shore or generator power. It will have the high-amp circuits in it that I don't ever want the inverter to power, such as my microwave, the air conditioners, or the battery chargers.

4. I'm also planning on adding a 4-stage battery-to-battery charger from my alternator to my house battery bank. This will charge my house batteries much faster than the alternator, plus it won't overcharge once the batteries are full unlike the alternator by itself. My only concern here is that my alternator may be going out - it's only 100 amps and I need to run some diagnostics on it.


Old Electrical System


Proposed Electrical System

[Biscuitsjam]

There are other upgrades I considered but will not do at this time:

1. When my existing batteries (4x 6V 225AH golf cart batteries) wear out in a few years, I found some other batteries that have more capacity but will still fit in my battery box.

2. I have an el cheapo $20 voltage monitor on the batteries. I'd like to eventually get a nicer battery monitor ($100-200). My existing unit has some kind of power problem where it flickers on and off. If I can fix it, I'll keep it.

3. I'm on the fence about installing hard start capacitors on my air conditioners. I don't know that I necessarily need them, but they're only $10...

4. I have a remote start on one generator. I'm not planning on adding a remote start to the other yet because of the expense. Also, I think it'll be relatively infrequent that I turn it on or off.

5. I'm planning to keep my 30 Amp Automatic Transfer Switch, but I'll lose a little power capacity on my electrical outlets when running shore/generator power versus getting a 50 Amp Automatic Transfer Switch. If the 30 Amp switch ever goes out (which may be likely considering how much it chattered), I'll upgrade then.

[Ronnie]

There is a good video about a couple who tested hard start capacitors on their boat a/c. I will try to find it again, someone on this forum sent me the link, can not find it at the moment.

However they found that for a 15,000btu a/c that is took 55 amps just for a moment starting, adding the hard start only dropped it a few amps. Using a soft start dropped it to around 16-17 amps starting load if I remember right.

[Ronnie]

Found it, "gone with the wynns"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjK1Gi_u6ss

[Biscuitsjam]

Awesome post!

I wonder if it would be possible to run two 13500 BTU air conditioners off of one 3000 watt generator? It looks like they only need 1250 Watts to run, but 2750 watts to start the compressor. I'm not planning to buy two $300 Easy Starts though, so I guess I can't find out myself....

[Ronnie]

I have not yet put an easy start on my a/c. Two rooftop units. My 4000 watt horrible freight will not run both at the same time. I now have an Onan 4000 rv generator built in with remote start. It specifically says for one a/c plus small appliances, so have not tried to run both. Actually have not needed to run more then just one to get the bus comfortable even well into the 90's outside.

I do think generators are a bit overrated in capacity.

[Biscuitsjam]

If a 1350 BTU generator takes 1250 watts to run and 2750 watts to start, that's 4000 watts if one starts then the other - the same as the max of your generator. However, if the power draw is 5% higher (or potentially a lot more) or you have anything else running, it puts it over your generator's capacity. A soft start on each generator may be enough to run both at the same time....

Gone with the Wynns has a $25 discount code if you buy that particular soft start direct from it's manufacturer.

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by Biscuitsjam

He speculated that maybe the previous trailer renter had overloaded the trailer, but there was no way to tell. The other two tires were in good shape. The Uhaul folks on the phone were very concerned that there wasn't an underlying cause for the tire failures that would leave us stranded and called several times to make sure the tire guy arrived and that he'd done quality work.

I've rented car haulers probably 6 or 8 times from U-Haul. In all of those, I've not had a flat on maybe 2. Damn near every time, I get a flat. Cheap tires, lots of miles, and they aren't well maintained.

[Ronnie]

Originally Posted by Biscuitsjam

If a 1350 BTU generator takes 1250 watts to run and 2750 watts to start, that's 4000 watts if one starts then the other - the same as the max of your generator. However, if the power draw is 5% higher (or potentially a lot more) or you have anything else running, it puts it over your generator's capacity. A soft start on each generator may be enough to run both at the same time....

Gone with the Wynns has a $25 discount code if you buy that particular soft start direct from it's manufacturer.

I would really like to put a soft start on the fridge. Guess I need to call the company and see what they have for a fridge, just has not been a priority.

[Biscuitsjam]

I was still surprised to lose three of the four tires I started with.

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by Biscuitsjam

I was still surprised to lose three of the four tires I started with.

With your weather, distance, temps, road surface, ... I'm NOT. That one tire is waiting for the next guy!!

[Biscuitsjam]

Finally had the baby girl - 9 lbs 2 oz after 90 minutes of labor. We got to go home the same day.

My wife is incredible, and all the kids are beyond excited.

[Frochevy]

Originally Posted by Biscuitsjam

Finally had the baby girl - 9 lbs 2 oz after 90 minutes of labor. We got to go home the same day.

My wife is incredible, and all the kids are beyond excited.

Congrats!!! That's great news! And good work on your wife's part!! Very efficient!

[Ronnie]

Congratulations! !!! ☺

[BlackJohn]

Congratulations to the whole family on the new arrival, well done Mom!


You are having quite the year.



John

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by Biscuitsjam

Finally had the baby girl - 9 lbs 2 oz after 90 minutes of labor. We got to go home the same day.

My wife is incredible, and all the kids are beyond excited.

Congrats. How many is that?

[farok]

Congratulations!!

[Biscuitsjam]

Originally Posted by Brewerbob

Congrats. How many is that?

This is our fourth. We can't have any more, because that's all the bunk beds we have in the bus.