Cruisers Forum
Main Forum => General Discussion => Topic started by: Wayne7 on October 04, 2018, 08:08:45 pm
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Greetings from Northern Minnesota! My wife and I purchased a 2014 2552 this past August and, after a wonderful trip out west to Yellowstone/Grand Tetons/Badlands/Teddy Roosevelt, we are in the process of winterizing the unit until our next trip in the spring. I'll be parking it outside next to our garage (on gravel) with a cover installed so it will be protected from wind but open to cold temperatures. We picked up a "like new" Elements Cover that should give it some physical protection from the sun/snow. We've washed the unit, changed the oil, will install our tire covers, put anti-freeze in all the lines, flushed the gray/black tanks, emptied the fresh water tank/water heater, filled the traps with anti-freeze, and put mouse traps/mouse repellent inside. I plan on filling the tank and treating the gas with PRI-G (similar to Stabil). I also plan on running our generator and E450 every 2-3 weeks during the winter.
My biggest question is regarding the coach batteries.
Should I keep the unit plugged in to our 30 amp outlet....or plug it in intermittently? Should I remove the batteries and bring them inside until needed to start the generator (now doesn't that sound like fun!)? Please let me know if there is anything else that I should be doing to ensure the unit is ready to go in the spring.
Thanks in advance for any tips and I appreciate your time.
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One thing coming to mind is to air up the tires to their max 80 psi. Doing so will minimize ground contact and also help to retain enough air in them come spring time.
Also place those sticky rodents traps on the engine and in the house.
I vote for bringing all batteries into the house and not worry about running the V10 or generator engines until spring time. But my opinion on this one matter is in the minority.
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Good tips, Ron. Our tires should be good but I might max them out per your advice. Also, the extra mouse traps in the engine compartment makes great sense. I know your unit is stored in a heated garage so that likely influences your decision regarding starting the engine & generator periodically. Thanks for your input...most appreciated!
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When we lived up north (NJ, not WAY up north), we would bring in the batteries and drain the gas from the generator carburetor. Didn't run it all winter and it was fine in the Spring. The only issue we had was squirrels hiding walnuts in the engine compartment. Leaving the hood slightly open and occasionally leaving a light bulb turned on under the hood fixed that problem.
Peg
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Thanks, Peg! I've heard many people drain the carburetor so I'll look into that further. That would certainly keep cold weather starts to a minimum...which is a good thing. When you stored your batteries inside, did you periodically charge them or put them on a trickle charger non-stop, by chance?
Thanks again...
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Draining carburetor good idea. I do that on snowblower and have no issues. I will do on generator. Also put stabilizer in gas and run generator before draining carburetor just in case.
I plan to bring in all three batteries. I bought a smart battery tender for two batteries. I plan to use it in winter to keep them charged.
Western trip sounds like a blast. Hope to do it next year after retirement.
Ron
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Chiming back in here.....about draining the generator's carburetor. Today's fuel is so very clean, and with cleaning additives & 10% ethanol. Today's fuel evaporated inside a carb does not leave residue or varnish behind. Granted our garage is heated, but I cannot imagine that temperatures would change how the fuel evaporates and what it leaves behind in a carburetor.
For long term storage, I don't drain or run anything out of my lawn equipment engines, my PC generator, PC, Corvettes, Solstices, whatever. My lawn equipment, I just set them down and let them be....and much of my equipment is near 30 years old now. My vehicles, I store them with a full tank of gas and I never add a stabilizer. Fuel anti-freeze is a real joke now that the fuel we all buy has 10% ethanol in it. Why add a small bottle of extra when you have gallons of the stuff in your tank already?
I personally like the idea of driving the motor home once in a while if being stored outdoors, just to keep the brake rotors from rusting badly. I think brake rotor rust and rodent damage will be your most serious threats during outdoor winter storage.
Running your PC and generator engine during storage does no harm as long as you run them long enough.
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On the matter of keeping rodents out of the rig and engine compartments, we do what people who live year round at a squirrel, mouse and other varmint infested Escapees Co-op RV Park near Yosemite do. We put a small (25w) electric light bulb in the engine compartment, and put LED rope lights all around the bottom of the PC All these are set on light sensitive timers so they don't stay on during daylight. Works so far during 20+ years of RVing. :)(:
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Greetings from Northern Minnesota! My wife and I purchased a 2014 2552 this past August and, after a wonderful trip out west to Yellowstone/Grand Tetons/Badlands/Teddy Roosevelt, we are in the process of winterizing the unit until our next trip in the spring. I'll be parking it outside next to our garage (on gravel) with a cover installed so it will be protected from wind but open to cold temperatures. We picked up a "like new" Elements Cover that should give it some physical protection from the sun/snow. We've washed the unit, changed the oil, will install our tire covers, put anti-freeze in all the lines, flushed the gray/black tanks, emptied the fresh water tank/water heater, filled the traps with anti-freeze, and put mouse traps/mouse repellent inside. I plan on filling the tank and treating the gas with PRI-G (similar to Stabil). I also plan on running our generator and E450 every 2-3 weeks during the winter.
My biggest question is regarding the coach batteries.
Should I keep the unit plugged in to our 30 amp outlet....or plug it in intermittently? Should I remove the batteries and bring them inside until needed to start the generator (now doesn't that sound like fun!)? Please let me know if there is anything else that I should be doing to ensure the unit is ready to go in the spring.
Thanks in advance for any tips and I appreciate your time.
Disconnect the coach battery both positive and negative terminals get a Battery Tender (or similar) battery Maintainer (not a standard battery charger) and connect it to the plus and minus posts and leave the maintainer plugged in all winter. They make 30amp to standard 15amp sdapters so just plug your maintainer into that unless you have a standard 120v outlet near your 30 amp RV outlet.
Also, remove the negative terminal of the engine battery so it doesn't get discharged by any parasitic components such as the radio and other electronic loads. Make sure the engine battery terminals are clean and no signs of acid leakage and that it's fully charged before you disconnect it.
A battery maintainer on it wouldn't hurt either.
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Wayne you have a pretty good handle on your plumbing protection. You didn't mention your sanicon pump, I also run the pump until the pink comes out of the discharge. If you run enough pink water into holding tank, you wouldn't have to pour pure pink into the black tank. Yep, i am in Florida but i dont take chances, the teens are common here in dead of winter. Larry
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Thanks for the additional tips and recommendations! We did run the Sanicon to ensure the antifreeze was in that portion of the system...Thanks, Swiftboot. I will likely purchase a battery tender/maintainer as recommended by DONC13 (and others). Do you have a recommendation on a good brand/unit? And finally, I've never heard of putting lights under the unit to deter rodents. Sounds like it works well for some folks. I'll give that one some more thought.
In short, based on the recommendations received, in addition to our other preparation steps we'll likely:
-pump up the tires to 80 psi (getting new tires in a week so we're ready to go next spring)
-drain the generator carburetor (actually attempt to run it dry first, then drain the float bowl)
-remove the coach and engine batteries and put them on a battery maintainer in our house
-put a mouse trap in the engine compartment (and possibly a light)
Thanks again...so appreciated!
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-pump up the tires to 80 psi (getting new tires in a week so we're ready to go next spring)
I would buy the tires next year prior to your first trip. Why start out life with one year old tires? Let the old ones take the winter beating.
About running your engines over the winter.
I shared that we do not do that. But if you do, just use your 12V chassis battery and run them one at a time.
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Trust me, Ron, I've weighed that option. We aren't sure if we'll head south in January or March and I don't want the inconvenience of dealing with tires then. We're getting a great deal on the tires - Michelin Defender LTX - so I'm comfortable moving forward at this time....while it's still relatively warm (for Minnesota). Thanks again....
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If you put stabilize in gas tank, you could run generator to stabilize it and just drain carburator. Double protection and no need to run it over winter.
My engine battery is wrapped in an insulated material. So I am going to charge it, disconnect negative and leave.
Ron
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I agree, Ron. I will put the stabilizer (PRI-G) in the fuel tank, run both the chassis engine and the generator, and then drain the generator carburetor. As stated earlier, I will likely remove the coach batteries and put them on a tender over the winter. I may remove the engine battery as well or, at a minimum, completely disconnect it and then charge it periodically.
Thanks again!
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As to a trickle charger I have been using this for a couple years https://www.amazon.com/BLACK-DECKER-BC6BDW-Waterproof-Maintainer/dp/B00OQ1F7PM?crid=3NZZXGQKEHQJG&keywords=battery%2Bcharger&qid=1539164005&refinements=p_89%3ABLACK%2BDECKER&rnid=2528832011&sprefix=Batttery%2Bch%2Caps%2C201&sr=8-3&ref=sr_1_3&th=1 (https://www.amazon.com/BLACK-DECKER-BC6BDW-Waterproof-Maintainer/dp/B00OQ1F7PM?crid=3NZZXGQKEHQJG&keywords=battery%2Bcharger&qid=1539164005&refinements=p_89%3ABLACK%2BDECKER&rnid=2528832011&sprefix=Batttery%2Bch%2Caps%2C201&sr=8-3&ref=sr_1_3&th=1)
You can either connect the alligator clips directly to the battery terminals or as I more frequently do change over to the cigarette lighter plug and plug it into the 12v outlets in the dash and let it charge the chassis battery. I typically use a plugin voltmeter in the second dash outlet [size=78%]https://www.amazon.com/INNOVA-3721-Battery-Charging-Monitor/dp/B000EVWDU0?keywords=12+volt+plugin+voltmeter&qid=1539164478&sr=8-2&ref=sr_1_2 (https://www.amazon.com/INNOVA-3721-Battery-Charging-Monitor/dp/B000EVWDU0?keywords=12+volt+plugin+voltmeter&qid=1539164478&sr=8-2&ref=sr_1_2)[/size]
I do this to keep check of battery charging voltage (13.2-13.7) as well as when the at rest chassis battery drops below about 12.4 volts telling me it time for a recharge.
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Fandom
Thanks for sharing. Excellent info! I have a 2 outlet battery tender for my house batteries. I remove them and keep them at home on trickle charge.
I am like Wayne7 in that this is first winter with our PC and we are learning and trying to find a comfortable hitch to maintain batteries. Our PC is stored outside about 2miles away. So charging it there is not an option. The B&D and monitor are very flexible options for the chassis battery. I did not know charging through the cig lighter plug was an option. That is really easy. Thanks for that tip. I could just monitor battery at site and drive it home to charge. Or just remove battery and keep it charged at home. In Michigan we get snow. My luck would have me taking out the battery in a blizzard in below zero weather to charge it because I couldn’t drive it in the snow. I am leaning to removing battery.
We were only able to use our PC once since purchase. The rain and bad weather is driving us crazy. We are so excited for Spring to come!
Ron
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Wayne: I think you have hit the most important problem areas. Like you I have always left my rig outdoors in somewhat of a protected area. I alway shovel the snow off the roof after every storm ( be very careful on the roof! Do not put a shovel thru any of the skylights. I always use a plastic edged shovel so not to puncture the roof). While removing the batteries is probably the best approach I find it a real pain and in case of any emergencies I always want my coach ready to go at the drop of a hat. I utilize Battery Tenders for both the house and chassis batteries. Just plug the units in and walk away with no worry of over charging the batteries. I would put plywood under all the tires to reduce moisture reacting with the rubber. See you in the spring!
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If bringing the batteries inside your house, I do wonder how important it is to use a battery tender on them 100% of the time. Their residual drain will be extremely slow since they are just sitting around like they once did on a store shelf.
I do something different with our batteries in our heated garage, in our PC but ground wire detached. I use my nice regular battery charger (the one I take on trips) on my batteries a few of times during the storage period. I set the charger on the lowest 4 amp setting and bring them back to 100% in less than a half hour which basically means I am wasting time, doing it just for the peace of mind.
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Great suggestions on battery tenders/maintainers...thanks! We'll be putting our PC - which my wife affectionately calls "The Cottage" - to bed in another week and I'll be using many of the suggestions and recommendations that have been shared on this forum. So appreciated...for someone new to RV's!
P.S. So far, according to my wife, we have had a cottage in the mountains, a cottage by a lake, a cottage along a stream, a cottage in a church parking lot and a cottage at Walmart.
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I stumbled on this tip on page 276 of the owners manual.
Because your vehicle’s engine is electronically controlled by a computer, some control conditions are maintained by power from the battery. When the battery is disconnected or a new battery is installed, the engine must relearn its idle and fuel trim strategy for optimum driveability and performance. To begin this process:
1. With the vehicle at a complete stop, set the parking brake.
2. Put the gearshift in P (Park), turn off all accessories and start the engine.
3. Run the engine until it reaches normal operating temperature.
4. Allow the engine to idle for at least one minute.
5. Turn the A/C on and allow the engine to idle for at least one minute.
6. Release the parking brake. With your foot on the brake pedal and with the A/C on, put the vehicle in D (Drive) and allow the engine to idle for at least one minute.
7. Drive the vehicle to complete the relearning process.
• The vehicle may need to be driven 10 miles (16 km) or more to relearn the idle and fuel trim strategy along with the ethanol content for flexible fuel vehicles.
• If you do not allow the engine to relearn its idle trim, the idle quality of your vehicle may be adversely affected until the idle trim is eventually relearned.
• For flexible fuel vehicles, if you are operating on E85, you may experience poor starts or an inability to start the engine and driveability problems until the fuel trim and ethanol content have been relearned.
If the battery has been disconnected or a new battery has been installed, the clock and radio settings must be reset once the battery is reconnected.
Ron Sarzynski
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Good information, Ron. I have even heard that some vehicles may require a computer "reboot" if the battery is disconnected though I have not verified this. I purchased a battery tender (Deltran Battery Tender - 4 amp) and will remove the coach batteries and keep them charged in the garage. I will not remove the engine battery but charge it in place intermittently with the Battery Tender. The unit has both 6 and 12 volt settings and has a four-stage charging sequence, 5 year warranty - and works on lead, AGM and lithium batteries.
Finally, I had my new tires installed today and dealt with Discount Tires. Best tire-buying experience ever! Matched the best price I could find (from 200 miles away), had their own rebate program with Michelin, offer a lifetime balance/rotation, have 900 stores nationwide but best of all...incredible customer service and excellent work. I watched the entire process and talked with the technician periodically (he was actually the manager but took on my project). Their workers function as a team helping one another in an amazing display of teamwork. I rarely see this level of attention to detail and customer service so I had to share my experience.
Thanks again for all the advice and recommendations...I've learned a lot.
Oh, and Ron Dittmer, thanks to your advice about putting mouse traps in the engine compartment, I caught two mice right away...yikes!