Introduce Yourself!

If you own a 2011 or 2012 PC Sprinter, it could be built on a 2010 Sprinter chassis.  If that be your situation, you might lack the spare because of how Phoenix bought those Sprinters at a bankruptcy auction.  Maybe some lacked a spare tire.

If you own a 2011 or 2012 PC Sprinter, it could be built on a 2010 Sprinter chassis.  If that be your situation, you might lack the spare because of how Phoenix bought those Sprinters at a bankruptcy auction.  Maybe some lacked a spare tire.

Our chassis is 2011 vintage.  And, maybe we should move this conversation out of the "Introduce Yourself" thread and into the General Discussion or Tips and Tricks. . .just sayin".   

Welcome to Phoenix USA RV's Discussion Board. We think you'll find this is a nice place to hang out. Why don't you start off with a little introduction and tell us a bit about yourself?

  Long time class A owners, the wife and I have acquired an old 2005 Phoenix Cruiser 2350 on the  Ford E-450 diesel chassis to use for short trips with 1-2 nights in it.    Bought it with disclosed electrical problem(s) (blowing fuses)in the coach section, but no problem whatsoever with chassis electric.  The unit has 33000 miles on it and the 4000w genset has 149 hours.  Discovered right away that the battery was not a true deep cycle, so replaced it with a new Interstate deep cycle.  Replaced a couple blown fuses, left in the "use" position overnight and next morning the new battery was dead.  Charged it and took it to a nearby  rv repair facility.    There, they ran tests and found a 2.3 amp constant drain, but were unable to pinpoint the cause.   I called Phoenix Cruiser and spoke with Kermit about it and asked if he could send me a wiring schematic or pictorial to which he said there was nothing he could send.   He thought perhaps it was the battery use/store switch, so I ordered one through the parts dept.  It soon arrived, I swapped out the old, and no difference - battery dead the following morning.  Returned to RV shop and they switched a wire on or near the fuse block to the opposite side and this changed things:  the battery still gets drained overnight if left in the "use" position, but not drained if put in the store position.  I might point out that when plugged into a 30 amp AC receptacle the battery works fine as well as all else.   I'm concerned about this 2.3 amp constant drain.  Can anyone offer any ideas as to what could be causing this?

Welcome, Wayne Prince.  Sorry I don't have any insight into your electrical/battery problems.  Hopefully someone here will have something concrete to contribute.  Meanwhile, I just wanted to say,  W e l  c o m e 

Quote from: aimee on January 12, 2009, 06:10:35 pm

Welcome to Phoenix USA RV's Discussion Board. We think you'll find this is a nice place to hang out. Why don't you start off with a little introduction and tell us a bit about yourself?

  Long time class A owners, the wife and I have acquired an old 2005 Phoenix Cruiser 2350 on the  Ford E-450 diesel chassis to use for short trips with 1-2 nights in it.    Bought it with disclosed electrical problem(s) (blowing fuses)in the coach section, but no problem whatsoever with chassis electric.  The unit has 33000 miles on it and the 4000w genset has 149 hours.  Discovered right away that the battery was not a true deep cycle, so replaced it with a new Interstate deep cycle.  Replaced a couple blown fuses, left in the "use" position overnight and next morning the new battery was dead.  Charged it and took it to a nearby  rv repair facility.    There, they ran tests and found a 2.3 amp constant drain, but were unable to pinpoint the cause.   I called Phoenix Cruiser and spoke with Kermit about it and asked if he could send me a wiring schematic or pictorial to which he said there was nothing he could send.   He thought perhaps it was the battery use/store switch, so I ordered one through the parts dept.  It soon arrived, I swapped out the old, and no difference - battery dead the following morning.  Returned to RV shop and they switched a wire on or near the fuse block to the opposite side and this changed things:  the battery still gets drained overnight if left in the "use" position, but not drained if put in the store position.  I might point out that when plugged into a 30 amp AC receptacle the battery works fine as well as all else.   I'm concerned about this 2.3 amp constant drain.  Can anyone offer any ideas as to what could be causing this?

The best way to troubleshoot this is to put an amp meter in line with the battery... Turn on the master switch and pull the chassis fuses (and then replace before you pull the next fuse) one at a time.  Have someone watch the amp meter... When you hit the correct circuit... The draw will drop to zero.

Now that you have identified the circuit that is causing the draw, check each item attached to that circuit.

Being a "used" PC, I wonder if a previous owner wired an inverter into the rig somewhere, and it may be running things at 110 volts, things you don't realize are on.  Some inverters all by themselves with nothing running can draw a lot of current.

Also check around the rig inside and out like an outdoor storage compartment for example.  You might have lights left on.  We have a light in our Sanicon area that can easily get over-looked, but yours being a 2005, you don't have a Sanicon, hence no light.

As already noted the best way to troubleshoot this is to isolate one circuit at a time and see what is drawing.

One item to look at is your tank heaters if equipped.  I left mine on by accident, twice, and nearly drained the battery.   There is no indicator light on these so they can be left on by accident quite easily.

One item to look at is your tank heaters if equipped.  I left mine on by accident, twice, and nearly drained the battery.   There is no indicator light on these so they can be left on by accident quite easily.

That's a great point jatrax, something serious to check for.  I knew there was a big popular cause for battery drain but it just didn't float to the surface in my head when replying.  Lights are secondary causes.  Those tank heaters are primary.

Thanks jatrax for bringing up that possibility for the new owners Wayne to check for.  Hopefully his solution is that easy to resolve....turn off the tank heaters.

Hopefully his solution is that easy to resolve....turn off the tank heaters.

Was just looking at my switch today and again wondering why there is no indicator light.  I am going to add one but have not quite figured out how yet.  Might replace the switch with one that lights up.

Hope it is that simple for the OP. 

My wife and I live in Virginia and recently purchased a used 2016 2910D in Texas.  We sold the last of our toy hauler trailers last year and wanted something we could travel in.  The toy haulers were more for my son and I (and friends) and our motorcycle rides.  My wife wasn't crazy about it.  We have been around campers for ever and realize most are junk on wheels.  i forget how we learned about PC but figured they were the best we could afford.  We read a lot on the web and 2Frazzled showed us their unit a couple of years ago in Maryland.  We've read a lot of useful information on these forums and thank everyone for their input.  Hopefully we can contribute.

Will and Joyce

 

Safe travels and enjoy the new rig!

Welcome, Will and Joyce!! I'm glad to hear you found your way to a Phoenix. I'm sure you will both love it and enjoy many happy adventures together. I look forward to your future input and welcome your questions (we always have questions). The only long term problem we've found with the Phoenix is that we get depressed when we aren't out in her.  It's an addiction we are OK with. ENJOY!!!

Welcome Will and Joyce Lloyd to the family of Phoenix Cruiser owners.  We are here to help (as best we can) with any questions you have.  Everyone has questions, and there are no stupid questions.

 

With a 2910 series, please be sure to maintain 80 PSI in the 4 rear tires.  I understand the 2010 series requires max PSI in the rear "E" rated tires due to the weight on the rear axle.  I don't know how much air is required in the front tires.

Thanks for the tire pressure tip.  I have new valve stems laying here to replace the extensions so we can actually KEEP air in the tires....

Plan to have them installed when it goes in for an alignment.

Hello everyone,

We just ordered a 2350 4x4 450 a couple months ago. We live in Oregon, my wife is retired, I'm still at it for awhile.
We enjoy back country camping, have owned several trailers over the years, still own at least 5 tents from wall tents to bivey sacks. Have camped off mountain bikes pulling trailers to owning a pack string of llamas. This is our first Motorhome. We spent at least a year looking for an ideal rig, and didn't find one! We will be making some major modifications to our 2350 once we get it.
I appreciate the forum and all it has to offer!

Doug