Our New Battery Management System, and Yet Another Change of Plans

So first a story on myself.  One of our new cameras started acting up on our jaunt to Atlanta, so when we got back, I wanted to make sure that it was a problem with the camera and not something else.  I swapped the inputs from each side camera in our switch box and the fault followed the camera, we pulled the camera off and checked the wiring to be sure the connections were still good, and then we decided before we called the manufacturer of the kit, we'd run down to our storage unit, pick up one of the old cameras and see if that worked before calling.  We park the truck in front of our coach here and I had used the edge of the bed to hold some tools as we worked.  We loaded up and headed down to storage, decided to get something for lunch on the way, picked up the old camera, drove back, plugged in the old camera, it worked, so we knew the new camera was bad.  So I said I'll just grab the new camera so I have it in my hand when I call.  We looked around, and around, and around, and couldn't find the new camera!!!  Where could it be?  Then we each looked at each other and said you/I didn't leave it lying on the truck, did I?  Oh no!  Let's go look.  We slowly drove all the way through the park, 1 mile, out the entrance road, another mile, left on the highway, another mile or so, left on US 41, a 6 lane busy highway, and sure enough we finally found what was left in another mile and a half.  Yeah, it stayed on the truck about 5 miles!  But not a lot left, and the chromed mount was attached didn't do so well either.  So what started out as a warranty claim, turned into another new camera for $75, and 2 new chromed mounts for $125, all because of my stupidity.

What was left of our new camera and mount:-(

So then, I might as well get another story out of the way.  We ordered replacement fabric for our slide toppers, window, and door awnings, and made and confirmed an appointment to have the work done.  I dutifully entered it into our calendar and since the appointment was 2/21, I made contact to be sure where to park, plug in etc.  We had made a hole in our plans to accommodate the service, and what do I find out?  The appointment is actually 3/21!!  Thankfully I contacted  them instead of just driving the 110 miles only to find out we didn't have an appointment.  So 2 down, I'm waiting on the third thing to indicate my mind has gone:-)

The weather here has turned hot and humid, I have to admit it is bothering Jan and I more this year than in the past, although we have never been fans, maybe it's the combination of Covid exhaustion and the humidity, I don't know.  So we waited until a nice cooler day to launch our next big project, replacing our Big Boy Solenoid battery system with a new Blue Sea ML-ARC, as I had hinted about in my last post.  But before that we had a few things to accomplish.  I had to clean up the many years and miles of dirt, dust, etc that had permeated the batteries and the rear run box which is mounted on the side of the engine compartment.  Then the next was trying to find a wire, actually 2 that was supposed to run from the rear run box to the front run box under the driver's seat.  I should mention the rear run box (RRB) and front run box (FRB) are panels with fuses and relays that control the DC electrical items on the chassis and house, the rear is where the Big Boy lives and where high draw items are controlled.  I would need two wires to make the connection for the new switch near the driver seat.  I found with help from the Monaco forum a schematic that indicated Monaco had installed a spare electrical harness that ran from the RRB to the FRB and several other spots around the coach.  The end of it was easily found in the front run box, but I and Jan looked and looked in, around, and even behind the rear run box with no luck.  I had a conversation with a forum member that said he knew for a fact it was there, but also wasn't sure exactly where.  So with some nervousness we broke into a huge bundle of wires that was headed for the rear run box, hundreds of wires, and with a line tracer found that at least 2 of them somewhere in there were connected to the front run box, hurrah!  We pulled them out and then verified by continuity that they were the ones, now we had our 2 wires from rear to front.

The rear run box with the Big Boy in the center

All four of these wires were wrapped together, found up where the
circle is, but only the blue and the green went to the front

The bundle tied back up and the 2 wires routed into the RRB

So our cool day arrived and Jan and I jumped on our project.  First was to remove power from the coach, we were pretty good with this by now, since we had done it twice in the last 2 months with our alternator woes:-)  Then get the Big Boy out and see if the new Blue Sea module would fit.

Similar sizes, but different shape and mounting

And if you look in the second picture you can see a red wire that was run diagonally across and behind the Big Boy, I had, luckily enough extra length to get it out of the way.

Out of the way

Well it still wouldn't quite fit, the copper bars you see above interfered with getting it set, so I figured a little sanding and reshaping shouldn't affect their current carrying ability too much so out came the Dremel.

And sure enough it went right in.

Now the next challenge and what turned out to be the hardest part of the job was we had to get from the chrome lugs on the ML-ACR to those holes in the copper bars.  I had bought a short piece of copper bar, 1/8" X 3/4" to use to connect them.  It was extremely tough to bend and shape the copper, it was much harder than we expected and with no specialized tools we did what we could.

But with vise grips, adjustable wrenches, hammer, and brute strength we got them to fit.

Almost there

We got that bolted together, I connected the wires in the RRB.

Then I tackled the splicing for power, ground and the switch connections in the FRB, and then up to the driver's seat, removed the old Battery Boost switch and installed the new switch in its place.

All in and looks like factory!

Then to hook the batteries back up, check everything out, 7 1/2 hours and another successful project!

Now, don't think this was the only thing happening, our toilet is starting to act up, too much water is coming into the bowl, thankfully not overflowing yet, so we ordered a replacement water valve, hope it gets here soon, I did an Aqua-Hot service, new filter, new nozzle and cleaned the burner compartment, and Jan washed the windows and took all the screens out and washed them as well.

And, well, one more thing.  As you know we had planned to go to Maine last year and because of the uncertainty of Covid we ended up extending here for a month and pushed all the Maine reservations into this year.  This was a joint effort as Karen and Tom were planning to caravan with us.  With the exceptional Covid requirements in New York, Vermont, and especially Maine, we have opted to cancel Maine again this year.  Right now we are tentatively hoping to try one more time next year, but time will tell.  We, both us and Karen and Tom have a lot of money out there in deposits that we want to retain.  For some reason the campgrounds feel that the extraordinary Covid requirements don't warrant a release from their deposit and cancellation rules:-(  So we are scrambling once again to figure out alternatives. 

Whirlwind Trip, the Good, Bad, and the Awesome!

Before we left on our quick trip to Atlanta we got a few more things done.  We replaced he air cleaner on the motorhome, and a slide lock that had broken and was covered under warranty.  We had only one installed for this complete season, the warranty replacement was shipped to friends in Atlanta, which we picked up in the fall when we went through. 

A very talented and innovative guy on the Monacoers forum came up with a HiDef camera kit to replace the head banger side cameras on our coach.  He made his kit completely plug n play at very reasonable cost.  

The original camera

And the small replacement camera

It was a fairly easy job, the only challenge was running the wire out far enough to get to the connector then pushing it all back in the arm.  On the driver's side it was cake but we had to remove the passenger side to get the wire to go in, no big deal.

All finished

Before we left on a gorgeous cool day, we went to a great sushi lunch in Sarasota, thank you Jason!

No she isn't mad, the camera man caught her badly:-)

Yummy!

Off to Atlanta, for the first hundred miles or so the weather was beautiful, the cameras worked well.

Then for the next 300 miles it rained the whole time, actually it was a pleasant with not a lot of traffic to our normal stop south of Atlanta at Twin Oaks, an excellent stopping off spot with long pull throughs.  After a quiet evening we left for Atlanta, now when I say we are going to Atlanta that is just a rough destination, we actually stay northwest of the city near Acworth, GA, so we have to negotiate the city of Atlanta, now this was a Sunday, mid day, so we weren't expecting any issue, that is until our brand new alternator with maybe 2000 miles on it started to quit!  We got the generator running as we had before, but it was coming on and off line and it was hard to make sure power was steady to the engine and transmission.  So with the normal aggravation of Atlanta traffic we had the added pleasure of wondering if the engine would quit!!!  Very stressful to say the least.  We did manage to get to our campground okay.

We knew the alternator we bought in November that came from somewhere in North Carolina had a 1 year warranty, and after checking found the company was in Franklin, NC, a mere 165 miles away from our campground.  But first of all Monday morning Jan had to go see her oral surgeon, after a quick fix on her implant we came back and called the alternator place, he said sure come on up and I'll take a look.  So Jan and I went out and removed the errant alternator for the second time, jumped in the truck and drove almost 3 hours to the alternator place, consolation prize was it was a gorgeous clear day and the views were awesome.

I put this picture in specifically for Sandy to show that I did clean off the batteries:-)

A little snow in them thar hills

When I carried in our alternator the shop owner said he'd need about 45 minutes to look it over, so we took off for early coffee.  When I came back there was a brand new alternator ready to go, and he explained that yes, our alternator was bad, it had blown out 3 diodes and even took the stator out, could there be something wrong in your coach?  WHAT?!?  He said sometimes a slipping belt can cause it, but no sign of that on the pulley and I explained that was the first thing we checked, then he said sometimes a loose connection on the positive connection can cause it, but there was no indication of arcing, so could there be anything else going wrong with your coach?  I explained that nothing had changed on our coach, and the original alternator went 12 years and 160,000 miles, so I couldn't imagine what could be wrong.  Anyway, back 3 hours and 165 miles, and Jan and I raced sunset to get the new new alternator installed and checked out.

The new new alternator

Jan and I discussed the fact he had planted a seed that something might be wrong with coach, and that was really weighing on me.  I racked my brain to try to come up with something.  I thought things through and was probably reaching, but when the second alternator quit I pressed the battery boost switch by my seat which should attach both the chassis batteries and house batteries together, with the generator providing charge to the house batteries, connecting the banks should also provide charge to the chassis batteries, but it did not?  Hmm.  So onto the various forums I go.  Our coach has a Big Boy solenoid system that is used for battery management.  Its function is when the engine is running and providing charge to the chassis batteries, when the voltage exceeds 13.3 volts it closes and allows the house batteries to be charged as well, when the generator or shore power is hooked up and charging the house batteries, at the same 13.3 volts on the house it will then connect the chassis batteries so they charge as well, and the last function is when you press the battery boost switch it manually connects both banks of batteries which it did not do.  Hmm.

Enough of that because I had my dentist appointment early the next day and ended up with a temporary crown.  Back from the dentist and troubleshooting, turns out our 3+ year old chassis batteries are about dead, so I try to get batteries while in Atlanta, but they have to be ordered, okay we can certainly get back to Florida and get new ones there.  Jan decided to make some stew we had learned about from nephew Jordan, brazilian fish stew, or Maqueca.  Fabulous!  She made it with cod, scallops, and shrimp, it has tomatoes and coconut milk in it, delicious.

Try it, you'll love it!

The next morning we leave early in the motorhome, yes the alternator seems fine, but we are definitely on pins and needles with me watching the voltmeter like a hawk, to get prima donna Bert our cat to the vet.  Yes we have to take him in the motorhome unless we want to clean the truck for a solid week if we took him in that, truly.  So here we are driving the 75 miles from the campground to the vet in morning time traffic, with me staring at the voltmeter like an idiot when my phone gets a text.  It's from the Sarasota County Department of Health which I figure is an announcement of another round of vaccines arriving, but my eye catches the word appointment, so Jan grabs it and sure enough we have worked our way up to a point where we have an actual first vaccine appointment, hallelujah, and unbelievably it is in Venice, we don't even have to go anywhere far, and it is a drive through venue!  Wow.

So Bert gets a good to go and a rabies shot and off we go back to Twin Oaks for the night.  Alternator steady as a rock, but the possibility of something wrong is still niggling in my brain.  

We leave early for our last 400 mile day and although the alternator is steady, in my recent reading I have seen numerous reports that running the engine and the generator at the same time with each charging the battery bank is harmful.  Running the generator going down the road is how we are able to operate our roof top air conditioners to keep the coach cool.  So as the temperature rises as we go south, Jan and I are sitting there sweating as the dash air is nowhere near able to keep the coach cool, but by now I don't want to take a chance, even though I have been doing this for years.  We get back uneventfully although hot, and more research ensues.

I find an article where a very respected member of several forums has replaced his Big Boy system with a Blue Sea component that does basically the same thing, but has the ability to tell you what mode it is in, batteries connected or not, needs no power to hold whichever connection it is using, and also allows you to manually connect or manually disconnect, so if you are running the generator for ac, you can separate the battery banks so there is no cross charging, and it is slightly cheaper than just replacing the Big Boy solenoid, and it has a lifetime warranty.

This is the original system with the Big Boy solenoid in the center 

This is with the Blue Sea ML-ACR installed

And this shows the red switch that replaces the battery boost
switch with the on, off, and auto options

After a lot of consideration, I am almost completely committed to this replacement.  Info to follow.

Then after a quick overnight back in Florida, it's off to the vaccine appointment.  It was so organized, pleasant, professional, and we never had to get out of the truck, so now Jan and I have received vaccine number one and already have an appointment for the second shot in 3 weeks.

Initial check in

In the queue

All jabbed!!!!!!

Unexpected Repair, and Unexpected Road Trip

Jan went up on the roof to sweep off the live oak leaves and came back down with a couple of shots of our slide topper awnings.  Those are the awnings attached to our slide outs that extend with the slides to cover the top to keep rain, snow, leaves, etc off the top of the slides.  Three of the four had holes in them!  Of course our first reaction was how can that be?!?!  Turns out we put them on over 7 years ago, and with us full timing they are out in the sun and wind every single day of their life.  

Luckily we are in Florida when we discovered this, and a company we are very familiar with is StoneVos, an awning manufacturer, and its sister company TalinRV to install, up the road in Brooksville.  They are the same folks that made our Guardian Plates that we installed last year on the corners of our slides.  So we made the call, got a quote, and decided to try to fit it in on our way out of town in April.  We were sent a few color samples and Jan picked a slightly different color than we have now, a Charcoal Tweed vs Cadet Gray.  We think it won't have the tendency to stain like the Cadet Gray.  Then we decided that our window and door awnings couldn't be far behind and they were already quite stained, so we measured those and talked back and forth, got another quote, and decided it would make much more sense to schedule a stand alone appointment to have them installed rather than trying to tie it into our departure and another service appointment at Josam's in Orlando.  So we are going to have them installed near the end of this month.

We have been trying and trying to get a vaccine.  We have registered in 5 counties, stood by for numerous attempts at Publix's with our computers endlessly updating with no results.  We have participated on many count down type sign ups with no results. We are somewhat hopeful we will be able to get them before we leave Florida, which could be necessary as we are Florida residents and don't think our chances would be very good, even worse, in other states as we travel.  Keeping our fingers crossed and jumping at every chance that comes along.

We have been venturing out to dine outdoors, a nice change from all take out.

Chicago Dog

Chicago beef sandwich

The best Bang Bang shrimp we have ever had!

Awesome clam strips

And even with the outdoor dining, Jan has been busy canning.  She made some green tomato relish we discovered from friends when we lived in NH which has been one of our standards ever since.  Excellent!

The raw products

Getting chopped up

Being cooked

All done!!!

I serviced the generator, changed the oil, and the air, fuel and oil filters.  We also cleaned the 3 air conditioner filters.

The one in the bedroom

While I was working on the gen, Jan cleaned all our wood cabinets.  And we had some delicious dinners in.

Sausage and peppers on our new griddle for the grill

And Jan made this incredible stuffed eggplant with scallops and shrimp!

Then we had a great visit from our son, Jason and his fiancé, Joanne.  It was a great visit, we haven't seen them since last year since our trip to NY was cancelled for the virus.  We enjoyed catching up and dining out a couple times, and then we topped it off with some super lobsters thanks to Jason, including his enormous one which he almost couldn't get into:-)

Our son with his gargantuan lobster and the opener:-)

Joanne and Jason

The fam picture, Moi, Jan, and Jason

It was so nice to have them visit, during this virus it is much needed.

Icing on the cake, enough leftover lobster for Lobster BLT's!

So we were just about to sit down to dinner two nights ago when Jan goes, oh no!  What?  Seems the metal insert from the center of her new dental implant popped out?!?!  She had me try to put it back in, I did manage to get in the hole, but no way to tighten it, so...........  She called the oral surgery office and we are heading north with the motorhome to take care of it.  Seems if you don't get this insert in, the gum will grow over the hole making installing a crown very difficult.  And with our cranky, old, and needy cat, we need to take his and our house too.  It will be a quick trip, Jan will get her implant fixed, I will have a chipped/broken tooth evaluated, and if we are lucky Bert will get his rabies shot, so we will make the most of it on our short trip.  And the way this year is going it will be nice to move around even if we are coming right back.  Wow, you never know.