rayin

Well, not exactly. We don't have frost heaves in the 48. Once you get to YT the Alaska highway is gravel in places where frost heaves have been repaired. For suecando, just lower your speed in YT compared to usual traffic speed in the provinces adjoining the U.S.A. A tip to spot frost heaves, watch the white line on blacktop, if it appears wavy drop your speed. A frost heave is a misnomer, it is actually a depression after the ground thaws, sometimes it can be a foot deep and 3'wide. After it is repaired, that section will be loose gravel. All the MH's in our caravan returned to the U.S. without any damage, trailers had the problems, most due to driver error. In preparation, buy a Milepost book, doesn't have to be the latest edition as the roads are the same as last decade. Teach yourself how to read and use it well before departure, as it skips around depending on the route you choose. Always drive off the top 1/2 of your fuel tank.

Well, I was misled by the Exide advertising, the FBA_XMC 31 AGM battery is actually 100AH, not 200, according to this marine battery review website. This put me back into the decision making mode. Now I must decide between that Exide and the U.S. Battery 232AH 6V battery. So, I'll spend time recalculating the money angle again.

Central Florida would be near Sebring IMO. You might begin looking on the internet for RV parks in that area with vacancies in March.

For the gas part, remove(turn off heater first) the control board plug-in, I think it has 5 wires, anyway, remove the control board/module, polish the contacts with a pencil eraser. The very low voltage (~4 milliamps) is very sensitive to loss of contact. Rather that explaining all the possibilities, download the Atwood service manual and follow the troubleshooting section. Here is a private version of the Atwood service manual that may be easier to read.

Decision has been made; we are staying with the 3 12V battery setup. Again, thank you all for your insight and advice. Kaypsmith's calculations made perfect sense to me, and my financial manager, especially since the price of having the cables made-to-order was not included. Plus, I'm not going to have so much work to do to replace the battery bank; when retired, work is a 4-letter word ya'know.

OK, thanks for that. The new pricing figures threw my old stuff out the window. I'm off tonight, I spent an hour on the phone with my cellular provider customer service-after a 20 minute on hold ordeal. The conversation wound up with me educating the rep on how my cell phone works, or rather is supposed to work. He closed by advising me to visit a local retail store and have them fix my problem. I'm gonna get off here and go have a conversation with Evan Williams from KY for a while.

I looked further into the IMpact battery made my U.S. Battery. Searching for the same battery ID number US2200XC2, I found a much better price (on that website) $139.18. The U.S. Battery battery specs appear to be great. I answered my own question, that IMpact brand IS NOT a good buy. Kaysmith, this throws my money angle figures out the window, I'll re-figure tomorrow. Thanks to everyone who offered their opinion and experience! I'm getting closer to being able to make an intelligent decision.

There's the money angle, the 3 Exide 200AH stats will be 300AH available down to 50% charge, and cost $140 ea. That's $1.42 per AH. The IMpact 232AH @ $199.99 is $1.16 per AH; 26¢ difference per AH, before the additional expenses of new cabling, which is an unknown. FWIW, the IMpact battery is made by U.S. Battery manufacturing Co. if you hover over the battery it is on the label. I think you've sank my ship. When I show this to my financial manager she'll decide on staying with the present system.

Yes, the present 12V Exide deep-cycle batteries are the 5 yr old version of the hot link in my previous reply. By the time Li-On batteries get cheap enough for me to buy, I'll have to use them on my coffin.

OK, after I reviewed your wiring diagram, my configuration will look that, 4 batteries in a square formation. The difference will be, both + cables (of same length) will lead to a terminal block, same for - cables, as Brett said. The coach cables will attach to the terminal blocks-if I can find some heavy enough to safely accommodate the maximum amperage of the batteries. If I can't find the blocks, I'll fabricate my own; should be a simple task for an old toolmaker, I already have a length of 1"x3" copper bar stock. You guys realize this project totally depends upon what my financial manager decides. Her final decision may be to simply replace the 3 12V OEM house battery configuration. If that is the decision I plan to buy 3 Exide 12V Nautilus deep-cyle 200AH batteries.

You are right! I am planning to wire the 2 pairs of batteries to a central terminal block,(equal length cables)then wire the coach cables to the same terminal block. I may be over-complicating this though, and do exactly as you state, which is the same as Mark Nemeth's red diagram on The 12V side of life. BTW, that's perhaps the best battery tutorial on the web IMO. Richard, Trojan does not make a comparable battery for the same money.Their AGM battery for instance is only 205AH @ $300 ea. This one is 232AH @ $200, with 1yr warranty vs T 105 18 mos. I am considering switching to 6V because 4 of these would offer 464AH and only be down to 1/2 charge-IF all discharged equally. So far they are the best bang-for-the-buck I've found on the web. The downside is,one must order them delivered, the delivery charge may consume any price savings. This may turn out, buying 6V batteries,even though lesser AH, from the local golf cart sales and repair shop is the best source, plus, they make their own cables, which eliminates my attempts at DIY cables. OH, I must also buy a watering system whichever battery I purchase; if it will fin into the compartment height.

My present batteries are 5 years old and getting weak. i was looking at switching to 6V batteries and found these: https://www.impactbattery.com/us2200.html You guys with a 6V bank, what is your considered opinion of those to replace my 3 12V batteries? The only thing is, I only have room for 3 gp 31 12V batteries and don't know if I can fit 4 of these in the same tray.

Check the many RV parks around Lake Okeechobee, I think the earthen levees around the lake are owned by the state though, so not right on the water's edge. Which might be a good thing with the abundant alligator population. We stayed at Clewiston one winter, the RV park(now a KOA) has a fish-cleaning station. Nearby are the boat docks. I do see RV parks adds saying they have a free fishing lake, I assume they are fished-out most of the peak months, or have a catch and release program.

I just did a quick peruse of the internet for this brand/model. Not much to find. The only conclusion I came away with is the engine; none state the engine model, only the HP. That IMO means it is a Cummins ISB 360 HP. Usually adds state the engine is an ISL, ISM, etc., because they have more torque, even with the same HP as the ISB engine. UPDATE: Yes it is the Cummins ISB medium-duty engine: https://www.lazydays.com/rvs/tampa-fl/class-a/nexus-bentley-21019093 The general rule-of-thumb for minimum HP is, one HP for each 100# of coach weight. This coach appears to meet that "rule". The only actual owner experience I read was found here, and was skimpy at best. Comment #11 there seemed to say a lot between the lines.

An RV MH dealership would have a list of bonded, insured drivers too. IMO getting anyone else to drive your MH is a big gamble.

FWIW, the most popular FL "winter" reservation period is Jan,Feb, Mar. Next is Dec -Mar 30. Nearly every RV resort is virtually empty by April 30.

Exactly! Both conditions are the result of operator error IMO. Part of my annual preventative maintenance is insuring every AC electrical connection is tight. And DW wonders why I spend so much time in the garage_. BTW, I have a Progressive Industries ATS that is now over 20 years old, still works as designed.

Huffy Puff, the rule of thumb to determine which is cheaper to use, LP or electric, is to multiply the cost of electric per KWH X 18. This takes into account the inefficiency % of the LP furnace and water heater. The straight multiplication is rate 21 if you assume everything LP burns at 100% efficiency. I sat and calculated that out one winter(long time ago) we stayed home and it was too cold to get outside and work.

I suspect a poor/missing ground _ somewhere, as over 80% of all 12V problems are caused by such.

Carl, my point to reading trucker forums is exactly as you stated, they encounter and correct more problems in a much shorter time frame.While we MH owners are talking and scratching, they usually already have the engine problems solved. re: Cummins engine lineup, OTR engines are the smaller part of their variety of engines.

This trucker forum talks about ISX problems, and includes solutions. Some of the posts are really long, and single-spaced, makes for tedious reading.

I agree with Brett, start capacitor may be bad. Note: if you are unfamiliar with handling and testing capacitors, be sure to short between terminals FIRST before handling! They are capable of giving severe shocks and burns.

Search the truckers forums for ISX engine problems, you will find more than on RVing forums. From reading those forums, the 650HP version had the valve problems. Then there is the problem with the EGR system clogging in the block A man on irv2.com with the 650 ISX has $53K of repairs on his engine so far.(there are others) The thread is easy to find under the Cummins topic. The ISX 650 HP RV version was discontinued as unreliable.https://www.capitalremanexchange.com/cummins-isx-history/

I attempted that, however that number must not be complete or I'm not good at tracing patent numbers. I thought I replied _, but that was last year.

If anyone does find themselves in the city of Key West and low on fuel. The shell station at the intersection of Kennedy and Roosevelt has room to maneuver a big rig to refuel. Do not however drive any further into the city with a big rig! https://www.gasbuddy.com/Station/32590 Fuel prices are about 50¢ higher than the mainland. For retired military, there is a diesel/gas station on Sigsbee island that is large enough to fit my 40' MH with towed. Use google maps to view the Shell station at street level. https://www.google.com/maps/place/3032+N+Roosevelt+Blvd,+Key+West,+FL+33040/@24.5679037,-81.7695536,47m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x88d1b14f394ad847:0xaec9046998df8731!8m2!3d24.5674848!4d-81.7694095