richard5933

The chassis system was 24v from the factory and still is. All the bus systems are 24v, including dash lights, headlights, marker lights, etc. The only 12v bus system that I've found so far is the circuit for the daytime running lights which provides 12v to the headlights for daytime half-power use. I haven't had too much trouble finding replacement bulbs for anything yet, and what I cannot get from Amazon I can get from Luke. The other things that I've replaced such as driver fan are available in 24v from truck supply houses. The only 12v thing I've installed for use while traveling is the car stereo, and it is tied to the house battery bank. As originally configured from Custom Coach, about half of the house systems were tied into the chassis battery. With the exception of two pieces (servo for rear window Venetian blinds & actuator for pneumatic step cover) everything has been changed to run on the 12v house batteries. The two remaining pieces were left as 24v because I cannot find 12v replacements for the servo & actuator, and if I did there was no access provided without disassembling cabinetry. Just didn't seem worth the effort, especially since the step cover is only used while on the road and the blinds are usually kept closed since they are behind the TV. All the DC lighting is now LED, and I've added additional lights where there was only 120v lighting installed. Many of these older Custom Coach conversions didn't have a real house battery bank installed at all. They used the generator 8D start battery to provide power to the 12v systems, and were designed to be plugged in or on shore power whenever they were parked. Obviously this setup was not going to work with dry camping and needed to be changed. Apparently things were done much differently in 1974 than they are now. We installed four Trojan L16G batteries for a total of 780Ah. The charger is a Progressive Dynamics 9270 which puts out 70 amps. There is also a Sterling 24v-to-12v battery-to-battery charger which allows the house batteries to charge directly from the chassis alternator while on the road at 70 amps. The Sterling is a modern multi-stage charger and a step above just using an equalizer since it won't over charge. We do not have an equalizer, and if I'm running 12v systems while driving I just turn on the Sterling charger. The last step of the system, which I'm still working on, is the solar. Right now I'm working to make the bus 'solar ready' and installing a Victron 150/85 MPPT charge controller. Panels will follow soon. Since we have over-the-road a/c and don't plan on running the a/c while dry camping (yet) there was no need for a huge inverter. We installed the PSW Samlex which puts out 2000 watts. Due to the configuration of the 120v breaker panel and the use of a manual transfer switch I was not able to tie it into the existing 120v system and opted to install a few parallel outlets from the inverter. We've got outlets front and rear from the inverter as well as one in the wet bay. Eventually we plan to reconfigure the 120v breaker panel to allow for installation of an inverter/charger which is tied to the 120v system with an automatic transfer switch. We're planning to be at Gillette and would love to have you take a look at the setup if you're there, and possibly we can see how your rig is set up as well.

If your old plan didn't have a smart phone, then you'll probably need to add a data plan in order to bring the smartphone over. You don't need to buy the phone from Verizon, as long as it's one that will work on their network. My understanding that the FMCA plan being offered for MiFi is a stand-alone plan. You'll still need to have a data plan on your phone's plan if you have a smartphone or want to order one. The FMCA data plan through the Jetpack has a much higher data limit than most of the lower-priced phone data plans. If you only use a small amount of data then you' might have no need for the FMCA plan. You might be able to use your new smartphone as a hotspot and connect your laptap & iPad, but of course you'll be using the data allowance in your smartphone's plan. If you connect your iPad and HP laptop through Wifi, then you still won't need the FMCA plan. If, however, you are looking for a way to connect and get online when there is no Wifi and/or use the internet above and beyond what your smartphone's plan allows, then you might find the FMCA plan just what you're looking for.

Definitely manual. I'm starting to get the hang of it, but the learning curve is steep. The chassis is still 24v. House systems are all 12v.

Kind of reminds me of all the aptitude tests we took when I was in grade school and middle school in the 60s and 70s. Some people understand basic mechanical design and some don't. Sometimes no amount of explaining seems to be able to bridge the gap between the two camps.

On second thought, I think so. Just sent in our registration. It will be our first event, so I'm not sure what to expect. That said, looking forward to it.

Not sure. Since we just declared the coach ready for prime time we haven't given it much thought till you asked.

Aside from the rear upholstery and new carpeting, the majority of upgrades and work is behind the scenes. We added a new house battery system based on four Trojan L16 batteries, giving a total of 780 Ah of capacity. There is a Progressive Dynamics 70-amp charger for the house batteries as well as a battery-to-battery charger to allow charging from the chassis alternator while on the road. The last piece will be adding the Victron 150/85 MPPT charge controller and 480 watts of solar panels. The original dimmable 120v fluorescent lighting is still in place and working, and I've added LED 12v lighting throughout. The microwave is the original Thermador which actually works quite well. Two burner electric stove for cooking, and a Norcold DE707 dual voltage (12v/120v) fridge. The fridge will be upgraded to a Vitrifrigo whenever it gets here from Italy. (It was the only one that will slide into the current opening.) We recently took a one-night shakedown cruise, and in a few days we're heading to Black River Falls WI for the Ho Chunk Pow Wow. Free camping (no hookups) and a great chance to test out the dry camping ability of the coach. This will be our first real trip in the coach and we're very excited. We're hoping to make a long trip to the east coast later this spring, and then may head to New Mexico in early fall. Lots of local trips in between if things work out.

And a few more photos showing the back half of things...

We are nearing the end of the first stage of the updates/improvements we're making to our coach, so I thought it was time to post a few photos for others to see. We got this coach at the end of last fall, and it was a pleasant upgrade from our earlier 1964 coach. This coach was purchased in 1974 by the owner of Super Service Bus Company. He ordered it from GM without seats or restroom, and then had it sent directly from GM to Custom Coach in Ohio to be converted in his family's motor home. It saw only light use in the early years, and I believe spent most of its life in one of his company's garages. It came to us largely as you see it in the photos. Paint is original factory paint (in the Super Service livery colors) and the front upholstery is still original. I've reconfigured the rear parlor to have twin beds and a couch.

Agree that it's hard to say for certain without knowing what the mechanism looks like, but perhaps there is a place in the works where pieces of the framework pass by each other and it would be possible to drill a hole and insert a metal pin when you want to hold it still.

Oh...and I thought I was doing well when I got the new over-the-air antenna mounted... Thanks for helping me crawl into the current century.

Okay - as someone driving a vintage rig I was able to follow this thread until talk of a 'wally'. Anyone care to share?

Obviously there are exceptions to every rule. I do wonder if you presented that lower quote to the agent if they would have been able to match it. Odds are they'd rather have a tiny profit and a long-term customer than no customer at all. One difference for us is that our agent handle our homeowner's policy, our auto policies, our RV policy, and our two business policies. My guess is that having one agency for all the different insurance policies makes them more willing to push to get us better rates. No data to back that up, but it's been my impression the couple of times I've done comparisons.

We also have Progressive with a declared value of $60,000 and our premium is about $1200/yr. Given the fact that you're insuring a house with all the liability issues of a motor vehicle, and that you're insuring a motor vehicle with the value of a house, it doesn't sound out of bounds to me. If you have a relationship with an independent insurance agent have them shop around for a better rate. If you don't have a relationship with an independent agent, that would be the first thing I'd recommend. There are lots of company-specific places to get quotes, but if you work with an independent agent they have the ability to compare different company's offerings and make recommendations based on your needs and not on the sales goals of a specific carrier. We've been with the same agent for a over a decade and would never consider having a policy written directly from an insurance company again. When we had our accident last year, it was quite a blessing to have an agent on our side to help run interference with the carrier and work out a few problems. I'd be interested to find out if you're able to find less expensive coverage with the same benefits as you have with Progressive.

You might want to start by checking to see if your solar charge controller is connected and turned on. The panels usually connect to the charge controller, and this sends the charge to the batteries. There can be any number of circuit breakers or switches between, depending on your particular setup. Do you have the manual for the setup installed in your rig?

Electric or LP?

If you plan to leave the coach parked and not plugged in, it might be worth it to have manual on/off switches installed immediately next to the batteries (before any loads are connected) so that you can fully and totally shut things off. This will make it much easier to avoid problems. Or course, then you'll need to reset things like radio memory unless your radio is a newer one that retains settings without power. Not sure what else will need to be reset on a newer rig, so best to check your manual on that.

If the disconnect switch is 'on' then your battery is connected and power is being used. Power may be drawn from the engine battery as well if you have a 'battery bridge' (something designed to join the house/engine batteries for charging and/or starting with a weak battery). Do you have a manual for your coach? Perhaps there is information in the manual which would help figure this out?

I don't think it would be quicker or easier to replace the tank. So far, I've invested about 2 hours total to the tank repairs, and it looks like things will hold for now. I used the welding kit to close up the opened seam, and then added a wood brace to help take the side-ward pressure off the seam as we roll down the road. I wouldn't trust things to last for years, but they should be fine till the end of this season. Total investment in the plastic welding kit was about $75. To order tanks that will mate to the existing plumbing will take some careful measuring, and then I'll have to supply the company with detailed drawings. It's been more than a few days since my high school drafting class so that might take a few minutes longer than I'd like. Then I'll have to disconnect all the connections, reconnect, etc. etc. etc. I figure I'll spend about 3 hours prepping to place the order, and then another 3-4 hours installing them when they arrive. More if any of the black tank connections don't cooperate once they are opened. In the end I will get the tanks replaced, but given the cash flow getting all the other updates done this spring to the electronics bay I really need to let the budget rest for a while if I don't want to be traveling alone in the coach. It will be upwards of $1900 total for the tanks and expected plumbing parts.

Thanks for the note. I generally start all my searches for parts on the marine supply websites, not the RV sites. Custom Coach seemed to pull most of the house system parts from the marine world when they built out the coach, and I've found it best to start there looking for parts. You are correct, there are a number of AC/DC models out there. Our current unit is a Norcold DE 707, and I'm not really sure of the exact interior capacity but would guess that it's somewhere in the 5.5 to 6.0 cu ft range. It would have been easy to replace it with a smaller unit, but we really didn't want to lose capacity and down-size. The height is the biggest limiting factor, and there were only a couple of options out there. Unfortunately the basement a/c has its inside unit mounted above the fridge so we can't really grow upwards. It was clever what they did here - when it's hot enough to run the a/c it's also hot enough to cause problems for the fridge. The intake for the a/c shares the cavity with the fridge, and when the a/c is running it not only pulls air from the intake vent, it also pulls air up and around the fridge. This way there is a constant flow of air around the fridge whenever the a/c is on. I'm going to be adding another small 12v fan when I install the new fridge to be sure there is airflow even when the a/c is not running, like when we're boondocking. The Vitrifrigo DP150 was the closest to what we currently have in size, and will only require a slight modification. The height should fit in fine, and the width will require a small filler on each side. I was told by the sales guy at the marine supply who ordered this from us that this is a particularly oddball size which hasn't been used in years. Apparently this is the only unit out there that will basically slide it without having to do major mods to the cabinetry.

One other note about built-in GPS vs. stand-alone Garmin... In my car I paid about $1500 for the extra 'value' package to get the GPS built into the touch-screen media center. It was came with marginally ok maps and features. Problem was that the maps were only updated every 18 months or so, and that just wasn't going to work. The roads around here are in a constant state of construction and the 18-month update cycle caused the unit to send me to freeway ramps that no longer existed, roads that had long-ago been moved, and other problem areas. I ended up adding a Garmin to the car which gets new updates every few months. Same thing on our coach. I take the Garmin into the house every month and check for updates. If you do end up getting a combined unit, be sure to check the frequency and availability of map updates.

Or maybe just one of these : https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/flotool-measu-funnel-10704/89011616-p?c3ch=PLA&c3nid=89011616-P&adtype=pla_with_promotion&gclid=CjwKCAjw_tTXBRBsEiwArqXyMqPWaVsC821gyZjf6ZAhAboJLWK_VvbxqfsG3ZnCfAc_APx-gWKdfRoCH1gQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Sounds to me like a problem with the check valve in the fuel line that's allowing the fuel to flow back into the tank. Not sure where/if you model has a check valve, but the manual will hopefully have that information. If there is not one, it would not be that difficult to add one.

We recently upgraded the stereo in our coach to a new one and picked a unit with Bluetooth. That was easy, and any good auto sound shop should be able to handle that. Getting one with GPS also proved to be more difficult, and in the end I went with a stand alone Garmin 760 GPS. (I believe they've updated to a newer model since we bought ours) The main reason for choosing a stand alone GPS was that I wanted the ability to replace the GPS at a later date without having to replace the stereo with it. GPS technology seems to change and update much faster than for car stereos. The Garmin unit has the built-in RV features you're looking for - it's set up so that you enter the profile for your rig (weight, length, height, etc) and it programs routes for you with those factors in mind. I could not find a combined stereo/GPS unit that could do that.

Not sure about this. I've read more than a few threads on the FMCA forum about a/c units and the problems with them, including owners having to replace a/c units. Replacing a roof top unit is really quite simple and having to replace a gasket not difficult if you can find someone to help lift the unit. Whether an RV is new or 45 years old, there are always repairs to make and once they are out of warranty many people like to do things themselves.