Power distribution time 83 holiday rambler

[Potatochip P30]

  When you say "hot start assist" - are you talking about the aux start system with the button on the dash? That really is a system you want to keep intact as it can save your bum one day when you have a dead chassis battery or dead house battery and need to start genset- which you do not have anymore - it's a stupid simple setup that works well.

The hot start solenoid is something else you want to keep intact -The high heat from the exhaust causes high resistance in the coil wires of the solenoid and will not actuate when heat soaked. The heat soak issue has nothing to do with smog motor timing as it still happens to to people who got rid of the smog crap and brought timing up.  You probably have 2 awg wire from the contactor to the starter and that really is plenty enough up to 107 inches long - 3/0 is way overkill will not fix any hot start issue and you will hate yourself trying to bend and run it. Replacing that 200 pound old style 10MT starter for the newer mini gear reduction starter is a good mod to combat the heat soak plus you will thank yourself if you ever have to change one on the side of the road = 10 pounds

 Honestly you are going backwards trying to make everything 110 volts - push to keep everything 12v much as possible and use the 110 for the AC and other small appliances. You are going to be hammering your battery bank more than you have to running the inverter all the time. If your 3 way fridge is still working why get rid of it? again you will have to have that inverter running all the time just to power the fridge
 Shitcan the lead acids batteries and go with the Lifepo4 batteries -  One 200 ah battery is only 48 pounds and will get 10 times the lifespan of a lead acid. Also do not think you are going to get away scott free without a generator so you may want to reserve some of that generator compartment room for a small Honda suitcase genny - it's just a fact of life. You will have times with several days of cloudy weather and need to charge your battery bank if shore power is not available.
 
   Battery bank.... fuse it with a classt T fuse rated for your cable, fuse the line from the house batteries to the DC distribution terminals and you are golden - I am running a 300 amp fuse after the battery thru 4/0 cable to my inverter and a 150 amp for the house feed- 2awg.   

[Mlw]

3/0 is way overkill will not fix any hot start issue and you will hate yourself trying to bend and run it.

You are actually right. I doubled the figure        My apologies.

[Eyez Open]

Lots of information here..A plethora of insights. It's time for a brief foundation for my thoughts..notice the "thoughts" on this RV and not implementation.

The RV i have came with a genset that produced 6500 watts and 50+ amps of voltage. When off the grid one plugged the shore power directly into the genset, which was more than capable of running the entire power demands of the RV..with room to spare. The RV was designed to run off a.c., the DC was merely a luxury feature..after thought. Two 12 volt batteries used to power up the system is quite self evident. The 12 volt system depends on the A.C. driven converter to keep its functionality. I should also note the 12volt lines are 40yrs old and have been exposed to outdoor environment  for that period...read deterioration. The AC lines appear brand new, they are not cracked or dried out in the slightest, it's quite interesting to open up the walls in a 40 yr old RV and there is absolutely no evidence of the time that has passed.


I'm trying to paint a picture here, I do not mean to sound harsh, nor a know it all. I fully anticipate voltage loss, the planned battery pack will be able to power my needs. Next up heat soak/ engine timing and of course..

Actually this is power thread, I will take heating to another topic.
bandaids.. and again I will openly state I am a terrible blogger.

[Mlw]

Well, I think we gave you enough food for thought. But it's your RV of course and you are the one traveling it, so at the end, of course it is up to you 😊

[Eyez Open]

I very much appreciate that information to. Due to this recent thread activity I've taken some time to stick my nose into the energy  switching technology, it reminds me of a time long ago..HiFi stereo type of thing..Class A Power Mosfet...Class D..etc etc etc. 

Pure Sinewave brought a chuckle, for now it's on hold. I just need to get up to speed so I can intelligentally engage with my son...He's a environmental engineer  so this should be interesting.