2008 roadtrek electrical q's

[mangomike]

We have just returned from a 3 month, 6k mile trip to Colorado ,from Florida.
No Major problems, But, some Q's about different systems have come up.
We are trying to figure out what you can run with what.
We are sort of familiar with the 3 electrical stytems (Ac shore power,DC, from vehicle and generator) from years of boating ,but which systems can you run together?
So, here is our main Q
can you run your generator (and air conditioning) while the vehicle (Chevy engine) is runing? Will doing this, hurt the house batterys or anything else?
We asked the sales person when we bought the Van ,and he said yes BUT he also told us things that we have sence learned are not true!
Thanks in advance for any help
Michael

[mangomike]

My Rig is a 210 popular so, 2008 Roadtrek 210 popular on Chevy chassis
m

[Doneworking]

I have a 2007 RT 210 and my experience is that running the KoolKat on the generator running down the road hurts nothing. But why do it?

Our dash air keeps the whole cabin cool when driving and we live in a part of the country that is very familiar with hot summers of 100 F. One benefit about using the AC and generator is that it does keep the gen exercised which is important if you don't want problems. They are truly use it or it will cause problems pieces of equipment.

[mangomike]

Doneworking, thanks for the reply.
Yes ,I agree that the dash air keeps the front cool while travling. But in the hot places like Ok,NM,AZ ect or hot / humid climates our experance is that for the first hour or two after ariving at a camp site the front heats up,way up. I think this is from the engine and especially from transmission heat .
So, a cpuple of RVres we have met along the way said they run both for the last half hour of the drive, chilling the unit down, and while setting up. We wanted to try this. Which leads me to an other question. Can you run shore power/air while your vehicle/dash air is running?
Thanks
Michael

[booster]

Have you tried opening the hood when you stop in your site. It can really help reduce the heat soak from the engine and transmission.

[Doneworking]

I can run the vehicle with the shore power connected. Like you, Michael, I find that the front of the rig gets hot after a long drive in hot weather.and stopping and plugging in to shore power.

I do what booster suggests: open the hood to help disperse all that heat. Like you said, however, most of the heat seems to come from the transmission as opposed to the engine. I am not sure there is a really good solution to that problem other than opening the hood, at least if there is I have never found it.

[mkguitar]

monitoring functions last night, my tranny temp 190º ish


so yes that throws heat into cabin after we park


I use reflectix window covers in the front.


when driving, we stack them in the area between the seats & put the dogs bed on top. seems to help shield us ( and dog) from the heat


Mike

[SteveJ]

We opened the hood, shut off the engine and would run the genny for 45-60 minutes to remove the heat soak.

My thinking is that sitting still to run the engine AC creates more heat than it removes. The engine and exhaust heat just sitting in one place idling really sets up a baking situation.

Some figures and speculation. The dash AC puts out what, 30k BTUs/hour, perhaps less at idle? The engine idling for an hour burning about three quarts of gasoline will put out over 100k BTUs/hour, a lot of that dumped under the van.

[mangomike]

Yep, we pop the hood and that helps, hot air rising and all.
it just seem like there is a lot of retained heat ,,,, the metal strip that holds the carpet is in the tranny area and it gets hot enough to fry eggs on!
I'm more trying to figure out what electric systems I can run at the same time , for AC reasons but also I would like to be sure I don't mess up something ,,batteries, frig, etc. Sounds like vehicle engine and shore power or genny are OK???
Thanks for all the replys
Michael

[chet]

Help!!? Please.
I have a Victron 712 smart BMV. All was fine until I upgraded the smartphone and now I cannot pair the device to the phone. I contacted Victron and their reply was that the unit is still paired with the old phone. However I factory reset the old one before shipping it off. Anyone have a solution to resolve this?
It would save me much grief and heartache.
I disconnected the shunt from the battery and tried to reinstall to no avail.

[Karl Jensen]

In addition to opening the hood you could try putting a small fan under the vehicle to cool the transmission faster.
Karl

[mangomike]

You might want to post your Q by Its self.
the Q is kind of off topic

[mangomike]

Sorry
above post to Chet
m