Advancing Alvar

[Hein]

Hello Davydd,

Glad to hear that you are having a great time in your new RV.

You mention that you have experienced charge rates of over 200A and you also say that the auxiliary alternator is grounded to the chassis with a short 4/0 cable. That means you are passing that current through the chassis on it's way to the coach batteries. What does the coach battery ground look like? Is it OK to have the body passing that much current? I am curious if the connections to the body warm up when under full charge.

[mlts22]

Originally Posted by avanti

Actually, macerators are quite susceptible to freeze damage. Pattonsr's suggested COA is well-advised.

I never thought of this, and this is something quite worth noting, because I was looking at having a macerator pump installed. Guess I'll stay with a portable unit.

[markopolo]

Originally Posted by Hein

Hello Davydd,

Glad to hear that you are having a great time in your new RV.

You mention that you have experienced charge rates of over 200A and you also say that the auxiliary alternator is grounded to the chassis with a short 4/0 cable. That means you are passing that current through the chassis on it's way to the coach batteries. What does the coach battery ground look like? Is it OK to have the body passing that much current? I am curious if the connections to the body warm up when under full charge.

This link http://www.w8ji.com/negative_lead_to_battery.htm is a good read re: using the vehicle's chassis/body/frame/subframe etc for the negative ground.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by mlts22

I never thought of this, and this is something quite worth noting, because I was looking at having a macerator pump installed. Guess I'll stay with a portable unit.

I wouldn't go that far. IMO, having a completely sealed no-mess system is the best reason to have a macerator. It is no big deal: just pour some pink stuff down the drain (which you want to do anyway if your sink has a trap), open the gray dump valve, and run the macerator for a second until the output turns pink. No sweat. Not complicated, but not "over-thinking" either.

[mlts22]

The nice thing about a macerator pump for me is the ability to move sewage uphill. For a van that is low to the ground, this sure beats "walking" the stuff in the pipes.

[Hein]

Originally Posted by markopolo

This link http://www.w8ji.com/negative_lead_to_battery.htm is a good read re: using the vehicle's chassis/body/frame/subframe etc for the negative ground.

Thank you for the informative link. Our DIY van has 500Ah of AGM batteries and I would consider Lithium Ion when those need to be replaced. We are held to a fairly low charge rated by using a Magnum SBC. There are occasions when more charging current would be great but shouldn't need to exceed 50A for our batteries. 200Amps and up seems to be approaching a level where the frame and the possibility of hot spots where conduction is not so good (spot welds and adhesive bonds) should be considered. I am sure Advanced has done that and I am curious how the house bank is grounded to the chassis.

[Davydd]

You would have to ask ARV about grounding. It is beyond my expertise and concern really. All I know is we are charging at an observed rate of about 240 ah max so far. It goes down once you approach full charge. This morning we charged I am estimating about 186 ah in one hour driving 40 miles inside Joshua Tree NP. By the time we hit I-10 and could drive 70 mph we were fully charged.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by avanti

Actually, macerators are quite susceptible to freeze damage. Pattonsr's suggested COA is well-advised.

To put the subject of macerators to bed I was wondering about this. The macerator is ahead of the tank valves toward the drain. So when the tanks are empty we turn off the macerator and close the valves. If there is any water left it still gravity and empties a bit. Then if you fill the tanks again you are not flooding the macerator with closed valves.

Today we had the opportunity to compare macerator dumping to gravity dumping. We pulled up to a dual dump station at the exact same time as an RV trailer with a high outlet. We were able to complete our operation and have everything put away while he was still rinsing his slinky. I know slinky gravity operations very well and he knew what he was doing. It made me a macerator convert as I wasn't even using rubber gloves.

[booster]

You may want to change your dumping procedure a little bit. Over the years of messing with our macerator, and with others having problems, it appears that leaving macerator inlet unflooded can be a bad idea. It can dry out in the higher areas of the pump and get sticky, possibly causing premature damage to the impeller. Folks that have changed procedure have reported that everything seems to work better.

Dump as usual

Shut off pump, close valves

Mix your gallon or more of treatment, preferably the digesting type like Happy Camper

Poor it in the black tank

Open the black tank valve to fill the area of the pump to valve with "clean" water and treatment. Close the black valve. The pump will stay unstuck and start much easier and fully primed.

The pump will also get a running start on all the thick stuff coming out of the bottom of the black tank when you dump it first.

[Davydd]

Update report. This is our 34th night on the road. 25 of those nights have been boondocking nights. The most we have run our battery down in an overnight situation was about 200ah out of 600ah before a programmed autogen would kick in. Needless to day we are not coming close to ever using the autogen. Typically we would brew up to 4 cups of coffee on the Keurig, run the microwave and most often use the induction cooktop for up to 30 minutes. We have had the heater on a few nights. Basically we went about as if plugged into shore power. On a typical day we would fully recharge our batteries in under one hour of driving the next day. When we stayed in Joshua Tree NP just driving around in the park recharged. Solar helped but seems insignificant in the low winter sun short days.

The other thing is we have 40 gallons of fresh water, a 26 gallon grey tank and an 18 gallon black tank. We dumped February 14th, February 24th and today March 5th. Those are 10 day intervals. Tanks today were 41% Fresh water left, grey tank at 78% full and black tank 61% full when we dumped. We could have gone another night longer but we know the next few nights will be boondocking with no facilities. We are pretty pleased with those results.

We are loving the freedom Alvar is bringing. We have driveway, street, backyard, overflow state park campground (parking lot), Casino parking lots including on the Las Vegas Strip,Walmart, Cracker Barrel and BLM land dispersed desert camped. We have also camped in some expensive full hookup campgrounds in Sedona and San Diego. Tonight we are in a remote national forest campground I doubt anything bigger than a B or truck camper could get into. It is a great campground. 28 campsites and only three of us here.

[gordonhks]

David,

Thanks for the update. Sounds like the project is a success.

[pattonsr]

David,

Your trip report has me thinking about the need for solar at all. The second alternator is recharging so fast that the solar contribution is probably not needed (especially in low winter sun). Rather than parking in the direct sun in the summer for solar, a short drive would probably do the job allowing one to park in the shade.

Do you notice any extra noise from the second alternator? I know over a year ago ARV tested the MIPS system and the alternator fan provided in their system produced an awful whine. ARV kept looking and I believe what they use now is the Nations 270 amp alternator.

[Arlo]

Thanks for the detailed report, Davydd. Very interesting. On the electrical side, your experience is very similar to my almost 2 years with an E-trek, especially how rapidly driving recharges the battery bank. What I don't understand is how you go 10 days on a 26 gallon grey tank. We (2 people) can go only about 3 or max 4 days before our 20 gallon grey tank is full. Are you dining out or not showering in your van, or what? Delighted that you are pleased with your purchase.

[booster]

Hi Arlo, good to hear how the etrek is doing. I assume you have AGM batteries, so they will accept as much charge rate as the charging sources you have can supply it, but how does the etrek handle the 2-4 hours that the AGM battery makers want at held voltage to get them full on a regular basis (not every charge, but pretty often).

[Arlo]

Booster - yes, I have the 8 AGMs. There is a 30 amp circuit in my garage that I plug into every few weeks for a day or two to top off the batteries. Seems to work fine - saw 25.7 volts yesterday after being unplugged overnight (24v system). When camped with shore power available I usually don't bother plugging in unless we intend to stay for a few days and will be using the AC appliances.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by Arlo

Thanks for the detailed report, Davydd. Very interesting. On the electrical side, your experience is very similar to my almost 2 years with an E-trek, especially how rapidly driving recharges the battery bank. What I don't understand is how you go 10 days on a 26 gallon grey tank. We (2 people) can go only about 3 or max 4 days before our 20 gallon grey tank is full. Are you dining out or not showering in your van, or what? Delighted that you are pleased with your purchase.

Good water management from 40 years of tent camping.

We take showers in the B but we have a shower nozzle with a deadman handle like a garden hose and not the awkward push buttons we had on our two previous Bs. That alone saves a lot of water as does the fast hot water on demand. We have mastered the Navy shower. I was in the US Navy. We have no hang ups using campground showers and facilities.

We make use of baby wipes for quick cleanup and hand sanitizer.

My wife insists on washing her hair every day. I put up with that.

We use paper plates, plastic utensils and disposable cups liberally. We prepare a lot of one pot meals on this trip using our electric induction cooktop and now a lot of frozen vegetables come in microwavable bags. We liberally use our electricity as we have more to spare. Dish cleanup is minimal.

In addition to our 40 gallon tank we carry 3-4 gallons of fresh water in the kitchen for drinking, coffee and cooking. That's my wife's fetish.

My favorite campsites are private ones away from others with lots of bushes in need of watering.

[Davydd]

I just checked my log. We are on our 12th straight day without electrical hookups. We just simply don't need them. The only reason for 12 is because we spent two nights in metro San Diego in a luxury RV resort right on their trolly line we made use of to get around to see the city. The second day we decided to drive the B to the zoo anyway as it turned out to be more convenient.

We are saving bucks forgoing electrical and getting into campgrounds. We are at Seminole Canyon SP, TX now in oddly the nicer and newer pull through sites because the electrical sites were full up. I asked. The sites were intended for big rigs but funding for electrical was pulled. Wasteful in a way.

Last night we were in Chisos Basin CG in Big Bend NP. The only RV bigger than ours was the campground host trailer. They recommend nothing over 26 feet negotiate the steep switchback road to get there.

The night before we were in Aguirre Spring BLM campground east of Las Cruces, NM that was even more limiting. The so called B+s would have a difficult time.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by pattonsr

David,

Your trip report has me thinking about the need for solar at all. The second alternator is recharging so fast that the solar contribution is probably not needed (especially in low winter sun). Rather than parking in the direct sun in the summer for solar, a short drive would probably do the job allowing one to park in the shade.

Do you notice any extra noise from the second alternator? I know over a year ago ARV tested the MIPS system and the alternator fan provided in their system produced an awful whine. ARV kept looking and I believe what they use now is the Nations 270 amp alternator.

Barry,

They use a Nations alternator. You have to factory order the Mercedes Benz N62 bracket for aux. alternator. You don't notice any additional sound. The sound I worry about is the Espar diesel heater under the floor. It sounds like a jet engine getting ready to take off. You don't hear it inside but it is loud outside. We were next to two tent campers last night so I turned the heat down as low as I could get it lower than the overnight of 45. I suppose I could have turned it off completely but I didn't know what the temperature was going to get down to. The night before we got down to 30.

[Arlo]

Originally Posted by Davydd

Good water management from 40 years of tent camping.

You da man (and da woman). If I adopted those techniques I might be able to make it to a week. In large part because my spouse would choose not to travel with me. Yours is a real B-van trooper.

[gordonhks]

Last night we were in Chisos Basin CG in Big Bend NP. The only RV bigger than ours was the campground host trailer. They recommend nothing over 26 feet negotiate the steep switchback road to get there.

Chisos Basin, has to be in our top 5 of campgrounds ever. How did you like it?