2008 Tiffin Allegro FRED 32LA

BETTER AND BETTER, JUST KEEPS GOING UP!

On the latest leg of our trip to Pahrump, NV, over 461 miles of hilly terrain, I averaged 9.519 MPH with the new coach. I have also noticed the price of diesel coming down over our journey, could it be the greedy oil future speculators are getting cold feet?

WOW! It took you over 2 days to go 461 miles? Must have been some pretty big mountains!

I know you meant MPG; not MPH. Thanks for the chuckle.

Hi Ya Bruce...... Have been following your FRED Thread CLOSELY cuz we're thinking NOW IS THE TIME........ Our Beaver doesn't get the MPG'd and it's larger than we need.  With Tiffin's reputation, quality of merchandise, warranty, and price that has been reported by yourself and others coupled with current markets, we think Tiffin is the way to go......... But, I was wondering.......... With your Honda TOAD and getting close to 10MPG (not broken in YET), which Honda do you have and what is it's Curb Weight?  We use a Jeep GC, Curb Weight of 4400#'s !!!!!  Your comments will be appreciated .......  Thanks, Marty 

raze said:

Hi Ya Bruce...... Have been following your FRED Thread CLOSELY cuz we're thinking NOW IS THE TIME........ Our Beaver doesn't get the MPG'd and it's larger than we need.  With Tiffin's reputation, quality of merchandise, warranty, and price that has been reported by yourself and others coupled with current markets, we think Tiffin is the way to go......... But, I was wondering.......... With your Honda TOAD and getting close to 10MPG (not broken in YET), which Honda do you have and what is it's Curb Weight?  We use a Jeep GC, Curb Weight of 4400#'s !!!!!  Your comments will be appreciated .......  Thanks, Marty 

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Thank you Marty, there would have been a little more to read in this thread, but I've become gun-shy about new posts lately. Prior to leaving on RV2008 this May, I scaled the new RV combo at a local Flying J. The toad is a 2006 Honda Element, EX-P. It had a full tank of fuel and we packed everything we could fit into the back; it's amazing what you can get into a compact SUV! The "combined gross" registered 25,180 pounds, the Honda contributed an even 3600 pounds to the total.
When we head back to Florida this September, I plan to take the southern route. I'm fairly confident with less mountains to climb, I can "bury" 10 MPG on the homebound trip - time will tell.
The one amazing, consistant fact about owning this Tiffin product, is that I can't find another owner who has ANYTHING bad to say about the company; I have talked to many and can't find one.

BALANCING AIR-CONDITIONING w/ 2 SEPARATE AC's

We have been coming to this campground in Pahrump, NV, during the summer months for about 6 years. This is our first summer with the new Tiffin motorhome. The main A/C in 15,000 BTU and the bedroom is 13,500 BTU, each AC has its own thermostat. I wasn't having too much success keeping the front of the motorhome comfortable. It was a little above 100 degrees outside. The front of the motorhome could do no better than 87 degrees, while the back was a chilly 78 degrees and the bathroom was absolutely frigid, or so it seemed. I tried in vain to adjust the independent thermostats, but couldn't do much better. The drivers side of the coach has 9 ceiling registers, the passenger side has 7. The 9 on the drivers side are the inputs and have a sponge filter in each. The 7 on the passenger side are the cold air output. There are 2 in the back bedroom, 1 in the bath and 4 in the front, see the 1st photo. First I tried adding the filter sponges to the cold air output, but this did little to redistribute the air flow.
I hit pay dirt when I decided to cut cardboard cut-outs to fit the output register, see 2nd photo. The bathroom was so cold, I put a full cut-out in the register, to effectively shut the vent off. The rear one in the bedroom I initially did the same way. This left one unaltered in the bedroom that actually blew into two rooms, the bath and the bedroom. By the kitchen stove (front warmer side), the vent nearest to the stove blew on the gas flames and caused us minor problems heating water. In this vent I put a half circle that effectively shut off the draft on the range. With this set up much more cold air was moved forward. The improvement in the front was felt most, it lowered the temperature 5 degrees to 82. The bath was perfect and the rear bedroom was just a little warm. I removed the full cut-out from the back of the bedroom and cut about 1 inch of the circle off, see 3rd photo. Today it is 104 outside and both the front and back of the motorhome are a comfortable 83 degrees.

Nice job, Bruce, and good report. Crappy air distribution is a fairly common problem in RV a/c systems - they are designed to put ducts and outlets in where they can, not on how to heat/cool the space properly and efficiently.

RV Roamer said:

Nice job, Bruce, and good report. Crappy air distribution is a fairly common problem in RV a/c systems - they are designed to put ducts and outlets in where they can, not on how to heat/cool the space properly and efficiently.

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Thank you, you will notice as the day went on things improved, see photo. The time displayed on the Indoor/Outdoor temperature gage, is Florida, east coast time. It can't get much better -  I reported my fuel economy is on the rise and now my air-conditioning temperature is on the decline!

Getting the coach to stay at 83 degrees in Pahrump in July is an outstanding accomplishment. In Death Valley, we pretty much had to move out of the RV and into an apartment about the time the temp hit 105....which was usually in April

Congratulations on your perseverance and success !

Wendy

wendycoke said:

Getting the coach to stay at 83 degrees in Pahrump in July is an outstanding accomplishment. In Death Valley, we pretty much had to move out of the RV and into an apartment about the time the temp hit 105....which was usually in April

Congratulations on your perseverance and success !

Wendy

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Thank you Wendy, but all the credit should go to Mr. Tiffin. In 2006 in this very park in Pahrump, we started thinking seriously about getting our first motorhome. We visited the owners of three different motorhomes, a Newmar, Fleetwood and a Tiffin Allegro Bus. The Tiffin bus was so much cooler than any of the others, it was just one of many positives that we filed away in our brains. When the time came to buy it was no contest, Tiffin has impressed us so many times, we didn't look anywhere else.
We have had this coach about 10 months. With all that has happened, if we had to choose again, Tiffin would be the one. I'm pretty sure all makers use similar AC's, it has to be the insulation and the way the motorhome is constructed that makes the difference.

IOTA DC CONVERTER, Model DLS-M 55

All the lights in a motorhome are 12 VDC and are supplied by the house battery(ies). All of the electronic controls for the motorhome appliances, run on 12 VDC and are supplied by the same house batteries. The DC Converter is necessary for two reasons: 1/ When your motorhome is plugged into 120 volts AC, the DC Converter take over the duty of the house batteries, supplying up to 55 amps (ours) of current for the DC circuits.  2/ It provides a charging capability for the house batteries. While it is taking over the duty of the house batteries, it also supplies them with 13.6 volts DC. This 13.6 volts is commonly referred to as a "trickle charge." It is a low-voltage charge capable of keeping the batteries at approximately 80 percent of charge. If you want to increase the charge level of the house batteries, you must increase this charge voltage. Our DC converter has this ability with one drawback, it is not regulated as with a battery charger.
The conventional battery charger has a circuit that automatically regulates this charge level. As the batteries charge level increases, the regulator circuit reduces the voltage; when the batteries are fully charged, the charger usually turns off.
The IOTA DC Converter in our motorhome is model no. DLS-M. It is rated to deliver up to 55 amps at 12 volts DC, the "M" is for "manual" charging. If you insert the "two-step voltage JACK" into its socket, it will increase the charging output voltage from 13.6 VDC  to 14.2 VDC. This .6 volt increase is all that is necessary to charge the batteries to 100 percent; charging at this higher rate consumes more water. To use the manual charge ability, you need a battery hydrometer to measure the charge rate of each cell, and the formula to calculate the charge time. If you DC converter has this ability, do yourself a favor and get a good quality 10 amp automotive battery charger and forget about this manual charging.
Of the three attached photos, two show the DC Converter voltage output(s), with the JACK in and out. The third photo just shows where I store this JACK.
Water consumption: We left Florida on May 16th, both house batteries were full. The batteries were charged every day, either at a campground, or while driving. Today, July 3rd, each battery cell took about 6 ounces of water, I would guess that the cells were about half empty; OR half full, depending on your viewpoint.

That seems like a high water usage rate.  Is that normal for a rig on the road? 

Gordon

Gordon - Yes, it does seem fairly high, though not wildly so. Water consumption will vary depending on the rate and frequency of charging and that  in turn depends on how the coach is used.

Bruce - you may want to get the IQ Smart Charger for your Iota. That will convert it to a three stage charger that manages the charging more efficiently. It plugs into the same jack as the Dual Voltage thingie but uses some "smarts" instead of just cranking up the voltage. As I recall it isn't real expensive, something like $30 or so. And a lot cheaper than a "good quality automotive charger" cause you are going to have to spend well a over a hundred bucks to get a 10A-15A charger of better quality than the Iota even without the IQ module.

The water I added to these house batteries, is normal for the way and where we travel. During the normal operation of house batteries water is lost, the water loss is increased during charging; heat is another factor.
If you consider that our batteries have been charging every day since we left, either by the motorhome alternator or while plugged into a campground, I don't consider the amount of water I added excessive. Also we spend most of our summers in the dessert, where it not only is hot, but it's very dry.
My 10 amp battery charger is 30 years old and didn't cost me that much. It is my opinion, that the Smart Charger is better suited for a motorhome, that is always connected to shore power, and one that sits for long periods of time without being driven; like all winter in storage. Our Tiffin never sits longer than one month at any time. Besides, if I had one of those gizmo's (Smart Charger) for everything, what would I have to do?

I like a robust battery charger, especially one that can stand on its own feet.  ;D ;D

carson said:

I like a robust battery charger, especially one that can stand on its own feet.  ;D ;D

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You must have a very LARGE storage area!  :
One of the points I forgot to stress in my last reply, was that I don't carry the battery charger to routinely charge the house batteries; for me the DC Converter does an adequate job, for most situations.  I want the battery charger for the unforeseen battery problems that can surprise you at any time. My modest battery charger, combined with the 6KW Onan generator, will enable me to make it to an area, where I can get parts or help, should any battery problem arise.

Bruce, I was just kidding.. I have the proper charging system as well - 3 stage- but carry a Sears manual along as well, just in case. It's small and have never had to use it yet.

Have a nice weekend
carson FL

As we learned in Mexico two winters ago when the voltage gets below 100v or so and it is too low to use we unplug our shore power and plug in our battery charger to keep the batteries up.

When we need 120VAC we use the inverter.

carson said:

Bruce, I was just kidding.. I have the proper charging system as well - 3 stage- but carry a Sears manual along as well, just in case. It's small and have never had to use it yet.

Have a nice weekend
carson FL

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With that "smilEEE" with rolling eyes, you think I took you serious?  : : :

10.24 MPG

I 40 East through Arizona and New Mexico are exactly flat! Getting this mileage there, I now feel I can do even better - time will tell! ;D

10.643 MPG
My last fill up after getting home at our local the Flying J produced the above number. Before we departed on RV2008, I purchased one of every filter I needed for this motorhome. I did this because a good percentage of those filters, hang precariously low on the chassis. I wanted extras in case something in the roadway damaged one of them.
I like to shop for these items Online where I can usually get what I need at a lower price. I also enjoy having the mechanize shipped directly to my home. Before we left, I purchased all these filters at my local Freightliner Service Center. Since that time I found www.filters1.com. Of the filters they stocked, their prices beat Freightliner. Combined this with no local sales tax and free shipping for orders over $50.00, and it is a win, win situation.