Need CC Allure Help

[tpp1971]

Hello. My family and I have joined the MH ranks with the recent purchase of a 2003 Country Coach Allure. We live in the Portland, Oregon area. This has been a learning process for us.......who am I kidding.....for me. My wife and boys think we just show up, get in and go! The pressure of not knowing what I don't know is intimidating but I will take it a day at a time.

Right now I am attempting to get my arms around the basics. Some immediate questions I have relate to:

1) Tips on maintaining/cleaning and dumping of my black water/gray water tanks.
2) My storage center has provisions for shore power. It is 15 amp I believe. Is this enough to do any good for charging my batteries while not using the coach? What do most of you guys do when leaving your coach for 1-3 weeks without use? Currently all I do is turn off the chassis power and turn off the main house switch at the entrance of the coach. So far so good. I am a bit concerned however as yesterday I dropped the coach off at Roadmaster to have my towbar installed. When I picked it up a day and 1/2 later my batteries were drained and I had to connect a small charger to the coach battery to turn over the ignition. The guys at Roadmaster must have left something on. Is this normal - that the batteries would completely drain after 12-16 hours of "something" being left on?

Anyway, sorry for the long post. I look forward to your professional input!

Tpp1971

 

[Steve CDN]

Hi TPP and welcome to the RV Forum!

You may find some insights into dealing with your holding tanks in this Forum discussion.

As for your 15 amp connection, it should be sufficient to maintain your batteries.? Check your battery control board, to see if there might be some changes to the settings for the 15 amp connection.? The default setting may cause the converter to draw power as though it were connected to a 50 amp supply.

Consider leaving your refrigerator on while in storage along with your battery charger.? Leave a gallon of water or a dozen soft drinks in the fridge to create a load.? By leaving the fridge always on, it is my opinion the colling unit will last longer because condensation and corrosion will not form.

In what type of facility will you be storing your coach..indoors, outdoors??

Let us know if you need further info.

 

[tpp1971]

The current storage facility is outdoor/covered.

I am considering using inside/temp controlled. I want to be able to use the coach during our Oregon winter and not deal with winterizing. By storing inside in temp controlled facility will this keep me from needing to do much as it relates to winterizing?

Thanks.

 

[Steve CDN]

The least that I would do with regards to winter storage, even indoors, since power failures can occur, would be to empty the water system then blow out the remainder using a compressor.

The most vulnerable parts for freezing damage are the electric fresh water pump, which should be emptied manually, the solenoid in the ice maker, and the toilet vacuum breaker valve.  The hot water heater should be emptied as well.

If there is a risk of mice or vermin, block openings like refrigerator, hot water and dryer vents where they can enter the coach.

Of course if you leave the coach plugged in and leave the fridge running, the fridge vent should not be blocked.

 

[Terry A. Brewer]

<< that the batteries would completely drain after 12-16 hours of "something" being left on?<<

If you leave your inverter on it draws about 5 amps per hr...120 amps per day. Your house? batteries will be drained in a couple of days. Make sure you set your inverter control panel to 15 amp source as bulk charging when your batteries are low will draw more than 20+ amps. Your chassis batteries should not have anything on them unless CC gas changed it in later years so I don't know why your chassis batteries were dead...Did you hold the battery boost switch on for about a minute before you tried starting it, if your house batteries were at decent charge your engine should have started.


Terry
At Yuma, AZ
1999 CC Magna

 

[tpp1971]

Thanks for the tips everyone. I think I left the inverter on and had it set at 30amps. I misunderstood the instructions at the pdi. This is most likely what drained the batteries??

So Terry, when I have my coach hooked up to 15 amp service at the storage facility does it do me any good? Is there a special setting I need to have my inverter set at? I am assuming it is similar to the setup on your Magna. If not then should I just turn the inverter completely off?

I'm confusing myself know. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Terry A. Brewer]

Tpp

>>So Terry, when I have my coach hooked up to 15 amp service at the storage facility does it do me any good? Is there a special setting I need to have my inverter set at? I am assuming it is similar to the setup on your Magna. If not then should I just turn the inverter completely off?<<


Assuming your batteries are nearly charged up when you put it in storage & you have your inverter panel set for 15 amp sharing... you will be alright on 15 amp service. Turn your inverter off, if you lose shore power with the inverter on it will drain your batteries suppling the coach with AC power.

Terry
At Yuma, AZ