Some other questions from "Rookie Ric"

[brysondrive]

Boy you guys are good with your answers to my last question about the 'mysterious'switches on my dash.

Next questions: ( Remember I am new and have never been to an RV park )

I am building a heated garage for my Dutchstar for the winter months, I live Norhern Canada and it can get to -40 so I don't want to store it outside and worry about draining everthing etc, plus expansion and contractions screwing things up and also the chalking of the exterior. It wil parked for about 7 to 8 months, should I start it from time to time or is the deisel engine okay to just sit there and not run for such a long time?? If you recommend I start it from time to time how often?? The engine is a Cummins.

Also, the RV has a 50 amp power cord, is it 50amps and 240 volts or is it 50amps at 120 volts, I am installing an outlet in the garage to plug it in and do some puttering over the winter months.

That is it for now..............more to come I am sure!!

Thanks to everyone, you have all provide great advice..

Ric, Yellowknife, Northwest Terrotories, Canada

ps. Have any of you been to my part of the country, it is really great in the summer! Land of the midnight sun, it is 10:20pm and stil bright!

 

[Ned]

I would change the oil just before parking for the winter and leave it.  Unless you can drive the motorhome periodically far enough to completely heat up the engine, it's better to not run it at all.

Your 50A power is actually 2 50A legs of 120V each, normally wired so there is 240V across the 2 hot legs.  If you aren't sure of this, get an electrician to wire the outlet for you.  If you wire it incorrectly you can cause a lot of damage to the coach.

You may want to run the generator once a month with a load on it and get it completely warm, even if you can't drive the coach.

 

[Tom]

You likely have 50A, 240 volts hookup. Look at the 14-50R option in this diagram to see how it's wired. It's unlikely that you have any 240V appliances in your RV and the loads are shared between the two 120V legs. So one option might be for you to install a 30A, 120V receptacle and use an adapter.

The diesel engine should be started once or twice a month, but it preferably needs to be run for a while.

 

[BernieD]

According to Cummins, as presented at the last two engine seminars that I attended, Cummins recommends changing the oil after the winter, rather than before. This is primarlily applicable to the newer electrlonic engines. Also, the recommendation is not to start the engine the entire time it is in storage. On the other hand, both Freightliner and Spartan recommend starting the engine at least monthly and moving the coach 25-30 feet forward and backward.

 

[brysondrive]

Thanksfor the advice on the 120/240 volt, I wasn't sure if there were any devices in the RV that would have need 240v accept the a/c. But that is not the case.

I will ensure I store it properly

So thanks for the widsom.


Talk to you soon


Ric