Chad Heiser

On 4/16/2024 at 6:34 AM, lappir said:

Where were you in Oklahoma? Rolling Retreats? I'd hoped to get "Flex Armor" on my drome box roof, but things are preventing that this time. Maybe after the HDT Rally in the Fall. 

I rode there a month or so ago to buy a water pump. Longer ride than I thought it would be, but I had the time. Next time I'll stay away from the 4 lane roads. 

Rod

Yes I was at Rolling Retreats.  We stopped in to say hello to friends and get some maintenance work done on the trailer.

23 hours ago, Larry and Robin said:

Ya, I was right at the limit of 21k on that truck, but had to get it home. I’ve had an F450 King Ranch on order for almost a year and we have a fleet account.

I would love to talk with you about solar and the existing battery setup when you have the chance.

I’m traveling home from Oklahoma for the next couple of days, but after that will be available.  My contact information is on my website (in my signature).

14 hours ago, Larry and Robin said:

Well here an update for us: we purchased a 2021 DRV MX450 in March and got it home with my 2017 F350 SRW. Uneventful but certainly could have used a bugger truck. The trailer pulled fine completely empty, but took it easy 60-65 mph and drove very defensively.

You are much braver than me.  I wouldn’t even consider towing my MX450 with a single rear wheel pick up.  Ours weighed 21500 lbs the day I drove it off the dealer lot before I put a single thing in it (I know because I took it straight to a CAT scale from the dealer).  When it is loaded, it is quite a bit heavier.

Obviously everyone’s experience will be different, but I was very happy with Progressive when I had my accident leaving the ECR in April 2022.  I contacted them about the accident and told them I was taking the rig to Rolling Retreats in Oklahoma (my preferred DRV dealer about 600 miles from where the accident occurred).  Progressive transferred my claim to a local office and they sent adjusters out to inspect everything within a few days of my arrival.  The truck had minor cosmetic damage and the trailer was a total loss.  Progressive worked with me on the claim and I had checks for both claims (separate policies for the HDT and 5er) within a couple weeks.  They then wrote me a new policy for the new toy hauler I bought while at Rolling Retreats.  I was pleasantly surprised with how easy and quick the process was.

With a Multiplus inverter charger installed in a “whole house” setup it is simple.  By whole house set up, I mean the inverter powers all circuits in the RV.  Simply set the Multiplus to Charger Only instead of On when you are plugged into shore power (30 amp or 50 amp pedestals) where power assist isn’t needed.  Charger Only will pass the shore power through and keep the batteries charged, but it won’t invert if the shore power goes away.  This way, you will know the power at the pedestal was lost and you can take the appropriate action.  In other words turn the inverter on and manage loads accordingly until shore power is restored.

Check out this topic here on the forum.  It covers the issue in great detail and should answer all your questions.

For those of you attending the rally, check your email.  I have sent out a couple of rally updates that talk about services available at the rallies and also included a link to pay your rally fees.  If you have any questions, or didn't receive the emails, let me know.

Always pull from opposite sides of the battery bank.  If you pull from the same battery in the bank, that battery gets used more than the other batteries.

12 hours ago, lappir said:

Chad, 

What does your significant other do for internet when you are off to the east coast or other places without her? 

Rod

We have Cellular internet in both the house and the RV.  I have two old Miblies with the original AT&T connected car plan.  One is always on in the house and one is always on in the RV.  I don’t always bring the Starlink along in the RV, but if I do the house still has Internet.

I have Starlink (gen 2).  It is on a residential plan with mobility (I’m not sure if they still offer this option).  I use it at my home and when I travel in the RV.  I have a second data cable and power plug that are permanently installed in my RV in my router cabinet.  The data cable (the cable that connects the dish to the router) is run from the cabinet out to my RV’s wet bay.  I leave the cable coiled up until I deploy the dish.  I then pull out enough cable to reach the dish.  I run the cable out the bottom of the wet bay where the water hose exits.  I usually install the dish on a Flagpole Buddy pole mount on the ladder of my RV.  The only pieces that move between the house and RV are the router and the dish.  I am considering buying a second router so that I will only have to move the dish itself between the house and RV.  
 

The service is great and has worked everywhere I have tried it so far.  It is especially nice when we get to an area that doesn’t have cell coverage or has weak cell coverage.  As mentioned above, we can use WiFi calling on our cell phones when they are connected to the network.  I have cellular networks at both my house and in my RV that are always on and act as backups to the Starlink.  I feed the Starlink data into my cellular router’s WAN port and pass it through when it is active so I don’t have to manually switch my devices between the two networks.  Everything connects to the cellular based network and then uses the data from either source (Starlink or Cellular) based on settings in my router.  I am very pleased with this set up.

On 2/14/2024 at 6:16 AM, aknavy said:

I've got a thousand dollars worth of Dynamat and Dynapad sitting in the cab of the truck waiting from some motivation and warm weather.  I'm going to do a DB test before and after and see if it makes much difference.  Doing the doors and floor.  Also going to add a muffler to my weed burner exhaust in an effort to quiet things down a bit.

I’ll be very curious what your results are.

On 2/10/2024 at 8:53 AM, tyates007 said:

Honestly if I was ready to move to a toyhauler and shorten my truck I would have bought it. But, I still have the girls at home, which I love and we need the long deck to haul the 4 seat SXS. Our current setup works really well for us. I just couldn’t talk myself into replacing the old truck to basically do the same build again. He had replaced the front axle recently as it had the air ride front end. It was pretty quiet and smooth. I have never driven an ishift either. Have driven some of the older automated pacer transmissions and the Volvo was pretty smooth there as well. I am sure Jen and Jodi where very aligned in their thoughts 😉

Sounds like we both need to add some Dynamat or something similar to our cabs to keep our wives happy. 😃 

On 2/10/2024 at 5:20 AM, homelesshartshorns said:

I have two 30A inline fuses comming and with what I understand I am trying to protect my 40A controller from my cheap array, that occasionally overheats. So thinking to put a fuse in each of the two series panels. Is this a good plan.

Putting a 30 amp fuse on each series string will not hurt anything (assuming you have at least 10 AWG wire).  The fuses are there to protect the wire, not the equipment.  You do not want a fuse rated for more ampacity than the wire is rated for because then the wire itself becomes the fuse (the wire will fail before the fuse).

14 hours ago, tyates007 said:

We are a small farming community and Volvo is not a real popular truck locally. If you don’t have a long hood you don’t have a truck. Don’t know much about it other than what I shared. I did drive it and it was super quiet and smooth but I drive a 2000 Kenworth. Probably not a great comparison. My wife liked it a lot. 

I know what you mean.  My wife road in a Volvo recently (similar vintage to the one being discussed here) and was amazed how much quieter the cab was than our 2000 model year T2000.  The newer trucks have definitely made improvements over the older trucks in that area (as well as others).

16 hours ago, homelesshartshorns said:

You mentioned putting the fuse in the wrong place in the array! Is the right place near the controller or is that location just more convenient than the right place? Or is the best option no fuse. I have ordered a 30A fuse.

Those in line fuses are best installed with each solar panel at the positive pigtail coming off the solar panel.  This way the fuse is protecting the single panel it is connected to rather than a line of solar panels (that they often aren’t sized properly for).  This means using one fuse for each panel.  A lot of budget kits try to get away with one fuse for the entire array, but then don’t specify how the array is to be wired (to keep the amperage within spec for the fuse) or simply supply the incorrect sized fuse for the application.

For the two panels in series, the voltage doubles and the amperage stays the same.  For example two 25 volt panels at 4 amps in series would produce a 50 volt at 4 amp output.  When two additional series connected panels are added in parallel, the voltage will remain the same and the amperage will double.  With the four panels in this example in series parallel (2S2P), the end voltage will be 50 volts and the end amperage will be 8 amps.

I am not a fan of the in line fuses like you found on your set up for the reasons your system is having issues.  They tend to blow at very inconvenient times.  Most that I have found are typically installed incorrectly as well.  They tend to be installed  in the wrong place in the string and end up getting more amperage than they are rated for as a result and blow.  I had to remove one from someone’s system the other day for this exact reason.  It was installed in the wrong place in the array and was getting more amps than it was rated for.

I prefer a DC rated breaker down by the solar controller.  Not so much for the circuit protection ( for the reasons Lou Schneider explained), but to be used as a shut off when I want to isolate the panels from the system for testing or service or whatever.  Plus a circuit breaker is resettable rather than having to replace a fuse.

The 2024 WCR is shaping up. I am working on finalizing the schedule and a few other details. I hope to have the registration payment link out to all attendees by the end of February. I sent out an update email to all attendees today (2/3/24). Thanks for your patience and I look forward to seeing everyone in June.

6 hours ago, homelesshartshorns said:

Ok bring you all up to date on my solar project. I got the kit installed and all went well for about a week. But on the second week my panels have stopped producing power and so I am stuck. I can find no loose connections, and all seems to be as it was before I hooked up the panels to the controller but now no power. 

I must say I was quite impressed at the ease of installation, and all just seemed too full into place. But now I don't know what to look for. The instructions are all very good as to the install and steps to take. But nothing is mentioned as to what to look for if it stops working. So, I will let you know what I find out. Safe travels

Disconnect the panels from the wire leading to the solar controller.  Use a multimeter and check voltage on each panel by inserting the meter probes into the pos and neg pigtails coming off the panels.  This will tell you if the individual panels are producing electricity.  If they are, reconnect the panels to the wiring and go to the next junction in the wiring and do the same thing.  Keep going until you find where there is no power.

Just make the connection.  No need to wait until dark.

I haven’t logged in in a long time to this site.  I visit the site pretty much every day though.  My browsers on my computer, iPad and phone all remember my log on status (through cookies) and take me straight to the forum.  The only time I have to log on, is if I clear the cookies on my machine or if I physically log off the site.

What is the roof material of your rig (rubber, fiberglass)?  What is the substructure?  If the substructure is plywood and it is thick enough to be walked on, then you don’t need to hit rafters with the solar panel mounts.  I have literally installed hundreds of solar panels on RV roofs and only on a couple of them did I worry about finding rafters because the roof material wasn’t thick enough to support the solar a bracket mounts alone.

18 hours ago, einmann said:

3. …MASA is limited in that their emergency medical transportation services require a doctor's approval (or "recommendation") AND their administrator's approval before they will cover your emergency medical transportation. 

This is an incorrect statement.  MASA does not require doctor or administrator approval.  The transportation simply has to be related to an emergency medical situation.  They don’t cover non emergency transportation because they are not a taxi service.  This is the same for Skymed.

Skymed is a good service, but it has some limitations.  Take a look at MASA.  They are another provider that offer more services and aren’t limited to any particular transport companies.  Definitely do a comparison of the two.  I have sat through presentations from both companies and we chose to go with MASA over Skymed because they offered a wider range of coverage.  I don’t know if being Canadian would have affected that chose though.

16 hours ago, Phil D said:

When we were considering new seats for our T2000 four years ago we went to a seat distributor's showroom and sat in anything and everything that looked even remotely interesting, Chad, and those Wide Ride + with Sertas were, by far, my favorites, but I guess I hadn't been a good boy that year because Santa didn't come through for me.  Enjoy!

I sat in one at my local Kenworth dealer’s parts section and really liked it.  They had a few other seats as well, but the Bostrom wide ride with Serta were my favorites.   I’m really looking forward to traveling with them in the new year.  I spent over 130 days in the rig this year and put a lot of miles on the truck during that time.  Being more comfortable on travel days is going to be nice.

So I have been thinking about getting new seats for my T2000 for a while now.  I guess I was a good boy this year because Santa dropped off an early Christmas present the other day.

I was able to get them installed in the truck without too much effort.  I did have to make a run to my local Napa Auto Parts because one of the air fittings from the old seats broke when I was trying to remove the seat.

The seats have way more adjustability (mechanically) than the old seats and a lot more air adjustments as well.  They also have three levels of heat compared to the single level in the old seats.  The Serta cushions are very nice.  Now I really can't wait for our Quartzsite trip to give them a good test run.  They are super comfy sitting in them (in the shop).  One nice added benefit is the passenger seat actually goes low enough for my DW to be able to put her feat on the floor without having to use the foot stool she needed with the old seats.