When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do?

Topic: When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do? (Read 1049 times) previous topic - next topic

When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do?

June 12, 2016, 04:33:34 pm

In the 45 days I have owned my coach one of subjects I have tried to educate myself on quickly is how to "store" the coach between trips. For the remainder of the year plans are to take 3 trips, and possibly as little as one...we will have to see how vacations work out. Anyway, when the coach is sitting I wanted to be sure I was doing what needs to be done. So far this is what I have decided to ..please advise if I have missed something or you feel I should rethink what I am doing.
1. When I park the coach I level her, open the slide and then turn the engine off.
2. I recently had a cover installed at the house so the coach is under cover, parked on wood boards, 50amp service (cord off the ground so critters don't use it as an entry point).
3. tennis balls under the windshield wipers to take pressure off the blades ( 40 bucks per blade).
4. so far I leave the coach "on" ..lever by the door is in the "on" potition.
5. I have set the A/C at 85 degrees and left zone 1 and zone 2 on
6. defrosted the fridge, installed fan in fridge...turned fridge back on at lowest cold setting (MOT techs told me they have fewer problems with a fridge that is left running).
7. I turn boost switch on so inverter will charge coach and engine batteries.

Again, if I have left something out please don't hesitate to let me know...grass is cut, edged, blown, swept, so the boss says I can call it a day ....so I'm back on the forum trying to learn some more! Thanks everyone!
Dave E.

Re: When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do?

Reply #1 – June 12, 2016, 04:46:02 pm

Ignore the suggestions to "fire the coach up every couple of weeks".

Re: When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do?

Reply #2 – June 12, 2016, 05:20:41 pm

Drive the coach once a month for at least 20 miles with accessories running i.e. generator, A/C's furnaces, etc. Turn on the boost switch once a week for one day or install a battery maintainer on the chassis batteries. Empty holding tanks.

Re: When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do?

Reply #3 – June 12, 2016, 05:36:20 pm

Only need the boost switch one a week but simpler to put on an echo charger.

Re: When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do?

Reply #4 – June 12, 2016, 05:41:48 pm

Ours sits for months at a time on shore power, True Charge keeps an eye on the batteries, never started any of our coaches to "warm them up", or go to all the waste of time to unhook & go down the road and come back, thinking we'd "done the right thing". Bull.

Re: When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do?

Reply #5 – June 12, 2016, 06:10:25 pm

I try to use my coach once a month but it was tough last winter. Fortunately I do have indoor, heated storage...heated meaning it didn't go below 38 degrees in the warehouse last winter.

Returning from a trip I make sure the fuel is full and when possible, holding tanks empty. I tend to leave some fresh water in the tank for convenience. I have a trickle charger plugged in (for engine batteries) and use the block heater switch to turn it on. I switch the plugs back to the block heater a few days before any cold weather travel.

I'm plugged in, but only to a 110 outlet. It's enough to run the fridge, and keep the coach batteries charged. I shut the salesman switch off whenever we park it in storage.

Re: When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do?

Reply #6 – June 12, 2016, 06:49:07 pm

Dave,

Rather than boost to keep engine up, consider a diode based system such as trickle start or an aux battery charger such as BatteryMinder 1500 - I think that is easier on your coach batteries than the big charger - Wyatt would be the expert on this

I chose the bateryminder 1500 - can charge all three of my start batteries, has desolate mode, and temp compensation should I choose to use. has to be plugged into 115V- preferably not running off the inverter circuits

Used triklstart for a while, but had two go bad, both just over a year in use

Re: When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do?

Reply #7 – June 12, 2016, 08:08:17 pm

Our coach has sat since April 17th, with being plugged in to 30 Amp power.
Batteries are fully charged by the coach. I put windshield cover on, wiper blade covers on (foam pipe covers) tire covers, coach is leveled with HWH and wood ramps.
This week:
I did turn on the ACs one by one the last two days. I sanitized the water system yesterday, checked all fluids in the coach (up to spec), cleaned the air filter, topped off the antifreeze, turned on the refrig and the U-line ice maker. Made two batches of ice. Filled the water heater with vinegar & water to dissolve calcium deposits. Cleaned faucet screens of buildup. Scrubbed floor and vacuumed rugs.
Cleaned and waxed the Alcoa wheel rims. Checked ALL the coach lights.
Loaded Mike's Hard Lemonade in refrig.
Ready for trip Thursday!!

Re: When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do?

Reply #8 – June 12, 2016, 08:20:39 pm

I would not leave the boost switch on. I have an Echo charger that keeps the engine batteries charged and the batteries are not hooked together so if the electric fails all batteries would go down at the same time with the boost switch on

Re: When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do?

Reply #9 – June 12, 2016, 11:11:16 pm

Quote from: nitehawk – June 12, 2016, 08:08:17 pm

Cleaned and waxed the Alcoa wheel rims.

What did you use?

Thanks,

Trent

Re: When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do?

Reply #10 – June 13, 2016, 08:38:49 am

Trent, I use Mother's Aluminum & Mag wheel cleaner, First the red rubber sponge ball on a drill, then clean everything off, then start again with a handheld applicator and get everywhere I can. After total wipeoff with microfiber cloth I do a complete polish & wipe with Turtle Wax Ice synthetic polish.
27 year Alcoa rims still have the Alcoa sticker on two of them.

As an addition to my previous post--three years ago I installed the male half of snaps up under the window valances--just past the end of each window near the top. I then cut 3' wide aluminized bubble wrap for each window, added the female half of a snap to each end. Now, when I park the coach I put up my "heat deflectors". If the sun is blazing I also put out the individual window awnings.
Amazing how much cooler it is inside!! No one sees the permanent snaps, and the bubble wrap rolls up neatly together. I did label each sheet as to which window it goes on.

Re: When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do?

Reply #11 – June 13, 2016, 09:18:15 am

Trent's Alcoa rims on his 2000 Are probably have the DuraBright finish on which you do not want to use any abrasive polishing or buffing compounds. Wash with a soap and water

Alcoa recommends...
To maintain your Alcoa Dura-Bright® wheels, the following steps are recommended:
Before cleaning: Let the wheels cool down to a temperature between 5° and 35° C.

Rinse with water
Rinse the wheel to prevent scratching and erosion.*
Use a water hose or pressure cleaner to remove soil, sand etc.
* Erosion is a non-warrantable condition. For more information consult the wheel service manual or Dura-Bright® service bulletin.

Mix water with a mild detergent
Add a mild detergent (e.g. common washing-up liquid or soap) to the water to create suds. The pH level should be between 5 and 9 in diluted/ready to use state for Dura-Bright® wheels with XBR® technology.
The pH level should be between 2 and 12 in diluted/ready to use state for Dura-Bright® EVO wheels.

Clean with a soft brush
Use a soft brush (Alcoa ALbrush) to wash the wheel surface with soap.
Do not use abrasives, scouring pads etc. Brush off all remaining dirt.

Rinse the wheel
Thoroughly rinse with clean water to ensure all soap is removed and wipe dry with a soft cloth.

The job is done

Re: When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do?

Reply #12 – June 13, 2016, 09:41:48 am

Dave,

Best if you can ... Start the engine and drive the coach 20-30 miles once a month or so. Run the generator while you are doing this and run the roof top AC. At some point turn on everything that has a motor, (furnaces, dash blower, bathroom fan, microwave fan etc) for a few minutes. Everything that moves need a bit of execise to stay limber. If you miss a month or it is six weeks don't worry about it. In the winter up north I look for a clear cold day when the roads are clear and not wet and go. The first five miles are 30-40 mph max then another five at about 50 then 25 miles at highway speeds. Nice and gentle.

I use a BatteryMinder charger/maintainer on the engine batteries as well rather than the boost switch.

If storage time is months (winter), I inflate the tires to the max side wall pressure. In the summer I leave waste tanks empty and water tank 90% full. If the water sits for more than a couple weeks, I drain it out and water the bushes and refill with a couple Tbsp of bleach for a full tank. If we are going where there is good water, maybe only 1/2 tank. Fuel tank is full, add a biocide if it is going to sit for mostly unused for a month or more. Do this before you park it. Be sure to run the engine, generator (and aquahot for those that have one) to get the biocide treated fuel to them.

So you are on the right track. Do the common sense stuff, keep the batteries on smart chargers. Check in on the coach once in a while. Sit in the driver's seat and smile. You will be back on the road pretty soon.

Re: When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do?

Reply #13 – June 13, 2016, 09:57:32 am

Quote from: Roger & Susan in Home2 – June 13, 2016, 09:18:15 am

Trent's Alcoa rims on his 2000 Are probably have the DuraBright finish on which you do not want to use any abrasive polishing or buffing compounds.

Roger,

I do not *think* I have DuraBright. How can you tell for sure?

Thanks,

Trent

Re: When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do?

Reply #14 – June 13, 2016, 10:00:35 am

For what it is worth, my Mother's can says to lightly rub some Mother's on an inconspicuous spot. If the cloth turns black you have bare aluminum--without Durabrite.

Re: When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do?

Reply #15 – June 13, 2016, 10:27:56 am

Quote from: TulsaTrent – June 13, 2016, 09:57:32 am

Roger,

I do not *think* I have DuraBright. How can you tell for sure?

Thanks,

Trent
This is something I also need to know....I read that FT changed to or from Durabright at some point but do not remember when they did.

Re: When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do?

Reply #16 – June 13, 2016, 10:28:40 am

Thanks to everyone .....good info here as always!!

Re: When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do?

Reply #17 – June 13, 2016, 10:34:06 am

Coach exercise---- what we do that is quite enjoyable is use the coach as a weekend get away when we have no "vacation" trip planned. We start her up and go find a local state park or RV resort to spend the weekend and do our usual maintenance while there. Lots of fun and keeps the coach in "just ran" condition. By doing this, you avoid problems when you do take a long trip --- you have usually found and fixed them on the weekend get always.

Re: When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do?

Reply #18 – June 13, 2016, 12:16:50 pm

I went back and looked at the FT spec sheets and it isn't until 2003 that they specify Alcoa Wheels with DuraBrite finish. Alcoa says the first generation Dura Bright wheels came out in 2000-2001. Our 2001 coach's wheels have a transparent sticker on the wheel that says Dura Bright and says not to use abrasive cleaners. It was built in Jan 2001.

Look for the label. If your coach is 2001 or later the wheels likely have the Dura Bright finish. If they are still shiny then I would not use any wheel polish until you know for sure.

Re: When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do?

Reply #19 – June 13, 2016, 12:20:35 pm

Trent,
Mine are not Durabrite so I would think yours are not as well.
JohnH

Re: When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do?

Reply #20 – June 13, 2016, 01:30:41 pm

I see no labels on ours, and nothing in the files to indicate an upgrade. I do notice scratches on all four, (by others), wish there was a way to remove them. This does a great job, but nothing for the scratches:

Re: When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do?

Reply #21 – June 13, 2016, 02:07:03 pm

Storage leads to be ready to go. Store with slides in/ 24 volt switch in off position/ Switch off (I installed) on aux compressor/ battery minder on cranking batteries/ doors to refrigerator open/ progressive surge protector with 30amp power/ no level HWH on/ full tank of fuel/ stored inside warehouse/ check once a week. / run 20 miles or so every 30 days/ take to Home to load for trip two days early/ turn on refrigerator day before loading. / put big awning out/ fill water tank about half full/ Set up direct TV / load gps with stops/ transfer home phone to cell phone/ turn on and ck air pressure in all tires including tow car/ coat front of coach with wax to cut down on bugs sticking/ clean all Windows/ check cooling level and oil and trans oil./ turn on gen and ck all fuel levels. We always carry about 20 gallons of filtered water from home for tea and coffee. This keeps the taste the same. Few other things we do but this is a good start.

Re: When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do?

Reply #22 – June 13, 2016, 03:09:29 pm

Quote from: Dan Stansel – June 13, 2016, 02:07:03 pm

coat front of coach with wax to cut down on bugs sticking/ clean all Windows

Speaking of which, does anyone use Rain-X on your windshields?

Does it really work?

Thanks,

Trent

Re: When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do?

Reply #23 – June 13, 2016, 04:06:43 pm

We use RainX regularly.

Re: When your coach will be sitting for a spell what do you do?

Reply #24 – June 13, 2016, 04:51:17 pm

Never use Rain-X again. Now use Turtle Wax Ice Synthetic wax...on all exterior surfaces of coach, including windows. Windows inside & out, mirrors, sinks, toilet, microwave door & frig. Lasts longer and makes cleaning windows easier. Most of the time we can drive in rain without using the wipers. I reapply Ice after every bug removal or before taking off on any trip.

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