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Old 02-22-2023, 05:31 PM   #1
Outer Banks of NC
 
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Outer Banks NC - 1999 Chieftain 35C

Hay everyone.
Across the sound from the Outer Banks of NC on the Little River by Elizabeth City NC . Always had a slide in camper so I could pull the toys. Boats bikes and a Cam-am side by side. Bouncing around on market place seen a 1999 Chieftrain 35C with a bran new motor. Could not stand it. Had to move up.
Traveled all my life just retired last year like most grabbed a part time job will be RVing mostly in a 200 mile range from MD eastern shore to Morehead City NC .
If you all are in the area ride to Swans Quarter take the Ferry across to Ocracoke and Hatteras enjoy a weekend . Is a beautiful ride do it all the time with the bike and slide cant wait to get all the mods down and enjoy it with the Chieftrain.
Made the boy have the local RV place check it out got the thumbs up paid for it today. Its Been at the house a few weeks already started playing with it.
If your over this way look me up. Fishing boating motorcycles, and camping are the hobbies.
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Old 02-22-2023, 06:38 PM   #2
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Welcome to a whole different world of RV!
Lots of great things but lots of new to learn, also. Just a heads up for new things to watch?
Two different battery groups and that can cause some confusion which can cost us a new set of batteries. Be aware that RV will likely still have small drains on each battery group ---even with battery cutoffs to make you think the drains are cut off!
Things we never have trouble on cars we drive every once in a while will kill the battery if we store the RV for some time!
Until you get clear what is charging and what is not, I recommend watching closer than most toys as it sneaks up on lots of newer users.

There may have been systems installed to keep the chassis battery charged while we plug in and let the coach battery charge but often not, so don't let 'em go dry or flat!

Enjoy but watch out??
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Old 02-22-2023, 06:45 PM   #3
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Have several boats thought about installing a marine battery and trickle charger . I have three batterys in there now. Gas motor. v10.
Found out today you have to flip the switch on the dash to Aux to get the generator to fire. Yes sir this is a whole different world than slide in campers.
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Old 02-22-2023, 10:08 PM   #4
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Welcome, enjoy the new experience.

We first visited Hatteras and Ocracoke when I was just a young boy. I remember it well, as well as anything 63+ years ago. While waiting for the ferry my dad bought fresh oysters from a guy selling them from a cooler mounted on the front of his bicycle. I must have been 8 or 9.

And as an adult I’ve been back at least twice since. My main memory of the place is wind. Lots of wind. Incessant wind. It was windy.

Best of luck with your Chieftain (no “r”).
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Old 02-23-2023, 08:38 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by liveaboard74 View Post
Have several boats thought about installing a marine battery and trickle charger . I have three batterys in there now. Gas motor. v10.
Found out today you have to flip the switch on the dash to Aux to get the generator to fire. Yes sir this is a whole different world than slide in campers.
This may be a time to get into some of the small points as hitting the aux switch is not normal. But then there may be small points to help, also.
Small rundown on the aux switch may help. The switch is a momentarty switch, meaning it stays operated only as long as we push the switch. that's one that is often missed but leads to more confsuion.
When we press (and hold) the aux or boost switch, it closes a big solenoid on the older RV and that solenoid has two functions.
The function when we push the switch is to connect both coach and chassis battery sets together to give a weak chassis battery a "boost" to let us get by if we happen to run the chassis battery down.
Part of the confusion is the changing names for the switch, aux is meant to imply the coach batteries which used to be called auxilery batteries! Boost seems to be a better name for the switch!

But the second thing this mode solenoid, or BIM on newer RV, does is connect the batteries together when the ignition is on! This lets the coach batteries get some small amount of charge as we drive. Not usually enough to get back to full power if they are really down as it may take 6 hours or more for full charge, but "some".

That second function can get folks fooled into thinking they can go home and put a charger from the converter on the coach battteries when plugged in and since both are connected both sets are maintained. WRONG!

Unless there is some other connection or system in place, the two are seperated when we turn off the engine and that can leave the chassis battery going dead when we store the RV!

But when the generator has to have the aux switch pushed, it shows the chassis engine is not quite up to the job and may be a bit suspect.
But one thing to keep in mind is the way we can get the best chance at starting the generator if we do things in the right order.

The RV engine is always more likely to start quicker and easier without as much cranking. One reason for this is that we may have to crank the generator because the fuel has run back away and it takes longer if it has not been started recently.

So if we want to have the best shot at starting the generator, we can start the RV engine first! That not only ties both battery sets together with engine running but it also puts the engine alternator online to really give that generator starter a kick to get going!
Any electrical stuff that draws lots of power like generator, jacks, slides, will operate better and last longer if we give them good voltage by starting the engine first.

A small point often missed is the way low voltage can harm electrical things as it seem backwards. We hear about things burning out and people think it was too high voltage when it is much more commonly low voltage!
Low voltage takes longer to get a motor to turn. During that slow start, much more current is drawn through the motor windings and that heat is what "burns up" the motor!
High voltage like lightning strikes can burn up motors but starting them every time with low voltage is much more common. It sneaks up and we may never see it because there is not a big flash and boom to get our attention. The motors just slowly die!

When needing to use the aux, it is saying the chassis battery is not quite as good as it might be, so some checking may head off a failure OR we can start the engine first and avoid the question for some time.
Possibly the chassis battery was just a bit run down and the generator needs more than normal cranking?

Like any old cat, the one that lasts longer is the one that stays alert!
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Old 02-23-2023, 08:59 AM   #6
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Sorry, I just did a check of the wiring diagrams for your specific RV and now need to change what I said about the chassis battey being suspect. Your RV uses the coach batteries as primary power to start!

This snip may show what I now see. Click it to get a better view or go direct here:
https://www.winnebago.com/Files/File...999/131046.pdf

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This is the mode solenoid mentioned with the chassis battery on one big side lug and coach batteries on the other side.
The blue line they label LR is from the dash switch and the ignition hot circuit down to the solenoid, through the winding and your system uses the metal case mounting to the frame for ground.

When this solenoid operates, the big contacts connect left and right together.
So if your generator stuggles to crank until the aux switch is pushed, it may be more likely the coach batteries are not quite up to it and you are adding the chassis in for better?

The other point I mention is that there are connections from the left saide to fuses which do not ge through the battery disconnect relay? Those are not cutoff when we do the battery disconnect and can run it dead!

Just a point to be aware of to watch??
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Old 02-23-2023, 06:17 PM   #7
Outer Banks of NC
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by creativepart View Post
Welcome, enjoy the new experience.

We first visited Hatteras and Ocracoke when I was just a young boy. I remember it well, as well as anything 63+ years ago. While waiting for the ferry my dad bought fresh oysters from a guy selling them from a cooler mounted on the front of his bicycle. I must have been 8 or 9.

And as an adult I’ve been back at least twice since. My main memory of the place is wind. Lots of wind. Incessant wind. It was windy.

Best of luck with your Chieftain (no “r”).
Funny you mentioned oysters. Been a car hauler all my life traveled with work, worked out of Chicago last 5 years. Retired got bord went to work for Nixon Fisherys out of Edenton. I'm the guys that picks up all the seafood in Wanchese, stumpy point and the Beach over there. Was there today. LOL

Have a question about your motorhome. think its a gas with that grill in front. What fuel millage are you getting at 60 and then 70 mph. Have a bran new v 10 in mine boy that had it blew the motor coming from Calif has to replace everything from the transmission forward. For some reason he didn't keep a record so he has no clue what fuel millage he got.

Moved here for the fishing in 2000. Love the peaceful easy coastal way of life. Our nation past time is front porch living watching the grass grow.
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Old 02-23-2023, 06:32 PM   #8
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Thumbs up

Quote:
Originally Posted by Morich View Post
Sorry, I just did a check of the wiring diagrams for your specific RV and now need to change what I said about the chassis battey being suspect. Your RV uses the coach batteries as primary power to start!

This snip may show what I now see. Click it to get a better view or go direct here:
https://www.winnebago.com/Files/File...999/131046.pdf

Attachment 185228

This is the mode solenoid mentioned with the chassis battery on one big side lug and coach batteries on the other side.
The blue line they label LR is from the dash switch and the ignition hot circuit down to the solenoid, through the winding and your system uses the metal case mounting to the frame for ground.

When this solenoid operates, the big contacts connect left and right together.
So if your generator stuggles to crank until the aux switch is pushed, it may be more likely the coach batteries are not quite up to it and you are adding the chassis in for better?

The other point I mention is that there are connections from the left saide to fuses which do not ge through the battery disconnect relay? Those are not cutoff when we do the battery disconnect and can run it dead!

Just a point to be aware of to watch??
Now that was helpful. thank you.
Have not got down even read the first thing in the manual yet. Had a couple of issues I wanted fixed boy took it to our local RV dealers thats actually has a really good rating. Won't going to put a lot of time into till I bought it which was yesterday. I understand wiring but would of taken me a lot of time to find what you just posted up fast for me. Again thank you sir.
Just got out of pro drag racing christmas before last Top Dragster been a gear head all my life. Had a Chevy in a pinto back in the early 70s so I was right with you in all of that. Your my kinda people. LOL

Going to be fun learning it all already started the customizing adding things to it. Had a ford pan on the transmission so I'm taking it its a ford transmission. This Sunday will be my first day to really sit down and start seeing what all I do need to learn.
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Old 02-24-2023, 07:41 AM   #9
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Have a question about your motorhome. think its a gas with that grill in front. What fuel millage are you getting at 60 and then 70 mph.
Yes, I have the V10 Ford Triton chassis. Keep in mind my RV is 37+ ft and weighs 28,000 lbs while towing a 4,400 lb toad.

My Xite infotainment system has a gas tracking app built in and I have made sure to completely fill up the RV at every fuel stop and enter the details into the app at every stop for 48,000+ miles.

My overall average mpg is 6.3 mpg and I travel at 60-63 mph. No idea what 70 would be like and don’t want to find out.

This fuel mileage is not solely from driving, it includes idling while deploying/retracting slides, etc. and generator run time.

I see people that claim 7-8 mpg (or higher) because they don’t track every drop of fuel, only some isolated trip where they kind of kept track once. Or they watched the onboard info system’s mpg number for awhile.
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Old 02-24-2023, 05:03 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by creativepart View Post
Yes, I have the V10 Ford Triton chassis. Keep in mind my RV is 37+ ft and weighs 28,000 lbs while towing a 4,400 lb toad.

My Xite infotainment system has a gas tracking app built in and I have made sure to completely fill up the RV at every fuel stop and enter the details into the app at every stop for 48,000+ miles.

My overall average mpg is 6.3 mpg and I travel at 60-63 mph. No idea what 70 would be like and don’t want to find out.

This fuel mileage is not solely from driving, it includes idling while deploying/retracting slides, etc. and generator run time.

I see people that claim 7-8 mpg (or higher) because they don’t track every drop of fuel, only some isolated trip where they kind of kept track once. Or they watched the onboard info system’s mpg number for awhile.
Thats the info was looking for. Thank you.
I"m great at research online but I know the weight these web sights have listed is NOT the weight of my 35 C chieftrain. My 2014 dodge dullay and the big lance 1191 weigh 14000. Have a motor toad on the end of the 48 inch extention pull a 32 foot stacker race trailer . You mentioned toad, love mine.
Boat i have for inshore will only weigh about 1900 pounds.. That and trailer I doubt the winnebago will know its back there. That 31 offshore Fountain. You know its back there. LOL
Why I have kept the slide in for so long. I'll find a true weigh of my 35 chieftrain sometime. Late by 14 minuets today getting the tags. Hate it when that happens.
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