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Old 05-28-2008, 03:04 PM   #1
chockwald
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Riverside, California
Posts: 1,543
Default First "long trip"...

Elaine and I just returned from our first extended trip in our '82 Newell. We travelled to Yosemite to see the waterfalls in full force. We were there last August in our Class C, but due to the drought only Yosemite Falls was running at a "trickle", and the Merced River was extremely low. We were not disappointed this time and were able to see most of the waterfalls. We stayed in Upper Pines Campground, and all systems worked well. Got a chance to use the engine block warmer the day were leaving as it was in the low 40's due to the storm that hit Southern California the end of last week.

On our way out of Yosemite Valley we were treated to heavy rain, and then snow at 6,000' for about 10 minutes. Of course, on every narrow corner there was a tour bus coming at me. As those of you who have driven HWY 41 in and out of Yosemite the stretch of road from the tunnel to the park gate is very narrow. After the park gate it gets wider.

The cold, and rain gave me an opportunity to become more familiar with my heating and defrosting systems, as well as the windshield wipers. Took me a while to get used to the wipers operating at different speeds...each, as you all know, is individually activated with a separate switch. Mine run off air pressure, apparently. Anyway, they did their job, and the defroster did it's job so no worries.

One problem we encountered on the way home was one of the house 8d batteries boiled over. These batteries were installed less than a year ago. Why would one battery go bad like that? The result of the boil over was that a heavy drain was being put on the other batteries. I noticed that the batteries were not charging while driving like I was used to, and didn't realize there was a problem until we parked that night in front of my sister's home in Santa Barbara. We had stopped to eat once, and then at a rest stop, and then again at Buellton, and had no problem starting the coach, so I think the problem worsened considerably between Buellton and Santa Barbara. Within 15-20 minutes of shutting the coach off all 4 batteries (house and engine) flatlined! I opened up the house battery compartment and saw steam coming out...wow! I pulled both trays out and discovered the left one was were the steam was coming out, and it was extremely hot to the touch. I immediately disconnected it from the system, and plugged in the coach to recharge the 3 remaining batteries. Overnight I brought them back to almost 100%. The coach started fine, and we drove home without further incident. The remaining batteries continued to charge at a rate that looked more familiar to me, and they were at 100% by the time we shut the coach off in front of our home.

The coach is now at my mechanic's to have the electrical system checked, replace the defective battery, and to determine if something is wrong with the converter/charger, although I wouldn't think so, since the other three batteries were unaffected.

All things being equal, it was a problem I was able to deal with, and thankfully I was near an electrical outlet to recharge the batteries, and didn't have to call AAA.
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Clarke and Elaine Hockwald - FULLTIMING!
https://whatnewell.blogspot.com
1982 Newell 36’ DD 6V92 TA
2002 Thunderbird Retro
Cannondale Tandem
Cannondale Bad Boy
Cannondale F600
2 Terra Trike Tadpoles
Intense 5.5 mountain bike
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