Made it to Garrison, MN!

[Capnted]

We had a relatively uneventful trip, driving nearly straight thru from Denver. Only after arriving did I break 2 windows and crunch our bikes while trying to wriggle the beast between the trees at my folks' lake property. Still have to remove & replace the windows, but we treated ourselves to new hybrid recumbent bikes. Very nice. No more tingly hands after riding.

Before leaving, I had an electrician work on the brake lights. He never did find the original switch & ended up installing a new air pressure switch on the brake pedal and new led lights. He also put in a humungous starter battery, which was fortunate because my ammeter ran slightly negative the whole trip & in the end we could not use the headlights & finished the trip in daylight.

I installed a new 160 amp alternator, but the ammeter still registers negative amps at fast idle, especially when I turn on the headlights. I measured the volts at the alternator with the motor off & I see 12 volts, so the voltage from the battery is getting to the alternator but the charge from the alternator is not getting to the battery. Haven't gotten any further solving that one.

I'm plagued with electrical issues. My electric water heater quit after 3 days & is behind a maze of plumbing, so haven't dug into that yet. I have only 20 amps total, so I doubt I can continue using a 110 v tank heater anyway & may buy and install a propane tankless heater. Not sure where I'll put it. Is there any reason why I can't install a small circulating pump and a small 2.0 gph tankless heater & use my electric water heater tank to store hot water if/when the tankless is inadequate? This one is ventless which makes installation easier.

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Question: If I install an Xantrex 3-stage charger/inverter I bought on eBay, will that replace the converter? I understand that currently the coach and the house battery gets its 12 volts off the converter when I'm on shore power (and the house battery is probably being overcharged as a result). Will the house simply run off the house battery when on shore power after I install the inverter/charger?

Being here, living in the Newell, enables us to care for my aging parents. We're going to bust my mother out of extended care where she's very unhappy on her birthday this weekend.

Ted