New to Newmar with DP ??

[Dave1956]

Greetings All:

I am a first time Class A owner who has moved up from a trailer. My wife and I recently purchased a 2003 Newmar 3352DP. We are learning alot by reading this site. I am sure I will have many more questions as time moves on.

My first concern is the proper storage of my MH. I have a covered storage space with 20 amp connections. I use to keep my trailer plugged in with a "charge wizard" for my batteries. How do you recommend I store my MH? Should I leave it plugged in? Should I put an "in-line" timer to limit the number of hours that the MH recieves shore power over the weeks? Do I need to make any special arraingments to keep both sets of batteries properly charged? We hope to use the MH at least every other week.

I am sure that I am forgetting some things, so please do not be shy with your advise.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Dave

[Silversurfah]

We leave ours outside all winter.. I winterize the water lines and leave it plugged in all winter (we have a 30amp service outside). I start it up at least once every 2 weeks and run the generator for about 15 mins. During the camping season (April thru Nov for us) we take it out about every other week. Welcome to the forum.

[RickO]

Welcome to the forum Dave! You'll find a lot of friendly advice available here. If you're planning to use the coach every couple of weeks throughout the winter I think you'll be ok leaving it plugged in in between trips.

Rick

[Route 66]

Dave,

Does your DSDP have an inverter?

If so, it most likely has a battery charger built in to charge the house batteries.

There is a small solar panel on the roof to keep the chassis batteries charged, but that's no help indoors.

[Luv2go]

Dave, Welcome to iRV2.com!

Looking at the specs in this pdf file it looks like you have a 55A converter. It is probably an Iota or Progressive Dynamics, which are a couple of the better brands. It would be good if you can find and confirm this. Possibly some other Kountry Star DP owners can help as far as locating it.

It probably does not have an "IQ Smart Charge" or "Charge Wizard", which would be a good thing to consider adding. As Route 66 mentioned, you may have an inverter, it will already have a good 3 stage charger.

Despite this you can leave your coach plugged in for the winter without worrying too much about boiling your batteries. No need for an in-line timer. Just check the electrolyte level every few months.

If it will not get below freezing in your covered storage area you won't have to winterize. As far as using it in the winter, if your compartments are not insulated (Newmar usually mentions that in the brochure if they are) you may want to insulate them.

I used the 3/4" blue (or pink) rigid foam to insulate our compartments, with that, the existing furnace vents into the water compartments in the basement and some small electric heaters we are able to use the coach all winter (in our area, it gets to around +15F on cold nights). BTW, we store outside.

You should verify that your coach charges the chassis battery when plugged in (do this by measuring the chassis battery and coach battery after being plugged in for over a minute, the voltages should be within a couple of tenths of a volt of each other). If not, you may have to add a trickle charger like you had on your trailer to keep that battery charged.

If you don't own one already, a cheap DMM is invaluable in troubleshooting electrical problems on your coach.

Enjoy your "new to you" coach!

Stewart

[Spikester]

Welcome to the forum, you picked a wonderful product for your first motorhome, hope it gives you many years of great service and enjoyment.

It appears from the Newmar Brochure that Standard equipment is a converter, therefore it probably trickle charges your batteries 100% of the time, there was an optional 400 Watt inverter, but it doesn't mention whether it has a battery charging circuit associated with it.

If you plan to use it every couple of weeks you should be okay with a converter, just check the water level in your house batteries often, because converters trickle charge all the time it has power it will tend to use more water than an inverter with a built in battery charger. If it will be stored for a longer period, by turning your battery disconnect switch to off, you should isolate the batteries from the converter, therefore you can leave the rest of the coach powered up. The battery charging circuit on most converters is not a full fledged charger, it is more of a maintainer, so it will take a long time to charge weak house batteries with a converter. Best way to charge your batteries if they are weak is with the generator, it probably charges the batteries directly. Would also recommend using some kind of dehumidifer in the winter months, just to keep the moisture levels down if you live in a high humidity area.

Spike

[Dave1956]

Thanks everyone! I will be at the coach tonight and I will check to see exactly what equipment I have. I did notice that the batteries are sealed so I will not be able to monitor water levels. When talking about insulating the storage, do you mean the outer doors or the back wall of each compartment?

Thanks,

Dave

[Luv2go]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave1956 Thanks everyone! I will be at the coach tonight and I will check to see exactly what equipment I have. I did notice that the batteries are sealed so I will not be able to monitor water levels. When talking about insulating the storage, do you mean the outer doors or the back wall of each compartment? Thanks, Dave

Dave, the outer doors on our coach were already insulated, it was the back, sides and bottom that just were sheet metal with some gray felt-type lining on the inside. They were less than 1/4" thick.

I have not seen the fully insulated compartments the high-line DP's have, but assume they have at least some foam insulation around the sheet metal compartments. That's what I did to insulate ours.

With sealed batteries it is important to make sure your converter/inverter is putting out the correct voltage. If you can, bring along a voltmeter and note the battery measurements I talked about above while the coach is plugged in. Also note the brand and type of batteries for both coach and chassis and model of inverter you have if you have one.

Stewart

["007"]

Dave1956 welcome to the Newmar forum & irv2.
Congrats with your Newmar many safe miles ahead for you.
In your coach you have what is called a BIRD it controls the charge off your converter to charge your house batteries and than when they are fully charge will divert some of the charge to you chassis batteries.
Your Bird maybe located in outside compartment under drivers seat.
May Bird is in a battery buss box on firewall.
BIRD(bi-directional isolator Relay Device)

The 400 w inverter would be for the TV and tape player outlets and maybe a outlet at floor level near passenger seat. The inverter has a GFI switch on it that would disable these outlets.
During summer months would leave refrigerator on between trips while plugged in to shore power at house.
Your heating system may have a 12v fan in a tinfoil tube to compartments near tanks that will cycle on and off with the LP furnace.
Only area's you may want to add insulation in winter months would be floor of water bay and close out hose outlets.
Any more questions feel free to ask and click on the Quick Tips & Mods link below with many coach upgrades by Newmar members and other answers to question you may have.
Enjoy the forums.

[Dave1956]

thanks! I have printed the attachment and will search for it this evening...great help I really appreciate it.

[Renden]

Welcome to the Forum, Dave.......the place to be
Happy travels....

[Dave1956]

Thanks for all the help! I still cannot find the "BIRD." I have the coach at the dealer for some work they owed me I will ask a tech when I pick it up.