Community Forums

jepoland5 · 09-27-2021, 05:59 PM

While spending the last few months frantically getting our house ready to sell so we can begin our FT adventure, our coach sat in our HOA's RV lot where the batteries, coach and chassis, slowly died (if it helps, I have thoroughly beaten myself up for allowing this to happen). I called Coach Net and they were able to find one crew to come out and jump-start my rig....$150/hr with a 2-hour minimum! For that amount I can buy portable jumper in case this lesson fades from my memory.

Looking for recommendations as to what jump starter to buy. Thanks for the assistance.

TandW · 09-27-2021, 06:09 PM

That's a simple one. I carry good quality jumper cables in every one of my vehicles.

ROUGHRIDER3 · 09-27-2021, 06:09 PM

Gas or diesel coach? More jump power needed for diesel. How big a diesel?

GrantR · 09-27-2021, 06:13 PM

Rather than that expense, work out where your disconnect switches are for the House and Chassis battery and disconnect them both when you place it in storage. The alternative would to buy jumper cables and jump start from your car/truck. I have had mine at a shop for a month with the batteries off with no issue.
I had a couple of Dutch Star’s older than yours and I believe they both had disconnect switches.

Skip426 · 09-27-2021, 06:16 PM

Even the best (biggest ) jump start unit ,will struggle with starting a big diesel with stone dead batteries; too much power will be absorbed by the dead batteries as soon as the connection is made .

Can you get close enough to the coach battery tray to hook up jumper cables from your car and run the car at high idle to start the batteries charging for 1/2 , 3/4 of an hour , then try to start the coach engine .

Bigd9 · 09-27-2021, 06:26 PM

I'm confused. I seems like you have Coach Net roadside assistance and they still charged you " jump-start my rig....$150/hr with a 2-hour minimum! "?

BTW, I did like Skip426 mentioned. It would take a while for the toad alternator to charge the batteries, but it can be done.

BillJinOR · 09-27-2021, 06:31 PM

Coach net now charges for a jump start ? It was free with the service when we used them some years ago. I can see additional cost buying batteries etc but a jump? I just had a car tire replaced .. ( I had the spare ) on my rv roadside , Saferide with Escapees, and it was zip .. nada. Something ain’t right or the facts aren’t clear!

Berryfarmer · 09-27-2021, 06:46 PM

For a little more than the cost of a $150 jump you could purchase replacement batteries and install them yourself. If the batteries have any warranty you might also take that route.

Justin Townley · 09-27-2021, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jepoland5

While spending the last few months frantically getting our house ready to sell so we can begin our FT adventure, our coach sat in our HOA's RV lot where the batteries, coach and chassis, slowly died (if it helps, I have thoroughly beaten myself up for allowing this to happen). I called Coach Net and they were able to find one crew to come out and jump-start my rig....$150/hr with a 2-hour minimum! For that amount I can buy portable jumper in case this lesson fades from my memory.

Looking for recommendations as to what jump starter to buy. Thanks for the assistance.

The best (and cheapest) way to do this is your car, and some jumper cables. Instead of trying to start the big engine, start the generator first. Once the generator fires off, leave your car plugged hooked up to the chassis batteries and go inside and hold the battery boost depending on the year you have have a house/chassis directional button, if that’s the case hold the button on the chassis side. Hold the boost for 30-40seconds. This gives the battery charger enough time to start going to work. You will know it is working when your magnum reads bulk, or absorb. Once this happens you can disconnect your car and your all set. Let the gen do it’s thing for a few hours, comeback and fire the engine up. If you need any help with the process you can give me a call or shoot me a text. 404-314-9996

Dutch Star Don · 09-27-2021, 07:52 PM

Borrow a portable Honda generator and connect it to the chassis batteries and let it run all night if necessary.

Does the HOA lot have any power or is there a house close enough that would let run a power cord over and put a charger on the batteries, as the Magnum won't charge them when dead.

jepoland5 · 09-27-2021, 08:54 PM

Thanks, all, for the advice. A few clarifications re questions raised:

Re Coach-Net, they told me that they pay for the service call but that I was responsible for any of the work performed. So they pay to get the truck there, but I pay the jump charge which they said would be $150/her with a minimum of 2 hours. I haven't had time to review my Coach-Net agreement to see if I should push back on that.

Re just using my car and jumper cables, I was under the impression that you typically need a good size truck to jump a Cummins 450 hp beast. We have a mid-size SUV, and it sounds like that may do the trick.

Re access to any electric, while my HOA lot is a fantastic bargain at around $340 per year, there is no electric available.

Thanks again to this group for all the great suggestions. I'll give them a try tomorrow and hopefully by up and running soon.

dons2346 · 09-27-2021, 08:59 PM

I was wondering why everyone was trying to jump start the diesel when all that is necessary is to get the generator started first and let it charge the house and chassis

BillJinOR · 09-27-2021, 09:37 PM

You were taken by an unscrupulous tow company ! Just google coach net service. Free towing , JUMPSTARTS, tire changes ( you provide the tire or buy one). Fuel delivery ( you buy the fuel) winching out, lockout service, And more! All included with no additional charge.Call tomorrow and get your money back! Unless they did something besides jumpstart.
The fact the call center and service both said this is hard to believe. It’s in black and white on the web site and contract.

TandW · 09-28-2021, 01:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jepoland5

Thanks, all, for the advice. A few clarifications re questions raised:

Re Coach-Net, they told me that they pay for the service call but that I was responsible for any of the work performed. So they pay to get the truck there, but I pay the jump charge which they said would be $150/her with a minimum of 2 hours. I haven't had time to review my Coach-Net agreement to see if I should push back on that.

Re just using my car and jumper cables, I was under the impression that you typically need a good size truck to jump a Cummins 450 hp beast. We have a mid-size SUV, and it sounds like that may do the trick.

Re access to any electric, while my HOA lot is a fantastic bargain at around $340 per year, there is no electric available.

Thanks again to this group for all the great suggestions. I'll give them a try tomorrow and hopefully by up and running soon.

A small car can recharge those batteries in an hours time. Alternators these days put out 150 amps or more, typically. All you really need is some high quality jumper cables.