Community Forums

JPaTV · 06-11-2018, 07:11 AM

Good morning!

I wondered about parking my coach in my driveway when I get home from trips. My driveway has a very large pad to fit our 40' coach, but it is on a pretty significant slope.The top side of the driveway is probably 3' higher than 40' down the driveway.

I put chocks down when we're docking at the house, and I dump the air to let the coach lay down to take the load off the air bags, and I apply the air brake.

When we park at the house, we're not occupying it, so leveling isnt an issue for us, but would there be any reason to level out the coach for equipment/chassis sake with the hydraulic leveling jacks when I'm parked at home? My thought would be to leave it laying down off the bags and not use the jacks, just to take the load off of everything possible. When its parked at home, its there during the week and we use it on weekends.

Thanks!
Justin

flamebuster · 06-11-2018, 08:30 AM

Turn off the fridge they don't like out of level operation.. Using the jacks on that steep of a slope won't be able to extend far enough to achieve level and will most likely bend the ram's shafts or do other damage to the jacks. And the air bags will not be hurt in anyway if left inflated, just like tires that is there job..JMO .. Doug

JPaTV · 06-11-2018, 09:21 AM

Thats good to know about the bags-- I do think it looks cool to rest the coach though- like she's a crouched cat ready to pounce... slowly... lol

I was thinking that same thing about the jacks too. We rarely use our fridge honestly. They say it takes a solid day to cool it, and by the time it comes around to travel time, we just load up a cooler.

I also have a 50A service to the coach, so I havent really wanted to plug a 15-20A line into it out of fear that some sort of residual draw from the charging system or something would light up the cable and start a fire. So I just opt to hit the battery disconnect switch. I am thinking about putting a 30A off my dryer line in the house out to the garage so I can plug 30A into it and just manage power use in the house on that line when I have it plugged in.

Thanks for your input!

JPaTV · 06-11-2018, 09:22 AM

Nice coach by the way! We really like the Monacos and would like to upgrade eventually one day!

Bob Hyatt · 06-11-2018, 10:10 AM

If you want to run off of 15a/20a service, most newer coaches have a control panel that allows you to set max current draw. In my Tiffin, it is over the drivers front window. It will then decide what to turn off when A/C is needed. I just added 50a service at my home to solve this, but I plugged in to a 15a GFCI circuit several times, and the power system would cheerfully run one A/C, or whatever, and not trip the breaker. However if something else gets plugged in outside the coach, it would pop quickly.

JPaTV · 06-11-2018, 11:23 AM

I think we are equipped with that, I have a power share function on my control panel for power. I can select variable power levels for incomming power. Do you think this is the same function as yours? Thanks for the insight!

I would love to be able to plug the coach in and charge the batteries while its parked, and try to get the fridge cool before trips!

flamebuster · 06-11-2018, 11:15 PM

Not sure how you plan to get your power from the dryer plug in. And maybe you are aware of the difference between the dryer and rv plug in, but if not the dryer has 2 hot 120v legs and one neutral leg giving 240v to the appliance. A rv plug has 1 120v leg, 1 neutral leg and 1 ground leg only giving 120v to the rv..Directly connecting a rv to the dryer plug will fry a lot of components in the rv.
Installing a plug in is a nice convenience I have a 50 amp for my rv, so I can use the rv as a extra apt. for visiting guests..and I can turn appliances on to check them before we leave on a trip.
I agree the rv's look pretty cool when set low to the ground......

JPaTV · 06-12-2018, 04:09 AM

I have 50 shore service plug on ours with the behemoth of a 4 prong plug— isn’t a 50A plug 2x 110V/50A legs, 1 neutral and 1 ground? If I dog bone down to a 30A, I’d have 2x 110V/30A coming in, and if I dog bone down to 15A, it’d just be 1x 110V/15A, and i would need to select the power center to limit my rig to 15/20A, so the appliances know not to try and pull 220 where only a 110 exists— am I understanding that right?

So if I run the cord to a 220V/30A dryer plug, I can dog bone down to it and select 30A on the control center?

Also... the old owners of our house had a hot tub outside and there is a 50A sub breaker... if I could only find out how to turn that on and plug in there, all of this question goes away!

A kneeling RV is like a crouching tiger... but more like a crouching sloth haha! I like hearing the air billow out and watching the rig gently lay down :-)

twinboat · 06-12-2018, 04:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JPaTV

I have 50 shore service plug on ours with the behemoth of a 4 prong plug— isn’t a 50A plug 2x 110V/50A legs, 1 neutral and 1 ground? If I dog bone down to a 30A, I’d have 2x 110V/30A coming in, and if I dog bone down to 15A, it’d just be 1x 110V/15A, and i would need to select the power center to limit my rig to 15/20A, so the appliances know not to try and pull 220 where only a 110 exists— am I understanding that right?

So if I run the cord to a 220V/30A dryer plug, I can dog bone down to it and select 30A on the control center?

Also... the old owners of our house had a hot tub outside and there is a 50A sub breaker... if I could only find out how to turn that on and plug in there, all of this question goes away!

A kneeling RV is like a crouching tiger... but more like a crouching sloth haha! I like hearing the air billow out and watching the rig gently lay down :-)

The problem with older dryer plugs is that with only 3 blades, there is no neutral. The dryers don't need it because they only use 240 volts to heat with.

You need a neutral to power your RV. That's what splits up the 240 volts. You can not buy an adaptor to go in a 3 blade dryer outlet. Making one will do bad things.

If the dryer outlet is 4 blades, you got the wiring you need, just not 50 amps. For that, there should be an adaptor. Look for portable generator adaptors.

The hot tub will give you all the power you could need.

JPaTV · 06-12-2018, 05:47 AM

That makes perfect sense about the dryer plug - I never considered that- I'm glad I havent plugged anything in yet. I'm hoping I can figure out the hot tub ordeal and just provide a full 50A service to the rig so I dont have to worry about anything.

Thanks!
Justin

TTD · 06-12-2018, 05:53 AM

My driveway is also sloped, but not as much. When I first start up sometimes my stop engine light is on.

If I move it to a level area and restart it... It goes off.

I assume the oil is moving to a corner of the motor and giving an error.

CountryB · 06-12-2018, 06:03 AM

Unless your running the roof AC, there is not much need for anything more than 20A 115V while in storage. You just need the 20A feed to keep batteries charged and for any small loads (like running a dehumidifier).

Just setup your Xantrex for a 15A incoming amperage. If anything were to exceed that the Inverter will add the additional juice. But 15A is plenty for storage purposes.

JPaTV · 06-12-2018, 06:14 AM

Thanks Mike and Tony!

My Norcold Freezer/Fridge will run off of 15A to cool it down before a trip?

Sorry for so many newb questions... I also dont like unintentionally starting fires!

Yellowboat · 06-12-2018, 11:47 AM

My driveway has more slope than yours. My driveway has about four feet drop over the 34' length of our coach. I have been parking my coaches there since 1981. I never have had a problem. All of my coaches have been gas. My latest is a 2016 F53 Ford chassis.

I have a 30 amp outlet that I use to keep the batteries charged. While on the slope I don't use slides, Jack's, or refrigerator. I can pull forward near the street to a level spot where we can open level the coach, extend slides, and power the refrigerator when getting the coach ready.