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Old 09-09-2014, 09:24 PM   #11
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Re: Capacitor on Sportsmobile - disconnected?

Thanks guys for all the helpful info and tips. Extremely helpful. I'm pretty sure it's the isolator that may have caused the problem with the alternator. I took it to a couple of shops before ending up at the dealer that all confirmed both the battery and the alternator were toast. I just thought I had a problem with the vehicle and never thought that the RV part or isolator was the root of the problem. I don't normally use the dealer - but in this case none of the shops were able to get the alternator quickly and were about the same price as the dealer.

I plan to take it to a RV place to test/replace the isolator. Hopefully they can figure out the wiring since this van has a lot of other stuff on it like a huge amplifier and other junk the previous owner wired into the battery, etc. The other issue is due to the location of the alternator on this engine (Vortec 8100 V8 engine), theyhad the remove some of the air conditioner wires and evacuate/recharge the AC to get to the alternator. Who knows what they probably messed up with the Starcool system and whether they recharged to Starcool specs. Honestly, I really regret buying another Sportsmobile with the Starcool system.... it just makes it complicated to get work done on the actual vehicle, etc. and doesn't work very well as an AC anyway.

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Old 09-09-2014, 11:53 PM   #12
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Re: Capacitor on Sportsmobile - disconnected?

Quote:
Originally Posted by mericatr
Thanks guys for all the helpful info and tips. Extremely helpful. I'm pretty sure it's the isolator that may have caused the problem with the alternator. I took it to a couple of shops before ending up at the dealer that all confirmed both the battery and the alternator were toast. I just thought I had a problem with the vehicle and never thought that the RV part or isolator was the root of the problem. I don't normally use the dealer - but in this case none of the shops were able to get the alternator quickly and were about the same price as the dealer.

I plan to take it to a RV place to test/replace the isolator. Hopefully they can figure out the wiring since this van has a lot of other stuff on it like a huge amplifier and other junk the previous owner wired into the battery, etc. The other issue is due to the location of the alternator on this engine (Vortec 8100 V8 engine), theyhad the remove some of the air conditioner wires and evacuate/recharge the AC to get to the alternator. Who knows what they probably messed up with the Starcool system and whether they recharged to Starcool specs. Honestly, I really regret buying another Sportsmobile with the Starcool system.... it just makes it complicated to get work done on the actual vehicle, etc. and doesn't work very well as an AC anyway.

Well I'm glad I have it. W/O the Starcool my van would be a hell of a lot hotter when driving. I do feel the AC compressor isn't very useful, at least not what I had hoped for. Mine has only had some issues with of the lines, & a bypass valve. I did loose the Ford compressor but that's not a Starcool part. Some things I found (my opinions only) and my views:

>I only know about how my years Starcool was configured but the dealership refused to work on it. Ford will never put in the correct amount of freon and pretend it's not there whenever they evacuated the system . Not sure about other dealerships other than the ones I dealt with.

>The Starcool works great while driving.

>The Starcool while on shore power needs to be started early while the van is cool or its a loosing battle to try to keep the van cool.

>The Starcool running off shore power pulls power partially out of the house battery. Because it's hot out my inverter battery thermistor kicks off the charger to protect the battery system, so really I need to rig a converter that feeds the 12v part of the Starcool while on shore power. Maybe one of these days I'll cut in another separator or switch and converter.

>I don't know what will happen if a major component fails.




As far as the charging system:

>The Starcool pulls so much while driving that you need a higher output alternator than what Ford offers. Not sure about a Chevy.

>I don't like isolators or the Surepower separators.

>I do like the Blue Sea 7622 separator.


I feel for you if the system has been jacked up by someone who didn't know what they were doing. Hope you find a good shop that will fix you up.
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Old 09-12-2014, 10:16 PM   #13
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Re: Capacitor on Sportsmobile - disconnected?

Latest update. I tried to get an appt with Sportsmobile Austin to check the electrical and Starcool system but have called several times and not been able to get them to call me back. I took it to a good RV shop locally that I've had other RVs worked on. They did not think the isolator was the problem but were not exactly sure. They reconnected the isolator and noted that the breaker kept clicking and tripping(there is a 50 AMP breaker between the isolator and the connection to the house battery). We replaced the breaker and it seemed to run okay in a test drive. This unit also has a large house battery (1100+ cranking amps). I think the previous owner replaced a dual battery with this large one. Don't know if a bad breaker could have caused the problems causing the alternator/battery to fail. I just know that the previous owner had some problems with the fuses/breakers tripping, etc. when having the Starcool worked on recently. Just don't know the specifics of the issues.

My thoughts are likely the Starcool running while driving combined with a very large house battery and the other stuff like large amplifier installed by the prior owner is just too much for the alternator. Sure hope it doesn't fry my new alternator and battery by reconnecting the isolator. Not much of a choice though as you have to run the Starcool while driving or it causes pooling and other issues with the van AC. Anyone have any issues by not running the Starcool AC while driving to keep from pulling too much power from the alternator?

I don't think I could run the Starcool for very long while driving without it running down the house battery if the isolator was not charging the house battery while driving. I assume the Starcool is pulling from the house battery as well while driving but am not too sure. Anyone know?

I'm going on a trip tomorrow so wish me luck.
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Old 09-13-2014, 11:26 AM   #14
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Re: Capacitor on Sportsmobile - disconnected?

Why not have SMB cut in a good battery monitor? They are very useful and the high tech models not only help trouble shoot problems they help to tell you where the batteries state of charge sits...kind of like having a fuel gauge for the battery. Like I posted, with the Starcool running along with all the other vehicle systems (including my stereo amps), my battery monitor showed a negative value on the gauge while driving at night. I had never noticed it before because during the day my solar system pushed enough power in that it provided a positive charge. The solution in my case was installing a larger alternator. But you might have other issues going on and a good electrical shop should be able to test the vans charging system and batteries.

Running the stock air conditioner W/O running the Starcool results in warm air coming from the stock A/C system on my van.
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