We have joined the club - successful maiden trip

[joe]

So the story goes that after lurking here for the last two years, my wife and I flew to Houston two weekends ago and closed the deal on a 93 Prevost LeMirage XL converted by Angola in 94 (94 title) and drove it home.

The trip home 980 miles was successful as we arrived without a stop at the DD shop. The coach drove well at mostly interstate speeds of 65 to 70 miles per hour. I had to get back to work so we did the trip in 2 days. Not a vacation trip at all.

Engine and drive train seemed to perform well. Water temp never above 175, oil pressure 50 psi at 1500 rpm, 20 psi at 500 rpm, pryometers never above 900.

The specs: 40' LeMirage XL with a DD 8V92TA DDEC II with Jacobs breaks and an Allison HT-755CR automatic. Over the road air, three room airs, two espar heaters, two fantastic fans, and the list goes on.....

Now the questions begin which I will break into separate posts more topic specific. I will begin with this one:

The coach came with all the prevost manuals, Operators (with final build sheet), Maintenance, parts and a complete set of prints. All good news. But no manual on the conversion itself, I have the individual component manuls (for example, the inverter/changer, generator engine, roof air ect) but I have no idea how much of this is connected together. My learning curve is at this point very steep.

Did the convererts like Angola produce owner/operator manuals or any build information like electrical schematics? It seems I have two  2500 watt inverters both with chargers (for a single set of house batts), a 24 volt charger (for the start batts?) I'm a little lost in what to run when and knowing if it is set correctly. For example the PO have the wrong house battery type set on the inverter/charger. I trying to go thru all the systems and verify I know how to properly set them up and run them.

Does anyone have a set of Angola Manuals for this vintage (should be close to the same) they would be willing to share via scan or otherwise? Or any suggestions as to how to understand the setup ?

Thanks in advance and I'll be back with more.

Joe

[robertglines1]

Welcome: let us know about where your from.  Another web site prevostcommunity  is good for info also.  lot of same guys with prevo info.  not limited to prevost owners.. just ones intrested in them.  no dumb questions except one not ask.   Bob

[luvrbus]

I can tell you about the inverters those are what is called stacked  the 2-2500 =  5000 W on the coach that is the way is was done before the larger inverters came on the market probably for the cook top and that year model they were MS inverters unless they were changed those are nice coach 

We have friends with one his is a 1990 model and has every manual and schematic you can think of

[joe]

Welcome: let us know about where your from.  Another web site prevostcommunity  is good for info also.  lot of same guys with prevo info.  not limited to prevost owners.. just ones intrested in them.  no dumb questions except one not ask.   Bob

Thanks Bob, I updated my profile with location and bus signature line. I'll add a bus photo in a couple of minutes.

[joe]

We have friends with one his is a 1990 model and has every manual and schematic you can think of

Clifford,

Any way to get a copy of those? I'd be happy to pay the copy charge and shipping cost? That sounds like exactly what I'm looking for.

[joe]

I can tell you about the inverters those are what is called stacked  the 2-2500 =  5000 W on the coach that is the way is was done before the larger inverters came on the market probably for the cook top and that year model they were MS inverters unless they were changed those are nice coach 

I thought they had to be connected in some way as the "A" inverter seems to be charging the house batts while the "B" inverter does not indicate any DC charge at the same time.

How often should 4 - AGM 255 amp-hr batts system be equalized? I don't think the PO really managed this part of the system as I stated earlier the "A" inverter was set to the wrong battery type and  the wrong system capacity of 1020 amp-hrs. I'm on generator power at my current parking location but as soon as I can get to 50 amp power I'll do an 8 hour equalize cycle.

[PP]

Joe,
One thing you definitely want to do whether you find manuals or not is locate which outlets and appliances are on the inverter circuit. When we changed out the old microwave/convection for a new unit, it took me a bit to figure out why I still had power in that circuit even after I unplugged from the pod, and there wasn't a seperate breaker for that line either. When I finally figured out what shut down that line, a few other things quit working as well. It's great fun though, and congrats on your new to you Prevost. What's not to like except the hole in the wallet
Will
Sorry, can't help with the spec's, our rig is an older Marathon conversion.

[luvrbus]

Joe does that make you 4 Prevost's now lol what are you going to with the Country Coach ? and how is the engine rebuild going  I'll work on you some copies

good luck

[joe]

Joe does that make you 4 Prevost's now lol what are you going to with the Country Coach ? and how is the engine rebuild going  I'll work on you some copies

good luck

Clifford,

You must have me confused with someone else. This is my first and only coach. If the wallet holds up I'll keep it.

Thanks for the help with the manuals. I'll get you an address and send the copy money when you need them.

[luvrbus]

yep wrong Joe I figured that out lol Joe P has 4 Prevost but you are catching him you only need 2 more

[joe]

One thing you definitely want to do whether you find manuals or not is locate which outlets and appliances are on the inverter circuit.

Will,

On my list of things to do: is identify what loads are on each breaker. So that's 4 racks of about 15 breakers for the 12V, 2 -120 volt AC and the inverter loads. The microwave is labeled with its own inverter powered breaker as is the household fridge. now is that the only thing on each of those breakers? 

I have noticed that 2 of the 120 AC electrical outlet in the bays work and 2 do not. All exterior outlets are on the same breaker and I reset the ground fault with no success. The little fix it things may drive me nuts....

Joe

[luvrbus]

Joe did you buy the blue Prevost that was located off Clay rd and the Katy freeway in Houston ?

[Uglydog56]

I don't believe AGM batteries need equalizing.  That's a flooded cell thing, isn't it?

[joe]

Joe did you buy the blue Prevost that was located off Clay rd and the Katy freeway in Houston ?

yep Clifford I think I did. The bus was at a hanger at the west Houston airport. If I remember right that was off Clay road.

Best i can tell I am the fifth owner. Original build for a Jack Sourwine (spelling optional), then sold to a guy in south La, then Abiline Tx, and then Houston. Must have been inside most if not of it life, I don't think it spent much if any time in the snow - Paint looks good and no rust at all that I have found and I've been crawling all over it the last two weeks. Best I can tell the Houston owner bought it in 2004 and it was fairly well maintained. I have the maintenance receipts from the last three owners.

It was not used much since late 2009 and I'm expecting some failures. For example I checked the roof airs and they were working when I left Houston with it. But I have been running the generator and the roof airs to do some minor things like replace the kitchen faucet. I have not had time to check your suggestion on the start capacitor but I'm willing to bet one (soon to be all 3) have failed now that I put a load on them.

I heard that "a dealer" had made a low ball offer on it and the owner passed. Was that you?

[joe]

I don't believe AGM batteries need equalizing.  That's a flooded cell thing, isn't it?

The owners manual I have on the batts says "Conditioning/Equalizing Charge at 15.5 volts for 8 hrs... should only be done when the battery is showing symptoms of capacity loss..."

Now I'm not sure exactly what "capacity loss"  means and since I've not used the batteries for an extended period I have no history with how long they will/should carry the load. Since it was not used much in the last year I'm assuming it will be time as soon as I can get to a power pole.

I'm starting a bus barn construction project but until then it is in a storage lot with no power.