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 | Prime Time Projects Update...Yeah Baby! Things have been chaotic on Prime Time lately. We have been making STRONG progress on the remaining projects that need to be completed before December 1...our departure date. I'll bring you up to speed on what's been happening... OK...remember the Prime Time battery problem? We have two 8D AGM batteries parallel wired to serve as our house bank. These batteries supply DC power to run lights, pumps, VacuFlush toilets, etc. on board. Well...I FINALLY realized that not only were these two MONSTER batteries bad...so was the Newmar Phase Three charger. BUMMER! These 8D batteries are expensive (~$600 each retail), heavy (162 pounds each), and live in an impossible location in Prime Time's engine room. Thanks to our WONDERFUL friends James Voss (Mystery) and Lonnie & Jennifer Briggs (Tyee), Anneke and I were able to get two new batteries safely installed. It was a KILLER...but we did it! These people really helped us out in a time of need. There just wasn't ANY way Anneke and I could have pulled this one off alone... Now the bad news. The charger continued to shut down (thermal overload fault indicator) after I wired up the new batteries. Risking electrocution (not really...but maybe...probably not), I removed all of the battery cables running to the charger and unscrewed it from the engine room wall. I took this expensive piece of equipment (~$1600) over to Lakewood Yacht Services to see if it was "circling the drain". They have sent it back to Newmar in California for repair. Please cross your fingers that repair is a viable option! Good news...I have the new batteries hooked to my 30 amp portable charger and they are doing great. I'll update you on the charger saga and some of the other projects we've recently crossed off the LIST...
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