Boondocking Chicago in a Prevost H3-45 Class A RV Life Camper
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- čas přidán 22. 05. 2022
- Video of driving to and Boondocking in Chicago. I go into a little detail and show the battery levels running different loads, charging with the generator and charging with the engine alternator.
As always, thanks for watching!
Be on the lookout for more videos!
Visit my website for more information
campprevost.com
Email me at aaron@campprevost.com
Get God Whispered Your Name by Keith Urban here lickd.lnk.to/Fw074jID!Camp%20...
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Get this and other songs for your next CZcams video at lickd.co
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- Victron 24/3000/120 - amzn.to/3Ahp8tm
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CZcams flagged my video for a copyright, it needs removed by a human - lol. Hoping it will be released Monday morning.
doggos : "found something smelly ... must roll around ... and scene steal ... now....". I love this channel because it's not a vacation reel and shows the intricacies of actually living in a motorcoach from day to day. Keep at it. You have a dedicated fan.
Thank you! Our next outing will be late March.
Very,very interesting video !! I had a lot of sports cars in my life , but I don't want them anymore...I would love to own a Prevost instead and go places !!!! Maybe in the near future...Just retired last week! Thanks again for taking the time to post those videos. I really appreciate them.
Your most welcome! Congratulations on your retirement- I’m about 10 years away (get the ladies out of college). My grandfather and father passed away from colon cancer at 70 and 69, told my wife after my father died we needed to do this now - financially makes no sense but seeing the girls visit 33 states, parks, etc over the past 3 years has been priceless. That’s why I have “where someday is today” in my logo - decided it was time. Although for you I might hold out another few months and see if the market tanks from these fuel prices and get yourself a deal!
So glad you did this video. Love the California stops. Great seeing how the Victron’s are working and if it wasn’t for your video I would not be-enjoying mine shortly.
Cant wait to see how they work for you!
It’s always a good idea to keep the diesel tank full if possible. This keeps it from getting water condensation in the tank. Especially when the coach is sitting.
You are correct
This is one beautiful coach, who ever buys this will have a beau
Agree!
My same goal! Love it. My dad passed in 2020 due to pancreatic cancer. My goal was for him to see my Prevost. I’m on the hunt now and watching the market! Thanks for the great video and all of your knowledge! Greatly appreciated!
Sorry about your father. Good luck on your search and thanks for watching.
Very nice video, love your music, keep getting it out there.
Thanks
Thank you for another great video. I enjoyed it very much.
Very welcome. Thanks for watching and the kind comments.
Very nice neighbors/neighborhood. That bus is the definition of self contained!! Great video!!
Thank you
Another interesting video with details about operating one of these complex machines. Also had to chuckle that you recruited a daughter to help you dump it. Did the same with my kids - helped build character. :)
Thanks for watching and commenting! Nice to humble them whenever possible!
Great video. I was going to ask you in previous videos whether you planned to add solar panel. May be a great idea if you do more boondocking - or just when parked in your driveway!! Thanks
Would love to. Thinking about 8 450w panels would do it. Gotta get my lithium up and going first though. Thanks for watching and commenting!
The reason I clicked on the video is because it says Chicago, being from Chicago, I know it takes extreme caution to navigate something that large around the city due to all the low bridges. You did not go to Chicago, the outskirts sure. People who are really from Chicago get upset when people say Chicago but they really mean Illinois. I still enjoyed seeing that beautiful coach on the road as well as the very nice neighborhoods you drove through.
Hinsdale is officially a suburb of Chicago - so I was close. When your from rural Indiana - it seems like Chicago! Thanks for watching and commenting
@@CampPrevostunderstood, awesome content being I’m a fan of Prevost and Newell Coach
I love how when you go out of town and you go to a restaurant and you hear someone say they are from Chicago and then you say to them I am from Chicago and ask what area are you from and then they say they are from Schaumburg or Evanston. There is one thing I can say that is no where near Downtown Chicago. The hydrants give it away along with street layout and street signs. Still like your channel and travels.
Lol. Thanks for watching. When your from little Lafayette, just crossing the border to IL is Chicago to me! Lol. I try to keep the location private, even though we had permission I don’t want to draw any unnecessary attention and really appreciate the approval - it’s a beautiful spot. Thanks for the comment!
Excellent content here (as well as many of your past videos)! I’m consider a 2000 Marathon Prevost H3-45. Your videos have been really helpful. Would love to have a Q/A with you at some point. Cheers…
Thanks for watching and commenting, glad they help. These are definitely different then anything else for sale - so just trying to fill the content gap (no videos of these except for sale). Would love to have a marathon - they do such a great job with fit, finish, etc. Make sure you have someone help go through it with you - they are kinda specialized. Just have to break them down into their components and review each detail - make sure it works. Basics - tires need replaced about every 5-6 years, check house - chassis - and generator batteries. Air up the coach and see how long it takes to drop pressure or cycle the air compressor. Check the toilet for leaks. Run the coach on 50amp and plug into a 20amp circuit. Unplug it and run off your inverters. Then start the generator and run a couple air conditioners. Run the electric and fuel side of the aquahot. Check your water pressure and pumps. Decide what you want to do if anything is wrong - everything breaks down and needs fixed - just know what your getting into and who / where can service it if you won’t be doing it yourself.
@@CampPrevost If you’d be open to a chat sometime, please ping me directly. Thanks!
Sorry - lost this message when I replied, still interested in the H3?
A fan of Rebuild Rescue.... :) I like his channel , and yours of course.
He does a good job - I love aviation as well so it’s a good mix for me, his and Jimmys World! I don’t watch TV anymore - to much stuff out there from all these guys.
@@CampPrevost Jimmy's world is great, I'm a full time helicopter pilot, retiring in a couple of years, going to do a lot of rv'ing.
Really enjoy all of your videos. What is the squealing noise when you make turns? I've noticed it before on another Prevost video. Thanks!!!!!
Thanks! So - the people I bought it from said every H3 they had did the same…. I think it sounds like air bubbles in the line. The power steering runs from the engine bay clear to the front, so over 45’ - I guess it could be a design issue but who knows. I have a little play in it to - when I brought it to Prevost they said it was all fine and still within spec…. I have learned to let it go but still curious if something is really wrong or not.
another great vid!!
fuel is like buying stock...i felt that hahahahahaha
Thanks!
You were in hinsdale or western springs I would guess. A suburban area of Chicago.
You may be correct! 🤷♂️
Man, I rather a prevost rv than any lambo or ferrari or exotic your bus is way better than any of those teenager toys
Ha - thanks! Sure can do more with it, try sleeping 6 with 2 dogs in a Lamborghini! They probably get the same mpg though!
I just noticed after so many vids, you don't have slideouts. Would you get slideouts? or are you happy with none?
I purposely didn’t get slides, I was scared of the coach and the slides made me more scared. Now that I feel comfortable with the coach, I would be interested in them. We mostly travel so we wanted a big area in what we call travel mode. Most times the coaches with slides are very small and cramped with the slides in - the time we wanted a lot a room. So it was a trade off. I don’t miss them but would be neat to see how big it is with them out and how small with them in. Someone told me if a Prevost slide goes out it could be $10k to fix - don’t know how true that is and how much they go bad. They are pneumatic and have large air bladders encompassing them - I guess they work really well - just a lot to fix if they go out…
@@CampPrevost ya for sure. I would rarely use the slideouts, mostly bedroom for the extra space. Still deciding.
And just to think….If you went lithium you could have probably half as many batteries for same total capacity. If you built a bank the size of what you have now, probably easily double if not triple your battery capacity. Best thing I ever did to our coach. Had 4 8D AGM’s….would last about 14 hours if conservative. Now I only have two “small” lithium batteries….about a third of the physical size batteries were before….about 1/4 the weight….not conservative at all now…micro..fridge…tv’s…chargers…etc..etc…now I’m not set up to run AC’s….but we can easily go at least 2 days now with ZERO worries. Built them myself…very EASY..it will change your life !!!….LOL….and we don’t even have solar….YET…just got those in. ( 9 ) 210w panels.
Wow! I currently have (6) 8D AGM’s and my problem is they still work! Lol. I figure once they go, it will be lithium all the way. I have the chargers and inverters to run them - what did you do about your alternator? I think mine is a 200amp 24v alternator - not sure how it will do with lithium…. I think you could put DC to DC chargers in between to manage the charging?
@@CampPrevost yes sir…not to intrude on your channel by talking about our channel …but if you take a look at our channel under Country Coach videos…everything is there from start to where we are now. How I built them and how we currently charge them until I get solar on.
@@ALongLongWaytoGO thanks! Don’t mind at all - will check it out!
@@ALongLongWaytoGO 04 Marathon H here. Would love to know more. I was going to add 6 more 8D AGMs to the other side as well. How do you control the heat from lithium? I have considered it. Can more be added to increase time on battery.
@@imike0367 sorry for long reply….in theory you could add as much battery capacity as space would allow. Your charging system ( engine alternator charging, solar, inverter chargers ) would need to be sized sufficiently enough to charge however much capacity of battery(ies) you installed. As far as heat goes…I actually do not monitor actual battery temperature. My DC to DC charger ( set for Lithium charge profile ) has built in temperature monitoring to adjust charge based on battery temperature, as well as my AC to DC Progressive Dynamics Lithium specific charger. I built my own Lifepo4 batteries and the Daly BMS’s I used also have temperature monitoring to shut batteries off if temps go high. I have drawn as much as 150 amps off batteries ( in 12v configuration……yours is probably 24v…actually much easier on batteries ) and have never had the BMS shut the batteries down. Our coach is not setup to run AC’s off batteries. I don’t think I would ever have a temperature problem and so far…fingers crossed…here in SE Texas at 100° ambient temperature….No problem!!!….Sorry couldn’t answer actual question for you. Excellent source of information is Will Prowse. Dude is seriously an expert on this stuff. He has a CZcams as well as a Forum on the internet.
If genset charging from 87% to full, then that's about 6.5% battery charge rate per hour. How much diesel per hour does genset consume? Thus a full tank of fuel for maximum boon docking time with 0%-100% charge about 15.38 hours roughly?
It’s complicated now, I’ve since added solar. But if you disregard the solar…. The inverters max out at 70amp each - so 3,640 watts an hour charge. The battery is 15,300 watts - so 4 hours to full charge. I can carry 235 gallons of diesel. If the generator takes 2 gallons an hour - that’s 117 hours of charging / 4 hours to full. That’s 28 cycles - holy crap! I wouldn’t be able to drive away at that point - I guess the generator stops at 1/4 tank - so really, so only 176 gallons available to it - so 22 cycles - then still have enough fuel to leave and drive 381 miles (58 gallons left * 6.5mpg). So would do well! Adding the solar, on a sunny day it adds about 7,500 watts, on a cloudy day, about 4,000 watts.
@Camp Prevost so that's some good boon docking time if one charge a day would be about 22 days' worth. Might run out of food by then, lol.
Surprised the generator uses 2 gallons an hour, wow that's a lot. Figured a half a gallon an hour. Usually the engines idle at a gallon or so an hour and generators are less like a 10th an hour. However I am referring to the long haul semi truck I drive. It has a ...measley 1800 watts. But it's a company truck so there's that. My engine though is a 505hp Detroit Diesel. 2023 year. When I last drove a Volvo VN770 in 2006, it's engine would idle at .75 gallons an hour.
So this leads me to assume the charging of batteries consumes more fuel? Or does that include using coach while charging?
I’m sure this is in one of your earlier videos but what year is your coach and how many miles when you first purchased? I’m looking at H345, XL and XLII in the vintage of 1996-2002 all with series 60 Detroits and would love to know why you went with the H3. Thanks!
It’s a 2000, H3-45 with about 218k miles. I think we have only put about 15 on it - 3,800 was going out west and back. I actually wanted an X but it was sold and they told me they had an H (didn’t really know the difference back then!). So we went and looked at it - an 02 with 38k miles. It was clean but the miles scared me and the interior was very elegant - to much for us. They told us about another coming up for sale and we went and looked and bought it. So just the right coach at the right time really. I really like the tall storage bays on the H. I really love the exterior on the X - they are timeless and remind me of an old P51 - just very clean and ahead of it’s time. I think if I ever sell mine I’d like to try an X. Good luck on your purchase. I think I might do a video on what I’d look for when buying a Prevost….
@@CampPrevost thanks so much. I spent most my early touring days in entertainer XL coaches. Both star coaches and bunk coaches. I agree the look of the stainless is iconic and beautiful. I love the presence of the H3 and that’s hard to tell a 2000 from a 2020 aside from front caps and window updates. I enjoy your content a lot. Scared to death on the inverter situation so I’m hoping to find a coach already in optimal operation condition for running without shore power. I still tour so I’d like it to be self sufficient outside a venue or if I’m out with the family. We shall see. The market is all over the place as of the past few months with folks putting cash offers site unseen. For something as large and involved I’d need to see it, drive it and get a sense before making a large purchase such as a Prevost coach. Again thanks for the great content and all the dyi stuff which makes this seem a bit more doable!
@@christiantamburr 04 Marathon H3 here. 115K miles on it when purchased. Barely broken in. Invested some upgrades into it. Love it. Wife loved XLII/X3, but when it comes down to it, the bay heights are what sold us. So much more space. Both have the Prevost "presence" when coming down the road (you see them a ways out and know what they are). Marathon builds a solid rig. We deliberately wanted a pre-DEF, Detroit Series 60 with Allison trans. Workhorse. Purchased before pricing went nuts. Send me a note and will send a pic. Good luck with your hunt.
@@imike0367 Heh - now pricing is going nuts. Southward. There's a lot of stock that's showing up in inventory for great prices now. It's still 'moving' fast, but the prices are too.
@@christiantamburr - if you have a channel I'd love to see a link. You've got a ton of stories in the memory bank you could share for sure I'm guessing.
Do you still have the channel going?
I do. I Finally brought her home - weather has been terrible this spring
Do you live in Texas? Man, you guys all live in castles.
Just little old Lafayette Indiana :).
@@CampPrevost Indiana is right in my book. You have one of the best music support companies in existence which has outfitted my future mobile music and livestreaming coach with high-4 figures worth of gear. Sweetwater - you should swing by there if you'd like to be amazed and do a livestream or prerecorded video from there. I'm confident they'd love to give a tour to someone in a coach platform that's the backbone of the entertainment industry. Give them a call or head out during their yearly open-house. (if you're a motorhead or aircraft aficionado they have you covered there too (they sell used cars from celebs that frequent them).
It's a very unique company that's very proud of Indiana, the community, the workers, the customers and from very humble beginnings that reaches out to people 'getting started' with as much class as their high-end clients.
They've got one of the most unique American stories in industry, and have succeeded in doing what Silicon Valley purported to do (but never actually did (or stopped doing) - and I did business with and in SV over the course of 2 decades). Musicians of all types and stripes are tenacious in being fans of theirs and the amount of jobs and revenue they've provided for the community has far more impact than Amazon ever will.
Worth a look.
Don't like the time lapse, nor the music. Like to hear your commentary
Thanks for the feedback