Everyday Operation and Maintenance (for all systems)
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      3. Everyday Operation and Maintenance (for all systems)

      System Storage and Cold Weather Use

      A few best practices will carry you far in creating a simple routine of storing your Revel system, so that power is ready when you need it. 

      To store your Revel with RoamRig installed:

      • Turn off the heater, water pump, inverter, etc. before disabling house power and storing the RoamRig system
      • Turn off house power. 
        • House power disables all systems. 
        • Note: solar charging and shore charging remain functional - and will also trickle charge the Mercedes chassis battery - while house power is disabled.
      • When storing the van inside with no shore power nor solar charging, you should absolutely shut the house power off via the switch on the control panel. The house batteries or the refrigerator can drain the batteries.
      • For long term storage (1 month or more), it is best to store the van with the batteries completely charged and disconnected. Please see this video on how to find and shut off everything. Turn all the breakers in this video off.

       

      • If storing inside, you can use shore power. If you leave the fridge/house power on, and park the van inside without shore power, it will drain the battery (and fairly quickly). With 420ah, if we assume the fridge uses 2.5a average, that puts you at exactly 7 days to zero (420/2.5/24 = 7). Best practice when parked inside is to just plug the van in. Normal outlet is fine! It will keep your chassis and house batteries topped off and happy. 

      Cold weather storage:

      • If you are storing the van for a long period in cold weather and not using it, the best bet is to fully charge the batteries and then shut off all the circuit breakers on the front of the power system (see video above). The batteries will remain charged and ready for use. 
      • If you use the van in cold weather, it is best to keep the inside of the van above 32 degrees so that the batteries can be charged. If the inside of the van drops below 32 degrees, the batteries will not allow themselves to be charged, and if you have load on the system, it will drain to zero. If the batteries hit a low voltage shut down and it is below 32 degrees, you will be unable to charge the batteries until they are heated
        • To keep the batteries warm enough to accept charge, do one of the following:
          • Keep system + furnace + hot water switches on. This will cause the Rixen system to run the furnace as necessary to keep the glycol loop warm. Since the glycol tank in the bench seat will be warm, it will keep the batteries warm without wasting excess fuel heating the inside of the van. 
          • If you are storing the van connected to shore power, keep system + furnace + hot water switches on, and also flip the 120V water heater switch on. The Rixen system may fire the furnace to initially heat the glycol, but after the glycol loop is warm, it will use the 120V heater to maintain the temperature and ONLY run the furnace if necessary (E.G. it is extremely cold out and the 5k btu electric heating element cannot keep up with the cold weather). NOTE: IF STORING THE VAN INSIDE PLUGGED INTO SHORE POWER, LEAVE THE FURNACE SWITCH OFF SO THAT THE DIESEL POWERED HEATER DOES NOT RUN INSIDE!

      To prepare your Revel and RoamRig for use after long term storage:

      1. Turn on all the breakers if they were turned off. Remember that if it was BELOW 100% when you turned these off, it will now default to 100% and the reading will not be correct until you get a long charge.
        • If the inside of the van is below 32 degrees, use the Rixen heating system to warm the interior of the van. After a significant time with the heat running, the batteries should be warm enough to accept charge from the alternator, shore power, or solar. Remember, if you try to charge them and they are too cold, they will protect themselves and you will not damage them!
      2. Turn on the house power switch

      Important notes

      • If the batteries go below 11.5V, the Victron Battery Protect will shut off the power. Below 10V activates the battery's internal low voltage shut off. In the latter case, when the Victron device has been 100% depowered, it "loses" its knowledge of where the batteries were. You can reset the Victron battery status to be a true 100% by charging it fully. An overnight shore charge is good here. 
      • If the Victron gauge does not show anything after reconnecting the batteries (if they were disconnected) or the Victron gauge does not show anything when the house power switch is turned on, assume that the batteries have reached their internal low voltage shut down and must be reset per this page.