Yesterday, I rode over to the RV shop to check more items on the Alpine Coach we’re purchasing. This time I crawled into the main pass through basement storage bay. I examined wiring, plumbing and heater ducts. I was looking for abraded wires, corrosion, loose ducting or signs of leaks in the PEX tubing. It all looked good.

A few people have asked why we are replacing our coach when we’ve been on the road less than six months. Fair enough. When we bought our motorhome in December of 2012, we weren’t thinking of full-timing in it. We wanted to take some trips and see how we liked RVing. We’d never owned an RV before. A couple of months later, we started talking about the possibility of full-timing. And then we decided to go for it before we even took our first trip!

Although our Gulfstream Sun Voyager is a fine motorhome and well-equipped, it falls short of our ideal coach. When we crossed the Rocky Mountains in high ambient temperatures, the lack of power at high altitudes became apparent. On long descents, the engine braking effect of a gasoline engine is inadequate. You have to apply the brakes, taking care not to overheat them. This can make some long, steep descents stressful.

The big diesel engines used in motorhomes are equipped with engine braking devices. Diesel engines do not have a throttle, so when you’re coasting downhill, the engine becomes an air pump. Heavy vehicles (like a motorhome or large truck) maintain momentum downhill and will turn the crankshaft of the engine. On the upstroke of the piston, air is being compressed and resists the upward motion. However, once the piston reaches top dead center and starts to move downward, the compressed air, which has been heated by compression expands, pushing the piston downward and returning the energy expended on the upstroke. Because of this phenomenon, diesel engines are equipped with devices to add engine braking effect.

Some have an exhaust brake. This is basically a valve in the exhaust that blocks the flow of air through the engine. With the airflow restricted, pressure increases in the exhaust manifold, pushing back into the cylinder when the exhaust valve opens. These are effective, but there’s a better (albeit more expensive) system.

The compression release brake is often referred to as a Jake brake or Jacobs brake. Jacobs Engineering was the pioneer of this system. The Jake brake opens the exhaust valve on the down stroke of the piston. With the cycle interrupted by the open exhaust valve, you only have the compression resistance on the upstroke and no return of energy (or spring back) on the down stroke. These are very effective. Some diesels have a two-stage system, which varies the number of cylinders involved and allows even more speed control.

So, one of the criteria for our replacement coach was a turbocharged diesel, which is less affected by high-altitude operation, and an engine braking device, preferably a two-stage Jake brake.

The next issue was a dedicated workspace solution for Donna. Our current coach has a booth dinette which is perfectly comfortable for dining, but not so much for working. The table is the wrong height for typing on the keyboard, the seat cushion is uncomfortable when sitting for extended periods of time, there’s no leg room underneath the table to stretch and we’re always having to clear the table when it’s time to eat. We decided to only look at floorplans with free-standing tables and chairs. This narrowed the field of coaches we looked at.

These first two items were must-haves for us. Another must-have that we were a little more flexible with was tank capacity. Our current coach holds 50 gallons of fresh water and about 45 gallons of gray and 45 gallons of black waste water. This really limits the amount of time we can boondock without a sewer hook-up. If we were really careful, we might be able to stretch the gray water holding capacity to a week. Our new coach holds 105 gallons of fresh water, 100 gallons of gray and 89 gallons of black waste water. A couple of weeks of boondocking before we have to find a dump station should be no problem at all.

The last criteria we applied to our search was an inverter. When we bought our current coach, I looked at the IOTA converter thinking it was an inverter. The salesperson may have told me it was – I don’t remember now, but I’ve learned a lot since then. Here’s the difference – the converter takes 120 volt AC power and converts it to 12 volts DC. This allows operation of various 12-volt systems and battery charging while hooked up to shore power or running the generator. Without shore power or running the generator, you have 12 volts from the batteries, but you do not have 120 volt AC power.

An inverter provides the same battery charging capability of a converter when hooked up to shore power or running the generator. The difference is, the inverter can supply 120 volt AC power from the battery bank when you are not hooked up. This means you can run your coffeemaker, power your laptop or turn on the TV without shore power or running your generator. To me, this is essential while boondocking. Our new coach has a 2000-watt inverter which gives us up to 15 amps of current at any one time.

These were our main issues and why we decided to trade our current coach in.

One of the things our new coach doesn’t have is a built-in ladder for roof access. For some reason, Alpine Coaches did not come with ladders. (I don’t think Country Coach provided ladders either.) To me, roof access is essential. You need to be able to perform maintenance, such as cleaning air conditioner condensers, caulking seams or just cleaning the roof. I ordered a 14-foot Werner MT-17 300-Pound Duty Rating Telescoping Multi-Ladder from Amazon*. This is a telescoping multi-ladder that functions as a step ladder or an extension ladder. It folds to a compact 56.5x24x8 inches for storage. This should work fine for roof access.

The new tires didn’t arrive for the Alpine Coach yesterday. Today I’ll go back to the RV shop and check the tire date codes and installation.

*Just so you know, if you decide to purchase one of these through the Amazon link in this post, I’ll earn a small commission. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!