UPDATE ON BATTERIES - So, my CS Adventurous is back at the Johnson RV to get the batteries figured out. After adding the battery monitor, I got some added clarity on what is going on with the charging / discharging of my added batteries. What appears to be happening is the inverter is getting confused on what the overall capacity is of the battery bank. The Northstar 12V batteries have 192 Amp/hours per battery. The OEM AGM batteries are 200 to 220 Amp/hours @ 6V. However, on the same draw across the battery bank, the OEM AGM batteries will go down to less than 11V whereas the Northstar batteries will still be at 11.6V. So, the interver alarm goes off because it is reading against the OEM batteries and not the added Northstar batteries. I will keep you guys updated on what the resulting solution will end up being. My thought that I voiced to the dealer is to just pull the OEM batteries and keep the Northstar batteries. 768 Amp/Hours is plenty for the dry camping that I do. Also, the SETEC battery monitor software will only measure up to 800 Amp/hours anyway. So, that is a win there as well.
So, I have finally convinced the dealer to remove the OEM batteries and just leave the Northstar batteries. I took a trip for 4 days and everything worked perfectly. Here is what I have learned over these 8 months.
1. Do not mix batteries no matter what. The inverter is not "smart" enough on the Roadtreks to equalize the draws from the various power draws.
2. Roadtrek buys their own batteries, so if you want to add batteries, you have to replace all the batteries.
3. There is no good spot to add extra batteries other than the behind the rear sofa. Yes, it sucks and yes you lose a lot of storage. But, like everything else with a class B, the entire experience is a bunch of compromises.
4. The 760AMP/Hours I have with the 4 Northstar batteries is plenty of power.
5. If you use the electric heat, fridge, run the TV and a bunch of lights while being plugged into shore power, there is still a negative power draw which surprised the heck out of me. I showed a negative 1.8A. So, this is another reason why adding extra batteries is a good idea. Now, this could be that the electrical was not so great at the campsite, but the reality is still the same.
6. Adding the SETEC or some external monitor is essential. Not only can I geek out, but it gives me important information that I have been able to relay back to the dealer when there was a charging problem. Based upon my feedback, the dealer found that the engine generator cable was loose.
Overall, this was one heck of a painful learning experience. I hope that it helps everyone else out there that is looking to do something similar.