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RE: Camping with a C-pap
I used to use a small battery pack that I bought at Sears a lot of years ago and for 5-6 years it worked good but I used it at most a couple nights a trip, most places we go to we do have electric.
A couple years ago we bought a couple Everest AeioMed Cpap's with the humidifiers and batteries and a second battery for both. One I use all the time and the other we rent out though the one regular renter asked about buying it. In any case the battery pack will last two nights (I normally sleep less than 6 hours a night) and you can use the humidifier heater with the battery pack though it shuts the heater off after 4 hours or so. So with two batteries I can go 4-5 nights before I need to charge them. I can recharge from a vehicle or a battery and inverter. Since we bought it I hardly use the battery pack.
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lzasitko
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05/24/12 09:46pm |
Public Lands, Boondocking and Dry Camping
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RE: Where are The Weight Police when you need them???
Nothing new or different and has been going on for a long time.....
When us Canadian's went metric it changed a lot of things to smaller containers but as you mentioned the price stayed the same or in some cases went up. Worst was the mess over building materials that were to change over to metric so a 4x8 sheet of plywood was slightly smaller and that created a lot of problems so we dropped that. I could buy metric plywood at a huge savings so if you could work with the slight difference it could be a money saver. Nowadays I am not sure if you can even get the stuff any more....
You can still get 'REAL' 2x4's but you have to go to a mill and get rough cut lumber which is essentially what they used in the 'OLD' days or at least any old house I have done work on...
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lzasitko
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05/11/12 04:56pm |
Camp Cooks and Connoisseurs
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RE: So, What doesn't like peanut butter???
Mice also like cheeze whiz but I have found peanut butter still works the best. I mostly use the old snap traps but have used the sticky pads from time to time. This year there are very few critters, or at least here and no sign of them. But for the most part we have not had much problems with them in the MH just in the garage.
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lzasitko
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05/04/12 04:00pm |
General RVing Issues
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iOS Apps for free (National Parks)
Last week in the iTunes App store all the Fotopedia apps were free, these cover select US Parks. Well worth getting. Today I found that all of Chimani apps are also free. These again cover select parks but there is one called Chimani Nation Parks that will give you basic info for all state parks and have links to their web sites.
I have no idea of how long they will be free, most are 3-4 dollars normally so right now you can save a bit of money. I am currently downloading them and thought I would pass the info on here. Note that they vary quite a bit in size and may take a while to download. Myself, I don't need all of them right now but we are planning on several long trips this year and next and will get to a few of the parks. So long as you download them now and then either turn them off (so they are not on your iOS device) or delete them entirely you can re-download for nothing as Apple in you account keeps track of every app that you have downloaded....
I have no idea if they are either available on Android or at what cost.
You can find them by searching in the iTunes App Store for either 'fotpedia' or 'chimani'
Edit:
on checking in the Google Play store 'chimani' apps are available and appear to be free at the moment. Fotopedia is only available for iOS.
Fotopedia apps are also not big files (all are under 10mb each) and to use them you do need a wifi connection. With the Chimani apps only the 'National Parks' app is under 15mb (it also needs a wifi connection), the rest vary in size from 108mb to over 360mb but most information is available without a wifi connection, including pictures.
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lzasitko
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04/30/12 09:40pm |
RV Parks, National Parks, State Campgrounds & More
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RE: This MH is cooking my goose!
During the summer here it can get a little warm (just over 100 deg f) and in the sun the windshield is a huge heat sink. For years we drove with the side windows open and can tolerate it so long as you can get enough air moving. A few times we do use the dash air but for the most part it didn't do so well until I started putting up a blanket to close off the very front and that works pretty good. Until last year we didn't have a generator large enough to run the air. For years all we had was a small 1200watt that did fine for lights, frig, computer etc. Last summer we were going to a reunion and temps were supposed to over 100 so I finally bought a generator. We landed up with a Champion and it does really well and not as noisy as expected. Used it a few times without any problems and so far this year we have not been out at all with it. Next month we will be going south and back through Calgary the end of July. Normally we do longer trips in the fall when it is a bit cooler. Will see how it works driving with the house air on if it gets warm enough.
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lzasitko
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04/30/12 07:22pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: TOTAL CHAOS>>>>
My sister and husband have a Labradoodle and it has never got past that stage, does not listen to anyone. Not a vicious dog at all but annoying. When we go there and let our dog out theirs will chase ours around and when our dog tires of it then she goes under the MH where the bigger dog can't get to. We don't like the Labradoodle in the MH as she sheds so bad and we will have hair everywhere..... I think I much preferred their old Labrador which was really a well behaved dog.
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lzasitko
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04/23/12 10:03am |
RV Pet Stop
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RE: Let's talk Mattress's
I have a bad back and just went out and bought a new mattress from Jysk (don't know if they are in the US or just Canada) link
Price was good and I find that I don't sink into it too much. I have had it less than a week but I have been sleeping much better on it than our old mattress.
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lzasitko
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04/14/12 09:15pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: New - can you suggest a campground directory to buy?
If you have a smart phone or a tablet (like the iPad) there are apps that will show you campsites along the way. Apps are out there for both Apple (ios (iPad, iPhone, iPod)) and for Android phones or tablets. Most for ios are under $5 and they are being updated all the time. I also have done away with paper maps. I use an iPad and there are apps that let you download the maps so you don't need a wireless connection or cell service to use them and there are apps out there for Android to do the same thing. Much easy to take along and use an iPad than all the paper....
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lzasitko
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04/14/12 09:03pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Wheel Chair Adapted RV
StrongArm lift makes more sense for a couple reasons.
First we did find a used one so much cheaper than new. The fellow we bought it from had a son and they bought it and put it in their van (son passed away so they decided to sell it) but it had enough reach so we could put it in our MH. If we had a MH with a higher floor we may have gotten a lift for MH's which as far as I know is a longer arm. Because our MH has a semi basement (ie compartments are not as tall and we do have wheel wells inside) the floor of ours is around 30".
Karen is lifted on four straps that can be removed which means that the doorway is wide open. Platform lifts generally block the door unless you go for a underfloor mounted lift (expensive, very expensive). There are platform lifts that do fold the floor so you can use it to some degree but this we thought was a much nicer alternative. When we bought the MH we looked into an underfloor platform lift but they started at $15,000 for the lift and I was quoted around the same to modify the floor, compartments, and mid door so it would work. Heck we didn't even spend 15k on the MH. With the used lift and everything we got it done for under $17,000 including having the front end bushings and ball joints changed....
When Karen is set down on the ground the wheels on her chair are a couple inches away from the side of the MH and once undone she can turn and leave. A platform lift you have to have a lot more space to get on/off it, the platform is around 4' so you need the better part of 8' to get off it. With our lift I have had walls and other vehicles around 3' away and I can get her out.
Other reason we put in the second door was because our MH's mid door was only about 24" wide which would not giver her enough room and modifying the wall by that door would be a pain. Where we put the door works and the rear door is 34" wide and 5' high. It has also had the bonus that if I want anything larger in the MH it is pretty easy to do so. Normally when we travel I have a leather office chair that I take along and getting it through the regular door would be a lot more work.
There are used MH's that are accessible out there but it may take you time to find one close or with the floorplan you want.
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lzasitko
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04/14/12 08:51pm |
Camping World RV Sales
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RE: Wheel Chair Adapted RV
I guess I took the hard way....
My wife is in a wheelchair full time, when we started looking for an rv we wanted something around 30-35'. We looked at several used ones (both class a and c) but we unhappy with most for various reasons. Some were priced pretty high and some leaked. We went to Kelowna on one trip and stopped to see a guy with a C. It was raining when we got there and when we got in the MH there were puddles on the floor and pretty obvious that there was a leak above the cab as the mattress was wet and wood under it was wet. Needless to say we did not buy it.
We looked about 2 years and then we saw a class A with a rear dinette and rear bath and I thought that we could modify it pretty easy. In the end we took out the dinette and dinette window and cut the wall down to the floor and put in a second door that was wide enough for the chair. BIL rebuilt a door from steel tubing. We bought a used StrongArm lift from a guy out in BC and installed it. Only other mods we did at the time was to widen the gap between the kitchen cabinets on one side and the frig/pantry on the other. We also put in a trapeze bar above the passenger seat so I can move her to the seat while we are driving.
Advantages to doing it ourselves was cost. I got the lift for about 20% or what it would have cost me brand new and it was pretty much mint when it showed up. MH was an older MH but decent milage and newer engine and new transmission and we could afford to pay cash for it (I don't like loans for anything). I was lucky that my BIL was willing to help and he is a really good welder (he is a farmer).
If you want go here to see what we have done: Picassa Album
While looking we looked a Winnibago that was factory done for a couple. Really nice MH but the owners also wanted a fair bit for it (at the time it was over 100k and it was nice to drive and nicely finished but cost at the time was too much.
Good luck
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lzasitko
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04/12/12 11:32pm |
Camping World RV Sales
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RE: AAA Rant
For all my maps these days I use my iPad 2 with an app call MapPocket. Put markers for you route and it will download maps for the whole route, Can also download city maps. There is one called MapDroid for Android and Goggle's map app for Android will also let you download maps for offline use. Don't know much about the ones for Android outside of what I have seen online. In any case you can look at maps without having an internat connection and you don't have to deal with paper/ There are several other apps for both Apple and Android for finding camping sites or government sites etc. Most have been mentioned in other posts on this forum. Some are useable on a cellphone although screen size plays a big part of it.
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lzasitko
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04/08/12 06:55pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Older Class A Updates
We have a 1982 Triple E with 454 and 3spd auto. Current milage is 230k km or around 150k miles, roughly half of that in the past 7 years that we have owned it.
Had a dometic 2dr frig that ran on elec/12v/propane. About a 2 years after we bought it on a trip I could hear something gurgling and turns out there is a leak in the cooling unit. BIL had a smaller frig sitting in an old truck camper so gave that to us. Worked much better on electric than propane for some reason but we had a lot of problems getting it to maintain a set temp. Don't know how many things we froze (that aren't supposed to be frozen) so last year we replaced it with a straight electric bar frig which for the last trip worked really well. Normally we don't boondock so we almost always have electric. When the Dometic worked it was great and once we left it was on all the time. Cheap to run them on propane...
Ours is on a p-31 frame which I gather is a bit heavier and has 4 wheel disc brakes. Engine when we bought it ran on either propane or gas but when we bought it, it had been propane only for some time. Put a bit of gas in it and tried but gas leaked everywhere. In the end we replaced the carb with a rebuilt, figured it would be nice to have the gas side working as well, and it worked good until 2 years ago. Left on a trip and got to the family farm (around 2.5 hr drive) and next day wouldn't start on either gas or propane. BIL and I tinkered for a couple days and finally got it running on gas. Propane we could get going with lots of ether but would stay running only a few seconds. Anyways we thought about cancelling the trip until we figured out what the problem was so drove back home on gas and it ran quieter and cooler and seemed to be not too bad on gas. Once we got home we decided to go to Calgary and make up our minds after that. Well it has been only gas since then and I replaced the carb again with one that had a choke in it (w propane didn't need the choke). Propane only made sense when the price of it was at least 30% less than gas. Right now propane locally is the same as gas. With propane I had to stop more often to fill and with two tanks for gas I get from home to Calgary (around 500 miles) on a little over one fill. Two years ago we drove from Kelowna BC to Calgary without stopping (outside of a couple traffic lights) and we averaged just under 10mpg so I was pretty happy with it.
Another thing to check on something that old is rubber hoses. We had a top rad hose blow in pretty much the first long trip and getting a dealer to change it was expensive and time consuming. A year later I had a heater hose split on another trip so when I got home I replaced all the rubber heater hoses and changed the lower rad hose.
When we bought the MH we had to replace tires and a couple years ago we replaced the rears and last fall replaced the fronts. Got a pretty good deal from a small shop in the middle of farm country. Changed the brake pads after a really hard trip out to the west coast. but other than that it has been pretty easy to run and maintain. I like things being simple so I can work on it.
Originally ours came with a 4000 watt genset but it was gone before we bought it. I had a small 1200 watt that we used (still have it) that was good for lights and frig etc. Last year it was hot and we were going to be camping in a little park in BC that had no services for 1-2 weeks so we bought a champion 3500 watt that would fit in the compartment and it has worked really good. Starts on first or second pull and will run air and lights. Just turn the air off if we are going to use the kettle or microwave. Running it for a 4hrs or so a day kept batteries charged and frig cool.
One of the best things we did was to get get CAA RV Premium Plus coverage. Have used it from time to time and wouldn't leave home without it, nice thing is that it also covers ours other cars/vans.
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lzasitko
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04/05/12 09:33pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Good news for Canucks
Been here in Saskatchewan for at least the past 3 years if no longer. Don't recall seeing it in Dollar Giant but Bianca's (don't know if the co has expanded in your direction yet, Bianca's is another liquidation centre, started by a teen in Calgary and I know they are in west 3 provinces) has it in stock all the time.
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lzasitko
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04/05/12 08:50pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Total Rebuild of a 1979 Dodge Class C
The M for motor assist will use coolant from the engine to heat the hot water while driving down the road. If you do not mind cutting in to the heater lines then it is a good option. In my motor home it would be too much of a hassle.I think I will pass on that, Your right way to much of a hassle.
Our MH has the HW tank assist as well as a Rear Heater in the Bathroom and both are great when it is cooler out. Rear heater is a small core with a 3 speed fan (controls are on the dash). Outside of more fluid to refill when something decides to leak it has been zero trouble. Heater Assist and rear heater lines are run under the MH and covered by about 3" of spay foam so are not exposed until it gets to the engine bay. Have not had any leaks going back. I have had a top rad hose go and another time a heater hose split on top of the engine, made a pretty big mess and takes around 10 gallons of antifreeze mix to refill it all. Lost most when the top rad hose blew but lost only a couple gallons when the heater line split. Since then all rubber has been replaced around the engine.
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lzasitko
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04/05/12 05:20pm |
Class C Motorhomes
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RE: Looking for some camera help
Probably not worth fixing, new point and shot digitals are cheaper and higher mega-pixel than the canon. Last one I had was a Kodak 12 mega-pixel and screen on it quit, when turned on all there is, is banding on half and nothing on the other half. Still takes videos and pictures, just no display. No using any of the more advanced features because it was reset and also the clock is now not correct. I'll be looking around to get something to replace it shortly. Too bad it was a really good camera and for the $120 that I paid it did a nice job....
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lzasitko
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03/31/12 03:07pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: roof "lifting"
Can you post pictures?
If it just lifting at the very edge you should be able to glue it back down. I thought most rubber roofs would have a metal strip holding it down, can't be 100%, our MH has a fiberglass roof and it has the metal strip along the bottom edge of it.
If you don't know how to post pics:
Posting pictures on RV Net.
1. Your pictures have to be on a public site, like Photobucket. Some online sites do not work as they are not open to the public at all times. Photobucket do not charge for an account and it is easy to upload your pictures. Note: Picasa used to work but now it does not work for getting pictures to show but you can still link to a Picasa Album
2. Open the picture or select the picture and photobucket has links on one side. I generally find it is as easy to open the picture and select the address as shown in the browser and copy it (crtl c)
3. Once the pictures are on the web you can reply or create a new topic, Use the Advanced post option. Along the top are a series of icons. For pictures you use the icon that looks like a postcard. It will open a box and and ask you to insert the address, if you copied the address you simply paste it into the box (ctrl v). Make sure your pictures are either resized to 640 wide or check the setting for 640 wide. The Faq on this site says that pictures are to be 640 width maximum (although a lot forget this).
That is about all there is to know.
Posting a link to another site is done in a similar manner but you have to supply the address as well as what the text that will become clickable will be. The icon for links looks like links of a chain.
This is also covered in the faq on the RVNet site
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lzasitko
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03/26/12 11:24am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Exercising diesel gen monthly.. How many do it?
Weather permitting I will start the generator and let it run for a couple hours with a heater as load. When it hits -20c or so it will not start without an electric start so for me its out of the question. I know that with electric start it probably would start or at least my snowblower which does have electric start does. When it gets a little milder I can start it without too much trouble. This year it has so mild here that all the snow was gone up until this morning when there was about 1/2" but by non it was above freezing so will probably go pretty quick.
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lzasitko
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03/24/12 01:49pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Need RV garage with apartment floor plan
I have drawn plans similar to what you want for some of my clients but have found very few companies with stock plans. One I did had a Living area, Kitchenette and Office/Bedroom. Because it was going on property with an existing home you could not have a full kitchen otherwise you would run into problems with zoning. I also did preliminary drawings for one that was along the same lines but with a lowered garage so the floor of the home side and the rv were the same height.
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lzasitko
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03/12/12 11:13am |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Total Rebuild of a 1979 Dodge Class C
To split the gutter you could use a table saw, with one side against the fence it should be pretty precise. A sharp Carbide tipped blade would give the cleanest cut, though I have used a fine wood blade with acrylic plastic and so long as you don't feed it too fast it is good.
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lzasitko
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03/12/12 11:04am |
Class C Motorhomes
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RE: Use RVQ from 20lb Bottle
Try Harbour Freight. When I bought mine I found it a lot cheaper at Princess Auto (Canadian version of Harbour Freight) than the big box stores. Wallmart also sells them and prices are pretty good.
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lzasitko
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03/08/12 04:44pm |
Travel Trailers
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