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RE: You MIGHT be an RV'r if . . .
If the only Lucille Ball movie you can recall is "The Long Long Trailer"... you might be an RVer.
When you can IDENTIFY yourself with Lucy in "The Long Long Trailer" than you're an RV'r.
I've had my mother on trips, and she's hidden rocks for example. :B
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adondo
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05/03/12 11:03am |
RV Lifestyle
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RE: Words That Melt My Brain
In today's newspaper, classified ads, "4X4 trucks":
"Dodge 3500 Bighorn Addition"
Addition??
Perhaps they "added" one of the old Bighorn Sheep head hood ornaments?
That's pretty funny. Craiglist is a good one for add mutilations too. Oops, I meant AD. :B
I linked to a couple of errant ads a while back to friends. (They're gone now though)
One was "Three legged camera tripod" As opposed to what? A FOUR leg tripod?!? :)
Another was "Meat rabbits" We did ten minutes on that one at work. "Watch out for those marauding meat rabbits!" "Beware of the dangerous carnivorous rabbits" "Are they related to Jackalopes?" and etc. We laughed for hours at that one. (Of course, they were selling rabbits to butcher & eat)
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adondo
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04/19/12 03:42pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Why is there a valve under the driver seat of my class A?
That reminds me of my aunt Rosie. (This was about 25 years ago) She drove a Cadillac which had a pressure switch around the inside of the steering wheel for the horn. You can honk the horn in those cars without any visible means of doing so.
She showed a grand kid that she could honk the horn by pushing on the end of her nose. Of course, after that, they almost got in a wreck because the kid was trying to honk the horn while Rosie was driving, and knocked her glasses off.
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adondo
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03/23/12 10:07am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Why is there a valve under the driver seat of my class A?
Hence my post on OP never comes back.
A lot of no returns occur.
So... what're you sayin'? We all "tapped the Chiclets" for nothin'?
It is pretty amusing, actually. Two pages of posts now, all started from one vague question. :B
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adondo
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03/22/12 04:55pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Why is there a valve under the driver seat of my class A?
Need more info or a photo.
By "under the seat" does that mean actually ON the seat frame? (For an air ride seat) Or on the floor under the seat? (Probably a fuel tank select)
I have a "valve" BY my seat, but it also has a pressure gauge and on/off switch, and it's on a little control panel. It's for the Howard Power Center Steering system. The "valve" is a pressure regulator. (Strong side winds or whatever needs higher pressure: you change it to suit the road conditions) It can't be under a seat because you need to see the gauge.
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adondo
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03/21/12 04:14pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Battery isolator
We use those all the time, especially on cop car builds. They're made by Stinger. We get them from our usual industrial wholesale house.
Here's an 80 amp one for $18 from Amazon. Stinger battery isolator solenoid
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41iNr-W5w6L._SL500_AA300_.jpg
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adondo
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03/21/12 04:05pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Actions that melt my brain
Leave it to Oregon, the same lawmakers who decided to enforce school zone speed limits to 15 MPH 24/7. That stupidity got voted back down later after people were getting cited for driving faster than 15 after midnight, during weekends and holidays, etc. when kids are obviously nowhere around.
That is a silly law. How can a store keep tabs on shopping carts packed off by customers? Are the stores supposed to send security after anyone walking with a cart down the sidewalk away from the store's lot? If there are fines to be levied, it should be against whomever is taking the carts.
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adondo
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03/02/12 03:38pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Actions that melt my brain
Or, Austin, you are passing thru the neighborhood and you see carts blocks from the store in someones yard. People are so inconsiderate. Its like they think those carts are there for them to take their purchases home in. They don't care that the cost of those carts is being added to your grocery bill.
They do that here too; there's low income housing up the street from our shop in an otherwise semi-industrial zone. Pretty soon, they pile up, and we call Winco to have someone load up the cart-mass.
What gets me is the very same people walk right past the cache of carts to go back to the same store, yet they'll grab yet another cart and bring it back. Is it really THAT HARD to take a cart from the stash on the street and go back to the store with it?!?
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adondo
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03/02/12 01:15pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: electrical question about manual transfer switch
As an electrician/EE, I see what the OP is trying to do. He actually needs TWO transfer switches, because we're talking powering the RV EITHER with an inverter, OR shore power/generator. The shore power/generator would need to be on a SECOND transfer switch.
It would be a good idea to let a qualified electrician do this because you need to wire it in such a way so the generator or inverter power could NEVER, EVER feed back to the shore power line.
Also, the breaker panel needs to be wired (or verified it is) so things such the A/C unit(s) or water heater element could never connect to the inverter. Turn on an A/C and either the inverter is blown, or the batteries are drained within 5 minutes. That requires the panel's two phase halves to be rewired so only "heavy current" items are connected to the generator or shore power, and NEVER to the inverter.
The shore/generator switching setup is easy enough, just get an automatic transfer switch made for RV's. One phase of the common (breaker side) output of that will go to the breaker box's inverter circuits from the inverter's output, and the shore/generator feed will be on the other pole. (and to the other side of the panel's phases)
The inverter/outside power transfer switch will need an extra switching pole to switch in the other side of the panel so the inverter circuits will get outside power. (And disconnect when on inverter power)
If you're talking about a 50 amp RV connection, it's gets much more involved and expensive, because you will need four pole everything to separate out the circuity.
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adondo
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02/16/12 05:46pm |
Do It Yourself Modifications and Upgrades (DIY)
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RE: Fly Rod Rack
I had a post a long time ago about a "long and skinny" storage area. The photo hosting site I used bombed and took over 800 website linked photos with it, including those. :M
If you have a basement area, make two matching bulkheads from plywood. Drill a variety of holes to fit various sizes of PVC and ABS piping. The largest in my setup is 6" stovepipes for rolled up sun-shield for the awning, and ground cover carpet. Install the mass of pipes into the bulkhead holes, with one bulkhead mounted close to your bay's door, the other back in the basement to support the back end of the pipes. You can install a side cover later to hide the pipes from a side view. The pipes are secured in place with silicone sealer.
With the bay door open, all you see are pipe's holes in the bulkhead. Anything long and skinny, (Hence my name for it) slides into the pipes. You can put a LOT of skinny stuff in a little bit of space that way. The pipe length is limited only to the coach's width. For fishing rods, you could set back the front bulkhead far enough so rod's reels and handles could clear the closed bay door.
If you plan ahead while building it, cap off pipes for certain shorter items so they can't slide in too far and disappear. :B
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adondo
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02/16/12 05:26pm |
Do It Yourself Modifications and Upgrades (DIY)
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RE: ERS
I think I fell off the bus somewhere too. :B
I would think a $125 charge would be a reasonable road debris removal fee. Not just anyone could do it. (Besides yourself - it would have to be an "official" road/traffic contractor to do it) It would take a crew of fluorescent yellow vest wearing people, including traffic control to safely clean the tire's spread out remains from active traffic lanes. We're obviously not talking about a fee for throwing away an intact tire carcass here.
As for ERS contracting, it would have to be similar to police and tow truck companies I would think. There's only so many roadside service capable tire places around, and is likely a heavy truck tire dealer somewhere nearby.
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adondo
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02/16/12 05:12pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Mystery Sound!
My guess is you are hearing dripping that's actually down inside the tank, ferried up to the roof's vent outlet. (Sound will follow piping) The dripping might just be water falling into the tank from any drain line that dumps into the tank.
The tank's gray water level would have to be high enough for falling water to land into to make a dripping sound. Try this - dump the tank as well as you can, then run some water somewhere. Go back to where you usually hear it, and see if the dripping-in-water sound is now a drumming sound as the drip would now be hitting the bottom of a dry holding tank. You might have to try different faucets, as the drip might be the shower/tub, galley or wash basin sink.
You say the roof, does that mean the ceiling inside? Or are you actually outside? If inside, the vent pipe may have come apart somewhere near the ceiling and isn't making it all the way up on top anymore. In that case, you'd be hearing the sound from the end of the vent pipe. If the vent isn't all the way up and out, it needs to be fixed to get odors and gases outside the RV.
I say it has to be vent pipe and sound related, since holding tanks are always below the floor level. (Everything's gravity fed) The only way a holding tank vent pipe can possibly flow water is if the tank is being power flushed and forgot about. (It does happen, and it requires pressure to flow against gravity) A holding tank totally filling up to the brim won't do it either, because it'll back up into a sink or tub and overflow LONG before it ever reaches the ceiling/roof area.
The theory about an expanding pipe would hold true if it happens when you run hot water. A rapid temp change would cause the tank to expand, and the vent pipe gets moved in it's clamps etc. Or... the pipe is tight in drilled holes in a wall cross piece or wall/roof transition area.
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adondo
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02/16/12 04:59pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: My Super Simple Satellite Setup (SSSS)
The system might be simple to use, but doesn't look simple to INSTALL! :B
Nice idea with the sat ant. I have a port and switch too, but pack a separate sat antenna on a tripod for getting past trees. (I have a permanent self-seeking dome on top) And, like you say, the D/C power for the dish's LNB is fed up the RG-6 cable, and filter capacitors in a splitter box blocks the D/C.
I'm going to have to get a programmable remote soon. I have FIVE remotes!! :E (Actually six if you count the dash stereo/CD system)
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adondo
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02/14/12 06:00pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: The Un-Official Class A Picture thread
Great idea, one question, how do you get the pics on the post? it is not copy or select and ctrl v, I tried that, paste does not come up, thanks charlie in texas
Download Picasa. If you have a Google account, you can set up Picasa to upload to a provided free photo space. Be sure to select "web viewing" option to reduce the photos so someone doesn't have to suffer a 5 minute page loading. :B (In Picasa settings) You can also have it watermark your photos with a copyright symbol and your name. Picasa is a great photo manager app, so it's worth the download. It also has face recognition, and will organize any faces in your collection.
After uploading, in your Google photo album, make sure the album properties is set to public mode. Get the photo you want displayed up on the screen, and right click the photo. Select "copy image URL." Back in the RV Net forum advanced edit screen, click the insert image button, and paste the image's URL into the pop-up box where it requests it.
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adondo
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02/14/12 05:51pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: My kid sprayed OFF (insect repellant) on plexi-glass door
The best degreaser I've found and used is Greased Lightning. I've even cleaned the big Cat and its radiator in the coach with it. It also melts away that thick, sticky, kitchen grease buildup that Formula 409 and others won't even begin to touch.
But...
The Off! attacks the surface of plastics by etching it or semi-melting it. No cleaner on earth will fix that. It'll remove the Off!'s oily residue, but then you still have to buff out the damage or replace the item.
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adondo
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02/10/12 12:37pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Words That Melt My Brain
$40 dollars.
$5 bucks.
That's always bugged me too... what? The $ isn't good enough?!?
That's similar to the silly phrase "extremely unique" as if the word "unique" can't stand on its own. Such words and symbols don't need qualifiers.
:B
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adondo
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02/09/12 05:45pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: My kid sprayed OFF (insect repellant) on plexi-glass door
Off! contains heavy oils that attacked the Plexiglas surface. That's why the stuff is greasy on your skin. (For me, it's a love/hate relationship - the mosquitoes are worse than the greasy Off!, so it wins)
The best bet would be Gel Gloss and a buffing wheel on a drill. It will be some work, and the surface erosion might be too deep. If it is, then it's time to have a glass place make a new piece of plexi for the door. It isn't that expensive, but might be a PITA to get the door apart to swap the plexi pane out.
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adondo
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02/09/12 11:16am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: of all things to steal
We went to an outdoor evening concert back in the 70's. Someone's battery had died so they just took a battery from another car...I'm not sure how far that cycle went! LOL!
I was sitting in the coach at a Walmart lot while on a trip. (Show me any woman who doesn't want to stop at a Wally World when seeing a sign on the freeway. :B ) While I'm waiting, a couple of guys walk out, get into an old beater of a car, then get back out again. They start walking up and down the parking rows trying hoods on vehicles. They find one that opened, and removed its battery. I'm starting to dial 911 as they hook up the battery to their car with jumpers, and get it started. They then took the battery back to the victim's car and re-installed it. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes... :B
About two years ago, someone stole the auxiliary outboard (kicker motor) off my boat. It's floating in a marina, under a big roof, amid dozens of other temporary moored boats. It's during a major salmon tournament, and there's people camped everywhere in the marina's parking lots. There's vendor booths set up. There's even boats all over on trailers next to RV's. The geniuses decide to steal not only my motor, they started to take one of the batteries. (A hatch was left open, and the battery was half out)
There were quite a few eyeballs watching them, so their rather unique four door crew cab red and white Ford truck with the utility bed and roof rack was ID'ed pretty easily along with the four nitwit thieves. (This was around 2am) When the truck was stopped, they'd taken many thousands of dollars worth if fishing gear from other boats. In fact, some of those custom rods and tackle from the salmon derby entrants drove the loot WELL up into grand theft range due to the high value of it all. I guess they got spooked when my battery was partially removed, that's why it wasn't all the way gone.
Found out later, that not only were campers at the derby watching them, but they were being followed around by a U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent who was checking water samples that night at several marinas and boat launches. He was watching their every move for at least 90 minutes, and the cops were already waiting. They just allowed them to rack up more loot (for more charges) before taking them down. Now, there's some Darwin Award winners for you.
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adondo
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02/03/12 05:18pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Boat + Propane Appliances = Explosion
I saw that news story, and it hit kind of close to home - Sequim was where my dad lived. (And had his 37' Owens) A family friend bought the Owens before dad died, and it's now moored in Vancouver WA.
I wondered at the first almost sans-details article I read if it might have been a propane problem. Most boats that size are diesel powered, so I was sort of dismissing a gasoline fumes issue. Guess I was right.
What a mess. It's going to be an expensive insurance payout for cleanup as well as damage to quite a few other boats. It is a miracle the owner lived thru that blast too. The USCG can stick you with a $5,000 fine for oil or fuel spillage too. (You make an oil sheen on the water while fueling, and it's going to cost you!) Most marinas require an extra insurance rider just for oil and fuel spills because of the fines and cleanup costs alone. Hope the guy was covered.
Gasoline fumes also sink, and blower intake vents have to have a tube extending to the bilge bottom. The blower itself is up high, usually at or near the outlet vent. I have a second blower up front in my boat, as I have a 5 gal aux. tank that feeds the 5 HP kicker motor. I installed a two stage pull switch that starts the main blower first, then the second one when all the way out.
Alcohol, as mentioned, has almost invisible flame, and not a lot of BTU's. But the stuff isn't explosive, so was used in a lot of boats. Diesel burners are dirty, but diesel is pretty safe. That's a major reason why a lot of large boats are diesel powered - no settling explosive fumes like gasoline has. Diesels are also more reliable and fuel efficient, but the fuel type is most of the reason they're used.
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adondo
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02/03/12 04:11pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Shore power won't run anything
Brand shouldn't matter, but it needs to be a generator to shore power transfer switch. They're interlocked so the power is either-or and can't cross connect, EVER. And, they have a time delay so the generator cannot get loaded down immediately upon starting. Most wait 30 to 60 seconds before switching to the jenny.
If you replace it yourself, it goes without saying to DISCONNECT all shore power, and lock out the generator so someone can't start it until the job is complete.
You may find the contactor has bad contacts as pianotuna mentioned. It's time to replace it if that happened, as the contacts are not repairable. You MIGHT be able to find the contactor itself (the big relay) replacement, such as from W.W. Grainger, but it will probably be a retrofit.
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adondo
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02/01/12 05:53pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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