Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: Class C Motorhomes: B+ motorhomes

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Topic: B+ motorhomes

Posted By: quietjake on 09/25/13 09:42pm

SURVIVAL mode in the Mighty TL213!!!

This morning in a pouring rain, there was a loud BANG/SNAP/POP and the power in the house went out!

Called the power company; they reported it sounded like a transformer had shorted out.

While I was at home, and we DO have wood heat, it was darkish and I was getting hungry for lunch. The electric stove/microwave of course didn't work....what to do...what to do.....VOILA!!!!

Took a 'hongry man' out to the Trail Lite, fired up the 4000k generator.....lunch was quite tasty.

Plus, just as the little package was ready to eat, the repair guy came to report the outage was fixed.

Still.....it was a handy 'real life' survival story....sort of.....

Posted By: Teacher's Pet on 09/26/13 03:23am

We did the same in our days in a "stix and brix", but before our 213. DW would fire the Onan on one of our previous RV's as a backup up to our little Kawasaki 2800 watt generator after it had ran through a tank or so of fuel. This during the many ice storm outages that would last several days. Of course this was while I was in some nice warm bed in a hotel room in the evenings, 300-400 miles away, after a hard day of calling on customers. I made sure she was prepared when I left, 20 gallons of gas for the Kawasaki and a full tank always in the motorhome in it's winter storage bay in our barn. The saying in our little rural Indiana town was "If the lights go out 3 times in a row, they'll be out for 2-3 days." Never failed in the winter. Now by November 1st we're usually south of I-10 until Mid-April.

'06 Phaeton 40' QSH
'14 Ford Flex SEL AWD Toad
'04 R-Vision Trail-Lite 213
Scottiemom's Pet or husband to Dale
RV.net Rallies 13, Other Rallies 21, Escapades 7
Fulltimers since 2005, Where are we?
Our Travel Blog

Posted By: burlmart on 09/26/13 04:35am

I think it was Hurricane Gustav in ‘08 that really did a LOT of tree and fence damage to Baton Rouge and took out lights for about 4 days (a few weeks in some locales). We went and brought the TL from storage. Its fuel was not full, and there was no fuel w/ no electricity to run gas pumps, so we only ran the generator a couple days for several hours of cool AC. Used boat battery and an inverter to run a fan all night and slept in house, then recharged the battery while running the generator in daytime. Put food from house in the RV fridge.

Now, the RV is at house under a shed (sig pic) and we always fill the tank before hurricane season.

2005 Trail Lite 213 B-Plus w/ 6.0 Chevy

Posted By: 2wheelluge on 09/27/13 08:59pm

quietjake wrote:

2wheelluge:

thanks for the idea. Are you using them the length from passenger side to driver side, as a lay-on mattress, or along the crack of the sofa as a filler of some type?

Here in western Oregon we're still picking tomatoes but their days are numbered....even had to add a blanket to the summer bed cloths. Season is changing for sure.

We put our mattresses side to side with heads on the sofa. We usually don't take the table down. However, if we are stuck with the port side of the rig a lot higher, we'll take down the table and put our heads there.

Now, where to put a third person for a bike trip next year...

Dennis Siemsen
Cresco, Iowa
2007 Holiday Rambler Augusta 213 B+

Posted By: Gene in NE on 09/27/13 09:58pm

2wheelluge wrote:

How about a simple dome tent with sleeping bag on an air mattress. [emoticon]

2002 Trail-Lite Model 211-S w/5.7 Chevy (click View Profile)
Gene

Posted By: 2wheelluge on 09/29/13 09:03pm

Now, where to put a third person for a bike trip next year...How about a simple dome tent with sleeping bag on an air mattress. [emoticon]

OK unless it rains.

Posted By: 2wheelluge on 09/29/13 09:06pm

I am used to winterizing a travel trailer, but this is my first MH. What should I do before storing my 213? Batteries, chassis, fuel, generator?

Posted By: Gene in NE on 09/29/13 09:41pm

2wheelluge - The average tent does not leak during a rain. Take a look around before you set up the tent (slight slope to drain the run-off and not puddle, not at the bottom of the hill where a lake might develop). [emoticon]

As to winterizing - a motorhome versus a trailer is not much different.

1. Drain the fresh tank, the water heater, the black, and gray tanks.
2. Set up the valves on the water heater to by-pass the heater as you do not want to waste RV antifreeze by filling the water heater.
3. Then pump the RV antifreeze in the water lines first to the farthest faucet (both hot and cold), and the toilet (run until a nice pink color).
4. Catch a bit of the antifreeze and pour in the shower drain.
5. Make sure the coach battery is disconnected from load (Store mode versus Use).

I do not do anything special to the chassis either fuel or battery wise. I try to visit the RV about every 4-6 weeks. While there, I bring a packet of pop-corn and an electric space heater. I fire up the generator for about 1/2 to 1 hour and depending on the weather will either use the microwave or the heater for a small load on the generator.

Posted By: Snowman9000 on 09/30/13 06:30am

My 213 does not have a siphon valve and tube. (I plan to install one though.)
It is supposed to be drained at the water heater and low point drains, with the faucets open. That might work but I don't trust it. Last year I blew air through the system as well, using a fitting I bought at the RV shop.

http://www.amazon.com/Camco-36143-Brass-Quick-Connect/dp/B002XL2IEA

[image]

Currently RV-less but not done yet.

Posted By: quietjake on 09/30/13 05:26pm

The pro shops around here charge $65 for the 'winterizing'.....which seems like too much for the actual work involved.....

however, one year in spring, our fresh water pump was broken, proved to be damage from freezing......local shop admitted they had failed to do proper drain process and stepped up by replacing for no charge....

we usually don't get freezing much here until into January, but not able to predict any certainty....

we've headed to the coast in a couple weeks for another little tour...

Just filled the gas tank from the last expedition to Central Oregon....averaged 11.83 mpg going over the Cascade range twice and driving around the Century Drive area. I'm quite pleased. Got a total now we've driven "ARVY"....just over 1000 miles since purchase. It's a 2004 model with just over 33000 total miles now.

Installed the stove-cover wooden chopping block/cum/rattle stopper.

Have yet to figure out the 'fold-up shelf' addition to make just a touch more kitchen counter top space.

And while it has absolute magnificent flat screen tv & high end CD etc, I have barely figured out how to turn on the radio.

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