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RE: Internal Propane Tank - fillup question
A few things not covered thus far. Motorized RVs are required by highway laws to have permanently installed tanks that are quite different from those on a trailer. The trailers have an ASME tank while you have a DOT tank. The DOT tanks are filled by the gallon, while ASME tanks are supposed to be filled by weight. Most propane service trucks are capable of filling a DOT tank but very seldom an ASME tank. There are also places that can fill ASME that don't do the DOT tanks, because they require a different fitting, but that is not common since there is an easily usable adapter to convert the supply hose from one to the other.
I doubt that a hardware store will fill yours but they might so do ask. Any propane dealer will be able to fill your tank as will RV parks and dealers if they sell propane.
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Kirk
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04/22/13 03:36pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Water Filter question
I have always done it as you suggest and for several reasons. In that way your filter also is before your fresh water hose to avoid contaminating it as well. I do put the water pressure regulator right at the hydrant as well, for much the same reasons.
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Kirk
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04/22/13 03:27pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Pre purchase furniture question
You can probably sell the RV furniture, but you won't get much for it. The market for it is very limited and also spotty.
One thing that has not been responded to is the weight issue. Remember that a trailer is always designed to put a specific amount of weight on the tow vehicle and there are two reasons. One is safety as a fiver should always have at least 20% of it's weight on the pin for proper towing and the second is that usually that axles under it are not rated to carry the entire weight of the trailer.
If you are not familiar with weight ratings and what they mean, I suggest that you read this article about them before you choose the RV.
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Kirk
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04/22/13 03:24pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Dometic RM2852 No Workie -- Please Help
It sounds like the coolant loss happened first and then the safety device opened and cut 12V power to the refrigerator, just as it should do. The question now is, do you have the cooling unit replaced, or replace the entire refrigerator?
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Kirk
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04/21/13 08:38pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Norcold won't turn off
It could be any of several different things. Does it freeze up things in the chill box as well as the freezer? If so the thermistor could have failed and it has gone into constant cool mode.
Did you try turning off both 120V & propane to see what it does?
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Kirk
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04/21/13 08:29pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: water pump
The city water connection contains a check valve to prevent that and they do fail. The city connection actually connects to the RV water system on the downstream side of the pump, so that it draws from the tank or the hose supplies water. If that check valve fails, the water can be easily pumped out of the city connection. The fittings are quite easy to replace and they don't cost much.
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Kirk
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04/21/13 08:26pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Insurance/budget question?
Actual expenses for most people turn out to be very similar to what they spent when living in a house. We each have a different lifestyle and budget and we adapt based upon those. There is a tremendously wide range in what different people spend for things like RV sites as they travel and fuel costs also have a wide range due to distances and frequency of travel. The price of a typical RV site can range easily from under $30 to more than $75, depending upon where you happen to be. I suggest that you might find it helpful to look over this record of 5 years fulltime travel just to get a general feel for what you may spend.
On the insurance side, have you yet considered where you will make your domicile as you leave your stick home? The cost of vehicle registrations and insurance, as well as health insurance and a wide range of other things are very much impacted by the choice of where you will call home. AZ is well known as one of the more expensive places to do that. You will have to maintain an address somewhere in order to keep insurance and driving licenses, so why not choose a state which is more RV friendly than AZ? The three most popular states are TX, FL, & SD and for very good reasons. None of them have any state income tax, all allow you to simply keep a mail forwarding service as your address of domicile and none require you to live physically in that state for any period. Let me suggest that you may be well served to take the time to read this article on domicile from Escapee's Magazine.
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Kirk
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04/14/13 07:00am |
Full-time RVing
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RE: buying camper is my truck enough?
Let me suggest that you will be better off if you learn to understand what the weight ratings mean and how to apply them, then make your own determination rather than to take our advice. It really isn't that difficult, once you have them explained and you can find that information at this link.
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Kirk
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04/14/13 06:41am |
Beginning RVing
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RE: need your opinions: rv or hotel?
What is your primary concern? If the issue is the cost then it will depend upon how many miles you travel and if you move each day. With fuel prices as they are it does not take a lot of travel to burn up enough fuel to equal the cost of a motel for the night. We are currently out traveling with a small travel trailer and by only traveling about 200 mi/day, our fuel costs are right at $50/day. With a motorized RV it would probably be at least $60/day and if you double the distance per day, you also double the cost of fuel.
On the other hand, we have now been on the road for a week and we have thus far only traveled 500 miles towing the RV and then sight seeing without it. Our total fuel cost to date is just under $200. You do have to add to this the price of your campgrounds. We spent the first two nights in TX state parks for a cost of $26/night and since that on private property where we just took the owners out for dinner. If you travel by RV and always stop in campgrounds, you will probably average at least $30/day for those.
You can make up some of that cost in meals that you prepare, rather than eating out as it is probably going to cost you at least $50/day to eat out and probably more. RV travels have never been really cheap, but there are major advantages to it.
With an RV you sleep in your own bed each night and you do not have to live from a suitcase. You also are able to take more personal & hobby items along than would usually be the case with motel travel. Then when you add in the fact that with the RV you can actually stay in many of the parks and the kind of people that most RV folks are, we very much prefer RV travel.
The thing to keep in mind is that you will not save money by traveling in an RV. Living full-time in one is cost effective because you carry all of your possessions and you travel from one new experience to the next, with no return home involved and most of us do so very slowly. But few people today save money by RV travel for a couple, we do so because we love the lifestyle.
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Kirk
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04/14/13 06:29am |
Beginning RVing
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RE: 97 Damon daybreak
With that kind of problems I would not pay that much for it. You don't say which model of Daybreak it is or what length, but you can get some idea of what retail values are at the NADA websit and get more information. The Damon line has a reputation as a lower price/quality RV so be very careful. Unless you know a lot about RVs, you should hire a mobile RV tech to go over it to make sure that everything works and you would also be wise to get a mechanic to do the same for the chassis.
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Kirk
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03/31/13 09:29pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Roadside Assist and Repair Warrenties
I would definitely get emergency road service and by our experience the best total coverage for that comes from Coach-Net.
For extended warranties, it is a more complicated question. Basically they are health insurance for the RV. I suggest that you take the time to read this this article from Escapee's Magazine on the subject before you make up your mind. It is very important to understand the policies and what they do and don't cover in order to access the need for one.
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Kirk
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03/31/13 09:18pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Water Leak In A New RV, What Should I Do?
Clearly it is a warranty issue and one that must be corrected soon. Water leaks can cause serious damage if allowed to continue so get it taken care of ASAP.
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Kirk
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03/31/13 09:11pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: 97 Coachman Class C
It is hard to say. The mileage is unusually low so it has probably sat most of the time, which could be either good or bad, depending upon then care it has received. It probably has the original tires which are now 16 years old and so you will need to replace them for safety.
I would suggest that you pay a mechanic to go over the chassis and unless you are a very experienced RVer, also pay an RV tech to check out the coach to be sure that all is in working order and that there have been no leaks.
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Kirk
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03/31/13 09:06pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Headlights
You don't say what year the RV is, but there are several possible causes. The first thing to check is the alignment of the headlights. Aiming of them is very important and it needs to be done when the RV is loaded for travel as a heavy load in the rear could throw them way off from what they should be.
To see just how far they really reach, try pointing the RV at some object at night with them on high and back away to where they are just sufficient and then check to see how far they reach. As you mention, your distance above them could fool you to make them seem to reach less distance than is true.
Adding driving lights can help but make sure that they are connected to turn off when you dim your headlights or you could be ticketed for them. And they do need to be aimed must as your headlights are.
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Kirk
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03/31/13 08:05pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: just bought my first camper. Help?
Depending upon what your roof is made of,you may want to use one of the paint on products from an RV shop such as Kool Seal. I used it on an RV that we used to have with good success. This product is best for a metal roof. If you have an EDPM (rubber) roof then you will need something else.
What type of roof and what condition is it in? It could be that all you need to do is to replace the caulking.
On the water heater, the first thing that I would do is to connect the RV to a city water supply and fill the water heater and water system. Once you get water from all faucets and they stop blowing air, make a check to be sure that you do not find any leaks. There should be access to the water heater somewhere that you will be able to see under it to look for any leaks. If you don't find any, put water into the potable water tank and turn on the water pump. With all faucets off the pump should run briefly and then turn off and stay that way. If there is a leak, it will run or it may turn on for a few seconds, then off again. If there are no leaks, the pump should turn off and not run at all for at least 1/2 hour. Small leaks will cause just a few seconds of run time every few minutes.
Once you know that the tank and plumbing are not leaking, the next thing is to test the water heater. It may be a DSI (direct spark ignition) unit or it could have a pilot light. The DSI is much more common today and if so it will have a switch inside to turn it on. You also must have 12V power available for it to work, either supplied by a charged battery or from the 120V/12V converter when plugged into shore power.
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Kirk
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03/31/13 07:57pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Help needed with low point drain valves
If the valves that you have found are the low point drains, and if they are the type that turn and have a "T" handle, the odds are that closed is with the handle crosswise to the drain lines. It is possible that the valves are broken and it is also possible that you have not found the right valves.
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Kirk
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03/08/13 07:58pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: State / Corp RV parks - additional thought
We prefer Rocky Point Park on Wright-Patman Lake.
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Kirk
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03/08/13 07:43pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: plugged into 220 by accident, lights will not work
As one who made a living in electrical service work for 40 years, there is really no way for anyone to make an accurate response with the little information that you have supplied.
If it were me, the first thing that I would do is to put in a charged, 12V battery with the shore power not connected and see if the lights work then. If they do, that will be a good sign. Next I would test things like the water pump, furnace, water heater and the refrigerator on propane. All of those require 12V-dc electric power to operate. If they do, that is also good news and should mean that even if you destroyed the converter, noting down stream was damaged, as it sometimes is.
I would then get myself an adapter for 30A to 15A and connect to any house outlet and test things such as the 120V outlets, the RV operating on 120V-ac and see if the display lights on the microwave (you won't have enough power to operate it) and try the TV set to see if it works.
If all of those work, you probably got lucky. It may even be that the converter was not working when you bought the RV. Locate the converter and see if it has a cord with a power plug that can be removed. If it does, and most do, remove that plug and check to see if there is 120V power to it. If you don't have any other way, just use a lamp and plug it into outlet and turn it on.
If you have power to the converter and nothing out, you can go farther if you own and know how to use a meter, if not it is time to call the RV shop.
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Kirk
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03/08/13 07:39pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: BATTERY QUESTION
As an electrician, I favor the choice of two 6V batteries in series, but it is a debatable choice. It is very easy to tell what voltage your batteries are if they have caps for maintaining electrolyte levels. Each cap represents 1 cell and each cell is equal to 2V. In a 6V battery there are three cells connected in series to get the 6V. In a 12V battery there will be 6 cells, also in series to equal 12V. When you have two 6V batteries and you connect them in series you effectivly have one very large 6 cell, 12V battery.
It is pretty common for RVs today to have four, 6V batteries, wired into two pairs in series, and the two pairs connected in parallel.
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Kirk
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03/08/13 07:14pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Tax deductions when working from Motorhome
In order to be legal as a deduction, you must use what is deducted exclusively for business. Travel expenses are one of the most closely watched items by the IRS computer audits. You can actually take any deduction you want, but if you are caught it can get really costly and you can be called in for seven years after filing, with audits going back three years quite common.
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Kirk
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02/28/13 06:21pm |
Workamping Forum
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