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Forum
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RE: Help please!
The switch to connect the House-battery to the 12v circuit is usually on the monitor panel (water tank level, battery level, propane level). The switch might be marked: power, aux., battery. If button is pushed up the panel should work, along with 12v lights, etc.
On some RV's the panel may work when plugged in, BUT; the house-battery will not charge if not connected to the 12v circuit.
Test the 120v, ac, outlet you plug the RV into by plugging in a lamp, hair-drier, etc., to see if it is working. If yes, plug the RV cord into it and you should find the outlets working in the RV, along with the microwave. If not check the circuit breaker in the house.
Other items like furnace, air-conditioner, 12v lights, need a battery connected and/or a working converter/charger. Thermostats are 12v powered.
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MNtundraRet
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05/23/13 06:10am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Help please!
Is the disconnect switch still off? How did you get a dead battery charged in less than 4 hours?
Did you get the MH plugged back in? Are you seeing 13.8 or more volts at the battery terminals while plugged in?
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MNtundraRet
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05/22/13 05:54pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Help please!
You supplied very little information.
Has the MH been plugged in over the winter?
Was the battery left "connected" in order for the converter/charger to be able to charge it?
Have you checked the battery(s) cells for correct water level? After adding water you may have to charge the batteries with a separate portable battery-charger until the voltage reaches at least 12.0 volts. From that point the converter/charger should be able to work after you "connect" the battery(s) to the circuit with the "disconnect" switch. If it connects you should hear a click from the solenoid and see a red LED lit on the control panel. The battery should charge from the converter/charger then.
Check the voltage with a multi-meter at the battery-terminals. The voltage should move from the 12.0 volt level up to 13.8 volts (14.4 + volts with multi-stage charger) in a short time. Charging to "full" could take 12 to 24 hours. The voltage will read 12.7 volts (over-night after disconnecting) if they can be fully charged.
If the converter/charger does not reach at least 13.8 volts it may have failed and need replacing. The battery(s) may also need replacing if left in a discharged state over the winter.
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MNtundraRet
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05/22/13 06:49am |
Forum Technical Support
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RE: Driving with camper windows open?
If you have nylon screens, they will rip loose as the cord holding then in place works out of the slot.
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MNtundraRet
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05/21/13 05:07pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Will RG6 improve my RG59 signal on my 5er
The basic difference between RG59 and RG6 coaxial cable is the shielding. RG6 can have anywhere from one layer of slightly better shielding to double or quad shielding. The purpose of RG6 is to block out unwanted outside RF interference.
If you never have your TV picture pixelate (break up) when you run the microwave, or a vent fan, then replacing RG59 is not needed.
It's the little things that wreck getting a good picture from 50 or more miles from the transmitter. RV's get vibrated a lot when moving from one location to another.
All connections from roof antenna to television must be checked relatively often. This can be hard to do in RV's where TV and "bomb" is screwed into a cabinet with no access to check and tighten connections of cables at rear of the switch-box. For getting long range viewing the fewer the connections the better.
I use RG6u (quad shielded coaxial) with cable connectors that have about 1 inch of reinforced collar to keep the cable from pulling loose from the connector. If you can wiggle the cable (on either end) and see the signal (picture) change the cable is coming apart.
The cables from roof to amplifier power-plate are getting extra shielding from ceiling, wall, and cabinet. I only replaced the coaxial from my second amplifier to the television sitting on my dinette when in use. I don't use the switch-box for other components.
The RG6u coaxial cable eliminated RF interference from other items and gives me extreme range (120 miles for daytime digital HD, and 150 miles at night. Analog signals up to 250 miles). The very weak signals being double amplified up to 20 decibels are also kept from escaping the quad-shielded cable.
At the moment I see no reason to replace the other RG59 cable, except maybe the outside section from antenna to just inside the roof. The 10 year old cable is weathered.
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MNtundraRet
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05/21/13 09:44am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Using Clamp-On Multimeter to Check a/c Surge Current
Very surprised the surge current more than DOUBLED when restarting the a/c--from 18 to 39 amps. Wow, no wonder some generators have problems with these RV a/c's!
Yeah, it was hard to restart, even though it was plugged in. It was over a regular 100ft extension cord plugged into my 1930s garage wiring, so not a great connection, and it labored for a while before starting. But like I said, I can deal with not being able to restart right away, it was just fun to test it.
What was the amp rating of your 100 foot extension cord? Anything less than 10 gauge(30 amp)on a 120v, ac, cord would cause brown-out conditions (less than 110 volts at the outlet). Did you check the voltage at the cord out-let?
This is the reason for early demise of many RV air-conditioners. Low voltage causes excessive heat. Too many people keep the old cord form their first pop-up, instead of the needed 30 amp extension cord.
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MNtundraRet
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05/21/13 05:23am |
Tech Issues
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RE: IE-10/attaching files/photos problems
IE10 has some problems with mail attachments in Hotmail replacent and others.
Going back to IE9 might be the easiest fix for you for now. I use some work-arounds to find certain picture folders using new Outlook and IE10.
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MNtundraRet
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05/18/13 09:24am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Transfer Files? Odd blanks in some files
Thank you for the reply. I suspected you had not installed the version first.
Go work. Pictures will work with any program. If you install your previous program it should work too.
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MNtundraRet
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05/18/13 09:09am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Transfer Files? Odd blanks in some files
Monkey44:
Have you gotten your file problem resolved?
You have not responded to your post.
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MNtundraRet
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05/16/13 07:56am |
Technology Corner
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RE: WDW8 Q?
The fan comes on when needed to cool the computer. You get what you pay for and your particular computer is noisy.
Some computers like mine have energy management. You will find it under options in "My computer".
Your new computer most likely came without a manual. Par for the course now-days. Find the built-in help program and type in "energy management".
Without a real manual I found the Help program really needed to get used to Windows7 and the computer. With windows8 I hope you at least were shown, or remember how to get to the "start" for a conventional menu.
P.S. I thought you purchased an i5 computer. You need an i7 computer with a "state of the art" high-speed graphics chip for gaming. Your computer is middle of the road computer cpu.
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MNtundraRet
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05/15/13 08:45am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Transfer Files? Odd blanks in some files
My Asus i7, 8-core computer, purchased 2 years ago, came with a "free-be" version of Word and Excel (they have ads). They also had a current version to pay for, or to decline.
Those empty folders for word 2013 most likely already existed on your new computer.
How did you transfer your old folders for Word documents to your new computer?
Did you "copy" from old and "paste" into the new computer?
If you used a program to transfer files from old to new computer, it may have converted old Word files to be compatible with Word2013. They expect everyone to get the new Word program.
The old one you transferred over may not function properly in Windows8. Does your computer have the free version of Word (with ads)? If yes, open it and try it on your word documents.
If you have saved your folder for Word documents on a DVD disc, or a USB drive, from your old computer, you could plug them into the new computer and open them with your old Word program if it functions on the new computer. Data stored that way do not change when used on a different computer, unless someone modifies them and saves the change to the DVD or USB drive.
I assume you labeled your folders for documents on the old computer. Check each folder there on the old computer to insure the documents exist in them. If they are missing the problems you experienced on old computer caused the missing files.
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MNtundraRet
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05/14/13 05:26pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Charging antimony-free VRLA batteries without float
The test procedure was interesting, but you title was misleading.
Your title stated charging "without float". The test is "low float".
Also; the article is for a proposed better method to charge batteries used to power emergency lights, critical computers, etc., when 120v, ac, power is lost.
These batteries spent 95% of their life being "float charged" until the time comes that they actually get used. Because of this the battery life end up short for batteries rarely getting used.
I fail to see how this could help any of us for RV use, unless the RV has been stored for a long winter (like the current). My 9-watt, 0.625 amp, solar panel accomplishes this goal for me each long winter.
In your case you get out much more often and need to recover to "full" charge much more often. I guess what it really means is that if your batteries were really "fully" charged, if you could manually lower your float charge to the very low "float" it MIGHT help in the long run. Not an easy job since you need to know the discharge rate of each battery being stored to calculate the lower "float" rate.
Mark B
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MNtundraRet
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05/09/13 08:27am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Spring is tiptoing into our life
I guess you missed your chance the weekend before last.
We were able to head 120 miles south to Clear Lake S.P. in Iowa. We had 65 to 79F weather from Friday morning until heading home Monday afternoon. Only rain was Monday morning (between 2 and 5 am). Beautiful weather.
Last weekend too much snow between us and them. :(:?
We will be heading back there Thursday around noon for until next Monday PM. :C:B
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MNtundraRet
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05/07/13 09:39am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Weird blinking on taskbar
A few days ago you had battery charging issues and were poking around the contacts (another of your posts).
I am afraid you have some "self inflicted" issues. The flickering may be tied into intermittent power problem.
As posted; your computer's operating system may be flashing the bar for you to do a critical update. Different computers use different methods. Open the Windows update window and check for updates.
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MNtundraRet
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05/07/13 06:28am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Forum Speed?
It seemed to have a problem a few days ago. I just used the Woodalls portal for a while. Came back later in the day and things were fine.
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MNtundraRet
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05/05/13 05:48pm |
Forum Technical Support
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RE: a/c unit hardly working on generator power
If you cannot find a tripped circuit-breaker, the compressor motor, or starting capacitator, may be fried.
Running an air-conditioner under "brown-out" conditions (low voltage) is premature death.
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MNtundraRet
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05/05/13 06:34am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Had a strange call from "Microsoft"
How does anyone ever think/believe that MS is going to call a residence about a specific computer?
Enough people do, or these people would not be in the business (racket) of making these calls.
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MNtundraRet
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05/04/13 06:46pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Had a strange call from "Microsoft"
I got the call about 2 weeks ago from maybe the same guy.
I tied in him up for a while letting him know I know a lot more about computers than he does.
I have an Asus I7, 8-core gaming laptop computer. I have been programing computers since 1979.
He had to be nuts if he thought I had any problems. My system was working better than his. Also; in MN we are on the "Do not call" list with a $10,000. fine for each call. We are also on the national list.
I let him know my computer had his phone number, and he had better never call us again. He hung up with out giving me any further B.S. or the web-site info.
:B
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MNtundraRet
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05/04/13 06:12pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: a/c unit hardly working on generator power
Did you set the thermostat to the coldest setting?
Did you hear the compressor kick on?
How big is the generator?
It is certainly easy to hear the compressor over just the fan. If you have access to shore-power, I would check out the air-conditioner there first to rule out problems with the unit. If the compressor does not start, check for a tripped circuit breaker.
Now start up the generator and first check for 120v,ac, power. If the microwave will run you have 120v, ac, from the generator. No 120v,ac? check generator circuit breaker. Does your RV shore-power cord need to be plugged into generator outlet? My Fleetwood MH does. Made that mistake last spring, and took a while before I remembered that stupid mistake.
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MNtundraRet
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05/04/13 02:47pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Using Clamp-On Multimeter to Check a/c Surge Current
In order to use an AC/DC clamp-on meter to do AC current (amps) you will need an extra option (device) called an AC line splitter.
Measuring amps in DC is easy since the clamp only goes around one wire ("pos" or "neg"). Since you do not want to rip apart an AC power cord to separate the wires for a Clamp-on meter, the device plugs into an AC cord on each end to allow the clamp to go over one wire cable only.
If the Air-conditioner is "hardwired", you need to find where the wires are separated inside the unit and check the current there. Be careful to follow all warnings since this is can be more dangerous than a simple DC, 12v amp check.
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MNtundraRet
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05/03/13 12:58pm |
Tech Issues
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