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Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: Care and feeding of a generator?
Two attitudes about generator noise:
1 - If it is mine, it's pretty quiet.
This is reasonable, since I run it by the campground rules, when the noise does not bother me; I can talk and hear the TV over it; I've gotten used to it; and the power is important to me because it lets me go and stay where I like.
2 - If I can hear it, it is too loud.
This is reasonable, since I came here to enjoy the great outdoors; my wife hates generator noise; I want to hear the river running and the birds and the trees rustling.
In general, the inverter-generators are quieter.
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SailingOn
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01/30/13 08:29pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Best practice for campsite reservations?
If you think (wish?)there is any rule, or consistency, in the way campgrounds report length limits, more experience will help.
Do you measure from the pin to the bumper? Include the spare tire on the back? Subtract the 4-5 foot overlap with the truck? Assume the back of the RV can extend past the pad?
My trailer sits nicely at home on a level 10 foot pad. The rest is overhang.
The most memorable challenges I have had have involved getting to sites, not fitting into sites.
I report whatever length I think will get me the best spot.
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SailingOn
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01/30/13 07:54pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: securing a generator
Stealth: I have an old faded black canvas storage bag that fits nicely over the small generator in the truck bed leaving it looking like trash; no one bothers it.
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SailingOn
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01/21/13 07:39pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Plastic circles that can hold your hoses or extension cords
Seems like most of these could be replaced with a foot or two of 3/16" line.
On my small rig, storage under the couch is also accessible via an outside door. The space behind the back of the couch is nearly 3' high but only about 8" deep; under the couch is a larger space only about a foot high.
I put small eye bolts every foot or so down the length of the tall area, with 15" of line permanently fixed to each.
Coils of electric cord, spare line, TV cable, extra water hose live there, up and out of the way. Grab a loose line, wrap around the coil twice, secure with two half hitches and done; cost near zero, and uses the otherwise wasted space.
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SailingOn
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01/12/13 04:55pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Torqued it pretty hard
Electric brakes sure seem to work just fine in reverse.
When I put my trailer away at home, I back around a sharp curve, uphill. Twice now I've pulled out the brake cable making the turn. What happens is the truck's drive wheels spin, digging holes. Throwing up dust. Spitting gravel at you.
Trailer doesn't move, just sits there laughing at you till you figure it out.
Disconnecting the brake safety cable before backing solves that problem.
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SailingOn
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01/06/13 03:46pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Short-term RV storage near Williamsburg/Norfolk?
Thanks folks; one of those will surely work.
This will be our second time storing the trailer for a week. The first time, in Arizona, we assumed the refrigerator would run on propane for the week we were gone. Won't try that again. There was a bad smell, and you have to crank the landing gear by hand to get hooked up. The refrigerator controls - and the water pump we left on (sheepish grin) - run the battery down in 3 days or so.
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SailingOn
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01/06/13 02:06pm |
RV Parks, National Parks, State Campgrounds & More
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Short-term RV storage near Williamsburg/Norfolk?
We leave in April for six or eight weeks along the east coast.
The second week in May we have a Road Scholar bicycle tour starting in Williamsburg, Virginia and will need to park (store, leave behind) the trailer for six days.
Anyone know of a park within an hour or two drive where we might leave our rig in storage for a week?
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SailingOn
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01/05/13 04:43pm |
RV Parks, National Parks, State Campgrounds & More
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RE: Hot water heater running on gas
I leave the water heater off overnight, and the furnace turned down.
Whoever is up first in the morning turns the WH propane on and the furnace thermostat up to 72 or so. By the time I get water for tea heating on the stove the bathroom (right next to the furnace) is toasty warm and shower water is hot.
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SailingOn
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01/05/13 09:18am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Soon time to start my off season repair
While you're looking around be sure that all the installed coax is RG-6 and not the older/smaller/cheaper RG-59.
A cable guy who drove out 25 miles for a service call embarrassed me when he pulled 6' of RG-59 jumper from behind my 60" TV that was missing channels.
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SailingOn
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01/03/13 01:32pm |
Class C Motorhomes
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RE: Anybody use these pavers or something similar?
It's been said above, but to emphasize: putting down paving stones is unlikely to help without a good base.
I have a loop driveway and car park area in front of my house, surfaced with pavers over carefully packed road base and sand. After 15 years, it's still perfect; no broken stones, no settling areas. I've driven a 4 ton skid loader over it without damage.
The path to where my trailer parks off to one side includes some areas of loose sand and gravel, so I thought I'd smooth off the soft areas, add some sand and drop in 8x16" pavers. Without a solid base - one that will tolerate a tire with a ton or so rolling over it - the paving stones sink, break into sharp chunks, turn on edge and generally make a nuisance of themselves.
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SailingOn
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01/03/13 09:34am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Protective Shield for Fiver
Like this stuff.
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SailingOn
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01/03/13 09:04am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Campground websites?!?
I ran a small business for 30+ years. In the last few years, we had half a dozen web sites, none of which we created, designed, authorized, edited, controlled, paid for or wanted. Trying to get someone else, particularly an organization, to correct misinformation (address, phone number, hours) can be a frustrating waste of time.
The campground may well be unable to get a web page updated.
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SailingOn
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01/02/13 02:25pm |
RV Parks, National Parks, State Campgrounds & More
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RE: Batteries
These help make sense of 6v vs 12v batteries, judging capacity and the connections:
The 12volt Side of Life
MacandChris on RV Batteries.
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SailingOn
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12/28/12 09:11pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Slideout toppers
See NuWa's doubts about toppers here.
Their point of concern is that the tension of the topper might pull the top of the slide (glide is their word) inward, causing leakage.
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SailingOn
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12/14/12 09:01pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Anyway to measure pin weight without connected to truck?
This may work. Get an eight foot 2x4 or 2x6 and a piece of steel pipe that will reach from the pin to almost the ground. Place 2x on edge and place pipe under pin 1 foot from end, and a bathroom scale at the other end 7 feet from the pipe. Also use a narrow board on the scale and one at other end on maybe a brick or a large piece of wood. If you are not on a solid surface place some blocking under each end so it will not sink into ground. Hold the pipe until is had a little weight on it and will stay in place. Then with wheels blocked raise landing gear just enough to take off tension. Multiply weight by 8 and you should have your answer.
yes, but by the time you allow for the errors associated with the bathroom scale, precise placement of the pipe and scale on our lever, deviation of the pipe from vertical and the lever from horizontal, weight of the lever itself...
might not be more accurate than GVWRx20%.
Tempting to try though.
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SailingOn
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12/10/12 08:18am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: What do you like about your RV?
We got here from a tent and a Starcraft popup camper. Lots of good memories, but breaking camp on a cold, rainy morning wasn't one of them.
With this rig we can be fed, showered and on the road warm and dry in well less than an hour.
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SailingOn
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12/06/12 01:30pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Towing in the rain with a 5th wheel.....yes/no
Some time ago, driving in heavy rain, water thrown up by the wheels would leak in at the aft end of the living room slide -> wet carpet. Mods to the rubber barriers in that area may have stopped that, but who knows - around here we haven't had enough rain to test it for more than a year.
Worry more about visibility and traction?
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SailingOn
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12/05/12 11:06am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: So just how did you come up with your screen name here???
I thought about boat names; weekends we race a Catalina 22 on Lake Travis. But the aft quarter of my boat reads "DUMBO". For a slow sailboat, a flying elephant has some panache.
Here it would sound more like a reference to IQ.
Signed on here just about the time I was closing my practice and moving on to something...
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SailingOn
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12/04/12 08:26pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Things to DO in Phoenix area?
There for a while? Think about Kartchner Caverns, a recently discovered and carefully preserved cave system with active, living formations - you can watch the drips.
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SailingOn
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12/03/12 09:00pm |
RV Parks, National Parks, State Campgrounds & More
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RE: Ohio trip again and water heater
Do we have to unplug the whole 5th wheel to replace the element or just turn the switch off to the water heater.
On mine, there is a dedicated circuit breaker; turn that off.
Mine also has a switch, for maintenance, on the water heater itself, near where the 110v wiring attaches; turn that off too.
That should be enough, but unplugging the shore power from the pedestal will surely do the job.
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SailingOn
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12/03/12 08:07pm |
Travel Trailers
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