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Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: Is a generator necessary?
One 5 mile tow between Turquoise Lake & Camp Hale in Colorado. By the way, the furnace was necessary - down in the low 30's every morning in mid August! The Leadville, CO area is at 10,000'.
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vermilye
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05/15/13 03:57pm |
Full-time RVing
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RE: Is a generator necessary?
The longest I've gone without hookups is 2 weeks. No generator, but a 95 watt solar panel, LED lighting & a pair of 6V, 232 amp/hr batteries. Includes making a pot of coffee each morning with an electric drip coffee maker, running the furnace 45 minutes per day, a laptop, cell phone amplifier & and various chargers.
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vermilye
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05/15/13 01:08pm |
Full-time RVing
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RE: Ceiling light lense replacements
Another solution is to purchase a sheet of theatrical frost. It is designed to spread the light from fixtures with 1000 watt lamps, so heat isn't a problem. There are many different frosts available - I use Rosco 115, available in a 20" X 22" sheet for about $6.00 - $8.00 from your nearest theatrical supplier or on the web from Adorama for around $7.00. Just cut it to fit.
While you will lose some output, they even make colored frosts that can be used to shift over blue LED sources back to warm white.
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vermilye
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05/14/13 09:04am |
Tech Issues
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RE: 12 Volt Outlets
I power a laptop, a bunch of different chargers, a 3 watt cell phone amplifier, a WiFi Ranger router, a 300 watt inverter, and a Sony iPhone docking station.
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vermilye
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05/14/13 08:55am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Who here cooks inside camper or Outside camper?
I use a Coleman combination grill/one burner stove to cook outside. The only thing I "Cook" inside is coffee, or a meal if it is raining. No built in oven, but I carry a Crusinart TOB155 toaster oven. Big enough for a 12" pizza, but only useful if I have hookups. It is nice to be able to use it outside to keep from heating up the trailer. Of course, my inside is a bit smaller than most.
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vermilye
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05/13/13 05:29pm |
Hybrid Travel Trailers
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RE: Dometic fridge just quit cooling no fuses blown.
Had the same problem with a 1 year old Dometic refrigerator - the heater worked on both gas & electric, but neither the refrigerator of freezer got cold. End result was a replaced cooling unit (although Dometic insisted that he heating unit be replaced first), both under warranty.
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vermilye
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05/13/13 08:26am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Towing a RAV4
I have no idea how the side panels of a 1998 RAV4 compare to a 2008, but this page describes the process of installing the "Trailer Wire Harness". This is for setting up a RAV4 to tow, not for being towed, but is does describe how to remove the panels to get from front to back.
I ran this, along with a charge line & brake controller line using information from this page setting up my 2010 RAV4 for towing my 17' Escape trailer. Took most of a day to make the run.
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vermilye
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05/12/13 10:26am |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: Removable towing mirror suggestions.
Another removable mirror to look at is the Grand Aero. I tried a bunch of add on mirrors & prefer these.
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vermilye
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05/10/13 10:27am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Small Solar - Inexpensive
As I said in the original post, lights and pump is all that I will use the battery for.
My fridge does not have a propane option, so it only runs on shore power. Will use good old ice chest.
The furnace fan will run off of battery, but I don't plan on using it. Got some toasty warm sleeping bags and will use a small propane heater if needed while showering, etc.
The microwave isn't needed at all. The Keurig will be missed, but I have a coffee press or it might be worth firing up the generator for 90 seconds
Sounds like the 100 watt panel/controller will serve my needs.If you are willing to add a bit of battery power & an inverter you will still be able to run the Keruig.
I have a pair of 6V, 225 amp/hr batteries, a 95 watt Go Power solar kit, and a 1000 watt pure sine wave inverter. With that combination I can dry camp until my tanks are filled, running a 600 watt coffee maker for 10 minutes per day along with 30 minutes of furnace, a cell phone amplifier, and a few hours on a power hungry laptop. LED lighting makes a big difference - well worth replacing incandescent lamps if you want to stretch your power usage. The solar panel has the batteries recharged by the end of the day even in partial shade. I don't carry a generator.
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vermilye
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05/09/13 08:27am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Light Usage Camping Setup...What I would do
While having a fairly small trailer provides an advantage, I can dry camp until I fill the tanks (the longest so far has been 2 weeks). I have all LED lighting, a furnace that only draws 1.8 amps, a pair of 6V, 225 amp/hr batteries, and a 95 Watt solar panel with a PWM controller.
Additional loads include making a pot of coffee each morning using a 5 cup, 600 watt coffee maker, a couple of hours per day on a computer that draws as much as 9 amps @ 12V, a 3 watt Cell amplifier & WiFi Ranger router, and a bunch of misc battery chargers. I don't carry a generator.
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vermilye
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05/09/13 08:18am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Connect RV to 20a outlet
GFCIs trip when there is an imbalance between the hot & neutral current. This usually happens when there is a fault (connection) to ground. While GFCIs do go bad, it is far more likely there is a problem with the wiring to or within the trailer. Typical faults are moisture in a receptacle or adapter, a ground fault in the refer heater or hot water heater (if you have an electric element in the water heater) or an appliance in the RV.
If the fault is between the neutral & ground, shutting off circuit breakers won't help identify the problem - a neutral/ground fault will trip a GFCI even with all breakers off.
I have a post that describes trouble shooting techniques here.
Do take the time to find the problem. The reason everything works when plugged into a 30 amp receptacle is because the 30 amp receptacle doesn't have ground fault protection. A ground fault can make the chassis of the RV live if there is a failure of the RV's ground connection,
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vermilye
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05/07/13 02:55pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Cross country trip
Another campground for visiting New York City is the Croton Point Park. While it is 30 miles north of the city, is is close (a long walk or short drive) from the railroad station that takes 45 minutes to get to Grand Central Station. It is a county park. While there, drive up Rt 129 & visit Croton Dam Park.
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vermilye
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05/06/13 03:27pm |
RV Parks, National Parks, State Campgrounds & More
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RE: BUFFALO, NY, Where to stay?
If you are willing to stay in Canada, the Riverside Campground is on the river a few minutes from the falls.
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vermilye
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05/06/13 02:02pm |
RV Parks, National Parks, State Campgrounds & More
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RE: New travel trailer - what is the best length
Only the OP can answer his own question. With that said we love our 22 footer.So true - My 17' works great for me, but I suspect there are those that would find it confining. I will say that the shorter you get, the more opportunities you will have for sites, particularly at the National Parks.
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vermilye
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05/05/13 02:27pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Low angle solar performance
I wonder what the effect of adding low transmission loss diffusion to replace the glass cover would have? Since the solar industry generally tilts the panels for permanent installs, I doubt it would be a commercially available product, but for flat mounting on the roofs of a RV would it improve low angle performance?
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vermilye
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05/05/13 09:40am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Replacing 921 to leds.
2800°K - 3200K is the range of a typical incandescent lamp, so they will be a little cooler than what you have now, however things don't start turning blue until you get over 5000°K - 6000°K, the typical color temperature of a fluorescent lamp.
A 921 is rated at 264 lumens, so it should be about the same brightness.
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vermilye
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05/04/13 07:21pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Using Clamp-On Multimeter to Check a/c Surge Current
2X. There are meters that are capable of reading & holding a peak measurement short enough to be useful when checking AC loading, but I doubt you will find them at Harbor Freight!
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vermilye
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05/03/13 02:14pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Can weak battery = power to jack but not cabin?
2X - they are often wired separately.
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vermilye
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05/03/13 01:57pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: IPhone 5 Roaming Settings
This is curious. I have att. I thought roaming was dead and gone. Other than intl travel of course. AT&T still uses roaming in parts of the US for data.
If you travel in the southwest US using an AT&T iPhone unlimited data plan, you will likely get this message: "Offnet Data Usage Data Alert: You have used ___MB of data roaming this month, "X" times the amount in Terms & Conditions..." Their data roaming limit is 25MB per month.
I received this message while traveling in New Mexico - this was far enough north that it was US, not Mexican towers. They changed the AT&T header on my phone to indicate when I was "Off Network", and it was interesting to see how much of the US is still "Off Network".
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vermilye
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05/03/13 08:30am |
Technology Corner
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RE: How often do you rotate tires?
Every 5000 miles, along with the oil change.
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vermilye
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05/02/13 02:51pm |
Tow Vehicles
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