| |
Subject |
Author |
Date Posted |
Forum
|
 |
RE: Need to hire a experienced class A motorhome driver
I will drive it. I promise to deliver in 30-60 days and only put 15,000 miles on it. All I need is a fuel card. :D
I'll ride with ya! :P
Craig
|
wa_desert_rat
|
10/20/12 10:44pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: LED or LCD
We run our LED tv and the BluRay player off a MSW cigarette lighter plugin inverter we bought for $20 at WalMart. Both those devices use less than 50watts but your mileage may vary. The inverter is supposed to be good up to about 170 watts. Much better than looking for a 12vdc LED HDTV.
We have had no issues with the Modified Sine Wave inverter. After all, it's only the power supply of the TV that works on AC; the rest works on DC provided by that power supply.
Craig
|
wa_desert_rat
|
10/08/12 10:26pm |
Technology Corner
|
|
RE: What is the big upkeep of the diesel everyone is mentioning?
The per mile cost is the only cost that really matters.
Depreciation and repairs weren't in the scope of the original post. The OP wanted to know about the "big upkeep of the diesel everyone is mentioning" and I think we've pretty much punctured that myth. The yearly maintenance costs of a DP is not at all overwhelming despite what so many people here keep saying. Maybe $200 or $300 more than an otherwise equal gasser for equivalent service. And it can be less depending upon the diesel.
Craig
|
wa_desert_rat
|
10/07/12 11:05pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: A campground trend, or have I been oblivious?
I think all state and federal parks have a time limit on stays at a given site -- every 10-14 days, or so, you have to pack up all your 'junk' and move to a different site. Seems pretty effective at preventing folks from putting down roots.
True but it doesn't stop people from spending those 14 days commuting to work. I was at a Bureau of Reclamation site 35 miles north of Richland, WA last summer at 5pm and there were more than just one or two obvious working guys coming home from work. Their RVs did not have any toys, sheds, or refrigerators around them though. Lots of Federal and State RV parks to move around to in that area during the summer.
The prices are right, especially if you have a geezer pass. And some places, like Richland, WA, are in a boom right now with houses selling quickly and new homes being built all over the place.
However, these municipal and federal parks will close soon (if not already) so these guys are probably already in new digs somewhere.
Craig
|
wa_desert_rat
|
10/07/12 10:55pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: Which is the best Auxiliary Brake System
Just bought a Brake Buddy from another ham radio operator in Yakima who bought it in anticipation of buying a Class A but bought a TT instead. Still in the box with the plastic on it. $350.
Craig
|
wa_desert_rat
|
10/07/12 07:04pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: Does the DW drive?
My wife has been a bus driver for 12 years. She's steered 700-foot tankers through the Panama Canal. She taught me how to drive a Class A. I'll teach her to fly a sailplane if she wants to give it a try. :P
Craig
|
wa_desert_rat
|
10/03/12 07:50pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: Gasoline added to fresh water tank :(
To all of the people who won't drink campground water or water in your my- what is the rational for this? Do you drink the water that comes out of your taps at home? Do you drink water in restaurants in the towns you are visiting? This is the same water that you would get in the campground or mh. If someone could give me a logical reason for this fear of the water I would like it.
Ron
Good luck getting a logical reason.:h I just hope they're recycling all those plastic bottles.
When we moved to our 124 acre farm in central WA in 1993 we had the well water tested and it came back as high in nitrates. Not lethally high, but more than we were comfortable with given two school-age kids. So we bought an office-type water dispenser with 5-gallon containers that were (back then) replaced by a vendor who delivered them to the door.
After a while we started to like the dispenser since it would give us very hot water for tea or other hot drinks as well as deliver very cold water by the glassful. So when the kids grew up and left and we sold the farm and moved into town (where the water is tested often and is very good) we just kept right on using the bottled water. But we would re-fill the containers from the local grocery store's kiosk.
Now we use Britta filters to re-fill the 2-1/2 gallon containers (we're not getting any younger and those 5-gallon containers were heavy) and still use the hot/cold dispenser in our home.
But in the motor home, which did come with a built-in water filter system, we just put a smaller Britta filter in the fridge where it stays cold and make a thermos of coffee in the morning.
Most city water systems are perfectly safe but some are contaminated and unsafe to drink. Residents know about this. In the town we live in an old USAF base apparently used some nasty chemicals and the personnel just dumped them. Dating from World War II. This has not been good for the water wells in that area.
So everyone off those wells knows about the problem and drinks bottled water.
There is at least one mobile home park that accepts RVs in that area. I wonder if they tell the RVers about the water problem.
Craig
|
wa_desert_rat
|
10/03/12 08:57am |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: How long will 25 gallons of propane last in 40-70 degrees?
40 at night and 70 in the day? Park in the sun and wear a sweater. Use an extra blanket at night and leave the furnace off. OK maybe 30 minutes in the morning to warm up.
What he said! Or buy an electric blanket for the bed at night. The oil-filled "radiator" type electric heaters give a very even heat and just one of those would probably mean that your furnace would very seldom light up but you'll still be comfortable. Especially if you wear a nice sweater.
One caveat... your water and holding tanks are probably heated from the propane furnaces and if it does dip below freezing - and stay there for a few hours - you could have a problem there depending on how much fluid is in the tanks. (More water is generally better but don't fill the fresh water completely because if it does freeze it will expand.)
Craig
|
wa_desert_rat
|
10/01/12 11:31pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: Winter Camping
Walmart has 200-watt electric heaters and temperature-controlled multi-plugs that do not turn "on" until the temperature reaches 32-deg F. We plug the heater into the plug and the plug into an outlet in our wet bay. Then, if the temp in the bay falls below freezing the heater comes on automatically.
Craig
|
wa_desert_rat
|
09/29/12 08:18pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: Noise reduction headphones
Not USB (and maybe even not compatible) but David Clark and Telex both manufacture headsets for pilots that are usable in very high noise environments. These are really not cheap... and not sure if their impedance will match anything other than aviation equipment. But you might try looking at their products.
Craig
|
wa_desert_rat
|
09/29/12 08:10am |
Technology Corner
|
|
RE: Flagstaff Arizona
Walmart sells small (200-watt) electric heaters. In the winter I put them in the bays next to holding tanks and water tanks connected to power via plug-in adapters that don't turn ON until temperature reaches 32-deg F. I like this much better than using incandescent bulbs and saves power usage because you don't run them unless there is a risk of freezing.
Craig
|
wa_desert_rat
|
09/27/12 08:57pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: Need 6 New Tires
Take a look at Firestone. I have them on my DP and happy with them. Good fuel mileage, too. (11.3mpg).
Craig
|
wa_desert_rat
|
09/27/12 08:52pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: What is the big upkeep of the diesel everyone is mentioning?
It's really very simple. The annual scheduled maintenance costs (not repairs!) for a diesel amount to a few gallons more of oil, a couple gallons more of coolant and a couple of filters every year. Maybe $300 worth over an equivalent (if there is such a thing) gasser. For the really big (450 and 500hp) diesels it might be as much as $500. However the really well-to-do owners use synthetic lubricants, very good filters, and send samples in once a year instead of changing oil.
Craig
|
wa_desert_rat
|
09/25/12 07:31pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: What is the big upkeep of the diesel everyone is mentioning?
Every 7500 miles on mine. Still cheaper than MORE oil, LARGER oil filter, and TWO fuel filters. I don't get how that is cheaper???
Ya, but it's not *that* much more oil... and the filters aren't *that* much more expensive and fuel filters are actually pretty cheap. Nothing like the dire warnings about how expensive a DP is to run.
I have a 1994 Dodge pickup truck with the same diesel engine as my DP and that hasn't driven us into the poorhouse with maintenance costs either. Over 200k miles and a grand total of $700 in repairs and some oil and filters every year.
My personal opinion is that the huge expense of a diesel over gas is hokum.
Craig
|
wa_desert_rat
|
09/24/12 10:32pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: Black tank Help ASAP
Many marinas have suction systems that will pump out a holding tank by putting the suction hose into the tank. Some of them are located where larger trailer boats can get to them. Most are, unfortunately, located on docks in the water. But you can call and check.
Companies that service port-potties also have to suck the waste from them.
Craig
|
wa_desert_rat
|
09/23/12 11:37pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: black tank indicatora
One method lots of RVers use is to fill the water tank full at the same time you dump your black and gray water tanks. About the time we get low on fresh water is the same time we need to empty the black and gray water tanks. If we're in a park with full hookups we then dump and fill but don't stay connected to park water. This way your water usage and dump needs get synchronized. Helps if your fresh water tank sensors work (ours still do).
Craig
|
wa_desert_rat
|
09/23/12 11:33pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: Telescopic ladder 14.5 foot, Thank you for your input.
I carry this one Xtend & Climb SL675 Also use it when waxing the coach at home.
I have the Xtend & Climb 14-foot version. It's only about 4-1/2 feet long when collapsed and when extended it allows me the security of having the ladder above the rooftop to hang onto when getting on and off. Plus I can move it around the rig to work on bits and pieces. It's handy to work on solar panel stuff because I don't have to worry about where I stand and I can move the ladder back and forth.
Not as sturdy as a good extension ladder, though. But no place to stow one of those (except at the shop).
We also have the rear ladder which I find difficult to use with a knee replacement (and big feet).
The Xtend & Climb isn't too heavy but not super light either. I can carry it with one arm when it's collapsed if I tuck the top up under my armpit and then support it with my hand.
|
wa_desert_rat
|
09/23/12 11:26pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: From Fifth-Wheel to Class A
When you get into camp late, it's raining & blowing, just put 'er in the slot, drop the levelers, put out the slide(s) and settle in for the night. No need to go outside until the next day when the sun is shining. Going down the road DW can go potty, make you a sandwich & soda and then go take a nap. Can't do any of that with a 5er.
X4!
Plus:
1. Air brakes and big wheels. Sure, the tires are more expensive, but this system rides better, gives you more control, and stops you better than the hydraulic brakes and 19" (or less) tires (and electric brakes) on most 5ers.
2. Better visibility. I sit at the same level as 18-wheeler drivers do and can see over vans, pickup trucks, cars, and even some big trucks. This lets me drive much farther ahead than I could from my 1-ton diesel dually towing our 29' Alpenlite so I can react to traffic situations proactively.
3. Quiet. The engine is 30 feet behind me muffled by insulation and the road is 8 feet below me separated by an instulated basement. The DW and I can talk in normal voicesj and listen to music without having to crank the volume up.
4. Heat and cool. Often our 5er would be freezing cold when we arrived at a destination... or boiling hot. In a motor home we can run a furnace to keep it warm or start the generator and cool it down all while still on the road.
5. Comfort. We sit in comfortable chairs that more forward, backwards, lift, tilt and recline at the push of a button. They are far more comfortable than any pickup-truck seats I've ever sat on. In many Class A's the seats turn into easy chairs when you're parked.
6. I can tow - or not tow - anything I want. We don't have to squeeze our dually pickup into a mall's parking lot spots; we can take our car. If we want to bring the Jeep we can use that to explore trails or go cross-country skiing. Or we can take a trailer with two motorcycles. Or tow the fishing boat. Or just hang two bicycles off the rear hitch and not deal with any tow at all.
7. When we change drivers, no one is exposed to traffic hazards or bad weather. We just swap seat.
8. If anything falls out or falls over one of us can get up and deal with it before it rolls around and breaks anything important. If a window is open we can hear it and go close it.
Ok... I guess that'll do it for now... :)
Craig
|
wa_desert_rat
|
09/23/12 05:06pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: Am I crazy.
Since Jan. 25, 2005 when we picked up our new motorhome we've spent 1433 nights in our motorhome and spent.......
$28,193.50 for campgrounds (we spend ~6 months in FL during the winter)
$7,957.32 for gas, for motorhome alone.
$4,542.31 for maintenance and repairs including PA state yearly inspection.
$364.75 for propane (we mostly use our electric heat pump in the basement AC unit)
$729 for PA license and registration
~$4000 for insurance
-Tom
That's about $2300 a month
And YOU AIN'T GOT NO FOOD YET
phe
I come up with 6488.88 per year (for the 7 years since 2005 which is just over $500 per month. Since they traveled for six months a year that would be about $1,000 a month.
That should leave some left over for food. So it looks doable to me. But much better if you invest in some solar panels and learn to boondock. You could save a few hundred more a month.
Craig
|
wa_desert_rat
|
09/17/12 09:50pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: Installed Trimetric TM-0225-RV
Back in the early 1980s my wife and kids and I were on a 32-foot sailboat equipped with two 33-watt solar panels (primitive units... over three feet long and a foot wide for 33-watts) and a home-made wind generator. I would use a digital voltmeter (very new and very high tech then) as my charge indicator. The 66-watts did manage to keep our two deep-cycle batteries charged most of the time. Once we added wind power (about 3-amps) it got even better. Wish I had had something like the Trimetric back then.
I love your panel, though. I should do something like that for the AC side.
Craig
|
wa_desert_rat
|
09/17/12 03:59pm |
Do It Yourself Modifications and Upgrades (DIY)
|
