RE: is this safe to use in a rv?
Yes, but it wouldn't really do any good. What are you trying to do with it?
I have a clogged pipe in one of the turns, I have used chemicals, I bought a reverse flush valve and that didn't work,(maybe I didn't try long enough?) I have tried the swivel stick, but the toilet quickly fills up with water. I believe the clog is not far from the toilet and near the closest gate/valve? Does every motorhome have 2 gates for the sewer? I beleive that is where we got into trouble, we took a trip to Fl and used the shower daily, I had to open 1 sewer gate and the gray tank valve when the shower was being used so not to fill the tub with shower water while taking a shower. but left the main sewer gate closed until I wanted to dump it. Thanks for any help!
Typical sewer valve arrangement is two gate valves, one for gray and one for black. For an extended stay it is reasonable to leave the gray open until a day before departure then close it to let it fill so you can flush the sewer hose with it. Open the black ONLY when the tank is near full and you are prepared to dump it. After dumping use your method of choice (fill the toilet three time, use the back flush or other system to run fresh water through the tank. THEN open the grey and drain that, leaving the sewer hose "clean".
If there is a secondary valve below the above two valves it is most likely after market, added because one of the original valves was leaking. It should be open when the any other valve is open.
If there is a clog in the black line from the toilet to the black tank a relatively stiff flexible hose can be used to clear it (I do this every couple of months). If the jam is in the line from the tank to the drain, be prepared for a mess. You may need to disassemble the valve to clear the line and you will need to deal with the tank contents when you succeed. I would not want to be there.
There is a lot of advice on systems for keeping the holding tanks operating. I will not go further in trying to repeat that information. Us the search function for "cleaning black water tanks" or some other search, there are lots of threads.
RE: PLEASE TELL ME WHY I SHOULD JOIN FMCA?
So you can screw a huge football sized plaque to your rv.
The size is right, but the "official term is the "Goose Egg"
RE: PLEASE TELL ME WHY I SHOULD JOIN FMCA?
The Conventions and Rallies and Chapter events. We are not usually rally type people (whatever that means), but whenever we find one that is along our route we try to attend. Meet old friends, make new friends, get service done for little or no cost by manufacturers and have fun.
The other benefits spelled out all very real and valuable, especially Medex and the access to membership in Coach-net for a discount.
RE: Ins. Recommendation based on full replacement exp.
Very few, if any carriers will take on a coach for "agreed value" after it is five years old, unless you agree to current book value, or your purchase price if you bought used. I have "agreed value" through Poliseek which I took on in the second or third year of ownership and gave up "full replacement" at the time because I liked other terms better. Since the coach is now over five years old I think I am now covered for book value, but I'll admit I must sit down and read the contract again. Unfortunately as with so many other things, it is the actual words in the written contract that are functional, not the promises of the sales person.
Having been a P&C Agent briefly (life and health was much easier to understand) I can tell you only very experienced agents who specialize in a product actually understand how it works. I sure didn't, but I do know how to read a specific contract and determine what is covered and how.
RE: Roadmaster vs Blue Ox tow bars
Roadmaster Falcon 2 user here. I have over 65,000 miles on the current set up. Have had a couple of minor issues that were resolved by a call to Jody and waiting for delivery of small parts (I lost a spring by not following directions).
I leave the cross bar and inserts on the car when we are on the road for 4 months. Take it off when I plan on staying put for a month or more. Yup it weighs, but I can easily lift it with one hand and when I take it off it goes 6 feet on to a shelf in the garage. When I have been at rallies, both Roadmaster and Blue Ox have had crews of service people going around and doing routine pm on all of their towbars they can get to. If they find a flaw, they leave a note suggesting a repair which is usually free if you bring the bar to their booth.
Although I have had two Roadmasters for a total of 120K miles, I would not hesitate to use the Blue Ox, they seem to be about equal in their service levels and quality.
RE: What do U use to clean your auto levelers?
Silicone spray, at best, leaves only minimal lubrication or protection, so like PowerGear recommends, if there are zerks, squirting in a few shots, or applying a layer of white lithium grease, either as a spray, or on a rag or glove, is much longer lasting. Any grit that might stick to the grease is wiped clean by the seal. White Lithium applied every month or so is a lot easier than crawling underneath with silicone spray every time you retract or extend the jacks. By the way, hydraulic cylinders by their very nature leave a fine film of oil on the cylinder each time they are extended.
Powergear specifically said, when asked, do not use anything other than silicone. They said not to use lithium grease applied directly to the shafts.
In most instances I seldom need to lubricate more often than once a month or so with silicone.
RE: What do U use to clean your auto levelers?
Likewise on my powergear levelers. Silicone, per the manual and service tech. Never use WD 40 as a lubricant. It is great for electrical connections, but does not work well as a lube for the long term.
In cold weather or at the beach, the rear jacks will get sluggish so a quick wipe down with any pure silicone spray gets them to come up a bit faster.
RE: You ever stay in a Walmart parking lot?
Dang, another huge WM thread. Wonder why it's still open.
Yup we use 'em when we need a place to sleep overnight, or to shop or to meet folks for an hour or two when we are passing while crossing the country in different directions. We also boon dock in the desert and camp free in friends driveways when it is permitted.
Also belong to Passport America 50% off club - I like to keep the cost of camping down so I can do more of it.
RE: Access to RV thru locked windows if locked out
I've had to go in my driver door a couple of times when the lock mechanism on the main door was mis adjusted. Shop could not fix it properly. I finally found the adjustment in the edge of the door and no problems since. Sure glad I spen the $$ to order that driver door.
DW can't use it without a ladder or a helping hand, artificial hip and only 5'0" but it works fine for me "so far"
RE: Travel I 40 West in December to CA
We have crossed on I 40, I 20, I 10 and US 90 in Jan-March. We drive by the weather maps. If I wanted to use I 40 I would check the weather daily and go for it. It will be cooler than the more southern routes, but it does get you closer to the Historic Route 66 in many places. If the weather looks to deteriorate, you can always turn south (or north!) to avoid it.
As for road surface, there is very little decent road surface anyplace in this country except short sections that have been recently resurfaced. All of it is passable except for I 10 in New Orleans and anything in the NYC area.
We are planning on leaving for our 9th annual crossing on Jan 1, from Virginia this time - parking at our son's place near Charlottesville after Thanksgiving.
RE: Water Leak in Class A DAMON
Yeah, I guess we just don't do anything right here in the US of A. some of us can't even spell. My coach manual says git up there and caulk to keep it frum leekin' so I does that. Hm, never has leeked. I owned a Damon, it did a lot of awful things, but it never leaked, cus I got up there and caulked llike the good book says.
The good book says that is considered maintenance so I does it. Now if I could have me a coach built on a bus chassis - like prevost - I wouldn't need to do that, but I woldn't have the $$$ to put fuel in the tank or food on the table neither.
Choices I guess. If it is really that much better in Europe, I know where I would go.
RE: How to break-in and hotwire a motorhome...
One hideout entrance door key outside the coach, ignition keys never leave the coach, they have their own hideout. No I do not keep the key in the water heater bay like they do on every dealer lot I have seen. There are plenty of other exterior places to hide it that I can get to without getting dirty.
The main key set is stored in the console of my car, makes them harder to forget.
RE: Free camping
We did one of these 4 day deals in Indio, CA. I have been an insurance salesman for 35 years. I know many kinds of sales pitches and behaviors. Never in my life have I been exposed to such rude, pushy, obnoxious behavior. I would never stay there again and certainly would never buy in.
When we finally got time to ourselves I told DW that the only possible exit strategy short of walking away was to say NO. Unequivocal and with no pause. As a salesman I have learned that a flat no is really hard to turn around and seldom worth the effort. In this case I was rewarded with threats that I would never be permitted to buy their precious deal ever again, even though the approach letter I signed said I could indeed come back in two years for the same freebie. I said "thank you and glad to know" and went about having fun.
We had a good laugh.
RE: Camping in Cold Weather
All good advice above. We have found that many campgrounds will ask you to turn off the water connection (in some cases they will turn it off at the source and drain the lines) when a freeze is expected. Many will also notify you that if you fail to do that and the tap freezes and is damaged you will be responsible for the repair. We make it a point to keep the FW tank at least half full (50 gal) so we make no connection other than electric for an overnight stop. In the morning we hook up the hose and refill with water and then drain the holding tanks as necessary. You do not ever want to freeze a sewer hose, ask me how I know :(
We have a remote thermometer in the utility compartment as well as a 100 watt work lamp plugged in there. Have never seen the temperature go below 34 in there, but have turned on the work lamp when the forecast is for below 25 F. This is a belt and suspenders move.
RE: A message from Mike Schneider, CEO, Affinity
I have been an active participant on this forum since October 2002. I have learned more about care and maintenance of my coach, great places to go and why to park overnight or not park overnight at WalMart on this forum than in any other way.
Any time my DW wants to know how I learned something I am proud to say "from RV.Net"
Thank you for supporting this forum and I will continue to buy the products you offer when they meet my needs.
RE: Anothet !st timer
We were at Suwanee River State Park in Florida and saw a huge class A back a large trailer into a campsite. It took him a while and he knocked out a few tree branches but he got it in. Of course he and his wife took out their loppers and trimmed any tree branches they found to be in their way. We had talked to him earlier and he said he was looking for a site he could get into and needed 70 FEET! It was a huge rig but he got it into a back in spot.
I don't know how many cg's would appreciate your trimming the sites though!
In most state parks and all National Parks that would be a violation of the law (I say most because I do not have information for all). It is also illegal in county parks where I live. With private cg's I would ask the owner/manager to trim if necessary - have done so.
RE: Jack wont retract
According to the mfg avoid WD 40 on the shafts. The recommended lubricant is plain silicone spray. I wipe down the shafts with silicone spray after they have been down for a while (more than a week) and seldom have trouble brining them up. They will come up much more slowly in temperatures under 40 F.
On mine the front come up very quickly, but the rears take a minute in cool weather. Sometimes one will hang and then I extend it fully and use the silicone and wipe it down, so far this has resulted in compete retraction.
If none of this helps THEN you need to look a mechanical/electrical/valve issues
RE: Wal Mart CG, I thought
If you want something to post in your own windshield or to slip under the wipers of an offender, click on this for a statement that has been worked out jointly by most of the major RVing organizations. If you look, you will see the seals of all of them at the bottom. This is not a personal statement, it is an industry agreed statement.
Print it out and use it to protect all of our rights to stay overnight in many gracious companies' parking lots. Also abide by it.
RE: Generator problem
WHat is the level of fuel in your tank? Generator won't run if you have less than about 1/4 tank.
I had a similar problem on my old unit and it needed routine service, change oil, oil filter and air filter. They also regapped the plugs, no further problem. I now log my hour meter when I service the unit and make sure to change oil and filter every 150 hours or once a year and change air filter every 300 hours or when visibly dirty. I also am religious about running the generator under load every 30 days.
In your case I would start with oil and filter change and go from there. Then, once it is working set up a regular maintenance program. Dry camping every so often is very good for the generator too, they love be be run hard.
