RE: RV with all Electric range of 800 miles?
I was not referring to a hybrid vehicle. the post was about using a generator to recharge the batteries, not to move the thing.
bumpy
That's the point I was discussing. I was assuming using the generator just as a source of power to maintain the batteries, with no mechanical connection to the drivetrain. Sorry for the confusion and not specifically stating it. My comments still stand, it should be more efficient than using a big vehicle engine that is mostly loafing while cruising.
I think it would be most efficient if you size the generator so that it is close to the average power need, so that it is running most of the time. I may be wrong, but I believe a smaller generator running for a longer time at full load, will be more efficient than a larger generator that runs only occasionally at partial load.
RE: RV with all Electric range of 800 miles?
what is the efficiency of an electric vehicle that needs a fuel powered generator to run?
bumpy :p
It can actually be quite good.
Generally, the highest demand for power is during acceleration and climbing hills. While cruising, you are only using a fraction of the power available from the engine. So, in essence, you are carrying around much more engine than you need most of the time.
A typical battery powered electric vehicle has limited range, because of the volume and weight of batteries needed to hold the required energy.
By adding a generator to a battery powered vehicle, you extend the range, because you can recharge while moving. But, the key is that the generator only needs to be sized for the average power consumption, not the peak power like a traditional engine powered vehicle. When there is peak power demand, the batteries make up the shortfall from the generator. When there is low power demand, the excess generator capacity charges the batteries. When there is average power demand, the generator provides the power to move.
The key is that the generator can run at a constant speed where it's most efficient. It doesn't need to speed up and slow down as the vehicle accelerates and brakes, and it doesn't need to idle while sitting at a light.
RE: best campground in/around pigeon forge TN???
A shorter list may be to ask "which CG's to avoid".
OK, I'll bite, which ones should be avoided? :B
Looks like I will be there this summer with a group at Twin Mountain Resort. What am I in for: good or bad?
RE: TV $40 Converter coupon - which to buy?
No, No, No - They are not created equal! Find some reviews before you spend anything. I read some very crazy stuff on what the pictures end up looking like on your TV.
Got any links to authorative, professional reviews? It seems lately that anytime I search for reviews on a product, all I find are retailer pages that say they have reviews, and half the time they are empty, the other half they are customer reviews which need to be taken with a grain of salt.
I have trouble finding reliable comparative reviews these days. Got any tips?
RE: how to test the toad's brakes?
Why do you think they might not be working?
Why would you blindly assume they are working?
Because I installed the system, and I know it works. And because I do the maintenance so I know it is done right.
I installed my system, I maintain it, I know it works, and I know it was done right. I still test it each day before heading out, however.
You say you know it works, so you must have tested it at least once, right? And you say you maintain it, and that probably involves testing it as well, or at least it should.
So you've pretty much confirmed my point, that braking systems should be tested regularly. Even your purely mechanical air operated system can suffer from stuck pistons, air leaks, or plugged lines. Testing it once at installation time is not enough. But it looks like you know that already, as you've pretty much implied that with what you've written.
So I don't understand why you seem to be questioning the validity of the original question.
RE: how to test the toad's brakes?
Why do you think they might not be working?
Why would you blindly assume they are working? Testing thier operation seems perfectly reasonable to me. When I first start out each day, I test mine by pressing the manual application lever on the control box in the cab, and making sure I feel the drag.
To the OP: it would be helpful to know what braking system you have. The answer to your question will vary widely depending on the system.
RE: Configure Dish Network receiver with King Dome Trac-King
Update: The upgrade arrived today. The tech on the phone last week said I should apply the software update first, then switch out the tuner box. Applying the software update involves plugging a serial cable from the tuner to the special upgrade device, and the upgrade is applied in about 7 minutes.
I did what was instructed, the dome display panel showed "loading, please wait" as expected, and then changed to "ant comm error." Uh-oh. I gave it more than 10 minutes, just in case it was actually loading, and finally gave up.
I then tried swapping out the old tuner box and putting in the new one. Then I tried the upgrade again. This time it went smoothly, with no issues. Cool.
Scrolling through the set satellite list, there are a bunch of new entries, including Dish 110/119, Dish 1000 (110/119/129) and Dish 1000a (110/119/129.) I selected Dish 1000a, and tried a check dish, as instructed.
It automatically switched quite quickly between 110 and 119, but could not lock onto 61.5. It's raining right now, and I have been having problems locking on 61.5 when raining, so that is nothing new. So while I'm not home free, it looks like I'm on the right track, and the upgrade is working.
I will wait until it stops raining, clean the dome (I know it's rather dirty, which is probably not helping) and then try again. I'm close, I can feel it...
RE: Propane in Canada
It's also illegal to drive thru a tunnel with the propane on in both the US and Canada.
I can't speak for Canada, but in the US, it varies. Some tunnels don't care, some want the propane off, some will limit the amount of propane allowed in the tunnel. You've got to check with the specific tunnel, there is no general rule that I'm aware of.
RE: Best GPS for full-timing is?
This device looks like a do-able alternative to Data Storm for letting people know where you are. I read and read the website and I don't find anything odd or hidden costs. VERY interesting device for RV'ers to use. It does say you can request GPS locations when you need to.
Did you look at the coverage maps? Looks rather spotty to me. Seems like it might be OK if you stick to the Interstate highways, but there look to be some pretty big gaps in many areas if you stray too far from the major roads. Also, the monthly/yearly rates seem like they could add up quickly if you plan on letting friends/family track you regularly.
It looks like an interesting product, but maybe not an inexpensive way to go.
RE: Diesel fuel stops
but we learned how to use them before we attempted to do it..
Going to a little rinky-dink rural truck stop with no lines is one good way to learn. Researching here is another. Going to a huge crowded truck stop at an Interstate exit with long lines of trucks, and lots of people waiting at the register is a bad way to learn! :B
Finding a small local place where the fuel desk attendant is relaxed and willing to chit-chat for a few minutes can be very beneficial to a newbie. That's how I did my first few fuel stops.
RE: Wonder if RV'ers will get stuck with this new CARB mandate?
You can b&i#ch about California emission requirements all you want, but they do make a difference.
The same can be said about the Federal standards, as well. (Even though they're not as stringent as CA.)
A couple years ago I took a Caribbean cruise. Walking and driving around some of the small islands, I was surprised about how bad the car exhaust smelled, and how ubiquitous it was, even though the roads were not as crowded. Then it dawned on me, that it was the same smells I remembered from the '60s and early '70s, before all of the federal mandated pollution controls here. They didn't have the same controls there, and you could really tell!
My issue with the proposed regulation is not about its clean air goals, or that they want better emission standards, but rather that they are pushing for retroactive standards requiring retrofits. Although it doesn't affect me directly here, what CA does, NY tends to do as well, eventually. :R
RE: propane fill
In the past I've always been alone when getting propane but the last time I had my wife with me. She had to get out of the motorhome because no one can be inside when it is being filled. We were told that it was OK to leave the dogs. My wife's comment: People can't be blown up but pets can. I'm not sure this makes total sense to me because here we are standing around the big tank and the pumping station when the person releases pressue in the hose after filling the motor home tank. And it is released into the atmosphere so here we are right beside if not inside this cloud of propane.
Perhaps they aren't worried about who or what gets blown up. Maybe they are concerned that a clueless person inside the rig might try to turn on an appliance, create a spark, and blow things up? For example, my propane fill is pretty much under the refer. If someone were to turn on the refer while getting filled, the igniter would start sparking right in the vicinity of that big cloud of propane you mention.
If that's the reason, it makes sense about the dogs, as they are unlikely to turn on any sources of ignition during the fill process. :W
RE: Diesel fuel stops
To use the slave pump, you first have to turn on the master pump. They usually suggest to take out the nozzle from the master pump (the one with the displays) flip up the lever, and place the master nozzle on the ground. Then you go to the slave pump, take out the nozzle, flip up that lever, and start pumping. Clumsy, yes, but that's what the clerk at the fuel desk told me to do at a couple different truck stops.
The downside to using the slave pump is that they usually don't have displays, so you can't tell how much you're putting in. (Makes it tough to stop at a set price, if that's your goal.)
The upside to the slave pump is if you have a fuel tank on both sides (or dual fillers to a common tank, like I do) you can fill up twice as fast. (Except that I need help if I were to do that, since given the angle of my filler neck, the nozzle won't stay in place by itself and it has to be held the whole time.)
If you do have both pumps going, just be sure that the person "driving" the master pump doesn't turn it off before the slave pump is done. Turning off the master pump will turn off both pumps.
That's the way I've handled it, hopefully it's the officially sanctioned way to use the slave pump. If I'm wrong, I'm sure someone will be along shortly to correct me. :B
RE: A brighter side to rising fuel prices!
This logic is kinda like saying you're better off bleeding to death from a venous wound in 45 minutes rather than an arterial wound in 5 minutes....IMHO, of course
Oh man, I was just taking a drink when I read that. Now I have to clean off my computer screen! :B
Very funny, you made my day!
RE: Must have rug for your RV!
I love it!
We found this mat in a touristy boutique in our travels, we keep it on our front porch:
http://ai.pricegrabber.com/pi/5/94/03/59403759_640.jpg
We get a lot of comments about it. I bet the "friendly dog" one would get just as many. (If they dared to ring the bell!)
RE: Best GPS for full-timing is?
GPS is a receive-only system. The only way you'll get your location transmitted back to a satellite is with a Datastorm unit.
Or with a cellular link to transmit back to the Internet.
Some of those clerks at the stores were trying to tell me it would work with the portable units. :R
Many will track your location: both of my Gamin units will. The caveat is that you need to manually download the track data from your unit onto a computer, and then you can manually upload it to a server to make the tracks avaialable for others. But to do it automatically? I've not seen a typical consumer grade portable GPS that does that.
There are non-portable systems, however, that can be installed into your vehicle to do what you want. But that will take some digging around to find them, and they may not function as a routing system. They are intended more as a security item.
Another solution may be to connect a simple GPS receiver to a laptop that has a cellular data card. You could run GPS mapping and navigation software on it, as well as an application to keep transmitting location data to a server on the Internet. (Sorry, I don't have examples of such programs, but I'll bet they are out there.)
RE: PDA question
RV.net mostly works well on my Palm PDA running the standard Blazer application. I run it in "optimized page" mode, which helps in that I don't have to scroll sideways to read a post.
The minor issues I have are that pages with a lot of pictures can take a while to load, some pages (like the lists of topics) still need to scroll sideways to see the full line, and the insert smiley popup window (as well as some other editing popups) don't work.
But the biggest issue I have is when posting. Sometimes, a "please wait" dialog comes up which has some green scrolling boxes as a pacifier. On the regular computer, when this comes up, it goes away after a few seconds, and the posted page reloads. But when this happens on the PDA, it never goes away. Posting is impossible for me when this page appears.
So my solution is to subscribe to the topic, and come back to it when on my regular computer, and post the reply then. But odds are by the time I do that, someone else has already said what I was going to say, so my reply would be redundant.
So, the site is quite usable for reading topics on my PDA, but is sometimes problematical to post. If there were a more streamlined portal that worked better on a PDA, I would use it with much appreciation.
RE: $4 a gallon? Not at some places......
Those old pumps don't concern me. What has me worried are the newest digital display electronic pumps I've seen. They have three digits to the left of the decimal point on the price per gallon display, and six digits to the left of the decimal point on the total cost display! :E
Do they know something they're not telling us? :R
RE: propane fill
I believe the question was do you have to go to a special LP station or can they be filled by any location that fills LP tanks? I have the same ?
Almost any location that fills propane tanks should be able to do it. If they are a small place (like a pool store) that only does BBQ tanks, you may have issues. But larger dealers should be able to handle it.
(has anyone else come across this practice for selling propane?)
So far, I've only run into this sales models at the small places that fill BBQ tanks. I've not seen it yet while filing the MH tank. But I do ask!
RE: stabilizers and Weight
Not a TT, but I've had a similar situation with a cargo trailer, which had no stab jacks. When the tongue jack couldn't raise things high enough, I cranked it as far as it would go, then I put a firewood log vertically under the A-frame next to the jack as temporary blocking, and retracted the tongue jack. Then I put blocks under the tongue jack, and cranked up some more.
Maybe something like that might be safer than overstressing the stab jacks? Just make sure the trailer is chocked securely, and the temporary blocking is stable. You should use something more secure than a log (like I did) as any side load on the tongue could cause it to fall.
