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Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: Transfer Files? Odd blanks in some files
Monkey44:
Have you gotten your file problem resolved?
You have not responded to your post.
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MNtundraRet
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05/16/13 07:56am |
Technology Corner
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RE: WDW8 Q?
The fan comes on when needed to cool the computer. You get what you pay for and your particular computer is noisy.
Some computers like mine have energy management. You will find it under options in "My computer".
Your new computer most likely came without a manual. Par for the course now-days. Find the built-in help program and type in "energy management".
Without a real manual I found the Help program really needed to get used to Windows7 and the computer. With windows8 I hope you at least were shown, or remember how to get to the "start" for a conventional menu.
P.S. I thought you purchased an i5 computer. You need an i7 computer with a "state of the art" high-speed graphics chip for gaming. Your computer is middle of the road computer cpu.
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MNtundraRet
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05/15/13 08:45am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Transfer Files? Odd blanks in some files
My Asus i7, 8-core computer, purchased 2 years ago, came with a "free-be" version of Word and Excel (they have ads). They also had a current version to pay for, or to decline.
Those empty folders for word 2013 most likely already existed on your new computer.
How did you transfer your old folders for Word documents to your new computer?
Did you "copy" from old and "paste" into the new computer?
If you used a program to transfer files from old to new computer, it may have converted old Word files to be compatible with Word2013. They expect everyone to get the new Word program.
The old one you transferred over may not function properly in Windows8. Does your computer have the free version of Word (with ads)? If yes, open it and try it on your word documents.
If you have saved your folder for Word documents on a DVD disc, or a USB drive, from your old computer, you could plug them into the new computer and open them with your old Word program if it functions on the new computer. Data stored that way do not change when used on a different computer, unless someone modifies them and saves the change to the DVD or USB drive.
I assume you labeled your folders for documents on the old computer. Check each folder there on the old computer to insure the documents exist in them. If they are missing the problems you experienced on old computer caused the missing files.
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MNtundraRet
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05/14/13 05:26pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Charging antimony-free VRLA batteries without float
The test procedure was interesting, but you title was misleading.
Your title stated charging "without float". The test is "low float".
Also; the article is for a proposed better method to charge batteries used to power emergency lights, critical computers, etc., when 120v, ac, power is lost.
These batteries spent 95% of their life being "float charged" until the time comes that they actually get used. Because of this the battery life end up short for batteries rarely getting used.
I fail to see how this could help any of us for RV use, unless the RV has been stored for a long winter (like the current). My 9-watt, 0.625 amp, solar panel accomplishes this goal for me each long winter.
In your case you get out much more often and need to recover to "full" charge much more often. I guess what it really means is that if your batteries were really "fully" charged, if you could manually lower your float charge to the very low "float" it MIGHT help in the long run. Not an easy job since you need to know the discharge rate of each battery being stored to calculate the lower "float" rate.
Mark B
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MNtundraRet
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05/09/13 08:27am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Spring is tiptoing into our life
I guess you missed your chance the weekend before last.
We were able to head 120 miles south to Clear Lake S.P. in Iowa. We had 65 to 79F weather from Friday morning until heading home Monday afternoon. Only rain was Monday morning (between 2 and 5 am). Beautiful weather.
Last weekend too much snow between us and them. :(:?
We will be heading back there Thursday around noon for until next Monday PM. :C:B
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MNtundraRet
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05/07/13 09:39am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Weird blinking on taskbar
A few days ago you had battery charging issues and were poking around the contacts (another of your posts).
I am afraid you have some "self inflicted" issues. The flickering may be tied into intermittent power problem.
As posted; your computer's operating system may be flashing the bar for you to do a critical update. Different computers use different methods. Open the Windows update window and check for updates.
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MNtundraRet
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05/07/13 06:28am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Forum Speed?
It seemed to have a problem a few days ago. I just used the Woodalls portal for a while. Came back later in the day and things were fine.
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MNtundraRet
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05/05/13 05:48pm |
Forum Technical Support
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RE: a/c unit hardly working on generator power
If you cannot find a tripped circuit-breaker, the compressor motor, or starting capacitator, may be fried.
Running an air-conditioner under "brown-out" conditions (low voltage) is premature death.
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MNtundraRet
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05/05/13 06:34am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Had a strange call from "Microsoft"
How does anyone ever think/believe that MS is going to call a residence about a specific computer?
Enough people do, or these people would not be in the business (racket) of making these calls.
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MNtundraRet
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05/04/13 06:46pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Had a strange call from "Microsoft"
I got the call about 2 weeks ago from maybe the same guy.
I tied in him up for a while letting him know I know a lot more about computers than he does.
I have an Asus I7, 8-core gaming laptop computer. I have been programing computers since 1979.
He had to be nuts if he thought I had any problems. My system was working better than his. Also; in MN we are on the "Do not call" list with a $10,000. fine for each call. We are also on the national list.
I let him know my computer had his phone number, and he had better never call us again. He hung up with out giving me any further B.S. or the web-site info.
:B
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MNtundraRet
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05/04/13 06:12pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: a/c unit hardly working on generator power
Did you set the thermostat to the coldest setting?
Did you hear the compressor kick on?
How big is the generator?
It is certainly easy to hear the compressor over just the fan. If you have access to shore-power, I would check out the air-conditioner there first to rule out problems with the unit. If the compressor does not start, check for a tripped circuit breaker.
Now start up the generator and first check for 120v,ac, power. If the microwave will run you have 120v, ac, from the generator. No 120v,ac? check generator circuit breaker. Does your RV shore-power cord need to be plugged into generator outlet? My Fleetwood MH does. Made that mistake last spring, and took a while before I remembered that stupid mistake.
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MNtundraRet
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05/04/13 02:47pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Using Clamp-On Multimeter to Check a/c Surge Current
In order to use an AC/DC clamp-on meter to do AC current (amps) you will need an extra option (device) called an AC line splitter.
Measuring amps in DC is easy since the clamp only goes around one wire ("pos" or "neg"). Since you do not want to rip apart an AC power cord to separate the wires for a Clamp-on meter, the device plugs into an AC cord on each end to allow the clamp to go over one wire cable only.
If the Air-conditioner is "hardwired", you need to find where the wires are separated inside the unit and check the current there. Be careful to follow all warnings since this is can be more dangerous than a simple DC, 12v amp check.
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MNtundraRet
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05/03/13 12:58pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: 6 Volt Battery Issue
Keeping the bad battery is your worst option. Finding a battery with a middle bad cell howlers a manufacturing flaw for that battery
Any problems from charging (over or under-charging) usually show up with more water loss from the battery-bank cell closest to the cable connection at the "pos" or "neg" terminals.
I use Trojan T105's, and just replaced with another pair after 10 years on the first. I would think that due to the fact your still have 3 good batteries only eighteen months old, that purchasing one similar battery would be the best gamble.
I would place the battery first in line in series with the best looking other 6-volt, and leave the other set in parallel. Since more batteries are likely under-charged now-day's than overcharged by old single-stage chargers, being first rather than last may help.
I would complain and return battery where purchased (if possible) since it looks to me like a manufacturing defect than poor "TLC". You might get a break even though slightly past warranty.
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MNtundraRet
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05/02/13 08:46am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Power outage
Quote:
"The only problem we ran into county wise was finding a gas station that was running on emergency power. I ran out of gas from my lawn mower jeri-can about the forth day. Was just about ready to use my OKLAHOMA CREDIT CARD but then someone found a gas station to go to and get some gas..."
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Roy:
This is just a ploy for gas stations to charge more.
I can see no excuse at all for gas stations to have some generator back-up, in order to be able to keep some pumps and cash-register working. They just don't want to deal with the extra hassle.
Mark B.
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MNtundraRet
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05/01/13 08:49am |
Tech Issues
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RE: house battery concern
Quote:
"Also, the terminals were clean when I took it in and yesterday there was some of that greenish crud visible on at least a couple terminals. We dry camp almost exclusively and the normal discharge level is 12.2 before we move on and it gets recharged"
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The terminal problem does not happen from a week in the shop. Interstate batteries are on the bottom of my list from past experiences in past trailers.
Chances are "nil" on getting new batteries by blaming the shop. From your replies above, you did not actually open the battery-compartment and check batteries right before hauling the RV in.
Your charger may be overcharging batteries since you say you did clean terminals at a earlier time. It helps to spray a battery protectant on the terminals after cleaning.
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MNtundraRet
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05/01/13 08:20am |
Tech Issues
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RE: house battery concern
I am having the exterior refinished and today went in to choose colors. The house batteries, 4 Interstates installed 2/15/2010, were almost flat. The business owner said lights must have been left on and he would plug it in tonight.
My concern is that the batteries have been damaged. I recently serviced them including testing each cell and they were fine.
What is the chance the batteries have been damaged by allowing them to be almost complete discharged?
Did you check the battery-bank with a meter before taking it in? How long has it been stored since you last checked the batteries?
The 12v batteries should be checked every month when stored and recharged if needed. The batteries, even on "disconnect", do discharge over a few months.
After he plugs it in for you, the batteries should be checked with a volt-meter, at the battery-terminals, to see if your converter/charger is working. Voltage should go to 14.4+ volts soon to show "bulk" charging, or at least 13.7 volts to show "absorption" charging.
Anything under 13.2 volts could mean a charger problem (breaker tripped, blown fuse, charger failure). Whether you have long term problem depends on how long the batteries have been left in a discharged state.
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MNtundraRet
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05/01/13 05:30am |
Tech Issues
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RE: UPG 250 amp hour agm batteries
Dave:
How many amps is the Residential Refer. drawing on a 1-hour duty cycle? Have you checked the amps being drawn from the battery-bank with a clamp-meter? They will be 10 times the 120v,ac draw when using 12v, dc.
I just purchased a new 1000 watt (2000 surge) inverter (10 year old 400 watt inverter just died) for my HD TV and 2nd amplifier (plus other temp. uses). The inverter does show "wattage" and "amps" under load, but "watt's" readout is inaccurate under 200 watts (per specs.). For the TV drawing less the 25 watts reading is zero. The reason I used the clamp-meter on the battery cable.
The reason I ask is that it looks like you expect to use the refer. 24/7 over a weekend, along with all other normal 12v needs. Using just two 75AH batteries does not seem doable, especially for having batteries hold up long-term.
P.S. I missed the comment about the generator, so you should be okay.
I would love to dump the RV refer. when they come out with energy efficient compressor refers. Many new units coming out with residential, but manufacturer's expect you be camped on an electric site, not boon-dogging.
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MNtundraRet
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04/30/13 06:07am |
Tech Issues
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RE: semi full time no generator
Hi,
While the Efoy is wonderful technology, the cost of fueling it is astronomical. It is also not totally quiet. Methanol makes gasoline look like Kool-aid as far as being safe to work with.
The current pricing yes. Methanol hazards are ramped up slightly from gasoline but quantities needed are much less. These draw-backs will slow getting this technology to wide spread use (and lowering of costs).
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MNtundraRet
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04/26/13 05:42am |
Tech Issues
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RE: TV Antenna "upgrade"
Adding the Wingman makes the antenna more directional.
That's also not true. The Sensar antenna has always been unidirectional on the UHF frequencies. Only when the front of the antenna is pointed toward the TV towers are you going to receive the best UHF reception. The Wingman doesn't change that, it only improves the reception of those UHF frequencies.
The analog stations left now are very few, and low powered. The majority of HD and regular digital have a real RF signal between channels 14 and upper 30's. Most digital stations are lowered powered (lower channels allowed higher power to get range in some cases) so the large element is less effective, and more of the shorter elements are needed.
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MNtundraRet
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04/26/13 05:26am |
Technology Corner
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RE: TV Antenna "upgrade"
Since we came up with the argument about the motorized Winegard III antenna, I went back to the first LINK for it here on this post again.
1) The link came from a vendor, not Winegard.
2)I down-loaded operational manual. I checked the manual for revision date. I found it on the bottom right of page 2: "Rev 8/06".
In 2006 digital TV was just starting to speed up. The vendor ad was newer since it shows the then brand new Winegard Wingman attachment.
3) I found the similar revision number on the bottom of page 2 of the down-loaded Installation manual.
The problem with the information posted here on the post was that the motorized antenna was assumed to be "New". The Wingman Model IV had not been put on the market yet.
Current hand cranked models have a rotation of less than 360 degrees. That did not matter before digital TV since the analog signals picked up the same from front of back side of the antenna wing.
Adding the Wingman makes the antenna more directional. The back-side range is about 1/2 the front. The blind spot is more a irritation than a absolute problem. RV can be reversed on campsite to allow getting stations in the "blind spot".
If someone were to find this model still for sale at a vendor, they would have to add the Winegard Wingman to upgrade the antenna to a Model IV. They should be able to negotiate a discount, or get a Wingman thrown into the deal.
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MNtundraRet
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04/25/13 07:35pm |
Technology Corner
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