RE: Anti Sway Paranoia
If you have concerns about sway....get the sway control....cheap insurance
That's what we did. I don't know if we "need" it or not, but it sure makes me feel better having it.
RE: got another one
i do use the search feature before i ask these questions, so bear with me please. When traveling with food that is needed to keep cold, perhaps a lot of it for a family of 5, how do you keep the meat, hamburgers, steaks, etc to remain cold and not end up in the water collected in the cooler. Our new pup has a fridge, but putting that stuff in there would take up most, if not all of the space, i imagine
thanks again
Yes, putting your food in the refrigerator would take up most of the room in it, but isn't that what it's for?
You can put your pop/beer/bottled whatever in a cooler with ice, and the water from the melting ice won't affect it one bit. Put your food in the refrigerator!!!
RE: Cassette vs. blackwater tank
What's better, chocolate or vanilla ice cream? Oh, maybe that's a bad analogy for toilet talk....
Anyways, the cassette frees you from the need to use the dump station or worries about filling the black tank before take-down day.
The Niagara tank allows you more days before you NEED to empty. If most of your trips are weekenders, the tank might be more convenient. If you stay a week or more in one place, it's probably gonna be a headache.
The cassette has to be removed and emptied WAY more frequently than a holding tank needs to be emptied. Six gallons vs. 18 gallons (the size of a nice blue tote used for emptying the holding tank during longer campouts)... seems like the larger tank is more convenient. That's been my experience, anyway. The tote gets wheeled to the dumping site, or the cassette gets carried to the dumping site....either way, the temporary holding tank (the tote or the cassette) has to be emptied. The question is how often do you want to have to do it?
RE: new popup owner - how to camp w/out full hookup
We wouldn't have bought a PUP with a sink, shower, and toilet if we didn't want to use them, so we DO use them, even when we're "dry camping."
We fill our water tank, and our gray water holding tank gets emptied into an 18 gallon blue rolling tote, which can be pulled to the dump station or attached to the hitch on the truck and slowly towed there.
It's a piece of cake. Not really that much effort required. If we didn't have a built-in holding tank, we'd just hook up a hose to the tote, and when it's full, we'd dump it.
We go through quite a bit of water, as we see no reason to conserve if we have the ability to tow it to the dump station for dumping. It's not that hard, and it's nice to be able to wash hands/dishes/whatever whenever and for however long we want to.
P.S. We also carry an extra battery so we don't have to be stingy with the lights.
RE: Cleaning tent canvas
I like using Simple Green. I don't worry as much about it making its way to the storm runoffs in the street. Plus, it smells really fresh and clean and does a pretty good job of cleaning. Doesn't get too sudsy.
RE: Please talk me out of this
Oh, I forgot to mention something. The fact that the stove, sink and everything is permanently mounted and don't have to be lifted from the floor and set up on a highwall is a big deal. I have developed a bad back over the years. While these things aren't that heavy, and with the Coleman/Fleetwood designs where they swing out, they aren't that big a deal most of the time, my back can be pretty bad sometimes so the less lifting the better.
I'm not doing a good job making the case that I need to switch my thinking back to the 10' and 12' models here :B
You could get a 12' HW.....
Our FW Saratoga is 12', HW, shower/ceramic toilet, slide-out dinette, etc. We have enjoyed it, and the smaller box is awesome for towing and storing.
RE: Make Your Own Tent Trailer
Look what I just found ... can't get them here, but wish we could!
Trigano Chantilly trailer
I've never been in a campground where something like this would fit!
RE: Fridge or Ice Box
I like my fridge for food but everytime this year (total of 18 nights) we have had electrical service. This weekend I ill not be plugging in. How long do you think I can run my fridge on propane?
A really long time. We have two large propane tanks, and have been running the refrigerator off of just one of them for about 3 weeks now....
RE: Cassette toilet and shower or no cassette toilet and shower?
We have #4 -- toilet and shower (and hardwalls). We use them both, though the shower not quite as often. Some campgrounds have showers, and if they do, we use them, but we are just as happy to use our own.
And I believe, without a doubt, that having a toilet to use in the middle of the night is the absolutely BEST THING ON EARTH!!
RE: Do you really wash dishes/pans in the PUP?
I always wash dishes in my PUP. Of course, I try to minimize the number of dishes we use by using paper plates, bowls, and cups when possible (they go into the firepit). But we use real flatware and other utensils, and pans. Those all get washed inside. It's not a big deal, although there is a little splashing. But that's what paper towels are for (they go into the fire too). I use a little dish drainer that is set up right by the sink and drains directly into it.
RE: Running water heater question
I leave mine on-uses little propane and it's nice to have hot water on demand.
Same here. It uses *very* little propane to leave it on while camping. We use our hot water all day long, to wash our hands, rinse a cup, etc. I'd hate to have to wait for the water to heat up to have warm water to wash my hands in.
RE: Brake Lights on my PUP
The same thing happened to us recently. Turns out it was the plug that goes into the TV. It had corroded somehow and the connectors inside the plug had deteriorated, making the wires to the various points in the trailer (brake lights, parking lights, tail lights, etc.) not stay in. They'd slip out. Just replaced the whole plug (easy), and now everything is perfect.
RE: can 1 set it up?
Thank you for all your quick replies and patience. I have one more small concern. While almost anything is easier to setup with two people can 1 person setup a pup? I love and miss camping but my husband is not sold on the idea even though we have gone a small handful of times in a tent and hardside ( he did not like hauling a tall trailer). Should he decide after all he really is not interested will I be able to set it up myself. Should I limit the size and does a slide make it that much harder or just a little more time?
I did experience camping in a pup 20+ years ago and it did not go well, cables broke and ex was not too smart about it.
One person absolutely can set up a PUP. I have traveled for a week with just myself and my daughter (9 years old) and I did everything myself. The key is to be methodical and go slowly, so you don't miss any important steps. I've now done it several times. I can back up the TV and hitch up by myself, and everything.
Water oozed out of my spare battery (which was charging)
I'm quite sure I probably overfilled it with distilled water. When I looked inside, it seemed like it needed more water, so I filled all six of them up. Then I put it on the Smart Charger and left it for a couple of hours. When I returned, water was oozing out, and it left a mess all over my garage floor. It burned my skin when I got a little on it, so I think it's mixed with acid. It's leaving gray streaks and powdery looking marks all over the floor.
What do I do? I had a little baking soda I sprinkled on it, but I think I need about a gallon of it.
Anybody have an advice for fixing this mess? I feel stupid and my husband is going to flip.
RE: 2007 Fleetwood Saratoga
Ours is a 2008, and it's the first we ever saw of the Saratoga. I know that doesn't mean there wasn't one in 2007, but if there was, we sure didn't see it or know about it. And we'd been looking at Fleetwood/Coleman PUPS for several years before we finally bit the bullet and bought one. The Saratoga was the perfect combination of amenities and smaller size. We couldn't pass it up!
RE: my PUP + my driveway = city citation [rant]
Most people understand the gov't = thugs
And since they run on phoney money they have deep pockets to beat up on their citizens.
"Most people" .... really? Kinda doubt that.
Besides, is this forum really the place to debate this? What started out as a legitimate question about the OP's RV parking situation has turned into a rant about the government.
How is that even remotely appropriate for this forum?
RE: Fleetwood Westlake awning help
Sorry for your misfortune, but I had to smile a little reading your post because just the other day we were trying to assemble our awning, and were having a tough time for some reason. My husband kept shouting, "Don't break the black nipple! Don't break the black nipple!"
We actually did break off a "nipple" on the pole to our slideout for the dinette, and instead of replacing it, I just screwed a round headed screw into it, leaving about 1/2 inch sticking out, and we use that in place of the nipple. It works. I suspect I'd do something similar if I broke one off an awning pole. I'd do *whatever* I could before shelling out $50 for a new one, that's for sure!
