RE: Traffic Jam in Yellowstone
Hopefully, we'll run into one of those traffic jams. We'll find out soon enough... about 3 days from now. We leave tomorrow morning. :)
RE: spider!!
The Brown Recluse does have a violin shape on its carapace. (Where the legs attach) It's upside down - in other words, you see the violin shape while looking at him head on. It’s pretty obvious, and looks like a base fiddle.
But, the Recluse’s furry, brownish carapace and striped abdomen resemble too many other spiders including the Hobo, Wolf and Grass spiders.
But…
The easiest way to ID a Brown Recluse: they have NO leg stripes. The others all have banded legs – e.g. alternating light/dark browns and blacks, but the Recluse has light brown SOLID colored legs. If ‘spidy’ has legs with strips or bands, it’s a non-worry. Well, mostly non-worry. All spiders can bite, and all have poison. Most are not deadly, but you still don’t want to get bitten. :E
RE: Bad Walmart Campers II
So -- I challenge you to produce a better Walmart Warthog picture.
In fact, LET THE WALMART WARTHOG PICTURE CONTEST BEGIN! We can include a side discussion of appropriate prizes.
HA HA!! :B
All right, you're on. :B We're heading for Yellowstone tomorrow morning. There has to be a lot of Walmarts along our planned 1,900 mile loop.
Hopefully, we'll be at the Craters of the Moon nat'l park in Idaho by tomorrow night. The nearest town is Arco. Surely, they have a Walmart. We could always stay there. :B :B :B
RE: 460 in F53 not turning over
Put a test light on the starter motor terminal itself. (the large motor terminal, not the solenoid) Have someone turn the key. If the light all but goes out, the starter motor is pulling enough amps to completely kill the battery voltage. Your battery may have failed… some light headlamps okay, but a few hundred amps to a starter will drop them to very low voltage.
If the solenoid clicks but the test light stays dead, then the solenoid itself has failed. If the motor terminal lights up bright with the solenoid clicking, then the motor’s commutator brushes have landed on a ‘dead’ winding. Sometimes smacking a motor with a rubber mallet will jog it enough to start starting. :)
On edit... also check the ground strap connections to the engine itself.
RE: Bad Walmart Campers II
Next, all of us Walmart campers... er I mean WWG members will be demanding playground equipment for kids, fenced in dog runs, and bathrooms with showers from Walmart management. :B
And if they don't comply, hundreds of RV's will head for Bentonville Arkansas to protest. And... we can all boondock right in the parking lot of their headquarters!! :B :B :B
RE: Bad Walmart Campers II
The ''Walmart Warthog Group'' sounds like a great idea. It could be a chapter of FMCA.... the WWG! :B The only question is which Walmart will the next WWG rally be?!? :B
Funny how starting a Walmart thread in these forums is just like throwing gasoline on a campfire! WHOOSH!! - half a dozen pages inside of 24 hours. :B
RE: Portable hard drives
However.. drives that only have USB as their power source with no other way of powering can sometimes prove problematic if the USB port being used it already overloaded with powered devices. It may not have enough juice left to spin the drive. In many cases companies include a special cable that allows you to use two USB ports to get the drive up and running or an external power source option if you're using a USB hub that's not powered.
Very good point. My laptop is an older HP with USB 1.0 ports. I use a PCMCIA USB adaptor card with USB 2.0’s. There ain’t a snowball’s chance in Hades of the PCMCIA’s weak 5 volt supply ever running the Western Digital hard drive, so I just feed the card’s USB 2.0’s out to a powered hub. That takes care of the WD’s power needs. Everything else on the desk also hooks up to that hub.
And… the whole setup makes for a quick ‘n’ easy docking port. The PCMCIA and the powered hub connects my Lightscribe DVD writer and everything else, so when I take the laptop, I just slide out the PCMCIA card and it’s free. I also use a KVM switch, so the monitor, keyboard, audio in/out and mouse are part of the KVM’s single cord set. That way, I sit in front of a 21’’ monitor and use a ‘real’ keyboard while computing at home. The computer next to that is my power gaming machine. I push the button on the KVM, and I can switch between the laptop and gaming computer. (KVM = Keyboard/Video/Mouse)
I don’t take the DVD writer on trips, and if I need something from the WD hard drive, the 1.0 ports work, but at only 1/10 the speed.
I also bought extra power supplies for the laptop on eBay for $20 each, so I keep one in the coach, and one in the laptop bag. That eliminates messing with the power supply when packing up the laptop. Just unplug, grab it and go. :B
RE: Portable hard drives
I also have a Western Digital 250 GB. I’ve had it for about two years, and it’s very dependable. I keep photo backups as well as other things, for both home computers and the laptop. I do NOT keep the drive in the house or coach in case of fire. (I do take it along while traveling) It’s very easy to drag the entire ‘My Documents’ folder to it, to make a ‘mirror’ backup of all your created files.
One thing I just discovered… Picasa version 3 beta. It has a lot of new features including a great backup function. The neat thing is that it backs up your photos as a mirror image of what’s actually on your hard drives, no weird translating and single folder or giant backup file garbage either. (Like Adobe Photo Album for example) Picasa restores all the folders in exactly the same arrangement as they are in ‘My pictures’
So… I use the WD 250 to do a Picasa photo-backup of the main computer where I dump all the cameras into. Then do a restore on the others to mirror the folder arrangement, Picasa albums and tags. That way, all three computers are the same.
And… I bumped the drive during a restore of my 14,000+ digital photos. The drive lost connection. I thought, ‘’Oh boy, HERE WE GO!’’ because most backup-restore operations start from scratch. Not Picasa – it just started up right where it left off, which was about the 70% point. WOW! That happened in Photo Album once, and it took HOURS to start completely over again. :M (By the way, I dumped Adobe PA from my drive – Picasa makes it look pathetic)
RE: Bad Walmart Campers II
You can tell that they're just overnighting it... no lawn chairs, no extended awning, and no smoking BBQ. :B
Then again, it appears to be daytime, and the jenny is chained up. That means they've gone sight-seeing all day. This must be a WM next to a national park. :B The chairs, awning, and BBQ is for the evening. :B
RE: Bad Walmart Campers II
This thread is like TV news… ‘’Coming up NEXT… a news item you just won’t believe!!’’
Then, after 3 minutes of ads, they run along with mundane stuff, and again: ‘’Coming up NEXT… a news item you just won’t believe!!’’
More ads, more mundane… and: ‘’Coming up NEXT… a news item you just won’t believe!!’’
When the over-hyped news whatever-item FINALLY gets shown, it’s during the last 25 seconds of the program, and the credits roll on top of it. :M :M :M
So… I guess we’ll see those photos when this thread reaches what? 30 pages? :B :B :B
On edit, WOW PHOTOS!! Woohoo!!! :B :B :B
RE: We've Been Robbed!
The local newspaper did a story that busted some local car scammers. (A boyfriend/girlfriend) They’d buy decrepit vehicles just across the border in Oregon, take them to a WM lot in Washington on a trailer, then sell the ‘’cream puffs’’ by posting for sale signs on them. (They also used several grocery store lots) They would buy a piece of junk for $200 ~ $400, then sell it for $1,500 ~ $2,500. If the car was lucky, all it would need is a new engine or transmission. :B The boyfriend waited in a getaway car nearby so they could make a quick escape. The unlucky buyers generally didn’t make it more than a half mile before a major breakdown. (If even all the way out of the parking lot) They used ‘disposable’ cell phones so the buyers calling them back after discovering their car was a junk heap wasn’t going to happen. :(
You’d think the outermost part of a WM lot is for used cars. :B It is kind of funny now that phranc mentions it… why is there a problem over-nighting when cars with FOR SALE signs abound otherwise? :M
RE: 1990-93 Safari thoughts? How wide?
I have to convert it to Right Hand Drive - about a $30,000 process.
ARRRGGHH!!! :E :E :E
How's that going to work? You might be better off to find a mid-entry instead of a bus type entry door rig. At least you wouldn't have to worry about moving the door and entry stairs around.
By the way, seeing Oz and maybe New Zealand too is on my 'bucket list.' I don't care much about seeing other places in the world, especially after 9/11, but I'd do a 2 day flight for 'Down Under' :)
RE: We've Been Robbed!
I haven't read the entire thread so I don't know if anyone has spoken to this but I don't believe Progressive claims can quibble about the cost of transporting the unit back to you--your policy certainly does not speak to a "reasonable" cost of recovery that will make you responsible for the cost of recovery. If they do not want to transport the unit back to you, tell them to total the unit and pay you the ACV which should, with the amount of personal property you have lost, leave you in good financial position.
They have an obligation to return the unit to you or to total it, not to involve you in the recovery of the unit.
Progressive hasn't been "wonderful" if they are leaving you hanging on how to get the unit back to where it was stolen!
I’d certainly hope so… after all THIEVES transported the RV across the country WITHOUT the owner’s permission. That’s what insurance is for… recovery or replacement of the unit. If it were me, after the rig was cleaned out of anything/everything personal down to dishes and silverware, I’d opt for having them just total it. And, who knows what damage the crooks might have done during the move? Get a big, fat check, and go RV shopping. Hopefully, that big, fat check will also cover some of the costs of re-outfitting the rig too. (New dishes, bedding, etc. etc.)
As for the Wal-Mart parking lot sale… that’s probably how I’d sell something. It isn’t everyone who wants an endless parade of ‘’Looky-Lous’’ appearing on your doorstep to see your RV for sale. (And maybe case your home while they’re at it) It happens here all the time too… sales of vehicles on the WM lots as well as other large shopping center paved lots. It’s anything BUT unusual.
RE: Interesting Statement from Caterpillar Service
The last big rigs we got before I retired finally had cruise control. The cruise control switch activated the high idle. Check and see if yours does. Park and set brakes and hit the cruise button and see what happens.
My cruise control panel is on the side dash-panel. It has two switches. One's on/off, the other is set/resume and accelerate/decelerate. And there's a red button for high idle. Also, HIGH IDLE appears in the annunciator panel in yellow.
RE: Interesting Statement from Caterpillar Service
I would imagine the coach manufacturer supplies the manual provided by the engine maker, at least in Cat’s case. My manual reads as if the engine is installed in a heavy truck and you’re going to be hauling big loads. The title contains something like ‘’On-highway medium duty diesel engine…’’ You’d probably get the very same manual if you bought a semi-tractor or fire truck. As for Cat’s ‘medium duty’ in the title… considering they make some engines that require scaffolding to work on, THEIR idea of ‘heavy duty’ makes anything less than 15 liters merely ‘medium’ duty. :B
I really doubt that the idle time is tracked for warranty denial… I just threw it out there as an idea. :) It is interesting what’s tracked though. The 3126B in the Safari has used almost 13,000 gallons of fuel in its 101,000+ miles. The injectors require service and adjustment at the 30,000 gallon mark. Guess I should start worrying about scheduling that up pretty soon. :B
My experience with Cat mechanics is that the engine is their baby, even if YOU own it! I also think that making an engine quiet running is number 958 on Cat’s list of priorities when designing engines. :B High fuel efficiency is near or at the top of that list, close to longevity.
RE: Interesting Statement from Caterpillar Service
All electronic engines record the same data. BUT....engine idle is recorded as idle even when sitting at a traffic light or in stop and go traffic. It is whenever the engine speed is at idle "speed". You can't accept the idle hours as gospel from the computer, but those that do let them idle for extended periods should still show a much higher number of idle hours, ie truckers.
But they DO track the idle time. I'd guess it's so Cat/Cummins/Detroit can toss out a warranty on an engine that has extreme amounts of idle time on it compared to normal running. (By laying blame on the customer when/if it fails)
RE: 1990-93 Safari thoughts? How wide?
I’m not sure about early 90’s Safari, but the late 90’s have a one-piece fiberglass roof sheet. It’s a white pebble finish homogenous piece about 1/8’’ thick that covers the entire roof. Roof, holding tank pipes, and the fridge vents, the sat dome, TV antenna, etc. are drilled or cut thru that big sheet, so any roof leaks will be from there. Caulking and sealer dries out after time, so an early 1990’s rig has had 17 or 18 years to crack and split.
I was wondering how you’ll deal with having a left hand drive. Don’t Aussies drive on the ‘’wrong’’ side of the road? :B :B :B I’d hate to have an Outback 'road train' pass me going either direction while I’m sitting on the curb side. :E :E :E
As for doing 40 MPH up hills, that shouldn’t be a problem unless you plan on driving up Ayer’s Rock? :B :B :B
RE: Interesting Statement from Caterpillar Service
Doesn't your coach have a high idle button? That sets it to 1,000 RPM. It’s also handy when parking and running out the slides and/or the leveling jacks.
The next time you have the engine serviced, have the techs print out the diag sheets for you. It's about five pages long with the gallons of fuel it's burned, hours run, limit settings, etc. etc. etc. Interestingly enough, the Cat ECM diagnostics tracks the number of hours the engine has idled.
RE: Back-Up Monitor
You must have a CRT (tube) type B&W (black and white) monitor. The screen’s phosphorous coating will eventually have a ghost image given enough hours (hundreds of hours) with the same image from the camera. Take it from someone who works on security systems at jails etc.: a B&W monitor that is on 24/7 with an image from a camera that’s aimed at one place ‘forever’ will develop an image of the booking area desk (or whatever) after about of YEAR of usage. :B (Ghost image: A faint image that’s still there after the monitor is turned off)
Unless your coach is parked for days on end with the monitor on, it’s not a problem. When you’re driving, the camera’s image changes enough to prevent the image ‘burn in’’ altogether. Any dynamic (moving) image will not ‘burn in’ a CRT screen.
Note that CRT color monitors can also suffer the same problems, but it takes longer. If it’s an LCD monitor, it will NEVER develop an after-image.
