| |
Subject |
Author |
Date Posted |
Forum
|
 |
RE: Outside shower in colder weather.
We just spent 8 months in our Fleetwood Wilderness in Tulsa during the winter which has no extra heating, here is what I did:
I disconnected the two water lines to the outside shower and capped them inside the trailer.
I removed the shower hose and stowed it inside the trailer and then packed the outside shower box full of insulation.
I took insulation and wrapped the drain lines multiple with the insulation and I also added UltraHeat water line wraps to the drain lines.
For the city water connection I ran heat tape down the line and then enclosed it in 3/4" foam insulation and I took a home outside faucet cover drilled it out so the city water connection could enter through it and filled it full of insulation too.
I'm no expert on Florida weather but we dealt with temps down into the low teens and never had any issues. We also ran Ultra Heat heaters on our exposed tanks but we did add a skirt to our trailer.
My own $.02 if your TT is being occupied with normal temps then I would just remove the shower hose, stick a couple of layers of insulation in the box and close it up.
I was pleasantly surprised to find our rear compartment which housed the hot-water heater and water lines never dropped below 50 degrees even when the outside temp was well below freezing.
|
lightguy48
|
11/23/08 08:37pm |
Travel Trailers
|
|
RE: aftermarket brake controller vs. factory controller
The integrated is 100x better, it doesn't grab like aftermarket units because it does work off of inertial motion, on my Ford is uses brake pressure so it tracks with the truck brakes.
I will never buy another truck without an integrated controller.
If I use the manual override it definitely grabs, I would think the Chevrolet has a similar control.
|
lightguy48
|
11/22/08 09:13pm |
Toy Haulers
|
 |
RE: Zoning finally caught up with us!
We recently moved back to Oklahoma from Texas and when we started looking for a house around Tulsa it about made us crazy. Any current housing area has some kind of HOA and it just blows my mind about the requirements they are putting in some of these covenants. Stuff like a vehicle can't stay in a driveway more than 48 hours (it has to be in the garage) or it can't be in the street to long. Heck in Nichols Hills down in Oklahoma City they put in some ordinance about pick-up trucks being parked in a driveway or street (don't laugh, my brother in law got ticketed!)
I'm all for making sure someone doesn't leave their broken down automobile in their yard or driveway in disrepair for years on end but c'mon, at some point it crosses the line and becomes a 100% infringement on a person's rights as a citizen.
We finally found a lot via a co-worker, it was the last remaining lot in a private subdivision and the specifications for the lot states RV's, trailers, boats, etc could be kept on the property as long is it's located behind the residence or behind the privacy fence.
I'll have to say in the short time I've lived here this is the best neighborhood I've ever lived in, the people are friendly, they're professional, and they take pride in our neighborhood.
I would say our neighborhood benefits from the freedoms we have because we do have pride in the area and want to keep it up and I think that's what some of these people overlook is in their overzealous attempts to 'control' their neighborhood they run off the decent people that want to live there. There's always going to be inconsiderate people but in an attempt to legislate decency they make matters worse!
|
lightguy48
|
11/22/08 11:57am |
General RVing Issues
|
|
RE: Water under floor - what to do?
Thanks, we'll continue to vent things out and hopefully in the next few days things will be back to normal....
|
lightguy48
|
09/06/08 12:21pm |
Tech Issues
|
|
RE: Water under floor - what to do?
There is no standing water to suck up.... it's just what is trapped between the two areas....
Could be a little could be a lot, I just don't know...
|
lightguy48
|
09/06/08 10:51am |
Tech Issues
|
|
Water under floor - what to do?
The P trap under our shower/tub cracked and has apparently been leaking for days or weeks. The only reason we noticed it was because my wife noticed an odor coming from an adjacent closet.
When I looked in the cabinet I found water beneath the floor where a roof vent connects to one of the tanks. I traced the water source back to the broken P trap under the tub/shower.
My question is what to do about the water under the floor. I've been blowing air under the floor where the a hole was cut for the P-Trap but there are other areas where there is simply no access.
Any suggestions?
|
lightguy48
|
09/06/08 10:34am |
Tech Issues
|
|
RE: Black tank odor
Ahh thanks! Well I gave the tank a really good flushing last weekend and the odors have gone away. I don't understand it as I normally turn on my Tornado flusher, open the tank, then close the valve, fill it up again using the Tornado flusher and drain a 2nd time (sometimes a 3rd time, if the water doesn't run clean on the first re-fill and flush).
Anyway, I did pick up a rotating vent and when the heat drops down some I will install it as an added measure.
|
lightguy48
|
08/03/08 03:36pm |
Tech Issues
|
|
RE: Black tank odor
The RV360 has been on for years, and we still had some odor problems after a few days. None since switching to HC. Curiosity may cause me to remove the RV360.
HC? I've looked back through the posts and can't identify the abbreviation.
|
lightguy48
|
07/27/08 05:45pm |
Tech Issues
|
|
RE: Black tank odor
There is no odor entering the trailer except when the flush valve is opened. And as I mentioned before, this has only become an issue when the temperatures began to rise.. I flush the tank extremely well everytime we drain it. I have a Tornado flusher installed. I also generally fill it once or twice via the tornado to make sure all debris is removed before we begin using it again. The tank valve always remains closed except for draining/flushing. I certainly don't want to experience the pyramid of you know what.
I just don't see what the advantage would be using the rotating vent cap because without a second vent to allow air to enter the tank the only time air will pass through the black tank is when the toilet valve is opened and it seems like the only benefit would be when there is a strong breeze outside.
|
lightguy48
|
07/27/08 09:32am |
Tech Issues
|
|
Black tank odor
We've hit 100's for the first time this year and since hitting the high 90's last week we have had an absolutely rancid odor from the tank.
I've verified the vent pipe to the roof is unobstructed, we've been using regular drop-ins after each time we flush the tank and put in a toiler or two of water with the drop-in.
I've flushed the tank multiple times and it's running very clean now.
Any suggestions on how to help with the tank when temp's get this high? I'm thinking the issue is primarily temperature related as this is the first issue we've had and it coincided with the onset of high temperatures.
Thanks
|
lightguy48
|
07/26/08 03:51pm |
Tech Issues
|
|
RE: Ground fault problem
GFI's do not have two sensors, they use what is called a differential current transformer. Basically if the outgoing current does not match the returning current the unit will trip. And yes by having a connection to a ground can cause it to trip because some of the current would be flowing through the neutral and through the ground thus the current through the transformer would not be belanced.
That being said, I have never seen a 30amp GFI breaker in an RV pedestal. The 20amp is almost always a GFI unless it's a really old park.
Here is a link to everything you would ever want to know about GFI's GFCI Breaker
|
lightguy48
|
06/29/08 02:57pm |
General RVing Issues
|
|
RE: So when we say 50 Amp
A breaker trips on excessive electric current that is measured in amps. Watts is a measure of power and Volt-Ampere is a measurement of apparent power. There are two basic types of breaker, thermal and thermal-magnetic. Wiki Circuit Breaker
But as Hurricaner said I believe John meant VA not amp-hour unless he is referring to the load coming off a battery via an inverter.
|
lightguy48
|
06/01/08 09:11pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: So when we say 50 Amp
Keep in mind that's 50amps per leg/circuit. I hate to bring up the subject, but your total capacity is actually 100amps (50a x 2 legs). So depending on how your RV is wired and how it is metering that load you could run up to 100a total.
Depending on the size of those AC units you could have 2 on one leg of the incoming power, one on the other leg, and still have reserve capacity.
You would have to have some pretty detailed information on how it's metering and is wired to know with 100% certainty.
|
lightguy48
|
06/01/08 03:49pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: Grey Water Fills in 3 Hours!
The full indication on the one unit is puzzling, maybe something was in the tank prior to usage.
But I tend to agree with some other posts, maybe you have something plugging the vent lines to the roof or something amiss, but that also depends on your water usage.
As an example, I'm curious about the shower usage. Me & my wife can take a combined total of 4 showers, some sink usage, and 4 teeth brushings on our 40 gallon tank, and that is using 'military' style showers (rinse, soap, rinse, shampoo, rinse). By the time we're done the water is to the drain level in the tub.
If your kids are taking standard home showers (not cycling the water off) then that 40 gallon tank will fill up real quick.
|
lightguy48
|
06/01/08 03:45pm |
Travel Trailers
|
|
RE: Skirting TT for Winter usage
I figured I would make a final post on this thread. Needless to say winter is long gone now. I think the coldest night we experienced was around 10 - 12 degF. We ended up buying a 1500w heater in addition to the bathroom heater, the primary reason was not lack of heat from the trailer furnace but the noise while sleeping. So during the day we ran the propane furnace and the electric heater at night.
We never ran out of heat, hot water, or had any problems with lines freezing. The vinyl RV skirt worked very well on the unit. I will say using the electric heat overnight helped quite a bit with propane usage. Without it we used approximately one 35lb bottle a week, with the electric heat it lessened it to about 1 1/2 weeks per bottle.
We certainly have no fears about winter camping in the future.
|
lightguy48
|
05/18/08 08:54am |
Travel Trailers
|
|
RE: Satelite and A/C Woes
So if I'm understanding correctly, you are tied into a satellite dish for a house from your unit?
My guess is some kind of ground loop from your unit's electrical system to the house electrical system. When the AC unit kicks on current is being passed through the sheild of the coax generating hum & noise on the center conductor and disrupting the signal.
This can happen because the electrical potential for your satellite in your unit could be at a slightly different potential than the receivers in the house. For example, if your neutral has a little resistance the extra load being drawn through your AC unit could be getting passed through the sheild of the coax then through the satellite reciever in the house.
It doesn't take much current passing through the line to disrupt the signal. If you are comfortable with electrical stuff you could disconnect the coax and take an AC voltmeter and measure the potential between the outside of the coax jack and the outside of the coax plug and see if you get a reading and if you do does the reading increase when the AC unit turns on. Hopefully it would only be a few volts but I've seen cases where the potential was great enough to draw a small arc.
|
lightguy48
|
05/12/08 08:46pm |
Tech Issues
|
|
RE: Furnace/battery question...
Depending on the type of furnace look for a diagnostic LED. My Atwood unit will flash an LED to indicate the fault that prevented the furnace from starting
|
lightguy48
|
12/25/07 08:00am |
Tech Issues
|
|
RE: 50-30 AMP
I prefer plugging into a 50amp when possible, due to the two reasons listed several times:
1. A lot of 30amp outlets are worn out and have loose connections which generate heat and resistance which causes voltage drop and as voltage drop current increase
2. A lot of 30amp breakers are old and also have high resistance which causes heat and can cause them to trip prematurely.
By using a 50amp you never approach the 80% continous duty rating of the breaker and if somehow you did have a dead short that dead short will trip the 50amp breaker just as quickly as the 30amp breaker and as everyone said you should have a 30amp main breaker in your panel inside your unit anyway.
One other note, I replaced my 30amp plug with a heavy duty 30amp plug, thicker bladed which makes a better connection to some of those really old and worn out outlets.
|
lightguy48
|
12/16/07 08:55am |
Tech Issues
|
|
RE: Skirting TT for Winter usage
20degF? We made it down to 22 twice so far and have been very comfortable.
The only electric heater we're using is in the bathroom so it's nice and toasty after shower.
In regards to the skirting material, originally I was trying to decide how to skirt it until a friend told us about the mobile home skirting, I was referring to the fact that we bought the skirting and cut it before moving from Waco to Tulsa, not before the thread was started.
Obviously YMMV, but we have done very well in our TT so far.
I will look into the possibility of getting spare blower motor, our unit seems to cycle about 2 - 3 times and hour for 3 - 5 minutes, nothing excessive.
I went through our TT with a Fluke infrared thermometer and other than the windows, nothing was below 60 - 65 degrees and the furnace puts out a nice 150 or so degreee air so we're quite comfortable.
But as I said, YMMV with your particular unit.
|
lightguy48
|
12/11/07 06:27pm |
Travel Trailers
|
|
RE: Skirting TT for Winter usage
Fyi, if anyone is still following this thread. We moved to Tulsa and have been setup for a week now. We purchased skirting for a mobile home and cut it to fit before leaving for Tulsa.
The second night temps dropped to 22 degrees outside and we were comfortable inside. We have used one 35lb tank of propane in one week with the thermostat varied between 67 - 70 depending on whether we were sleeping or not.
We've had no issues with freezing or abnormally low temperatures under cabinets or in other areas with water lines.
I put UltraHeat tank heaters on my grey and black tanks and elbow heaters on the lines to the drain valves and one fresh water heater on the exposed drain/winterizing lines under the trailer.
The only issue we've had is moisture on a couple of windows pooling, but we bought some sponges and will check them every couple of days.
Other than the cramped space we have been very comfortable, I think proper planning and equipment has made everything work quite well even though we do not have a true four season trailer.
|
lightguy48
|
12/08/07 04:17pm |
Travel Trailers
|
