RE: How much is 5G on wireless internet?
Mr. Wizard and others are correct - 5GB is more than enough for most people.
That being said, there are two competing technologies out on the market. One is from Verizon and Sprint. The other is AT&T and T-Mobile. There are other players out there, but it's basically these four.
Now, with Verizon and Sprint, they both use a technology known as EVDO. In testing, I find EVDO to be much faster (the Yahoo main page loads in 12 seconds on EVDO as compared to the AT&T/T-Mobile technology which takes 40+ seconds to load.
The key difference between Sprint and Verizon is Sprint teams with Alltel and has more Point of Presence (or POP's) nationally than Verizon - but for some reason, Verizon has better coverage even with less POP's. Go figure that out!
Sprint does offer one feature that is really interesting. On some of their phones which are EVDO capable, you can use the phone to connect to the internet. You can't use the phone and the internet at the same time, but it's an option.
ATT has a 5GB per month package but it's about 100.00 per month. Sprint has an unlimited plan which you can negotiate down to about 50-70 per month depending on how good you negotiate (I just negotiated a corp rate for my company at 45.00 per month). Verizon is still hovering at 85.00 per month for unlimited.
J
Chevy 4L80e question
I've done a post in the past to try and figure this out, but I'm back...
Today I was returning from the desert. It was 98 degrees just on the east side of palm springs. I'm at 60 mph. With no wind, change in elevation or any thing else I could tell, the temp on the tranny went from 180 to 200. It's the stock GM tranny gauge. I have an after market deraele 16 pass trans cooler with an electric fan (that was on).
The engine temperature never changed from 190. It was steady.
All of a sudden, the temp just dropped down from 200 to 180.
Now, I will say I was in OD and the was no slipping on the tranny (I'm trying to economize on gas like everybody else). RPM's were at 2200 and steady.
What gives? Am I missing something? I've read many of your replies about Oil to Water thermal transfer, air to oil thermal transfer.
Could I have a defective trans oil pump?
Any Ideas?
Thanks in advance.
Josh
RE: Broadband Aircard?
There was about 18 months ago, a setting in the connection manager to select either EVDO or 1xRTT only. I'm not sure if it's in the current connection manager or not.
I tested a Sierra Wireless card 18 months ago, and we went with Sprint - but it was due to pricing and a corp. relationship. I do remember seeing the setting but that was at least two releases ago.
Mr. Wizard is right about downloading the latest and greatest firmware upgrades. It will help your card look for the newer tower locations based on it's ability to perform a GPS.
I also highly recommend a Wilson Antenna. Where there was only 1xRTT an EVDO signal can be obtained due to the increased signal strength. The card may or may not show a stronger signal in the connection manager, but trust me it makes a difference.
If all else fails, call tech support and they can tell you where the "bit" needs to be flipped to use EVDO only and see how that flies.
josh
RE: Water heater plug sheared
Be careful using the hacksaw! Don't hit the threads. You can cut two holes in the plug, then with needle nose pliers pull the piece out between the two cuts, then roll the remaining piece of the plug into the center and it will all come out.
Tedious but effective. I like the hot screwdriver Idea though. The aluminum won't be affected by the heat (because the aluminum is too large a heat sink) and the nylon plug will just melt away!. Once you have a section of the plug away from the peripheral area, it'll just fold in on itself. Very clean.
RE: Electric trailer tongue jacks
Just a quick "watch out" for you.
I had my tongue jack fail. It's a manual. I needed it in a hurry so I took a trip to Camping world and picked up a replacement.
When I pulled my old tongue Jack off - I found the top hole was 2-1/2" in diameter and the bottom was 2". The new assembly was 2-1/4 top and bottom. It's 1/8 Steel. Filing didn't work nor did a steel rasp. I ended up using my jigsaw, upside down to cut the opening to 2-1/4 to fit the new tongue.
Just something to watch out for!
josh
RE: RV LEDs not impressed
I was all hot on LED's about 5 years ago. I went so far as to bulk purchase a bunch of LED's and make my own circuit board. Knowing that LED's have a narrow angle of light distribution (generally 10-15 degrees) I fanned the LED's in a curve shape to dispurse the light more evenly.
In the end, I realized a few things.
1. The color was horrible and made it difficult to read by.
2. The light wasn't even in distribution.
3. It didn't have a warm feel.
One of my friends in the entertainment industry suggested getting velum (the plastic film they put over kliglights to get the color correct for movies). That did help but not enough.
A month or so ago, I was at a trade show and they were handing out LED pens - give aways with a company logo on them. I turn it on, it blicked blue, green, red, and when all of them were on, the color was almost right.
It seems to me in order to make this color acceptable and bright enough, the manufacturers will have to "mix" the intensity of the other colors to get near the 2700k color we are comfortable with. They will also need to increase the lumen output for all of the colors for general lighting.
Another 5 years we'll be there but for today, a flourescent bulb is the way to go.
RE: Securing a Yamaha EF2400iS Genny
I have the 2400. I opened up the chassy and bolted an Eyebolt to the frame through the housing on the bottom; However, in retrospect, I think I might have been just as well off to change the bolts to tamper proof ones you get at the hardware store.
If a thief really wants it, they will get it.
There is a Honda EU2000 group on Yahoo that has some terrific ideas about securing them. The best is a base that is welded to the frame and two steel pieces coming up to them with a rod over the top and a lock on them. I would work well, but more effort than I want to go through.
If I need to worry about my 2400, I would probably put in the truck or somewhere out of sight and locked down.
josh
RE: Waste valve jammed, and tank is full!!!!!
After reading through all of this... we all agree you're going ot replace teh valve?
You could, if you're careful, and you have access, drill a hole on the opposite side of the handle. Make it large enough for a large screwdriver with a shaft long enough to push the valve open.
Drill a hole, and stop when you think you're at the valve. Then, connect up with your dump hose and push the valve open. Use a rag to insure little of the mess shoots out the screw driver hole (you may have to leave it in when you push it open!
Once it's drained, back flush it with water as best as you can and replace it ASAP.
It's not a great idea, but if you can't reconnect to the valve, that'll do you. I had it happen to me when I was out and as bill suggested at dockweiler during the week, I did just that. When I got the old one off, I bolted the new one on and away I went. It wasn't too bad except for the Squirting where the screwdriver was pushed through! Hence, my recommendation to put a rag around the screwdriver
josh
RE: Tapping into existing wire to add 12v outlet
I'll Throw my two cents into the mix. Gdetrailer is correct on all points. In my case, I needed a 12volt outlet for a 12volt blender that pulls 15 amps. The 12 gauge wire I felt was too small for my needs, so I ran a 10 gauge set of wires (one ground, on positive from the fuse block). It's a dedicated circuit. The problem I had was finding an open fuse to take over.
I found I had tank heaters which I've never used, nor do I plan to. As such, I used that circuit, along with increasing the fuse to 15 amps on the circuit and now it's dedicated to my 12volt outlet.
It took me a good couple of hours to figure out what I was going to do, find the circuit, backtrack and find the actual pickup point on the fuse block and finally run the wires - insuring they can't and won't get chafed because of vibration. I ended up using some 1/4" diameter cable holders with screw points plus a rubber grommet at each attah point.
I probably over did it, but I don't want a fire.
I also changed my Shore power connections and had the same problems doing the same thing there. It's a slow and tedious process, but not difficult.
The most important thing you need to know is how many AMPS the device you're connecting in the 12volt outlet is going to pull. From there, it's just math to figure out if you can use 10,12, or 14 gauge wire for the run.
Josh
RE: Adding a Circuit Breaker to Dual Battery Bank
I'm thinking inside the coach near the distribution panel. I like the idea of CA Traveler's outside but here's my reason why.
I have the power selector, like you, outside near my batteries. If the goal is to protect the RV from something inside, then it wouldn't matter where the source comes from, but rather how it's distributed inside the RV. If your chaf a wire (say a postitive) outside, then the Circuit Breaker would work better there, but if it's something inside the coach, it needs to be closer to the source of the problem to react better to the problem.
just my two cents.
josh
RE: Home made portable waste tank any ideas?
I have the Barker Tote Tank. It's the 32 Gallon version. I've replaced the factory original tires with the Harbor Freight 5.00 ones. I'm happy with my tank. The other poster who was trying to figure out how much is too much? that's simple. You keep your gray tank closed until you're somewhere near the external tanks limit (e.g. 32 gallons). Open the valve, drain and keep an eye on it until it's full.
I had a different problem. My TT is very low and many times the front end of the TT is lower than the drain valve. I ended up using a bilge pump to pump the gray water from the drain to the Blue tank (which is up front of the TT near the truck). That way I only need to nudge the blue tank hitch connection onto my TV's tow hitch.
Back to the OP's point. You can make your own, but for simple convenience, the Barker Tote-a-tank is a winner.
josh
RE: Refrigerator cold enough?
I've gone down this road myself. I have a dometic Fridge. It was only 38 on a good day and was hovering around 45 the rest of the time (not good).
I tried moving the thermister up and it made no difference. I've moved the thermister more towards the center and still I had no real effect.
I finally removed my thermister from the back fins and have it mounted on the small shelf away from the fins. In july, when it was 92 outside, my fridge was hovering around 36 degrees or so.
I'm not sure why it's doing what it's doing, but it's working better. I have a fan inside my fridge to circulate the air around the items inside for better cooling. I have two muffin fans on the back mounted near the roof. I've sealed the area above my fridge to insure I have a good venturi effect (what removes the heat from the boiled off ammonia). While all of these are good at keeping it cool, it was moving the thermister that made all the difference.
If you have a dometic, you'll find the thermister is generally a small white wire from the right rear just below the fins. You'll find it inside a small piece of plastic that attachs the fins. Try what everybody else suggests. You may get lucky and moving it will resolve your problem. If not at least you have alternatives.
Good Luck,
Josh
RE: Shoreline to gen in truck bed while traveling
I had the same problem. I opted to change both my current shoreline connection and add a second shoreline connection.
I removed the 10/3 wire from the main distirbution bus. I then installed two new RV plugs (femail) one on the side where the cable used to exit, one on the front of the TT.
I converted my 10/3 cable into a Suicide plug (both are males on the end) and put a 30amp switch inline.
When I want to run the generator, I start it up in the back of the truck, zip tie the cable to the tongue connect it to both ends (one to the outlet on the trailer, one on the generator) and flip the switch.
I set the temp inside the trailer lower than normaly (e.g. 65 instead of 75) and while the A/C cycles longer, it also rests longer so the head pressure isn't as high.
I've run this when I was going up to big bear recently up a windy hill climb for 2 hours and also when I was going to yosemite last year (for 7 hours). It worked flawlessly both times.
The hard part was getting the 10/2 romex pulled and secured properly so I didn't worry about the cable getting rubbed wrong. I opted to run mine inside the coach so that I didn't need to worry about ground clearance and damage to the romex.
josh
RE: Why won't generator run this air unit?
Mike's right about the inventory audit first - but if you're like me, I have a coleman Mach III - and my Yamaha wouldn't start it. I put in the hard start kit (from Supco model spp63) and I've never looked back.
It took me longer to get the cover off my coleman than it did to install the hard start (aka start capacitor).
As to lasting longer, there have been enough arguments to last a lifetime. I've had mine in for two years and it's a 2000 unit and it's still running strong.
josh
RE: Reduced REFRIGERATOR cooling while driving
Steve (javasuf) is correct about the reasons that the fridge doesn't work as well on propane as it does on AC. I had a similar problem and after a clean out, it works much better.
I also complained about the temp of my fridge when it's warm outside. The factory solution had the temp at 38 degrees - but when the kids open it and don't close it, it was getting all the way up to 45-48 which isn't safe. I moved my thermistor all over the place and eventually found having it off the fins and over the light (which is off most of the time) got my temp down to about 30-32 depending on where I"m at. Unlike the newer Dometic's, you can't adjust the temp without moving the thermisistor. It's a pain, but it's a solution.
PolishNurse is right about the temp being too low - but reality kicks in and you realize that when the ambient temp outside is 92 and the kids are in and out, it takes a long time to remove the heat from the fridge and vent it up the flue and get the fridge back to 32 degrees!
I use one of those interior/exterior digital thermometers to measure my fridge temperature. it's much more accurate, faster and I don't have to let the cold out to check the temp. It's wireless. it was 14.00 at target as a close out. It's not a pretty as I'd like but it works great.
josh
RE: Plumbing gray water to the black tank
If you had a "tornado" type device with a one way check valve built into it, then pumping it from the gray to the black should be ok. You'd have to have a pump that would put out sufficient pressure but that wouldn't be a big deal. If not a check valve then a manual that would fill from the top of the black tank.
I'd be concerned about "mixing" the black and gray and at some point having some contamination and having odor problems.
RE: Honda EX1000 Tuning?
While I didn't have a 1000 I had an ex800 (650watt max). My unit would stumble sometimes when connected to my three stage charger and the batteries were low - but it would come back and then continue. If I overloaded it, the unit would go into overload and continue. While the 1000 and the ex are different platforms, I would seriously look at the fuel system and the governor. If it runs under no load normally, then it would make sense it wasn't able to increase the amount of fuel required to keep the engine running fast enough to produce the necessary RPM's and electricity. If it's an EU - then the the question begs, under a smaller load - 3 amps - does it spin up a little and maintain voltage? Then under 6 amps it would be fuel starved. What about the Eco switch? can you turn it off and figure out by various loads when the voltage drops? Are you at altitude?
RE: Urgent!! Air won't run FIXED
There are muliple reasons... How far from the AC source are you (how many feet)? I'm assuming you've got an extension cord that has enough capacity - I know, these are all the basic troubleshooting questions.
If the basic troubleshooting has been checked..
When you hear the click, do you hear a hum, or just the click? What's the voltage at the time you engage the A/C? Do you see a voltage drop or just the click and nothing?
RE: Tote Tank Front Wheels & Bearings
what, exactly did you do on the front? did you just put solid axels on the front and then bearinged wheels?
Did you weld the axel in place (tack) so it won't rub against the piece of plastic?
Thanks!
j
