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RE: Laser printer/scanner recommendation?
Well, I spent way too much time searching for something that met all of my criteria. I don't think it exists. So I pulled the trigger on a Cannon imageCLASS MF3010 VP. It doesn't have wireless, or a document feeder, and it prints in black only but scans in color. But it is very compact at 10.9 x 14.7 x 10 inches, and only weighs 14 pounds. And it was only $120. It will be easy to stow away, and dig it out and put it on the table only when needed.
Thanks for all the suggestions, and the time you all took to answer! Joel
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Hemi Joel
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02/11/23 11:51am |
Technology Corner
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Laser printer/scanner recommendation?
Hi, I would like to add a color laser printer/scanner/copier to my pickup camper. Looking for recommendations/experiences on what to get or what not to get. Sometimes I have to do work from the road that involves printing and scanning. Quality scans of documents are important for my business, I can't use my cell phone for that.
Since I am in a pickup camper, compactness is important. Up to a 16" x 18" footprint would be preferred, smaller being better.
Rugged enough to survive the rough roads.
Is there something that I can print wirelessly directly from my laptop PC, or do I need to buy and set up some type of network equipment?
I want laser because my ink jet kept drying up from lack of use. Separate color and b&w cartridges would be a plus.
A (reliable) document feeder would be a big plus.
I used to have an HP inkjet that was constantly doing popups and was trying to sell me stuff. The HP software was like a virus that I couldn't get rid of, and was consuming my computers resources in the background, slowing it down. I don't want anything annoying like that.
I want something that does not connect to the cloud or the web unless I tell it to, and will function completely off line.
When I have to interrupt my vacations for work, I like to jump in, do it, jump out. No time for fiddling for hours with unreliable software/connectivity snafu's.
I have a 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter for power.
I'm hoping to stay under $600ish.
What do you recommend?
Thanks, Joel
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Hemi Joel
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02/10/23 01:09pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: DC to DC charger
If I wanted to run a fridge while on the highway and not on propane, I would mount an inverter under the hood close to the battery, then run a 110 volt cord back to the fridge circuit.
Or you could plug the whole camper into it and the built-in charger in the camper would keep the camper batteries up.
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Hemi Joel
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11/28/22 10:00pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: DC to DC charger
I agree that the really expensive batteries need more expensive fancy equipment to try to help keep them alive as long as possible.
I don't see that the original poster ever said what kind of batteries he has.
I am assuming he has FLA batteries, but that could be wrong.
I have found that the FLA batteries I use will handle a lot of abuse. I never bother to check that they are charged to 100%, I just know they are charged enough to do the job for me. I don't babysit them. If they fail in 3-5 years, I don't care, they are cheap. I'm road trips for fun, not to think about batteries.
For some people, the electrical system of their camper is an interesting hobby. The more gadgets, the more enjoyment. I get that. Those in that group, you know what you have to do.
And then there is another group, that I am not going to attempt to describe. They should just buy the 12-12 charger.
For me, I just want to have electricity when I want it. I am willing to spend money where it makes sense, but I don't want to waste it, or make things over complicated. So for me and like minded people, a pair of heavy gauge wires is fine.
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Hemi Joel
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11/28/22 09:57pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: DC to DC charger
I just use a pair of 8 gauge wires from the truck battery to the camper batteries. That eliminates the voltage drop of the 7 pin and puts a nice charge into the camper batteries whenever I drive.
It has been proven 100s of times, that with modern vehicles, large gauge wires will NOT give you a 100% charge on your auxillary battery bank.
Some charge, yes. Just not 100%.
That makes no sense at all. The alternator doesn't know how many batteries are connected to it. It senses voltage. Batteries that are connected equalize over time.
Regardless, it has been working for me for over 10 years. If you want to buy a device to charge your 12 volt batteries better than a 12 alternator that was designed to charge 12 volt batteries, that's your call.
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Hemi Joel
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11/26/22 01:28pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: DC to DC charger
I just use a pair of 8 gauge wires from the truck battery to the camper batteries. That eliminates the voltage drop of the 7 pin and puts a nice charge into the camper batteries whenever I drive. I use a 200 amp blade switch that is mounted on the truck battery to isolate the truck battery when the situation calls for it, but that is rare.
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Hemi Joel
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11/17/22 11:23am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Apple car play or XM radio
Every time I buy a new truck, it comes with XM radio, but as soon as the free subscription expires I cancel. It's one of those things where you have to listen to what they want to play at the time. And then I would scroll through a hundred channels or so and not find anything I want to listen to.
So now I use my phone to tune into Pandora radio. They have a free version which I listened to for a few years, but now I do pay the subscription fee to get rid of ads, have more power to control what I'm listening to such as rewind, repeat, etc. Plus it has more bandwidth and higher fidelity, as well as the ability to create and listen to offline playlists for when you don't have a signal.
Plus I tune in to YouTube as well. There's a lot of play lists where you can pick one and set it on autoplay and it will just go through the whole list.
Between the two, There is always something to listen to whether it be music of any genre or educational, Bible study, motivational, or just plain entertainment.
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Hemi Joel
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09/04/22 03:04pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Sealing my TC's EPDM Roof
The most common thickness in commercial is 60 mil, which is .060 in thick. It is also available in 45 mil and 90 mil. I'm not sure what thickness they use on an RV.
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Hemi Joel
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08/07/22 08:50pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Sealing my TC's EPDM Roof
If your spray on bedliner leaks into your truck bed, you don't know or care.
Nobody tosses heavy tool boxes or cinder blocks onto, or drags chains across their camper roof.
I would stick with a product designed and proven for the application. There is no better product for a low-slope roof than EPDM.
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Hemi Joel
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07/25/22 04:44pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Sealing my TC's EPDM Roof
I am a commercial/industrial roofing contracor. We have installed millions of square feet of EPDM on flat roof buildings over the last 40 years. Believe me, you do not need to coat EPDM. A good EPDM will last over 30 years before it starts to break down. The problem with an RV roof is the penetrations. If I flashed commercial roof penetrations the way RV manufactures do, I'd be in prison. So maintain your penetrations. Do not let any cracks go, inspect often, do not let any water get under your roof. Water under the roof breaks down the surface of the underlayment and the bond to the EPDM will be lost. Dicor works fine at keeping up on them. The biggest enemy of EPDM is oil. Do not repair it with asphalt plastic cement, or anything oily, and do not clean it with anything oily. It is not necessary to clean your roof, but if you feel like you want to just because, use mild soap and water. I have 35 year old roofs that have never been cleaned. But DO scrub the repair areas clean with soap and water and a scotchbrite pad before applying the Dicor, this will help it stick.
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Hemi Joel
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07/22/22 10:20pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Looking for recommendations on a two bike rack
Maybe I'm wringing my hands over nothing, but these Schwinntech slides are known for problems. My ladder is mounted on the rear slide. I just don't like the idea of hanging a couple hundred pounds on it and having it bounce up and down for thousands of miles, possibly stressing the slide components.
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Hemi Joel
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07/15/22 02:31pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: New Host Everest
congrats on your new host! I'm sure you will get lots and lots of enjoyment out of it.
For those who asked about making the bed: on my Eagle cap 1165, the bathroom blocks about three quarters of the space between the main room and the bedroom, so access for making the bed is pretty limited. The trick to make it easy is to get the pillows out of the way, get underneath the blankets laying on your back and make snow angel motions. That gets the covers all spread out and almost flat. Then carefully slide out from under, and crawl back up on top on your hands and knees and finish with a little tugging here, alittle tucking there, throw the pillows back into place, and it's done!
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Hemi Joel
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07/13/22 04:30pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Looking for recommendations on a two bike rack
Thanks for all the replies! Great information so far.
In my situation, the entry door to the camper is on the side of the camper. So I don't have a concern about the bicycles obstructing entry. But if I mount them on the back, the rear slide out hitting the bicycles is a concern. If the bicycles are mounted low low enough to clear the slide when it opens, they could hit the ground on a steep approach, if they are high enough to clear the ground in any situation, the slide will hit them when it opens. So something movable would be necessary.
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Hemi Joel
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07/13/22 08:55am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Looking for recommendations on a two bike rack
I could triangulate the mounting of the bike rack with ratchet straps going from the center of the rack out to the corners of the truck to keep it stable, either on the front or the back.
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Hemi Joel
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07/11/22 08:39pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Looking for recommendations on a two bike rack
I did some measuring tonight. If the very bottom of my bicycles wheels were level with the top of the receiver hitch, the slide would just barely clear the top of the bicycle. So I could open the slide without even thinking about the bicycles. But with my 4-ft camper overhang plus my hitch being pretty low, I think that the bike rack would drag on the ground when leaving a steep approach onto a level road, like some gas stations and stuff are. So I'd have to arrange it so it was higher up. But then it would hit the slide. So maybe one that would permit the bikes to fold down for opening the slide.
Or else I could go with the front mount idea. I have an old receiver hitch that I am not using that it looks like I could probably adapt to the front of the truck.
I do have a concern that if I mounted the bikes on front and put covers on the bikes it would block airflow to the radiator and intercooler.
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Hemi Joel
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07/11/22 08:36pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Looking for recommendations on a two bike rack
Do they get very dirty or beat up by rocks and bugs and stuff on the front?
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Hemi Joel
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07/11/22 11:26am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Looking for recommendations on a two bike rack
thanks for the replies so far. They won't fit in the camper. They might fit in the backseat of the pickup. I'd have to check on that.
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Hemi Joel
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07/11/22 09:49am |
Truck Campers
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Looking for recommendations on a two bike rack
Hi, I'm looking for recommendations on a bike rack to hold two bicycles to bring them with on road trips. I have a triple slide camper, and the roof access ladder is mounted on the rear slide. I'm not sure that I want to hang the weight of two bicycles on that. So I'm thinking of a receiver hitch mounted bike rack on a hitch extender.
Has anybody got experience with any of these?
Is there any particular brand and model that is best or most suitable for this application?
Anything I should be aware of before I buy something?
Thanks, Joel
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Hemi Joel
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07/11/22 09:05am |
Truck Campers
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RE: New shocks?
I've got 65,000 miles on my 2018 RAM. Cummins, 4X4, long bed, DRW. I carry the Bigfoot occasionally and the Landmark 5th occasionally more. Both 4,000# loads. Only mod is a Hellwig BigWig. I'm assuming I need new shocks.
My priority is as smooth a ride as possible. 90% highway use.
I realize this is a subjective issue.
Your recommendations?
Look at your springs when the truck is loaded. There's probably some short, very thick overload springs. Maybe the bottom leaf of the main stack, or maybe an additional spring up above or down below the main leaves. If you've got the main spring pack compressed down to the point that the overload springs are engaged, the ride is going to be rough. My truck was beating me to death because with the camper in it was on the overload springs and they were stiff as a board. So I took them out and added a few of the longer, thinner leaves. And put in some air bags. Now it rides much much smoother.
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Hemi Joel
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06/30/22 07:15pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: New shocks?
Rancho 9000 is the way to go. They are fully adjustible from mush like a Bilstein 4600 all the way to extra firm. Turn a knob, get the ride that makes you happy regardless of what you are or are not hauling.
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Hemi Joel
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06/25/22 01:51pm |
Truck Campers
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