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RE: Inverter on Generator wiring?
I was in the same situation. My method of solving the problem was more basic.
I ran a short line from the generator input with a female plug at the end. From the inverter I ran a line from one of the output sockets with a male plug at the end.
The ATS is easily reached so when the inverter is used i simply plug it in. There is a remote switch inside to turn it on.
Unplugged there is no way to backfeed and fry the inverter.
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Veebyes
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09/30/23 02:48pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Inverter on Generator wiring?
I was in the same situation. My method of solving the problem was more basic.
I ran a short line from the generator input with a female plug at the end. From the inverter I ran a line from one of the output sockets with a male plug at the end.
The ATS is easily reached so when the inverter is used i simply plug it in. There is a remote switch inside to turn it on.
Unplugged there is no way to backfeed and fry the inverter.
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Veebyes
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09/30/23 09:31am |
Tech Issues
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RE: 5th Wheel Cover before snowbirding
My 5er looks like it will spend it's second winter outdoors this winter. Mid Atlantic so not much snow and not often freezing temps.
I covered it last year with two HD tarps that covered it over halfway to the ground. Would have preferred indoor storage of course but trailer is 15 years old, well taken care of but showing age and miles.
A good tarp, not the cheap blue ones, well tied down to prevent chafe should be fine.
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Veebyes
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09/29/23 10:07am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: I have a disgusting problem… HELP!!!
If that is how they respected you and your property I would not want them anywhere near me or my property again.
I rent to one of my adult kids. She has a signed agreement and pays rent just like the other tenants, also just like I did when I rented from my Dad.
There is no way I'd be letting a relative, child of mine or not, bring some junk trailer onto my property to live in.
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Veebyes
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09/29/23 09:56am |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Just Joining The RV Life
Thank you all for your comments. We have been camping before and my husband is a former truck driver and worked as a diesel mechanic for local CAT dealer for 16 years, so that is taken care of. We also lived in the camper for 6 months while they were finishing our new house. BUT that being said we always knew we were coming back home. This time it won't be a week or two and the RV is now our home. We do plan on taking our time and my husband says fishing every where we go. Mrs. veebyes I am a quilter also and am very fortunate to have
turn the 2nd bedroom into my sewing room in the camper. I have the new Altair Machine. Maybe we will run into you somewhere on our journey and can talk sewing. Do you have the handy Quilter travel guide? It list ever fabric or craft store in the U.S. I was just looking for information on things you all have realized you didn't have that you needed, or found ways to use things you had for different purposes.
As soon as the DW gets wind of where we are going she is online searching for quilt shops. Can't count how many shops in how many places we have been. Done the major ones, Paducah, Ashville show etc. multiple times. Some of the best shops have been found in the most unexpected places.
Your DH is going to need all of the 'fix it' skills that he has and you will need to be right there getting hands dirty beside him. If you are not already familiar with what is inside a toolbox you will be.
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Veebyes
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09/17/23 09:40am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Just Joining The RV Life
Ditto on buying a load of stuff because somebody says so.
We are not fulltime. We are six months a year on the road RVers. 25 years later, we are still buying stuff. Don't buy cheap. Buy good stuff that is going to last. Much cheaper in the long run. Kitchen tools, tools needed to fix things, a grill, no matter what. Buy quality and buy it once.
The most important thing will be a notepad and pencil to write down stuff as you find that you need it.
Like the idea of a coastal hugging trip. Did that once. Came out of New Orleans headed west and basically turned left at every road that was not a dead end till Galveston.
The temptation is to rush off and go everywhere in a hurry. Don't do it. Find things that interest you. We are currently at a bluegrass festival. 7 days of it. Something never done before the RV. The DW is a quilter. Can't count how many quilt shops she has been in across the country.
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Veebyes
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09/16/23 10:13am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: ? condition of highways from Montana thru Canada to Alaska?
You will find sections of thumpa thumpa everywhere. Generally we found the Canadian roads better than the US roads. Then there are the potholes. Big nasty tire killing spring breaking potholes. You are not driving drunk. You are trying to avoid the potholes and frost heaves.
It is the nature of northern roads and northern roads. Slow down. Enjoy the smooth sections. Some are as smooth as a baby's bottom.
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Veebyes
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09/15/23 09:53am |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Teton Pass
We have done many western passes with our rather heavy 5er. Teton pass we drove up from Jackson to the top, just truck, and then back down to Jackson.
Of course no problem with just the truck but would definitely have a pucker factor to it if having a heavy trailer behind. It would be a very low gear and cycling of brakes affair.
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Veebyes
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09/13/23 10:00am |
Roads and Routes
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RE: mixing batteriy sizes
Another option for you to consider is to create two ‘banks’ of battery power by running the newer battery by itself and the other 2 (together) as a second battery.
This can be done via a cheap marine battery switch (bat. 1, bat. 2, both, off) or by just swapping cables.
With one, or two, battery switches you can combine or isolate batteries any way you wish.
Did that with a boat. I had a total of five group 31 gel cell batteries arranged in three banks that were switchable. Two banks of two batteries in parallel and a single, all switchable for a single or combo that I pleased.
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Veebyes
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09/13/23 09:50am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Battery Size (replacing)
There are plenty of good reasons to go to an AGM. The double to triple the service life is only one of them. My first AGM gave me nine years.
In storage the AGM loses very little. My AGM sits, disconnected and untended, November to April and retains enough power to operate landing legs upon reconnection.
Zero maintenance other than annual terminals cleaning.
Yes they cost more. Much more. Given what they are over the 100 plus year old technology of the wet cell the AGM is worth it.
There's a reason why they are used in aviation and marine applications.
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Veebyes
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08/25/23 10:31pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Thinking about going to 2024 Calgary Stampede
Did the Calgary Stampede some years ago. Have done many other rodeos before and since. Bottom line, IMO Calgary is alot of hype and alot of expense for what it is.
There are plenty other rodeos, same cowboys, same bulls, much smaller crowds for far less money.
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Veebyes
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08/20/23 11:59am |
RV Parks, Campgrounds and Attractions
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RE: RV Axle Alignment Shop in Buffalo NY area
If anything is out of alignment tire wear will tell the story. There are other methods without getting your bank account raided.
Measure the distance between the tires. Should be very very close to the same.
Take a board across both tires at axle height. It should be touching each sidewall front and back.
Loop a line around the kingpin and take it to center under each U bolt. Should be the same left and right.
You Tube is your friend. Look up instructions for installing the Correct Track system.
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Veebyes
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08/20/23 12:15am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Battery Size (replacing)
Cram as many amps of battery bank in the space provided as possible.
That means doing some measurement of battery case size & seeing what will fit.
Typical case sizes are group 24, group 27, group 31, 4D and 8D. Each is larger than the next. An 8D is what you would see for starting large machines, or the marine version deep cycle onboard boast as 'house' batteries.
As pointed out a single group 24 is basically a waste of time. Good enough for a very small 'teardrop' sized trailer maybe.
Since the OP isn't boondocking, just get the cheapest battery. If it's $4 to upgrade to group 27,OK but don't spend a lot of money on something you won't utilize.
The truck umbilical cord will handle the fridge and other power draws while running down the road. The battery really only needs to run the trailer brakes in the event of an emergency where the trailer becomes disconnected from the truck or to run the jack to disconnect before plugging into shore power once at a campsite.
PS: 8D batteries are almost never used as house batteries in boats or RVs. They are simply too big and awkward for normal humans to move. If you want a big house bank and don't want to go with lithium, the standard is 6v golf cart batteries. But again, this is all massive overkill for the OP who isn't boondocking.
If all the OP has is what is needed to be plugged in all the time, no, he will not be doing any dry camping if the need or desire is ever to do so.
As far as 4D and 8D batteries go, I currently use a 4D AGM in the 5er.
Used to have a boat, single diesel engine, that had a single 8D for starting and house use, though it was not an overnighting boat. A friend had a 65' motor yacht that had six 8D AGM battery bank.
The beauty of the 4D and 8D is that you don't have all of those connections, potential problems, to maintain.
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Veebyes
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08/20/23 12:04am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Battery Size (replacing)
Cram as many amps of battery bank in the space provided as possible.
That means doing some measurement of battery case size & seeing what will fit.
Typical case sizes are group 24, group 27, group 31, 4D and 8D. Each is larger than the next. An 8D is what you would see for starting large machines, or the marine version deep cycle onboard boast as 'house' batteries.
As pointed out a single group 24 is basically a waste of time. Good enough for a very small 'teardrop' sized trailer maybe.
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Veebyes
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08/17/23 07:46pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Factory Tours
Did the Mobile Suite factory tour in 2008. Not a MS owner or looking to buy one. Very new to RVing at the time. Wanted to have an idea of how they are put together.
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Veebyes
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08/17/23 07:35pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Rank your RV issues
Fifteen years, well over two thousand nights, two hundred fifty thousand truck miles, estimated well over 150,000 trailer miles, seldom more than three nights one spot. Yeah, we have had our share of problems.
Slide problems with two of the three, fridge problems, A/C problems, ATS relaced, charger replaced, inverter replaced, two tire blowouts, landing jack problems, broken springs, windows replaced twice, stove replaced, roof recoated. It goes on and on.
The good news is that with almost everything except fridge and A/C replacement we did the labour ourselves.
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Veebyes
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08/17/23 07:31pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Driving south and bypass Richmond VA
Never had a problem getting around Richmond. Usually use the bypass around the east side.
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Veebyes
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08/08/23 01:34pm |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Help with Refrigerator Decision
I was thinking about going the domestic fridge route also. The big issue was finding one to fit without major carpentry surgery to make it look good.
The bottom line came out that replacing the refrigeration unit of my ten year old Dometic four door was less than a new seventeen cu ft plus carpentry. Another consideration is how much dry camping does one intend to do? We do a fair amount of dry camping and for that, using a domestic fridge, one needs to be running a generator frequently or having a massive battery bank and pure sine wave inverter. Not very practical.
If you are a FHU camper then the domestic fridge will work just fine, provided it fits.
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Veebyes
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08/06/23 11:50pm |
General RVing Issues
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Top of the World and Dawson City to Carmacks highways.
If you are planning to use these roads either northbound or southbound you might want to reconsider.
The TOW from Chicken to the last five miles or so to the border are terrible.
Also between an hour or so SB out of Dawson City to Pelly Crossing has some long stretches of construction, gravel, washboard and then whopping huge potholes to Stewart Crossing.
The worst sections of road for the entire trip which also included the Denali Highway, also not very good, & the Robert Campbell Highway, which was 300 miles of mostly gravel and excellent.
This was the fifth time doing the Dawson, TOW route so I do have previous experience to compare to.
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Veebyes
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08/06/23 07:45pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Dead...
My goals have changed. My first rv was a used class c (circa 1987) in 2000 and I was 52. It came with 60 watts of solar that cost $1700.00. I used it for 9 years and drove it 140,000 miles.
In 2009 I moved to a newer (2005) class C and spent 1700 on 256 watts of solar. I've done many upgrades. I've driven it 160,000 miles
Now I'm 75. What made sense at 52 doesn't at 75. There won't be upgrades unless something fails.
Exactly. So many variables. Everyone thinks that whatever they have is the cat's meow. It is not. It is what they have and hopefully it is what suits them best & not simply following the crowd.
Hopefully, I have at least four years left in my AGM. I have had a good run with my Alpenlite since 2007. Well over 2500 nights on the road, 5 trips to Alaska, 2 to Newfoundland, 260,000 miles on the truck. Likewise at my age I can't see going too many more years. The body complains now after crawling around underneath the trailer for some reason or another. I am not a credit card camper.
Someone will get a nice 5er with life in it cheap, though it will probably need a new battery. They can decide what route that they go to suit them best.
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Veebyes
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07/29/23 03:18pm |
General RVing Issues
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