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Forum
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RE: Side windows are fogged up
It is inside the double pane window. Fixing them is an easy but time consuming project. You have to remove the window so you can open the frame up to remove the glass assembly. I used a razor knife to cut the spacer out of the top and bottom of the glass and use a wire coathanger to pull a rag between the panes. I found Turtle Wax Chrome Polish (in the green container) works well to remove the deposit on the inside of the glass. Once clean, you use "Super Spacer" to replace the top and bottom piece you removed. This stuff comes in different widths. The link may not be the width you need..you have to measure the distance between the two panes and order the correct spacer.
https://www.amazon.com/Black-Wide-Edgetech-Super-Spacer/dp/B00UVUUU5Y/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=super+spacer&qid=1573220572&sr=8-1
You set the spacer in about 1/4" and fill the remaing gap with the proper sealant, also resealing along the 2 edges you did not remove. I did have one glass assembly come completely apart due to the spacer and sealer failing. Did make it easier to clean that one!
https://www.amazon.com/C-R-Laurence-Super-Spacer-Sealant/dp/B006JFKTUQ/ref=pd_bxgy_2/136-4484974-8224667?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B006JFKTUQ&pd_rd_r=ab6b6bba-0bfc-4679-b6d5-b337b4295e28&pd_rd_w=IvrR2&pd_rd_wg=MPdrr&pf_rd_p=09627863-9889-4290-b90a-5e9f86682449&pf_rd_r=62R4RXDC144N15H9DNCD&psc=1&refRID=62R4RXDC144N15H9DNCD
While commercial companies tout "argon gas" filling, for an RV it's not going to make ANY difference. RVs are so poorly insulated the efficiency loss with normal air will not be measurable. Just do the repair on a dry day. The spacer itself has some desiccant in it to absorb any stray moisture you trap in the window assembly during repair. Usually the two sliding front windows are the worst as they get opened and closed the most causing the sealer to break loose and allow moist air into the glass assembly. More and more RVs with double pane glass are coming with single pane on the driver and passenger windows because of this. Resealing will cure the problem for another 8-10 years. Double pane are a "pain" but they are even more important in an RV than a house, especially if you camp in cold weather. In your house, you don't sleep as close to a window as you do in an RV and there is a HUGE difference in the cold air sliding off a double pane compared to single pane making the RV much more comfortable.
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garyemunson
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11/08/19 06:51am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Need help bad!!
Where was it? Some of us may have the same RV.
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garyemunson
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11/07/19 04:10am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Onan generator
Not many shops will work for less than one hour so their labor rate plus about $100 in parts. But that does depend on how difficult it is to get at your particular generator. Maybe 2 hours for a tough one? All of us hate RV shop rates but remember they have to maintain a lot more real estate per repair job for our toys to take up room on.
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garyemunson
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11/07/19 04:08am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Limit switch trips on Atwood furnace
Are you SURE the new blower motor is exactly the same (not a slower speed one)? A tip for working on your furnace..if the propane hose is long enough, get a trailer 4 pin plug/socket and use that for a quick disconnect for the electric (and add extra length to wiring). This let me set the furnace on a couple sawhorses just outside the RV, connect it and run it fully exposed. Easier to troubleshoot/work on it.
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garyemunson
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11/07/19 03:59am |
Class C Motorhomes
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RE: Replacing ac/heat pump
I'd replace it with the same thing. Heat pumps are getting to be the "thing". Makes cooler weather camping cheaper by saving on the propane. When slides were new, there wasn't much thought about future resale value, now, not having a slide seriously affects resale. As more people become aware of the advantage of heat pumps (and the salesmen are doing their best along those lines), resale of a unit w/o heat pumps will be harder.
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garyemunson
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11/07/19 03:55am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Are RV shows worth it?
Be sure to carry your smart phone in case you see something you like. That way you can check prices on the spot with RVTrader.com.
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garyemunson
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11/07/19 03:48am |
Rallies, Shows and Gatherings
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RE: Fresh water tank under camper-Camping in colder weather.
The problem you will face is that you do not have an "all-season" camper. The water tank is just the tip of the iceberg. Campers made for cold weather camping have ALL plumbing up inside the "conditioned space". Just adding a heater to your tank ignores the fact that much of your water piping likely runs under the trailer hidden by whatever undercarriage covering you have. Either avoid camping in freezing weather or do like many who winterize the RV's plumbing and use the campground facilities.
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garyemunson
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11/05/19 05:39pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Electric side entry step problem
First things first. When doing ANYTHING on power steps, remove the power before you do anything. If you don't know which breaker/fuse, unhook ALL your batteries (chassis, too, many steps are powered by them) or cut the wires. Many a finger has been lost by a malfunctioning step. Once power is removed, there is a mechanical link that can be unbolted and the steps tied up. Steps going nuts are frequently the control module.
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garyemunson
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10/31/19 05:40pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Dodge concept retro truck
The tilting hood on that concept negates the really cool hood function those trucks had. They would open like a normal hood, but, if you pushed harder once it hit the "stop", it would release and open further ending up at a 90 degree vertical position. You could pull an engine without removing the hood!
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garyemunson
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10/30/19 05:59pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Can I replace a DSI HWH with something (anything) else?
What is happening with your water heater? Can you hear the gas valve open when it is trying to heat? Can you hear a snapping noise from the spark ignition? The Dinosaur replacement boards seem to be a lot tougher than the OEM control boards. I've had to replace bad factory boards on a couple of our RVs over the years. Never had to go back and replace a dinosaur board.
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garyemunson
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10/29/19 04:46am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: F53 wheel bearings
Page 124 mentions both....
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garyemunson
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10/22/19 05:55pm |
Tech Issues
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Brake fluid change?
Does anyone here actually follow Ford's recommendation to replace brake fluid every 2 years in an F53 chassis? For decades I've been using synthetic fluid and changing every 4 years. At that interval, the fluid is just beginning to change to an orange color. I doubt at 2 years you'd see any change. I've followed the 4 year time in all my vehicles for many years and have never had to replace a caliper/wheel cylinder/master cylinder/ ABS module. Different mfgs are all over the place with change intervals, our Caddy even calls for 10 years! I'd NEVER leave fluid in a vehicle that long. Any thoughts?
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garyemunson
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10/22/19 05:54pm |
Tech Issues
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F53 wheel bearings
Does anyone know if a 2014 F53 22k chassis has sealed wheel bearings or do they need to be regreased every 60K miles?
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garyemunson
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10/22/19 05:24pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Soft Spot in Floor, Can't Find Leak!!!
I would suspect the two windows. Have you taken a screwdriver and tightened all the screws around the inside of the window frame? The most important ones are across the top and usually forgotten as they are hidden behind the top valance/blinds. The tape sealer between the window and wall keeps getting compressed as the RV flexes going down the road. That's a maintainence item that should be done annually. The butyl tape sealer is usually good for 10 years so I really don't think you need to pull the windows out.
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garyemunson
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10/19/19 06:16pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: No heat
There is a "sail switch" that looks for airflow through the unit. If it is stuck (or bad), it will not allow the gas to turn on.
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garyemunson
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10/19/19 06:21am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Winnebago investing heavily in Electric powertrains
Don't call Tesla's semi "vaporware". There are 2 prototypes running around the West. I have personally seen them 2X here in the Reno area. There is quite a bit of discussion on using a Tesla semi chassis under a motorhome. With Tesla's experience installing their Superchargers all over the place, I can see the logical next step of building a electric motorhome chassis as a replacement for Diesel pushers and building out a charging network at higher end parks. I'm suspecting there may not be much of a difference in price between those two powertrains give how much a 500HP (or higher) Diesel engine with Allison transmission costs plus you'd ditch the Diesel genny set. We have, on very few occasions, stayed at higher end "RV resorts", usually by necessity of not finding a normal park with vacancies. As our class A Winnebago is still less than 5 years old, while they kind of look down on us, they haven't come up with an exclusion policy that works to keep us out (yet). You take your place surrounded by million dollar MCI's, Prevosts, and the like after being relieved of $100 plus for your spot. I can very easily see places like that being equipped with a power pedestal sufficient that would provide an overnight charge for an extra $100 or so. I suspect you can count the number of people who dry camp with these rigs on one hand so having to be at a charger every night is probably not an issue. Generally, electricity delivers the equivalant range at 1/3 the cost of fossil fuel. Both the fuel cost savings and lower noise level of an electric drive system would no doubt be very attractive to those who think little about dropping 7 figures on a coach. Another plus is not having to pull into a smelly Diesel island at a truck stop to refuel. Being able to take that out of the travel experience would probably sell a lot of coaches on that benefit alone. Reduced maintenance would be another huge plus. Brakes would probably never wear out as 90% of the stopping would be through recharging the battery (with never a worry about "no engine braking" restrictions) and, of course, the costly Diesel oil change would go away. Once Tesla actually gets their semi into production, I suspect an RV chassis will be close behind along with the associated charging network at the "platinum" resorts. Electric motorhomes have the potential to knock Diesel out.
https://www.thedrive.com/news/29449/tesla-semi-prototype-spotted-hauling-75000-pound-load-through-northern-california
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garyemunson
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10/19/19 05:33am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: SUBURBAN FURNACE MODEL SF-30F NEEDS TROUBLESHOOTING
When ours quit, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it had a hose for the gas line that was long enough to reconnect to the furnace once I got it out of the RV. They are in a steel "mounting sleeve" that they will slide out of. You will probably find you need a long screwdriver to reach in and bend back some part/s of the sleeve that binds on the furnace module. I think the installers are not too careful and will just jam the furnace units into the sleeve when building the RV bending things. I set in on some saw horses next to the RV and bought a 4 wire trailer plug/socket that came with enough attached wire to make a "pluggable" harness that left me with the furnace on the horses wired and gassed up. From that point, seeing what was wrong and fixing it was a breeze! Next time you are somewhere they sell trailer stuff, get a 4-wire plug. and add it to your junk bin for the inevitable time when the furnace acts up. In our case, I could hear the igniter but the gas valve was not opening. New board fixed it. Those little furnaces are things of beauty once you get them out where you can see and work on them!
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garyemunson
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10/19/19 05:12am |
Tech Issues
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RE: how do you keep sewer tank clear
No chemical, any toilet paper. Never dump before at least 1/2 full. Best to wait to dump until you arrive at the next campground. Driving will slosh the contents around, break stuff up, and help the dump process. More water in the tank is better. After a "#2 deposit", do a second "flush" after filling the bowl with water. Will help break up what's lying under the drop tube. Plenty of water is your friend. The system should be sealed and there should never be significant smells. If your toilet bowl will not hold water, it needs it's seal replaced or you will get smells. Most of the time odors are caused by a bad vent valve under a sink letting grey water stench into the RV. I don't think anything will extend the life of valves. They all quit around the 8-10 year mark. Valves are cheap and most are easy to change. Feel sorry for those with valves way back under the RV that require cutting holes in the bottom cover to get to them!
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garyemunson
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10/19/19 04:59am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Keeping ice cream frozen
RV fridges mounted in slides seem to be what has caused most of the "soft ice cream" issues. When they are not in a slide, fridges have a vent directly through the roof over them. In a slide, they have to make do with small "muffin fans" to help move the air up and out vents on the side wall. This isn't the best of solutions but does work most of the time. First you have to be sure the fans are still working. The fans or the small thermoswitch on the upper fins can fail. If they are not running on a hot day, you've probably found the problem. Another issue I found on our Winnebago Class A is that, while driving down the road, for some reason air must not move bottom vent to top like it should. I got the thermometer below and determined that. As we drove down the road, the temperatures in the fridge and freezer would start going up. The longer we drove, the worse it got. Once we stopped, the temperature would fall again. I cured this by getting 2 small automotive radiator fans, wired them in series to slow and quiet them down, and mounted them in the upper vent. They move much more air than the muffins and now warming up while driving is cured as is the soft ice cream.
https://www.amazon.com/AcuRite-Refrigerator-Thermometer-Temperature-Customizable/dp/B004QJVU78/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=dual+temperature+refrigerator+thermometer&qid=1571481804&sr=8-5
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garyemunson
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10/19/19 04:47am |
Camp Cooks and Connoisseurs
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RE: Trip report: High Country of the Eastern Sierra
Thanks so much for the incredible pictures! One regret I have in life is that I did not move out West earlier when I would have been still capable of hiking those gorgeous areas! Please keep those spectacular pictures coming!
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garyemunson
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10/19/19 04:35am |
Public Lands, Boondocking and Dry Camping
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