RE: Attaching screws to aluminum floor joists
I would not expect electrolytic corrosion to be much of a problem generally with aluminum because of the aluminum oxide that always coats the aluminum. Certain conditions (such as in car cooling systems with the wrong coolant) being exceptions. If the OP’s screws stay dry, or see only fresh water at near neutral pH, there should be no issue with electrolytic corrosion.
RE: Did this ever happen to you?
Yup. Washington, DC, about 20 years ago. Mailed 'em a letter pointing out the fact that my vehicle did not match the description of the offending vehicle, and besides, I was prepared to bring witnesses to court that I wasn't in DC on the date in question. Never heard back. Statute of Limitations now makes the matter moot.
RE: Batteries stopped charging
WARNING: do be aware that it is essential that the solar charge controller be attached to the battery at all times when the solar panels are attached. That is, disconnect the solar panels BEFORE disconnecting the battery, and reconnections the battery BEFORE connecting the solar panels. Charge controllers cannot be attached to the panels without a battery lest the controller be damaged.
RE: it has happened to all of us
I found out recently that it is evidently illegal to kill rattlesnakes in particular, but generally any snake here in Virginia. This no doubt explains why, when hosting at a nearby NFS campground, we were instructed to capture alive venomous snakes (here, only copperheads and rattlesnakes) for relocation by a local herpetologist. Non-venomous snakes we were to leave alone, because they competed with and sometimes ate the copperheads, thus helped minimize the chances of a camper being bitten. Part of the job was to educate campers about snakes.
My daughter, upon hearing of this, bought her dad a snake hook, the official way of capturing a snake without hurting it. Snake hooks do not grab the snake, they simply pick it up, and properly done, although the snake is free to wiggle or "jump ship," they don't and can be safely moved or carried around.
RE: Rt# 66
Some maps show interstate 66 contnect form Washington DC over to interstate 81.
Google maps does not show this. Is there a interstate 66 or not?
It most certainly exists and has been there for decades.
RE: "Cut" wires under hood of new Class C Ford chassis?
Every vehicle manufacturer offers options on every vehicle. Wire and connectors are really cheap, it's the finished wiring harness that is expensive, so to save money, they make just one wiring harness for every vehicle of a given model, instead of making 375,000 different ones for every possible combination of options. The savings are substantial, and it leads to nearly every unit that comes off the production line having wires that go nowhere, depending on what options are installed and not installed.
So, go look under the hood of any of them, you'll find cut off wires dangling here and there. Don't worry about it, it just means that there was an option for something you don't have.
RE: Supervisors that CANT supervise?
It's part of the phenomenon of replacing a PhD with 20 years experience in the field with a newly minted HS dropout because the latter is cheaper than the former. Saves lots of money, don't you know.
RE: Travelling across the good ole USA
Seems to me there's not enough info here to afford any sort of intelligent guess as to what would be most useful to the OP, beyond "any time you've got the time is a good time to go." Every route from Maryland to Washington (state), even ones passing through the Arctic Circle in Canada as well as along the southern Mexican border have things to see and do, take varied amounts of time, and work best in certain seasons, as well as depend on the vehicle being driven. Some possible routes argue against the attempt if your rig is 65 feet long, or if it's powered by hydrogen or depends on Tesla Superchargers.
RE: Poor to Terrible WIFI
Slow wifi at a campground. That is not at all unusual and not particular to that campground. If you want a speedy connection, get your own hotspot or use your cell phone as a hotspot. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news that way, but, well, as others have reported, that's the way it is.
RE: Understanding solar
May I suggest a book and web site for your enlightenment? The Book.
The web site.
I learned a ton from them. Among the things I learned, is that the purpose of the charge controller is to take whatever the solar panels put out and make it compatible with your battery and the loads in the trailer. Another is that a single 100 watt panel is probably not enough to keep a 70-100 Amp Hour battery (array, in your case, with two 6 volt batteries) charged up, given that that 100 watts is the maximum possible at noon, in the summer, on a clear, cloudless day, and then only if the panel is perfectly oriented at the sun. You don't specify the amp-hour rating of your battery, but I suspect it is probably greater than 100 amp hours.
Check out the web site. Buy the guy's book. They will explain everything in simple terms.
RE: co pilot
This is sad, sad news indeed. I know you will miss her terribly. I can't imagine what it's like, as I've never been there or done that. But I wish for her all the comfort possible, and for you all the healing only time and loving family and friends can provide.
RE: Generator etiquette
Hi,
Bump up the battery bank and add an inverter. Put some money into solar. At 600 watts there remains no reason to run the genny unless using the roof air conditioner.
For many that is not an option. My Sprinter only has room for 180w panel and two group 31s.
One could add two 100 watt panels on the ground in a fold-out kit to that 180 watt panel permanently mounted on the roof and have a pretty decent set up. Being able to place and aim those ground units goes a long way toward making them maximally productive. While 380 watts might leave you not-quite-fully-charged, they could certainly make it possible to delay the generator for 3 or 4 days.
The little 1800 watt inverter generator I used for many years bit the big one last fall. Looking into what to do about that, I found solar made a lot of sense. Since I've only a single battery, 200 watts in the form of a pair of 100 watt panels I could carry in the TV and put out on the ground, were adequate for fully recharging my battery. The up-front cost was pretty much a wash with the cost of a replacement generator, and a huge savings when you factor in gas, oil, spark plugs, etc. for the next 25 years. I will eventually mount them permanently on the roof, probably adding a couple more, when I upgrade to the lithium iron phosphate battery I now covet.
Do the math. My TT's converter delivers only 35 amps to charge the battery. That's only 500 watts charging power. The rest of the generator's 1600 watts was excess (and unused, since it's not enough to run the AC) capacity. To get the 1,000 watt hours of battery power I go through in a day takes shore power (or the generator) 2+ hours to replace. Over an 8 hour useful charging day, you only need 125 watts of effective solar power for the same result. The OP's case is probably different, but the gist would be similar.
Solar has gone beyond cost-competitive with a generator. The only remaining frontier here lies in running that AC.
RE: Torn Jeans "fashion trend"
I've got a really old pair of jeans that came by their tears and holes and worn spots legally. They were relegated long ago to only being worn 'round the homestead for chores where some basic protection from debris while weed whacking was going on. Now I find that they are really babe magnets in town. How cool is that? Especially effective when somebody asks me where I got them and then they fall all over themselves after learning that I bought them last century.
RE: Whats Zapping my inverter
Um, wait a minute, when you plug your shore power cord into the 300 watt inverter, you are also plugging in your RV's converter, which, if it thinks your house battery needs charging, will attempt to do so. Most RV converters draw something like 600 watts or more in the beginning stages of charging a battery, which would overload and shut down a 300 watt inverter. If your house battery were fully charged, this would not happen, but if it is down a bit, it would, accounting for the intermittant nature of the problem.
RE: New House Batteries Now No DC Power
Glad to hear you found the problem and were able to fix it, and especially that the cost to do so was low.
I'm sure you've heard the phrase "trust, but verify." This applies to a LOT of things, electrical wiring included. We certainly trust that all those nameless/faceless electricians who came before us paid attention to the norms of color coding wires. Wisdom counsels we check behind them with a volt meter before we commit our precious equipment and especially our lives to their doing so. Just a word of advice for future adventures in electricity (and other things).
RE: Warrantiy claim denied
Some things wear down, some things break with a snap (or a loud bang) all of a sudden. I have no idea whether your thermostat is stuck or not, but I have to tell you that while I have heard of lots of head gaskets blowing when engines overheat, I don't recall hearing of radiators springing a leak because of a stuck thermostat. Still, I am no expert in the subject, but it does seem to me that such leakage is suspect.
That being said, one half of making a profit in the insurance business lies in finding reasons to deny claims. Keep on it, don't give up.
In my youth, I was in an accident that resulted in some medical costs. After my health insurance denied the claim and appeals several times because in their own words "my accident wasn't an accident," I found myself asking the CEO of that insurance company to justify to the State Insurance Commissioner the accusation that I went out and hurt myself on purpose. That proved to be the turning point. Keep on the case, and best of luck finding the argument needed to resolve the issue. And the person to whom to make that argument.
RE: New Member and Question
In theory, it's always merely a matter of how hard is it to do. Removing a drive shaft is perhaps not hard for a mechanic with 20 years experience, but it's more work than most folks ever want to undertake, and it is certainly more work than having a toad that doesn't need the drive shaft removed. I had a Jeep Libby 4x4 that had a neutral position on the transfer case specifically to enable towing 4-down, but your Nitro evidently does not have that feature. I kind of agree with @Ava that you might find it more enjoyable not having to deal with the dolly as well as put the drive shaft back in. It's up to you.
RE: Legal or safety issues carrying diesel fuel containers in RV
I would make sure to carry them in a well vented compartment. While not as bad as gas, the diesel fumes could build up and be explosive.
There was a news piece recently on people in the Vancouver area crossing the border to get gas, and putting gas cans in their trunks. One got rear ended and blew up.
https://globalnews.ca/news/5241062/peace-arch-border-fiery-crash-gas-cans-safety/
Nonsense.
The fumes over a can of diesel fuel will not reach combustible level, let alone explosive, until your RV basement ambient temperature reaches about 600°F.
Have you ever tried to light a container of diesel with a match? You can put that match out in the diesel.
The only reason for any sort of ventilation in that hold with two 5-gallon cans of diesel is if you haven't got the cans properly closed AND the ambient temperature is at least 300°F AND you don't want the place smelling of diesel later on. Or you are in the habit of slopping diesel fuel all over the place.
RE: We don't need no stinkin 4X4 honey !
The Jeep had both old-style 4wd and awd, so I had a chance to do some experiments. One thing I discovered was that it was more directionally stable towing in awd than in 2wd. This was especially so when being passed by a semi on the interstate. I also determined for certain that mostly 4low > 4hi > awd > 2wd when things got slickery. But there were times that didn’t hold, with all open diffs. No form of 4wd was better than 2wd if one front tire was the spinner.
The new TV is awd only, but it also has very sophisticated traction control. It’ll go even if one wheel is grabbing only air, even though all differentials are open. So while I’ve no way to experiment, I’ve also not been able to get myself stuck. Which is a good thing.
