RE: driving directions
Define “best.”
Not trying to be a wise guy. Are you looking for fastest or most scenic? Avoid tolls? Minimal grades? Are two lane roads to be avoided or sought out?
RE: Effect of weight in rear of 5er
(Weight in pounds)x(distance from center of tank to center between trailer axles) = (distance from center between axles to hitch pin)x(pounds off pin weight). This is a simplification and therefore only a rough estimate. And I agree, if tank is only a short way behind axles, 100-200 lbs of water is negligible.
RE: Rv roof repair using Flex seal.
I’d be Leary of anything not specified by the rubber roof makers, such as Dicor. Have you priced replacing that rubber membrane? Breathtaking is the word I’d use to describe the cost of ruining that rubber.
RE: Would you get it fixed?
DEF has nothing whatever to do with the DPF and the need or frequency of regenerations.
It’s like confusing tire pressures with the reason your radio works poorly.
DPF regeneration every 800 km or so sounds about right, recognizing that it is partly due to driving conditions and habits. Ditto DEF usage being partly due to conditions and habits. But neither influences the other at all.
RE: I 77 South through WV & Virginia in November
Just watch out for snow and ice. The Virginia end being more prone to ice, the WV end to snow, and neither friendly to anyone dragging a trailer in bad weather.
RE: Has this happened to you?
Youtube has security camera footage of (mostly) women leaving purse on passenger seat, and guy sneaks up to far side as she's pumping gas, opens the door, and takes off with purse. She discovers it when she goes to climb back in.
online security
You don't have to be up to things nefarious to be concerned about privacy online. Merely attempting to do your banking via an open wifi hotspot or send/receive personal email on your phone or laptop at the library or the airport should be enough to raise alarm bells.
After all, your stuff is going out over radio, for pete's sake. Who knows what varmint might be listening in? Right?
So may I commend to your attention a couple solutions I have found. I've discovered for email Protonmail.com, which offers strong encryption between your computer and their server, and if both ends of the conversation are on Protonmail accounts, the encryption is end-to-end, meaning at no point between you and your spouse will it be possible for anybody to see your love notes. While on their servers, your mail is also encrypted, and they keep no logs of your communications, so they can't sell or surrender to any government any information on you. They are based in Switzerland, and while they offer free email accounts, with paid accounts you get more storage space and extra features including throwaway aliases to help scuttle spam.
Protonmail also has a VPN, which also is free, although there are extra features for paid VPN accounts. Besides being encrypted to their servers, they keep no logs on your surfing, so cannot sell your footprints or surrender data to the government.
For years I have been using AzireVPN, a VPN based in Sweden, and although it is a paid service, it has proven very helpful in keeping my credit card number and word of when I'll be gone from home (and home thus vulnerable to burglary) out of the hands of the bad guys. Azire also keeps no logs of your 'net footprints, and also gets my recommendation.
Those of us who roam the country, relying on cell phone networks and restaurant/campground wifi are justified in being cautious about our privacy on the interwebz. I am not affiliated in any way with either of these businesses, and do not profit in any way from recommending them to you all. I am merely giving you the benefit of my experience.
Azire VPN clicky
Proton mail clicky
proton vpn clicky
RE: Confused over wires
Every vehicle maker, cars, trucks, RVs, doesn't matter, every one of them, in order to save money, installs the same wiring harness in every vehicle of any particular model. All the wires for every possible option and special-order gewgaw is in that wiring harness, and if you don't happen to have that particular option, then you will have dead-end wires that may or may not have a plug of some sort on the end. This policy saves money because instead of 300 different wiring harnesses to stock and possible confusion on the plant floor, they just put the same harness (on which they get the volume price) in everything.
Since nobody can possibly order EVERY option (some of which are mutually exclusive), everybody is going to have those dead end wires somewhere. In the OP's case, maybe they are for solar. Or maybe not. A servicing dealer could tell you. But they are nothing to worry over.
RE: Campgrounds along routes
Allstays does have a web site, and I can highly recommend both the Allstays and RVParky apps. Between them, you can find all the hidden gems and get as much info on each as anybody could want.
RE: Trip ideas and suggestions
Sounds like the beginning of a Grand Adventure. May I suggest a book my daughter bought me a few years ago: Road Trip USA.
This book details around a dozen east/west or north/south cross-country journeys with notes about the sights and attractions in every town, city, and village on each trip. It's a paperback, about two inches thick, and has proven worth its weight in gold.
RE: The Long (6) Month Wait For College Football!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, @Bags, who is going to win the Michigan-OSU game next November?
Came upon some Michigan podcasters youtube channels, and in the aftermath of the most recent game, and then the announcement of Urban Meyer's retirement, they had some pithy comments. Among them, "Ohio State just got worse today. Nothing against Coach Day, but you can't replace a guy with Meyer's record with anybody without it being a downgrade." And "I have mixed feelings about Meyer's retirement. I wanted to beat him, and now that'll never happen, unless, you know, we wind up playing him in the Rose Bowl against USC or somebody. You just want to beat the best, you know. Some Buckeye fans would say if he didn't retire, that was never going to happen anyway, but now we'll never know."
They also said this really puts the pressure on Jim Harbaugh -- if you can't beat your rival with a veteran coach and all his own team, against a rookie coach with his predecessor's team, when can you possibly win that game?
So, who's gonna win the next one? And anybody care to speculate as to the score?
RE: What to see and do in Richmond
For a history buff, a visit to Hollywood Cemetery is a must. Many figures from the Civil War are buried there. There are also a number of craft brewpubs, as well as a number of location of The Capital Ale House, which is not a brewpub, but does have on tap a huge selection of both local and non-local beers. Plus the food is good.
I’ll also second a visit to the Virginia Musem.
RE: Can't get my Weber grill to cook quickly, Low flame
Sorry, I also didn't mention I removed the regulator at the grill and the hose is attached just like the one in the video. I guess I could have something caught up in the hose or connections.
Sounds like it. 99 times out of a hundred it’s doubled regulators. You are probably the 100th with a bit o’ crud in there somewhere, probably at the orface from which gas blows into the air mixer, just before the burner.
RE: eBay Solar Panels
About a month ago I stumbled across a database somewhere on the interwebz showing solar panel prices they had discovered all over the web. The very cheapest prices were down around fifty cents per watt, with most around a buck per watt. Of course, that was then and this is now, plus hard telling when the data was collected.
RE: Solar wiring question
I agree, 12 guage wire is too small for a 30 foot run. I’d go with 8. That is a long run for 12, so your losses will be high. The wire size chart I use says 20 amps or less, at 12 volts, you can use 12 guage only up to 13 feet. Up to 22 feet, use 10 guage, and although you are mostly higher voltage, the longer run needs 8 guage.
RE: Building New Campground. Opinions Welcome!
The two sites would attract very different clientele. Right off the interstate will be a lot of travelers for one nighters, although between you and me, I also would prefer getting far enough off the interstate to get away from the road noise, even just for one night. And I have driven as much as 20 miles off the highway for a campground, when traveling areas with few CGs available. I think the choice will indeed depend on what other attractions there are nearby and how many CGs there are. If you are the only one for miles and miles, it will matter less which you choose.
RE: How do ya get to Floral City ?
Locals here are famous for such directions. "Go down 12th street to where the Burger King used to be, then hang a left and just go out Main Street until you get to 2140 Rivermont Avenue." (About 1/3 of the way, Main Street magically becomes Rivermont Ave.)
