Roodriver

I have used this stuff and it works great. eternabond Just remove the unwanted roof object, clean up the old putty, fill the holes, clean around the area and put the eternabond on the area. Caution, once this stuff is down it wants to stay forever. By the way, I have no connection with this company. Ward

Haven't seen or heard about it, but the idea sure makes sense. Increase the air pressure inside and spray with a solution and watch for bubbles. Grand idea. How much does it cost and how available is it? Though I don't knowingly have a leak, if it is inexpensive enough, I would like to have it done to my coach. Keep us informed, please! Ward

Great time of the year for this post and I know I'm preaching to the choir but here goes. One of the best holiday memories I have as an adult was when a family invited five of us to Thanksgiving dinner and we had a blast. So every year we try to do something nice around the holidays for some of our guys and gals. To many folks think that supporting our troops means supporting the policies that send them into harms way, but I think it is showing we care and appreciate their sacrifice. So folks remember the lonely holidays you have spent, and do something nice for someone in the military this holiday season. Take them fishing. Buy lunch for some recruiters. Look for a young military family and adopt them. Remember the economy is kicking them in the butt. Okay, time to crawl down off the soapbox. Ward

You may want to check the position of your fill tank/city water valve. My coach does strange things if it isn't firmly in the correct position. Seems funny that it would work well with the pump running but not on city water. Please let us know what you find. Ward

Jon may have the solution for you with the vinegar to break down any mineral deposits. You may try flushing the tank to get any sediment out. My first impression was that you may not be getting a full tank of water in the heater. A friends hwh was acting up because he was vapor locking and the tank wasn't filling. Have you tried releasing the pressure release valve to get any air out of your tank which would allow the tank to fill completely? Ward

Me thinks a call to your coaches manufacturer will get you the information. Ward

An invaluable tool for back roads is "The Motor Carrier's Road Atlas". Any highway which handles 18 wheelers will handle the largest MH. In particular the atlas shows overpasses, tunnels, and also gives highway construction contact information for each state. Don't forget the Erie Canal if you are interested in history. Some books for resource: National Monuments of America America's Back Roads Off The Beaten Path We can share lots of stories about places we have seen, which are unreachable by Interstate. Last year we got on US2 in Michigan and followed it to Washington State taking many side trips from the highway to visit some outstanding sites. Ward

It all depends on where you plan on going. Standard first aid courses are great if you will be able to call 911 but if you are going to areas not covered by 911 or it is going to take the first responders a couple of hours to get to you there is a whole different set of problems. Suppose two of you are hiking and it will take you a couple of hours to summon help. In case of injury, do you leave the injured person and walk out to get help? Think of some scenarios with animals, weather, hydration problems, bleeding, broken bones and don't forget respiratory and heart problems. CPR may not be appropriate. If you are going any place where getting help may take an extended amount of time, I think you need to take Wilderness first aid In addition no first aid kit should be without 4 survival blankets per person if you are going to be out in the elements. Just some thoughts. Wouldn't it be nice if FMCA offered some of this information at rallies? Ward

I always start by going to the tourism websites of the states we are going to visit and request information and maps. That said, we like to travel on US highways not interstates so there are tons of things to see along the way. As an example, we could spend two months in Pennsylvania. One thought is to travel up to Wisconsin and follow the lesser highways around the Great Lakes and wind up in New England covering all of the US Great Lakes coast. We are looking at doing this after the rally in Iowa in May. Probably will jump on interstates around a couple of big towns but it looks like some neat sights to see on the back roads. We also like to eat and watch "Diners, Drive Inns and Dives" and visit some of the more interesting places from that show. I've actually thought about approaching FMCA about writing a magazine column with some of these visits.

Probably the most infuriating problem known to RVers. Start at the top and work down. Get down on your hands and knees and check ALL roof caulking for cracks or holes. Then systematically move down the side of the coach. Our old Georgie Boy had a leak in the windshield which made it's presents known by puddling on the floor. Took forever to find. Also, my understanding is that side window caulking/siliconeing is ineffective and that for side window cracks the entire window needs to be removed and reseated. Good luck. Ward

I would empty my tanks and blow out the lines. Don't forget the sprayer in the kitchen and the water filters. Put Rv anti-freeze in the traps.

Sounds like this would be a good forum topic if anyone is listening. Postings here about RV friendly fuel stops would be helpful, and don't forget the ones off the main drags. Just a thought. Ward

When was the water heater last drained and flushed? Have you tripped the pressure relief valve to make sure the tank is full and not air locked? Did you remove the exterior door and check the cleanness of all components?

There seems to be one important point missing from the advice given. Before you spend large American dollars for add-ons you need to have the coach weighed. The proper way is to weigh at each wheel. You would be surprised how many handling problems are caused by over weight coaches. What is your CCC? After weighing your rig, go to a "good" front end shop and have the rig aligned. If this cheap stuff doesn't work, then look at spending the bucks.

Tom Butler made an outstanding point. "As an individual member then our challenge is to find a chapter that is tolerant of various viewpoints and will connect with other people on issues other than religion. Sometimes the best we can do is to find an organization that at least isn't in our faces about religious issues. There will always be someone in a group that feels there must be a prayer before a meal. When it goes beyond that, we can argue/object or move on." I, too, object to anyone pushing their beliefs on me, or should I say attempting to push their beliefs. Getting old and grumpy (ask my bride) has led to not putting up with proselytizing of any kind. Ward

From experience I've learned to cover the open lines and solenoid openings with plastic bags and seal with rubber bands (easy to get off). Spiders tend to like solenoid valves and the right kind of web will cause some interesting troubleshooting problems. Ward

There are a number of outfits selling LED replacement lamps, and some have replacement lens. You might try this site Ward

Now I know the forum is in trouble with two science teachers!

My, my! Formalin is a carcinogen and should be treated as such. Yep it will kill all of the bugs in your black tank and if you dump in a septic system or pond system, will also kill the beneficial bacteria in those systems. Formalin is a formulation of formaldehyde which is the pesky chemical used in paneling and glues in those famous FEMA trailers and probably our RVS. The stuff really is bad news. I've had some guys tell me that RIDEX works well for them, but doesn't do dip for me. I have tried the purple, orange, white, liquid and powder stuff with poor results, so now I'll try the stuff Tom is using. Hopefully it works. If I could figure a way to put a fish tank bubbler in the tank and restore an aerobic environment, I think the problem would be solved.

I have heard that driving a MH down the highway is akin to being in a hurricane and a tornado all at one time. For sure a lot of stress is placed on the chassis. It really is a wonder we don't have more problems from torquing the things in and out of drives, over railroad tracks, and some of the holes in the roads. Then just for fun, we hook up to unknown electrical systems and subject some pretty sensitive electronics to who knows what. If that doesn't get something going, we can always revert back to the lack of QC in the plants. oops! Forgot the women drivers.

Sea stories are wonderful things, but aren't they supposed to start with "Now this ain't no ...."? They come along when you most need a good laugh. Thanks for the fun.

None of the problems we have had are Fleetwood's problem. They have all been sub systems installed by Fleetwood. Love my Bounder. We average about 15,000 miles a year, so it is well broken in at this point. All of that said. We have seen some really worrisome things from other manufacturers and saw some real problems when we were shopping for our coach. As an example, we lifted the mattress on one new coach and saw where the slide had destroyed the supports under the bed. The dealer or someone had obviously pieced it back together. The coach had 800 and something miles on it. MH is the only way to go for us. While I was having surgery, my wife stayed in a motel for the first time in many years and I don't think that will happen again. MH all the way.

Tom, I would be really skeptical since the typical way water softeners work is by ionic action (the exchange of electrons) or by osmotic pressure (water molecule through a membrane leaving behind impurities). I have seen adds for magnetic water softeners but kind of scratch my head when it comes to them. Is this Easy system one of the magnetic thingies? If I remember right, calcium, one of the most common water hardening elements is non magnetic. Let us know what you find out. By the way, what does this thing cost? I've got a great idea. Why don't you approach FMCA, have them buy one and let you field test it. That would make a great article for the magazine and might generate some interest in the forum.

Our first class A was a brand that another manufacturer purchased after we bought our coach. We were extremely pleased with the first MH and thought we would buy another one, and then luck we got lucky. The brand we owned had an owners rally near the new consolidated factory so we took a tour and here are a few things we learned about the new owners. They apparently hired people with limited hand tool experience since we observed several guys using tool improperly in such a manner to damage the coach and make a very sloppy job. My wife even pointed out a guy using a drill with a spade bit in a very interesting manner which looked like he was attempting to break his arm. This guy had drilled several holes and all were jagged, crooked messes which had pvc pipes or wires run through them. No bushings anywhere. The pipes would probably be okay but the wires would probably chafe from the motion of a moving MH. Our original coach was supposedly good quality which we believed because of joinery work and finish. So we were surprised to see our brand going down the same line as the new manufacturers cheaper model, but were assured that better quality materials were put into our brand. Like they say, there is a sucker born every minute, but I didn't buy their nonsense. When it came time to buy, we bought a different brand. Since then, I have advocated that people considering a MH go on a factory tour. Some of the things we saw made it obvious that quality assurance was something these folks had never heard of, and most sadly, could care less about.

Well, that was somewhat better than my pinhole that I bent over observe just as it got bigger with a surprising amount of pressure. You are absolutely right, at times like this our ladies truly show their love for us. Mine laughed like h... . Then when we saw "RV" guess which part caused us to roll in the isle?