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bizsmith@yahoo.com

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Posts posted by bizsmith@yahoo.com


  1. In my opinion, fuel efficiency vs other considerations such as scenery should have the least priority. The amount saved with one route over the other will be minimal even at today's prices. For example for every 1000 miles you save about $4 on a route that gets you 10 mpg instead of 9 mpg. The difference in mileage on one route over another won't even be that much.


  2. I use DeLorme software on a laptop and have for a number of years before you could even buy a GPS. I can pick the exact route I want to take and review the trip the day before checking the route with paper maps and a truckers atlas. I can mark rest areas and fuel stops. Almost no surprises and I have a 13 inch screen. Bigger if I chose a bigger laptop.

    I have not been too impressed with the RM tripmaker.

    My copilot always uses paper maps. No matter whose GPS you use they can take you where you don't want to be. The story here in Minnesota is of the woman who followed the GPS on to a snowmobile trail. It took three days to get her car out of that fix.


  3. Be extremely careful if you fabricate a cord, especially since you say you are not electrically savvy. I encountered a situation with a campground neighbor who had a cord fabicated by someone who supposedly knew what he was doing. He had reversed a hot and neutral. The results were that it applied 240 volts on a 120 volt leg of the MH power box. It fried the microwave, wrecked the transfer switch and the only thing saving two thin screen TVs was that the GFI breakers tripped faster than damage could occur. If you think I am trying to scare you, that is correct.


  4. I think this must be a common problem especially when you have to use the large diameter rapid flow truck pumps. I don't insert the nozzle very far and never lock the nozzle on. This requires extra care but I can regulate the flow just fast enough to fill without shutting down. The partially inserted nozzle also vents more air. Very tiring to manually hold the right flow but faster in the long run, at least for me. It requires very close vigilance to prevent spillage.


  5. Even though the switch to inverter is automatic, I usually turn the inverter off when on shore power. I have a space heater whose electronic controls do not like the modified square wave of the inverter and will fry in a matter of seconds. If there is a power failure, the refrigerator can drain the batteries very rapidly but I need the refrig to be on an inverter circuit for on the road operation.

    And wolfe10 is right, inverter and converter (charger) functions are essentially opposite although contained in the same box.

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