Koliver

As a boater, I have seen this same debate rage on in the boating forums for years. The consensus is: It doesn't really matter what you use, either a gelcoat, a two part poyurethane paint, an epoxy paint, a one part poly, or a marine enamel. The results will be determined by the amount of effort that goes into the preparation. On my boat, I have sanded the dull parts with 2000 grit wet/dry paper, then polished with a compound, then waxed, and the results are good, but not spectacular. Those who have painted, using the roll and tip method, have a shine that is indistinguishable from a spray job costing thousands more. You may want to consider adding a non-skid, walnut shells or coarse sand, so that you can still walk on it after a rain. That would go into a second coat, and you can tape off lanes to make it look better. For lots more information on this topic see www.trawlerforum.com and search.

I too have been browsing for a good bike rack. The only one that goes on the 2" draw bar is a "Swagman" at Camping World, $229. It requires a minimum 10" drawbar. most are 8", so you are only extending your ball behind the coach by 2". It fits over the drawbar, rather than having its own receiver to extend back. Looks like the only one there is that fits that location. I have checked the Thule and Yakima outlets and they don't make one for that application. I have an old rack that rests on the bumper and ties back to the top of the door on my SUV. I will try it out on the back of the Beaver, as there is a tie back point on the top of the air grill. If that doesn't work, it is the Swagman for me.

I have an old (1998) Winegard bat wing, antenna with one wing broken off about 2 inches from the base. if I understand the previous description, the broken part wont be missed, once channels 2-12 move to the UHF side. If I add the UHF booster, I should get those channels equally with the higher number channels. Am I correct?

gliderguy09 I went through the import to Canada stuff in March. I bought in California and imported to BC, where we have ICBC as the only insurance game in town. They had no trouble insuring for the trip, so long as I didn't do any more than bring the coach home and go right to them for plates. The initial coverage I bought was good for 21 days, which should have been enough for the trip home. Unfortunately, the first time we presented at the border, on the express invitation of US customs "I have your documents, you may now come through", we were delayed until they got one last document. That one document took another 3 weeks, so I had to go back to ICBC and get another bit of coverage. This time I bought a further 2 months, just to be sure, and as soon as I got to Canada, I went right to the agent and got full regular coverage and a plate. The Registrar of Imported Vehicles will want you to get inspected at a licensed facility before giving you the go ahead, and they want that done before you go get your insurance, but the insurance Co wants you insured before you go driving around. No consistency, but in the end it didn't seem to matter, as all was done and the vehicle legally imported without pause. In Ontario, you will need to convince your private insurer to issue a temporary policy for the trip up, followed by the permanent policy when they can go outside and "view" the VIN.

In my experience laptops don't care what the form of the AC power is. The laptop power cord takes whatever input it gets (within the parameters on the little box, but it can handle European 240v 50 cycle, North American 120v 60 cycle, and lousy, cheap inverters) and converts that to DC in a range of voltages, as stated on the individual unit. The one I am using right now says:output 19v...4.74A. I have used a little 175 watt inverter and more recently a 300w inverter, neither have any pretensions of putting out a sine wave, both put out a square wave, for 15 years on my boat with no issues at the laptop. What I would like to know, is; will the laptop operate on 12v DC instead of 19v DC. I have heard of some who plug directly into the 12V of the house battery power, but I haven't tried it, and would like to know if those who have, have a laptop that also operates on the more usual 19vDC. then you eliminate the 15% loss of efficiency thru the inverter, and if you have no other loads, can turn the inverter off and eliminate the 5A minimum draw on your batteries from the inverter's internal losses. I should add that recharging battery packs, for tools, from a square wave inverter or even a modified sine wave inverter is prone to a fryup in the battery pack. Pure sine wave inverters will do it OK.

I got some brushed stainless and slipped them in. they look great.

Brett On my 98 Contessa, the battery boost switch is a momentary switch. I suspect that is the general case on most coaches, and only rarely will there be a combine switch that can be left on. On this or some other forum I have seen advice that the other components in the boost circuit will suffer if the boost is held on more than momentarily, to get started. Dave: Also on my coach, the chassis batteries get charged directly from the alternator, and are supposed to get charged by an "echo charger" while plugged in to shore power. The Echo can fail, allowing depletion of the chassis batteries while parked, as the loads don't all end when you turn off the key. I have diagnosed this problem, by measuring voltage at the chassis batteries, while plugged in to shore power, and finding steadily dropping voltage, while the house batteries were happily guzzling the 13.8v being supplied by the charger. This likely why you have found a small, dedicated charger in the bay, as a replacement for a dead echo charger. Sounds like you have had more than one piece of deferred maintenance catching you, but are close to the end. Your report suggests you now have: 1. clean terminals all around; 2. new chassis batteries; 3. a charger for just the chassis batteries, so you know when they are getting shore power; 4. knowledge of where the alternator output is, so you can measure it; 5. no failures on the house batteries, so you know the charging system works, both by the alternator and through the charger when on shore power. A minimal amount of further testing with a good AVO should sort it out. Check that small, separate charger too. It may have too little output to do any more than supplement, as your continuing loads to keep up the clock in the dash, the ECM for both Engine and Trans, etc., may be significant. You can check those loads too, if you have the right test equipment, but just reading the output numbers on the little charger will tell you its highest possible output. See if you get a healthy spark from it when you connect it to the batteries, after plugging into shore power. If you don't, its output may be low. If that is the case, look at replacing it with something of greater capacity. Xantrex has an Echo charger, or there are plenty of small "smart" chargers in NAPA or similar stores that will do a fine job.

I am enjoying reading through these old posts. So many of them have valuable or simply interesting information. I bought my first Motorhome last month in California and imported it to British Columbia. The only item that had to change was the installation of daytime running lights. That was accomplished simply, at a Canadian Tire Store, with the installation of a DRL module that attaches to the headlights and turns them on with the ignition key. No lights elsewhere on the coach go on with this module, so it is still a good idea to turn your headlights on full in poor conditions.

Which fuse are you pulling? I have a Volvo XC90, that I pull on a dolly. I have to put the key in and turn to the accessory position, in order to put the trans in neutral, so the rear wheels will turn. For battery health, I have run a wire from the trailer hitch fitting on the dolly to the positive battery terminal, and another from ground to ground. I have now permanently attached this pair of wires at both ends, with a dual connector in the middle so when I am mounting the car on the dolly, one simple plug-in does the connection. Sounds like we could each check out the other's solution to see which is more effective/efficient.

I am also a newbie here. Just bought a DP (98 Beaver Contessa) in California, so had to get the car home to BC. Volvo XC90, needs at least the front wheels off the ground, so I bought a dolly with electric brakes. I had an electric brake controller added, connects at the brake pedal. When the Exhaust brake is on, the controller lights up to show that the electric brakes on the dally are also on. There might be another brake control that you will need to accomplish this on your coach, as I was told by the vendor of my coach that he had added a controller to his brake light system that keeps the brake lights on when the exhaust brakes are on but his foot is not on the pedal. He had a M&G air system for his toad. The coach is air over hydraulic. Hope this helps. Keith