Pxr177

A rock did in the side window on my Fourwinds Chateau. I want to replace it myself, either with auto glass or plexiglas. Has anyone done this. The main issue is do I pull out the whole frame, or just the outside framework. There are two slits in the frame that look like spots to insert a blade to separate it from the main frame. Any help folks? Thanks Paul

We are also Canadians who split our time between the US and Canada. In Canada, I use Rogers cellular internet. I use an old smart phone as the hotspot. Since I supplied the phone, I can pay monthly, with a small disconnect fee. It works well in most places. I use it most for email, and non video surfing. I also download movies and TV, but I do this for free at the local library. For the US, we use a combination of resources. I have a stick from Virgin Mobile. I can buy a month's worth of data on a pay as you go card. Again useful for email and non video surfing. Not so good for Skype of internet phone. Most parks have some form of wifi, which ranges from excellent to indifferent. In many parks, the wifi is free in the clubhouse. In some its also free at each site. Tengo has contracts with many parks, but I find it poor service.at a poor price. Speed is dsl at best (or just dialup speed) When on the road we stop at a McDonalds or other free wifi provider, like the local library. This year I will see whats new in the wifi world before setting up a plan.

I tow a 2012 Hyundai Accent on a dolly. One major problem was the ratchets. I had the large ratchets that are needed for a 2 inch belt, which is recommended for that weight, Then I found that the car has very tight margins in the wheel wells and under the front bumper. When I tried to connect the ratchet to the front of the dolly, the ratchet would creep under the wheel well. There was no way one could butterfly the ratchet to release the belt. I tried a number of solutions, using smaller ratchets etc. The only thing that worked was tying the ratchet to the Y frame of the dolly farther up. This was OK, but I was not thrilled. While on the road I saw the solution. There was another RV towing a dolly with a car loaded, but not held down with a ratchet. They had welded a small winch into the frame of the dolly. This prevents it from creeping into the wheel well. I was able to get 2 10,000 lb strength winches on sale at Princess Auto and paid 50 bucks to have them welded in place. Now I have a much more secure setup. Paul

Problem solved!! I had been told quite often that the circuit was protected by an 80 amp fuse. This is not the way it is. On my system, it is the 130amp buss that acts as a breaker. In my last post, I indicated that I had reset the breaker and nothing happened. Today, a buddy and I were looking at the system, and tried again. At that point my dear wife noticed there was no green light on the kill switch ( our RV- and probably most, has a switch to kill all power for long term storage.) Ours is near the outdoor light switch, and I suspect it was turned off in error while the breaker was out, but of course we had not noticed because the 12 volt system was down. Wifey hit the button, and the 12 volt lights came on. With the three of us working on it, it proved that old Chinese proverb " many hands make light work!"

I used a camera to look more closley inside the battery compartment. I got a clear picture showing the part I think is the problem. There is a HI-AMP Buss 135A breaker in the circuit. Using this info I went to the net and found a video showing how this is used. Sure enough, the breaker was open. I have closed it. Then I disconnected shore power and tried my cabin lights. No cigar, but there may be a delay if the batteries need charging. Is there any other fuse or breaker near this location? Thanks for all the suggestions. Paul

The batteries are fully charged. I have pulled a battery out and will take pictures of the innards. if i can't sort it out I will post a pcture. Paul

I would not use this service. They offer nothing but info you can find elsewhere. They may just give you lists of things like Good sam or FMCA parks. Ask them what parks offer discounts THEY have negotiated, WE are Thousand Trails members and also use Passport America and we never had problems finding camps at good prices. Paul

I have a class C Fourwinds on a Ford 450 chassis. My 12 volt system only works on shore power. I have been told there should be an 80 amp fuse on the main circuit right near the battery. This is probably blown. I took a look but could not see anything familiar. I expect I will have to pull out the batteries to get a better look. What am I looking for? Where is such a fuse mounted, and what kind of fuse is it. Thanks for any suggestions. Paul

My wife and I will be spending the upcoming winter in South Texas. We have 1000Trails and Encore memberships, but the rates seem inexpensive enough that we may try other parks. We are looking for recommendations for the Rio Grande valley. Pool or other water is a priority as is a Hot tub. pickelball would be nice, as would decent wifi. Any suggestions? Thanks. Paul Note, we have been to Florida and California up the coast to Washington, so we have info on those areas if anyone is interested.

I found that the surface-mount type receptacles work well. They are also useful to put a power point in a part of the unit that is not well served. For example, I used a good quality extension cord to plug into the outlet where the Tv antenna controller is (there is a receptacle there that is not easy to use. I ran the cord across the overhead section and fixed a box on the edge of the slider. Now were have a spot for a reading lamp on that side. Paul

Still working on the problem. I don;t know if its a problem because Thor took over Four Winds, or its a four Winds problem, but they have been unable to pinpoint where the slide fuse is. As I suggested to them, this must be a single fuse problem. the motors work if power is supplied directly, and they bot stopped working at the same time. So where is the fuse? their last schematic suggested it was on the fuse panel, but that was not correct. then they suggested it might be in the wiring under the bed, but there is only the AC outlet and the water pump under the bed. So where o where did my little fuse go? What does it look like, cartridge or bayonet. What is the amperage. help!! paul

Thanks for the prompt reply. The schematic is a PDF file and too large to submit here (90K) I can email it , or figure out how to reduce a PDF file. The slides are currently out. We used power from a battery pack to move them. Now, they do not move on their own, but we do hear the click from the solenoid when we try to pull them in. The schematic shows DD as the fuse for the slide motor, and on the schematic the DD is right beside each motor. We don't see anything near them. Also, since both motors are non responsive, it seems to me that there is one source for the disconnect, so its likely that one fuse protects both circuits at once. I sent the pics to Thor and they say they will get back to me. The good news is we are parked for the summer, so I have time to get this right. I am not good with electrical, so it will be a week or two before my buddy comes back to look at the connections and answer the other questions. Paul

My unit is a 2008 Fourwinds Chateau. The truck is a Ford 450. I wrote previously about my problems and am following up. I have two issues -- related, I think. One is that my 12-volt system does not supply power when not connected to shore power. When connected, all is well, EXCEPT there is no power to the slide motors. The motors do work if power is supplied externally as in a battery. I have been told it is most likely fuses. Here is where it gets interesting .... The electrical schematic supplied by Fourwinds shows the layout of the power panel. They say they have no other schematic. But of course, someone must know which wires go where into that panel. I removed the panel under the fridge. Behind it are several sets of wires. There is a black box the size of a pack of cigarettes -- I think it may be the isolator. One lead going into it has power. One does not. There is another set of wires leading down (I suspect to the slide motors), again without power. So my question is, where are the fuses located? I have attached the pics. Comments will be appreciated. Paul

I have a 2008 Fourwinds Chateau Class C. My slides are 36" deep by 71 in long.. When extended 18 inches extend from the sides. I have 18 inches into the main body of the unit. I want to cut off about 3 in off the slide to make it 33 in. wide. It looks like a wood composite. Can I cut the 3 inches off without creating a problem? thanks Paul

We are in a Class C Fourwinds Chateau. We are having slide problems. I had a 1500 watt inverter installed to watch TV etc. It runs directly to the battery and powers two dedicated receptacles. It has done so without problems for two years. When I was boondocking I was on generator power, with a small space heater plugged in. I turned off the generator and switched to the inverter. By accident, the heater got left on the circuit and was plugged into the inverter. After a few seconds, the inverter squealed. I realized my error, and unplugged the heater. Apparently I was too late. At that point, the 12 volt system went dead. When I turned on the generator, or plugged into shore power, all the 12 volt systems worked fine. When unplugged, all dead. The next few times we set up, we kept the cabin plugged into shore power while we extended the slides and again when we packed up. This worked several times. Then, the slides stopped working, even when plugged in. Everything else works fine. I had a Good Sam guy come by. He tested all circuits that he could reach easily, and they were fine. The cabin batteries were fully charged. No Go. To get us mobile he tapped into the motors directly with a battery recharger. Each slide motor did its job and retracted, so I don't think I have a slide motor problem. Now we are in summer quarters and used the same technique to extend the slides. So, do I have two separate problems, or one problem with a side effect? The truck chassis wiring guide gives no clue, and there is not one for the cabin circuits. I have read that there is a solenoid that allows the cabin battery to charge when driving, but isolates the truck battery from discharge when not driving. I read it was under the cooling system reservoir, but found nothing there. I also know that the slides will not work when there is a key in the truck ignition. I assume from this, that there is some fuse or solenoid that looks for this situation and shuts down the slides. perhaps something in this circuit has malfunctioned, and the slide thinks there is a key in the ignition. Any suggestions?

The key question is "boondocking" When you are on shore power, the battery really doesn't matter. If you are an occasional boondocker and just want lights for a night, then a decent battery works. if you boondock a lot, and want some appliances working, then you will need an inverter installed. Now your power requirements will be more. We are occasional boonies. When parked, I run the TV,( through an inverter) a few lights, and my Cpap machine, also through the inverter. I have two good quality 12 volt deep cell batteries in parallel. They give me about 8 hours of power. if you want more, then either 2 more 12 volts will work, but if you have the space, 2 or 4 6 volt Golf club batteries would be the best solution. be sure any batteries you use are deep cell, not marine or starter batteries. Paul

I am having a similar problem. We were boondocking. For awhile I ran the TV using an inverter. The inverter is wired directly to the battery and has two dedicated outlets. Then I switched to the generator and ran my Cpap machine, plus a 1500 watt heater for some load. After five hours, I switched back to the inverter. In ten seconds the inverter squealed and I realized the heater was on the dedicated circuit by accident. I unplugged it, and went back to generator power. Later, I tried to go back to the inverter. As soon as I turned off the generator, I lost all 12 volt electricity. No lights, no slide controls, nothing. As of now the situation is this. As long as I have shore power or generator power, everything works. This includes the pilot light on the master switch to kill all 12 volt power. If I unplug the shore power or generator, its all gone. The test system shows my batteries are fully powered. Plugging a lamp into the dedicated inverter line work, which verifies the battery is on line.s. There are no burnt fuses or tripped breakers on the board. My book does say when there is no 12 volt power, then check the breaker on the isolator solenoid. I have a Ford F450 truck and cannot see anything like that under the hood. This solenoid may be the original poster's problem. I won't know until I find and test that sucker. ideas? ThanKs Paul

I will be towing my 2001 Pontiac Sunfire in the fall. I need a baseplate. I see on the net that blue OX has a specific baseplate for my model car. So, do I need a customized baseplate or can a regular plate be fitted. Is this a technically difficult job, or just a lot of careful work. If I need a mechanic, do I need an RV specialist or just a good body man? Any suggestions are appreciated. Paul

I am preparing to tow my Pontiac Sunfire this year. I will be towing it flat, 4 wheels down. I have the proper towbar, now I need to install a baseplate. Anyone who has done this, I would welcome comments. Questions: Does it need a specific towbar for a Sunfire, or will a generic one do? Is it easy to install, or better done by a mechanic? If a mechanic, whats a reasonable cost? Thanks Paul

I drive a 30 Ft Class C Chateau. I have bike racks that slide into the hitch plate under the bumper. This year I want to tow a car, which means I cant use the hitch plate. I noticed at Camping world that they have receptacles that are bolted on above the bumper, freeing the truck mounted hitch for a regular bumper. So, my question is: Is it OK to pull a car while the bikes sit on a rack above the bumper, or am I better to mount a new rack on the back of the car. Thanks Paul

Update: We bought the 1000 Trails zone pass, and liked the camps so much we upgraded to a full elite membership. This is ideal for first timers, and especially for Canadians. There are pluses and minuses to most camps, but the better ones are very good indeed. With the new membership we can stay for three weeks at a time, and move on to the next park right away. There is only one 1000 Trails camp in Canada ( near Vancouver) but this membership also includes RPI camps at $10. per night. being snowbirds, we don't miss mid-American parks as summers in Ontario are quite pleasant. Its winter we want to avoid, and there are great camps in S. California, Arizona, and Texas going west, and all the way down the east coast going south.

We have a 2008 Fourwinds 30 ft Class C with the Ford F450 engine. We are considering becoming towers. What should we know, and more importantly, what do we absolutely need to know? We are thinking real small 4 speed manual car of some type. Would this need auxiliary braking? Thanks all Paul Redvers

Verizon NOT: A Canadian perspective. Last spring we were at the FMC rally in Perry Georgia in March. ( it was fabulous by the way). At the rally was a Verizon dealer promoting their Wifi Hot spot device. I clearly (very clearly ) established the following facts. Canadian, with no US address. In UD for one more month that spring, then alternating Canada and US at 6 month intervals. The dealer told me no problem. In the US my cost would be $45 a month for 5 GB of service. I could use it in Canada for an extra $10 per month. There was no mention of roaming charges. There was no disussion of social security number, US address etc. I was told I could suspend the service for up to six months in each year. Based on this, I signed up. I paid for one month, plus a $400. deposit because I was not a Verizon client. The device did not work well at Perry, but with 3000 motorhomes using cell phones, that was not surprising. It was useful the rest of the month in Georgia and the Carolinas. Then I went back to Canada. I used the device for about 5 days until it stopped connecting. That's when I found out that none of what I was told was true! I called Verizon customer service. Very quickly, they informed me that my account was suspended for suspected fraud and I had to call their security department. here is what they told me: My account had been flagged because of excess roaming charges of $500. (remember from above, no roaming charge). When security pulled my info they saw a fictitious address ( my street name and number transported to a NY postal code). My purported US social security number was 123 456 789. I explained as above. The verizon agent quickly realized I had been mislead ( his word) by an enthusiastic salesman who was not aware of the truth. The agent promised to adjust the roaming charges, fix my bill, and suspend the account until Ocober. He also took my correct address. To this point, blame the salesman, not Verizon. Having said that FMC should share some blame about the agent as FMC is surely aware they have many Canadian members, and need to vet their on site advertisers to ensure they are up to date on Canadian issues with their products. In October I called Verizon to get an update and to start my service in the US back. It appears there was almost no record of the previous call. The bill had not been fixed, the address not rectified, and the account could not be re-established because the sixth month suspension time can only start after the account hjas been active for six months. Despite repeated objections on this obviously fraudulent transaction, Verizon would not make good on the salesman\s promise, or the Fraud departments agreement to fix it. They said they would refer my problem to their fraud department who would call me to straighten it out. As you may have guessed, that call never came. This part is Verizon's fault. They are not an honourable company. I will pursue this more now that I am in the USA when I get a US cell phone. ( not Verizon I am sure). I am also suggesting that FMCA have a closer look at merchants like this at their rallies. cheers Paul

For anyone even thinking about going full time. NOW is the time to start downsizing. Our plan was straight forward, but a little unique. We live in Canada, and our provincial health plan requires us to be in the province for 5 months per year. Our planning revolved around this fact. We bought a 30 ft Class C in 2009, while I was still working. We assigned it to an RV management company who stored it, looked after it, and rented it out, mainly in the summer. This pays for the unit. Since we have to spend 5 months in province, it only makes sense to make this the summer months. That is also the time when we can generate income renting our unit, so we are getting temporary accommodation for 3 of the 5 months we need to be here. We knew several years ago this was in our future, so after our last move, we went into a rental unit, so we did not have to worry about selling it when we retired. What I didn't know was how much STUFF we had. In November 2010, I took a paid leave of absence to try out retirement life. First we moved out of our house. We spent 2 months overseas with our son, and two months in our RV in the southern US. We thought we had it all planned. Our last two moves were paid by my employer, so we did not have to cull anything. We went through every bag, box, dresser, cabinet, and cupboard. We found stuff we had not seen in years. We even found unused wedding presents, and we have been married over 40 years! We arranged for friends and family to get stuff. We gave some to some people in need we knew, and we sold some on the net. ( forget about getting what its worth). We did garage sales, and we furnished a Salvation Army store with a ton of stuff. Our fine china and a few keepsakes are stored in my brother's garage. Even with all of that, we were desperate to get packed and out of the house and worked until midnight the last day. Even then, we had extra boxes of "stuff" that a friend stored while we were overseas. We also had about 10 bins of stuff to go into our RV. After two months overseas, we came back, picked up our RV and headed south. What did we find? After the initial shock of letting go a lifetimes worth of stuff, we did not miss what we had given up. In the ten bins we took into the RV, we never used a third of the stuff, and it won;t be back either. The extra boxes of stuff did not seem so necessary either. Certainly, there was some stuff we got rid of, that I later found we needed, but that's what they make dollar stores for. Our son lives overseas, so there is little to tie us down. Home is where my wife and dog live, and lately, that's beside me while we are going down the road. We have adapted to this new lifestyle, and are no longer tied down by "stuff". I am back at work until October, the we hit the road, chasing the good weather. Cheers Paul

We also enjoyed our stay at Skidaway. Nice park for bicycling. If you go out the park road to the highway and turn left, there is a small community and shopping area about 200M down the way. The gas station is also a decent convenience and camping store. There is a very nice supermarket across the parking lot, with a surprisingly good wine store within.