blueflame

Thanks Brett. I missed that blurb on the website!

I'm hoping someone out there can tell me how the FMCA Roundbottom campground works, especially since the FMCA office is closed for the holidays. We are looking at staying at the Roundbottom camping the evening of January 1. I found on the FMCA website where I can make a reservation. But is the inventory of available campsite real time? It appears to be, but I'm not sure. Do you have to "check in" once you arrive, or do you just take your reserved spot and plug in? Thanks in advance!

We had a Norcold portable freezer refrigerator in one of our basement compartments. It recently quit working so we had it checked out, it was a total compressor failure, so no use trying to repair it. Time to buy a new unit. We searched the internet looking for a unit that would fit the existing compartment and slide out drawer. This was an arduous process. Many of the web sites had incorrect (when compared to the actual manufacturers web pages) information. The dimensions were especially confusing, even on manufacturers web sites. They were inconsistent in their labeling of width, height, and length. We were comparing two units from a single manufacturer. The pictures looked almost identical, but one unit listed the width as the biggest dimension, the second called the height the biggest dimension. After wading through the confusing information we found a Dometic unit we thought would fit, judging from the dimensions on the web. But we weren't sure because of all the confusion. Luckily we found a RV dealer (LazyDays in Tucson, thank you) that had one in stock and would pull it, open it, and let us check it out. So we started measuring it and got more confused. None of the dimensions matched the info. we had. After scratching my head for a while I had and idea. I measured the shipping box. It matched!!! The info. on the web was the size of the shipping box, not the actual refrigerator! So the unit was slightly smaller than what we thought, but it would fit. I don't know if other manufacturers dimensions would have the same problem, but beware! Another issue was the supply voltage. We had a unit that would run off 12V or 120V and would auto switch between them, using 120V if available. We wanted another unit that would do the same thing. Most of the units we looked at claimed to work on 12V or 120V, but further investigation revealed they only had a 12V plug, I would have had to buy a separate 120V to 12V converter, then manually switch the plugs if the voltage source needed to change. So again, beware, do a careful search, download and read the operators and service manuals if you can find them. We ended up with a Dometic CF-80US because it was the closest match to the size of our old unit, and because it had the true 12V and 120V operation with auto switching. Just be sure to do your homework if you are in the market for a portable freezer fridge. The best bet will be to look at actual units, open them and look at the manuals.

I have a Super C on a Freightliner truck (not motorhome) chassis. The truck has saddle tanks (one on each side below the driver and passenger doors). Until today I've not noticed any difference between the two tanks. Today as I arrived at my destination the engine seemed to be idling rough. Then I had problems starting it (had to crank much longer than usual). My first suspicion was fuel, which should not have been low as I had over 20 gallons shown as remaining (I use Silverleaf VMSPc). I checked to make sure the filters were open and I didn't have any water in the settling bowl. All checked out OK. Then I looked into the tanks themselves. Using a flashlight I could see into the tanks, and using a dipstick I could measure the fuel depth. What I found surprised me. The driver tank was almost empty, to the point the open end of the intake line was becoming exposed to the air (thus the rough idle and poor starting, it was sucking air). The passenger tank had over 8 inches of fuel in it. I had been told the tanks were connected and the fuel levels would remain the same, and I always fill then both to the top. So, my questions. Was I misinformed? Are saddle tanks really independent and I should not expect them to remain at a consistent level? What would cause the fuel to be used at a different rate from the two tanks when I have both the tank valves fully open? Any ideas on how I can account for this difference so I know before I run into a problem, since the fuel gauge and VMSPc only report a total value remaining, not a tank specific value? Any other solutions/ideas? Thanks for any help, input, or ideas.

I would like to echo luckydog1949's concern. My coach has the chassis and house batteries interconnected by a "smart" switch (I don't have the make/model handy). When the chassis batteries near full charge power is fed to the house batteries to charge them. Conversely when the house batteries near full charge power is fed to the chassis batteries to charge them. From the information above I believe this means I can leave the flooded batteries on the chassis (they are good) and replace the house batteries with AGM (current flooded batteries are bad) and the two sets will coexist peacefully (charge off either power source). Is this assumption correct? Are there any other concerns? Or other things I need to be aware of or consider?

Wolfe10, thanks for the link. Like Tireman9 I hadn't found the instructions yet. The project is at least several weeks away so I didn't have time yet to do much research, I was just following this thread. Unlike Tireman9 I don't have a lot of space for mounting. I'll probably be putting it under the bed where the fresh water tanks and the water pump are located. That's why the horizontal mounting will help, I don't have much height but I have room from side to side.

I can't find the thread right now but at least some states (maybe not all) require the lights to be at the rear. Thus the dolly lights are fine when the dolly doesn't have a vehicle on it, but when the vehicle is on the dolly either the vehicles lights must be wired in or some type of accessory light bar is needed so the lights are at the rear since the vehicle sticks out far beyond the dolly lights.

Wolfe10, thanks for the info. on how to set the pressure. Tireman9, thanks for the link. Shields, thanks for the verification that the tank works and gets the job done. The fact that it "smooths" out the water flow so the pump doesn't cycle so often is exactly what I was trying to accomplish. A follow on question. Since the tank in the posted link has a membrane between the water and the air, so the two can never mix, does it matter if the tank is mounted sideways instead of up and down? This would give more options for the mounting location. Thanks again.

Tireman9, I have had similar thoughts and questions. I have been thinking about putting in some type of accumulator. Not just because of the noise but also to keep the pump from short cycling when I use a small amount of water or use water at a slow rate. I hope your post generates some thoughts/ideas/replies as I would like to see them also.

We felt many of the same concerns already mentioned when comparing class A to class C. More difficult to service, less places 'happy' to provide service, etc. So we went the super C route, we have a 40' Showhauler (http://showhauler.com/home) on a Freightliner Columbia chasis. Being build on an over the road truck chassis it is designed and layed out for someone to be full time in the drivers seat, good handling, easy to drive, very stable on the road, etc. Plus I can do much of the service myself. Other considerations are the towing and cargo carrying capacities. Many of the class A units we looked at were limited in one or the other or both. Any super C on a Freightliner chassis we looked at had plenty of capacity for towing and carrying cargo. Note, this does not apply to many of the smaller C's build on a smaller chassis, many of these were quite limited as well. There are plenty of good class A units out there, but after doing the research and comparisons it was an easy decision for us to go to the super C.