Pat60

Would appreciate any advice for bug prevention. We are full tmers with a pet in Florida and before we have a problem with bugs we would like to know what people are doing in their coaches to keep bugs out. Some people are doing a bug bomb in the hatches below. Am wondering if that then seeps up into the living area of the coach covering kitchen utensils and into your clothes as well. Thank you.

I am considering doing the same thing in our Phaeton...our Norcold 1200 is opposite a wall so it is definitely going to be a french door but a service guy just told my husband that whatever model residential fridge we put in is going to stick out 6 more inches than the Norcold that is already there. The Norcold sticks out 3 inches from the cabinet...it is hard to believe that it is going to be 6 more inches out from there...we would not be able to get through the hall to the bedroom or the bath. I would appreciate hearing from anyone on this subject as we are scheduled to do this next Tuesday...thank you. Pat

<p>We are going to have Alliance Coach in Wildwood put in a residential refrigerator next week. It might be time to replace the house batteries, so we would appreciate feedback on the best brand of batteries to buy.</p> <p> </p> <p>I would appreciate any advice. Thank you.</p>

Thank you all for your comments...this is my first Garmin and I bought it because it had the truck mode. We have had several other brands before this Garmin. My complaint was not with the routing as they do make errors and you cannot totally rely on them for routing. My complaint is the performance...sometimes it has no idea where we are and takes forever to figure out a route. It recalculates needlessly, etc. I am not impressed with the quality of the electronic and that's my big beef. And, yes, they all need a sun hat as you can't see the screen in daylight which is a huge PITA... Pat

Anyone out there happy with their GPS??? Would appreciate hearing what brand and model that is working for you...thanks, Pat

We have Norcold 121X Series fridge so I don't know if it is a 1200 but we have had a recall on it and we took the coach in for that. We have gone full time since Dec 27, 2012 and the fridge keeps frosting up...we just defrosted it a couple of weeks ago and it is frosting up again. Any sugggestions??? Also how do you find out if you can put in a regular fridge in your coach...we have a Tiffin Phaeton '07??? Thanks, Pat

Thank you for your reply....in other words, feed the coax iinto the bus through a window or a door up to the receiver in a cabinet...that doesn't sound convenient either way... There's gotta be another way that doesn't involve leaving a door or window open... Pat

Thank you, Wayne, for replying. I have Directv and am not interested in HD tv so that isn't a problem and I have looked at the Winegard Anser... I am still confused somewhat...I understand that you need to connect a cable to the carryout antenna and that cable will be connected to the tripod satellite connection in the hatch where the electric cable is. Then I am confused as to how the DVR receiver recognizes the carryout satellite...you now have two satellites... I just looked into the cabinet with all the electronics and see that there is no cable connected to the tripod connector so I think I need to have someone check to see what cables need to be connected where or maybe even a splitter so that we could use a portable when we are on a site with trees and no signal... Thank you for helping me out...Pat

I want to buy a portable carryout automatic satellite that I can use when I am parked on a site full of trees and cannot get a signal with the rooftop Winegard satellite. I am confused about how that would work. I have a Tiffin Phaeton that has a satellite connection next to the cable tv connection on the outside of the motorhome. I assume I connect the cable there but then how does the receiver know what satellite to use to get a signal and do I do anything with the electronics such as push the "aux" button instead of the satellite button on the tv tuner box that regulates how you want to watch tv. It would be so much easier to live without all of our stuff but it sure is nice to enjoy the same things on the road that you would have in your house. Thank you.

Thank you for this information...I guess I will never know what caused the dvr not to be able to boot up when we drove from Ocala to Saint Augustine...I do know that it would start up and then not be able to fully boot up. We do not have a satellite that can be watched while traveling so it was "off"... The dvr is sitting in a cabinet with other electronics...the door is not solid so I would think any heat could be let out but who knows. I do think I will disconnect the replacement dvr when we are ready to leave a resort and store it where it can be cushioned while traveling down the road. I don't know if the disk is spinning when it is turned off but I feel something drastic happened to cause the damage and it might be that. I do remember some years back when Directv sent me a replacement dvr, the FedEx guy tossed the box over our fence landing on the ground and when I connected it it would not work so that gets me to wondering that these cheap dvrs are not made to be tossed around. Camping World is selling Directv HD dvrs which is also odd since the guy there claimed there are problems with dvrs in rv's. My next question is do I need to connect a "B band something or other" with an HD dvr vs. no "B Band something or other" if I use the non-HD dvr??? Thank you.

When we sold our place I took my DVR and put it on the motorhome...it was just fine until we picked up stakes and traveled to the next place. The DVR would not fully boot up. Called Directv and they said they would replace it. Went to Camping World and the fella there said that they are having a lot of problems with the dvr not doing well on the road. It seems that all the jarring and bumping on the roads is damaging the guts of the DVR's. I am presently waiting for my replacement and the only thing he could suggest would be to disconnect it and place it on something that can cushion the jarring and bumping such as the bed. I can't think of any other reason why our DVR would work fine in the resort that we were in and then did not work when we arrived at the new destination. It worked fine at home as well. Anyone else experience the same problem??? Pat

Before I read these, I posted the question of what address to use when full timing...don't plan to do this forever but for a while. Being that we sold our farm on the 28th of Dec our current address is no good so then what do you do!! I subscribed to American Home Base in Pensacola as we are Floridians since '79 and after talking to them, I liked the people running the service. We own commercial property in Ocala still and I thought about using that address as the couple who bought our business said it would be okay with them and I liked the idea that this property belongs to us even though we don't live there which I guess might not be good and yes I do trust them to take care of any important mail that would come through but after reading these replies to the original question it is best to have one address tied into everything. This is so overwhelming and such a big decision that could either make life easy or a nightmare while traveling. And I do miss my stuff and vacationing in a motorhome is one thing, full time living is entirely another. So I am not committed to this but will give it a try before finding a place for my roots so I can have my stuff...ha!! Pat

We have been rving for years. Sold the farm on Dec28th and will RV full time for awhile we think. Do not intend to do this forever. SO...what do you do about change of address for motor vehicles, insurance, credit cards. I have subscribed to American Home Base for mail forwarding and they give you an address but do you use that address for important things? This is confusing and overwhelming especially when it comes to social security, IRS, vehicle registrations, etc. the important things. We do have commercial property that we rent to the couple that bought our business and I am thinking we could use that address as they said it would be okay with them. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Pat

Thank you everyone for your answers...I am sorry that I have not looked here sooner but we closed on the farm on the 28th and have been busy with the final stuff and setting up on a site closeby so we can do the doctor and dentists appointments we set up before we take off down the road. We have a Wineguard and I am sorry that we don't hava a double cable up on the roof so that we can utilize the dual band but for now I will be happy to use the single. It is not an HD dvr. I did talk to a tech at Ocala's Camping World and he said it should just be a simple change out from the regular receiver to the dvr...was glad to hear that. And I did talk to a DirecTv tech who was very familiar with the rv set up and he said just change it out and make sure I connect to antenna #1 connection and indicate single. I was not aware that you could have two cables in the roof satellite...can I get that done at a Camping World or other service department????? I loved being able to record and watch another program while doing so. Thank you again. Pat

We very recently sold our farm and will do full time rving for a while...removed by beloved Directv DVR from the house and want to use it in the motorhome. Does anyone have any idea if it is compatible with the satellite on the roof and if so is there anything that I need to do extra???? Someone at Camping World mentioned to me something about the need for a B band but I got no definite info on that or what that even means... Thank you. Pat

Thank you, BH...I did read a manual in a 2011 Ford Explorer and it was not clear at all how to do it. The dealer called Ford to find out if it was towable flat on the ground and got an affirmative answer. I think the next thing we will do is go to a dealer and let them show us how to do it but honestly this is Ocala and no one knows anything here...dumbest people you ever saw!!! How you can sell a product and know very little about it is beyond us but that is what we have here. I would like to hear from people who have towed an Explorer to hear their experience. Thank you for your reply...P

My question is can a Ford Explorer 2011 be towed flat on the ground...I am getting different answers from different Ford dealers...no one seems to be sure. If the 2011 Explorer front wheel drive can be towed flat on the ground, how is it done? We looked at a 2011 front wheel drive Explorer manual and it is not clear what has to be done to this front wheel drive to make it towable if it can be towed. Thank you. Pat

Thank you Wolfe10, for replying... It is black and greasy. Pat P.S. Also thanks to DickandLois...the hose may be 5 years and not used a lot...maybe 10 times in 5 yrs.

I have a hose that connects to the LP tank that is about 10 ft long to connect to my BBQ...used it this past summer with no gunk or problems. Used it at the Plant City Strawberry Festival trip early March and it has gunk coming out... Local propane guys tell me we got bad gas somewhere...can't even remember where we last filled up. Is there any way to clean that gunk out of the hose or do we have to toss it? Thank you. Pat

Thank you all, once again, for all this valuable advice...We did catch the rodent and I am sorry to say it was not a mouse which confirmed my suspicions by size of poopers and size of next...it was a rat!! I can still see it in my mind. It did eat the poison my husband put out as I was freaking out and wanted an instant solution. Thank gawd it did not get out of the motorhome into my yard. We found it in the basement of the motorhome in the battery compartment which leads us to believe there must be holes to the interior somewhere in that compartment. We will be going to the Strawberry Festive in Tampa and will be staying at LazyDays and will have service do some maintenance for us and we are hoping that they can lift the motorhome so we can see if there are any holes underneath we can plug up. I hope that is not wishful thinking. Thank you again for the speedy replies...I will see if I can find peppermint oil in Ocala but am figuring not...Pat

Thank you very much for replying to my call for help. Yes we do live in a humid area and I hope I find a Home Depot or Lowe's who carry bronze or stainless steel wool...Ocala is pretty limited on stuff. Unfortunately we keep our coach at our place of business which has a "public dump" on the next property. It is kept clean and it is supervised but where there is food, there is rodents and we have problems. You both have given me good advice and will put it to good use and see if we can prevent the problem from happening. Right now we have the coach at home and will see what we can do to eradicate the invader or invaders (and let's hope it is not invaders with an "s")... Pat

HELP...we are not full timers but do often go out on trips...live in Florida. This is our second time dealing with a mouse or mice situation. Can sometime give us some good advice on how to keep them out of the motorhome. We have set up sealed mouse poison (none touched...they tell you not to open the bag) and we are also doing the glue traps with peanut butter as bait. We found mouse poop in the battery compartment so that led us to start looking and when we pulled out drawers in the bathroom we found nests made out of paper towels with acorns, etc. brought in from the outside. We are going to open up the basement to start looking for holes that allow mice to get into the interior of the motorhome...at least that is a start...I hear steel wool is great for stopping up holes. I have heard that they hate the smell of mothballs...I want them to stop coming in and not having to deal with this problem once they have moved in... HELP...Pat

What are the rules and regulation for traveling in Canada with a handgun. We are going to be gone for several weeks and wanted to bring a small firearm. We wanted to visit Niagara Falls and are not sure if we will be staying on the US side or the Canada side. Don't want to break any laws but is it possible to stow a firearm in the motorhome while in Canada. Thank you.

We drove from Phillie to Williamsburg, Va., and when we parked in a campground we found that we had a gash in a rear tire, so we will need to get it replaced. Does anyone have any comments about going with tire insurance, specifically a policy from Western General Insurance? Are these policies worth the money? Thanks. Pat

Hey, hey, Gary, thanks again for the reply...have printed out your routes and will take all of them into consideration. P