tbutler

A simple $10 ammeter/voltmeter is a very useful tool. Set it on 12V, plug in the two leads. The negative goes on any ground (metal frame) on your coach, the second pin can be used to find the function of each pin on the plug to your tow dolly. If you can't find a pin that functions when the brakes on the coach are applied (have a friend pump the brakes while you test), that means that there is a broken connection somewhere. Start disassembling plugs and looking for broken connections. Since the lights on the tow dolly work when hooked to the car, the problem has to be somewhere in the coach or the cable/plug from the coach to the dolly. Start with the connection from the coach to the cable to see if there is a functioning electrical output from the coach at that point. If not you need to dig further into the electronics of the coach. If there is a good signal there, then you need to examine the cable and plug. I've rebuilt several of these cables over the years. When they start to get worn, connections can become intermittent and it is sometimes best to just start from scratch and rewire the pigtail from the coach to the dolly.

Years ago I put a booster for cell service on the roof. I chose a cabinet in front over the drivers seat. I drilled a small pilot hole through the ceiling up through the roof. Then I drilled the size hole needed from above all the way into the ceiling inside the cabinet. The roof opening was thoroughly sealed with caulk recommended by our manufacturer. The inside hole was covered with the washer that came with the antenna. I never had a problem with it. Several years later I removed the cell booster as it seemed to make little to no difference. I ran a second line from a new KVH dish/dome to feed to the rear TV so we could watch different channels on the two televisions. Again, sealed above with recommended caulk. No problems. If I were building RV's I'd install a dummy hole or two through the roof for user applications at a later date. No such thing as too many holes in a roof! The caution is that when drilling a hole through the roof, you have no idea where wires, 12V, 120V or control wires of some kind might be run. I just took a blind shot figuring that there are only so many wires in the roof and I would chance it that I wouldn't hit one.

When the dash heater won't warm our coach, we turn on the furnace. We have never had a problem with carbon monoxide, the furnace flame doesn't connect directly to the indoors and the venting well to the rear of the coach when traveling with air flowing by at 60 MPH would rapidly dispatch and dilute any CO unless your furnace is faulty. You are much more likely to suffer the effects of CO from running the generator when parked than from the furnace though it can also be a cause of problems. Checking the furnace thoroughly is a given, if you aren't doing that each season, it's time to start. We never run the generator when turning on the furnace unless we have been running for a long time. Our furnace runs on the 12V house batteries and needs no AC current to operate. Using it without the generator is what we do at night, there should be no difference when traveling down the road. In both cases, the house batteries will discharge but when they do, we'll run the generator as needed to recharge the batteries and then shut the generator down.

I purchased a Flo-Jet pump about 5 years ago. I used it at my mother's home to make an 80' run to sewer. I find it easy to use for a quick hook-up and dump. It does take longer than the 3" hose but when I'm done, clean up and put away is much faster and easier. When we have a campsite which has a sewer connection we can't get close enough to use the 3" hose, the Flo-Jet is handy to have. The same goes for the occasional uphill to the sewer dump. Clean up is virtually a non issue. When we stay in an area for a while the 3" hose is preferred as we leave the gray water open so we don't have to worry about filling the gray tank. The Flo-Jet has rubber impellers and these will wear out with time. They are replaceable, a rebuild kit can be purchased from West Marine and runs about $25.00. I've rebuilt my pump two times in 5 years. I purchased the pump alone and did an install inside the sewer compartment of the motor home. I got some 1" hose at a hardware store and carry several lengths which can be hooked together to make a longer hose. A friend of mine suggested going to Princess Auto (in Canada) to get quick release hose connectors. I found the same fittings at Orscheln. The quick release fittings made the whole system very convenient.

There was a recent post that gave information on finding the NADA values for motor homes. I suggest you give this a try as far as finding what the approximate retail value of the coach would be. That should give you one idea if this is a good deal. As far as the mileage goes, 13,000 is virtually nothing on a diesel engine. However this indicates long periods of inactivity which can result in problems as well. We have a 2004 coach and we've got almost 100,000 miles on it. The engine has been run regularly, oil has been changed on schedule, the transmission has been serviced as required by the manufacturer, batteries are in a constant state of charge or have been replaced when they failed and when parked for the winter, fuel additive has kept the diesel in the tank fresh and ready to go in the spring. Herman's suggestion to have the engine checked over is a good one. Take the coach to a Cummins shop and have them give it a good examination. If you are not familiar with the costs of operating a diesel engine, while you are at the shop, check their prices for an oil change with filters for oil, fuel and air. Unless these services have been recently performed, you should plan on having those done once you take the coach. If the coach has been lived in, things like the water heater, water pump, refrigerator, etc. will have lots of wear on them and may be replacement items in the near future. If the coach hasn't been lived in, it these items could be almost new but rubber parts and seals may be dried or cracked. Check to see that they all work properly before agreeing to the price or adjust the price and deal with the problem yourself. Make sure the slides work, be sure to get an owners manual with the coach. Try the leveling system to make sure it works. Check the water pump and water system for leaks. Try out each of the faucets and check drains under for leaks. Operate the toilet to verify it works and that seals will hold water in the bowl. If the coach is in a northern climate, improper winterizing could result in damage to water pipes and drains. Fully pressurize the water system and run water into the gray and black water tanks and then dump those to verify that the valves work properly and are not leaking. In short, check out all the bells and all the whistles as well. Be sure you have information on operation of the AV systems in the coach. Turning on the TV can be a bit more of an exercise than it is at home. As the bells and whistles become more numerous, the number of remotes to operate them also becomes greater. A coach that is inactive my have corrosion problems with the electrical system so check all switches and electrical operations to verify that they are working. Unhook the coach from shore power and test the inverter to see if it operates properly. Run the air conditioners/heat pumps to see that they work well. If the coach has been stored, find out how it was stored. Look for water stains or damage on the ceiling especially around air conditioners, vents and windows. Check inside of cabinets and the basement storage compartments for indication of mice or insects. Tires that are 7 years old are considered unserviceable due to their age and deterioration of the rubber. Since the coach is nominally 7 years old and hasn't had that many miles on it I would assume that you will be purchasing a set of tires immediately. You can check the production date of the tires by reading the date code on stamped on each tire. Use the search box at the top, right side of this page to check the tires section of this forum for more help here. If the tires are newer, they should have been stored on a solid surface. Asphalt is better than dirt, concrete is better than asphalt and wood or plastic is better than concrete. Indoors is the best storage for tires as well as the exterior condition of the coach. One final thought. If your wife is afraid of being stranded, she may not be that comfortable with RV'ing. There are road service/towing policies that can be purchased to get you off the road. I believe most of us who have large coaches have such policies. You are purchasing a large complex machine and it will break down occasionally. If your wife can accept this as a means of dealing with being stranded, you're good to go. If having plans disrupted by an occasional breakdown and spending a day or two in the shop while on the road is going to upset her greatly, you might have to reconsider this purchase. I'd take my time, talk over her concerns and make sure you have a strategy to deal with her concerns that is acceptable to her. You know what they say, if Mama isn't happy...

We have used a Sunbeam electric mattress pad for years. We had a modified sine wave inverter and it would blitz the controls if it was even plugged in (not turned on) when we were on the inverter. We made a practice of unplugging it when we unplugged the electric. That works when you remember. I think we went through three of them before giving up. Now we have a sine wave inverter Xantrax RS3500 and we have no problems with our mattress pad. It works on inverter just fine.

See my post, third from the top I think. The reference I had was for a nationwide service. I know there are shops in Georgia and Florida plus more across the country. If the link doesn't work, reply here and I'll search and update it.

Keep marching up that hill Marine! Tom

Thanks for your help. I was able to successfully load the album onto my blog entry. Now I have another concern. When I open my most recent blog entry, there used to be a listing of previous entries in my blog along the right side of the page. Now there is only a calendar. I can see that dates with blog entries can be selected to view previous blogs. I think it made it easier for viewers to read previous entries if they were listed with titles and dates rather than clicking a date on the calendar. Let's face it for most of the blogs on FMCA you won't find entries for several months back. I also know that you can access the full list of blogs by selecting the blog title at the top of the page but this is hardly a prominent button for people to use. I can see the listing of previous blogs on the general blog page with a chronological listing of all recent blogs. That is a way to go back to a few of my recent posts. Would like to see it easier for people to navigate back to any previous post. Finally, when I select the blog for the 11th on the calendar with my blog it says there are no entries yet. I drafted the most recent entry of my blog on the 10th and just posted it this morning, the 11th. There is no active button on the 10th, so that is no help. Is that confusing the software and causing the no entry yet comment? Or is there a delay before the blog entry is available to the public?

We are taking care of our two granddaughters, age 5 and 3. Our first day was a trip to a local zoo and amusement park in Lodi, California. Day two we planned to stay at home. It turned out to be a very good plan as the second day it rained all day. We had planned on being outdoors for part of the day but we were all inside the motor home for the day. A day indoors with the girls is eased by Louise's experience as an elementary school teacher. We keep a supply of crayons, stickers, coloring books, scissors and drawing paper in the motor home at all times. On a rainy day those are available on the table-side counter all day long. Anytime the girls want to draw or color, they can sit down and go to work. We also have a variety of favorite animated movies available. The final piece of the hat trick is the Wii game. The girls also bring a few toys from home. Finally, every young child needs a nap after lunch. Louise was catching up with the laundry all day long. The girls enjoyed watching the Splendide washer/dryer tumble the clothes as it washed and dried. They had never seen a washing machine with a window so this was a novelty. That evening they wanted to watch the washer TV so the girls set up a step stool and a seat cushion in front of the washer. Louise picked up on that and got out my construction flashlight, placed it on the bathroom counter and aimed it at the washer door. The girls thought this was real fun. We had to referee who had the best seat a couple of times. This now ranks right up there on my Art Linkletter list of things our grandchildren like about our motor home. Our final day with the girls we planned a picnic lunch at Columbia State Park. We woke up in the morning to the sound of rain on the roof. I checked the Weather Bug and there was some hope. As the morning continued, so did the rain. About 11:30 we decided to go ahead with our plans. Columbia State Park is an 1849 era gold rush town. Many of the original buildings remain and have been preserved. Some of the buildings are dedicated to their original purpose, a bank, the assay house, a pharmacy, a fire house, a bowling alley, a livery and blacksmith shop. Other buildings house shops, restaurants and stores. They have a gold panning experience for people to try and some lightly excavated mining areas the kids can climb around on bedrock left between mined areas. The drive from San Andreas where we are staying to Columbia State Park is about 30 miles and there are two ways to get there. We decide to make it a round trip, taking a different route going to and from the park. The route on Parrots Ferry Road has spectacular scenery. We cross an arm of New Melones Lake on the Stanislas River and then drive along it for some distance. We'll cross the reservoir in another place on the return trip. When we arrive at the state park it is still raining lightly. The picnic tables are in a low draw between parking lots and water is standing around the base of the tables. We picnic in the car. Louise makes restroom runs with one of the girls before lunch, the other after lunch. As we finish lunch the rain stopped. We venture forth to explore the town. The first building we pass has an ice cream parlor. The girls have been here before and we explain that we will get ice cream on our way back to the car. Our next stop is the gold panning shop. They have rocks and minerals on sale but the gold panning is closed on a cool rainy week day. We walk through the panning area looking at the water troughs that would house the running water for panning. At the far end is a rock maze, granite bedrock that remains after the quartz veins were mined from it. The girls enjoy exploring various passages and then give climbing a try. There is mud everywhere but that doesn't stop the girls. As the day goes on they find many a puddle to walk through. If you are young, there is nothing better than a wet muddy day out playing. We visit most of the shops and stores. As we exit each building the youngest asks if we are going to the ice cream parlor. One of our first stops was the candy shop. Everyone picked out candy they wanted. We spent a while at the bowling alley. There is a nine pin set up complete with pins and balls. I was the pin spotter, Louise helped the girls get the balls off the return rack so no fingers were smashed. The girls took turns knocking down pins. We spent a few minutes at the blacksmith shop picking out a dinner triangle for our new house. We found some period toys at a general store. A penny whistle and a ball and cup for the girls to play with. The youngest is fascinated by a guitar on display. The rule is look but don't touch but a three year old can't remember that for long. I go to remind her and see the price on the guitar, $3000. I picked her up explaining I didn't have enough money to buy that guitar! We took a quick tour of the visitors center and museum. By the time we got back to the ice cream parlor they were closed! Disaster. We knew of another ice cream stop on the way back to the girls home so we said we would stop and get ice cream there. They took it well, no complaining. Our trip home was delayed for about a half hour as an accident was cleared from the road. We were several curves back so couldn't see the action. On our way through Angels Camp (of Mark Twain Jumping Frog fame) I spotted a lighted ice cream cone in a store window. I pulled into a parking spot, hopped out and hustled the girls to the shop before they closed. It turns out they serve food as well and they were open when we left. The youngest ordered a bowl of spotted frog ice cream, the oldest wanted double chocolate. I ordered a bowl of gold nugget ice cream and Louise had a cup of hot coffee. The spotted frog ice cream was mint with cookie crumbles. My gold nugget ice cream was butter pecan. This was the perfect end to a fun day. We stopped on the way back to pick up a couple pizzas at the Pizza Factory in Valley Springs then returned the girls to their mother. We regaled their mother with their adventures over pizza. The girls were mastering their new toys and telling tales of their own. Louise and I left, ready to put our feet up for a while.

There is a power transfer switch which transfers the source of power from shore power to generator power and vise-versa. The switch on most RV's works automatically. It sounds as if the switch has failed. This would explain why you only get electric when connected to shore power. I suspect it also may control or affect the start/run function of your generator or your generator senses no power use and shuts down. This switch is housed in a grey box about 8" x 8" x 4" somewhere in the bowels of the motor home. Look inside near the power cable connection, inverter, etc. The box houses 220V electric and should not be opened unless you are very comfortable with 220V electric. It is not easily repaired and likely will need to be replaced. You should probably take this to a dealer for repair.

I'm still trying to link an album in the gallery to my blog entry on CA Highway 4 and can't seem to do it. I wrote the blog first, then created the album separately. Then I went back and edited the blog trying to link the album to the blog. Nothing shows up as far as I can see. How should this work? Can I only link the album when first creating a blog entry? You did this for one other entry for me but when I viewed it, the link broke and I could no longer see any evidence of the album entry when viewing that blog.

So you were right Herman, I'm on the west coast it was 12:34 on my clock, yours showed up as 2:34. Thanks Brett!

It wasn't that late, you missed a 1 in front of that time, 12:34. I was winding down from a late night card game.

OK, so I'm a cheapskate! $30+ for a night is money wasted as far as I'm concerned. I don't want a meal, I'm not going to play putt-putt golf, I don't even want to waste time hooking up and unhooking. I'm going to park about dark, maybe get a snack and watch a little TV before going to bed. In the morning I'll get up, check tire pressure with my Pressure Pro, adjust tire pressure if needed, circle the rig to check the towing hook-ups, bicycle rack and make sure there is nothing under the motor home. Then I'm on my way as early as possible. When I make these kind of stops I'm on my way somewhere and I'm making the most of the daylight I have on any given day. Stay off the interstates if you want but when I'm trying to make as many miles as I can in a day, you can't beat the interstate highways. I'm not sightseeing on these trips, I have a place to be and a time I need to be there. Not all RV trips are relaxed touring trips. For those of us who are going somewhere quickly, a quick overnight stop is ideal and an RV park isn't needed or desired. I've stayed in all sorts of overnight stops and only felt security was an issue in a few out of many hundreds. I'll plan my travel to stop somewhere other than Van Horn until I hear that they have changed their law. Even when I'm traveling at a slower pace, I'll bypass an area that exhibits an unfriendly attitude toward RV's.

A tow dolly wouldn't qualify as four wheels up. This implies that your only choice is to tow on a trailer, all four wheels on the trailer. There is a company that outfits vehicles for towing with disconnects for the drive train. I'm sure someone will come up with the name. It may or may not work for the Town and Country. It would likely void any warranty. For the PT Cruiser, if it can be towed on a tow dolly there is no need to disconnect the battery. The rear wheels are coasting and the rest of the car, engine, odometer, etc. has no idea what is going on! Before you purchase a tow dolly, you might want to try loading the PT Cruiser on the dolly. We had a dolly and we had to carry extra boards to raise the ramps enough to allow loading a Pontiac. We abandoned the tow dolly after one year on the road.

Yes, I would think that a per person charge for extra people would cover everything. We have encountered parks where you pay a higher fee for 50A electric and then they want an extra charge to use your air conditioners. I figure I get 50A, if I need more than that I should pay extra but not the way they see it. It's their business they get to run it the way they want. If enough of us vote with our wheels they will go out of business. If they are the only park in the area, they can pretty much do what they want with extra charges and fees. One more note, the costs of operating a shower include heating the water, assuming you are getting a hot shower. That is something I hadn't thought of previously. So another factor in the cost of showers is the cost of electricity or gas. In Colorado, water is a high cost commodity so I understand the coin operated showers especially in state parks where the fees are otherwise low.

John, Assume nothing! Most road service providers will provide a service call to bring you a tire and have it installed. You pay for the tire, even if it isn't the new tire or in the right size that you need. They pay for the service call which is much cheaper than a tow. Putting any tire that will fit on your rig will get you off the road. Then it is your problem from there. Been there - done that! This is from experience with Good Sam and Coach Net, maybe AAA would pay for the tow.

I see your location is on the East Coast. We found the campgrounds in the East, particularly in the NJ, DE, MD, VA area to have an attitude that said, "You should be thankful that we'll let you stay here." They were definitely not familiar with customer service! We also found many of them full because there simply aren't that many in that part of the country. So they can be as independent as they want and still get all the business they want. I've run into a few others in the NE that are the same. Coin operated showers, I'd hook up the sewer hose and shower in the rig! I've only seen those at a state park in the black hills of South Dakota many years ago. It's the sort of thing you would expect in the desert but I guess the cost of water must be very high in that area.

We've had a similar experience with a Norcold 1200. Last fall (2010) we were in a campground preparing to depart a campground for another leg of our trip. DW opened the right hand refrigerator door and it dropped to the floor. We had a broken bottle of wine, spilled milk, etc. The bottom hinge failed. I had noticed a screw on the floor in that general location but couldn't find where it came from. I believe that it came out of the bottom hinge which then failed. I used the ever popular duct tape to reattach the door so that it could be opened enough to use the refrigerator for the weekend. We were headed to a rally and techs there were able to repair the hinge. We parked the rig for the winter at our winter retreat in Texas. Our first stop this spring was in San Antonio, Iron Horse RV, where we had a household refrigerator installed in place of the Norcold. I wrote up the process in a posting, Replacing a Norcold Refrigerator and included a set of pictures in the gallery.

Our trip to California had one commitment, taking care of our two granddaughters, ages 5 and 3, during their two week school break. The school is on a year round schedule which explains the vacation this time of year. We look at this as a special privilege of grandparenthood. Monday we stayed with the girls at their house. Tuesday morning Dad dropped the girls off on his way to work. The girls would be ours for three days and two nights. Mom had several night events at the school where she works. Dad's schedule runs in 12 hour shifts. We'd save traveling to and from and the girls get the fun of staying with us in the motor home. All of our grandchildren think that the coolest thing about our motor home is that the couch folds out into a bed. We have wheels, a big engine, we can go anywhere. We have satellite TV, satellite radio, hot running water, cold drinks in the refrigerator, air conditioning and heat on demand. But none of that matters ... the first thing the girls want to do is turn the couch into a bed! It's ten o'clock in the morning and they want to turn the couch into a bed. We had plans for the day, a trip to the local zoo and amusement park, Micke Park in Lodi, California. After two weeks of near 100 degree weather, the weather has been rainy and cool this week. We arrive at the zoo after several attempts to navigate an area with roads that have been rerouted after our GPS data. There are about a dozen cars in the parking lot. We pay to enter, where are the restrooms? We enjoy walking through at a child's pace. Check 'em off, eagle, snow leopard, turtles - yawn, baboons - he-he!, iguana, doves and ibis. Thirty minutes later, we're leaving the zoo. The attendant at the zoo had told us she didn't think the amusement park was open but a short walk and we found the open gate. The young man who sold us the tickets for the rides left the booth to be the train engineer for our first ride. This is a small amusement park, the most challenging ride is the scrambler which grandpa rides with the girls. They both love the scrambler. The girls ride the cars, the airplanes, merry-go-round, the strawberries and the fish. Along the way the girls make friends with a boy who is here with dad. They exchange names, become friends in an instant. They are the only three children in the amusement park. The two boys who are running the entire park today take turns escorting us all from ride to ride. There is a Japanese Garden so the three children and adults go to see the carp swimming in the ponds. The girls love fish and enjoy watching the carp, marveling at all the interesting colors and patterns. Did I mention that dad is an avid fisherman and the oldest girl has a stuffed fish that she sleeps with? Yes, as in a mafia novel, she sleeps with the fish! The fish was with us this morning, waiting in the car while we enjoyed the park. Both girls give their new found friend a hug goodbye and we're off to the parking lot. Lunch comes next. We're off to Denny's where the girls start with a trip to the restroom. They order kid pizzas and smoothies. And yes, there is another trip to the restroom for both. We need a quick stop at Wal-Mart which turns into another trip to the restroom for both girls. Boy, grandma is getting a real work-out doing restroom duty. A quick stop for gas and we're on our way home. Day one comes to an exciting close as we fold out the couch into a bed! The girls sleep well through the night.

We've had seal problems from time to time. One cause as Chuck points out is when debris blocks the ball seal from closing fully. I had to clean that out one time. Now I make sure visitors know that everything has to be in the water and has to go down the hole! The other problem is occasional drying of the seal itself. I use silicon spray, allow a few hours for that to penetrate and the problem is solved. This solution works for weeks to months at a time. I keep a can of silicon spray in the cabinet above the toilet.

Earlier today the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced that the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to astrophysicists Saul Perlmutter, Brian Schmidt, and Adam Riess — a trio of deep-space observers whose competition to spot the most distant supernovae led to the realization that the expansion of our universe is accelerating. We've known about the expansion of the universe since the 1920's when Edwin Hubble collected evidence in the form of red-shifted light from distant galaxies. Now we know that the rate of expansion is increasing. The energy that drives this expansion is now known as dark energy. Dark energy is thought to make up 70% of the entire universe. That's right, 70% of the entire universe! Dark matter, also recently detected, makes up another 25% of the universe. That leaves 5% for the visible universe. All the galaxies, stars, planets, mountains, rivers, oceans, all known forms of energy and, yes, people, are contained in that 5%. That means that all we ordinarily know of our universe amounts to just 5% of the actual universe. We live in a universe that is 95% outside our understanding at the present time. Dark matter and dark energy are cutting edge research in astrophysics at the present time. Supporting data for this discovery was obtained using the Hubble Space Telescope. Future studies will involve the use of the James Webb Space Telescope as well as a number of Earth and space based instruments. What possible value will our understanding of these factors of the universe be to future generations? No one at this time can say. To quote Robert P. Kirshner, a professor of astronomy at Harvard, in the New York Times today, "The case for investment in science often rests on the connection between technology and economic development, or national defense, or relief from suffering and disease. These are good arguments. Everybody wants to be rich and safe and immortal. But even in stringent times, it seems like a good idea to do some science to find out what the world is made of and how it works." There are endless examples of research on what at the time seemed like something that would never be useful. Many times these research efforts eventually turned out to lead to a breakthrough in understanding that produced modern technologies that make our lives significantly different from the lives of our ancestors. For myself, I'm sure that I am living in the best of times, just as our ancestors thought they lived in the best of times. It is my sincere hope and belief that the human race will continue to advance our conditions of living and understanding of our world.

I appreciate the note. It certainly is beautiful country. We took our two granddaughters to Columbia State Park today. Had a great time once the rain stopped. I posted some pictures from our exploration last Friday. Look in the Gallery for our exploration along CA Hwy 4.

We tow almost all the time but there have been occasions when I don't have the car attached. Without the toad, the motor home definitely has more pick-up. The other occasion when I feel the toad tugging is when we have gone over a bump, a bridge or overpass, or railroad tracks. As the toad reacts to the bumps, it does a little push-pull action. This is probably related to how much your tow bar allows the car to move before it reaches its stop. All tow bars will allow some movement. I've had several times when the toad didn't shift to neutral and we didn't detect it until we started to pull out. There was no mistaking that. I'd have had to mash the accelerator to get the coach to move. I've never pulled against the parking brake but if the parking brake is working properly it should be a noticeable difference in the acceleration of the coach.