tbutler

As the news of Harvey begins to fade from the news, the next major disaster looms just off the southeast coast of the US. A hurricane that looks like a buzz saw in the satellite movie clips is making its way toward Florida. There are other states that may be the location of landfall, Georgia, South and North Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi are all in the cone of uncertainty. So as I write I'm using Florida but this applies to many other states as well. The damage this hurricane causes could easily surpass Harvey, Andrew, Katrina and all previous hurricanes in recorded history. Each storm was different, none was good. If you own an RV, you are ideally prepared to evacuate. I can't imagine not doing so. There is nothing you can do to save your sticks and bricks house. If you are in it when it floods or is destroyed by wind, you are risking your life for no good reason. You are risking not only your life, those who may have to come rescue you are at risk as well. If you live in Florida, you likely have a good understanding of hurricanes. If you don't live there, you should be gone by now. For those not familiar with hurricanes, Irma is a monster. Wind speeds of over 180 MPH have been registered by the Hurricane Hunters. Wind gusts over 200 MPH have also been measured. Those are unencumbered wind speeds, taken over the open ocean, there is nothing to slow the wind. As Irma approaches land, wind speeds at the surface will be less, but not much less. But the wind speed isn't just wind. The wind carries debris. We're not talking about lawn chairs, we're talking about pieces of houses, 2x4's, roof shingles, broken glass, street signs, entire roofs of buildings, sheets of metal stripped off metal buildings and so much more. The faster the wind speeds, the more debris and the larger the pieces. When any of these objects impact your home at 100 MPH, it will cause damage. Buildings that are sturdy buildings sustain horrible damage during hurricanes. You don't want to be in the building when that happens. Flooding due to rain, storm surge and runoff in ditches and streams will be severe over a wide area. This storm covers a huge area, states other than Florida will almost certainly experience heavy rain and flooding. If your home is flooded and you stayed in it, now you are living in misery. The water is not pristine, it carries bacteria, chemicals, mud, insects, and more. There is no normal once water enters you home. The rainfall almost certainly will not be what Harvey brought. Unlike Harvey, Irma is in a hurry. It will be hit and run. Like any hit and run, you won't believe how much damage can happen in a short period of time. Following the storm, even if your home sustains no damage, life will be very difficult. There will be no electric service for many days, weeks or perhaps even months. There will be no air conditioning or fans. Supplies like water, groceries, fuel, batteries, toilet paper will all be in limited supply. Mosquitoes and other insects will swarm over the debris. An alligator was removed from one of the homes in Houston, Florida will likely see the same. If you are able to leave, do so. Do so now. You can return following the storm and be a helpful volunteer resource instead of being a victim. Don't wait for officials to order evacuation. Get ahead of the game, hit the road. Public officials have to balance many factors before ordering evacuation. You as an individual have only your own personal safety and your life to consider. Maybe Irma won't hit where you live. Why take a chance? Waiting will only make evacuation slower and more difficult. If the storm misses, you will have had a trip to remember. We are all rooting for a miss but everyone is planning on being hit. Hope for the best, plan for the worst. Good luck to those in Florida and along the East Coast.

There was a long discussion of this several years ago. After reading that, there are several other discussions you may want to read. Use the search function above and put in Montana. You will get several other discussions that you may want to look at. Most of these relate to cautions and unhappy stories. Lot's of people do it, probably most get by with it. I wouldn't want to be looking over my shoulder worrying about getting caught. Sleeping well at night is worth a whole bunch of money.

Herman, What a difference one "O" can make!

There is a real difference between a destination RV park and your run-of-the-mill short stop park. Like rossboyer, our park offers a variety of activities, in the park, that are quite attractive if they fit your interests. In addition, you get to know the rest of the people in the campground, they become a second family for you. Some great friendships from all over the US and Canada.

It could be a faulty sensor. We had an overheat code but the temperature sensor was at fault. It was replaced and worked fine.

The 7.5 KW Onan Generator will shut down for any of a number of reasons. This is to protect the generator. As jleamont said, look at the blinking light on the on/off switch on the dash or on the generator. If it is blinking it is giving you an error code. To interpret that code you need the operators manual. If you don't have it handy or can't find one, you can get it on-line. Here is a link to help you understand and operate your generator. It doesn't have the error code information. To get to the owners manuals on-line, you have to register with Cummins Quick Serv. If you call Cummins you can discuss the problem with them. (800) 888–6626 They can talk you through reading the error codes. Be at the gen set when you call.

Rather than turning off the inverter at the rotary switch which would I believe cut off all power to that circuit, there most likely is a switch on the inverter or a way to turn off the inverter in the operation menu on the inverter control panel. Turning off the inverter on the control panel would be the most likely way to get battery charging while having the inverter off.

If you have the standard Splendide washer/dryer combo, their website indicates that it operates on a 15A 120V circuit. Ours has a 20A breaker on that circuit. Either way, you should be able to operate that unit when on 30A shore power. If you have a different washer/dryer, you can look in your manual as Chris says or check the circuit breaker in your 120V power panel. You can also look up the model you have on the dryer manufacturers web site.

I agree, the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) completely escaped any damage, no wind, no rain, no flooding. None of the storm water goes to the Rio Grande River. All those rivers drain back into the Gulf of Mexico. There may be some people relocated to the RGV but there are plenty of RV parks in the valley and most have had empty spaces during the winter. Generally FEMA relocates people close to their home and job. Corpus Christi is three hours travel time from the RGV and that is the closest area that sustained severe damage.

Every RV'er should have a good understanding of electricity and the various kinds of connections you will be making with your coach. My favorite reference is RV Electric. This is a complete reference that covers the basics of 20A, 30A and 50A wiring, how it works, how you test it, what problems may occur, even how to wire an outlet for your RV at your home. There are also instructions with labeled pictures to show you how to build your own test equipment for 30A and 50A outlets. If you don't have a good understanding of the electric power supply then you absolutely must have a surge guard to protect your RV. The potential damage that can be done with a mis-wired outlet can be very expensive. If it only catches one bad power post in your RV'ing experience, the surge guard will have paid for itself. As WildBill says, current can fluctuate faster than you can detect. A surge guard will protect you from current changes that you can't detect with an ordinary tester.

If you have jumper cables, you can jump the car to the house batteries to start the generator. + to +, - to - just like jumping another car. Both systems are 12V. The car has plenty of power to crank the generator. Once started, the generator shouldn't need battery power to continue operation.

Our hearts go out to all who are caught in the midst of this disaster. The pictures are horrible and the personal pain is unimaginable. Be well, and carry on.

I posted a few pictures from our expedition. Check out my blog here on FMCA.com

Haven't been there but have nothing but good experiences with Cummins Corporate Shops. There is one at 3025 North Home Street, Mishawaka, IN 46545, 574-252-2154. Seeing that it's near Elkhart and Elkhart is RV Central and has been for years, I'm certain they would do a fine job on your coach. By the way, exhaust manifolds must be a problem with the 400 ISL. We are on our third replacement.

Ouch! Hate to hear bad news like that. We'll hope for the best for you.

The Junior Play when I was in high school was Harvey. My best friend played the lead role, Elwood P. Dowd. Elwood, a grown man, had an imaginary friend, Harvey. Harvey was a rabbit, a six foot tall rabbit, according to Elwood. I had a minor part, acting was never my thing. Anyway, these days there is another Harvey and it isn't a rabbit. Harvey is dumping a huge quantity of rain on the upper Gulf Coast of Texas and now Louisiana. A stalled storm can unload a huge amount of water on any given spot. Think of it as a conveyor belt, picking up water from the warm water in the Gulf of Mexico and carrying it to the coast of Texas where it deposits it, continuously, in huge quantities. Several years ago we had a single thunderstorm that sat right on top of our RV Park in Texas, Sandpipers Resort. I can say that the thunderstorm sat there for one hour because I looked at the radar record as and after the storm was over. In one hour this thunderstorm dropped 5+ inches of rain on our park. The low spot in the park became a lake, we dubbed it Lake Sandpiper. Our mobile home was on the northern edge of Lake Sandpiper. Fortunately for us, 5 inches wasn't enough to do any damage but a few other homes sustained some minor damage. Lake Sandpiper, having no drainage outlet other than a 2" pump, persisted for a week. That was but a single thunderstorm. I used to live in a rural area in Missouri. We had a thunderstorm that dropped 11 inches of rain in one hour. It was an amazing to watch the water come down in such a torrent. Immediately, the local river became a rolling current, filling it's banks and then spilling over into adjacent agricultural fields. Tiny creeks became impassible, low areas flooded and became stagnant for weeks. Crops died from excess water, people were delayed on their way home but no one died and the area recovered almost without any concern or help being necessary. Harvey is a different matter. Harvey is a succession of such storms. And the storms aren't falling on an agricultural area, not even a hilly area, Houston and many of the other towns along the Gulf Coast are on the coastal plain, a wide flat area along the coast of Texas that extends from Louisiana all the way to Mexico. Drainage is slow in flat areas particularly when they are only a few feet above sea level. Add to that the fact that much of the Houston area is covered with pavement which doesn't absorb water but sheds it into nearby ditches. Pavement isn't the only impermeable area, homes themselves have roofs which are by design impermeable. Who would buy a leaky roof? So lawns and parks are the primary areas that absorb water when it rains. Urban areas are particularly prone to flooding. I can recall a visit to Houston many years ago, on our way from Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio to Fort Bragg, NC. We were visiting some relatives that lived there. During our visit a short thunderstorm passed over the area. Upon leaving, we saw significant street flooding. Nothing that prevented our travel but we drove through six inches of water in places. So Houston and it's surroundings are prone to flooding and Harvey is the perfect storm for the area. I'm not ignoring other towns, many towns further south along the shore took the brunt of the winds of Harvey. There have been many clips on the news showing the destroyed buildings. Some towns are nearly completely leveled. Fortunately the death toll in those towns is amazing low. Within Houston, the disaster is multiplied by millions of lives. A city has problems that no other area has. The density of population multiplies the inconvenience, loss of life, financial loss by millions. Ability to move the population, evacuate the area, is highly limited by the sheer numbers that are involved. The after-effects of this storm are going to be sobering. Katrina and now Harvey have inflicted huge losses and pain on populations in large cities. Anyone involved in disaster planning for large population areas should be alarmed and should be working to re-evaluate their disaster plans. Metropolitan planning needs to account for population density and evacuation routes and plans need to be studied and improved. We can do better if we will learn from the past and present. Our home in Edinburg, Texas was spared. Harvey hit land far enough north that people staying in our park sent messages via Facebook and other communication letting us know through pictures of sunrises and sunsets and words advising us of no wind, no rain, that all was well in Sandpipers. In fact, announcements about RV Parks recently have focused on a very few that are taking storm refugees. I can't imagine a park that wouldn't take refugees from Harvey if space were available. In the RGV there are about 80 parks that will accommodate thousands of RV's during the winter. Those parks are largely empty right now and could provide a place for RV refugees to stay. If you are looking for a place to go with your RV to get out of the way of the clean-up, call any of the parks in the RGV. With luck you may even get a site that might last through the winter. There is no doubt that complete recovery will take years. Tonight I sit in a safe and secure place but I can imagine the intense concern and dread of those in the Houston area. It's called empathy, a normal human emotion. Don't fight it, consider your life and what you would feel if you lived in the Houston or central coastal area of Texas or Louisiana tonight. Our thoughts are with those in the grip of the storm tonight and into the future. "Lake Sandpiper" April 10, 2015

Borrow a Dyson and vacuum with it, then tell me it does a good job. We have a compact (fold down handle) Dyson. The first time Louise used it she said, " Where did all that dirt come from?" We have carpet. The built in may work OK on tile or hardwood floors.

We have the standard 4 x 6V battery set-up. They are AGM batteries and on their fourth summer. I'm suspecting they are nearing replacement. They used to run the furnace all night and the refrigerator as well without a problem so I'm seeing some reduced performance. I'll keep an eye on them. We don't do the off-the-grid thing that often so I don't worry about the defrost. In fact, I get a certain amount of pleasure not having to do the dig-into-the-ice thing like I used to do with the Nocold.

The RGV escaped without wind or rain. All the resorts from South Padre Island to Brownsville, Harlingen, Weslaco, San Juan, Pharr, McAllen, Mission and Edinburg, etc., all good, not a problem. Come on down.

I have the decal on the "eyebrow" on our motor home. You can get any color. I put these on in 2013. I found a vendor, Simply Etched Stickers, at the FMCA Gillette Convention. They are easy to put on the coach and mine still look great. I didn't want to drill holes for the FMCA plaque for the front of the coach so I put these on. The link above has a photo of a coach with their stickers (decals) on the "eyebrow" (above the windshield) of the example coach. I have the regular FMCA oval (mine are the earlier design with raised letters) on the rear ladder as is traditional. The raised letters are loosing their ink. When we go to Gillette next year, I'll look for this company and may order one for the rear of the coach and get rid of the physical plaques entirely. In 2013 they did this on site. I paid and left the information one day and picked up the finished product the next day. Highly recommend their work.

We leave our inverter on full time. Louise likes to have 120V electric all the time. I like it because you don't have to reset the clock on the microwave every time the inverter goes off. We are in the coach about six months of the year so living in the coach, having the inverter on makes sense for us. Our Xantrex inverter/charger has automatic generator start which will start the generator when the battery charge drops too low. This facilitates staying off the power grid. I never have to worry about checking the battery charge, the inverter/charger monitors that for me. We store our coach with 50A power hooked up. We leave the inverter on all the time there as well. If we were storing the coach without any AC power, turning off the inverter would minimize battery drain. It takes electric to run the inverter/charger even if it isn't charging or powering anything (standby mode). The only way to get zero battery drain is to disconnect the house batteries. Your battery cut-off switch may or may not stop all battery drain. Many sensors like the smoke detector, carbon monoxide or propane detector may be wired directly to battery. In that case, your batteries will eventually loose their charge. You don't need much electric, an ordinary 20A extension cord can carry plenty of electricity to run the inverter/charger and keep you batteries charged. If you are parked in a storage area with no power, you could use a solar battery charger to keep your batteries charged. The house lights in your coach and your water pump should all work without the inverter/charger. You can verify this, turn off the inverter charger and see what works and what doesn't.

Every adventure expands you travel possibilities. Glad you were successful with your eclipse expedition. We spent Saturday night before the eclipse on the Little America parking lot. Little America is a travel stop on I-80 in western Wyoming. Our evening was cool and we shut the generator down before going to bed. I was awoken in the morning by the generator autostart. Our residential refrigerator had drawn the batteries down to the point where they needed recharging. I checked the weather at a number of our possibilities on the line of totality. We decided to head north to Riverton, Wyoming. We left Little America about 9:00, filled up with diesel in Green River and then turned north. Louise called a campground in Riverton and we got a campsite with full hookups at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. We were able to see the eclipse from that campground. Had we not gotten a campsite we'd have spent Sunday night on a parking lot or roadside somewhere and either viewed the eclipse from there or taken the toad to a spot where we could have seen the eclipse. Having the ability to live off the grid makes our coaches so much more useful. Friday we are leaving Fort Morgan Colorado on our way to Valley Springs, California. We will spend our nights on this trip at rest areas, Walmart parking lots and similar locations. Traveling this way allows us to make and break camp with little effort and little delay.

When we packed up and headed out to be full time, I imagined we would, at least for several years feel out different areas, moving from place to place throughout the winter. It didn't turn out that way. We spent Thanksgiving in the New Orleans area then moved on to the Houston area. From there we moved west on I-10 to San Antonio. We stayed a month. New Year's Eve on the Riverwalk was great. Dancing, fireworks and dinner outdoors on the Riverwalk made for a memorable evening. However, we had lap blankets and a propane heater nearby to make dinner anywhere near comfortable. While we stayed in Houston one of the workers at the park asked if we had been to "the valley?" She had to explain what "the valley" was and in doing so made it sound very nice so we decided to see if we could find weather a little (Louise said a lot) warmer. When we pulled into Sandpipers Resort in Edinburg, we were warmly welcomed, by the staff, the residents and by the weather. We have taken trips, motor home, aviation and auto during the winter and it is always cold and unpleasant. For years we spent the winter in the motor home, parked on a lot that we had an annual contract on so we could make a few improvements and to ensure we would have a place to stay next year. Now we have a mobile home with the motor home parked in the driveway for the season. We found friends and a host of interesting activities at Sandpipers. Most of us are retired, similar in age and interest. We have many Canadians in the park and even had European visitors almost every year. We play golf with friends all winter long. We bowl in a league that starts and ends with the Winter Texan season. There is a crew of tennis players in the park who will allow me to play with them. I have certified as a Texas Master Naturalist and do a variety of nature oriented volunteer work including assisting with banding of birds. I love birds and this gives me a chance to experience not only a bird in the bush but also a bird in the hand. Can you imagine holding a Cardinal, a Green Jay, a Great Kiskadee or a House Wren in your hand? The RGV is famous for its exotic birds, and they are just common birds where we stay all winter long. Louise has established herself as a guest writer in the McAllen newspaper, The Monitor. She writes opinion pieces and theme articles regularly including while we are on the road in the summer. Louise has also been elected to the Texas Silver Haired Legislature and is taking leadership roles in the statewide organization. Louise also loves playing cards and there are a number of card games going on in the park almost every day. So why would we leave this place? Because we have a motor home. But we're not leaving to head north in the winter. Tried it, not fun. When the temperature starts to push the 90's regularly, then, we're gone. We love being out on our own on the road when the road is welcoming. Are we permanently based in Edinburg for the winter? Maybe. Only time will tell. In our travels we haven't seen a place that fits us better so we'll be back in Edinburg about October 23, 2017.

That said, you do realize that coastal dealers will move their stock to areas where salt corrosion is not common or expected. Unless you are acquainted with the first owner, I would assume that this coach has seen some salt, maybe at the coast or in the northern states where winter snow magically turns to salt. Even a summer trip to Alaska will result in a strong exposure to calcium chloride which they use for dust control on their road construction projects.

Ouch, no one comes out of this situation smiling. Patience was in short supply. In New Zealand, all bridges outside of the cities and towns are single lane bridges. One side has a yield sign. If no one is on the bridge, you proceed. If someone is on the bridge you wait until traffic on the bridge clears then you cross. If you have no yield sign then when approaching the bridge with traffic coming from the other side, you proceed, the other traffic will wait. If we aren't going to address the infrastructure problems in this country, we may be headed in the same direction.