tbutler

The inverter is still running because that is what it does. When you cut off all other power, the inverter works to change battery DC power into AC power... until the batteries are run down. If you want to shut down the motor home without the inverter running, you will have to turn the inverter off. I can't tell you exactly how to do that but there should be some kind of on/off or power button on the display panel for the inverter/electrical power. If there is no button, look for a menu option and a choice on the menu to power down the inverter. You should have a large book (owners manual) for your motor home. There will be a section on the electrical system. That will guide you through the specifics of how to shut down the inverter in your motor home. If you don't have the booklet, call Monaco RV, LLC (877-466-6226) to get instructions and a replacement owners manual. By the way, there is no need for the 15 amp cord if the generator is running. Your generator will provide all the power you need to run your air conditioners. The system is set up to accept power from only one input at a time. If you are plugged into shore power, that is where your electric is coming from. The generator will run but its power is not being used. When you unplug from shore power, then the system automatically switches over to use generator power. When you shut the generator down, the inverter starts providing power from your batteries. Then if you plug in to shore power, the inverter stops inverting and starts charging the batteries. The system functions to accept power from only one source at a time, shore power, generator or batteries. Shore power trumps all. If no shore power, generator trumps batteries. If no shore power or generator, then the inverter is using battery power. Your 15 amp power supply was running your air conditioner. One air conditioner uses about 12 to 13 amps so yes, your extension cord would be a little warm. If you were using your heavy duty main power cord, it should not have been warm unless it was lying in the sun! The conversion plug where you plugged into the 15 amp power supply may have been a little warm. I would mention that in most modern home wiring systems only the lighting circuits are on 15 amp breakers. Most outlet circuits are on 20 amp circuits with 20 amp breakers. If you are storing your motor home, it would be a good idea to keep it plugged into that shore power source. Make sure all appliances are turned off, there will be a few energy users you can't shut off, detectors and monitors but they use very little electricity. Having the inverter charger powered from shore power allows it to keep the batteries charged so you are ready to go for your next trip. You might want to unplug the audio video electronics as they typically draw some power in a standby mode. You might be able to identify the AC circuit that supplies power to your audio video electronics and shut that circuit off at the breaker rather than unplugging all the devices individually. In almost 10 years living in our motor home full time, we never shut off our inverter. When we are in a campground, the inverter is on, keeping the batteries charged. When we unplug at a campground we have the inverter on. On the road we have AC power, no need to reset clocks. We can listen to music from the CD player. When the batteries get low or we need the air conditioners we run the generator while on the road. When we're back in a campground we plug in again. We always have 120V AC power on in our coach. Now that we have a house again, I keep the motor home plugged in all the time. We're in and out for one reason or another and it is handy to have the electric ready to go when I want to use it. Meanwhile, the inverter is keeping our batteries in tip-top shape. I have talked to people who never use their inverter. I figure it is one of the great conveniences that our motor home offers and I use it to the max.

I was standing at the window of our daughter's home looking at our motor home parked in their driveway. I was baby-sitting two of our grandchildren, the payment we make for camping in our daughter's campground. I do the early shift because our son-in-law and daughter leave for work earlier than Louise likes to rise and shine. I enjoy the early shift. If I'm quiet, the children will sleep until my shift is over. I can use the time to read the paper and catch up on my computer communications. Anyway, back to my original thought. Looking at our motor home, I realized that our motor home offers everything we need to be at home. This is not a new thought, we've been living in it for 9-1/2 years. We are able to live independently of our daughters family even though we are parked right next to them. We interact as much or as little as we or they desire. For an extended stay that could turn into mooching on the kids, the motor home allows us to stay independent and out from underfoot. We have been here for almost two months and will be here for another two months until both my knees are replaced and I'm healthy enough to travel again. When we do hit the road again, we'll head west to California to visit with another daughter and her family and see two more grandchildren. We aren't traveling right now. We aren't parked in some exotic scenic location. We aren't in a cool summer location. Parked or on the road, our motor home enriches our life. This is one versatile machine.

Thanks, Gramps! I spent the day at a movie and walking the mall. It's feeling more natural all the time. Keep busy!

We owned a used 1994 Dynasty for three years before we traded for our current coach in 2003. It was a good coach and convinced us to purchase another Monaco product. I would encourage the current owner or you to contact Monaco RV LLC, 877-466-6226. They have all the records for all Monaco, HR, Safari, Beaver and related products. The technical staff has always been most helpful. You may not get a wiring diagram but the tech should be able to help you with your problem and be able to direct you where to find the faulty unit. In addition, they can identify the part number, manufacturer and where you can get replacement parts. They saved our bacon many times in dealing with "alterations" the first two owners had made in the wiring of our Dynasty. You will need to have the coach number (a six digit number on the end of the Mfg. number) in order for them to look up specific information on your coach. Be ready to discuss some of the diagnostics Brett has given above when you call. The more information you can supply, the better the diagnosis you will get.

I've been following this discussion and was interested in the responses. I had never really considered this an issue. From a young age, my family tent camped in campgrounds. We were outdoors most of the time. Other campers, having something in common with us, were always friendly. We invited people to our campfires and they invited us to their campfires. I have some tremendous memories of funny stories and friendships with many people whose names I no longer recall. It was a friend rich environment, as Coleman is currently advertising, the original social networking site. So when we purchased the motor home and sold the house, I just regarded it as a really big fancy tent with a diesel engine. When we pull into a campsite I'm outside unhooking and parking the car, hooking up utilities, washing the windshield, putting out door mats,etc. I always greet people, some are neighbors, others are casually walking by on the way to or from their campsite. I'll shout greetings to anyone who looks friendly or interested. When I meet someone really friendly or curious it takes quite a while to get my tasks done. This establishes me as an open friendly person who is willing to visit, talk and answer questions. People feel welcome to stop by and visit any time they see me. I frequently barbeque in warm weather and this gives me more outside time. Louise is mostly an inside person so she doesn't make all these connections unless she gets dragged into some of my connections. Louise is a dog person and if someone walks by with a dog, she'll bail out and meet the dog and visit with the owner. We have a sign and we use it if we are staying in a campground for a longer period of time - a month is my criteria. Like Bill, I don't hang it out most of the time. We have a license plate which identifies our state and that is good enough for me. Our winter park is the exception. That is a highly social park and names help people identify and locate you. At our winter park, the sign is out and everyone knocks on doors, it is just that kind of place. I even have a small porch that makes the rig friendlier for those coming to our door. Another way to indicate a welcome to visitors is to have the main door of your motor home open using only the screen door to keep bugs out. This of course works only when the weather isn't too hot or cold. We have never had any security concerns or problems when in a campground and we've stayed in some pretty humble campgrounds. I have no problem with people knocking on our door though it doesn't happen often.

Glad to help you Ward. I hope you have a great time and catch a few great meals!

Regarding staying in the motor home while the actual work is going on, that is more uncertain. The only way I know to be able to do that is to ask the management. Some work like painting almost certainly won't allow you to be in the coach while the painting is going on. We've been in the coach while doing tire work, engine work in and outside the shop, internal work such as your cabinets, etc. We've had other shops that have a strict no one in the motor home while it is in the shop. Call and talk to the shop foreman before you commit to bringing the motor home into a shop for repair. That should let you know if they will accommodate your needs or not. I think part of their answer is dependent on how you approach them with the request and the nature of your reason for wanting to stay. In other words, I believe that in many cases the same shop would give a yes to one person and no to another. Calling before you are at the shop gives them some incentive to say yes. If you are at the shop they may be more inclined to say no since you are already partially committed to having the work done there. One of our favorite repair shops is Iron Horse RV in San Antonio, Texas. This is an independent shop, not a dealer. They can take care of your body work and painting as well as the cabinet work. They have covered outdoor work areas that are adjacent to the shop. They have always allowed us to be in the coach while being worked on with the painting exception. I didn't think of them since you had a preference for the west coast. We were there two months ago and had our Norcold 1200 refrigerator replaced with a household model. They did an excellent job of modifying the cabinet and even allowed me to assist with some of the work. We were in the coach for the whole process.

We have had good experiences with Paul Evert's RV Country. This web site was very slow loading for me this evening but eventually came up. They have locations in Fresno, CA, Bullhead City, NV and Coberg, OR. We've been to their Fresno facility. I don't know about overnight stays but as full timers, there have been only a couple of times when repair shops haven't allowed us to stay in the coach overnight. We've stayed overnight at all kinds of repair facilities, Cummins, RV Dealers, Camping World, Body Shops, etc. The only instances I can think of were two different times when we were having paint work done and it would be in the paint booth overnight. I didn't want to stay then anyway! We had compartment doors repaired and painted in Eugene, OR at Central Auto Body and Paint, 541-686-9115, and they pulled us out every evening so we could stay in the rig.

You should be able to contact Monaco RV LLC Parts Department, 877-466-6226. I've been able to get parts and information from them regularly.

Let's not get involved in choosing up sides. What I was pointing out was that those of us who are retired and traveling at our leisure have a much different set of priorities and pressures than those who are perhaps younger and still working. Their trip is not the trip that we would normally plan but that doesn't make it somehow wrong. Some people we've met over the years enjoy traveling just for the scenery out the window and aren't really interested in spending days in an area exploring all that an area has to offer. Whether you drive 100 miles in a day or 500 miles in a day, we all do that to some extent. We chose routes to travel that will allow us to see the land, driving by attractions that we vow to return and visit some day. If we didn't do this regularly, we'd never get around to seeing the whole of the US and Canada as Louise and I have done in the last 10 years. Several years ago we spent over a month in British Columbia on our way to Alaska. We were enjoying ourselves tremendously, exploring new territory, when I decided that if we didn't move a little faster we were going to cut ourselves too short in Alaska so we picked up the pace and got to Alaska with the idea that we'd take our time there. We would see a few more sights in BC on the return trip if time allowed. So I think we have to look beyond our own situation, accept the constraints given by the original poster and offer the requested suggestions if we can. There is nothing wrong in pointing out that the distances to be traveled and time allowed were going to make further sightseeing difficult or impossible. To Bill, I apologize for taking a jab at your response. I get the "tongue-in-cheek bit of sarcasm." I simply thought the OP being a first time poster deserved a little gentler handling. JMHO

These lakes are generally south of US 60 in Missouri and north of US 62 in Arkansas. I've included links to a web site for each. There are more web sites for each area if you do a search for the lake name you will find more information. North of Popular Bluff in Missouri is a small but interesting lake, Lake Wappapello. It is still recovering from flooding this spring but is open and by the time you get there should be ready for some good fishing. In eastern Arkansas near Mountain Home is Norfork Lake. West of there is Bull Shoals Lake, a monster that meanders along the Missouri and Arkansas border. Just north of there in Missouri is a smaller lake with good trout fishing, Lake Taneycomo. In Southwest Missouri near Branson is another large meandering lake, Tablerock Lake. In northwest Arkansas near Rogers and Bentonville is Beaver Lake. All of these are fed by clear water Ozark Mountain streams and are excellent bass or trout fishing. They are visitor ready with boats and gear to rent at numerous locations. Every gas station and quick shop in the region sells bait along with cold beer! If you want to fish, this is as close to heaven as you can get here on Earth.

I am one month from my left knee replacement and life is returning to normal. Once off the powerful medication, I began driving when I returned to the rehab facility. I'm slow getting in and out of the car but once there, completely comfortable driving. Rehab is progressing from stretching and improving range of motion to building strength. The pain level in the knee is decreasing and I'm able to sleep better at night. My surgeon has me on extra strength Tylenol now. I thought I would see if I really needed the medicine a few nights ago. I was sleeping well and woke up about time to take the next dose of medicine but decided just to go back to sleep. The next morning it was obvious to me that I wasn't ready to give up the medicine just yet. I've made several outings lately. There have been several shopping trips, just a store or two. Wal-Mart is a long walk by the time you get to the back of the store! I've been to the bank and the office supply store. My first real excursion was Friday afternoon. Louise and I joined my daughter and her family for a trip to Herman, Missouri. Herman has a great German heritage from the early 1800's. Early immigrants brought wine making skills to the area and it remains the pioneer wine making area of Missouri. I had received an e-newsletter advertising a BOGO sale at the Stone Hill Winery so we planned a trip. The car trip through the back roads of central Missouri was a delight. My daughter and family and ridden the KATY Trail State Park from near their home to Herman a year ago and this trip was a chance to refresh all those memories. "Look kids, here is the bridge where dads bicycle broke down." We saw plenty of high water as we neared the Missouri River but it isn't flooding seriously in the Central Missouri. At the Stone Hill winery we tasted a flight of wines and picked out a few to take home. Then we had a late lunch in the Vintage Restaurant at the winery. The kids enjoyed eating lunch in a horse stall in the old barn building. The food was excellent and we even had dessert. We followed that with a trip back via another route. There were more memories of the bicycle ride and some close looks at the bank full Missouri River. Saturday night my daughter had snagged VIP tickets for the fireworks display at Innsbrook, a local recreational community. Her employer had contributed to the fireworks and then gotten a bad case of poison ivy so wasn't going to attend. We arrived at 7:00 p.m. to take advantage of the picnic lunch before the fireworks. This was a fine show, plenty of music playing during the picnic. Kids swimming in the lake. Boats gathering near the fireworks display. It was a very warm summer evening. They used periodic salutes to mark the time. As dark neared the music changed to marches and the fight songs of the branches of service. This ended with the fireworks accompanying our National Anthem. The fireworks were spectacular and we were watching from directly across the lake from where they were being fired. I had to walk to and from the car on grass on a hillside but managed that without any problem. The last visit to my surgeon we scheduled the replacement of my right knee for the end of July. I have four weeks to turn my left leg into my strong leg so I can support my right leg when that knee is replaced. Despite my summer of surgery we're getting in a few interesting events. Our plans now are to be here in Missouri through September before hitting the road again.

Ouch! I keep a double back-up of my hard disk on two separate removable drives. If you have any high value information on a computer, you absolutely must back up that data. Hard disk drives of incredible capacity cost little more than $100 now. Think of them as cheap insurance! By the way, they only work if you use them - constantly. You can back up once a week if you are willing to risk that much data. I always try to back up shortly after adding more pictures to my collection. By the way, this kind of message should be a post on the forum rather than a blog unless you intend to turn this into a continuing story about the travels of your lost laptop! You'll get many more readers than here on the blog. New forum articles are highlighted on the home page, you only find the blogs if you go to the blog page. Good luck finding your laptop.

There is a link on the home page for Towing Articles. The towing guide for 2008 doesn't list the Mini Cooper, neither can I find a reference in the 2009 or 2010. This suggests that it may not be easily towable. The other possibility is that it just isn't considered in making up the guide. Check your owners manual and/or the manufacturer for further information. I would say the Mini is a good candidate for a trailer rather than towing it behind the motor home. If you can deal with a small trailer, the car will definitely fare better inside a trailer.

Hello Gary, Welcome to the FMCA Forum! You've met Bill! Like Bill, we are full time in our motor home so we are used to traveling at our leisure. Sometimes we think this is the only way to go. I remember years of vacation travel, zipping to and from to find a few days of leisure in some exotic place. We've all been there at one time or another. We've covered much of this area at one time or another and can make some suggestions for things to see. One of the things that would help us is to find out what you are interested in seeing. I have a background in the Earth sciences so we frequently travel to see natural features. One of my favorite places in Idaho is Craters of the Moon National Monument - but I love volcanoes and volcanic features. In eastern Wyoming is Devils Tower, which is another volcanic feature. The Black Hills of South Dakota are worth a stop. Mount Rushmore is nearby. Custer State Park has roaming herds of buffalo. The Badlands National Monument in western South Dakota is also in the same area. The badlands are beautiful bare rock escarpments, quite scenic. You can drive through in your motor home, lots of pull outs for viewpoints. While there at the badlands, you might as well stop to see a bit of Americana, the much advertised Wall Drug is just across the interstate from Badlands. Now if you have other interests, I might suggest other sites. Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area in Wyoming/Utah is an area of spectacular beauty. You can tour the Flaming Gorge Dam. Drive on into Vernal Utah for some more great scenery. In Vernal there is an excellent Dinosaur museum. Dinosaur National Monument is east of there but the main feature, the dinosaur quarry was closed the last time we were there. It was in a building that has been condemned. The next time the federal government has some money to spare they will replace the building. I'm not holding my breath. In southern Utah Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park are both great for scenery, hiking and four wheeling. There are Lewis and Clark Trail sites across this area and many visitors/interpretive centers were opened in 2004-2006 on the 200th anniversary of their exploration of the Missouri River. In eastern Nebraska, stop in Lincoln to see a spectacular museum of paleontology at the University of Nebraska. It's been years since I was there. Their collection is amazing. Kansas is close enough to Oklahoma that you could put off visiting there for a weekend or week long trip some day. Wichita has a great aviation museum. So there are a few of my favorites. Obviously you can't see them all on this trip. You may not even be interested in any of them. Let us know what your interests are and perhaps we can make other suggestions.

Brett has some good highways that I would also recommend. I would add to what Brett said that US 50 is entirely suitable as an RV route through the Sierra Nevada right into Sacramento. Others that may be of interest US 54/50/160 through southern Kansas to see some great Kansas farm country and many small towns. US 40 through northern Colorado into Salt Lake City has lots of mountain scenery coming out of Denver then runs the high plains across northern Colorado. That takes you through dinosaur country in northern Utah and more great mountain scenery coming into Salt Lake City. Further east, US 62 or US 60 through northern Arkansas or southern Missouri are very small roads through the Ozark mountains. It is really slow travel but great scenery and lots of small towns. There are places here where you may feel like a dog chasing its tail but if you don't hurry, you'll see some real Americana. There is some great lake fishing along this route if you have the time.

It is interesting the range of responses on this topic. For 10 years, most full time, we have always left the gray water valve open when connected to a sewer connection. We have a washer/dryer and it just uses too much water to be messing with dumping the gray water periodically. Plus doing this there is always the problem of running a load of clothes and suddenly hearing the drains burping as the gray water backs up into the shower basin. Odor has never been a problem. The gray water tank is vented (at least in our rig) just as the black water tank is and there should be zero pressure against the drain traps in the motor home. We only use a tank treatment in the gray water when we are on the road and boondocking at night. The treatment with the sloshing action when traveling helps to clean the gray water tank. When we get into our next campground, I'll dump the gray water as I'm hooking up to flush out as much of the loose material before it settles and solidifies again. After that the drain remains open until we depart. Regarding the black water tank. We always treat that. Like 2toolmen, we have settled on Happy Camper as our best, most convenient and effective product. We have learned through experience that using our own facilities for about two weeks will fill the black water tank to full or near full. Then we dump. There are times when we dump in less than two weeks like when we are going into a rally with no hook ups. Happy Camper doesn't eliminate odors but helps to reduce them and it also helps liquify solids and paper in the tank. I won't claim that my tank sensors work, they don't. I keep a note on my calendar as a reminder of when my black water tank needs dumping. I haven't looked at or used the sensors in years. I'm sure that you can go without additives in the tank and not have odors in the motor home but we have an annoying tendency to have a vent fan running in the motor home except in extreme cold or hot weather. If you forget to turn off the vent fan before you flush the toilet, you'll get a good whiff of what is and/or has been in the black water tank. That is true even if there are six windows open. The vent to the black water tank and thus to the open toilet valve has zero resistance to air movement. Window screens provide just a little resistance thus some air is going to be drawn up through the toilet. I'll keep treating my black water tank for that reason. The only other odor problem we have had is when a drain goes dry. This is almost always the washer/dryer drain. If we are driving and boondocking we aren't using the washer/dryer and the sloshing in the trap seems to remove some water. I've installed a transmission filler funnel available at auto parts stores that allows me to dump a glass full of water into that drain without digging into the closet floor that is above the w/d. I just open the closet, dump a glass or two of water into the funnel and that fills the drain. If I forget, Louise will alert me to the problem as we're cruising down the road! Like treating the black water tank, treating the gray water won't eliminate odor but it does reduce the odor in our experience.

This information conflicts with the information jimpat4649 have posted. If their suggestions don't work, or you want better results, you might try this. I consulted the information in our owners manual. It doesn't specify any particular brand but mentions that a dry foam cleaner may be used for soil and dirt removal. It continues... Follow all directions on the container. An alternate is to use 1/4 ounce clear liquid soap to 8 ounces of water. It cautions not to use a colored liquid soap as the color residue will leave a stain when the fabric dries. Before trying any cleaning method I would be sure that you have vacuumed as much dust and dirt from the shades (both sides) before putting any cleaner on them. If dust is present and you add water you will create a muddy mix that likely will not be easily removed. The usual advice with any cleaning method is to pick a spot that is not in a conspicuous area to test the cleaning method before applying it to locations that would be more noticeable. Good luck.

I should have mentioned that when we first started full timing we had just purchased a used motor home, a 1994 Monaco Dynasty. We signed up with GS for their extended warranty protection. After about six months I had a list of fix-its that I took to a dealer. I mentioned the GS warranty and they indicated that they had never had much luck with GS and dealing with repairs. I called GS and talked with an agent describing the problems. The first words out of the rep's mouth was, "You haven't had the policy long." We talked for a while but I never made progress in getting the items covered so I dropped the service. I consider the six months fees paid a valuable lesson. We paid for the repairs ourselves.

I did a search (the menu line at the top of this page above on the right end of the menu line) of this forum on the topic of window fogging and got no results. I knew there were previous discussions so I searched again looking for the topic of fogged windows. VIOLA! I got six results, four of these are pertinent to your question. There may be others that you could discover by changing the search parameters, perhaps just windows or just fogged. Fogged Double Pane Windows Cloudy Discolored Windows Window Replacement Suggestions for Removing Glass from a Class A So the answer to your question is yes, others have this problem. It is a fairly common problem. As you read the above topics, you should find several suggestions for solutions. I hope one of them works for you.

Thanks for the post MigrantDawgs! It sounds like you have made a good choice and are comfortable with the lifestyle on wheels. It struck me as interesting that you are in the health field. I was talking with the home nurse visiting to remove the staples from my knee surgery. She commented on our motor home and said she and her husband have always dreamed of doing what we are. I told her that in our years of travel we have met many health professionals who are living and traveling in RV's. It seems to be a profession that is well suited for working and living in an RV. We moved into a mobile home (ironically not a mobile as our motor home) last fall and I worried that we wouldn't be comfortable going back to the motor home in the spring. It turns out that we're feeling quite at home in the RV for the summer. So we're not full timing any more but we are still living in our motor home when we want. Like you, our motor home is getting older. We purchased this one after 2 1/2 years on the road in a used motor home. At that point we were sure that we were in this for the long term. We replaced the old pleated curtains and the Norcold refrigerator in our motor home so it is like a new motor home again. In fact, in many respects it's better than new! Enjoy your travels. If you are so inclined, perhaps you could start a blog and write about your travels. We could use a few more good bloggers.

Are these the standard pleated shades or are they some other material? Our owners information has suggested cleaning for various materials. I'll see what their recommendation is once I know what material we're dealing with.

Coach Net is a roadside emergency company, not a warranty company. Coach Net does not pay for any repairs. It only pays for towing or bringing a service agent to the site of your breakdown. You have to pay for all labor and parts required. They do a good job of getting you off the road when you break down. Warranty companies have contracts that should be read carefully before signing anything. Generally they require complete maintenance records with supporting receipts. They won't pay for things that wear out, only things that are defective and fail well before their expected life. If you have an older coach, there is little that hasn't performed for a significant part of its expected life. If you are thinking that a warranty plan will pay for things as they wear out, you will likely be greatly disappointed.

All this makes my decision to replace our Norcold 1200 with a residential refrigerator much easier to live with. I spent more money than I wanted but now I can sleep at night not worrying about what the refrigerator might do... or not do. I'm sure that Norcold is doing what they can to resolve the problem but it may just be that their refrigerator is not designed properly from the ground up. A band aid may work to solve some problems but other problems demand starting over from the ground up. Because of the marginal performance of the Norcold 1200 from the beginning and the added fire danger, we decided to do away with it. I'm betting you will see more residential refrigerators in new motor homes in the future.

Bear spray is permitted in Canada but pepper spray is not. You can find details of Canadian Customs Laws at this Canadian Border Services web site. The Canadian Border Services web site home gives other information about crossing the Canadian Border including wait times at various border crossings. I tracked down a memorandum which distinguishes between bear spray and pepper spray. Go to memorandum page 11 (Adobe Reader shows this to be page 12) near the bottom of the page is the letter of the law.