tbutler

I will supplement what Bill has already said with just a few comments. We always stay at an RV park the day before a convention. It gives us a chance to empty all waste tanks and fill the fresh water tank. There usually is a waste tank pumping truck that you can sign up for during the convention. They charge about $10 - $20 to pump out your tanks. This will help a little with the gray water tank. We've found that we can go through any convention on our black tank. Even so, if you don't have a fresh water source, you will likely run out of water before the end of the convention unless you use extreme measures to preserve the water - like bathing every other day! At Bowling Green, Ohio, several years ago they had shower trailers set up. That helped tremendously. They were clean and pretty readily available during the convention. There was no formal notification of their presence; we simply discovered them one day on the way from one place to another. We were at the FMCA Convention in Hutchinson, Kansas (our first in 2002, I think). It rained for three straight days during the convention. Not rained, stormed! We had to wade our way through the fairground streets to get to workshops and sessions. Some of the rigs near us were completely surrounded by a shallow lake. The waste pumping truck we signed up for wasn't able to get to our rig, so we got a refund. We were parked on the baseball fields. Most people were parked on grass somewhere. One of our neighbors had been at Perry a year or two before and left as soon as it started raining. We stayed and were pulled out by a wrecker. Everyone in our section was pulled out by tractor or wrecker. If you tried to drive, your rear wheels would immediately dig in. It was completely hopeless. That was a show to be seen. Every farmer for miles around was there with their John Deere! We had signed up for a towing service when we started RVing. We were absolutely amazed when the wrecker showed up about 30 minutes after we called our service. We got out at no cost and felt lucky to have done so. The farmers were generally charging $100 (donation) for their service. Now to be fair, we've had fantastic conventions in Redmond, Bowling Green and Minneapolis/St. Paul. There was never a need for additional outside activities. There is so much going on at the convention that you'll find yourself wishing you could divide yourself to attend more sessions. This is especially true of your first convention. One other aside. In Minneapolis/St. Paul, we were parked in the RV Park section of the fairgrounds. This happened purely by chance. We signed up for electrical service, which is usually provided by large generators serving 20 or so coaches. Instead, we plugged into a pedestal (30A) and turned on the electric as soon as we arrived instead of the next morning. Just 200 feet from our rig was a real shower house (these are generally available somewhere on most fairgrounds). We took showers each day, sometimes twice a day. We could pick our time at our convenience because we were so close. It was as good as being in a regular RV park. You can look up typical weather for any area of the country on the www.WeatherChannel.com Unfortunately, this is the average of past weather and is only a fair predictor of what you may encounter in any given year. No one can tell you now what the temperature or precipitation is going to be next spring. They can't even tell you that a week in advance sometimes! So, like life, you pays your nickel and you takes your chances! If you want no generators but want comfort of having the air conditioning available when you need it, sign up for electrical service - and hope you don't get the spots right next to the 24-hour master generator.

I've been posting this regularly since I found the site (Thanks Bill Adams) - Check RV Park Reviews for parks near Homestead. They have over 112,000 reviews that will give you opinions of people who have stayed at each park in the area. I still use the campground guides from Trailer Life and Woodall's but if you want the low down on what the parks are like, check this web site. It is well organized. You can get a quick look at all the parks around and near Homestead with one query.

Check RV Park Reviews they have reviews from many people who have been at most every park in the US. The site is well organized, if you don't find something you like at one site it lists a number of others that are nearby. There are over 112,000 reviews on line. I'm adding mine as we travel. I'm betting that lots of people have stayed at St. Louis West KOA and you'll find plenty of reviews there. There should be enough to let you know what the pluses and minuses are!

We stayed at the KOA in Granite City many years ago when we first started full timing. We were there for about six weeks and found it to be a very nice park. The area is not a high crime area. I was in the habit of walking about a half mile to the barge canal bypass around the Chain of Rocks on the Mississippi. You can stand on the bridge and watch the barges pass under you. Granite City is a working community, not a bedroom suburb so you will see truck terminals, warehouses and factories around the area but none near the park when we were there. Cost $$ If you want downtown, the Casino Queen campground (mentioned above) is the closest. To the west, there is a campground in St. Charles right on the Missouri River at highway 370. Sundermeir RV is a very nice park. St. Charles is the first state capital of Missouri and the old historic riverfront area has many fine restaurants, shops, art, antiques and other stores. There is a very active bar/nightlife scene here as well. Cost $$$ Further south on the west side of the city is Babler State Park in Chesterfield. Just south of US 40/I-64 in a quiet rural setting but close enough to major thoroughfares to make city access easy. Cost $ There are several other parks around St. Louis but I don't have any personal knowledge of them. You will find reviews of all these parks at RV Park Reviews. See what others think of each of these areas.

I volunteered to help a neighbor with an electrical problem several years ago and after 30 minutes of looking everywhere on his coach, I could not find his electrical panel. Those Keebler Elves must have hidden it. I finally gave up. My advice to him would be the same to you. Go to an RV service shop and ask them to find it for you. They may well do this as a service without charging you. You could even call a shop and ask them over the phone for some help. Perhaps someone will log in with the appropriate information and save you the problem. Otherwise, pick up the phone or drive to a nearby shop and get the help you need. A second thought would be to contact Monaco RV LLC which is the revived Monaco Coach Company after the recent economic collapse. Monaco took over Safari about ten years ago and may have tech's and records that could help you. I think 877-466-6226 will get you to Monaco. Ask for the service department and see if they can help. Generally, they will go out of their way to assist.

The sun is never a non-factor. When it is "mostly overhead" (directly overhead never occurs in the continental US, certainly not in California where the max at Los Angeles on June 21 would be 10.5 degrees from overhead at solar noon) the sun is beating down on the pavement most directly. This is pavement that you wouldn't walk on because it is too hot. If it was asphalt you would likely have burned your bare feet on it. Add just a little sun from one side of the coach or another and that can really increase tire temperature. We don't have temperature monitoring but our pressure sensors went off on the side toward the sun (outside dual and front steer tire) on our way through Sacramento several years ago. We had been driving on I-5 and were in stop and go traffic on the cross-town highway when the sensor began to alarm. Once we got out of traffic and were moving again, the sensor stopped alarming. I checked the pressure and it was just a little over the high limit that was set by the manufacturer. I always check my tires cold in the morning as well. We had come out of the mountains and now were in the valley at extreme temperatures. Sometimes, environmental conditions exceed the norms and the alarms will sound. If the temperature was 20 degrees above the other tires and it wasn't on the sunny side of the coach, I would suspect a gauge failure. Otherwise, I would suspect that it was a combination of pavement temperature, sun and a very hot day.

Well, that settles it. I'm never going to buy an RV park! In fact you couldn't give me one. I don't need that kind of aggravation in my life. My hat is off to all park owners and operators. Yours is a thankless job and we should all be giving you the thanks and respect you deserve. Without you, our lifestyle wouldn't be possible. I've always had this kind of innocent view of my fellow campers. Everyone is so congenial when we meet and talk to our neighbors. Who knew? It truly is the 10% (I hope) that make it bad for the rest of us. Thanks for your comments and thanks for providing the facilities we need to keep on camp'in. We all (well almost all) appreciate the good times you give us.

I did a little checking and found the following: FLORIDA Wildwood Service Center: 4505 Monaco Way Wildwood, Florida 34785 Phone: (877) 466-6226 Fax: (352) 330-3852 This was on a web page that was copyright 2010. At one time this facility was closed but I guess it has now reopened. This is a Monaco Factory Service Facility. I would put it at the top of my list of places to take your coach. Contact them and see what they can do for you. Wildwood is about 65 miles northeast of Tampa just off I-75.

We had a similar problem with our bedroom slide-out several years ago. Fortunately we were at a repair shop that didn't exclude us from the work area. Indeed, they showed us what the problem was and discussed the solution with us. They suggested moving the whole slide to center it in the opening as best they could. They were going to move the slide-out motor, etc. I looked at it and suggested that they simply move the slide-out. They took the track on the slide-out lose from the slide out, separating the motor and gear mechanism from the slide-out itself. This was a matter of a half a dozen screws on the track that moves the slide. Then moved the slide-out to center it in the opening as best the could. We then reattached the gear track to the slide-out in the new position. It has worked fine ever since. We still have an occasional small bit of moisture but nothing like the problem we originally had. They also adjusted the rollers the slide rides on. They were too low and this adjustment brought everything into contact with the gaskets on the sides. It all helped make the slide-out work better. Our bedroom slide was relatively small, your front slide will be much larger but you may be able to do the same thing if you can find a shop that will work with you. I can heartily recommend Iron Horse RV in San Antonio. They have been on my list of places to go for repair work if at all possible. The other alternative is to try to schedule work at the Monaco factory. This used to be an option. Since the reorganization I don't know if they are doing this. There are also numerous dealers who have gone out of business and the tech's from the companies have bonded together to continue working on the RV's they have been trained in and know well. We recently had battery/electrical problems and stopped in Las Vegas. The dealer site on the web sent us to PC Doctor in Las Vegas which is staffed by many techs who worked for the Monaco dealer there. They were fast and efficient in servicing our needs. Had us back on the road in less than two hours! I know there are similar places with ex-factory workers in Florida and Indiana. I don't have names for these locations or experience with them but have attended sessions presented by them at Monaco Rallies in recent years.

It is not quite the same issue but we did have our heat pump replaced on an old motor home. We didn't do this as a do-it-yourself project, we took it to a dealer in Sacramento, CA. We found that the new heat pumps, Dometic, required a new thermostat. That thermostat took different wiring and they replaced our wiring. We never saw any evidence that replacing the wiring had torn up anything. I don't know how they did it as we left the coach with them. It may not be possible with your coach but it was with ours.

Great to hear that you are ready to roll. We just completed a 7 day drive from California to south Texas. The weather is plenty warm here, take your time driving down! Just kidding. You'll enjoy the adventure. May you have a tailwind all the way!

Use the search function (second menu line above right next to help). Put in the word salvage and you should come up with a list of discussions of salvage yards for RV's. There are several extensive discussions that cite lists of yards. You may find one near you but if not, they generally will ship and people I know who have had problems with suitability of items have found them to be most cooperative in taking an item back and finding the correct one if possible. I was told by someone who visited one of these that the trip is instructive. You can see for yourself where the fire started and/or how the vehicles were damaged by accident, wind, etc. Regarding cost, remember that those full size trucks you speak of were manufactured in the millions and there were many millions of hinges built and sold and thousands others in inventory somewhere. With motor homes those numbers are hundreds or thousands instead of millions. The economics of scale drops significantly as a result.

Use extreme caution when using extension cords. They are always a trip hazard and in a motor home where space is limited they will have a tendency to be under foot occasionally if you aren't careful. Also, a coffee pot is a large load on an extension cord. Be sure to get a 12 gauge or maybe a 14 gauge extension and then check when in use to see if there are hot areas in the cord indicating pending failure. These usually occur at the ends of the cord but with use they could develop anywhere the cord is repeatedly bent.

Thanks for your comment PA35G! Hope to see you on another cruise or somewhere on the road.

Jack, Our generator is a 7.5 KW and it had just over 1000 hours on it when we had it serviced this time. Obviously, I wouldn't recommend waiting that long! I would recommend the same thing Brett did with the engine, replace the belt early, keep the usable used belt for a spare. We were told this was not an easy roadside repair but I figure it will get us back on the road quicker even if we need to have a mechanic do the install. Mostly they said it required removing the "box" over the generator and then working from under the motor home at the rear end of the generator. Sounds like the kind of place that wouldn't get checked in a routine servicing of the generator unless you pressed the issue. The belt came from NAPA and it didn't cost too much to install when we were having the rest of the work done.

I think the answer to your problems is right there. The "fixed/permanent" antenna clause does not allow a standing tripod antenna. A fixed permanent antenna is a dome or collapsible dish permanently mounted to the vehicle. Drop your HD service. Ditch (or tell them you have) the tripod antenna and reapply. I think that having the HD service on your account with the requirement for a tripod antenna is the problem. The law that allows them to offer the nationwide broadcasts does require the fixed/permanent antenna attached to a vehicle. That means only a fixed/permanent antenna.

That is an interesting idea that I have never heard before. It certainly makes sense. A good seal will be necessary to protect documents from the moisture that will accumulate in the freezer. Certainly gives a new meaning to cold hard cash!

One of the factors that determines if a fire safe will protect the contents is the duration of the fire. With a motor home, the fire is usually over in short order. It isn't like the safe is going to sit in a pile of wooden embers cooking for hours after a house fire is put out. Motor homes go intensely for a short period of time. Depending on where in the motor home the safe is stored the contents may or may not exceed the temperature that would destroy them. I would avoid storing the safe in areas near tires or the fuel tank. I believe a regular fire safe in a motor home could adequately protect data. The reason data (DVD/CD/Computer Drives and Memory Devices) require special safes is that they are destroyed at lower temperatures. Data safes are designed to keep the temperature lower during the duration of a house fire. The safe manufacturers aren't considering other types of fires and their disclaimers regarding data are based on the typical consumer using the safe in their sticks and bricks home. It would be helpful to have several people who have had motor home fires share any experiences with fireproof safes and the contents of them.

Bill is correct. Send in the form and you should be fine. We also have a PMB so that doesn't make any difference.

This is a shout out to Brett Wolfe. We went in for maintenance at Cummins West in Avondale (Phoenix), AZ today. In a post several months ago, Brett had suggested replacing the belts on the engine and saving the usable used belts as back up in case a belt breaks. I asked the service representative to replace the used belts and save them for me. We were having the generator serviced at the same time. In the discussion the service rep asked if I wanted the belt on the generator (7.5 KW Onan) replaced also. I thought, "If it's good for the engine, it has to be good for the generator." So I said to replace it also and save the old belt for me. Actually, I didn't even know the generator had a belt. Who knows what is in that big green box? When the job was done, the service rep gave me the belts from the engine and then showed me the belt that came from the generator. It was missing an inch of the inner notched material of the belt. The only thing holding it together was the strong continuous strip on the outside of the belt. Some additional inner material was peeled off the outer belt but still hanging on. It was just a matter of time until the belt derailed and we had generator failure. With temperatures in the low 100's, we really needed the generator to keep the motor home livable while driving. So thank you Brett. Your advice saved us a delay or more!

I don't know what the regulations are now but I can tell you that we have DirecTV and we have both East and West feeds for ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX. I don't know if CW is on this list or not. We are unable to get a national feed for PBS since that is available at our service address in South Dakota (near Sioux Falls). We switched from Dish to DirecTV in 2003 when we purchased our current motor home. It came with a DirecTV receiver and it was simply easier to switch than fight! At that time we were able to get PBS but that was withdrawn about 2 years later when PBS became available on the Sioux Falls local channel spot broadcast from DirecTV. I'm fairly certain that you need to keep calling customer service until you get a representative with a brain who will listen to you and respond appropriately. It is no secret that RV's are stepchildren when it comes to satellite TV service. We are a tiny part of their market and we can take it or leave it, they really don't care. Besides, we are too difficult to support. They can't count on us to be in any one place. Our equipment is manufacturer installed and some equipment is industry specific, not something their robot installers can deal with without thinking. Besides, do you really want one of their installers to work on your RV anyway? I can think of a dozen cartoons related to this! It is sort of ironic that the television technology which is completely mobile is hostile to the mobile community because of the neglect or ignorance of the companies that provide the service. And yes, I love satellite TV. Couldn't live without it.

Welcome to the world of RV'ing! Those big heavy house batteries look like they ought to last for days, just think of the tiny battery in your cell phone. It just isn't so. There are lots of things in your coach using electricity that you don't know about. There are "parasitic loads" on the battery. Those include things like the carbon monoxide detector, smoke detectors, the control circuits in the refrigerator. Even when running on gas, the electricity to operate the controls of a gas appliance comes from the battery. This is also true with the hot water heater, furnace and an inverter. Also, TV's, satellite receivers, DVD players, computer, etc. often have a standby mode (draws power even with the appliance is turned off). It may only use a few tenths of an amp of electricity but it is a continuous load on the batteries. When you start to add up all these little loads, they can become significant. Some of these you can control by unplugging the device (may not be convenient). Others like the circuitry to operate the refrigerator you just have to live with. So when you are figuring the load on your batteries, do a little digging through the manuals for the motor home and the devices/appliances you have to see what is really drawing power and how much each device is using. Learning about all the things using electricity will help you understand your motor home better and you might find ways to trim your usage so the batteries will keep you going longer!

The ice maker shut off valve at the rear of the refrigerator on our coach is a ball valve with about a one inch handle that is in line with the water line when it is on. To shut off the line, rotate the valve 90 degrees. Look for the junction of the normal pipe in your motor home and the ice maker line (was clear plastic on our rig). When that cheap plastic line started leaking on our coach (2nd time in 5 years) I went to Lowe's and got a reinforced hose for ice makers. I think that is going to last for a while.

I'm glad this helped. I was hoping to see other suggestions from others on the forum. I think the recent outages of service have cost us some participation on the forum. Check back in a few weeks and see if someone else has checked in with some ideas. I did notice that the Newmar 2011 models are out now so that makes your model 4 years old even if the in-service date is a little later this year.

Great advice here for all motor home owners, not just conversion coaches.