tbutler

Donald, In our coach the battery disconnect switch activates a solenoid which switches the battery circuit on and off. You haven't indicated the make, model and year of your coach so this may or may not apply to your situation. The solenoid is subject to failure and if it does, the switch will do nothing. If we know the information about your coach, someone may be able to direct you where to look for the solenoid. A second possibility is that the house batteries are dead. Yes, you shut off the batteries with the disconnect switch but there are a number of other loads that are not disconnected by the battery shut off switch in most coaches. Some of these parasitic loads include the smoke/carbon monoxide/propane detectors, various electronic indicators and other things the manufacturer may have wired outside the battery cutoff circuit. They are small loads but may in a weeks time completely discharge the battery.

Here is a source, RV Power Outlet, that has a full array of outlet boxes for RV's at very competitive prices. With multiple boxes on a 200 amp feed, you could use the 50 amp breakers at the 200 amp box to individually turn on and off circuits but that would require running a separate set of 50 amp wires to each box. With the most distant box at 150 feet, you would need a heavier wire for the second box. Or you could run one 100 amp breaker and 100 amp wire feed two boxes each with its own 50 amp breaker. The most distant box would only need a 50 amp wire sufficient to carry the 50 amp load for the distance from the 100 amp feed wire to that box. I like to have a breaker at the plug in as it makes it simple and easy to turn on the power after plugging in and turn off the power before unplugging. With the price of wire, the latter solution may be less costly than the first.

John, I don't have any experience with this route. We did take US 93 N out of Wells several years ago and found it to be a very serviceable highway. I looked at the route with my GPS program and it looks to be fairly straight and doesn't cross any high mountains so it should be a suitable route. As to road surface you would need to find someone with local knowledge. If we don't get a reply from someone on this web site you might go to the Nevada Department of Transportation web site. I can't find information about road surface but there is a phone number given that you might try. For the state of Utah, the Utah Department of Transportation, website also lists a road conditions phone number. For my money, given the alternate route into Salt Lake City and then north on I-15 looks far less appealing. I'll always take the smaller, less traveled road when possible. Good luck with your trip.

Since both control units malfunction in the same way, I would look elsewhere for the problem. Perhaps the connection (control unit to A/C) at the air conditioner is loose or is getting wet when the A/C is running. After the A/C shuts off it dries out and then works properly again? Just a guess...

I looked at washers and dryers (separate units) last summer. We'd had a problem with our Splendide. Louise didn't want to give up the extra closet space so we elected to repair the old unit. I talked to a repairman and he recognized the problem immediately. He shipped the replacement board pronto and gave me the information I needed to do the replacement myself... problem solved. Now, I had picked out two units (one washer, one drier) that fit our cabinet space which was my primary consideration. I did not consider LG because I purchased a TV a little over a year ago and found the instructions and operation to be about as obtuse as possible. So far it continues to work and the picture is fine but the menu operations are awkward and lacking features that I would expect in the cheapest TV's these days. I'd try the GE if that is your only other choice. By the way, LG is a renamed corporation, they used to be known as Goldstar, a third rate manufacturer. I think LG is an attempt to flee their previous reputation. I can't remember the models I found but the determination was primarily - would it fit?

Unfortunately, you are dealing with a mega corporation that has no social conscience. My daughter purchased a top of the line Jenn Air refrigerator about 5 years ago. They have been pursing some solution to this day. The refrigerator has never work satisfactorily for any significant length of time. We've see parts replaced repeatedly with problems continuing. There is no option to just replace the appliance, they just continue to "fix" it. Jenn Air is manufactured by Whirlpool. Once upon a time it was a corporation with an excellent reputation but I suspect it is now headed to Toyota Land... - oh no, hope that isn't your rice burner! Unfortunately, the consumer always takes a hit in these situations. Thanks for sharing your experience with us. We can all learn something from your experience.

Our grandsons age 8 and 9 enjoyed the Lincoln Home in Springfield, IL, the Children's Museum in Indianapolis, Schimpff's candy factory in Clarksville, Indiana, The Louisville Slugger Museum in ... well Louisville and the Evansville, IN Zoo. We made this a 10 day tour for the boys. You can read about it at Grandchildren Rule, Grandpa Drools! and Listening to Little Voices Blog here on the FMCA web site. Any of these attractions would be of interest to young children.

We have a similar alarm without any message as to cause. Ours occurs when we start out and after some distance it will stop. I suspect it is a brake warning but haven't been able to duplicate it or get any indicator of any problem on my engine monitor (Silverleaf). Sometimes these systems are so smart they forget to tell us what is wrong. I recently noticed a ticking noise when the engine is running - traced it to an alarm module. Don't know what that means. I plan to replace that module when we get on the road this spring. Maybe then I'll have more music to drive by...

That's interesting. When we went full time almost 9 years ago State Farm gave us the kiss off. We were told that they wouldn't insure a motor home. I had been a State Farm customer for close to 30 years. No more. We have GMAC insurance (also known as Good Sam insurance). Have been very pleased with the rates and the claims process.

Our current motor home had flexible valve extensions for both inside and outside duals mounted to the hub cover when we got it in November 2003. I added Pressure Pro monitors to them in 2008 and have had no problems with them to date. The two extensions are mounted 180 degrees apart and of course are close to the center of rotation so adding the monitors shouldn't affect the balance. After reading of Wayne's experience, I'll give them a careful examination for any signs of wear.

Welcome Thomas and Betty, We're a pair of retired teachers and congratulate Betty on her upcoming retirement. There is life after school! It is quite a good life in a motor home! Enjoy your travels and if we cross paths in the future, we'll have a bottle of wine on board to celebrate with!

If you're going into Canada anyway, you might want to stay at a campground in Windsor though you have to be back and forth across the border to visit Detroit. We were there in May of 2008 and enjoyed the stay at Windsor Campground. It is not too far from the Windsor airport. The campground is well maintained and there were plenty of sites available. We really love that area of Canada. The homes and landscaping are really quite special. The route through Detroit to Niagara Falls is 245 miles according to my GPS and if you want, it is interstate highway quality all the way. The side roads are slower but very interesting in this area. I'd recommend Hwy 3 through Leamington and along Lake Erie for part of the trip if so inclined. We also enjoy visiting Canada's southern tip at Point Pelee National Park. It is just a short drive out of Leamington. We stayed at Lakeside Village Campground behind a hotel east of Wheatley. Very nice and right on Lake Erie! There were several others in the area that fronted on the lake. We've only had our rig opened up once and that was last year when we crossed Boulder Dam! The Canadians have always been welcoming and our passages have been easy. Just lucky I guess. I had someone speculate once that their Texas license plate was the reason they were always searched. Don't know if that is true or not. We've been regular summer travelers in Canada since making the "pilgrimage" to Alaska in 2006.

We had a 1994 motor home with Allison transmission and the dipstick that the Allison techs used was directly on top of the transmission. There was one on top of the engine and the fill tube was there but they said the short tube on the top of the transmission was most accurate... you had to be under the motor home to use it. Our current motor home has a dipstick and fill tube under a removable floor panel in the bedroom. The bed in our current rig has no engine access though the older unit did.

Hello Brett and everyone! We're in harbor at Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. The temperature is 72 degrees with calm seas. We're going ashore later this morning (9:00 a.m. as I write this). We saw lots of whales yesterday at Lahaina, Maui. We're having a great cruise. Hope your meeting goes well.