tbutler
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Posts posted by tbutler
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Don,
I would love to help but I'm 1000 miles away and headed the other direction! Anyway, I just don't know enough about your system to help you. I have two sources that may help. First, there is a Monaco group on Yahoo that has a pretty high level discussion on-going. There seem to be some experts with experience on technical aspects of all Monaco products. I suggest you contact them, their address is: http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Monacoers/ From that web site I got a Monaco Tech number that one of the posts said was now active. That number is 800 450-6336. You might try that and report back to us if it is a working number and what kind of help you were able to get. I also saw an e-mail address for Monaco Tech Help but can't find it right now. When I come across it again I'll pass it along as well.
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Thanks Brett,
I second the monitoring voltage comment. As mentioned, we have a monitor in the RV that allows me to monitor the voltage and just as you said when we move into a new park, I'll watch to see how the AC, microwave, washing machine/drier, coffee pot affect the voltage. The more things Louise turns on the closer I watch the voltage until I am satisfied that the park electrical system is up to par.
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This is part of a continuing discussion of the aspects of going full time in an RV. In part one we examined the decision to go full time. If you haven't added to that discussion, please take time to tell your story. Likewise, add your thoughts about cleaning house as you went full time to this discussion.
Our story:
After we reached the decision to go full time, we faced a house full of stuff collected over a lifetime. Some of the items we had would go with us in the motor home. Most of the stuff would have to go somewhere else. Our choices were:
1) Store things we valued too much or thought would be useful in the future. The family photo albums and a huge collection of 35mm slides fit this category. We also stored some of our art collection, paintings, pictures and sculpture with special meaning to us. Then there was the ridiculous, I had more t-shirts than we could pack. So I saved them along with a box full of hats. I should have known these things multiply and I've never needed those old t-shirts!
2) Give our children first choice on any of the remaining items. TV's, stereo/CD player, surround sound system, chairs, tables, couch, a home gym set, table saws and an assortment of lawn and garden tools all went to our children. We had heirloom furniture passed down from my grandparents and an aunt that were given to specific children. Those items are still in the family.
3) We had a series of garage sales. Living in a metropolitan area, we had a wide audience for our stuff. Still, garage sales are what they are. Everyone is looking for a bargain. On the other hand, most of this stuff was what the kids had picked through so it wasn't that valuable! Only we thought it was valuable. We had collections of things that we parted with, we just couldn't store everything. With the garage sale, we listed all the furniture inside the house that was for sale and were able to sell almost all of it. I sold my motorcycle and pickup truck through ads in the newspaper.
4) We gave large quantities of clothing, books, other items to charities. I got rid of all my business suits!
5) We hauled one pickup load of absolute junk to the junk yard. That it was only one pickup load amazed me.
When we were all done, the items for storage were packed in boxes, marked carefully and taken to my son's basement where they stayed until his divorce. Then we put them in commercial storage for about two months while my daughter and her husband finished their home. We moved them to their basement where they have been ever since. We stop and visit them (our stored stuff) occasionally, dropping off this, picking up that. Someday when this adventure ends, we'll collect them and make them part of our new home. The total of the stored materials will fill a small U-Haul trailer.
Once in a while I get a twinge thinking about one thing or another that we sold or gave away thinking it might have been nice to keep that but in reality, it wasn't that important that I couldn't live without it. Once you get rid of the stuff and the house, you life becomes so much simpler. The travel it makes possible more than makes up for occasionally missing something.
We had the house on the market at a premium price and it had several offers that fell through before we got a buyer. We left town just before Thanksgiving 2001 even though the house hadn't sold. We returned in late December to sign the final papers on the house and then we were full timers for good!
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Her name suits her quite well. She actually has a first name also - Nicki - but she answers to both.A cat that answers to one name is amazing. A cat that answers to two names is... well, is there a cat MENSA?
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We just gave our 'High Speed Internet on the Road' seminar here at the Escapade. We always take a poll on what people are using. We're seeing fewer satellite users - although there have never been very many - and more cellular users. And, pretty much everyone uses Wi-Fi from time to time.The people in the audience who used AT&T expressed disappointment in the coverage. Although we spoke with someone else outside of the seminar who said they had AT&T coverage everywhere they went. I guess these folks just don't travel in the same circles. Generally, happy Verizon users are the great majority.
I agree completely that, if you need the Internet, and you need it *everywhere*, you will use all three technologies. The satellite dish is the ultimate - we have the Datastorm. But that doesn't work in deep forests. Cellular is the only way to get online while you're driving. Wi-Fi, when it's good, is the best connection you can get.
You can get a cellular router and connect it to multiple data cards - one from each provider. Now you're talking!
There is also a new thing out there called Walkinghotspot.com which is quite magical. If you have the right kind of smart phone (Verizon not supported) with an unlimited data plan, you can download this software and your phone becomes a wireless router. You don't even have to tether it. Just run the walkinghotspot software and it will show up to your computer as a wireless network!
Now there is some real meat you can sink your teeth into. I'm on my way to walkinghotspot.com now.. See you laterrrr! Thanks for the great information!
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Regarding the aircard (cell modem) - times have changed as far as Verizon goes. They have Broadband Rev A in West Yellowstone, Quartzite, and here in Lake Cascade ID.In the last few years I have been impressed and pleased with the speed that Verizon has implemented the broadband network.
To be sure there are still a lot of places with the slower 1X but they are fewer by far than they used to be and we usually have broadband wherever we go.
I am pleased to see your report on the availability of the high speed Broadband Verizon network. I hope to see more reports indicating the strength of Verizon and AT&T networks. My T-Mobile contract is up in one year and I'll be ready to try another network if the coverage is good enough. Thanks for the input.
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A number of recent postings have dealt with the necessity for surge protectors, autoformers and other electrical apparatus to protect RV's. Part of the need for these devices is the uneven quality of electrical supply in RV Parks.
I've heard it, I imagine most of have heard it at one time or another. You go to a park office complaining about the quality of the electricity. They tell you that they never know what they are going to get from the electric company this time of year. Or some variation of this. They blame the electric company. While we do hear of "brown outs" occasionally during times of extreme electrical usage in areas with a strained grid, these are isolated and rare.
I went to the office in an RV park in Valdez, Alaska with just such a complaint several years ago. And their response was the "blame the electric company" answer. Rather than accept that response and walk off, I was armed with information and I responded. First of all, my coach has a built-in monitor of electrical current. I know the voltage, amperage used and cycle of the electric I am getting. I knew that when I turned on an air conditioner I was using an amperage within the limits of the supply the campground should have been supplying. I could also see that the voltage dropped from the desirable 120 volts down to about 100 volts when I ran the air conditioner. This could damage the air conditioner if left running on this electric supply. I explained to the clerk at the desk that I was certain that my turning on the air conditioner didn't drop the voltage across the entire electrical grid by 20 volts! I assured her that this was an indication that the wiring within the campground was not sufficient to provide the promised 30 amps.
The fact is that campground owners can put a 50 amp box on any post and connect it with any wire. It will only supply 50 amps of electricity per line if it has a wire of adequate size, #6 or #4 wire depending on the length of run. With a wire that is too small, the voltage will drop as the amperage drawn increases. It isn't the fault of the electric company, the fault lies with the campground owner. Why do campground owners do this? Many campgrounds were wired 30 or 40 years ago. They were wired with little regulation and frequently self done with an eye to saving money. If they have been upgraded since, many were likewise upgraded with no regulation and were done as cheaply as possible. Maybe they do it for the same reason that people buy cheap extension cords to run expensive equipment.
In the old days, 30 amps probably seemed to be plenty of electric and owners may have assumed they could use a #12 wire (sufficient for 20 amps) because nobody would actually use all 30 amps or would only do so briefly and they could get away with #12. Who knows but the fact is that you will encounter campgrounds where the wiring is inadequate and you will not get the electric you are paying for. One hint may be when they want to charge you extra to use an air conditioner or a heater. I figure that their rate for 30 amps means I get 30 amps for whatever I want to use them for. If I am paying an extra $2 or $3 for 50 amps, I get to use 50 amps all the time if I want. It shouldn't matter what I am using it for.
What can we do about it as consumers?
First, I would like to see the major campground directories, Trailer Life and Woodall's add descriptors for the quality of electric (I'd like to see the same for wi-fi). This could be as simple as a code E:0 (for NO) does not meet electrical code, E:X (for excellent) for meets electrical code. Once these ratings were published there would be a strong economic reason for campgrounds to meet electrical codes. I suppose we could ask that all campground owners have an electrical inspection certificate posted in their office like elevator inspection certificates! There is something for the legislative arm of FMCA to work on.
Second, inform the campground owner (not just a clerk) when you find a sub-standard supply at your post. Be ready to show them your electrical meter readings. Do not accept excuses given above. Convince them that you know it is their problem and they should fix it. Don't expect that they will fix it on the spot for you. You might be able to move to a different site with a proper electrical supply. Or perhaps you should get your money back and go to a different campground.
Third, contact local authorities, city, county or state, and complain about the problem. In many cases, the work has not been done by a qualified electrician and/or has not been inspected by proper inspectors. These are safety issues and when brought to the attention of appropriate authorities (preferably in writing) it is hard for them to ignore them. Once informed of the problem and its safety implications the liability for any accident passes at least partially from the campground owner to the authorities who have been informed.
Finally, if you have to stay at a park for some reason, why not ask for a discount for sub-standard electric? Hey, if they say they are supplying 30 amp or 50 amp electric and sold you that spot on that basis they should give a refund if they aren't able to supply what they sold you.
Most important, let them know they have a problem and you know about it. If enough people complain, they will have to start thinking about solutions.
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Do you have Internet in your RV or do you use Wi-Fi when available at parks, restaurants and stores? What is the best way to stay connected online?
This question came as a personal message to me from a new FMCA member. I am posting my answer as a way to offer up our solution to internet connections and to allow others to respond with their own ideas.
Probably the best internet solution is to have your own satellite connection. You can put a big dish on top of your rig and get a direct satellite link anywhere you go... but you have to be parked for it to work... and you have to have a big budget... I checked satellite connection prices and the units with installation run about $4000+... And the monthly rates seem to be static at about $100 per month. I don't have that kind of budget and I'm not running a commercial operation so can't justify that kind of expense. Also, the set up when you want to use the dish is more time consuming. The dish has to search to find the satellite and then establish a connection. Not convenient for a quick check of the weather while stopped at a highway rest stop.
So as you might guess, we don't have a satellite connection. Our own personal best solution is to use a combination of methods to access the internet. What works in one place may not work in another so we have:
1) cell modems, we use T-Mobile because their rates are lower (and they are slower than Verizon or AT&T), cell modems work on the go, you don't have to be parked. I can check the internet while driving down the road, even in some really unexpected places like I-80 in nowhere Nevada! The cell modem is our most useful and common connection, it seems to work almost everywhere. By the way, the Verizon and AT&T modems work at higher speeds but mostly in urban areas, you will likely find them running slower in many of the places RV'ers hang out. Their networks are getting more robust all the time but it is a slow process and they may never reach Yellowstone NP or Glacier NP! One big drawback is that we can't afford to use the cell modem in Canada. Rates for roaming in Canada are outrageous so we lose this form of connection when we are there and we sorely miss it.
2) wi-fi, we recently added external modems with higher power output and an enlarged antenna (see my post on the forum, Internet to go). Wi-fi is so much faster than cell modems that it is our preferred connection if we can get it. Since we have the cell modems we won't pay for wi-fi in parks unless the cell won't work there. The quality of wi-fi varies extremely from park to park. I don't see that changing any time in the future. Things will get better but you still find parks that have bad electricity so I'm sure their wi-fi will never be great. We pretty much ignore the wi-fi at restaurants, coffee shops, etc. When we use wi-fi it is usually in RV parks.
3) dial-up, we still maintain a dial-up account for those few places where neither the cell nor the wi-fi work. We use earthlink because it has so many local numbers available nationwide and we can get 800 service when necessary. We also like earthlink because it has a very effective screening process that has almost completely eliminated spam from our e-mail. We are encountering fewer and fewer places where dialing in is necessary. Still, I use the internet for all my financial activity, statements, payments, etc. so I can't afford to be stuck without service entirely for any length of time. When we started full timing almost eight years ago, this was our sole means of connecting. We got the cell modem about a year and a half later and about a year after that wi-fi began to become more common.
What does all this cost?
We are paying for two T-mobile modems, about $80 per month total, wi-fi is free when we can get it, the dial up account is about $20 per month, so we're spending the same $100 per month that the satellite service would cost, just haven't coughed up the $4000 for the initial equipment and installation. We could eliminate one of the T-mobile modems but since I went to Windows Vista, we haven't been able to link our two computers together for internet service through one modem. We used to be able to do this before I began using Vista. We could pass one modem back and forth but my wife uses her computer actively and she needs to be connected at will.
We have both become quite spoiled, being able to use our computers connected to the internet in the RV. We now find it tremendously inconvenient to have to leave the RV and go somewhere to get internet service.
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Well shucks SEAJAY, why didn't I think of that? I'll bet sailors learned a long time ago not to bend over in the shower!!!
Salute to you sailor on Memorial Day!
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Thanks for your reply, Tom. I purchased my motorhome last November and spent the past 5 1/2 months living in it parked in an RV park near Tucson. I took my first road trip last Tuesday and drove the 150 miles from Tucson to McDowell Mountain Regional Park in Scottsdale, AZ so I have almost no experience with a motorhome. I have to say I was white-knuckling it on I-10 for about half the trip. It was windy and there were lots of semis on the road. After awhile I began to get the hang of it and was able to relax a bit. Previously I had been pulling a 26' Jayco travel trailer with a Toyota Tundra TRD pick up. This 27,000 motorhome is a whole 'nuther ball game both to drive and to live in.As far as my inverter goes, it is a new one. The old one was not charging any of the batteries to full capacity so I had it replaced. My batteries all seem to be charged to full capacity both the house batteries and the chassis batteries. There are no indications on either the Xantrex control panel or on the Xantrex inverter itself of any problems. On the inverter the invert led flashes green which, according to the Xantrex manual, means the inverter is in standby mode, and the charge light is solid green which indicates that external AC power is applied. The relay seems to drop in and out even when I have turned the inverter off at the control panel. Although it stops clicking on and off for long periods of time I would say that it is active more than it is inactive. One problem is the inverter compartment is right below my bedroom and the clacking is loud enough to interfere with a good night's sleep. I have a pair of ear plugs on the night stand for that reason.
Don
Don,
Your coach is six years older than ours so your battery maintainer may look different than ours. You mention that the inverter compartment is below your bedroom, ours is under the bathroom near our bedroom. Is the clicking coming from the inverter also? Is it only coming from the relay you mention in your first post? You mention a function for that relay that is similar to the battery maintainer we have. Our battery maintainer is in a compartment adjacent to the battery compartment and below our bedroom.
The battery maintainer that I wrote of is a large bar arrangement with cooling fins. It has two terminals to the batteries, one marked chassis and the other marked add'l for house batteries. It has a third terminal in the center labeled negative. There is an adjacent battery maintainer lockout which looks to be a kind of relay, small square, with four blade terminals. Our manual doesn't mention the lockout but does say that the battery maintainer will automatically reset when it is over amperage. The manual does mention that the battery maintainer will click off and on repeatedly and then go silent if it can not achieve a constant charge (pulling too many amps trips the internal auto-reset circuit breaker). If your batteries are charging fully, then the battery maintainer wouldn't be cycling off and on unless the internal automatic reset function or circuit breaker was faulty.
Now, here is another possibility. We just installed a new Xantrex Inverter and I immediately encountered a condition that I hadn't encountered with our older inverter. The new inverter has a "load sense" function. When load sense is activated, the inverter will switch from standby to active at intervals you program into the inverter. When load sense switches on and detects a significant electrical load it will stay on and supply electric to that load. If there is no load or only a very light load, it will switch back to standby and then back on to check the load again after the programmed interval. All this is going on only when you have no AC source, shore power or generator supplying electric.
Here is the point of my mentioning load sense. After the installation of our new inverter, we were camped for a while. When we unplugged from the shore power, the inverter went into load sense function. Since we didn't have any major loads on the circuit it would constantly switch from standby to on, back to standby. I could tell this was going on because I was standing right next to the TV, VCR and other AV electronics. I could hear everything switching on, then off, then on and so on... It took a trip to Camping World where we had the inverter installed before I figured out what was going on. I took the inverter out of load sense (programming at the control panel) and everything was fine. Maybe, just maybe, this is the source of your clicking? Does the clicking happen when you are plugged in? If so, it wouldn't be the load sense function. If the clicking problem occurs when you are unplugged then I would suspect the load sense function. It would click off and on until there was a sufficient load on the circuit and then it would stay on (no clicking) until the load dropped off the line and the clicking would return. The clicking wouldn't come from the inverter, it would be other electronics being turned on and off as the inverter switches on and off over and over. Perhaps a malfunction in the inverter is doing something similar with the battery charging function?
I'll be interested in the solution to your problem. Be sure to post your findings to us when you finally resolve the problem.
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Thanks Clay and Lee,
It's an interesting way to get to full timing! Louise and I are in the same place, this won't end until something drives us from it. For now we are happy travelers! Had a good laugh at the name of your cat. I knew a man once who had a dog named Dammit. I think it may have had a first name also but I won't mention that.
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I have been reading the ongoing discussion in this topic for some time. There were things that didn't ring true with me, from my own knowledge of my coach and from differences in statements from different posters. So I went to the owners manual for my coach and re-read everything related to the inverter, batteries and alternator. From the previous discussion, it is apparent that different coaches have different systems for interfacing with the alternator, inverter and batteries. From our users manual, the information for our coach is as follows.
The alternator charges the entire electrical system including the chassis (engine starting) batteries and the coach (house) batteries when the engine is running. There is a caution not to use the alternator to recharge discharged house batteries as it may overload and overheat the alternator causing damage to the alternator. rdlamb's statement is probably correct for his coach but his statement is not true for all Monaco coaches.
When we use the inverter while driving this puts a load on the house batteries and thus the entire electrical system and the alternator will attempt to make up for that. A continuous large load in our case could result in overheating the alternator.
When we plug in the shore power, or when we use the generator, the inverter switches over from inverting to charging the house batteries. There is a battery maintainer (different from a converter) in the system which will allow the battery charge from the inverter/charger to the house batteries to be diverted to the engine batteries once the house batteries are fully charged. Thus, when parked for any length of time the house batteries are fully charged and the battery maintainer automatically switches to charging the engine battery as needed. The battery maintainer has an automatic circuit breaker which will trip if it draws more than 15 amps and then automatically reset. If the engine batteries are discharged and the maintainer is drawing more than 15 amps, it will click off, then back on repeatedly until it pauses. Could this be the cause of the clicking noise don0344 reported? It will resume putting a charge on the engine battery if the engine is started and then shut down after the alternator has put a base charge on the battery.
Again, the above information is from the owners manual for our coach. It can not be applied to all makes and models of motor homes, maybe not even the same make and model from a different year.
Knowing what kind of coach someone has (year, make and model) can help find an answer to their questions. You can put basic coach information in your signature as I have done below. This helps everyone understand your problem and helps those who attempt to answer your question.
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Let's start a discussion of various aspects of full-timing. Those of us who have already made the break can discuss how we came to the decision to sell the bricks and sticks house and move into a very small but mobile space. It is important to remember that there are no absolutes in this discussion. Each of us arrived at this decision via our own personal route for our own personal reasons.
We'll leave it to others (perhaps those who hope to join us) to challenge and question us about our decisions.
I'll kick things off with a few thoughts of my own. Please add your own experiences.
In 1998 Louise retired from public education. I followed in 1999. For two years after this we worked for a company in Chicago, making trips back and forth regularly. We also did some traveling, going to Paris in the summer of 1999 and to Africa in the spring of 2001. Meanwhile we had traveled to meetings in several locations in the US flying commercial for some and flying in single engine airplanes when possible.
On one such trip we drove from Phoenix to Lake Havasu City to visit Louise's mother. Being February we passed through Quartzite and saw the assemblage of RV's. Our discussion began. In Lake Havasu City we saw an RV dealer lot and the discussion continued. Before we left Lake Havasu City, we stopped in to check out the RV's. A very nice and patient salesman spent several hours showing us everything from the Prevost once owned by a NASCAR driver who lost his sponsor to toy haulers.
We asked the salesman about information on RV'ing and he referred us to a book titled: Movin' On by Ron and Barb Hofmeister. Written in 1999, this book contains information that is now somewhat dated but describes the experiences of a couple who started in a Class C motor home and went full time. For those considering starting in a Class C, I would recommend this book. The cell/computer information is way out of date but the considerations of packing for a small vehicle are still good. The book had excellent descriptions of what it was like to travel full time, the advantages and disadvantages. I would still recommend it for that content alone.
We read the book from end to end and discussed it over and over. We convinced ourselves that we could do it, make the break from our fixed home to a mobile life. We began looking at RV's everything from 5th wheels to motor homes. By March of 2001 we had settled on a motor home and found one to purchase, a used 1994 Monaco Dynasty. We parked it in storage. After we returned from Africa, we decided to quit our jobs and live on our retirement income. The dye was cast, we began the process of getting ready for the road.
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Hello Chris,
Welcome back to motorhoming! Compared to you, we are newbies! Sounds like you have lots of good stories. Perhaps you could share a series of them in a BLOG! It would be fun for us newbies to hear stories from ye olde dayz!
I came to motor homes after a lifetime of tent camping. My parents took us camping starting in about 1959. We always enjoyed the adventure. There are many fond memories and many things we still joke about. It is from those experiences I drew my love for travel and adventure. For years I camped with my family, taking vacations all over the country. I still carry a tent with us and on occasion will strike out for an adventure in the tent!
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I came across an article about the coming Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which goes into effect next week on June 1. This site lists the documents that are acceptable for crossing the borders between Mexico, United States and Canada. If you are planning a trip out of country this summer, be sure you have one of these acceptable documents for each person in your group.
http://www.getyouhome.gov/html/eng_map.html
The above link also has buttons for the Canadian Border Patrol and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Look at the lower left of the page).
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Don, thanks for the update. It helps us all to find out what the solution to your problem was. Now we have another suspect to put on our list of possible faulty electrical components. Unfortunately, it sounds like a trip back to a competent RV technician is in order. If the inverter isn't failing, it is surely malfunctioning.
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Don and Linda,
We have wintered in south Texas for the last eight winters. While we have been at one park the whole eight years, we have traveled all over the valley. There are hundreds of parks in the Rio Grande Valley with every range of services and type of location. There is a state park at the southern tip of South Padre Island with full RV hook-ups if what you want is seaside residence, you can't beat this one. You can drive the beach in places and fish most anywhere. There are plenty of sea food restaurants and during spring break things get real interesting. There are landlocked parks further inland with every range of service from large dance halls where you can practice your Texas two step or other dance steps, to locations next to wildlife parks. Some parks have lots of activities and others are just places to hang out. Some parks have paved parking spots, some have grass spots. You can find RV parks at golf courses and RV parks next to flea markets. Throughout the "valley" as it is known, you will find excellent authentic Mexican food, Texas BBQ and seafood. Our winter temperatures seldom reach the freezing mark and we seldom have a week that we don't see some temperatures near 70 degrees for at least a little while. So when you ask for a decent campground, just what do you mean? I'm betting we can find one for you!
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Brett has hit the nail on the head. Or should I not mention nails when discussing tires? Here is another factor to consider when checking your tire pressure. You should check tire pressure each day you travel in the RV. Why? The more frequently you check your tire pressure the better you will know your tire pressures. If one tire is suddenly low, it indicates a problem that should be investigated. You will know that the problem needs to be investigated because you have checked the tire for many days and it is always at the same pressure as the other tires on that axle and now suddenly one tire is different. Alarms go off in your head and you do more than just add a little air to bring it up to the correct pressure.
Another reason you check air pressure each day you drive is because the temperature each day will affect the pressure of the tire. When Brett mentions ambient temperatures, that means the temperature each day you drive. Because each day will vary slightly in temperature, the pressure will vary also and you want to be sure that the pressure stays at your desired value.
Now here is a gotcha for checking pressure. If you check tire pressure after the sun rises and the sun is shining on any of your pretty black tires, those tires will have an unreliable pressure reading because they are warmer than the other tires, just as if they had been driven. How much is the difference? Check your tire pressure before sunrise and then check again an hour or two after sunrise and see how the pressure changes. Compare that pressure with the pressure of tires on the same axle with the same starting pressure but in the shade. You will find significant differences in pressure readings. In reality, the tires should all be at equal pressure but you won't have any way to verify that with your pressure gauge. If you now try to equalize the pressure on an axle, you will end up with the tires in the sunlight being at lower pressure (the gauge will read the same but the warmer tires will have less air in them) than the cool tires in the shade. So the only time you can check tire pressures and be sure you are getting accurate pressure readings is when the tires are all at an equal temperature, before sunrise! This same principle applies to tires that are near a running generator or other heat producing device. If something in your coach warms tires unevenly, you can not adjust tire pressures until that heat source is removed from the equation and the tires have equalized in temperature.
If you weigh your coach with RVSEF you will receive an analysis that mentions another complication for motor homes. Your coach never weighs the same one day to the next. No I'm not suggesting your diet isn't working... I am pointing out that each day you drive, you use significant amounts of fuel from your fuel tank. A 100 gallon fuel tank holds fuel weighing about 600 pounds. Your propane tank may hold another 200 pounds of propane if it is full. You carry fresh water, sometimes more, sometimes less. You have waste tanks that are sometimes empty and at other times may be nearly full. So when your coach is weighed you need to know what the status of all your tanks are. Then you need to compensate the actual weight of your coach to the tanks full weight. In my coach, the fuel, propane and fresh water are all near the front axle. The waste tanks are near the rear axle. So when it is weighed I have to add weight for each axle to equal the missing liquids in each of the tanks. That way the tire pressure will be sufficient for an all tanks full situation.
So, weigh your coach, add weight for empty or partially full tanks, look up the weight for the tires on the manufacturers tire chart and add 5% or 10% for a safety measure. This becomes your target pressure for the tires on one axle. Each axle will be different, based on the weight on the tires on that axle. Also, be aware that tire charts will show a different weight allowance for single tires vs. dual tires. Dual tires run hotter due to the adjacent hot tire and thus need a different pressure for the same weight a single tire carries. The charts make all this easy, just look for the dual weight scale for those tires and use the single weight scale for single tires.
Finally, when you drive, your tire pressure will likely go above the rated pressure stamped on your tires and rims. The pressure stamped on the tires and rims is for the cold pressure before you start driving. This rated pressure assumes normal heating during driving and thus the associated pressure increase is also factored into the rating.
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Doug,
It is interesting how different people plan trips. When we leave on a cross country trip I have no idea where we will be staying. We use the Trailer Life Directory and Woodall's Campground Directory as our reference. Generally, we will determine where we want to be the next stop on the trip and then look for a suitable campground in the area. If we plan to stay for a while we'll be pickier about our campground, if it is just a night or two, we can flex a little and take a less desirable campground. We don't plan on spending a lot of time in the campground generally so we aren't as concerned about the campground facilities beyond the full hook-ups.
We almost never make reservations in advance. In fact, I hate to have a schedule that I have to stick to. If we decide it is too far to a campground for a day's trip, we can stop somewhere along the way or change to a different campground without having to cancel reservations. If we are finding campgrounds near full or worried about getting a space at a preferred campground we will call ahead before arriving at the campground. We typically call an hour or two before our arrival in this case. That way it saves us a drive to a full campground and allows us to re-route to a campground with space without wasting fuel or time. We have seldom found a campground so full that there wasn't some kind of space available.
Once we have reservations at a campground or a series of campgrounds then we are committed to a schedule. Did I say, I really don't like schedules? I had enough of them when I was working! With no schedule then we are free to do what we want when we want.
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My mother pulled out her church cookbook this evening. The cookbook is really two cookbooks in one. Titled: Past and Present, 1946 - 2008, it has all the recipes and other information from 1946 (the year I was born) and from 2008. Mom still has the old original 1946 cookbook and they used her copy for the new cookbook.
Anyway, I thought a few of the tips would be helpful today. There were two pages of tips in the 1946 book. Here is a sampling:
To make stove polish shine more easily, add a little turpentine.
Using a pastry brush, wash the bottom of unbaked pie shell with unbeaten white of egg; your pie will never soak.
Silk hose will wear longer if washed in cold water.
Tough meat will be made tender if placed in vinegar water for a few minutes.
My own personal favorite: Lard will be whiter if a teaspoon of baking soda is added after lard is started to render.
The cookbook was produced by the ladies of Friends United Church of Christ, 313 E Main Street, Warrenton, MO 63383 www.uccwebsites.net/friedensuccwarrentonmo.html
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Meme,
We spent the summer in Alaska in 2006. First, get the bible on travel in Alaska, The Milepost. It will give you a near complete listing of possible things to see. Depending on the time you have to stay there, you can drive most every major highway in Alaska in a season. There is no way you can see anything near everything in a season!
Now for more good news. On your way to Alaska you will travel through British Columbia and/or Alberta and then Yukon and if you want you can see Northwest Territories, all beautiful and amazing parts of Canada. It will take some time to see some of the sights here. We spent almost 3 weeks getting to Alaska and another week coming back to the lower 48.
Now for the roads. Of course, my report is now 3 years old. That said, the roads to Alaska were generally good. The Alaska Highway pavement was fine through about the first half of Yukon. As you go further north from there, the roads begin to show the effects of the harsh winter. You will develop an eye for the closet dumpers! These are dips in the road caused by frost heaving and slumping. They are about the right length to cause your coach (trailers too) to settle down on the suspension and then coming out of the dip toss the rear end upward so as to cause all the clothes hangers to rise off the closet bar! Viola, a closet dumper! Once you have an eye for those you learn that 45 MPH is a good speed to travel, it allows you to slow just a bit to avoid the big down/up movement of the motor home.
That was the good news. Road repair in Canada and Alaska is an on-going process and I'm sure you will see many miles of road under repair. You will drive over packed rock/dirt that is wet down with Calcium Chloride to reduce dust. Being damp this will sling Calcium Chloride laced dirt all over your motor home. Fortunately, most RV parks accommodate washing either with a free washing policy or a paid wash area. I washed the motor home just about every time we drove from one place to another. We were there in a very wet year according to veteran Alaska travelers and this probably contributed to the mud/dirt problem. Also, be aware that you will find few places where the parking lots for gas stations, grocery stores, souvenir shops are paved. Instead you will find them pot-holed and if it has rained, muddy.
Is such a trip hard on your coach, yes. Would I go again? We are already planning to do just that, if not in 2010, likely 2011. Our next trip will be via ferry on the way north to see the coastal areas of Alaska, Juneau, etc. Our coach has more scars from other more civil locations than we got in Alaska. In our old home state of Missouri we had a flat tire on the left front steer tire in the fall of 2006, on I-29, none in Alaska! In the spring of 2007 we took a large rock in the windshield, again in Missouri, I-44 this time. We got plastered by tire debris from a highway department mower on I-80 in Utah in the fall of 2007.
Now, we did see a motor home with a large patch on the upper rear quarter, apparently a sign or a tree caught the rear of the coach when making a turn. We saw a fifth wheel that had run off the road. There was a path of run down vegetation at least 300 feet long. We watched as a wrecker pulled out the pickup truck and fifth wheel as a single unit and they then drove away under their own power. I'm sure there was damage but it was still drivable. Caution is essential, don't schedule yourself into being in a rush. Take your time and enjoy the great experience that is Alaska.
In preparation for our trip to Alaska, we made sure we had new tires on our taod. We purchased a cover for the hood and windshield of our toad and used it as well as the Guardian that we already had with our Roadmaster Tow Bar. We also purchased and installed a Bra for the front of the motor home. Big, ugly and black, it gave us extra protection for the nose of the motor home. We saw all kind of home-made devices to protect motor homes, windshields and toads. I think it makes sense to prepare though as it turned out, we could have likely done fine without these steps during that particular trip.
Fuel prices in Canada and Alaska will be higher than in the lower 48. In 2006 we paid about $3.50 to $4.00 per gallon of diesel. On a drive to Inuvik, NWT we paid $4.50 for regular gas! That was the only station in a stretch of about 300 miles on that highway. Given the nature of fuel prices, I would prepare for prices greater than these for your 2010 trip. If they are less, you'll be prepared!
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Strange73,
I would have suggested a Class C for bunk beds, didn't know there was a Class A or Bus Conversion that had bunk beds until I read garykd's post. The standard saying for Class A coaches is, "Conversation for eight, drinks for six, dinner for four, sleeps two!" That would be the answer to the people who look at that great big coach and think it must sleep 20 people! Glad there are floor plans out there to fit your needs.
Again, go to an FMCA convention if you can. I have never had a salesman pressure me to buy one kind of coach or another. If you show an interest in one coach or floor plan, then they will offer help but there are many browsers at the convention and the salesmen can't buttonhole everyone. In fact, the sales people are pretty low key the first day or so. Pretty much just answering questions. With all the coaches that are usually at the convention, you could spend the whole convention just browsing coaches!
I wouldn't be afraid of an older coach if it is in good shape. We started in a seven year old coach and stayed with it for two and a half years. Once certain we were in this for the long haul, we purchased a new coach at a rally. We drove it over 7000 miles in the next six weeks. That is a good break-in run in a short time. Our last stop before parking at our winter retreat was at the dealer to get various items fixed. With the lower cost of the purchase of a used motor home comes increased maintenance costs! It would be hard for the maintenance costs to equal the cost of purchasing a new coach.
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Thank you LovinLife! You made my day. Glad to have helped you with your decision. Hope to see you on the road soon!
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Another source for repair and replacement parts is the salvage industry. There are salvage yards all over the country that specialize in RV salvage. I referenced this source in a topic, "A Great Resource for RV Information," under the General Discussion category. If you can't find what you need from the above references, check the salvage industry.
West Coast to East Coast trip in June
in Destinations/Attractions
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Doug,
You plan trips differently than I do! I plan to go see stuff and then pick the campgrounds. But OK, in Flagstaff there is the Lowell Observatory where Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto. Not too far north of Flagstaff is the Grand Canyon. East on I-40 from Flagstaff is (about exit 233 I think) Meteor Crater formed by an impact of a small asteroid, quite impressive. Also in the same area east of Winslow, AZ is the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. Both are worth a stop along the way. The Painted Desert is best at sunrise or sunset, beautiful colors. The fossil trees in the Petrified Forest are amazing.
Amarillo has the Quarter Horse Museum. You can also get a 64 oz. steak at a restaurant east of there (check the billboards). If you can eat the whole steak in an hour you get it free! Don't eat for a week and maybe you'll have a shot at it! South of Amarillo is Palo Duro Canyon with some interesting features. We've had a nice hike there to the Lighthouse Formation.
In Oklahoma City is the memorial to the victims of the Federal Building bombing, the first terrorist attack on the US. Also in Oklahoma City, a happier place to visit is the Cowboy Museum. East of Tulsa on I-44 at Claremore is the Will Rogers Memorial, if you are a fan of Will Rogers, this is a nice stop. Also in Claremore is the Jim Davis Gun Museum. A massive collection of guns of all kinds, from frontier days to WWII military. The collection includes much more than guns, well worth the stop.
Turning the corner in Springfield, MO as you head south to Branson, you might want to stop at the original Bass Pro Shop. They have a good restaurant in the store!
In Nashville, I wouldn't miss spending a day at the Grand Ol' Oprey Hotel. Shopping, dining and just walking through the awesome atria is worth the stop. There are numerous bars with CW music/dancing in Nashville, check the campground host for suggestions, bring your boots for scootin!
East of there through the Smoky Mountains, it is beautiful country. Great Smoky Mountain National Park is southeast of Knoxville. Knoxville itself is a pretty city. Before you get to GSMNP, you will go through Pigeon Forge. If you are a fan, stop in Dollywood! We had an interesting evening there!
If your route takes you through Asheville, NC, you must stop and see the Biltmore Estate, http://www.biltmore.com/visit/ . A truly amazing mansion built by one of the Vanderbilt descendants. More rooms than you can tour in a day! This is spectacular, we toured it at Christmastime in 2003 and they had a decorated Christmas tree in every room! Have lunch in the stable!
From there to College Park, you are in Revolutionary/Civil War territory, take your pick of battlefields and historic sites. Of course the whole Washington, DC thing is at your door step in College Park. My only advice is to find the Metro parking lot and ride the train where you want to go. Take water to drink in the summer or be ready to buy it, hot and steamy but well worth the time and sweat!
Now, if you want to visit antique shops...
It is hard for me to know exactly what your interests are, these suggestions are things we have seen and visited along your route and reflect our interests. Enjoy the trip!