tbutler
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Posts posted by tbutler
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I would recommend Sterling Associates. We got financing through the dealer when we bought our current motor home. At FMCA in Redmond, OR the next summer we talked to Eric Ramitowski from Sterling. Sterling arranges loans for you. They work with many banks and groups that make loans for RV's, boats and airplanes. We had a very good experience with Eric. That loan has remained a good deal throughout the length of the loan.
When we arranged the loan, we were in California. Eric was at their southwest office in Mexia, Texas. He sent us one offer. It had a clause that would have allowed the lender to demand full payment on the loan at their request. I said I wasn't comfortable with that clause. He found another lender, no demand clause. We agreed. They sent the paperwork. We had everything notarized at a bank in San Andreas, CA. The paperwork was shipped off and from there we scheduled automatic payments. It was as easy as something like that could be.
You can do some searching on your own and still contact Sterling. They don't charge you, at least they didn't in 2004. See what they can do for you.
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So now I have a question...
Why don't the signatures appear in any of the above posts? Have I turned them off somehow? If so, how do I turn them back on? I can't see a signature for anyone in any discussion on the forum right now.
OK that's three questions...
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On 6/22/2017 at 6:43 PM, edandviv said:Thanks for all the info I really do appreciate it. I guess I'll take it to a shop. If I were younger and in better health I'd give it try. I already removed the hitch. and it was a SOB. I took out the decorative shelf and i/2 moon sides that are on the both sides of the radiator. This will save some money.
DO NOT feel bad... I think there are many of us who are limiting our exertion. Don't call it old age, call it wisdom!
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Ah yes, the owners manual. That's the thing to read when something breaks or quits working...
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12 hours ago, abyrd said:If you have an Onan quiet diesel, Have you checked the V belt that drives the water pump?
Jim
Good point. I didn't know there was a V Belt inside that big green box. We were in Phoenix at Cummins and I had them do service on the engine and generator. I wanted the serpentine belt on the engine replaced. They asked about the generator belt. I said I didn't know there was a belt. They said it should be replaced at 1000 hours and we were just beyond that so I told them to go ahead. They brought me the old belt, it was in threads in several places. I was amazed that it hadn't completely failed. Now, it's on my list, every 1000 hours, new belt. Our generator is at 2150 hours now.
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As Bill says, check the fault codes, these are a blinking sequence of a light on the start button on the unit. If you don't have the Onan manual for your model, you can get them on-line. Instructions for reading the codes are included with the information that describe what the codes mean. There are a number of sensors on the generator and several of them will cause a shut-down. There are also other interfaces with the generator, our inverter acts as a controller for the generator, has an auto-start function and will also shut the generator off after a set period of time or at specific times of the day or night (quiet times).
The obvious is to check the coolant level. If that is good, and the code indicates high temperature, you likely need to get in touch with Onan/Cummins and have the unit serviced.
We had a problem with temperature once, codes indicated high temperature shut down. Had to have the sensor replaced. Turned out it was corroded and shorting out. With that done, has been running fine ever since.
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Yeah, our DirecTV remotes are light/infrared, not UHF. Years ago we had the UHF remotes, only one DirecTV receiver in the coach and we could tune it from the bedroom as well as the living room. I installed separate receivers many years ago when we converted from the old analog TV's. No need to tune the receiver in the front of the coach from the bedroom, now we have a receiver there. I didn't know that the old UHF ones were still in service.
As I mentioned, if the remotes were UHF, then the interference wouldn't be intermittent, it would be a continuous problem. The fact that it is intermittent tells me that it is some kind of random reflection problem.
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I hadn't looked into the Verizon deal, we have a Verizon hot spot and have used it for a number of years. We find it useful on occasion. Mostly we have it as part of a cobbled together set of hot spots that give us a barely minimal amount of mobile internet access. Over time, I moved from a Verizon phone to AT&T because of the coverage. There were places that we visited that had limited or no Verizon service. Louise had an AT&T phone for many years and she usually had service when I didn't. So I made the move to AT&T when my last Verizon phone died (under the tires of a golf cart). From flip phone to iPhone 4S was like night to day. AT&T has been good, we had a 20 GB plan that we coped with by using the Verizon hot spot and a T-Mobile hot spot with "unlimited" data. All together we could get 30 GB high speed and then the limited speed of the T-Mobile hot spot.
This week we went to an AT&T office to examine possibilities for expanding our data service and possibly replacing our iPhone 4S models. Now is the time to explain that I, like many of you, were raised in a time when the phone bill was $15 per month and you looked to trim that down by holding the "long distance" calls to a minimum. Comparing the old phone service with the black phone, rotary dial, local service and today's service is like comparing a horse and buggy to today's SUV. Let's face it, the service today offers things we could only imagine as being some kind of magic when we were kids. Anybody pay long distance charges today?
Long and short, we had three "lines," an iPad and two iPhones (his and hers). With the AT&T "unlimited" plan, we get 22 GB of full speed data - Per Line. OMG, that is 66 GB of full speed service for our three lines. Can I say that the Verizon service will be cancelled soon. The T-Mobile is already cancelled. Two months and the latest contract on the Verizon will expire and it will be gone. Any of our iPhones and the iPad will act as a hot spot for our computers. With the purchase of two new iPhones, we were able to purchase another iPad for $100 (limited time offer for the "old" iPad). That is another line and another 22 GB, a total now of 88GB at full speed and no penalty if we exceed that. I don't have any idea what we will do with that data capability but strongly suspect based on past performance that they will find something for us do with every bit of data we can get our hands on...
Bottom line, the bill will be lower next month than it was before and we can drop two other services we no longer need. We have new iPhone 7's and a new iPad. Long term we are saving more than $100 per month. V-Who?
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I had a Cummins shop remove and send the radiator (side mounted) out to be re-cored, then reinstalled in our first motor home, a 1994 Monaco Dynasty. They had the entire motor home on the lift, four supports, the whole motor home was 8 feet off the floor. I took pictures! Awesome to see. Anyway, the surgery was successful. Like a challenge? I suspect this is a good one. Good luck.
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It is possible that the problem is caused by reflected signals. This occurs when the signal sent to one TV in one area is also bouncing off a reflective surface such as a smooth metal surface or a window. The fact that this doesn't happen every time eliminates a radio signal. The signal is some kind of light signal and these are easily reflected. Find out where you can point the control at one TV and not the other and then point the control there every time. Likewise for the other TV. Drawing curtains, shielding the remote behind furniture, or even shielding it with your hand may be sufficient to keep the signal from reflecting off a window or a refrigerator door to the other TV. It sounds silly, but if it works, it is a very simple solution to your problem.
Our TV and DirecTV receiver are programmed to work from the same DirecTV control. It isn't perfect, power on or power off, the TV responds by changing it's state, from off to on or on to off. So when the DirecTV receiver is on while the TV is off, I can turn off the DirecTV receiver by holding the remote where the TV can't see the remote. The DirecTV receiver goes off and the TV remains unaffected. In fact, the reason that the DirecTV receiver stays on is because Louise's favored seat has her behind a corner from the DirecTV receiver. She can easily hit the TV but sometimes misses the DirecTV receiver. Just think of it as a fun game, call it hide and seek.
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Regarding the search function, the current software doesn't have a search function that works anywhere near like the software we were using a few months or years ago. I think it keys on the key words that a person enters when they start a posting. It doesn't seem to be searching within posts for words. Just my guess why it is now so difficult to find previous information.
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Farm Bureau Building, eh? Given the location and the crew, better wear your boots!
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Not to be picky but the correct term for the way that the brake in a box systems operate is inertia, not centrifugal force.
Centrifugal force (Latin for "center fleeing") describes the tendency of an object following a curved path to fly outwards, away from the center of the curve. Diffen
There is no circular motion involved in the detector, simply a straight line inertial detector. When the towed vehicle is slowed, inertia (a moving object will keep moving in a straight line unless acted upon by another force) slides a weight forward which is electronically converted to a physical force on the brake in the towed vehicle. The harder the brakes in the coach are applied, the greater the inertial force on the weight in the detector and this converted to an electrical signal that activates the physical device linked to the brake pedal which applies a stronger force to the brake. It might seem proportional but only if the system is adjusted very carefully will it truly be proportional.
One drawback to these systems, is that it does not matter what is slowing the coach. An inertial system applies the brakes any time the vehicle slows. In a diesel coach when you apply the engine brake, the inertial system in the towed vehicle will apply the brakes in that vehicle. You do not have to step on the brake pedal to set of the braking device. So you would be using the brakes in the towed vehicle to help slow the combined vehicle every time you apply the engine brake. The same would be true of downshifting on a downgrade in a gas coach. This could result in excessive wear on the brakes in the towed vehicle, especially if you frequently travel in mountainous terrain.
If you have ever been in a vehicle during an emergency stop or an accident you felt inertia as your body continued to move forward toward the front of the vehicle. Inertia is the reason you wear a seat belt. Without the seat belt you would continue forward until you hit something inside the vehicle, the dash, windshield, steering wheel, rear of the front seats, etc. Seat belts exert a force to stop your inertia before you reach one of these more damaging items. Air bags aid seat belts in the most severe stops.
Inertia is what keeps a spacecraft moving once the rocket engines shut off. The vehicle continues on in a straight line unless acted on by an outside force. If near Earth or other celestial body and not traveling fast enough, the spacecraft may be pulled into a curved path around Earth. In a continuing orbit around another object, gravity is the force that bends the orbit into a circle or ellipse. Rocket engines are only needed then to make adjustments in the orbit, the vehicle can coast around Earth (or other celestial body) for years with no additional energy being added to keep it going.
Thank you Bill, I'm a retired science teacher always looking for a chance to advance our understanding of science.
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I'm with Rich, wondering what was being done, servicing the coach. Might something they were working on caused a short or an overload condition. Loose wires in the vicinity of the inverter may have been shorted somehow and caused a fire near the inverter that could be mistaken for an inverter fire. If not plugged in, the batteries would have been discharging and the inverter would have been underpowered if unplugged for an extended time. It should have shut down when the battery power dropped below a certain level.
There are many electrical components within an inverter, it could have been a failure of a single component. A qualified technician (not necessarily a Magnum tech) should examine the unit to determine the cause if the inverter did indeed cause the fire. In most cases, the burn pattern of the debris can indicate where a fire started.
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Thanks. I had to work hard to keep all the terminology correct. Part this and plan that, got to stay with the program or it gets even more confusing. Original Medicare has Part A, B and D. Then there are supplement plans (C, D, F, G, M and N) provided by private insurers but defined by Medicare so they are identical no matter which company is offering them. That is, plan C is the same from every company that offers it, only the cost will vary depending on the company offering the coverage. The same is true for each of the other plans. The supplement plans are designed to cover gaps and high deductibles in Original Medicare. The various plans (C, D, F, G, M and N) offer differing degrees of coverage and thus those with better coverage and or lower deductibles, cost more.
Finally, there is the option to go with a Medicare Advantage Plan which substitutes for Original Medicare. Medicare Advantage Plans can vary in the kind of coverage they offer and deductibles. These plans are more familiar to people who currently have an HMO. They are simpler to understand in that you are dealing with a single company with a single policy. Your Original Medicare covers part of the cost of these plans and then you may pay more to get better coverage or lower deductibles. As the article points out, many of these plans have in network and out of network provisions and can be limited when traveling out of your home state.
Making a choice involves taking time to consider and compare all your options. It is time consuming and can be daunting with all the choices that you have. For us, the ability to travel freely and get medical attention when needed anywhere in the US was an overriding consideration. For those who spend less time on the road, this may not be the case. Having choices means that you can choose what works best for you. It also means that you have to take time to consider all the options to be sure you actually do have what works best for you.
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Some coaches have striping that are decals rather than painted surfaces. That means some really large decals. If that is the case, desartdeals69 above has the best idea, I've not used 303 but it is commonly recommended for preserving appearance. If it worked for him, I would take his recommendation. Here is a link to a general description for Aerospace Protectant 303. The site has a sales component but you can purchase this product on Amazon or at Walmart. If you search the internet for "303" you will get plenty of references where you can purchase the product.
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I just picked up the latest GoMedigap Newsletter and it had an article on Traveling with Medicare. This article is short and a very easy read. It gives information on coverage with Medicare, the original, and supplements and how they cover you as you travel in the US and its territories, in Canada and internationally, anywhere in the world. It also describes how Medicare Advantage plans cover travel in the US and in Canada and internationally.
I would highly recommend this quick read for anyone who travels and has a Original Medicare or Medicare Advantage Plan.
Regarding costs for any plan, they do vary. Medicare Part A covers hospitalization. If you qualify with enough working and paying into Social Security and Medicare credit, that coverage is at no additional cost. Medicare Part B, covering doctors visits and routine health care is about $120 per month for each of us. Some people who were covered before we were are paying slightly less, grandfathered in.
We have Plan G Medicare Supplement with a private insurer, the costs for that will vary depending on a number of variables including the company you choose, your medical condition when you sign up and your age when you sign up. You can choose from a number of supplement plans with varying coverage, deductible amounts, etc. If you choose Plan G it will be identical for every company offering Plan G. Plan G is defined by Medicare and every company offering it has to have the same exact coverage. The same is true of each of the Medicare Supplements. Our Plan G supplement costs each of us about $100 per month. Mine is slightly higher because I'm an XY (male), not an XX (female). Compare those costs with what we were paying before going on Medicare. We were in a group plan through our employer but had to pay the full cost of that policy on our own. It was costing each of us more than $500 per month. We love Original Medicare!
I just had a severe ear infection. I went to an Urgent Care Center, cost $0.00. Had an examination and prescriptions. I went back several days later, not getting better fast enough, got a referral (not needed but helped me find a local specialist, doctor(s) they recommend). Went to one of the four offices listed as Ear Nose Throat (ENT) specialist, got tested, examined, more medication, a follow-up treatment, cost $0.00 for the doctor, $4.00 per prescription (5 now in all) through our Medicare Part D Prescription Provider. All done within two weeks, never turned down, never a question regarding coverage. Show the card(s) and it is all done. I'll say again, I've never yet been to a doctor or hospital that doesn't accept Original Medicare. I'm certain there must be some somewhere but there isn't even any hesitation at any doctor, urgent care center or hospital I've been to. We are more than 500 miles from our current home, have been on the road for six weeks, don't have a doctor in this area. No problem.
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I have had two installations done. The first was done by the company (in St. Louis, MO) that sold the tow equipment to me. I never had a single problem with that installation. The second was done by an RV dealer that is associated with the dealer where I bought the car (Mission, TX). Same overall ownership. They ordered the part needed for installation and did the work. The basic tow equipment (base plate) has worked fine but the wiring for the lights misfired in several ways. First trip out, the plug got knocked out of the socket on the front of the car. It had been mounted in the air dam. It was too close to the road surface, either road debris was the problem hitting the socket or perhaps the cord which was even lower was being hit. Anyway, at the end of that trip I had an unusable plug and had to move the mounting to a higher location. Since then, no problems with the socket. The second problem was wear on the wiring run to the taillights. Improper installation in the car caused the wiring to wear through at the end of the first year of travel. I had that repaired at an RV shop, no problems since.
I think that experience is the key. The people that sell the tow equipment know more about installing it than a shop that just does that as an incidental job. I would have the shop where you purchase your tow package do the install. The other take-away could be that there are just good shops and/or good mechanics that do quality work and those that don't.
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I made the switch from Goodyear to Michelin several years ago. The improvement in the ride and steering was very noticeable. I made the change because of several problems with Goodyear tires I'd had in the past. I don't think I'd ever go back. I started by changing just the front tires. Last year I changed the rear tires. When I changed the rear tires over the ride improved also.
Many years ago I had a really bad set of tires, possibly caused in part by poor mounting techniques. Since then I've had the tire on the rim checked for round. With Goodyear, there were always some issues with the tires being out of round. Even though it is measured in tiny amounts, at 60 MPH it can cause vibration. I've also had the Michelin tires checked for round. Surprise, they test well within tolerance every time. I think this is a good part of the difference in the sensation the tires give when traveling down the road.
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We were on I-40 westbound out of Flagstaff last summer, well beyond Obedb's query. The stretch from Flagstaff to where the road drops down to the desert is absolutely the worst road I've ever been on in the lower 48. Alaska holds a special place in the bad roads category and Canada is another country, I've seen even worse roads there.
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Thanks Byron, I'm glad to know things are better there now.
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Two years ago I was on I-81 north of Harrisburg and construction had it slowed to a one lane traffic jam that took us two hours to clear. Check to see if there is still construction going on there and get an assessment of possible delays before including that in your trip plans.
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Now for on-the-way information. We did about the same travel though in slow motion two years ago. My brother lives in Eastern Kentucky so we made a stop at the Jim Beam Distillery south of Louisville. We drove across Kentucky on several small highways to London, KY where my brother lives. Leaving his home on I-75 north, we picked up I-64 in Lexington. From there we connected with I-79 and then I-68. We visited Harper's Ferry National Historic Park,
We stopped in Harrisburg, PA for maintenance at the Cummins shop. For those with a Cummins engine I highly recommend this Coach Care Location. They gave us the best service we've ever received from Cummins. Out of Harrisburg he headed for the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Taking I-81 and I-88 got us into New York. The one problem we encountered was on I-81, there was extensive one lane construction going on and we were caught in a huge long traffic jam. That was two years ago, someone from eastern PA can give you an update on this project.
From Cooperstown we headed east through southern Vermont on Hwy 9 and New Hampshire on Hwy 101. Both were scenic and we made a number of sightseeing stops along the way. We ended up staying at a campground in northern MA for a family reunion in Hampton, ME. From there we took I-95 north through down east Maine and on into Canada. That was the beginning of our first trip to Newfoundland and Labrador.
That is a look at one way to get there and some of the interesting things you might stop to see or visit on your way, depending on the amount of time you plan to be out on this trip.
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As one who loves to visit wineries and also has visited several of the distilleries on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, I have a strict policy, taste and spit. It breaks my heart to spit out a fine wine or a great bourbon but that is the only way if you are the driver. At least I'm getting to taste the product which is the objective of tasting. I usually inform the person at the tasting counter that I am the driver and will be spitting out each tasting so they don't think I'm being dismissive of their product. By the way, bourbon is a Kentucky thing. If it isn't from Kentucky it can't be labeled bourbon. The Tennessee Whiskey Trail is a separate entity. You can't beat these two tours for liquor tourism unless you go to the Napa Valley.
As to the distillery tours, they have bus and RV parking at many locations. You can go on-line to get information from each distillery and if there is a question about parking, call to find out what arrangements they have for parking RV's. A 25' motorhome isn't that much larger than some pickup trucks. I don't think you will find any problems. If you can park in two regular spots at Walmart, you should be fine.
We did find that campgrounds were fairly sparse in the Bourbon Tour area. You might plan your itinerary ahead so you have campgrounds available each night. We found that a visit to a distillery will take from two to four hours without rushing. A good tour may make that a little longer. Some places, you have to purchase tickets for tours and they may not be available for the next tour. Avoiding holidays and weekends might minimize that. I think you can purchase tickets at some distilleries in advance, on-line. Enjoy!
For those going to the FMCA Convention in Indianapolis, you won't be far from Kentucky and Tennessee! Great side trip if you are so inclined. And, oh yes, Prism16 welcome to the forum. If you leave Maine a few weeks earlier you could attend the FMCA Convention! It's a can't miss experience to do one of these large RV gatherings at least once. Would love to see you there.
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So I tried that. It was set on, check marked. No signatures. Turned it off, X. Still no signatures. Went back, turned it on again. Saving it each time. Confirms, signature changed. Still no signatures displayed. I'll sign off and open FMCA website again... And still no signatures show up.
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