richard5933

Re-reading your original post, if gas is not getting to the fridge you might have to bleed the air out of the line to the fridge. Once you get the batteries charged, check to see if the system is attempting to light the flame. Some systems will only make so many attempts to light, and then they'll stop trying assuming that there is a problem. If you have a lot of air in the line, you won't get ignition and the system will stop trying. You might have to crack the line at the fridge, open the valve until you smell the LP, then close the line back up. Of course, be sure to use proper safety precautions when doing this (no flames, so electrical sparks, etc.)

I agree - that repair created a pond on your roof and even the smallest leak would be greatly magnified. Would be great to make it flatter so the water can better drain.

Admittedly, it's been a long time since high school chemistry class. But isn't NaDCC the same thing as sodium dichloroisocyanurate? Is the sodium dichlor we're discussing here something else?

Isn't sodium dichlor the main active ingredient in Aquatabs, used for water purification around the world?

Also figure in the fact that your truck is 15 years old. Pushing an older truck this close to its max tow limit is a great way to find all the flaws and faults in the truck. Amazing what can silently fail in an older vehicle that you don't discover until pushed to limits.

Same way we test city water supplies - we don't. We do, however, check the best we can before filling out tank. Sometimes it's easy, as in many states if the campground uses a well they've got a testing certificate posted for guests to see. Other times it's not as simple, but we've had good success with asking other campers before filling the tanks if there have been any problems with the water. The seasonal campers will more likely know the situation. When we were in a campsite in PA this fall, I was really glad we asked at the desk before filling. They had been issued a water-boil advisory by the health department only a short time before due to a problem with their fresh water supply. Would have contaminated our whole system. We don't hook up our electrical without testing first with our pedestal tester, and we don't fill our water tank without doing what we can to verify that the water is safe to drink. It's not a perfect system by any means, but sometimes imperfect is the best we can do.

We use the onboard tank exclusively for all needs - bathing, cooking, drinking. We've got a whole-house filter to remove sediment, and a drinking water filter on the sink which further filters water for cooking/drinking. We stopped using bottled water years ago. When possible, I fill the tank from our well water (softened) before leaving on a trip. It holds 90 gallons which will last the two of us more than a week. We'll fill from city water while on the road, but only after double checking on the quality of the water supply at the park/campground.

Great - thanks for the clarification. Seems like we're on the same page.

Unless I'm misreading this page, they're talking about using the HP in concentrations of 3% - 7.5% on solid surfaces. If so, then how can the stuff from the box stores which is only 3% be effective in a fresh water system, especially when diluted in the amount of water we're talking about here? I'll sleep (and drink) better doing our usual routine and then confirming everything with a simple water test at the county office.

Still seems to be some confusion - the TV standby should have nothing to do with the start batteries unless the house & start batteries are bridged together. Do you have a switch to bridge them together (for starting assistance, etc)? If so, make sure that it's not stuck in the bridge mode.

Great question. No easy answer. Like Brett said, this will vary greatly. Especially if you are including depreciation and the cost of upkeep. There is an easier way to look at this though... You already own the Class C rig and depreciation will happen even if you don't use it. You will most likely replace the tires eventually due to age, whether or not you drive on them. Neither of these really should be a factor here. Same for routine maintenance - you'll have to do things like oil changes based on elapsed time anyhow, so non-use doesn't save much. These are all basically fixed costs. So, the only real expense to consider for this one-day trip is the cost of fuel. That you can calculate easily depending on the mileage you get. Even at just 8 mpg and assuming a total of 300 miles, the fuel cost is under $100 depending on the pump prices near you. That plus the campground fee is really the total for the trip. All that said, the real question is which do you enjoy more. For us the question is easy, we'd rather travel in our coach whenever possible. Even for a one-day trip.

I've been reading about this online since the thread started. Seems like there is a great variance in the amount of chlorine or hydrogen peroxide that is required to adequately sanitize a water supply. I remember when Milwaukee was dealing with the crypto situation in the 90s, and there were specific guidelines to follow to properly sanitize. Does anyone know of a reliable agency source (NIH, CDC, etc) for the ratios being used in this application?

Since this is a recent purchase of a used motor home, there exists the mystery of what was done to the rig prior to you purchasing it. No telling what modifications a previous owner did, nor what work was done by a shop before your purchase. By design, most manufacturers will connect a few house systems to the chassis/start batteries - could be the steps, could be a slide, etc. However, there is a chance that someone along the way connected some other device to the start batteries that should be connected to the house batteries. I've seen photos of some battery bays with multiple wires piggy-backed on the positive terminal of the start batteries when there should only be one. Your initial testing was to pull the cable from the negative terminal. That wouldn't remove any of these extra circuits from the positive side. Also, we're talking about a 2014 motor home. Likely the start battery is still the original, which means it could be 5 or 6 years old already. Might be advisable to test the battery before going much further. No sense in trouble shooting the entire coach when the problem is the battery itself. If the battery is the original, I'd replace it as a matter of maintenance regardless. A picture or two of the battery bay will help us help you identify anything that looks odd or out of place as well. And, welcome to the forum. Glad to have you join us here. Lot's of good information to be shared.

I can happily announce that spring has sprung for us here in Wisconsin, and not a moment too soon. This cabin fever thing was getting to me. After a week or two of above freezing afternoon temps the ground dried out enough around where the bus was parked, and today I was able to bring it from behind the barn back to the parking pad next to our driveway. Yay! Not a moment too soon since I have an appointment next week to have the Jake Brakes installed on our engine. Great thing, these old mechanical engines. Hasn't been touched in about three months - started instantly as soon as I touched the switch. Oil pressure came right up and all systems are 'go'. Next thing you know the spring bulbs will start popping up.

Have you checked with Newmar to be certain that the larger tire size isn't going to cause a problem? Sometime a larger tire looks good standing still, but it still creates a problem as the suspension moves to full travel. Wouldn't hurt to make a phone call.

You can also have some type of internal damage. The weight of the cable/clamp on the post is enough to cause a problem. Take off both clamps and the problem disappears. I've seen weird things with internal battery failure. How old are these batteries?

I just had a thought after reading Brett's comment. Like he mentioned, we never sanitize our house plumbing, even if we leave the house for weeks at a time to go on the road. Our fresh water system at home is fed by our own well. Periodically we are required to bring a sample to the county offices to have it tested for contamination. If the sample tests good, we do nothing more. In the nearly 20 years we've lived here, taking the samples is all we've ever had to do since everything tests good. Seems like that would be the gold standard for our RVs as well. Not very expensive to have a water sample tested, and certainly not very difficult. Rather than guessing on the proper formula for sanitizing our systems just get them tested and be armed with facts. If you live in an area where homes have wells, the information on getting a water sample tested should be readily available. If there are no wells in your area, then you might have to dig a bit to find which office at the county (or, town, village, etc) handles such things. This is now on my list for spring prep, so I'll report back once I've done mine.

Those electrons have to have a path from the negative post back to the positive post. They're not going to jump through the air unless the humidity is really (REALLY) high, so something somewhere must be conducting the current for the battery to be draining. Also, any signs of cracking or damage to the battery case itself, especially near the posts? Any chance you can post a photo or two of the way you've got things set up in your battery box?

Only time I've seen that on otherwise good batteries was when there was LOTS of grime and dirt on the batteries, especially in humid weather. Herman - The Victron BMV is really nice. I can watch what my system is doing from my phone through Bluetooth, and I'm able to see precisely what a particular device draws from the system if I want by isolating it. Once I got it calibrated, it was quite accurate regarding remaining charge.

If you have a battery monitor system (like the Victron BMV 712) installed you can use that in the same way. It will show any draw or charge going to the battery. Follow the same procedure Herman mentioned, and when you put in the fuse for the offending circuit a draw will show (unless the problem is intermittent or resulting from something which cycles on/off). The key to using a system like this is to install the shunt so that ALL current to/from the batteries goes through the shunt. Otherwise you'll never get an accurate reading.

I certainly would. They sold you tires already a third of the way through their life. At the very least they should have consulted you and asked your approval before mounting tires that old. I'd look for tires with a date no older than 6 months if possible.

Both truck tires and RV tires are available with a 75-mph speed rating. AFAIK, RV tires don't have a higher speed rating than many regional and long-haul truck tires. They are all designed for highway use. On the surface, the specs for highway-rated truck tires and RV tires have the same specs (compared in same size/load rating) so if there is a difference it must be elsewhere. Urban deliver tires, local delivery tires, etc. are certainly different and obviously not suitable for an RV.

Curious - what makes a tire specifically designed for motor homes? Other than possibly adding something to help prevent sun and environmental damage, I can't figure what difference there would be. Part of me wonders if they make the RV tires to a lessor standard since they won't receive the same intense use as a cross-country truck tire will as a way to keep the cost down.

Did the manufacturer issue a maximum top speed warning on the RV of 65mph? I bet it's in the small print in the manual somewhere.

Do I understand that the same charger is showing different outputs depending on whether you're plugged into shore power or on generator?