richard5933

We definitely have a coach - says so right on the operator's manual.

Guess temperature is all a matter of perspective - to us 38 degrees is a beautiful temp for first thing in the morning this time of year. We're at about 20 degrees right now.

If you are ever not totally certain that the site is good, you can usually call your credit card company and get a one-time-only temporary card number to use. That way if things go bad your regular card/number is not at risk. Capital One calls theirs 'virtual numbers'. I shop online often, and being directed to a payment site is common. Some of the merchant sites don't have adequate security to run the payment through the main site, so they contract with a third-party credit card processor. I had mine setup to process through Intuit's system. There are countless others.

GPM refers to gallons per minute - a measure of water flow rate. PSI refers to pounds per square inch - a measure of pressure. In most systems, these two measurements are balanced to provide a good flow at a decent pressure. Many times when someone thinks they are having a pressure problem it's really due to a flow problem. If the pump can't pump water fast enough (flow rate) to replace the water that you're using, there is no way for it to build pressure. If you're not sure that your pump is working properly, disconnect the output line and divert it into a bucket. Run the pump for one minute and measure the output. It should be putting out 3.5 gallons. If not, there's your problem.

LP is heavier than air - monitors for LP are mounted near the floor. Carbon monoxide is slightly lighter than air, and monitors are typically mounted about 5 feet above the floor. Don't think it's a good idea to combine both monitors in the same unit. Whatever you install, make sure it has an internal battery. If it only connects to the 12v house system you will have no protection when your house battery is off or discharged. Carbon monoxide can still build in the coach, from a neighboring vehicle's exhaust or generator exhaust.

You might check the screen on the intake side of the pump. If it is clogged you"ll get reduced flow/pressure. If you don't have a screen or filter, then the pump itself might be clogged. All that's assuming that the pressure was once better. Our Shurflo only makes 45 psi, so it will seem low compared to city water. I installed a shower head designed to work on lower pressure so we still get a decent shower.

We went to the local box store and bought a battery-powered monitor. No need to wire anything and the batteries in the new ones last a few years. Some of them don't even have changeable batteries - you just replace the whole monitor (which is good because they don't last forever).

Lots of discussions about these things in the bus conversion world. The best I can tell, they do best when you absolutely have to remove a lug nut and don't have access to pneumatic tools. They will do that task, if you get the proper size wrench for your particular wheel setup. I carry one with us, although to be honest it would take an extreme emergency to get me to change a wheel myself. I'm calling for a mobile tire service if I have a tire problem on the road. Putting the lug nuts back on is a whole different matter altogether. These will tighten as well as loosen, but they can easily over tighten a lug nut or even break a stud, especially when combined with a cheater bar (handle extension). Stuck in the wilderness and have nothing else with you but a torque multiplier? Sure, it will get your wheel off and back on again. First chance you have to stop at a shop and have properly torqued you should do so. The only proper way to tighten a lug nut is with a torque wrench. An impact driver is an easy way to over tighten lug nuts, ruin a wheel stud, or damage a wheel. That little torque wrench in your tool box with the 3/8" drive is probably not going to cut it either, as the required torque is higher than those are designed for or capable of.

If you're renting an RV, then my first phone call would be to the company you're renting from. Most RV rental companies provide the roadside assistance as part of the package and you shouldn't need to purchase anything additional. After all, it is their RV. If, however, you're talking about a long-term lease then you may be responsible for providing your own coverage. In that case, here's the phone number for FMCA's roadside assistance program. (877) 581-8581 Probably helpful to just give them a call and ask all your questions. Sorry that it's been so difficult to find the information you're looking for. Welcome to the forum and we look forward to hearing about your trip once you're underway.

There have been a few threads recently in which people have been trying to track down a mysterious drain on a battery. Today I stumbled across this video which explains one method for helping to identify the problem. Hopefully it will help someone.

Funny, I thought the problem would be that someone dared to clean their wheels.

We've had this conversation in another thread and I don't want to take focus from the original topic. Bottom line for me is that sometimes the best tire for a coach is the one the engineers and designers built it for. I investigated your suggestion, and it quickly became similar to that little old lady who swallowed a fly. I only brought this up as an example of what can go wrong when tire sizes are changed. Someone put these tires on my coach without doing a thorough investigation into the situation, and the result is tires that make contact with the airbags. Lesson? Important to do thorough research and not just assume they'll fit. Also, the fact that not all manufacturers stick with the 'standard' dimensions for tire sizes is another reason why a consumer needs to do thorough research. I set up a spreadsheet for all the possible replacement tires for my coach, and you are correct about the variances in sizing. Setting up a spreadsheet allowed me to look at all the dimensions side-by-side and eliminate a couple of tire options since their sizing was different enough to not work for me.

Like I mentioned earlier, often it's not possible to see the problem with the coach standing still. Hit a pothole or large bump with the wheels turned all the way to one side and suddenly you might find the problem. This is not a cheap vehicle, and I'd hate to have to pay a repair bill because the tire hit something mechanical unexpectedly. Or worse, have the tire blow and cause an accident. Sounds extreme, I know, but the engineers design clearance for wheel travel for the size they intend to be mounted on the coach. I've got a similar situation on our coach - it came to us with 315/80R22.5 tires. Really nice tires. They are often chosen as the metric equivalent to the 12R22.5 tires that came on the coach when the coach was manufactured. Problem is that the 315s are about 1/2" wider than the 12R22.5 and at full turn it's possible for the tire inside the turn to make slight contact with the air bag. If I should hit a bump during this time the tire could possibly do damage to the airbag. I'm going to switch back to the proper size 12R22.5 to avoid this from happening. I wouldn't switch tire size until it was confirmed from the manufacturer that it will be safe.

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?