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RE: water heater timer
Having run a test on consecutive winters to see how much propane I would use both by keeping the water heater on all of the time and then by only heating it up once each day, I was parked in the same spot and the winter with it off was slightly colder than the one where it was on all of the time. The result was that there was not a significant savings of propane when I only heated it once each day. That is probably a combination of the fact that keeping that small tank hot doesn't require a lot of propane over heating it from cold condition once each day. The other big factor is probably that a water heater really isn't that big a consumer of energy in an RV because the tanks are so small.
Now what would make a difference is if you had one of the tankless water heaters.
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Kirk
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09/01/10 03:54pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: hot water heater
CFaub,
Some good answers here, but just in case you are still reading, I would like to explain something about water heaters that may be of help. In all water heaters that have a tank, the hot water always exits from the top because hot fluids rise and so that is the hottest water in the tank. And in all water heaters, the plumbing sends the supply of unheated water into the bottom of the the tank. That is even true if the home water heater has both pipes at the top as the cold one will reach all of the way to the bottom of the tank. The only way to get water out of the tank of a water heater, other than opening the drain is to have pressure inside of the tank which is supplied by the supply of unheated water.
All water heaters are designed this way to prevent using the water from them unless there is a supply of water to replace what is removed. The design is that way because a water heater will be damaged by the heat in attempting to heat up an empty tank. It thus prevents the operation of the water heater with no water in the tank, unless the drain valve is opened or plug removed, which is difficult to do by accident. This way if for some reason the supply of water to the water heater should fail, the owner will not run the hot water out and cause it to go empty without knowing that it there is no water supply.
The design is one for safety of the owner and the water heater tank.
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Kirk
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09/01/10 03:46pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Buying to vehicle to tow behind MH
When you choose you also need to check the weight of the chosen vehicle as compared to what your motorhome is rated to tow. We tow with a gas powered motorhome and the max towing capacity is the limit on what we can choose. Many an RV is not intended to tow a vehicle that weighs more than 5000# so make sure before you buy. We chose to tow a 4WD, Honda CR-V. We towed our first one for more than 40K miles and drove it 156K miles. We now have another because of the excellent performance and service from our first one.
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Kirk
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09/01/10 03:32pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: breakdowns
Jim may know more than I do, but we have now been fulltime in a motorhome for more than ten years and to date we have been out of our motorhome during repairs only two times and one of those was by choice as we cold have stayed in it. Nearly all repair facilities that work on RVs much will have water and electric available for the customers. Even motorized RVs can be pushed outside for the night and frequently are. That type of major repair is pretty rare if you have a recent vintage RV and it is most likely to happen due to some need of an ordered part. In that case, you can almost always stay in it. For the larger type of issue, just plan it so that you will be where you have family or some other place to spend some time.
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Kirk
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09/01/10 03:27pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Any sites or other ideas to find people to RV with...
Since I am already traveling with a woman who figures that one is enough, I'm not a candidate, but I do think that if I were single and happened to be interested in a companion, I would probably want someone who was bringing something into the relationship such as some expense money, or some other contribution beyond companionship.
In addition, I would want to know something of the age and interests of the person who I was considering. Compatibility for long term travel companions is as important as it would be with any close relationship. Since most of us in the fulltime RV life are retired, I don't know that romance is that major an issue, but there would need to be some reason for the RV owner to want and to enjoy your presence in the RV as he/she travels. That same thing would also apply to you.
Consider that there are just as many ways to live and travel in an RV as there are to live in any other kind of home and you may begin to see what I mean. If you don't believe in consuming alcohol you won't want a partner who's big thing is touring breweries and distilleries. If you love crowds and shopping, you will not enjoy traveling with someone who prefers to spend their time in the deep woods or remote deserts. You will be living very closely and it is important that you share some of the same interests and hobbies.
Probably the main reason that most men who respond to women with ads such as yours is the lack of anything else to cause an interest in having you join them. Men who have no interest in a romantic relationship are not likely to respond to an ad from a lady who offers no other attraction beyond a physical one. There are men out there who might be interested, but they are not likely to respond without a lot more information. Most of them see this kind of post and only see one reward for what they bring into the living arrangement. For companionship they tend to stick with other men who have some money to contribute and who share the same interests as they have.
When you live in close quarters such as an RV provides, the relationship is very similar to a marriage whether you are same sex or not, and even if just friends. You are together all of the time and as such you must be best friends above all else. Common interests and beliefs are very important to the happiness of both parties, regardless the kind of relationship it may be.
Based upon the single RVers that we know, both the women and the men are very self-sufficient people, who enjoy their own company and have only limited need for companionship. Very few are seeking any kind of long term relationship and many avoid it. I can't recall any of either sex who had been on the road for long who had any interest in a romantic connection at all.
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Kirk
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09/01/10 03:07pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Husband or Wife who makes the decision?
I can not imagine making such an important choice and a large financial decision at the purchase of a new or near new RV without the involvement of both parties. Perhaps I am weird but I involve my wife in such choices because we each have our areas of expertise. In addition, we each have some things that we consider to be important that the other may not. Pam knows a great deal about fabrics and the construction of drapes and upholstery, while I know very little. But I am retired from the electric/mechanical service industry and so understand a great deal about the more technical aspects of RVs that she has little knowledge of. We both have to live in the floor space provided and so it seems to make more sense for both to be involved in that part of it. I am also an amateur carpenter and so have pretty good knowledge of fit & finish things. Pam knows far more than I about colors and decorating than I do.
On financial issues, we both do a lot of looking at the impact of the cost upon our financial future and our budgets. The very idea of making such a choice without the input and advice of both people seems very foolish to me.
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Kirk
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09/01/10 02:23pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Storage thoughts
There is no doubt that heated, inside storage is the very best choice around. In more than 35 years of RV experience, I can't imagine why it would ever become so humid as to cause damage, particularly in an area such as you are where heating the cold winter air tends to lower the humidity to the point that most people use some means to add moisture to the dry air in the heating season?
Even so, we have never had inside storage for our RVs and the first 16 years of RV ownership was in Wyoming where winters can be pretty bad. I would not spend the money for heated storage unless I expected to take the RV out in winter fairly frequently so that not winterizing would be an advantage. Covered storage does provide somewhat less in wear and maintenance, but as a fulltimer we have only had brief periods when our RV was under a roof and we have now lived in it for more than ten years. The extra maintenance needed from storage outside, as compared to inside but not heated is really not that much. If you have a good quality cover, it will provide nearly as much protection from weather at a far lower cost.
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Kirk
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09/01/10 02:15pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: How about a few good stories?
Thanks to those who have contributed! I am always amazed by the number of folks who seem to favor remembering the stories about bad visitors and bad experiences. After more than 10 years of volunteer position, most dealing with the public, I know that for every real jerk out there, we meet at least one hundred really great folks! I will never understand why the folks who seem to love to talk about all of the bad people that they deal with keep on volunteering?
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Kirk
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09/01/10 02:03pm |
Workamping Forum
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RE: Imperial National Wildlife Refuge
We spent the winter there in 2007/08 and had a great time. Most of the staff has changed since we were there, but we have talked to several who were there recently and they report that it is as great today as it was when we were there. You can see pictures that we took when we volunteered there at this location.
They have six RV sites with full utilities, including 50A power. There is also an extra site where a visitor can spend a night if you have one, by prior arrangement. The sites are four on one side and two on the other with a building for volunteers on the short side. The building has two washers, two driers, a full kitchen with large refrigerator/freezer for the volunteers as well as his & hers shower rooms. There is a covered patio and fire ring for the group as well as a concrete pad and vire ring for each site.
The location is a long way from shopping as it is 38 miles to Yuma and the town of Martinez, just down the road has one restaurant and an over-priced convenience store/bait shop. It is locate on the Colorado River, just up stream from Imperial LTVA and to the west of the Army's Yuma Proving Ground. It is about 60 miles to the south of Quartzsite.
We had a great time there and do recommend it to others. And don't worry at all about the comments of Diane as they don't keep volunteers there in the summer. Since there is no visitor traffic and the a/c bill would be outrageous, as well as the fact that the staff know about the hot weather there, they have never made an attempt to use volunteers in the summer.
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Kirk
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09/01/10 01:53pm |
Workamping Forum
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RE: Carbon Monixide Detector
A friend once told me that they have to b e replaced every few years (5+ maybe). I don't know if this is correct or not. Manufacturers do say to replace them after five years. There is no easy way to test one but they are vital to have.
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Kirk
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08/29/10 10:11am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Refreg freezing
Rob, great response! I was just about to dig out the service manuals to check that info. My diagnosis is the same as yours unless he happens to have the thing set too cold and perhaps no inside fan to move the air about.
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Kirk
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08/29/10 10:08am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Dometic RM1350 Problem
Dougrainer,
You may well know, but do you mind sharing your information source?
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Kirk
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08/29/10 10:03am |
Tech Issues
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RE: STAIRS PARTIALLY RETRACT
Assuming that you have steps from Kwikee, they stop traveling based upon an increase in motor current, rather than a physical stop. Anything that restricts the upward travel of the steps could cause this problem. When you lubricate the steps, you should never use any kind of petroleum product because the oil will collect dirt and dust and make the movement worse. You need to use some type of liquid solvent to wash out all residue and dirt and then spray with a dry lubricant of some kind.
There is no adjustment for the stop position as the physical limit of travel is the normal position in either direction.
If you have some other brand of step, I have no experience in servicing it.
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Kirk
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08/29/10 09:58am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Dometic Frig mod# NDR 1292 - condenser fan
The fans are not standard and will not be found in all refrigerators. If you study the service manual you will find no mention of any fans. The reason is that most do not have any. Most commonly they are added by the RV builder, usually because the refrigerator is in a slide and so can't have the "through the roof" vent that the refrigerator manufacturers list in the installation instructions. There are also after market kits to install these fans and some refrigerator manufacturers now supply them at an extra cost.
They are a pretty simple circuit and you should be able to trace the wires from them to see how they are controlled. I have seen fans on a thermostat and also in some cases on a manual switch. In some cases, when the refrigerator is located in a slide it may have fans that come on if the refrigerator is operating, but there is no single way for them to be installed.
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Kirk
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08/29/10 09:53am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Onan help
Tex, he has a 1994 Onan, 2800.
Another thing to check is the ventilation of the generator. Most Onan sets have both a low oil pressure shut down and a high temperature shut down. If not properly cooled, they will shut off until cool. They are designed to operate with the door to the compartment closed so if it were to leak too much, that can happen.
On the oil side, if the oil level is too high, after a while the oil will get foamy due to that high level and the way that the engine/crank are located. If that happens the oil pressure will drop and the unit will stop. It takes time for the foam to settle and that means it also cools, but temperature is not really the cause. Oil levels in these Onan sets is critical and too high is just as bad as too low.
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Kirk
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08/29/10 09:44am |
Tech Issues
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RE: damon astoria
Since there have been no answers, I will stick my neck out and say that if you are shopping for an RV, that is one of those with relatively poor reputation for quality and support. That may be one of the reasons for no responses.
There may well now be some flame posts from those who own them as none of us wish to admit when we make a bad choice.
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Kirk
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08/29/10 09:36am |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Earning Extra $$ Using The Internet
Mr. Ed,
Have you given any thought to doing some volunteer for RV site positions along the way? We do this most of the time because we have found our niche and we love the wonderful experiences that we have had and this provides our site and utilities free, for about 8 months or so out of every year. We have been doing this now for 10+ years and we spend very little on RV sites yet we go to new places each season and have been to very few of them twice! It not only provides us a big boost to our standard of living, but we make many new friends and we take great satisfaction from our experiences along the way.
Check it out and see what you think.
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Kirk
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08/29/10 09:29am |
Full-time RVing
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RE: mail forwarding ???????? Which One !
The first question that you need to decide is where you wish your domicile to be. That is a very complex question and it is critical. The three most popular states are Texas, Florida and South Dakota. They share two things in common that account for most of that. The two are a lack of any state income tax and a complete lack of any time in state requirement to move your domicile to the state. All three will require that you go there long enough to get a driving license in person but all three also allow registration of vehicles by mail.
As to which is first in any individual's mind, there are several factors. Florida and Texas both have the popularity that comes from being very popular for retirees to settle when they stop traveling in the RV. South Dakota has the advantage of the lowest of the three for sales tax. Texas has the advantage of being the home to the Escapees RV Club which is the only complete support system for people who live in an RV. Florida is the home of the mail service from Good Sam RV club(Pensacola).
If you join and use Escapeesas your domicile, you then also have the advantage that they have an arrangement with the county courts for immediate release for jury duty if called and if you actually move all of your business there, Livingston, TX is the only community in the world where everyone knows exactly what a fulltimer is and how we live, and they seek our out business! They are also the only state where the RVer's right to vote is guaranteed in the state constitution and has been tested through the courts.
There are a host of other issues that should be considered. Things like wills, health insurance, vehicle insurance, and a host of other legal questions that are different for each person. We know one couple who chose SD over TX or FL because only SD has no "common law" marriage laws and they were not married. This is the kind of thing that one should give thought to when making this choice. In general, each of those states have some distinct advantages, and each has something that is different from the others.
There are also times when the best choice is an entirely different state. A good example might be those who have retiree health coverage that can't be transferred to a new domicile. There was a recent thread from a couple who changed domicile and then lost their health coverage because they were required to stay in the state of origin for it to continue.
My point is simply that for me, by far the best choice was the Escapees RV club, but each person has different issues that may be critical to that choice.
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Kirk
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08/29/10 09:22am |
Full-time RVing
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RE: First Workamping Position
Congratulations! I do believe that if you keep your present positive attitude you will have a great winter.
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Kirk
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08/28/10 06:02pm |
Workamping Forum
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RE: Water heater not working
There are many things that could possibly be the problem. Is the burner tube all clear of bugs and nests? Is the burner and flue all clean and clear of nests? Doe the igniter supply a spark to light the propane? Is there 12V-dc available to the the ignition circuit board?
And by the way, many of us have the water heater switch on the range hood. We are in our third RV to be that way.
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Kirk
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08/27/10 08:50pm |
Beginning RVing
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