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Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: Combining black & grey tanks
The tanks on my motorhome are nested - The fresh water is on bottom, the grey sits on top of that, and the black sits on top of the grey.
With this arrangement, "combining" the tanks wouldn't work too well.
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rdhetrick
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01/14/22 08:23am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Pandemic in Mexico V USA
It's encouraging to see such dramatically lower rates in all these places that take the pandemic so seriously and are masked everywhere they go....yeah....ok...
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rdhetrick
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12/29/21 11:09am |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: GPS
There have been a lot of improvements in 21 years! I take it you have Google Maps on your phone but you want a unit that does NOT need an internet connection to work?
Will you use it while driving? Or hiking?
We see this all the time. Google Maps does not need a cellular signal to work. It does need a connection to setup the trip or somewhere along the early part of the trip but it downloads the upcoming instructions so going without a cellular connection for periods of time will not effect its performance.
All you need is Google Maps and/or WAZE (both free!) and you will have the best highway information at your fingertips. As an example, the other day, heading S. on I-85, the highway was closed due to a deadly accident. Google Maps routed us around it while your stand alone GPS would have taken you directly into that stand still traffic.
x2
Does Google Maps route you around low clearance, low weight limit roads? Not the last time I checked.
Google maps is good, but it's not the end-all-be-all for navigation. It has it's place, but so does a RV/Truck GPS for many of us.
I've used the Garmin 770 for several years and have been happy with it. I'm sure the newer ones have additional features that might be of value to some.
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rdhetrick
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12/27/21 07:20am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Advise around Dallas/Ft. Worth
My company is based on the north side of Dallas in Plano, so I drive in and out of DFW from various directions with my RV many times each year. For me, knowing the roads, it's not too bad, but certainly it's stressfull.
For your route from Weatherford to DeKalb, I would take 20 across the south side of the metroplex (it turns into 635), and then out 30.
Sat/Sun are of course the lighter traffic days if possible, but I've come through during rush hour as well.
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rdhetrick
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12/10/21 04:40am |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Black water tank overflow
I have another question for the OP;
All my life I have been told water seeks it's own level. And I have never seen a bathroom where the top of toilet is higher than bottom of sink. Even if a pipe tied the 2 together how could water flow into sink from toilet?
Can't speak for the OP, but in my case, it's not actually sewage that backs up into the sink.
I have a Tecma toilet (macerator type that pumps to the black tank).
When the tank level gets full and blocks the vent line, the next flush pressurizes the tank - the only way out for the pressure is through drain line from the sink. What actually "backs up" in mine is not black water, just the water from the sink trap. When this happens, it comes with the tank gas and smells just like the black tank.
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rdhetrick
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11/17/21 09:36am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Black water tank overflow
It's not uncommon at all for the bathroom sink to drain into the black tank. I know mine does.
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rdhetrick
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11/16/21 07:18pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: General Question on Discounts
Why didn’t you just get the credit union financing to begin with?
In my case, using the dealer financing dropped the price of the car $1500.
It wasn't the lowest interest rate I could have found, but I knew I'd be paying it off right away so it didn't matter.
If I had intended on keeping the loan, it would have made sense to take the discount for using their financing, and then moving it to a credit union as the other poster did.
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rdhetrick
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11/14/21 11:59am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: General Question on Discounts
I'll also add that paying cash might actually be a downside for the dealer. If they get some form of kick-back from the finance company they work with, they wouldn't get that on a cash deal.
When I bought my last used car, I was told that if I wanted the lowest price, I would need to finance it. I could pay it off the first month if I had the cash to do so.
Don't know if this is true in all situations, but it makes sense.
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rdhetrick
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11/14/21 06:46am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Magnum MS 2812 Charger/Inverter Issue
why do I still get power to my non-inverter circuits such as washer/dryer and AIr Conditioners?
Do you have power to these all the time when on shore power? Or only initially?
Like I said, on mine, the hot relay shorted - essentially the hot leads from the shore power were connected to the hot leads from the generator power.
When power is applied from the generator side, the delay is initiated then the neutral relay switches over to the generator neutral - everything is happy and works.
When power is applied from the shore side, the delay is initiated then the neutral relay switches over to the generator neutral - now the hot and neutral is not matched and the problem occurs. All power is lost and the inverter thinks it's not connected to anything and turns on supplying power from the batteries. When it does this, the neutral relay drops back to shore neutral and now there is matched power in the hot and neutral supplies starting the cycle again.
This may not be what is happening in your case, but if you notice the inverter/charger continually cycling, I bet it's something similar.
If you know where your transfer switch is, open the cover and inspect the relays, you'll notice signs of overheating if this is your problem.
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rdhetrick
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10/20/21 03:51pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Magnum MS 2812 Charger/Inverter Issue
Most likely the hot relay in the transfer switch. I just had to replace mine, very similar situation - when plugging into shore power, I had power for 30 seconds, then lost it.
In my transfer switch, there is a 30 second delay in the neutral relay to give the generator to come up to speed before transferring the full load. The hot relay was shorted so when applying shore power, it triggered the 30 sec delay. During this delay, everything worked, but as soon as the neutral relay switched, shore power was lost.
Replaced the relay and all is good now.
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rdhetrick
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10/20/21 03:00pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Help-can't get Tully into the car due to size-RESOLVED
Is there some reason the dog can't jump in on it's own?
My 60 lb dog took a few times for him to understand what he needed to do, but now I just have to open the door, give him the command, and he jumps in.
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rdhetrick
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10/12/21 08:54am |
RV Pet Stop
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RE: We attempted to use the service today
Quit apologizing and get something done to improve your piss poor service
Not gonna happen until people stop signing up for it!
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rdhetrick
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10/01/21 01:22pm |
Good Sam Roadside Assistance
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RE: 2015 Ford Focus flat tow damage
My buddy had his replaced at 30k miles. and has been flawless for 100k miles. just a month ago he needed to have the shift module replaced. still under the extended trans warranty. all these transmissions are, are a manual transmission with a complex shift assembly attached to them.
Correct, but the "complex shift assembly" was notorious. I had mine for about 60k miles, and while mine never "failed," it did a lousy job of shifting. I took it in to two different dealers, they just said "it's normal" and wouldn't do anything.
Clunks, stutters, hard shifts...no fun to drive, and I always worried about it leaving me along the side the road.
Never so happy to get rid of a car as I was with that one!
The story I heard was that this transmission was modelled after a BMW or Porche (not certain of the brand) that worked really well. I'd guess the Ford engineers missed a few fine details when copying it, or just cheaped out on something, that resulted in a terrible user experience.
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rdhetrick
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09/29/21 10:41am |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: 2015 Ford Focus flat tow damage
I think Ford would be responsible only if the baseplate was designed and supplied by Ford. As an engineer myself, it's hard to predict what an end user might do - that I need to design around. Top be absurd, should Ford design the hood hinge bolts to handle being flat towed if someone wanted to pull the car with suction cups on the hood?!?!
I'm afraid the flat tow "endorsement" from Ford was probably geared towards the transmission only. The actual method of connecting the car was outside their design parameters.
For example, when I installed my Blue Ox baseplate, for each side, I used some existing holes, but I had to drill a big one to get the nuts into the rail. I seriously doubt the existing holes were placed there by Ford for this purpose, I could be wrong though. Certainly, they didn't design for the big hole that had to be drilled.
What would be interesting to know is whether there was any interaction between Ford and Roadmaster (or BlueOx, or any other baseplate manufacturer) when Roadmaster designed the baseplate, or whether Ford provides any design criteria for attaching parts to the vehicle. In addition to the baseplate, I installed a receiver hitch on the back to carry bikes. From what I remember, it used existing holes as well.
I'm in a different industry altogether, so I could be way off base here!
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rdhetrick
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09/13/21 11:53am |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: 2015 Ford Focus flat tow damage
That's pretty bad! I'm glad you were moving slowly, that would have been bad if you were on the highway!
Some interesting things I can see in the photos:
Photo 1 - the welds are all still intact to the connection plate.
Photo 2 - The frame tube is where the failure occurred. It looks like there might be some rust at some of the fracture locations, indicating a long term fatigue failure.
This tells me it was probably not a manufacturing defect, rather a design problem. Not necessarily a Ford design problem, just that the member sizes weren't adequate for the added stress of being towed.
On the other hand, Ford states that it CAN be flat towed. I suspect that they didn't have a full grasp of the stresses involved. If memory serves me correctly, 2015 was the first or second year the Focus was flat towable.
Anyway, sorry this happened to you, hopefully others can learn from it. Sure makes me glad I got rid of mine a few years back!
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rdhetrick
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09/13/21 09:13am |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: 2015 Ford Focus flat tow damage
https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/15775751.cfm
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rdhetrick
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09/13/21 08:02am |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: 2015 Ford Focus flat tow damage
I used to have a 2015 Focus that I flat towed. I installed the base plate myself so I'm pretty familiar with the front of the car.
I don't know exactly what happened to the OP, but I surmise from his description that the frame broke rearwards of the base frame attachment point.
Like many base plates, it is attached with 6 bolts - 3 on each side. Additionally, the base plate is connected to the frame via two cables - not the safety cables between the car and coach. On the focus, those "internal" cables also attach to the frame, so if the frame gave way, the cables would go with it.
Hopefully there was an aux brake system that stopped the car after it came loose.
Having said all of that, I can't imagine Ford, or any other manufacturer for that matter, repairing something like that, warranty or not - even a frame that is just bent, results in a total write off.
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rdhetrick
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09/12/21 05:14pm |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: Gas regulator issue, or Fridge?
Turn off the DC, light the stove, does the sound come back?
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rdhetrick
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09/02/21 06:05am |
Tech Issues
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RE: How fast do the gray and black tanks fill
Deleted
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rdhetrick
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08/30/21 06:15pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Need help - Weight distribution hitch installation pics
Photos showed up fine for me....
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rdhetrick
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08/30/21 06:10pm |
Towing
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