Lou Schneider

On 4/29/2024 at 7:25 AM, Kirk W said:

I know why the number of participants of age 70 and above are declining as I know or have known many of them and most that have left have stopped RVing and more than a few are deceased. What I haven't been able to figure out is why we don't seem to attract the newly retired RV folks and what we can to about it.  I wish that I knew an answer!  

IMO a large part of the reason is Escapees doesn't promote this board with the anywhere near same enthusiasm they have for their Facebook groups, including one for new RVers.  All of their Facebook groups get daily updates and promotions.  They don't do the same for this Forum.  It's rarely mentioned at all and never mentioned on Facebook.

The reason is probably the numbers - Escapees Facebook group has 9100 members.  Xscapers has 16,000 members and the newcomers group RV to Freedom has 41,000 members.  Every time Escapees posts an update it's seen by all the people who've joined that group the next time they sign into Facebook.

Should be OK.  The road to avoid is CA 36 between Red Bluff on I-5 and the coast.

The Pandemic may have influenced the latest poll.  Many fulltimers found themselves with nowhere to stay when the government shut down recreational facilities nationwide including most campgrounds. My lot in the Pahrump co-op saved me from a similar fate when "two weeks to slow the surge" stretched into several months of a total shutdown.  Having a place where I could go and ride out the closures was priceless.

1 hour ago, Chalkie said:

Many times these warnings, whether there is cause for concern or not, are at the behest of the lawyers thanks to our litigious society. It seems like virtually anything that is sold in California carries a Prop 65 warning which we all see no matter where else we are.

I guess the solution is just to get out of California.  

So they're basically motorhomes minus a front axle and driving compartment.

21 hours ago, sandsys said:

But it stops heating the second you remove it from the burner; after that it is the food that heats the container.

A pan stops heating the second you remove it from ANY kind of burner.  Gas, electric or induction.

Induction heat is concentrated in the base of the pan because it's closest to the induction coil and has the greatest mass to react with the inductive forces.  Plus the amount of transmitted energy falls off at the square of the distance.  Elevate the base of the pan the same distance above the burner as the sides are when the pan is sitting flush and you'll get little or no heat generation.

19 hours ago, mike5511 said:

They’re safe as long as you aren’t in California🤪

Something in CA's water?  Explains a lot.  

Using a router with a Visible phone has become largely irrelevant.   Visible no longer restricts the phone's hotspot to one device at a time (the reason for making an external router the single device) so multiple devices can connect directly to the phone's hotspot.  But all of them have to share the somewhat low 5 MBPS speed limit for the standard hotspot or 10 MBPS for Visible+. 

You really don't need a fuse between the solar panels and the charge controller.  Unlike a battery or a conventional power supply that sends humongous amounts of current into a short, solar panels will NEVER produce more current than their rated Short Circuit Current (Isc).  This is only a few percent above the Maximum Power Point current so if your wiring can handle normal current it can also handle the slightly higher current the panels will send into a short.

Likewise, if a fuse is sized to handle the solar panel's normal output the current will stay low enough to keep it from blowing if the wires are shorted.

Where you DO need fuses are on the battery side of things to interrupt the huge rush of current if something shorts there.

15 hours ago, Kirk W said:

I'm not sure how one is supposed to know that it is, but if you were to search on the headline, as Dan probably did, you can almost always find another source for that story.

Report: Regulators Issue Formal Orders to Wells Fargo to Enhance Monitoring

Try opening the story with a browser that isn't subscribed to the service.

At least part of the reason for the 6 month policy is while you can file a change of address to instantly start sending your mail TO a mail forwarder, you cannot issue a similar change of address AWAY from a mail forwarding service.  The post office won't pre-sort the mail going to the forwarder to look for your mail.  When you leave the forwarder you have to notify everyone of your new address and mail will continue going to the forwarder until the senders make the changes.

It's not just tornados or earthquakes that can interrupt natural gas service.  When I moved up to WA my new bride told me when they lose electricity in the winter they shelter in place using blankets to block off the room with the gas fireplace and cook on the outdoor gas grill.  The year before I got there they got a major snowstorm which cut the electricity for about a week.  The town's natural gas storage tank ran out the third day stopping the flow through the gas lines.

Are you absolutely sure the DC output is connected with the correct polarity?  Reverse polarity will blow electrolytic capacitors.

I carry enough cash to buy gas and groceries to get home.  Once when I was in my 30s while on a trip to Colorado a malfunctioning ATM machine ate my debit card.  Not having any credit cards at that time, I had to go to the bank's branch the next day where the teller intercepted the ATM courier and retrieved my card before he had a chance to shred it.

Once I bought new tires for my Ford F-350 and the shop inflated them to the full sidewall pressure which was 50% above the pressure on the truck's placard.  It was a 60 mile drive home (unloaded) and the truck felt very unstable, like it was sliding and fishtailing.  I almost brought them back the next day but I caught the error and setting them to the correct pressures solved the problem.

• I'm surprised no one has marketed ABC (brand) DEF.

Do you participate at places like iRV2.com, Campground Reviews or any one of a number of manufacturer specific forums?  These are owned by Social Knowledge LLC, the parent company of RVLIFE and your information could have been gleaned there.

https://www.socialknowledge.com/our-communities/

When Social Knowledge  purchases a Forum they encourage members to sign up for free access to their other RVLIFE sites like Campground Reviews and Trip Wizard.  The recent mailing is a pitch to upgrade these free membership to paid status and IMO was a major PR blunder.  You don't have to upgrade if you don't want to use those sites.

18 hours ago, Funster101 said:

As to airing up, there's a standard male air fitting in the rear of the engine compartment. I've used it for airing up tires and doing a quick air dump. Seems I could connect a hose from my big NAPA compressor and pressurize brakes and suspension. Any problems with doing that?

No need, any tow truck large enough to tow the motorhome will have their own air supply.

When I was maintaining large diesel generators at transmitter sites, we'd "polish" the fuel every year or two.  Essentially it's passing the dirty fuel through a series of filters decreasing in size to remove water, sediment and microbial contaminates.  When you're done you have essentially new and fresh diesel.  We used a commercial service for our 5000 gallon storage tank but you can DIY for smaller quantities.  Google "diesel fuel polishing" for several articles and  videos.

.

Just now, lappir said:

 

Where is the ad and location?

With Visible (owned by Verizon and using the same towers) offering unlimited data for $25 a month it kind of limits the value of a grandfathered Verizon account in many cases.  If you can live with it's conditions (one device at a time using a cell phone hotspot, occasionally having lower data priority on a crowded tower) it's a great deal.

These fools made their own bad luck.  I wish SFGate had a comments section.

They couldn't even follow Google's directions, the pin on the map shows them well off of the intended route. Had they glanced at their phone before they turned off the highway they would have seen they were going down the wrong "road".  They were supposed to take Sandy Valley Rd, 20 miles of 20 ft wide, graded and maintained road with a sign that says "Sandy Valley."  I call it a "45 MPH road."  If you go 45 MPH or faster all of the bumps disappear.  From Sandy Valley it's another 20 miles on narrow two lane paved roads to I-15 at Jean.

Instead, they took off down an unmarked, unmapped dirt track.  Had they glanced at the phone before they left the highway they would have seen they were in the wrong place.   What's really hilarious are the lemmings who blindly followed behind them.

Or they could have looked at the suggested detour and said, "Hmmm.  This will add an hour and a half on slow roads to our trip.  Maybe we should just chill here until the freeway re-opens."  Or take US 95 to I-40, it's only 30 minutes longer than taking I-15.

At least they had fairly pleasant weather, not the 110 degree summer heat.

Just now, sandsys said:

I read the blog of a female traveler who packs her favorite kitchenware in her checked luggage. Back when we were traveling with just carry-on luggage, we still packed tableware so we could eat from grocery stores. Where there's a will...

Linda Sand

When I was traveling via air and motels for work I would stop in a Wendy's, either at the departing airport or as soon as I landed and have a meal.  While I was there I would grab several of their forks, knives and spoons from the condiment counter. One set would live in my carry-on luggage as a reserve set.  Wendy's utensils are high quality plastic individually wrapped and they last for quite a while.

Laine hasn't been back since February 1.

Highway 190 through Death Valley still has extensive damage from Hurricane Hilary's rains a couple of months ago. They just re-opened it last week.  Expect to encounter construction delays and one way traffic control at several places along the route including a 12 mile stretch west of Panamint Springs where the wait can be a half hour or more.  Most of the park is closed due to roads being washed out but you can drive down to Badwater Basin and see the temporary lake that is currently there.  RV camping is available in Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells.

If you aren't interested in seeing the limited areas open in Death Valley I'd take Hwy 395 down to Barstow and then take 58 and I-15 to Las Vegas.