Lou Schneider

Check the forecast. As of this morning they're predicting two more storms coming in next week., not counting the storm this weekend. They're just stacked up across the Pacific.

I've seen this before, the article date is August 26, 2021 so I doubt the auction is still going on.

Silicon, not silicone. The first is the second most abundant element in Earth's crust and used to make transistors and solar cells. The second is the goo used as a sealant.

Apparently it was caused by a high center of gravity directly over the rear axle repeatedly flexing the frame up and down as the CofG shifted back and forth going over bumps, etc. Metal fatigue set in at the cab/bed junction where neither body piece is stiffening the frame. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci9jADPmVj0

The fact that the frame failed by snapping up instead of down says, at least at the moment of failure, the camper's center of gravity was behind the rear axle. Probably by a substantial amount.

Then perhaps the headline on the press release shouldn't say One Step Closer To The Solar Powered Pickup Truck Of The Future when it's physically impossible to reach that stated goal.

Solar insolation averages 1000 watts per square meter. This means even one of the 30% ultra efficient solar panels will only capture 300 watts per square meter under ideal conditions. I'll leave it as an exercise to figure out how many square meters of solar panels you'll need to recharge a 60-100 KwH battery pack in a reasonable amount of time compared to the area on a tonneau cover or even on the roof of an RV.

You have to remember that the SKP Co-op parks including the Florida SKP Resort were built and paid for by the co-op that owns them. Escapees, Inc. doesn't have any skin in the park, it's owned by the co-op and it's membership. The buy-in fee to join the co-op includes the right to use a specified lot on an unlimited basis. This is in direct contrast to Escapees Parks (formerly Rainbow Parks) that are owned and operated by the Escapees organization. All of the co-ops welcome visiting Escapees on a space available basis. But it's only fair that a co-op member should be able to re-claim his lot at any time, including if they return earlier than planned because their circumstances changed.

This was posted in all of the Escapees Facebook groups this morning. I'm re-posting it here as sometimes the powers that be forget about this Forum in the heat of an emergency. Please do not open any attachments from skpclubnews@escapees.com We learned this morning that the email address skpclubnews@escapees.com has been compromised. Thank you to the members who helped us catch this early. It appears this may be related to a ransomware attack that recently happened to our email provider, Rackspace.The attachments often ask for you to submit payment for a variety of reasons. If you mistakenly entered any payment information, please contact your bank immediately.Thank you,Escapees RV Club

Yes, engine speed has a direct effect on the generator's output voltage. If it's running fast it will increase the output voltage, if it's running slow it will decrease the voltage. If you don't have a frequency meter get a Kill-A-Watt power monitor and plug it into any generator powered outlet. One of it's functions is a frequency readout.

The only problem may be you need to show residency in Livingston to qualify for the documents that can support a domicile claim. Escapees only has an RV park, so they can't offer the residence address needed for a Texas drivers license and vehicle registration unless you're staying in the RV park when you apply for them. There are a couple of mail forwarding companies in South Dakota that include a motel for an overnight stay to satisfy SD's residency requirements. Lots of truck drivers that are on the road fulltime use them for mail forwarding and domicile.

Biggest problems with tank free water heaters is if you install it where the old heater was, you have a time lag between the time water starts flowing and when the burner ignites and starts heating the water in the heat exchange coil, giving you a blast of cold water as it flows through the plumbing to the showerhead. Makes it close to useless for navy showers while boondocking where you're constantly turning the water on and off. The other disadvantage of the original mounting location is the heat transfer coils are exposed to the outside air, and with their small water volume they can freeze just like any other exposed plumbing. I lost a tankless Atwood heater when the temperature unexpectedly dipped to 30 degrees overnight while the rig was unpowered in storage and the heating coil ruptured. This means you have to locate the tankless water heater next to the point of use, inside the RV. But then you have the problem of venting the propane exhaust outdoors. 38,000 BTUs means the flame is twice is large as a regular RV water heater, so it consumes twice as much propane and produces twice as much exhaust for every minute the flame is on.

Tesla's not doing so great lately either.

Real Goods is the oldest solar power supplier in the US, selling the first retail solar panel in 1978 and publishing the Solar Living Sourcebook since 1982. Their retail store and Solar Living Center was just outside Hopland, CA and had a couple of exercise bikes you can pedal to drive an alternator feeding a light bulb. It takes about all you can give pedaling the bike to generate enough power to light the bulb. It was an interesting stop if you're heading north of Santa Rosa, CA on Hwy 101. Edit: The Solar Living Center closed in October 2020 due to the pandemic but photos and courses are available online. https://solarliving.org/

Supply and demand. Diesel inventories are still tight, largely due to a cold winter increasing the demand for home heating oil, a closely related product. To make enough diesel and HHO, refineries are running flat out and are temporarily producing an excess amount of gasoline. You can't distill a barrel of crude oil into a single product, you get a range of products from light distillates like naptha and gasoline to middle distillates like diesel and HHO to heavier distillates like grease and tar. FWIW, I'm travelling through central CA and over the past two weeks the spread between gas and diesel prices have increased from approximately $1 a gallon to $2 a gallon.

The free overnight spots in CA's populated areas went away when homeless folks started living in older RVs and cars there. While it's not free, Bear Mountain RV Park about 10 miles south of Bakersfield (Hwy 99 at Bear Mtn Rd / Hwy 223 exit) is $42 a night including tax. If you're coming south on I-5 take the Hwy 223 exit and go east. Nice modern park, no orange trees, swimming pools, etc. just wide roads and 90 ft long full hookup pull through spots. It was originally built as a mobile home park not too long ago and then converted to well kept long term RV spaces when the mobile home market didn't pan out. There's a whole section reserved for overnight/short term stays. I usually stop there for a night whenever I go through Bakersfield - it's out in the country so crime isn't a problem and it's a good place to dump and fill the tanks on the way out or back from the desert.

The problem with dispersed camping has been growing for decades. In a recent video Bob Wells said attendance at his Rubber Tramp Rendezvous in Quartzsite was expected to hit 10,000 people before the BLM cut him off a couple of years ago and forced him to re-engineer it as a daytime only event. He has over 600,000 subscribers and 123 million views on his YouTube channel. HOWA's Facebook group is filled with people seeking to follow Bob's advice and ditch their unaffordable apartments for the dispersed camping van life. People are starting to talk about another housing bubble collapse. It will be interesting to see how this affects the RV market and the dispersed camping areas. Will lower prices attract people back to conventional housing or displace more into RVs?

Any third party Internet provider is vulnerable to their contract with the physical service provider being changed or cancelled. Before I retired I had to scramble and change over a dozen mountaintop transmitter sites that had been using wireless Internet service from Millenicom when Verizon abruptly cancelled their master contract with them. It wasn't fun.

SeeLevel for tank monitoring. For battery monitoring there are several shunt based options, ranging from the $25 Aili Voltage and Amp-hour meter to the $90 Renogy battery monitor with a graphical "fuel gauge" indication of the battery condition to $300 units by Victron, etc. The thing I don't like about Victron's wireless Smart Shunt is it requires the phone to stay within Bluetooth range with the app running to use any of the advanced features beyond basic voltage and amp-hour readings.

I hope Texas doesn't have another winter like the last one.

Short answer is no, mail forwarding can't be used as a residential address because it's a commercial business address, not residential. Longer answer: If you want a Real ID license that lets you use it for things like air travel, the residential address you supply (such as the 30 day campground receipt) becomes the address printed on your drivers license. This is a Federal requirement and can become an issue if you have an accident or another encounter with law enforcement and they can't reach you at that address. If you're not getting a Real ID license you can have your mailing address printed on your Nevada drivers license instead of the physical address. But you still need a residential address when you apply for or renew the license. The residential address is established by at least two of the supporting documents listed on the Nevada DMV site such as a 30 day campground receipt and a utility bill or bank statement at that address. I am a leaseholder in the Pair-A-Dice co-op and my receipt for the quarterly maintenance fee and a 30 day electric bill issued by the park covered these requirements when I retired and made it my domicile 5 years ago. When I received a renew by mail notice earlier this year the form merely asked if I was still a Nevada resident and if there were any changes to my address. The Pahrump DMV office is friendly and liberal in interpreting the Nevada residency laws, at least it was 5 years ago. You have to be established in or moving to Nye County to use it, they had too many people coming here to get around the long lines at the Clark County (Las Vegas) DMV offices. I use Mail Link on Rainbow Blvd in Las Vegas for my mail forwarding because they have online access, the Pahrump mail forwarder makes you call in and do everything over the phone. Also, most insurance companies need a "garage location" where the vehicle is based, another complication if you're in an accident and they determine you no longer reside at the address on the policy.

The difference is the pro version doesn't articulate at the tow vehicle, it's a straight bar into the hitch receiver. The homemade version has a ball coupler. If the trailer overruns the tow vehicle it will push the homemade version sideways around the hitch ball.

Lot holders who own a share in the Co-op can stay as long as they want, but weekly or monthly renters are time limited by the rights CA gives to renters. CA law basically treats people who rent a space in an RV park the same as people who rent a house or an apartment. The longer you stay, the harder it is for the park to evict you for cause, including non-payment of rent. After 9 months the park has to go through a full blown court ordered eviction enforced by the sheriff, which is expensive for the park and can take a while. I lived for 5 years in a couple of RV parks while I was working in CA and was never offered more than a 6 month lease. At the end of the lease I had to leave the park for periods ranging from a couple of days to drive around the block and come back in. This reset the tenancy clock and the park could refuse to let me back in if they were so inclined.

Here at Pair-A-Dice we don't change our rates during peak season but availability may be limited as leaseholders return to the park during the cooler months.

Depends on the make and model of the water heater. In 2000, most water heaters used separate gas and electric thermostats. But there are some (mostly newer units) that use the same thermostat for both gas and electric operation. In either case, you should be able to measure the voltage on the heating element to see if the thermostat is calling for heat. If there's 120 volts across the heating element's terminals the next step is to shut off the power, disconnect the wires going to the heating element and test the element itself. You should see around 10 - 20 ohms across the terminals. If there's very high resistance or no continuity the element has burned out.