D&J

11 hours ago, sandsys said:

What I know is that when I went on a low calorie, low fat, low sodium diet they had to reduce my blood pressure medication because I was having dizzy spells caused by my blood pressure being too low. I was loosing about 1-2 pounds a week for eight weeks but I think it was the low sodium that caused the blood pressure change. I am back to eating high sodium and my blood pressure is back to being higher than normal although not as bad as it was previously. 

I suspect the salt from water softening is like the L-tryptophan from eating turkey. You'd have to eat more turkeys than your stomach can hold to get the effect. The sleepiness from eating Thanksgiving dinner is from all the other food you ate.

Linda

We have a water softener at our homebase and one in our trailer and have for years and when I get my blood work done my sodium level is either the low end of normal or below normal. 

Denny 

19 hours ago, gypsydan said:

I have come to realize I need to acquire a water softener, but am not sure if there is any real differences between the various mfg's.  I can understand that the size of the RV woud make a difference as to the size of the water softener.

So, what make/model and size would you recommend for a 26' class c.  I spend most of my time boondocking, so It would need to be portable  for those times I would be in a park with hard water, and those times I am at my lot at Rovers Roost which has hard water. 

Thanks for Any suggestions or expereinces?

 

 

 

Back to our question we use the On-the Go smaller unit and it works great with a recharge every week when we are in areas of hard water like Yuma AZ where we are at now. We also have a RO system for cooking and drinking water. The softener makes a big difference in the water spots and longevity of all appliances and faucets. The biggest problem with boondocking is having to be hooked up to water to recycle it. I would highly recommend one.

Denny

Very good chance the hear exchanger has a hole in it causing the frame to be blown out and then and reignite before the control has a chance to shut it down, don't use it until its inspected repaired or replaced. 

Denny

If you want to take 140 the worst part is on very nasty grade that goes down the side of a cliff, it's been awhile and I can't remember how far along it is, if you are double towing in OR you will be able to get a long way before you see anybody that will care, in that part or Oregon there isn't much there but when you get close to Bend I would drop the double tow. Like I said before 140 was very rough last time I was on it but they may have changed now. We've taken it many times with both a slide in camper and a 5th wheel and it is the shortest route, we had relation in Medford that are gone now so we made may trips that way taking a lot if different routes. 

Denny

1 hour ago, Barbaraok said:

Why would anyone go south from SLC to pick up I-40, when they can pick up I-80 and head west right out of the driveway?   Please tell us that was a typo.

It's not I-40 it's highway 140 in Northern Nevada.

Denny

We used to take 140 all the time but last time it was very rough and there is one grade that is a real nasty. Sacramento is a long way around. We've taken 395 and it's a good road and if the weather permits it's the way I would take, I'm sure this time of year it will be fine but check ahead. From Reno to Medford was a one day run for us.

Denny

Anyone that has registered with the VA and has their ID number I would recommend setting up a My Health online account so you can track your appointments, pharmacy, records and the ability to communicate with them online instead of navigating their phone system. 

Denny

I've never used the clinic at Harlegon but I use two clinics while we travel. One is near our homebase in Nebraska where I originally registered and that's also where I have my yearly exam and I'm also registered in the one in Yuma AZ where I also go. If we start wintering somewhere else I just have to register at the nearest clinic and all my records will follow me. I'm also setup on their online medical portal so I can view my appointments and records online. 

This year my home clinic wanted me to have blood work done the end of November but I will be in Yuma so they just scheduled a appointment here because I'm registered here, unlike going to private doctors they have no financial gain by you going to their office so they have no problem with you going to a different clinic. It only takes a day or to to register at a clinic if you already are in the system, getting started in the system originally takes so e time.

Denny

7 hours ago, KodiakJack said:

After quite a bit of research I went with RV Roof Magic (associated with Liquid Roof).  Wonderful product for a DIY type like me.

https://www.rvroofmagic.com/index.php

https://www.epdmcoatings.com/liquid-roof.php

Later,

J

I used RV Roof Magic this summer and I'm very satisfied with the product, I'll know next spring when we get home from AZ how well it cleans up.

Denny

When we visited Boston we stayed 45 miles away south in a CG and drove in parked and used the shuttle, we parked in their lot. When we did NY City we stayed in Jersey City at Liberty RV Park and walked 6 blocks to the Path subway and took it into Manhattan. 

Denny

17 hours ago, Kirk W said:

Our son just took delivery on a new F350 and his is also fused for 30a but we aren't sure at this point what the wire size is as wire sizes will be the primary limiting factor in what voltage will reach your battery and that voltage determines the maximum charging current. Of course the wire size limit is partly on the truck and partly the trailer.

What size wire Ford is using I haven't looked and I'm not going to open up a sealed wiring harness to find out because it works and doesn't need fixing. The smallest gauge wire our trailer has is the umbilical cord that feeds the trailer and it's #12 the rest is #10 into the trailer. Do I get voltage drop from the truck charging system to the trailer batteries sure but that's the nature of DC current but it's not great enough to cause any major problems, running the freezer off the inverter I will see 12.6 to 12.8 volts with a small grain with the compressor and truck running but it will go up to 13+ when the compressor cycles off with the truck running, I've run the thing all day long going down the road and it's always the same so it's not going to worry about it. 

One thing I found when running a compressor style frig going down the road is if the unit is in the back of the trailer like my dorm frig is located the bouncing way in the back came cause the compressor to hydrolock from oil getting into the compressor section, you can't compressor a liquid. It didn't happen often but it did happen a few times until I stopped running it when in motion. What I'm sure is happening when the trailer going over dips and bumps causing the oil in the crankcase fly up and get pulled into the compressor locking it up. I got it to restart by waiting for the thermal overload in the motor windings to reset and then bumping the compressor by plugging and unplugging it a few times to get it to run, when it did start I could tell by the chatter that it had oil in the cylinders. The 15 year old freezer that is more to the front of the trailer where the ride is better has never had a problem in the 10 years of running it off a inverter in motion. I've never looked at a cutaway of the newer rotory compressors being used and they may fair better than the piston type. 

Denny 

4 hours ago, bruce t said:

Ok I'm not an expert on the subject. Here in Australia we are far more self sufficient. The basis is that vehicles have "smart" alternators and rvs have DC to DC converters. 

Many, many 4x4's have large fridges. Kirk has seen them all lined up in our stores. Many RV's only have compressor fridges. Few Rvs have inverters to run refrigerators.

The key to having a cold fridge while travelling is both the smart alternator and the dc to dc chargers. We have a 12volt compressor fridge in our rv. It works off the battery. While travelling the smart alternator charges not only the chassis battery but also the house battery.

Someone with more knowledge than me can explain it better than me. But the key is the smart alternator and the dc to dc converter.

When you are taking about DC to DC converters it's using a power source that puts out a higher voltage and then converters to drop it down at the point of usage to a lower voltage. As with both AC and DC current the higher the voltage the less amps so smaller wire size can be used or use the same size wire with less voltage drop.

Your DC compressor on your refrigerator is a AC compressor with a dedicated inverter built into it so it will run on DC unless something else has come out sence the last time I looked.

Denny

51 minutes ago, Kirk W said:

Let me ask first if this discussion has answered or at least helped with your reasons for starting the thread? I'd rather not hijack your thread into another direction until we at least know if we have helped?

After years of observing and participating in the RV community, I think that part of the problem has developed from the tremendous increase in electrical needs for modern RVs while the tow vehicle's electrical connections are still designed primarily towing cargo trailers and things of that type. There has been major improvement in towing packages for those since our first RV, but little if any improvement in the ability of the 12V supply from the tow vehicle to whatever is being towed.  Wire size used to be a minor issue because demand was very low and even today with most larger cargo trailers having a battery for brake-away application of brakes it is still not much of an issue, but RVs have increased 12V power demands have been very significant. The gage of wire used in the automotive s has been insignificant, if at all.

 

I  don't know what GM or Ram are using but my last two Fords with trailer towing packages have a 30 amp charging circuit going to the plug and our present 2013 will keep the batteries charged going down the road with the freezer running and supplying power to the disk brakes or anything else running back there when needed. Will it pull power from the batteries when the compressor is running yes but the compressor doesn't run continuously so the batteries will charge back up during the off cycle. I've confirmed this by watching the digital inverter readout over the last few years. We also dry camp when traveling and the next day while going down the road the batteries still stay charged even with the freezer being off all night so it needed more run time. I'm running two of the biggest Optima Blue tops made.

Denny

I run a chest freezer and at times a dorm refrigerator going down the road and my 2013 F350 has no problem keeping the batteries charged up I'm not sure how it would do if the batteries were down from the start but when starting out with fully charged it's fine with my Ford. 

Denny

5 hours ago, Den said:

Another newbe question:  We have a residential refrigerator that only runs on electric. On the road it is powered by batteries. Will that keep it cold and frozen.  2. Do the connections from the truck have power?

2016 Redwood 5th.  39 ft.  2019 Ram Laramie 3500 4x4 cummins diesel.

The frig is easy to figure out by disconnecting shore power and see if the light comes on when the frig door is opened, light comes on you have inverter power. I think all pickups coming from the factory with towing packages have 12V power to the 7 pin plug, to verify yours is working disconnect shore power and plug trailer into truck with it running and see if your battery voltage raises. Not sure on Ram but on Ford there has to be a supplied relay and fuse installed for the 12V power to work.

Denny

I'm just going to post one time on this. We both got the Pfizer double shot when we got back to our home base in late April only because we travel and will be back on the road again for the winter shortly. The wife had very few side affects but me as usual I've just now have gotten past all the side affects I've been dealing with (do the math on length of time it's taken me) so if someone doesn't want to get the shot because they know they have side affects from variations don't you can trust me on that it's very nasty. If they want us to get a booster they will get the middle finger from me because life is to short to lose a summer agian. If they won't let you in some place just go elsewhere they don't need your business or they think they don't. There are some of us that just can't tolerate meds or vacanations especially unproven ones, we know are bodies not someone PRACTICING medicine, we have to be our own advocates when it comes to our health, I know what's best for my body and will not listen to any so called experts again. 

Denny

Last year we replaced our 16ft and window awning material with Shade Pro, it's easy to get the right size if you follow the measuring instructions on there web site. Plenty of how to sites on the internet. 

Denny

9 hours ago, Kenny L said:

My daughter lives in a Hitchhiker II fifth wheeler permanently parked.  The bedroom slideout is about 6 inches from being fully extended.  We tried moving it with the electrical controls but there is an issue, seems to overload the electrical circuits.  It is a hydraulic system.  I've searched and all I can find is "adjust the appropriate valve and pump it out manually".  Can anyone be more specific?

Just a guess but it sounds like the pump is working against a jam so something jamming it so it can't move. It's a hydralic slide so it's probably a Quick Draw mechanism that had sold out to Lipert years ago. If you just want to get it out remove the covers under the bed so you can get to the mechanism and disconnect the cylinder and move the slide out, you may also see what's jamming it. I'm almost sure that using the pump manually will only work to bring the slide in.

Denny

One positive thing from running GY tires I've learned what to look for before one of my tires self destructs and damages our trailer.

Denny

1 hour ago, TXiceman said:

What was the experience?  I had G114s on one 5er and the current one has six G614s.  I have not had any issues with any of them.

Ken

On our first set of G614 tires one had its tread completely come off causing trailer damage, second set I found another one going the same way before it came apart. Two of our G114 tires out of four had broken belts before they were 4 years old, for the price they should last longer than that, we went with Saliuns for less than half the price and will replace them every 4 years and be money ahead. 

Denny

With the experience I've had with GY G614 G tires and GY G114 17.5 H tires I wont own another set.

Denny

10 minutes ago, lappir said:

That statement is not true. I know it for a fact. What does happen often is the tire shop throws in a bag of balancing medium and doesn't tell the new tire with beads owner that it takes a bit of time for the bag to get punctured and the beads to spread out to where they are needed. 

I had that actually happen to me when I had new tires placed on one of my vehicles. I had them spin balance them, break one side and put in a portion of the beads. I didn't think I needed to tell them to break the bag before installing, but I guess I did. The first 15 miles were interesting, maybe because the tires and wheels were already balanced and it was just throwing the bag around inside intact. Everything smoothed out and all has been good with the set for several years. I do occasionally notice the beads when it's really cold, they seem to clump together for a bit and I feel it. Doesn't take long and it smooth sailing again. 

Rod

Maybe it's because your tires were already balanced properly, in my case they weren't and so the beads and wheel weights didn't work together. Anything I put tires on now have beads with no weights.

Denny

If you have both balancing beads and weights it won't work, you have to have one or the other not both. On our last set of tires on our DRW we had a bad balancing job so I installed beads without removing the weights and it made it worse so I removed the weights and all was fine.

Denny 

The amp draw is directly related to how hard the unit is working, the higher the head presure the higher the amp draw. From what you are describing you have a air leak between the outlet and return. You have to remove the inside cover to inspect the ductwork to make sure you aren't mixing air at the unit. 

Denny

Being yours is a older unit that still has a strong base plate I would just roll it up on its side replace the gasket clean the roof area and set it back down. The newer ones I've replaced the last one being a Coleman had a very weak base plate and would never take being rolled one it's side. The low profile units have the compressor laying down or almost down so a few minutes it would be on it's side will hot hurt it.

Denny