rollinbrian

Completed a couple projects.

10x 250 Watt panels on the roof with all cabling complete down to the front bay.

Dropped the fresh water tank, fixed sensor wires, corrected vent/overflow issues, added a roll of insulation between it and the coroplast, resealed coroplast.

RV Roof Armor scheduled for 10/24.

Packing the new wheel bearings for disc brake install this weekend.

I've been using a Rove 4k.

Got one in almost every car now including the Volvo.

3 hours ago, Dutch_12078 said:

From the RVMP "Details": "...the RVMP RV Flex Temp On-Demand Water Heater comes equipped with industry-first safety features like a carbon monoxide detector, propane leak detector, anti-freezing system, and anti-scald system." (emphasis added)

It does seem to have some nice features,  freeze protection being at the top of my list.  Now to find out if it's reliable or junk, preferably prior to purchase.

16 hours ago, Chad Heiser said:

Never heard of that brand before.  We are on our second RV with an on demand water heater.  Both were/are Truma tankless water heaters.  We have been very happy with that brand over the last 5+ years.

How well do those work boondocking in Colorado @ 18f ?

We don't stay in the cold much but those few nights as we transition from warm place to warm place would be a concern.

Is anyone familiar with this brand/company?

Came across them while searching for tankless water heaters.

https://rvmp.co/products/rvmp-flextemp-on-demand-gas-water-heater

9 minutes ago, Sculptor said:

Miller told me I could bobtail. 

It's a good thing they are consistent.   Did they put you on Progressive like mine?

4 hours ago, Tippy said:

I just went through the insurance search, got three different quotes on full time insurance with no restriction on driving truck.  Here is who I used:

Lazy Days Tampa, talk to Grace or Lillian. The supervisor also know how to do it. 866-316-3862

Miller Insurance in Oregon.  Requires a picture of the truck.  503-636-6347

Clemens Insurance Agency in Kansas. You have to also have another car insured with them, used my Smart.  620-421-9999

Hope this helps. 

Miller specifically told me no bobtail, only usable with trailer they are also insuring.

Nuts! 

The number of cars with BC plates trying to tetris a stack of plastic fuel cans into their trunk at the Costco fuel stations here just south of the border is crazy. 

I'm all for saving a few cents on fuel but it's not worth asphyxiation on the way home.

1 hour ago, SuiteSuccess said:

Okay got blower and resistor out. Having a hard time finding replacements for both. Anyone help?  Here are pics of the numbers. Fasco 2809-841-034M  E5762.  Resistor Behr 908.0016.12   (A3155 in black area)

I grabbed a non OEM fan off Amazon and wired a physical switch in place of the resistor.

Good enough for a road repair,  provides high and off for now.

If I can find a proper resistor then great!  If not, I may just wire in a big PWM controller and call it done.

Trooper and I reviewed the dash cam footage together.   Even though the lead car raced ahead of everyone in the turn lane and then merged in, he considered it a "legal merge".  That is, he signaled and didn't cross a solid line.  Therefore that space was now his.  I was already coasting at that point and let off so the Jake would kick in.  A second later (I haven't actually checked time on the camera yet but thats what it felt like) when all the traffic braked it was too late, my safety margin was gone, I hadn't reestablished it quick enough and then tapped the back of the car between us.

Aggressively maintain that distance.

If a car merges in to that space (or into the space of the car in front of you) and then slams on their brakes before you recover that margin you will be cited for following too closely.

3 hours ago, Chad Heiser said:

The panels are at least 4 inches off the roof in  the center of the roof and at the outsides of the roof where it curves slightly, they are even higher off the roof.  They work very well like this.  It is more space than they need to function and not have any heat related issues.

This is more solar than I need for our day to day use, but I am an installer and this is my demonstration system as well as my personal use system.  This system was designed and built to show what is possible.  It is overkill for the vast majority of RVer's.  It will allow me to run AC all day long (assuming the sun is shining) from battery and inverter power if I want to though.  It isn't as evident due to perspective in the picture, but I can completely walk the entire roof and get to all the components on the roof without issue.

 

The panel mounts are two piece Z-brackets and are easily unbolted if I need to get access under the panel.  As I stated above, I can walk the entire roof and get to all the components.  If an AC needs to be serviced, or some other major component up there needs to be worked on, the panel closest to that component can be unbolted and removed to allow for a workspace.  As for maintenance on the roof, the trailer is sitting in the shop at Rolling Retreats in Elk City, OK getting an RV Flex Armor spray on roof installed, so no more maintenance and it will have a lifetime guarantee.  RR just added this service to their service center and I am their first outside customer (they did install the roof on one of their stock units before my rig).  It will be done tomorrow and then make its debut at the East Coast HDT Rally (without the eight new panels, as I left those at home to make the roof installation a little easier - the mounts are there though and will become part of the new roofing material).

Hi Chad, we're due to have the Flex Armor applied here shortly due to some good wind through Texas and Arizona peelin our rubber roof. Summer project was to start putting solar panels up on the roof too.

Are you having the mounting brackets bolted to the roof and then the armor sprayed around them?  Or having the roof clear, sprayed, and screwing the brackets on top of the armor?

Thanks for any info

Just got it back after a complete engine fluid/filter change along with new fuel and water pumps.

Measured and marked for the Smart car, off to load it for the first time tomorrow night.

We just bought one off Carvana today, will pickup Thursday.

5 hours ago, SuiteSuccess said:

Updating this thread.  Pulled truck out of storage to drive and get some fuel. As I was leaving fuel stop about 1/4 mile away got low coolant alarm, derate and 15 secs later, shutdown.  I had “pre-flighted” truck so knew coolant level was okay.  Made it to shoulder, waited couple of minutes and truck restarted without issue and made it back to storage.  This time was on flat, level road and no sloshing.  What’s up?  Well, hit Google and found out in my D12 the overflow tank sensor is a resistance sensor that responds to a float ring that is magnetic.  My tank has not been changed in the 12 years I’ve owned the truck (the coolant has but is overdue).  Apparently some grunge can get on the float and it will stick setting off the alarm.  My plan when warmer is to change out tank, sensor, coolant, and wiring to hopefully solve the issue.

Interesting,  I've been driving around disconnected and doing visual checks on mine as the derate 30 seconds after pulling out is not fun.  Replaced the sensor but no better,  tried to top off the tank but it levels back down.  Adding new tank to the maintenance cycle!

We just spent a month in Brownsville and are now in Harlingen for three weeks.

6 hours ago, Janean said:

LOL,. I know, I've looked at a few, very expensive, and one place told me you are only allowed to live at the park 9 months out of the year. Is that correct? Is that the law in Cali?

It's a tax thing mostly.  A park that provides temporary parking gets taxed and managed differently than one that provides full time residences.

9 months is the cut off value so those folks have a regular rotation between a couple parks.

Swapped front tires trying to chase down a slight pull to the right.  We'll see how running to town the next couple days go.

5 hours ago, noteven said:

Once you leave southern California in the west you again see more of "the hesitation merge" by drivers. You see them coming and you back off just a tick to open space in front of your Big Rig RV and they respond by matching your speed as they run out of road beside you on the merge lane, while you have no room to move left

And the followup look they give you could melt concrete, like you just ran over their dog.

50 minutes ago, Cotreker said:

How much was the windshield, I need one.

Less than 450 installed.

Back from the truck shop - new fan clutch, new windshield, new ac pump, and new alternator.

Couple more small projects and we're ready to roll south for the winter.

I've contemplated hanging two 50 gallon tanks under the passenger side steps.  One stainless or plastic for potable,  one old aluminum for black/Grey water. 

If I could cart that in and out regularly we could boondock quite awhile.

I did that a bit in our 24ft travel trailer back when I only worked from home a few days here and there.  It does work.

Couple items of note:

The bigger the screen the higher the resolution needs to be.  For a workstation 4k was only good for about 40 inches.  Any bigger and all you see is pixels.

Sharing.  You're going to take up a significant portion of the living area.  Any other residents will need some other place to be.

Now we're both home full time and I have a dedicated workspace.   Ikea power sit/stand desk, 4k curved monitor,  all tucked in the space where the rear couch used to be.  This leaves the 'tv' free for a show to be watched while I'm working.

Getting ready for a quick Washington to North Dakota run.  Over the last few day we've installed new cab and steer shocks (rides soo much better), TST 507 installed and configured, wired the truck rear camera into the Jackalopee output, added a gps mount to the dashcam, and installed a big inverter.

Tomorrow is cab/sleeper cleaning and prep and then on the road come Monday.

26 minutes ago, Sculptor said:

Is anybody talking about a wood deck with ramps and tie-downs for a smart car?  I assume it’s possible.  I think I’ve seen a Jeep on a long wooden bed, but I can’t swear to it.

My deck is wood planking over an aluminum frame.  We'll be adding a smart later this summer.  I'll probably use the Jack Mayer system and add a angle of aluminum underneath aligned with the rails.