VC 23RSS

Blackstone 3 burner with oven gas control knobs are not wearing well.  Bought new August '21 and after two months living in the Gulfstream Vintage Cruiser we noticed the white silkscreen print is wearing off.  It's not from cleaning just normal use.

We were able to get a new set of knobs under warranty but they don't look like there has been an improvement in the printing. 

Has anyone else come up with a creative solution to prevent wear on these knobs?  A clear spray?  3M protective film or just try to buy better knobs with embossed lettering?

As far as being a safety hazard there is a bevel on the face of the knob that gives a second indication of the burner or oven being turned off.

I'm one of the lucky ones having great luck with the Amazon carbs.  One for a string trimmer and one for a Craftsman 4 stroke mini-tiller.

It is a difficult decision to make wondering if the difference is quality or profit.

I see Tesla working to coordinate charging at their charging stations in the near future where reservations will all be automatic.  Question remains if like many theme parks, paying extra will get you a cut in line.

After the stories of long lines to get charged the day after Thanksgiving and the bad press, my guess is Tesla is working to smooth this kink out.

I'm not sure what to think of this.  Would have made an excellent April Fool's joke.  I especially like the photo with the Telsa.  Many of the Airstream models are too much for my gas guzzling Tundra to pull due to tongue weight and the trucks GVWR.  And they're giving the impression a Tesla can pull it?

I try to keep my smartphone away from my camping.  Useful at the CAT scales though.

Today was different.   In and around Ephrata PA we found a Tom Thumb at $4.769 and another out near Brickerville for $4.939.

19 minutes ago, Dutch_12078 said:

I saw the same thing on the NY Thruway last week at the three service areas we passed. The price for regular was about 10 cents below the surrounding area rather than higher as it usually is. I do know the Thruway Authority does place some pricing limits on the contractors, but I don't know what they are currently.

Doubling your fuel mileage is amazing! Great!

I probably didn't clarify the MPG comment.   The higher MPG was the Tundra without 3 tons of mobile outhouse tied to the back.  I'm pretty happy to get as high as I do either pulling the camper or running light.  My door jamb calls for 30 ft and 33 rear for tire pressures.   I run 38/41 and monitor my treadwear.  So far even wear.  I also fab'd a front air dam that's been adding between .8-1.3 MPG.  The biggest improvement is driving like Grandma is in the back seat dressed in her Sunday best with a dish of gravy on her lap.

55 minutes ago, Dutch_12078 said:

Do you know if all the service plazas are managed by the same company? Their contract with the Turnpike Authority may place some controls on pricing.

That could very well be it.  I also found odd this trip was that gas is usually more expensive on the TP but that wasn't the case today.  Saw slightly higher prices once off the toll road.  Driving from Ohio we'd see prices change due to state tax differences at the state line in WVa and again in PA.  Not this trip at least not a significant difference. 

On a positive note my 21 Tundra squeaked out 20.8 MPG on a section with some 55 and mostly 70 MPH zones.  Cruise set 3 over and AC on.  The section with all 70 got me 20.0 MPG.    I usually get 10-12 pulling.

9 hours ago, Dutch_12078 said:

Not a lot to understand. Higher demand causes higher prices, higher prices cause lower demand, lower demand causes lower prices, lower prices causes higher demand. Rinse and repeat...

That's a given but what is puzzling is the consistency of pricing.  Today I traveled the PA turnpike from New Stanton to Lancaster and for the first time in 22 years taking this trip  every service plaza had the same price.   $5.069.

On 6/10/2022 at 11:57 AM, Kirk W said:

We just returned home from a trip of about 15 miles one way through the greater Dallas area. In doing so I noticed that gasoline prices varied by about +/- 20ȼ per gallon but diesel the exact same price at all of the stations that we passed, with exception of 2 that were 1ȼ & 2ȼ less. The diesel was running about 60ȼ higher than regular gasoline. A month or so ago diesel was typically $1 to $1.20 above regular. Gas Buddy lists gasoline in our area between $4.45 & $4.87 and diesel as $4.91 to $5.69. Because of this morning's observation I looked at the prices and all of the lower prices for diesel were at least 1 day old and the highest were mostly 12+ hours old. Since we are about to start to travel again, I have wondered what is happening in other areas?

I wish I understood it better.  In my area just the opposite is occurring.   About a week ago From Cincinnati through Columbus on to Cleveland regular gas prices jumped to $5.099 seemingly at the flick of a switch but diesel showed large differences in prices.  Now this week a tenth of a cent under 5 bucks for regular is common.

On 5/8/2022 at 6:05 PM, 2gypsies said:

Gulf Shores Alabama is very popular and very nice beach.  We've stayed at the state park - full of winter visitors and you can stay the whole winter there; not just 2 weeks as most state parks require.

Note:  When you get in the Panhandle of Florida and westward it gets a lot cooler.

I'll second the Gulf Shores area.  Winter is the off season there so rates drop.  At least where we stay.  Ft. Morgan RV park is our winter home.   Definitely not houty toudy.  It's a 34 site Campground more than an RV park.  All irregular sites with fine white gravel.  About 10 west of 59 on the way out the peninsula.   Saw 35 degrees twice last winter.  Only briefly.  Temps are more moderate due to the proximity of the Gulf and Bon Secour Bay.  Will be there Oct 1st for 7 months this time.

Today I received an email from Carefree of Colorado basically saying some manufacturers install an improper switch that does not have dynamic braking.  And mine is one of them.  Impressive company that warrants a defect that may be caused by the installer's negligence. 

If anyone finds a similar situation,  drop me a note and I'll send you my schematic. 

On 6/9/2022 at 8:13 PM, Kirk W said:

The subject was dealing with the prices not our opinions about why they have gone up. 

We will be leaving on Monday for our trip to Escapade in Lebanon, TN, followed by a visit to Radcliff, KY for a week or so and then probably back to TX. That 3 week trip is going to be about 1700 miles and with diesel prices now over $5/gallon pretty much everywhere and still rising, For purposes of estimating fuel costs I'm using $6/gallon but we will pay what we must. For us that looks like somewhere between $800 and $1000 depending on where the prices go between now and July. Since we have doctor appointments we must be back for those but we may head back out later in the month. We have shortened our planned distances as we had considered a trip to northern MN, but that has been dropped.  

What are others doing at this point in time?

My 21 Tundra purchased for the purpose of pulling our camper sits in the garage.  The other car, a 2017 Fiat 124 Abarth gets used as often as possible.   It seldom sees rain and never snow so we plan our trips to do our running around on nice days.  The Abarth uses half the fuel that the Tundra uses.  We cut grass less and don't ride the 4wheelers as often.  I do have to make a 150 mile round trip to visit my 87 yr old mother and spend a day cutting grass and other chores my late father did.

It's not just gas prices.  So many items have increased in price that I'm seeing my decent RR pension changing into a not so good retirement.   Where we go for the winter has a dollar general 1 mile away.   This winter I'm taking a bicycle to make that run instead of the Tundra.

1 hour ago, Kirk W said:

Me too and I won that choice since it also cost less!   🙂

Interesting about the RR crossing arms. As many times as I have watched those move, I never gave much thought to how they were powered. Next time I am going to pay a lot more attention. 

They are very reliable machines.   The gate arm is latched up with a cogged one way clutch and a 340 ohm coil.  Uses very little backup battery.  Batteries die and the gate arm drops.  As long as there hasn't been a very bad ice storm freezing everything together.   The counterweights are adjustable both horizontally and vertically to help assure the gate arm falls on its own.

Back when I was Chief Eng. I spec'd 120 hours of backup battery in rural locations with normal train operations.   Now that took some work figuring that one.

57 minutes ago, Will B. said:

Before I can answer the "Oscar Charlie Delta" question (and shouldn't it be: "Charlie Delta Oscar"?), I'd need to see a picture of the aftermarket panel!  Ha ha.  But different style switches, side by side, yeah, ewwww.   Aesthetics, man!

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. 

Sounds like you've seen quite a few motor applications.   My professional life saw motors used for railroad switch machines and crossing gate mechanisms.   Both would shunt when the power was removed.  Next time you're stuck at a RR Xing with gates and get there early enough, watch the gate arms drop.  From 90* to 45 is powered down, 40* to 5 is a snubbed freefall and the last 5 degrees is shunted with a variable resistor to slow the gate drop until in gently reaches horizontal.   This last part reduces damage to the cars of drivers that chose to ignore the warnings.

Since we use our trailer as much as we use our home and the Gulf Coast where we stay is windy, our awning gets used more than most.  That's probably why ours did this and I noticed.   To be honest, I'd prefer to have a manual awning but her vote always counts for 51%.

2 hours ago, Kirk W said:

Welcome to the forums! I don't have any experience working on power awnings but am wondering if it might be possible that the awning motor has a built-in brake that is not working? That could explain why Carefree wants to send a motor. I well understand the switch issue with the present one not being what Carefree uses. I don't really understand what you mean by shunting the motor wires, and in looking at the online service manuals there are several different manuals for different model awnings, so I didn't learn much. 

Shunting the motor wires is another way of saying putting a short across the wires.  The purpose of this is to stop the motor from coasting to a stop.  Remember, a DC motor that's coasting is a generator and if you short the generator's output, it stops.  Rather quickly, actually. Generally if done in a motor is done with a physical brake.  This can be a set of brake shoes or a cone type brake.  Making the switch to incorporate a shunt is a much cheaper way, and simpler way to do it. 

Way I understand it is the awning motor and gearbox are very common to an auto power window motor and wouldn't be surprised if I took one to a good auto parts store, they'd find a replacement at 10~20% of the regular cost.

It is noted in the installation manual a dynamic brake switch is required. 

So, this morning I dug through my Coffee Can -O- Relays and tested my theory.   Using two automotive SPDT relays and some scrap wire I was able to stop my awning right where I wanted it.  Luckily my handwork can be stuffed back and remain hidden.   Bonus was when retracting, it no longer rolls back open slightly. 

Some day I'll write a long essay on all the faufts I've found with a Covid era built trailer. 

New 21 Vintage Cruiser 23RSS came with the basic Carefree awning.  As the awning gets broken in I'm finding it continues to coast and unroll after the momentary switch is released.   My background thinks these systems need a dynamic brake.  Emails with Carefree of Colorado has them believing the motor is at fault and they have graciously offered to send me one free of charge.

Digging in their online manual I find mention of a DPDT momentary rocker switch with dynamic braking must be used.  My switch is in an aftermarket KIB panel and definitely does not contain dynamic braking.  Playing around, I am able to shunt the motor wires as soon as the switch is released and stop the coasting of the motor.  Last night I doodled out a simple circuit using two SPDT relays to hopefully fix the problem.   I'm sure Carefree would graciously send me the corect switch but being it's a different size than the current one my panel wouldn't look right.

I'm I the only one with this problem or should I change my name to Oscar Charlie Delta?