Kirk W

Welcome to the Escapee forums! This is a good place to post your question. I did some research online and find that a 10 cubic foot volume gas refrigerator will typically use about 1.5# of propane per day. A gallon of propane is 4.24# so that would mean that said refrigerator should take 3 days to use up a 20# bottle of propane. Most RV refrigerators range from about 4 cubic feet to as much as 12 cubic feet. Your propane must be going somewhere else as that is far more than any RV refrigerator that I know of.

I see those at some interesting locations. Is there a charge for using them?

My last post was in reply to Earl who tagged on your thread. I don't believe that he has been back since I responded.

There are several possible causes of that problem and while it could be a control circuit board, I strongly suggest that you do some trouble shooting before you start to swap parts. It is important to note that if you buy a new circuit board, once the packaging has been opened you can not return it since the seller has no way to know what may have been done with it. I suggest that you start by down loading a copy of the Norcold 811 Service Manual and take a look through it. Page 7 of the manual has some basic trouble shooting and page 8 has the fault codes. Page 18 has some trouble shooting with a meter of the 120V side of the system. The site on this link has available all of the documentation for the NC 811. If you do choose to replace circuit boards, I strongly recommend that you use the replacements from Dinosaur Electronics.

Does your generator burn propane?

Welcome to the Escapee forums! Since I'm pretty average of height, I have never had reason to address that but I am aware of the problem. It comes from the manufacturers trying to squeeze the most that they can into the shortest of RVs. I have been told that the problem is getting better but am really not sure. Are you shopping new or used? And what length?

Welcome to the Escapee forums, Earl. You say that it lights but will not stay lit, but also that it tries 3 times and then goes into lock-out. With an Atwood water heater it is normal for it to make 3 attempts to ignite the gas and then lock out if doesn't detect that the gas is burning. If you are telling us that it does ignite but tries 2 more times and shuts off, that is an indication that it is not detecting the heat from the burning gas and so shuts off the gas for safety. The vast majority of the time, that is caused by the ignition probe needing to be replaced. The one that you need will look about like the picture in my previous post. It is possible that the problem is something else, but this is by far the most likely for your symptoms. You may also find it helpful to download a copy of the service manual. Atwood water heaters (1mb)

I did mine exactly as you show yours to be. But I never bought a supplement through AARP.

Are you giving up the road, or just changing RVs?

I wasn't aware that Hughes was making one but reading the specs, it should do the job. They have had a good reputation with previous products so there is no reason to think that this one isn't good as well. I have personal experience with both the Southwire Surge Guard and with Progressive EMS products and rate them pretty much equal. This looks to be another and Camco has now introduced one as well. On the water pressure regulator, that looks to be a good choice. I would adjust the output to 50#, which is ample for all of the RV use as long as the volume of supply can keep up. The 3/4" passage is the proper one for an RV fresh water hose. Your RV water pump is probably set to turn off at 45#.

That is a very important issue when you stay without any RV connections. The same for the size of the gray water tank as it will be where most of the water used ends up. You can get big jugs to carry extra water and there are portable waste tanks but they are very heavy when full if you get the larger ones.

The first thing is always to level the rig, since you can't move it about once you have connected. If you have power leveling jacks, that makes it far easier but you still need to position the RV such that the leveling feet will be on something solid and you should always use a heavy wood block or some other type of pad to avoid marking the pavement, especially asphalt. Some parks require it. For extending slides, that should be addressed in your owner's manual and it should be followed. There are differing opinions but either way you need to position the RV first and always chock the wheels. I usually connect electricity first, thus allowing the air conditioner to be started right away. If you are using a power monitor like the Progressive EMS or Surge Guard, it should always be connected to electricity before the RV. Next I connect the water and then start the water heater, again to make hot water available. I use a short hose to connect first the water filter and then the water pressure regulator. RV water systems are designed to operate at 60# and most are tested to 100# when leaving the factory. The system pressure that they will withstand typically degrades to some extent with age so the pressure regulator is something that the wise RV owner will always use. I have seen city water supplies that exceeded 120# and more.I also never put any water that isn't run through our filter into the RV system. The last thing that I connect is the waste water hose, if I do connect it. When stopping for a single night, I usually do not connect it at all since I want my waste tanks to be half full or so before I dump them. Under no circumstance should your black tank dump valve be left open and never dump before the tank is 1/3 or more full to get the rush that will carry out any solids from the bottom of the tank. I connect the sewer last because I then immediately go inside and wash my hands, just as I would if using the toilet.

Most RV siding will handle brushing against the smaller, flexible limbs but not a more rigid one. If you will be going in and out frequently it would be wise to do some trimming to prevent anything more than about 1" diameter from dragging. I really don't see much difference in what would hold up better. Probably the fiberglass would be somewhat so as it is more smooth but the aluminum is more easily repaired. Thanks for editing out the black!

With the Camco device, or one from Marshal Brass who also makes them, it doesn't refill the RV tank but rather it is an alternate supply. Those are quite common for RVs that are used in one of the long-term, seasonal RV parks where people stay for several months at a time. Often they are connected to a much larger tank so it doesn't need to be filled so often. As to using 75% of your propane in one night, that is highly unlikely unless you were supplying it for fuel to the generator. If your generator uses propane it won't last long since a loaded generator will typically burn about 1/2 gallon of fuel per hour. For that reason most class A motorhomes have a generator that gets fuel from the main tank that supplies the chassis engine.

I have often wondered why RVs do not have one? Thinking back to the two times in my life when I had a house with a big propane tank, the drip tubes were just before the appliances such as furnace and water heater, but there was none on the tank where the first regulator was located.