Kirk W

Here is information on the Livingston station. If you don't get anyone by phone you might try the fax number.

Phone 936-327-8713

Fax 936-327-2118

Hours

• Mon-Fri 09:00 AM - 05:00 PM
• Sat 09:00 AM - 12:00 PM
• Sun Closed

14 hours ago, bruce t said:

True for most countries. But there are treaties between some countries that allow you to buy and also use your driving license. Australia is one of the lucky countries. I believe the UK also qualities.

Unless things have recently changed, all of the "crown colonies" have that right. I know that UK does and the same for Canada and Mexico. I knew a couple from New Zealand who did that as well, but it's been several years on that one. I did an online search and came up with the following information.

Quote

The primary requirement is that your foreign driving license must be issued in the English language. All names, numbers, and symbols on the license should be in English and easily legible. If your license does not meet this criterion, you will need to obtain an International Driving Permit (IDP) issued by your home country.  Additionally, you must not have any obvious medical conditions that would prevent you from driving. 

Welcome to the Escapee forums! Here is a copy of the Owner's Manual  which you can download, if you do not have them. The operating instructions begin on page 8.

There are several things that could be related to the problems and a lack of service is one of them. You should be able to gain access to the burner area from the outside access panel. It is also possible that you do not have proper propane supply pressure so you may want to have that checked. With an RV that is now 23 years old, it seems unlikely that the problem was always there but I have no experience with one like it so am only guessing. 

1 hour ago, Cotter said:

I also found out that there is a 12V DC heating element! 

If you have one it is probably what D&J suggested. If you are basing that on the schematic you may be looking at the 3 way model that has both 12V and 120V heaters but that is an option that you do not have. 

Dometic service manual    and the schematic from page 14:

I would try to determine if there is empty space behind the bump to indicate that for some reason the wall has distorted, or is there something behind the wall that is pushing it out that way. If it is like most RV refrigerator installations, it will be very difficult to see what might be behind that area without removing it from the mounted position. In looking at the parts breakdown drawings, it doesn't appear that the sidewall is available for replacement. You can also download a copy of the Dometic Service Manual for it but I doubt that there is anything in it that would be helpful for this problem.

1 hour ago, jamtracy said:

Is this a one and done member?

Last visited September 4, so the answer to your question is NO. 

I would at least defrost it but like Denny, I am wondering if you defrost regularly? If so you might want to try turning it off completely for a while just to see what happens. I have been an RVer for many years and have repaired more than a few, yet I have never seen anything like that. 

30 minutes ago, JGWALES said:

Please email us to meet.

An email address might help?  Is this the proper link to Mountain Master truck equipment?

16 hours ago, homelesshartshorns said:

Mr. Kirk, does this being an 18-amp charger mean that my generator has to be able to produce 18 amps? 

Quote

【35-AMP FAST BATTERY CHARGER】12V 35-Amp and 24V 18-Amp 9-stage quick battery charger, charging speed is 7 times faster than 5-Amp automatic chargers.

If you read the specs quoted above, it can supply up to 35A at 12V or 18A at 24V. Since you have a 12V battery it would supply a peak output of 35a early in the charge, tapering off slightly as the battery voltage rises to around 25-30A later in the charge cycle. Remember that the generator supplies 120V power so the output of the charger will be slightly less than 10 times as much current at 1/10 of the voltage it draws from your generator. Since watts is equal to amps times volts, the generator can supply 1000 watts, divided by 120V, or 8.33A at 120 volts.  The charger will supply a maximum of 35A times the output voltage of 12V or a total power of 420 watts so your generator should easily handle the load with some to spare. Having done a bit more looking at Amazon, the Schumacher FR01237 Fully Automatic Battery Charger might also be a good choice for somewhat less money. I have had very good experiences using Schumacher battery chargers and maintainers. 

While the advice from John is valid, those are converter/chargers and would need to be installed into your RV to replace the existing converter and then you would need to connect the RV to the generator, rather than connecting the battery charger directly to the generator. 

The short answer is that your generator can supply the necessary amps to run either of the two suggested battery chargers.

3 hours ago, homelesshartshorns said:

My question is how can I stay off the alternator or shore power without going to solar? 

You should be able to power something like this from the generator that you have. 35-Amp Car Battery Charger, 12V and 24V Smart Fully Automatic Battery Charger Maintainer Trickle Charger It is pretty difficult to find a charger for flooded cell batteries that is much higher current output, but this should be enough to do the job and not damage your batteries. 

It should if you run it long enough but it won't be quick. The maximum voltage it can supply is what determines if it will along with how many amps you are using when trying to charge the batteries. If you are using too many 12V appliances they may draw more than 15A and that will discharge your battery. It is the difference between the amps supplied and the amps in use that remains, if any, for charging the battery. You need to spend some time reading The 12V Side of Life by Mark Nemeth. 

19 minutes ago, lappir said:

I upgraded to an LG Mini Split system.

How does the cost of the Mini Split compare to the typical rooftop units? ls anyone still installing the basement air in new RVs?

10 hours ago, Coolbean767 said:

If they gave me a quote and I sign all the paperwork for the trade can they lower their offer? 

If the offer was not in writing, it is worthless. Assuming that it is a written, legal contract, that depends entirely on what is written into the contract. In all such offers that I know of, the contract states that the amount offered is "pending inspection and appraisal of the RV." In such a case the offer is not binding on the dealer but may well be written to be binding on you. Making offers that are not binding and just bait to get you there is a very common tactic with many RV sales people. Is the quote written and signed by an officer of the dealership? Does it clearly state the amount of the offer with no restrictions? If the answer to any of this is no, then the answer to your question is "Yes they can lower the offer or completely rescind it." Do you have a lawyer available to advise you and help to enforce it? 

Are you thinking of trip insurance that will be replaced by a Canadian policy once you complete the importation of the RV? I know that Allianz Insurance sells short term travel insurance. Progressive Insurance also has a lot of different RV policies. An independent insurance agency like Miller Insurance could probably help you to locate what you need.

See the reply on your other thread on this subject.

On 10/2/2023 at 6:25 PM, etu said:

It’s a Dometic B59516.711J0. product number 9360

That would be a  DuoTherm B59516 Brisk Air II and this is a service manual. If you measure the air temperature as it enters the unit and then the air leaving the unit, the temperature should decrease by 18° to 24°  so yours is below what it should be but not by a lot. A 33' travel trailer is a lot to try and cool with only 1 air conditioner. 

What you found is not uncommon and more so with some brands/models than others. You haven't mentioned what your RV is or the age which could also play a part. If the RV isn't new you might want to check both coils, one in the air flow and the other on the roof. You may find this video to be helpful. RV AC Coil & Filter Cleaning    If you have not done so, look for places that outside air could be getting into the RV as well and plug them with some expanding foam or similar product.  

There are a lot of different RV thermostats available. There are a lot of RV thermostats available from Amazon and others so you do need to pair them properly. If you just upgrade to a larger capacity air conditioner of the same make and model that you have now it should work. Do you plan to do the work yourself? If not you need to be sure that you have a reliable RV tech to do the work. 

11 hours ago, etu said:

I’ve since learned from other forums that “a fullway termination valve “ is a fancy term for black water tank drain valve. 

OK. I have never figured out why that name comes up, unless it might be from UK or AU or possibly Canada? I guess that I missed the meaning of your question. Having had and used a black tank flush system, the only things that I can think of that might warrant that warning would prevention of overfilling the black tank or perhaps the fully open part is to avoid solids hanging up on a partially open gate valve. The one that we had did have a caution to always use with the drain valve open, but I used to close the valve for about 5 minutes just before finishing the flush in order to get the rush of water to carry out whatever might remain in the tank. I did stand by the dump valve all of the time it was flushing just to be sure that I never filled the tank completely. 

As I look at your picture, the very top where the two knobs are with a fitting in between them is the outside shower connection, missing the hose and wand.

If you are asking about the caution sticker, it isn't clear enough to be legible so you need to take a close up and post it or tell us what it says. Does the cap just to the left of the caution sticker remove to display a hose connection, and if so is it male or female? I am guessing that it is female and is for the black tank flushing nozzle. 

Yup. 

3 hours ago, Trubble said:

We're looking for a used 16' camper to buy, cheap but reliable.

That could also be a problem. Two people in a 16' travel trailer is going to be very cramped and very little storage space. Also, cheap & reliable could be different trailers, depending on the budget. 

3 hours ago, Trubble said:

I don't think Medicaid covers out of state anywhere?

Medicare is federal health insurance for anyone age 65 and older, and some people under 65 with certain disabilities or conditions. Medicaid is a joint federal and state program that gives health coverage to some people with limited income and resources. To get Medicaid you must register in the state where you will live. For example, if a person from Texas wishes to apply for Medicaid while outside the state, the person should contact the other state's Medicaid agency. The other state's Medicaid agency determines whether: the person plans to live or visit in that state and that state's Medicaid is available to the person.

We spent the majority of our fulltime travels with regular stays as RV volunteers and in nearly all of those positions there were maintenance areas that I could the the RV to when doing thinks like oil changes & lubrication  work. I have been in commercial RV parks that had a place you could wash the RV and at least some of the Escapee co-op parks have a maintenance area. There are probably others on the forums who could give you better advice on this than I.