Dutch_12078

52 minutes ago, oldjohnt said:

  For the non sparkies here, one other MAJOR difference in an RV Panel versus "many" typical home panels is THE RV PANEL IS CONFIGURED AND WIRED WITH SEPERATE INSULATED AND ISOLATED NEUTRAL AND GROUND BUSSES (its treated as a Sub Panel) unlike "many" home panels where Neutral and Ground are bonded !!!!!!!!!!!!

  I likewise prefer "standard" Square D or GE etc. panels in an RV (when possible) as if anything is labeled for RV its more expensive PLUS maybe oddball or different style grrrrrrrrrrr  

 Nice sparky chatting. hope this helps, post back any questions...

 John T

John is correct of course, so I'll just note that nearly all standard residential panels like the Square D in our RV are equipped for easy conversion from a bonded neutral/ground to isolated neutral and ground by simply lifting or removing a bonding strap.

1 hour ago, Kirk W said:

That is one of the features that caused me to buy a Cruise Master as Georgie Boy used mostly commonly available electrical components. Our CM was a 50A model and it had a different Square D distribution panel but a larger one mounted pretty much the same as yours. 

Yes, that was certainly a factor in our purchase decision as well. I did note as well that upgrading to a larger panel with additional breaker slots would be a relatively easy task, but the need hasn't come up. I could also simply replace an existing single breaker with another tandem breaker of course.

54 minutes ago, Ray,IN said:

This website explains your question in detail: https://www.myrv.us/electric/

An RV 4-prong 50A pedestal receptacle is no different than a household 50A 120/240VAC plug. The difference is inside the RV. The main breaker panel is constructed so the 2 120VAC bus bars cannot be connected to one breaker, one one 120VAC leg may be attached to a breaker. UNLESS  the RV is built to use a 240VAC clothes dryer or other 240VAC appliances.

Our 50 amp Landau Class A uses a standard Square D QC Load Center for the breaker box. Complete with a double pole, single handle, 50 amp main breaker. Every other breaker is on the same leg. This is the same panel that's often used as the primary panel in small buildings or as a sub-panel in larger buildings.

52 minutes ago, runaway parents said:

 I do have a question for you what do you do with your waste oil? When I used to change my  my pickup oil. I used to take it back to the automotive stores. After being burned on my last oil change I'm going to start doing it myself. Our automotive store don't take large quantities of used oil Any ideas?

Over the years, I've developed a list of local businesses that accept waste oil they use to heat their buildings in the winter. They don't pay anything, but they do take it off your hands with few limits on quantity.

We have separate E-ZPasses for our car and motorhome. The motorhome transponder uses a specific vehicle code that tells states what the vehicle is, and on the NY State Thruway gets a special rate for motorhomes that charges us the same per axle rate as passenger cars.

6 hours ago, Kirk W said:

But it appears that someone removed all of the insulation that was once on the Atwood tank. I have never seen one that had no insulation at all from the factory. My first Atwood water heater was in a 1976 Great Divide and it was pretty much the same as in Bradrutherford's latest picture and was not a DSI model. I'm not sure when the DSI became common, but our 1987 did have it in a Suburban water heater.

I agree Kirk, it certainly does appear that the insulation was removed at some point. Mice seem to like that sort of thing for nest material, and a PO may have cleaned up the mess and not replaced it.

Ahh! Ok, the old Atwood heater is in the lower picture with the bypass valve making more sense now. The upper picture might be an after market unjacketed 120 volt heater as Kirk suggests.

27 minutes ago, Kirk W said:

It would look like you are right, but have you ever seen one with the bare tank like in the pictures? I guess that is what throws me. I had thought that both pictures were of the same water heater but studying it more I don't believe that is the case. What do you think?

I agree with you Kirk, it does look like two different tanks to me too. The second tank looks like a small water storage tank like some of the pressurized ones I've seen in vintage smaller TT's. The heater may be from that era as well. The bypass valve appears to be used as a tank fill/house selector.

I once rebuilt a 1968 13' TT with an odd upper bunk rear overhang (don't recall the brand) that had a 6 gallon AC only residential water heater installed under a dinette seat. It had some insulation, but it appeared to aftermarket installed. That one also had the old pressurized water tank.

The upper picture appears to be a 5-or 6 gallon 120 electric only heater with a black hot lead, white neutral lead, and a green safety ground. Brand unknown. The blue box on the side of the tank in the lower picture is a Swan Industries RV all-season bypass valve.

On 2/6/2023 at 9:14 AM, Jinx & Wayne said:

Going on fifty years ago I was working at our family-run commercial hunting/fishing camp in Maine. My stepfather and I came back from the long run to town after sunset to find the lodge dark. On the door was a piece of paper. We had no light, but my stepfather had a cigarette lighter that was out of fluid. We peered at the note as he sparked the lighter. Gradually we made out ...

"Wa...Watch..Watch out...Watch out f...Watch out for..Watch out for the bear."

The satisfaction of finally making out the note was spoiled by the chill running down my back.

Wayne

I can imagine!

Our average over 10 years with our 34' 2001 V-10 powered motorhome towing a Toyota RAV4 is 8.3 MPG.

One woman traveling alone put a sign on her door when leaving the RV to shop similar to this: "Fred, don't open the door until I get back, the snake got loose." She never had a problem with break ins...:) 

8 hours ago, Ray,IN said:

After reading all the linked articles and many I've found using a search engine, the U.S.A. debt is a house of cards. The Federal Reserve owns 78% of the national debt, and stays afloat by printing money out of thin air. This of course is completely legal since U.S.A. currency is no longer based on gold or silver.

I suppose we could run a family like this, borrow from your wife and each child to spend more money than we have, with the expectation of never repaying anyone; but in the beginning we gave them the money, so we'd have to print more money to be able to borrow from them, however that is illegal for all except the federal government.

I find this very interesting: "Intragovernmental Debt

The Treasury owes this part of the debt to other federal agencies. Intragovernmental holdings totaled more than $6.89 trillion in January 2023.1 Why would the government owe money to itself? Because some agencies, like the Social Security Trust Fund, take in more revenue from taxes than they need. These agencies then invest in U.S. Treasurys rather than stick this cash under a giant mattress,

source: https://www.thebalancemoney.com/who-owns-the-u-s-national-debt-3306124

 

This transfers the agencies' excess revenue to the general fund, where it's spent. They redeem their Treasury notes for funds as needed. The federal government then either raises taxes or issues more debt to raise the required cash. 

 

 Japan holds $1.3 trillion in  U.S.A. debt; China holds $1.1 trillion. Sure that is a small fraction of $31 trillion, but what happens if they call that debt?https://finmasters.com/who-owns-the-us-national-debt/

 

This entire thread is quite useless, as nothing we can do will  make a difference. It is all ran by what some refer to as the shadow government.

An interesting fact I came across during searches is this:

Which President is responsible for the highest percentage increase in national debt? https://www.self.inc/info/us-debt-by-president/

You ask what happens if Japan and Chine were to "call that debt"? Actually pretty much nothing good for their countries. Countries hold US debt for one reason, it's the safest most stable investment in the world, and they use the US Treasury warrants they hold in part to stabilize their own currencies by keeping the US dollar strong. Keeping the value of their currencies below the US dollar helps them promote exports that boost their economies. The bottom line though, is any time one country sells off some of it's US Treasury holdings, other countries snap it up to keep the US dollar stable in the market place.

2 hours ago, lappir said:

No, the camera was mounted on the motorcycle windshield and I parked where the truck was in the photo. 

The purpose for posting is to identify we all can be misled by things seen not in person. I knew for  a fact I had not driven the truck that day, but with the date stamp, the sight of the truck lead me to believe in something that was not true for more time than I like to admit. 

The bike is a 2007 Goldwing, doesn't sound like a truck in person, but sure did in the video's.

 

Rod

Ok, now I've got it. You were confused over the sounds in the video...

Do you carry your cell phone in your shirt pocket with the camera facing forward?

Here's another look from the passenger side, this one from Reddit:

On 1/8/2023 at 8:41 AM, Kirk W said:

Have you ever heard of anything even similar to that? I'd still like to get a close look at the truck.

Here's screen capture from a YouTube video explaining what happened.

3 hours ago, sandsys said:

So, we're back to the days when my grandfather use to place the external part of his hearing aids on the table next to the radio to better hear the ballgame?

Linda 

I don't know about the iPhone, but my aids came with a small rechargeable microphone device that can be placed on a speakers podium, etc, up to 65 feet away. I've also used it for listening to a TV at a friends house when we were invited to watch a movie with them.

My VA issued Signia (Siemens) BTE hearing aids retail for about $3500 each, so a lower cost alternative should be attractive to many people. My rechargeable aids do have features that the Airpods don't have of course, such as the Bluetooth connection feature for phone, TV, etc, that many higher end aids have. The phone app also gives me an aimable sound feature that's great in crowds, restaurants, etc. And my aids are tuned for my specific hearing loss and tinnitus. I think the lower cost OTC aids coming on the market would likely be a better choice than Airpods, aren't nearly as ugly...

12 hours ago, Dp26 said:

Anyone paying a flat rate for all cards is getting ripped off (needs to shop around).  The corporate cards and the high reward cards cost merchants more to process.  Debit cards are cheap to process.   Even in my case, MOTO merchant (never swipe) the type of card can have a drastic difference in the fee (I use a service which is interchange + ), rather than any particular flat amount per card or card type.

I have not looked at any of the plug into phone readers, but I suspect they may advertise 2.6+.10, but they have exceptions for more expensive cards.  Even that rate is robbery, as you can get 1.99+fee for swipes from many good outfits with little trouble.

One also MUST look at what they charge for AVS, refunds, charge backs, investigations, monthly fees, equipment fees, no CVV, etc.  There is simply no "fair" pricing which is a flat rate for all cards.  Can ALWAYS be done cheaper with a "real" processor.

V/M/A/D won the fight, keep it complicated, and make great money.

Their published base rate is for Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express cards. I haven't seen the fine print though, so there may be more to it of course. I do know of several businesses that have switched to SquareUp from their previous processors in the past few years. Square up is also quite popular with Amish business people I understand.

On 12/31/2022 at 7:02 PM, lappir said:

I thought I had gotten away from checks till last summer working at my brothers Shop. Credit cards and Debit cards were charging a fee of 3.95% for the convenience of using the card. The "Farmers" who used to use their card all the time switched back to checks and so did I. Most of the "City Slickers" could care less about the extra charge on their card. I try to pay cash to all the Mom and Pop stores I visit. I also always tip in cash. 

 

Rod 

If he's paying 3.95%, he's getting ripped off. SquareUp, the company that supplies those little square card readers that plug into a cell phone among other terminals, charges 2.6% + 10¢ per swipe for Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express. If your business doe more than $250K annually, you may qualify for an even better deal.

3 hours ago, bruce t said:

OK consider this! My speedo is calibrated, tested etc etc and found to be spot on. A week later I put new tyres on. New tyres naturaly have a larger diameter. Thus a larger distance for a given revolution. So with the old tyres my speedo showed 30mph. New tyres and same speedo reading but because my tyres are larger the LEOs radar show a higher speed. Follow my logic?

So I personally don't believe any of the 1mph speeding ticket stories. No LEO will take being knocked of in court on those sorts of variables.

Yes I know about electronic v cable v gps Speedos. Just saying that new v old tyres alone can give you a ticket? 

 

Even variations in the tire air pressure affect speedometer readings slightly, so yes, I question some of those 1 over stories too. I trust the accuracy of the speed shown on my GPS display more than the speedometer.

Some years ago I was stopped for speeding by a NY state trooper for 15 over on a state highway. I knew he was right and didn't argue with him. As he stood next to my door writing some notes, he complained that his pen had quit. Without thinking, I took the pen out of my shirt pocket and handed it to him. He thanked me and went back to his unit with my license, etc. A few minutes later he came back and handed me my pen and a "Speed Kills" pamphlet, saying he just couldn't bring himself to write me a ticket with my own pen and I should just slow down. I thanked him and told him he could keep the pen...

Anyone that has an Atwood or Suburban RV furnace that doesn't shut the fan off if the flame doesn't light can fairly easily upgrade using a Dinosaur "Fan 50 Plus" replacement ignitor board.

"The basic purpose of a Fan Control Ignitor Board is to shut the fan motor off if the board fails to sense a flame after the third ignition try. Thus, battery drain is reduced and the needless blowing of cold air is eliminated."

https://www.dinosaurelectronics.com/Fan_50_PIN.html

It's interesting that Federal law 49 CFR §393.82 requires bus, truck, and truck-tractor speedometers to be accurate within 5 MPH at 50 MPH, but I have not been able to verify the 5% tolerance for passenger cars that I've seen mentioned several times.