OWV Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 I'm new to Escapees and to the discussion forum so not sure if this topic has already been covered. If it has, can someone please direct me to the thread. If it hasn't, can anyone recommend a good maintenance, trip or general log book that can make it easy to keep track of these kinds of things/ Thanks and regards, OWV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker56 Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 If you have a DP a VMSpc will keep track of all maintenance items for you. Or you can make up one yourself with spreadsheets on a PC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk W Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 Welcome to the Escapees RV club and to the forums! We are happy that you have joined us so please feel free to participate an all of the subject areas. We have not kept an overall log of our travels and maintenance but we do keep a log of all RV maintenance. Are you seeking something that you would track fuel, maintenance, campgrounds, and comments, all in one book? If so we do have several members who currently use one so help should be coming. Just consider this to be a big, Escapee hug! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldMan Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 I used to fly, and we used paper logbooks for flight time, airframe maintenance and powerplant maintenance. I certainly find logbooks essential for keeping track of all those things. Time spent on the move, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb0zke Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 I use a notebook for recording where we stay. A couple of sentences is sufficient. I'm thinking of making some sort of chart to find information more quickly. I have a notebook for all maintenance stuff. Easy enough to look back to see when service is due. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat & Pete Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 21 minutes ago, kb0zke said: I use a notebook for recording where we stay. A couple of sentences is sufficient. I'm thinking of making some sort of chart to find information more quickly. I have a notebook for all maintenance stuff. Easy enough to look back to see when service is due. I do the same except for the actual recording and searching for specifics . I happen to have a DW that does both those for me . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
packnrat Posted January 10, 2018 Report Share Posted January 10, 2018 go to the office supply store, can find a number of "fancy" books to do the job just need to log miles date, and what was done and staple the receipts to said page. even a good ring bound "loose leaf" note pad. and you can even keep a couple pens inside the rings. most chain auto parts stores have a little cheap one for sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdickinson Posted January 10, 2018 Report Share Posted January 10, 2018 I have a couple of pages that might help. Scott or Mr Seas and I went thru this last year. I can send his original to you and mine which was modified. You could make your own changes, no problem. Send me an e-mail address. Roger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim & Alice Posted January 10, 2018 Report Share Posted January 10, 2018 I use a simple MS Word Document, with a table format... creating cells (boxes) for the category of data I want to capture. In essence, I capture all dates, services, problems, parts, vendors, mileage on the MH as well as the Generator and Toad. I would be glad to share with you if you email me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbaraok Posted January 10, 2018 Report Share Posted January 10, 2018 Excel spreadsheet for all maintenance on the DP. We separate out routine maintenance, repair, upgrades. I don't worry about keeping track of RV parks anymore. We use app for the smart phone (MileageKeeper) for DP mileage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gypsydan Posted January 11, 2018 Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 Here is a program I have found very useful. It has a free trial. https://rvnotepad.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don_T Posted January 12, 2018 Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 Excel spreadsheet works great and I use OneNote to keep notes on things I wan to remember. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OWV Posted January 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2018 On 1/9/2018 at 9:53 AM, Biker56 said: If you have a DP a VMSpc will keep track of all maintenance items for you. Or you can make up one yourself with spreadsheets on a PC. I don't understand DP a VMSpc. Can you please explain? Thank you. Regards, OWV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OWV Posted January 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2018 On 1/9/2018 at 10:00 AM, Kirk Wood said: Welcome to the Escapees RV club and to the forums! We are happy that you have joined us so please feel free to participate an all of the subject areas. We have not kept an overall log of our travels and maintenance but we do keep a log of all RV maintenance. Are you seeking something that you would track fuel, maintenance, campgrounds, and comments, all in one book? If so we do have several members who currently use one so help should be coming. Just consider this to be a big, Escapee hug! Thank you for the big, Escapee hug and he kind welcome. I am primarily interested in tracking fuel and maintenance. I think we will try to use a mapping tool to track travels and campgrounds. Regards, OWV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OWV Posted January 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2018 On 1/9/2018 at 7:07 PM, rdickinson said: I have a couple of pages that might help. Scott or Mr Seas and I went thru this last year. I can send his original to you and mine which was modified. You could make your own changes, no problem. Send me an e-mail address. Roger Thank you. Email address is wbo@theoverbays.com Regards, OWV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OWV Posted January 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2018 On 1/9/2018 at 8:10 PM, Jim & Alice said: I use a simple MS Word Document, with a table format... creating cells (boxes) for the category of data I want to capture. In essence, I capture all dates, services, problems, parts, vendors, mileage on the MH as well as the Generator and Toad. I would be glad to share with you if you email me. Thank you. I would appreciate that. The email address is wbo@theoverbays.com Regards, OWV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Joyce Posted January 17, 2018 Report Share Posted January 17, 2018 (edited) 11 minutes ago, OWV said: I don't understand DP a VMSpc. Can you please explain? Thank you. Regards, OWV VMSpc is a device that hooks to a diesel pusher (DP) diagnostic port and to a Windows computer to show you about everything about your engine, transmission, etc. About $300 and well worth it, since I have one. Large diesel engines do not use the ODBII port your car has, where you can get a $20 Bluetooth device to talk to your smartphone. Link on VMSpc - http://www.silverleafelectronics.com/node/6 . This is someone selling it for $306 - https://www.rvupgradestore.com/VMS-to-6-Pin-Diagnoistic-Port-p/vmspc6.htm . Edited January 17, 2018 by Bill Joyce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OWV Posted January 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2018 On 1/10/2018 at 7:52 PM, gypsydan said: Here is a program I have found very useful. It has a free trial. https://rvnotepad.com/ This looks good. I just watched the demo video. For $20. this could do the trick. Thanks for the tip. Regards, OWV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OWV Posted January 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2018 10 minutes ago, Bill Joyce said: VMSpc is a device that hooks to a diesel pusher (DP) diagnostic port and to a Windows computer to show you about everything about your engine, transmission, etc. About $300 and well worth it, since I have one. Large diesel engines do not use the ODBII port your car has, where you can get a $20 Bluetooth device to talk to your smartphone. Link on VMSpc - http://www.silverleafelectronics.com/node/6 . This is someone selling it for $306 - https://www.rvupgradestore.com/VMS-to-6-Pin-Diagnoistic-Port-p/vmspc6.htm . Thank you. I will check it out. Regards, OWV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim & Alice Posted January 26, 2018 Report Share Posted January 26, 2018 OWV, I just emailed the Word Document to you that I mentioned. Sorry to be delayed in getting to you but we have been traveling and just arrived at our destination... and catching up on things. Any questions, I included my email ID. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OWV Posted January 26, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2018 8 hours ago, Jim & Alice said: OWV, I just emailed the Word Document to you that I mentioned. Sorry to be delayed in getting to you but we have been traveling and just arrived at our destination... and catching up on things. Any questions, I included my email ID. Jim Got it and have already sent you a quick thank you note. I appreciate you keeping this on your radar screen. Regards, OWV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldMan Posted February 24, 2018 Report Share Posted February 24, 2018 I used to fly and I'll keep a daily log of driving. I will have maintenance logs (again, aviation style) for both the house and the truck (separate). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richfaa Posted February 24, 2018 Report Share Posted February 24, 2018 Don't have a log book or a blog we are on the road having fun. We keep all documentation of maint and repair in a big ole brown envelope.. Follow Ford maint schedule and after years of RV'ing we kind of know what maint needs to be done on the 5th wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beyerjf Posted February 25, 2018 Report Share Posted February 25, 2018 As an owner operator leased to several carriers over the years, the DOT requires us to maintain a maintenance log book of all repairs and maintenance. It is usually a simple affair like mentioned above, a spreadsheet looking page with columns along the top for date, mileage, nature of work done, who did it, and where. maybe 15 rows of entries per page. I do 100,000 miles a year, and now on an 18 year old tractor, so I have plenty of entries, but not hard to page back and find out when I replaced a set of tires, or installed a new turbo charger. No need to over think this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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