bb_94401
Explorer
Joined 17 years ago
User Profile
User Widgets
All Activity
Re: Essential tools to carry; pole saw.
2x we carry a gas powered chain saw (with spark arrestor) and a pruning saw. richclover wrote: ... All it takes is an overnight thunderstorm to bring down the deadfall across the only road out. jaycocreek wrote: ... I knew a guy that went back on an older logging road and a tree fell over the road after he went through. He didn't have an axe or a saw and he had to walk out for help... deserteagle56 wrote: ... Storms knock some of the trees over across the roadway. The Federal agency responsible is not about to send out a crew to prune trees or remove fallen ones. richclover wrote: .... Pine bark beetles have killed off lotsa trees and deadfall has become more of a problem. I’ve had to trim branches from leaning dead trees to avoid damage to roof or sides. I’ve also had to chain saw deadfall trees off of a forest service road ...) We go on extended trips so we can explore further into various FS and BLM lands. We've often cut trees that fall across the road both inbound and outbound. We also remove rock fall as well. In addition to beetle kill, there are a significant amount of fire killed trees still standing from previous years. It doesn't take much of a breeze to bring them down across the road, blocking your way out. Add a big storm with rain resulting in water saturated soil and lots of wind and you may not get out for some time. Even if you are relying on an agency to clear the road, we ran into a 1 mile section on a FS road that had over 40 8" diameter trees down on our only route out. In this case the FS had cleared the road of trees just 2 days after the storm. Unfortunately they only cut out an opening as wide as their truck. There wasn't enough width for my dually to fit through with the TC on .... Idaho State law "requires vehicles to carry a bucket with minimum 1 gallon capacity, 24" handle shovel with a 6" blade, and a 4-BC fire extinguisher" when recreating on Idaho state endowment trust land. Forest service suggests an axe as well. Better to be prepared. A chain saw, an axe or a mountain bike beat walking out.354Views0likes0CommentsRe: Dual pane windows....
If you are going to be winter camping when the temperature is less than 20F and if you don't like living in a dark cave, double pane windows keep in more heat and allow natural light to come inside. Our 2001 TC has double pane windows, as well as large double pane skylights and double pane vent covers. No seal failures yet in any of them. When the temperatures are lower still, reflectix layers covering the windows to keep more heat in. The reflectix on the table window, skylights and vents are removed when we aren't sleeping. For temperatures dropping below 0F at night, we made the table window triple pane ala Photomike's post. Can sit comfortably next to the window and watch the night sky. Cuts down on wind blowing through the window track drains and crevices when there is a blizzard outside (although they can be taped shut from the outside). Reflectix added when we go to bed. While there are lots of holes in a TC, most people will find and plug/seal them over time. Thermal pane windows are part of that consideration, or put another way, will the batteries last the night, how many days before the propane runs out and is it warm enough inside the TC to be comfortable and run full utilities for the length of stay you are planning. Speaking of holes, when manufacturers fit windows into a camper, they are not a close tolerance fit around the edges. While double panes won't have condensation on the windows, the aluminum window frame will still have condensation / ice, despite having a "thermal break in the window frame. Fix by removing the inside trim and sealing up the gaps between the sides of the window and frame opening with minimally expanding foam. Having a vapor barrier around the windows reduces the condensation that results in the window rotting out mentioned above. You can use the clear heat shrink window film on the inside to make disposable storm windows for windows you want to see out of. For windows you don't look out a removable tape or Dap Peel 'N Stick caulking can seal the window as well. Have you looked behind the trim on your vents recently? Check out the various winter mods threads for the usual suspects (AC, cord box, propane box, range vent and others). Seriously, just get the double pane windows if you are camping 4 seasons.700Views0likes0CommentsRe: Storing generators when traveling?
We've stored our generators inside the camper under the table, held in place with heavy shock cords. Sheet of polypropylene packing foam to prevent rubbing wear. No smell after the fix below. Advantage of being inside is that they start better when we are boondocking during winter. Downside to moving them in / out of the high entrance of our TC (due to being on a 4x4 and having a basement), is that the generator gets tipped sometimes resulting in a gasoline smell. It wasn't coming from the cap due to pressure change going from sea level to 8,000, nor large temperature range swings during the day. Rather gas was dripping out of the carburetor bowl through the bowl vent. Solution was to plug the vent line with a golf tee when moving the generator into the TC. You could see the liquid gasoline above the tee, after moving it inside. Later I got a short piece of fuel tubing for the tee, I keep it on the oil drain slope to the left, when it isn't being used as a plug during normal operation. If you happen to forget to remove the vent plug, the generator will stop running after a while and you are wondering why it stopped.:S642Views0likes0CommentsRe: Interesting delam issue - revised 6-24, more pics
Best guess for delamination is poor adhesion, due to contaminated surface, or bad glue procedure /conditions. Add flex and off it came. A section of one of the carbon fiber hulls delaminated on my trimaran. I talked to a highly skilled fiberglass, independent repair person (boat wright / ship wright) who solved my problem. Ask around your area if they have time to do some creative work. Maybe they could seal it similar to vacuum bagging and see whether it would hold a vacuum. They are very creative. Might need to remove some trim and seal the underlying edges to get the vacuum needed. If so then, pull in low vicosity, slow cure epoxy from one end and out the other. Use mold release (aka wax) to prevent epoxy from sticking on outside visible surfaces. Or creative use of sealing tape.274Views0likes0CommentsRe: Help! One of my jacks won't retract or extend!
The Camo eze-lifts have minimum height of 19" to 47" and fine adjustment to 61". 5000 LBS support, but I don't know how much you could actually lift without galling or stripping the threads. Good temporary support to remove and repair the jack. Maybe not enough to lift it to load into the truck and fix the jack later. So you may have to do the two diagonal leg slightly higher trick to be able to lift it with the eze-lift (I'd put anti sieze on the adjuster thread). If you really want to lift it high enough to fit into your truck I'd call Rieco Titan and have them drop ship a single Tripod Camper Jack . It has a minimum height of 38" and max of 60" and can lift 2,000 lbs. Only issue is the height you'd need for your 4x4 DRW truck, may need a block or two. One other consideration is that with the dually, you'd need to make sure that the tripod legs were capable of being oriented so you could avoid hitting them with the tires when loading. Click For Full-Size Image.1.9KViews0likes0CommentsRe: How to track down water leak in NL camper
If the problem returns and you go back to leak testing, pressure (as measured whether the pump cycles) isn't always a good indicator. Before I had replumbed my outside shower and was only blowing out the lines, enough water was left in the outside shower valves that it froze and cracked the plastic, which then leaked inside under my sink. If you decide to go the dye approach remember that amount of fluorescense is dependent on the pathlength in liquid, the type, the concentration of the chemical and the UV source. You can test if the fluorscent approach will be sensitive enough before putting it in your water system, by placing a drop or two of your proposed solution on a plate and using your UV light source. Instead of adding it to your water tank, replace the inlet tubing on your pump so it will fit into a gallon jug or pail. Make up the fluorescent solution. Bypass the water heater (avoids having to rinse it out and you can test it later if you don't identify the leak origin the first time). Pump it into your system. Common food grade items that are fluorescent are: Quinine water, aka Tonic Water; blue emission; 25 to 65 ppm (parts per million w /v grocery store 2L bottles Riboflavin, aka vitamin B2; green emission); solubility in water 80 - 100 milligrames per liter; grind number of pills depending on dose per pill. If the pills have lots of inert filler, filter before use. We used pure riblflavin at work. Alternately, you could just make up a 50 ppm solution of hydrogen peroxide and sanitize your water system. They make test strips (0-50 ppm and 0-100 ppm) that are easy to use by touching these to a drop of water to verify its presence or absence and whether it was from your water system or rain. After rinsing out your water system you can use the low range test strips 0-5 ppm to show the hydrogen peroxide level is reduced to a safe level. We used this at work on a USP water system. Same approach with 5 ppm bleach and test strips could be used. We usually run with bleach at 1 ppm in our water all the time, which the test strips can detect. 3% hydrogen peroxide = 30,000 ppm Bleach is typically 5% - 6%, actual concentration can be found on the label under active ingredient.346Views0likes0CommentsRe: Lance Bed Plug Location in 2017-2019 SuperDuty?
The "class K" 8 awg copper welding wire (161 strands of 30awg) I used to rewire my jack controller inside the TC has a resistance (R) of 0.000772 ohms per foot. Doesn't seem like much, but when you include the overall length (L) of the circuit (positive + negative cable lengths), a voltage drop (Vd) will occur depending on the current (I) in amps. Vd = R x L x I Voltage (V) at my truck alternator is usually around 14.4 Voltage at bed plug (Vbp) = V - Vd Whether this is an issue or not depends on your use. Running a "12" VDC device is usually not an issue (typical input VDC tolerance is 10.5 to 15.4) just check your device manual. Just the voltage drop to the bed plug results in Vtc = 14.2 @ 10A; 14.0 @ 20A; 13.8 @ 30A. The final voltage drop at the batteries will be even greater, depending on the wire gauge and the length used from there to inside the TC to the batteries or device. As the voltage drop causes the voltage at the batteries to approach the "Float" voltage, very little charging is occurring. For charging 220 Ah and larger AGM battery banks, short lengths of larger diameter wire are used to recharge the batteries in a reasonable time, while driving. You might ask Buzzcut1 what he typically has experienced after the 3 hr drive from the Sierra, as he has the 8 awg Lance Bed Plug.472Views0likes0CommentsRe: Flat tire on SW Truck while carrying a TC?
2x a 12 ton bottle jack, with a 2x6 under the base. Used a high lift version for both front and rear flats on Forest Service roads made with shale. Bought a High-Lift, Double Ram, version of the Bottle Jack. Small enough to fit under the frame with the tire flat, yet with enough lift to put on a fully inflated tire, on a rutted road. Lifting on the frame avoids having to use the TC jacks to reduce the weight on the wheels. Minium Lift Height: 8-15/16" Maximum Lift Height: 23-5/8" Screw Top Adjustment: 3-1/2"579Views0likes0CommentsRe: Anticipation and a year to wait.....
When we do road trips they are very free form. Kind of like sailing where you plan a direction and then see how far you really get. Then choose where to drop anchor vs. power boating with fixed destinations. When traveling in BC and AB we use the Backroad Map Books to find and navigate to the smaller recreation sites. They have a GPS based digital version as well. So when we get tired, we look around to see what's available and stop. They also show what is crown land, if you just want to boondock. The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations BC also has a Recreation Sites and Trails on-line site giving details about the over one thousand provincial recreation sites. The Provincial Parks online site gives similar details for these. BC Hydro has recreation sites where you can stay as well. Going to the specific site gives you directions as well as a google map. Placing your cursor on the site and right clicking will bring up a menu. Clicking on 'Whats Here' will display the GPS coordinates for easier off-line navigation to the site. Below are images from my mapping program of the BC Recreation Sites for Hixon / Vanderhoof and 70 Mile House. They were kind enough to send me the shape file, which I used to get the GPS coordinates to load into my PC based naviagtion system. Yellow pins are the designation that an RV (2WD Class B or C) could travel that road, Green Pins means cars should be able to travel the road to access the site and Dark Blue means high ground clearance 4WD vehicles (aka truck campers) should be able to access the site. The number afterwards is the number of sites (fire ring and or a table), 0 means just a parking spot. Click For Full-Size Image. Click For Full-Size Image.420Views0likes0Comments
Groups
Travel Trailer Group
Prefer to camp in a travel trailer? You're not alone.Apr 19, 201944,027 Posts
