StirCrazy
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Joined 22 years ago
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Re: Batteries
motor homes are always the hardest to do, while the LiFePO4 batteries are very appealing for the house batteries you do not want them for the starting battery. this creates a mixed battery chemistry in the motorhome and the easiest way to deal with it is to remove the charging line from the house batteries and put a dc to dc charger at the house batteries that has the power supplied from the charging line, or directly from the starting battery if you want to run a new power line for a larger amperage dc to dc charger. also look for one with a ignition sense. this makes it so it won't pull power from the starting batter unless the engine is running so it also acts as a battery isolator.Re: Chassis batteries not charging
as said, the 6V should be your house batteries not your starting battery, but I am more interested in how, being plugged in and your batteries are not fully charged, which makes me wonder if there is something wrong with your inverter/charger, or even something as simple as a fuse or breaker tripped.Re: Truck Tailgate removal and storage
I have a small 12V winch rigged up in the shop I can use to unload stuff out of the truck. I use it for the 5th wheel hitch right now, but with a couple straps I can see why it wouldn't work for a tail gate. that was an expanded idea for it when I got older. With my ford I would never leave the tailgate on with a camper as one has suggested, they are just to darn heavy and not flat. I can get mine off right now but I can see in 5 or 10 years having to feed a couple straps through it, then unhooking one side, taking the weight off with the hoist then pulling it out of the other side. then its all hoist.Re: Buying an Alberta registered camper without a title, and its located in Mexico
in Canada, registration is your title, you register it in your name. so if this is a RV with wheels and is towed, you need a bill of sale that is legal where you live and are intending to register it. so for example in BC we have a form from ICBC which is filled out and includes vin number, a bunch of other info on the unit, like year built color, make model etc. seller info and buyers info. in Alberta when I used to live there all you needed was a signed back side of the current registration form to take in. now to get a US title, it says you need a bunch of stuff, bill of sale, title and registration (they are the same thing in Canada, we just don't use the word title for vehicles) so a copy of the current owners registration papers and proof of insurance and you will have to import it into the US. so be prepared for lots of paperwork. best thing to do is go to customs at the boarder and explain to them what you are wanting to do and they should tell you everything you need to knowRe: Insurance for F-550 1-1/2 ton
its not just icbc that does it, the Privat insurance companies are the same in Alberta and it is much cheaper than ICBC that rips us off. I would be interesting to see what the other Canadian provinces do. as for the US I love visiting, I considered moving there when I retired from he military as I spent more time in the US than I did in Canada for my 20 years service, but I ended up staying here. stuff like this I just don't get and I find interesting to learn about. how can they force you to buy commercial insurance if you are using the truck privately for a rv? are they worried the company is going to lie and try get cheep insurance? if so if something happens up here and you are using it out side the scope of your insurance you are void and not covered, or it is considered fraud which is a criminal act and you are not covered..Re: Insurance for F-550 1-1/2 ton
no, your comment is though, how do you pay commercial insurance if your not using the truck commercially? we don't even have to do that not for hire sign if we use a class 8 for a tow vehicle as long as you re register it as a rv. but to have to register anything up to a 550/5500 as commercial if it is tied to pleasure use is criminal.Re: winter projects
Nice, the plan was to upgrade my camper this year so I was just going to do exactly that, seal off the battery compartment from the outside and cut a vent hole to the inside so the camper heat can get into it, but do it in a manor that I can reverse it if I ever go to sell it. but I had to buy a new car for work last fall so now the new camper is on hold for a year or two until the wife's car is paid off. I quite often camp in the winter where the temps are getting well below freezing, may not be snow all the time but I have tested the limits of my furnace haha, its not hard with 1" of fiberglass pink for insulation and no air barrier. If we are keeping it for a few more years, I may try to get it into the shop one winter and pull the skin off and change the insulation to block foam and seal it up real nice. wont help the bathroom any though..... so what I have now is a 1991 slumber queen and for the battery compartment it is a tiny one outside as no one back then used anything more than a single car battery I guess. so the small hatch on the top of the back is the battery compartment, but originally when I got it I converted the bottom hatch into a compartment for two 6V batteries, then I had my 280 watt lifepo4 in the top compartment and that's all I could put there. as for insulating it it wasn't deep enough to add insulation after the battery was in it and behind that is the fiberglass for the shower stall and it isn't a heated bathroom or anything. and by putting the battery in side in the bottom foot of the closet we gain back both outside compartments as storage. the top one holds my jack handles a small water hose and my pack of leveling blocks and that is all you can stuff in it. the bottom one will let me take my outdoor stove and griddle out of the closet and put it in there. plus it is open to air from the rv, so I don't have to take any other measure to heat the battery and greatly simplifies the wiring. oh and by placing it where I am it also allows me to borrow a second battery from the 5th wheel if I am going on a especially long trip or I want to put an inverter in that is going to see some use for some reason.
