All ActivityMost RecentMost LikesSolutionsRe: Recommend a FL west coast RV parkThere's a place called Frog Creek just south of the skyway bridge, but it's a little inland. Not sure how close to the beach it is. I would otherwise avoid Pinellas county if you're staying for an extended period, the traffic in Pinellas is simply nasty. There are some nice places near Sarasota but again it might be too far inland for you.Re: OBD 2 Reader ib516 wrote: Yes. An OBD2 bluetooth adapter from amazon, and an app for a smart phone. If you're an android guy, the torque app is the way to go. All in, under $20. X3 for this one, it's what I use. You can read codes, clear them and do a lot of other things with it if you really wanted to get into it. But it's cheap and works with any modern vehicle.Re: Never AgainI've got Allstate RV roadside, but I have to admit, I have very little experience having to use them. Called for a blown tire on the TT a few years ago, and they were reasonably quick (30-45 min) if I recall.30amp to 50amp upgrade - CompletedI have a small toy hauler that was wired for 30 amp service, which normally would be fine. However, in their brilliance at the factory, they decided to put in a 3in1 oven(convection,1/2time,microwave) which uses a lot of juice. So much, in fact, I was unable to run the A/C and the oven at the same time (they took about 31 amps together). So I decided to do the upgrade, which turned out to be simpler than I thought. I will go through the upgrade from the pedestal in(not necessarily in the order you would perform said upgrade). First, you need a 50 amp cord for shore power, these are expensive, anywhere from $100-$200 depending on length. Then you need to upgrade the receptacle on the side of the TT to accept a 50 amp plug and also the wiring that will go to your power center. This should be 6 guage wire. I replaced my entire power center because it was an all in one unit that came with converter, you will have to make the decision here as to what you want. I had only 4 circuits including the converter. My new power center would take up to 12 circuits (6 on each 50 amp leg)if you used double breakers, I opted just for 6 full size. I separated my 4 circuits (2 on each side) with the A/C on the side with just the converter, but then added a set of outlets in the back on a fifth circuit. So, I now have 5 circuits that are hot and 1 available for expansion. I also have so much available overhead(in terms of amperage) that I should never even have to think about power management. I realize this is really overdoing it, but there is nothing between the 50a and 30a service. If you know a little about electrical wiring this is a pretty simple upgrade this way. There are situations that complicate matters: * generators - power transfer switch (I don't have one) * if you want to separate items that are currently on a single circuit, this would call for rewiring the circuit and can be a royal pain. I'm sure there are other issues for some that I simply didn't have. Here's a little info if you haven't read any of the million posts about 50 amp service on here: 50 amp service is not truly 50 amps. You have two 120v 50a legs going into your power center, which actually makes for a total of 100 amps available. When you buy your power center remember that it will NOT come with breakers, but most of them will take standard breakers you can get at a home center. You don't HAVE to upgrade your 12v converter/charger. You can buy the power center without it if that's what your setup already is and your converter is already big enough. I didn't talk about specifics with wiring the power center and whatnot because if you don't know how to do that, you probably shouldn't do this upgrade yourself. You are dealing with electricity and it can get dangerous if you don't know what you are doing. Finally, there are tons of opinions on this site, but if you can wad through them to get to the facts there is a lot of good information here. I hope this helps anyone who might be considering this upgrade themselves.Re: Upgrade to 50amp - now AC doesn't workI would like to thank you all for proving my point.Re: Upgrade to 50amp - now AC doesn't workYes, I fixed it. It was a cut (or broken splice) in the A/C wire, so I had to run a new line. Everything is working great and now I have no power mngmt issues to worry about. BTW, the 30 to 50 amp upgrade is one of the simplest things I ever done on my RV and only took a few hours. Like most things, it simply takes a logical, step-by-step approach.Upgrade to 50amp - now AC doesn't workOkay, so a few weeks ago went out to the TT to get it ready for a trip and my AC had died. I replaced with a new Dometic Brisk II and it seemed to working great at home. I had planned a 50amp upgrade from my 30 and did that yesterday. Everything seems to work, except that the AC doesn't kick on. Now, I'm only plugged into my house 20 amp circuit, but the AC always worked before on it with no issues. Is there some reason with the way that 50amp service works that my AC shouldn't work - is it somehow getting much less amperage? I have double-checked all the connections in the circuit box and everything is tight - even put a meter on the breaker to make sure it wasn't bad. I don't have a 50 or 30 amp source readily available to try, which is why I'm normally just plugged into the house wiring.Re: Backing up a TTI would only add one thing to this - don't overcorrect - make small changes with the steering wheel as you back in, don't jack the wheel all the way every time. Slow and small. BTW: I've never heard of the "scoop" maneuver, I just thought that was common sense.Re: computer slowdownActually, you DO need to upgrade. It's still free from Mickeysoft but you need windows 8.1 which is a full blown upgrade. It has better features and is more stable. You can get it from the microsoft store provided you have all the normal updates already.Re: WIFI printer ?MOST of the info here is correct, however, as a 20 year computer tech. I would recommend NOT using wifi to hook up the printers. Hard wire the printer to the router (since you normally don't move printers around) and then use the wifi for your laptop. Although wifi works a lot of the time for printing it is still flaky and I would avoid it where I could and you can simply have your router in close proximity to the printer. I have not seen a wifi printer that does not have an ethernet (hardwired) port yet (although I've by no means seen everything) so this should not be a problem. Also, if you spend a little more on your router you can get one with some amplification to pickup campground wifi and then connect any device to your router in the TT instead of having to connect each individual device to camp wifi. This is what I do with an external antenna and it works great. Hope I didn't overload with too much info.
GroupsRV Newbies We all start out new. Share lessons learned or first-time questions!Jun 15, 20174,026 PostsTravel Trailer Group Prefer to camp in a travel trailer? You're not alone.Jan 20, 202544,030 Posts
RV Newbies We all start out new. Share lessons learned or first-time questions!Jun 15, 20174,026 Posts