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Re: Patriot Blue OX
It was never my intention to start a brand name bashing binge. I have heard similar complaints from users of other brakes when a relatively light weight vehicle is being towed. I just wanted to give a heads up that manufacturer's suggested settings may be too sensitive.460Views0likes0CommentsRe: Patriot Blue OX
I have set this system up hundreds of times on our HHR and several times on the Fiat. As I stated in my post we were in an area of very steep grades. I don't believe once the brakes heated up they had any chance to cool down. Had I set the sensitivity to 1 there possibly would have been no problem. I just posted this so others would be warned that in very hilly winding terrain the settings recommended by Blue Ox may be too sensitive for light cars under 3000 pounds. I had no problems with the heavier HHR over these same roads in the past. Keep in mind, going down steep hills the inertia system is going to apply ever increasing brake in response to the steepness of the grade.462Views0likes0CommentsPatriot Blue OX
I recently had an issue involving a Blue OX Patriot Brake. This is an inertia sensing proportional braking system. We purchased the unit in 2014 and the manual at that time said normal vehicles should be towed with the sensing level at 5, hybrids at 3. This was fine for our HHR. This spring we acquired a Fiat 500 Pop. The Fiat is roughly 800 pounds lighter than the HHR. What a huge difference 800 pounds makes in terms of required braking power. Instinctively I felt that the sensitivity should be lessened so I lowered it to 3. I should have perhaps lowered it to 1 or 0 (break away only). While traveling in some very mountainous areas of Southeastern KY we completely destroyed the front brakes on a new car. Both front hubcaps were melted luckily the left side center section blew out lessening the damage. On the right side besides brakes we also had to replace the wheel bearing, wheel nut, right axle, and lower control arm. All of this damage occurred over a distance of less than 20 miles. The break away was not an issue, the device just applied too much brake. Picture a 2,000 pound car trying to slow a 22,000 pound RV on a steep downgrade. In 2015 Blue Ox changed their manual to suggest settings that take into consideration the relative weights of both vehicles. The suggested setting for our weight of car and motor home was 3. In mountainous terrain as I stated before consider 1 or 0. I am hoping that Blue Ox will share some responsibility for the $1300 dollar repair bill.3KViews0likes5Commentssetting brake sensitivity
We towed an HHR automatic over 10k miles with no problems using our Blue Ox Patriot brake system set for a gain of 5. When the HHR developed transmission problems, we decided to retire our HHR in favor of a 2015 Fiat manual transmission. The Fiat weighs 800 pounds less than the the HHR but that weight difference proved catastrophic on the same mountain roads we towed the HHR on. Instinctively I had reduced the gain from 5 to 3 because of the weight difference. I should have dialed down to 1. After only 10 miles of steep and winding roads where most of the MH braking was transmission the toads brakes were glowing hot. So hot that the valve stem caps and hub caps melted. The heat destroyed both front wheel bearings and one cvc joint. The problems as I now see it is that the Blue Ox responds to inertia so although 80% of the motorhome braking was supplied via its transmission and exhaust back pressure the Blue Ox was applying the toad's brakes almost continuously. So buyer beware although Blue Ox Patriot claims to be a proportional braking system it is only proportional to the perceived change in vehicle inertia which is not necessarily the amount of braking force actually needed. I found a newer version of the owners manual that alludes to possible over braking with light weight vehicles and suggests settings of 1 or even 0. Zero would be for break away only. Unfortunately my manual did not include this information.2.6KViews1like3CommentsRe: Garmin Streetpilot getting fewer satellites
You don't mention where you are at. If you get too far north you will start to have problems. I have been in Michigan's UP and noticed greatly reduced satellite acquisition. That said I tend to agree with the suspicions of another poster ie. your hardware is starting to fail. Ron346Views0likes0CommentsRe: Alrighty, now I've got a new problem with my network
So you are already ahead of the game you found out that the Windows trouble shooter is useless. This problem and your old problem may be from the same cause. I am not sure if this is your problem but it raises all kinds of havoc when you switch between connections. Try this: open your Network Sharing center Along the left side you will see change adapter settings when you click on it you will see all of your adapters. Right click on the adapter you are trying to use and open the properties dialog. If you see Internet Protocol Version 6 and Version 4 are both selected unselect version 6 and click OK to exit. Repeat this for any other adapters you use. When Windows seven installed the drivers for your adapters it installed both protocols but it can only run one at time. You did not specify phones you were using. Iphones require iTunes on your computer in order for the drivers to load for the hotspot.442Views0likes0CommentsRe: Why does my network adapter have to be reset so often?
I had that problem with Win7. Try opening the Network Sharing Center. Open change adapter settings and then open the properties screen. If you see 2 Internet Protocol Versions selected (IVP4, IVP6) try unselecting the IVP6. You will probably see several different adapters you may want to do this for all. What is likely happening is that initially the system is trying to connect using IVP6 but some piece of equipment is not compliant with that protocol so the connection fails until you run the trouble shooter. This same fix may also work if you are getting the annoying "Windows has detected an IP conflict" message. Ron154Views0likes0CommentsRe: Using an I Phone as a hotspot
When we got our I 5cs the same thing happened. It seems Verizon is reluctant to let everyone have hotspot ability. If both phones are on the same contract you may have to call them and have them enable hotspot on the 2nd phone. I see some one suggested tethering using USB. For a while I lost this ability. I found out that you have to have download Itunes for the drivers. Ron293Views0likes0CommentsRe: WiFi vs USB or blue tooth
In an earlier reply to some posts on this thread I used the word vitriol. A couple of synonyms are disdain and contempt. Subsequently some posters have stated they did not detect any vitriol. Perhaps you missed this post by a senior member, "I do hope you are aware that on its face, this question is like asking which is faster, a car or a speedboat. Since they do not exactly go the same place, relative speed is kinda useless information. In that same vein, the headline of this thread makes as much sense as comparing a fish, a bicycle, and a shingle roof." This quoted post added no useful or edifying information to the thread and by it's wording and tone showed contempt and disdain towards the 2 people it was directed at. That said my only purpose in the initial post was to provide some information that could possibly save some people $20 or more per month who may be needless shelling out to cell phone providers for Wifi devices they do not need. These devices are up to $149 to purchase and free for a 2 year contract. If you are living somewhere this side of the 20th century you probably are paying for the use of a phone that will give you the same connectivity at no additional charge beyond already pay them for data usage. That you can access the internet directly from your phone or use the provided hotspot to connect via USB, Bluetooth, or WiFi. I realize that most of us are not hot targets for hackers. For every organized Russian, Chinese, North Korean, attack on corporations and governments there probably a countless bored teens and preteens who have used there monthly data alotment looking for a way to get back online. Of the six WiFi connections I can see from just my laptop right now 2 have no barriers. I doubt if very many home users have 20 character passwords. As GordonThree and rwbradley have pointed out WiFi is easily intercepted so why take a chance. To paraphrase rwbradley why set your self up to be low hanging fruit if there are other altenatives. Incidentally, according to one internet source an intricate 19 character WAP2 password was hacked in 5 hours.433Views0likes0Comments
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