Indianrock
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Joined 12 years ago
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99 Dutchmen with DuoTherm clicking
I know this has been discussed -- lots of clicking up in the AC unit as the furnace cycles on and off. As far as I can see with a non-digital setup like this '99 model there is no way to set it to drop a few degrees below the target temp before turning on and and running until a few degrees above the desired temp. If its normal I'll live with it, but just want to make sure it isn't a relay getting ready to fail. We're living in this Fifth Wheel until our house is finished in December -- NW Washington -- so prefer to head off problems in advance, especially heating.358Views0likes0CommentsRe: Winterizing: insulating the grey/black tanks
Great suggestions, thanks! TWe have a 120 gallon propane tank hooked up so won't be skimping on the propane consumption. This is a '99 Dutchmen 30RL. One thing I need to change soon is to route the sewer hose into the septic tank and leave it there. I was going to hook that up once a week as needed to dump, but the county probably would prefer it be "permanently" hooked up until we move into the house. This would allow us to drain the gray tanks all the time. Its usually not recommended to let the black tank drain constantly, although I do have one of those flush elbows where I can hook up a water hose to flush the black tank from outside. I do plan to buy enough aluminum foil, heat tape and "tube" insulation to completely wrap my water hose -- it is a hose to a faucet, not pvc line. I think I'd like to find some 3 or four inch pvc to run most of the way to the septic clean out which is about 50 feet downhill from the trailer. So I'll be looking at home depot etc for an elbow that will screw into the septic cleanout. We're not using the onboard water tank at all.248Views0likes0CommentsWinterizing: insulating the grey/black tanks
Looks like we'll be in our Dutchmen 30RL through December up here in NW Washington ( waiting for our house to be completed ). I wound up with about 30 bales of hay leftover and I'm wondering if I could pack that up under the trailer around the tanks and pipes, but away from the furnace and water heater? I'm assuming the furnace heat ducts don't make anything below the trailer all that warm. Average December temperature here is about freezing but over the past ten years there have been occurrences of 10 degrees above zero Fahrenheit.1.6KViews0likes8CommentsRe: Need more stability
Thanks for all of the ideas. Since this RV will be sold after our house is finished around November, I'm not going to invest a lot in it. I moved the "slide out" screw jacks over under the frame just in front of the wheels and it seems to help. The consensus seems to be that putting stabilizers under slide-outs is risky.520Views0likes0CommentsRe: Need more stability
Very nice, except I'm a database administrator. Afraid I don't have those skills. :) jevanb wrote: I built my own JT strong arms, cost about 13 dollars total and boy are they nice, No more movement and I also use a king pin stab now I need to fab up some stabilizers for the rears521Views0likes0CommentsRe: Need more stability
thanks. What did you do for skirting? We might get some days in the high teens or low 20s here in Bellingham, WA this winter and the house probably won't be ready for us to move in until December. Since this rig is going to be sold after that I don't want to invest in those snap on skirts, etc. JIMNLIN wrote: We lived in our 32' 5th wheel with a 13' slide for one winter while our house was built. I cut up several RR ties into 3' long pieces along with concrete blocks at the four corners for a rock solid unit. I also used mobile home skirting to help keep the cold out. I would never use a jack under a slide out. In fact my current 5er mfg says not too. Screw jacks/scissor jacks did nothing for eliminating side to side movement. The best they did was eliminating tire/suspension bounce. If your not going to set up permanently (blocked unit) then IMO a system like the JTs works best.520Views0likes0CommentsRepair fresh water inlet fixture
Someone has probably had to fix this in the past. The screws for this fixture aren't really long enough and eventually won't hold in the wood behind the wall. I was thinking about a round piece of plywood with a hole in the middle for the water line ( as a backing plate), then use longer screws. Or bolts and nuts.900Views0likes5CommentsRe: Need more stability
Lots of good ideas. Thanks. I have these stromberg stabilizers under the large slideout on the left rear side, but they sort of "fight" with the on-board stabilizers at the two rear corners -- crank one too tight and it takes the load off the others. I know you don't want to push up very much on a slide, and the concern is that someone might lower that side of the trailer with them in place and damage things. The argument in favor of supporting slides has to do with longer term occupancy and slides not being designed for that. I wonder if those strombergs could work against the frame near the axles. stromberg slide out stabilizers I have the Walmart version of the BAL X chocks on one side of the trailer, but would be willing to invest in a pair of the balx if you all really think the movement is the wheels moving forward and back due to low-tech chocks. Everyone seems to agree the king pin thing isn't worth it.172Views0likes0CommentsNeed more stability
We're in a Dutchmen 30 ft Fifth Wheel for several more months while our house is being built. I've done what I can with the stabilizers at the two rear corners and added jacks under the main slideout, but there is still a bit more movement when we move around than I'd like. I've considered the king pin tripod stabilizers but might test with a 4x4 wood post first to see if it really helps. The four tires are probably not at specification on tire pressure by this time, but don't look especially low. Hard to know if more or less tire pressure actually affects stability, but then there is the effect on the tire of being under load but at lower pressure ( this RV doesn't move much, will be in this park, then our our lot for a few months, then sold ).6.4KViews0likes24Comments
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