ajriding
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Re: Cleaning A/C coils: DIY or hire a pro? (See March 8 update)
Taking the box apart is not at all high tech. No hourly employee is needed, you can re-tape it yourself just as well as an RV guy who hurries thorough it. Duct tape is literally made for AC ducts and sealing off air. Use the shiny metal-looking tape, not the dull gray tape. If you need foam then reuse what you removed or use anything similar. This is one of the least complex systems on your RV, all you are doing is sealing off very very low pressure airflow.1KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Convert RV fridge to residential
Bad idea for boondockiing. Those who install resi fridges tend to drive from outlet to outlet and are always plugged into hookups. This is just not a good solution for an RV. Running an inverter to run a fridge is just not a good use of available battery power. You will be replacing batteries more often due to cycling them regularly. There are electric DC fridges that will run more efficiently and could work for boondocking. Are you not wanting the propane fridge because of high outside/ambient temps? That makes sense as the propane absorption fridges do have limitations and needs at higher outside temps. The best solution is to address the weaknesses of the propane fridge or to install a DC fridge that uses a Danfoss -style compressor. The chest fridges are the most efficient, but there are front opening fridges also. There are also kits to convert a propane fridge to a compressor DC fridge, but this is only for a few select models and requires some know-how and time. My advice is that you will be glad to have spent extra money to do it right than to have dying batteries constantly from trying to run a resi fridge off grid1.1KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Circuit breaker or fuse?
Houses used to use fuses, but now circuit breakers, obviously, you can just reset them when they trip instead of buying a new fuse each time. Breakers also work as an on/off switch. I have one of these in a 100amp and it works just fine, $15 or so, though I havent tested it or made it trip. ebay link to 300 amp breaker ebay 300 amp breaker I actually have 4 total of different amp ratings for my solar and battery and vehicle connections. There are also breakers that will reset themselves after they trip after they cool down, so are kind-of an automatic resetting breaker, kind-of. Of course you will probably never trip a fuse anyway, so not a big deal to have two spare fuses on hand either. * I dont get why you would want to buy an expensive shut-off switch, then put in a fuse when a breaker is bother a switch and a "fuse" in application.980Views0likes0CommentsRe: Where to start with wdh adjustment for new truck?
No, as others said, use your sway control if it makes you feel safer and if you think you might need it. Someone is talking about electronic sway control where the trailer brakes are applied and things happen with the motors and brakes automatically. IDT this is what OP means by sway control. He likely is talking about the little shock absorber on the hitch that helps prevent sway. My point is, do you need sway control? I have never needed it. My trailers are always loaded and weighted correctly and even if I try to make the trailer sway it corrects itself with no input. If you dont need it then you dont need it (not to say having it is not a safety feature). As for tongue weight. Yes, the WDH does transfer weight to the front axle (and or rear axle of a dual axle trailer), but that is not a huge amount of weight. 600 lb tongue weight is not a big deal for a big truck built to carry payload back there. And keep in mind that the WDH is only transferring that weight when the truck is level or the hitch is lower than the wheels of both vehicles, not when the hitch is higher. Some newer trucks can self adjust ride height, using air, and will self adjust when you drop a 600lb tongue weight on it too. That 600 lbs is doing nearly nothing to the front end of a big truck. Do the math and you wonder why you even bothered to use WDH if not for the lack of height adjustment. Dont get me wrong... WDH are great things and a great solution when needed, but are not always necessary.1.6KViews0likes0CommentsRe: 6 VOLT BATTERIES, MINIMUM VOLTAGE
My batteries will usually be below 12 by morning. I used to camp / boondock a lot when I used it for work, but use much less now. Batteries are maybe 8 years old, and still going strong. They are GC batts. The answer is not absolute. There is a balance between using the batteries for your needs, conserving voltage to "save" the batteries, and the fact that you likely will not use them enough to cycle through the life supply of what they can do in a reasonable amount of years. Most RVers will need 20 years to cycle through half of the available cycles a battery can do. I think 20 years the battery will die of other causes than life cycles first. You have to know what your needs are. A full-time RVer who uses a lot of battery power will need to be judicious with his power use, where a weekender can ignore largely what he does.694Views0likes0CommentsRe: Battery On/Off Switch
The answer is, anywhere you want it. Were is going to be convenient to have access to it? Close to the battery of course as you can. Another option is to use a solenoid switch, the old mechanical kind, or a large relay to connect/disconnect. The only advantage of this method is you can put a small switch anywhere in the camper to operate the solenoid switch or relay. The switch will draw a small amount of power, so it will be a drain, but using a relay you can wire it that when you cut the battery OFF that the switch uses no power. This is called NO I think- Normally Open. The other setting on a relay is NC - Normally Closed. It would be the 87a terminal on a typical relay, where when no power goes to the relay the relay conducts the power, and when power is sent to the relay via the switch the relay cuts the battery power off. If you conect to the 87 terminal it is the opposite. So, you can wire it that turning the switch off (using no power) also cuts the battery off. This means that when you have the battery power on the switch will use a tiny amount of power too. You would have to wire the switch directly to the battery so that when the battery is cut off the switch is not dead also. If interested we could walk you through this in more detail. Also, a cheaper route is to use a circuit breaker instead of the big expensive on/off switch. Breakers for DC come in many amp ratings. I use a 100amp breaker for the battery cutoff.465Views0likes0CommentsRe: Cleaning A/C coils: DIY or hire a pro? (See March 8 update)
Do yourself. Just spraying water on it will do the majority of cleaning. It all should be waterproof. Of course, you take the white cover off to do this. The pro AC guys have use a cleaner they spray on the coils, let sit, then spray off, it gets it clean with little need for a brush. Also, spray from the inside out if you can to blow the dirt out, not in. Clear any debris or bugs out. That's about it.398Views0likes0CommentsRe: Where to start with wdh adjustment for new truck?
I have never had a trailer sway after about 5 owned trailers. The only sway I have experienced was towing a truck backwards on a tow dolly above 55mph. Make sure you need it. Sure, it is going to maybe be safer to have sway control, but it is more safe to wear a helmet to drive, so consider priorities here. Did you tell us your trailer and tongue weight? If your truck can adjust for payload automatically through airbags then that eliminates part of the reason to have WDH. If your truck can handle the tongue weight with no issues then that eliminates the other half. I used WDH when needed, but it is so much nicer without it.1.6KViews0likes0CommentsRe: No Power to 7-Way Plug?
Now you are learning RV stuff. congrats. If you really need to charge the camper battery from the truck, then you can use bigger wire, and not go through the thin wires around the fuse box. Make sure that stud #1, that some say is on all the time, is NOT on all the time or if you forget to unplug the trailer from the truck you could run down your truck starting battery. You need the trailer 12 volt power to be connected to the ignition somehow, and not straight to the on-all-the-time battery. Sounds like previous owner did some home-brew electrical kanosh work... but you got it working, so good nuff for now... Other option is a DC to DC charger.1.1KViews0likes0Comments
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