The all encompassing RV thread

[Pato del Muerto 52507]

YouTube thinks the sail switch or thermocouple are the likely culprits preventing ignition. Gonna try to buy those on the way back out and attempt a field repair. 

[davidg 4038]

Good propane/regulator/tank auto-switch?  Stove gas burner work?  Is the DC power to igniter /gas solenoid OK?   Can you hear it clicking?

[Pato del Muerto 52507]

Fridge and stove are good. Supply should not be the problem. No clicking, it doesn’t even try. Which makes me think it’s the airflow or temp sensors inhibiting it. Batteries are good and reading 12V.  Guess I should grab the multimeter too. 

[Pato del Muerto 52507]

Apparently we are taking every kitchen utensil with us for a 48 hour trip in which I’d be happy to not cook a single thing. 

[Texaus 377]

Mud flaps, you need some. Damn

[Kilgorehorn 308]

2 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Incidentally, anyone have an idea of the problem when the furnace does not spark? Fan comes on but it never tries to light the propane

When I had that problem in my motorhome it was a bad circuit board.

 

[ShaggyBevo RIP 3868]

1 hour ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Apparently we are taking every kitchen utensil with us for a 48 hour trip in which I’d be happy to not cook a single thing. 

48 hours? That is when you cook double batches of a few things in the 10 days before the trip, freeze them, and just reheat for meals.

Edited June 26, 2020 by ShaggyBevo RIP

[troph 24810]

1 hour ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Apparently we are taking every kitchen utensil with us for a 48 hour trip in which I’d be happy to not cook a single thing. 

had sex. don't care.  <-- that should be your answer.  you have work to do.

[Fuck Tim Beck 3820]

50 minutes ago, Texaus said:

Mud flaps, you need some. Damn

I said the same thing to South Austin's mom last night. 

[troph 24810]

[mention]Pato del Muerto [/mention] we need a furnace repair, kitchen utensil, and recreational activities report soon...

[Pato del Muerto 52507]

On 6/26/2020 at 12:25 PM, Texaus said:

Mud flaps, you need some. Damn

Truck has them. Don’t really want those large rock catching skirts that are out there. 12 miles of dirt road after a rainstorm will do that. 

[Pato del Muerto 52507]

7 hours ago, troph said:

[mention]Pato del Muerto [/mention] we need a furnace repair, kitchen utensil, and recreational activities report soon...

Furnace:  rv repair place was closed when I stopped bu, likely because it was lunch hour. So no repairs yet. 
kitchen:  I grilled hot dogs and burgers so most of it was useless.  Corkscrew did get use though. 
activities...all boxes checked. 
Here’s a couple more pics. The mrs has more, as does my new friend that works for cough/yeezy/cough. The ranch pic is just because it reminds me of the Dutton Ranch from Yellowstone. 

[troph 24810]

Good times, those hammocks need folks in them, that’s one thing we didn’t take but not for a lack of trying no one had any a month plus ago. 
 

can you imagine landing and lacking a corkscrew the panic, always manage to push the cork in but that moment when you realize you really have to work for it, such a shitty feeling. 

[Pato del Muerto 52507]

18 minutes ago, troph said:

Good times, those hammocks need folks in them, that’s one thing we didn’t take but not for a lack of trying no one had any a month plus ago. 
 

can you imagine landing and lacking a corkscrew the panic, always manage to push the cork in but that moment when you realize you really have to work for it, such a shitty feeling. 

Watch a YouTube vid on using a shoe and fluid dynamics to push a cork out. And there’s always breaking the bottle at the neck.  

[davidg 4038]

Any long screw, ideally a 3” drywall and visegrips.  

[conVINCEd 21469]

Do you people not carry a saber?

[utee94 15825]

2 hours ago, conVINCEd said:

Do you people not carry a saber?

No shit, that's pretty much RV 101.

We'll be in Garner for a couple weeks starting next week, I'll post some RV/campsite pics if I'm not too drunk to...

 

Edited June 29, 2020 by utee94

[capnamerca 571]

9 hours ago, utee94 said:

No shit, that's pretty much RV 101.

We'll be in Garner for a couple weeks starting next week, I'll post some RV/campsite pics if I'm not too drunk to...

 

Kids and I headed to Choke Canyon third week in July - renting a 25' rig to get us away for a few days. Fishing, hiking, fires, and late bedtimes. Wife is staying home (work) but the in laws are joining us.

Whole family is going to Red River in August to get out of the heat. Renting about a 34' rig (and borrowing a buddy's F-250 to pull it), really looking forward to small mountain town stuff.

[troph 24810]

Any long screw, ideally a 3” drywall and visegrips.  

That’s a good idea. I’ve got a box of long screws in my power drill bag for some reason.

Speaking of items to take - given wulaw’s experience we are taking an assortment of screws and an ez-out drill bit set.

[Pato del Muerto 52507]

Sail switch was dirty. Furnace working properly now. 

[troph 24810]

like a boss.

[troph 24810]

August 1-15 (+/-), we are thinking national forest dispersed camping in the San Juan National Forest. Telluride and Silverton the main day trips for towns but we will try and hit up Ouray too. All first NF sites are first come first serve. So we have some hipcamp private campsites in our back pocket. US 550 appears to be our primary road up and down. Still looking for the best route to telluride and considering stops for dispersed camping. Hoping to hit up the mining history in Silverton and maybe a day trip to the Cliff Dwellings near Mesa Verde NP but that looks like a long ass drive from Silverton. Located Sultan Campgrounds in the SJNF as one spot still looking for others. Water for fishing is always needed.

 

Input welcome and appreciated.

[ShaggyBevo RIP 3868]

We didn’t talk mountain passes when recommending this area.

 

How are you with towing up and down tough for an RV mountain passes? Might consider keeping the trailer in the Durango area and exploring the rest by truck.

[troph 24810]

Unnecessary towing not desired but we can do it, our tundra is bitching good at it.

[Chewbacca 7780]

August 1-15 (+/-), we are thinking national forest dispersed camping in the San Juan National Forest. Telluride and Silverton the main day trips for towns but we will try and hit up Ouray too. All first NF sites are first come first serve. So we have some hipcamp private campsites in our back pocket. US 550 appears to be our primary road up and down. Still looking for the best route to telluride and considering stops for dispersed camping. Hoping to hit up the mining history in Silverton and maybe a day trip to the Cliff Dwellings near Mesa Verde NP but that looks like a long ass drive from Silverton. Located Sultan Campgrounds in the SJNF as one spot still looking for others. Water for fishing is always needed.
 
Input welcome and appreciated.

There's only one way in and out of Telluride.

[Updawg 2266]

If you want a day trip to Mesa verde I’d stay around Durango/purgatory. Could also do the train to silverton (take the bus back, one way on the train is plenty)

Then move on to telluride. The bus will give you an idea of the road you will be towing through

[troph 24810]

There's only one way in and out of Telluride.

Yeah looking at the map a couple of times I thought that can’t be true.

[Chewbacca 7780]

Yeah looking at the map a couple of times I thought that can’t be true.

You'll understand when you see it. Might be my favorite mountain town.

[ShaggyBevo RIP 3868]

Yeah looking at the map a couple of times I thought that can’t be true.

It is in a bowl. I spent ~10 summers in Pagosa/Durango/Silverton/Ouray as a kid in the 80s and have never been to Telluride. There is a reason it isn’t lumped in with Aspen and Vail, etc.

[Pato del Muerto 52507]

Plugged in to a 30 A outlet at a site this week and immediately tripped the breaker, so apparently I have a short somewhere. Not sure if I can chase that down myself. 

[davidg 4038]

1 hour ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Plugged in to a 30 A outlet at a site this week and immediately tripped the breaker, so apparently I have a short somewhere. Not sure if I can chase that down myself. 

So what happened after the breaker (I'm assuming on the site power pedestal) tripped?  Did you ever get it working again? Go without power for the weekend?   Did you try power at another site?  It could be an old, weak breaker on the pole.

One way to initially troubleshoot without a voltmeter is to manually trip all the breakers in the trailer and see if the pedestal breaker stays live after plugging in the trailer.  If not, you have an issue between the trailer breaker panel and the pedestal in your shore power cable and connections.  If it still stays live, turn on one trailer breaker at a time in the trailer until you find the branch circuit that has issues.  This isn't the best way to troubleshoot but without a meter its about the only way to figure out what is wrong.

 

 

 

[troph 24810]

that's what we did when we had trouble boon docking last trip.  our generators kept tripping, we thought it something in the trailer, ended up being a faulty generator we think because all systems go on 50amp (we since replaced both generators via a warranty claim).  but to manage in the field, we went without the GFCI circuit, microwave and AC.  that's a ton of the electrical for sure but with one generator to limp along we had to find what we could and couldn't power.  maybe a different issue for you, but we did isolate in a way david is saying and it limped until we could get to full power.  probably an irrelevant story, I just want to add something about our trials and tribs with power.    

[Pato del Muerto 52507]

4 hours ago, davidg said:

So what happened after the breaker (I'm assuming on the site power pedestal) tripped?  Did you ever get it working again? Go without power for the weekend?   Did you try power at another site?  It could be an old, weak breaker on the pole.

One way to initially troubleshoot without a voltmeter is to manually trip all the breakers in the trailer and see if the pedestal breaker stays live after plugging in the trailer.  If not, you have an issue between the trailer breaker panel and the pedestal in your shore power cable and connections.  If it still stays live, turn on one trailer breaker at a time in the trailer until you find the branch circuit that has issues.  This isn't the best way to troubleshoot but without a meter its about the only way to figure out what is wrong.

 

 

 

First night it worked with just the water heater breaker off. Then it tripped again and won’t stay on with any of them (there’s 5) on.  
 

***posting from here on a day trip to GTNP, lunch break***

[Pato del Muerto 52507]

I’m back at the camper. I grabbed the 30-20 adapter and plugged it into the 20A outlet. Things are working as intended as long as I don’t turn the water heater or a/c on. 
this is the first and only 30 I’ve used and I don’t have one at home.  Maybe it is the tower?

maybe as I’m leaving tomorrow I’ll find an empty spot and plug in real quick and see what happens. 

[davidg 4038]

16 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

I’m back at the camper. I grabbed the 30-20 adapter and plugged it into the 20A outlet. Things are working as intended as long as I don’t turn the water heater or a/c on. 
this is the first and only 30 I’ve used and I don’t have one at home.  Maybe it is the tower?

maybe as I’m leaving tomorrow I’ll find an empty spot and plug in real quick and see what happens. 

Is your onboard battery charging?  A lot of your trailer systems take 12VDC even when running on propane.  Don’t want to run down the battery and lose refrigeration or ability to run electric jacks if you have them

[Pato del Muerto 52507]

12 minutes ago, davidg said:

Is your onboard battery charging?  A lot of your trailer systems take 12VDC even when running on propane.  Don’t want to run down the battery and lose refrigeration or ability to run electric jacks if you have them

Fridge doesn’t run on dc, and is not giving a fault now on electric mode. So there’s ac power flowing. Ac outlets are working 

[davidg 4038]

23 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Fridge doesn’t run on dc, and is not giving a fault now on electric mode. So there’s ac power flowing. Ac outlets are working 

Even if your fridge is only a 2 way power ( runs on either AC or propane) it might take battery power to run a controller or relay.  A lot of the fridges, when running on propane, Need dc power for control via a charged up battery.  Furnace blower is the same way when running on propane.

[Pato del Muerto 52507]

I don’t have it on 2 way auto, it’s ac or nothing. It was on propane and dc most of today. I changed it when I plugged in the 20 A. 

[Pato del Muerto 52507]

Update update:  on my way out of camp, I pulled into another electrified spot and plugged in to the 30. No trip. Turned on water heater, no trip. 
So just bad luck with a bad tower?

[davidg 4038]

1 hour ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Update update:  on my way out of camp, I pulled into another electrified spot and plugged in to the 30. No trip. Turned on water heater, no trip. 
So just bad luck with a bad tower?

Probably a weak breaker.  It happens.  Do you have a surge protector or energy management system that plugs between the pedestal and your shore power cable?  Some of them have diagnostics that can tell you if the pedestal is having issues.

[Pato del Muerto 52507]

19 minutes ago, davidg said:

Probably a weak breaker.  It happens.  Do you have a surge protector or energy management system that plugs between the pedestal and your shore power cable?  Some of them have diagnostics that can tell you if the pedestal is having issues.

Nope. Will shop for one now, along with a 30 to 50 bone. 

[troph 24810]

we had that happen at that overnight city park in Dumas (great *free* spot to hook up and sleep for the night on the way to CO), power was jacked up, breakers flipping.  bad power supply.

Edited July 9, 2020 by troph

[ChickenSandwich 9841]

On 6/6/2020 at 1:16 PM, ChickenSandwich said:

Buddy just picked up this one a few months back. Was just a year or so old but owner was upgrading to full size bus/motor home. Said he basically payed half price because the depreciation off the lot is massive. We used it during our Fantasy football draft. Got to say it is pretty damn nice.  He has rented it a few times and said it went great.  So far so good 
 

 

This one coming to market soon. Buddy’s wife finally decided was like a prison with three little ones. Now shifting to a boat. Will post add when listed in about a month. 

[troph 24810]

Hopefully he won’t take too much of a bath on it.

[davidg 4038]

This one coming to market soon. Buddy’s wife finally decided was like a prison with three little ones. Now shifting to a boat. Will post add when listed in about a month. 

Shoulda bought a sex tent and everything would be fine.

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

28 minutes ago, davidg said:

 

Shoulda bought a sex tent and everything would be fine.

 

Your think they'd be standard equipment these days. 

[ChickenSandwich 9841]

Also, been shit and pissed in when driven to California by local celebrity. Truly a collectors item. 

Edited July 10, 2020 by ChickenSandwich

[troph 24810]

Also, been shit and pissed in when driven to California by local celebrity. Truly a collectors item. 

At first I figured “not in the toilet” because entitled people so shitty things - then I thought no that’s not what he meant - then I thought celebs do shitty things so maybe.

[ChickenSandwich 9841]

Kids. Driving straight to CA and back. No black water drain. No clean (skittles). But not issue. Negotiated and paid for. Shout out to Outdoorsy

[ChickenSandwich 9841]

Shit and piss was a joke. They were exemplary guests I’m told.