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towpro Posted on: Dec 6 2017, 03:08 PM





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QUOTE(SidecarFlip @ Dec 28 2016, 05:46 PM)
Where I camp 99% of the time, deadfall is abundant so I burn it.  I keep a section of 55 gallon drum hanging in the woods near my campsite that I use for a fire ring and I cook the majority of our meals on the wood fire anyway, plus a woof fire keeps the bugs at bay....
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keep in mind, campfire smoke also pisses off all your neighbor campers who elect not to have a fire. some times its not that the neighbors don't want to have a fire, there may be health reason. example is my wife, smoke causes allergies to kick in, and when she is miserable, I am miserable.

and we have found bug repellent works better on repelling bugs than wood smoke.
  Forum: Going Green in a Truck Camper · Post Preview: #3110099 · Replies: 9 · Views: 830,669

towpro Posted on: Nov 22 2017, 12:51 PM





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I have a 2015 ram dully and 2016 Arctic Fox 990 and use These brackets
  Forum: General Discussion · Post Preview: #3110053 · Replies: 4 · Views: 14,110

towpro Posted on: May 12 2017, 08:11 AM





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I have actually had pretty good luck with my sensors.
both my campers have black tank flush system but my last pickup camper did not.
flush, flush, flush after each dump. I can run flusher for 15 minutes at times before the black tank gauge will go down.

My 5th wheel manufacturer recommended putting 12 gallons of water in black tank, add one bottle of drano and drive it around, than flush it.

would love to try the SeeLevel gauge set.

as far as your battery gauges, all that system does is check your battery voltage. you have have a bad battery.

  Forum: General Discussion · Post Preview: #3109197 · Replies: 11 · Views: 19,946

towpro Posted on: Apr 19 2017, 01:46 PM





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QUOTE(byron @ Apr 19 2017, 08:30 AM)
Been lurking and enjoying all the great insight for some time now and thought I'd take a moment to say hello, and Thanks...
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were kind of neighbors. I think your up near the statue of liberty on the river? I live down on east end of 340 past paradise and intercourse.
  Forum: General Discussion · Post Preview: #3109037 · Replies: 2 · Views: 8,787

towpro Posted on: Apr 17 2017, 07:40 AM





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Yes truck beds and cabs have changed through the years so older campers might not fit some newer trucks. I think I have heard of this problem with Ford?

anyway, most recommend screwing the required height adjustment framework to the bottom of camper so it comes in and out with the camper. Wish I had some measurements to help you.
Another group of people who have had to do this through the years were trying to accommodate 5th wheel hitch rails that were permanently mounted into bed of truck.
  Forum: General Discussion · Post Preview: #3109023 · Replies: 9 · Views: 18,652

towpro Posted on: Apr 13 2017, 09:23 AM





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QUOTE(emcvay @ Apr 12 2017, 10:46 PM)
Found the water shut off to the hot water tank.

One question: if there is no water in the tank would the heater run anyway?

Also (ok this is two now), will it need a new anode if it hasn't been used in several years?
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I removed picture, but its only 2 posts back.
the water flows the direction of the "wing" or handle on that valve.
you need to fill the hot water heater before turning on the heat. yes it can try to heat while empty, but I don't think its too good to do that. turn on water, than open valve inside to let hot water fill up.
see that over pressure valve on outside of hot water heater? don't open that. when you bleed air out of system by using inside sink, a little bit of air will remain in tank to act as a buffer as the water heats up, the pressure can rise. but you can't compress a liquid so this little bit of air acts like a buffer.
if you were to open this outside valve that last air will come out and it has been known to cause the outside valve to leak at times.


first turn on the gas. start stove to bleed air out of system. turn off stove once you get fire.

looking at your water heater, in that hole you have a 2 small lines, one goes to a probe which is used to tell the gas valve that the pilot light is lit or not, and the little pipe for the pilot lite. than the big tube is your burner tube.

turn knob to pilot, than you may have to press it in, or turn it further than pilot depending how your system works, as you hold lit lighter in hole, between upper and lower tubes shown in picture you should see wind blowing out of the pilot hole. this wind will turn into gas, which will lite. once that upper tube gets hot enough, you will be able to let off the knob so it returns to just pilot position and flame stays lit.

next turn to valve to on, and hot water heater will lite.

now does it blow a lot of black smoke out top? or sound like a whistle? or seam to be burning inside that large tube going into hole? if yes, shut if off and clean the bugs out of that large tube.
  Forum: General Discussion · Post Preview: #3108989 · Replies: 58 · Views: 89,550

towpro Posted on: Apr 10 2017, 10:14 AM





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6V used to be a better deep cycle battery, but in recent years that is becoming less true.
you will find many 12V "Marine Starting batteries" which are not as good deep cycle batteries as 6v golf cart batteries.

6V battery @ 180 Amp hour reserve capacity. If you wire 2 of these in series you will have 12V @ 180 amp hour reserve capacity.

12V battery @ 90 Amp hour reserve capacity. if you wire 2 of these in parallel, you will have 12V @ 180 amp hour reserve capacity.

NOTES:
some RV's may have limited battery space, you may be able to use two 6V batteries to get more reserve capacity for your space.

If you use AGM batteries, they can be laid on there side for space.

Note: I see there are 8V golf cart batteries now. you don't want them.

I have heard the logic:
If one 6V battery fails, you end up with one 6V battery which is useless in a 12V system.
if you have one 12V battery fail, you can disconnect it and run of the other 12V battery.
  Forum: General Discussion · Post Preview: #3108947 · Replies: 15 · Views: 23,120

towpro Posted on: Apr 10 2017, 10:01 AM





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we have a 24" in our Arctic Fox. I have it mounted so it can swing and turn for viewing from from dinette or turn it and view it in bed. Than I can rotate it 1/2 turn and lock it against side of dresser cabinet wall in bed area for moving.

1) I have it wired to the roof antenna with Coax. I will turn this on sometimes (than scan for channels) while stopping for night on road.

2) I also have the Winegard X2 satellite dome. this is the only one that has "eastern arc" that we need up in NE USA with Dish Network. I store it on floor behind cab (rear seat is always folded up), than I have a mount I built where this sits on top of RV roof, help down by bungy cords when in use. I run a piece of coax down latter, under camper to SAT jack on DS.

We live in a TV market where our local sports team is the Phillies. The wife loves baseball. But you can't get the Phillies on Dishnetwork because Comcast does not want Satellite providers to be able to compete against them, so we also have to subscribe to Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia.
Starting this year, Comcast is streaming the phillies games to people who pay for comcast sportsnet over cable. So now with streaming media, we can watch the Phhillies when we are on the Road! (see below)

3) Our TV is a Roku TV, so we can watch streaming media if we can get on a network (but most campgrounds block this). We also have Roku at home so its all on the same account. since we also have Dish network all the stations we want on Roku are free since we already subscribe to them over Dish.
We can use our Cell phones as a wireless access point for the Roku TV, but after 10G they "might" slow down the data.

4) We also have ChromeCast on our Camper TV. this allows us to stream game on phone (unlimited bandwidth account) and "cast" this to the TV.

I can see there will be a request for a 2nd TV for outside use (she loves to sit at beach, outside and watch Phillies at night). So I may but a smaller TV in Generator compartment, using an under counter TV mount that swings down.
I will have to fold up ladder, prop open generator door (no Generator), swing down TV and use the ChromeCast.

Who said camping meant "roughing it"?
  Forum: General Discussion · Post Preview: #3108945 · Replies: 6 · Views: 14,055

towpro Posted on: Feb 19 2017, 09:19 PM





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QUOTE(Dorado @ Feb 19 2017, 10:33 AM)
Dang towpro. That little? I'm still going to hook it up to truck electric, but I'll keep it on auto so that it'll switch between the two. Good to know that the fridge only politely sips propane.
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when its running, look in the burner and you will see its not a very big flame. not much power needed.
  Forum: General Discussion · Post Preview: #3108297 · Replies: 15 · Views: 24,876

towpro Posted on: Feb 18 2017, 08:02 PM





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QUOTE(Dorado @ Feb 18 2017, 12:39 PM)
And there's no point in using up the gas when the truck is already running. I'd rather save the propane, and utilize the truck.


my last truck camper, wolf Creek with 5 cu feet refreg would run on gas all summer, with solar providing the only power.

Last spring I started with 2 full grill size tanks April 1st.
I always watch the change over regulator for it to turn red to tell me its time to fill that tank.
But in July were were leaving for a vacation. I noticed the food was around 70 deg. the change over regulator had switched over, but never turned red so I never caught it, than it ran 2nd bottle empty.

So I went April 1st through July 15th running refreg on propane and used it all up.
I been getting grill tanks filled for $6.00 each out my way, so $12 bucks for 3.5 months is not bad.

PS: i also have a 5th wheel that sits on a spot in a 4 site campground my brother and I own. the electric usage (not including service fees and taxes) in Non AC weather runs around $20.00 per month. this is running the charger and refregerator on 120V. Maybe some electric hot water for 2 weekends every month.

It may be cheaper to run refrigerator on propane than it is electric
  Forum: General Discussion · Post Preview: #3108281 · Replies: 15 · Views: 24,876

towpro Posted on: Feb 17 2017, 04:30 PM





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QUOTE(Dorado @ Feb 12 2017, 05:18 PM)
Just a quick question on my fridge.
I was re-wiring the 7-pin plug on my truck and saw that the power supply wires are 10 or 12 gauge. I got to thinking about the fridge on my camper.
My 1997 Lance 880 came with a Dometic 3-way Refrigerator. Gas, AC, and DC. It'll run off of the truck as well. I know that the power comes through the 7-pin trailer light plug on my truck. The harness coming off of my camper has 8 gauge wires for truck power I was wondering if my truck needs 8 gauge wire as well.
I want to get things right while I have everything torn apart.
Do I need 8 gauge wire for the power supply on my truck or will the 10 or 12 gauge wire be enough?
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I think I read that to run those refrigerators on 12v, its requires around 10a.

a wire size calculator found on internet just showed me that for a 12V 10A load, you need 9agw for a 5% lose in 25'.
figure 6' to come out engine compartment back to under back of cab, than 8' length down bed, than 10' wip to come back to camper = 25'.

I know my factory wires on my Ram might do 4-6 amps depending on how much charge battery has.
I would rather put some charge back in camper batteries from truck than run 12v refrigerator.

I run my refrigerator on propane while underway. Many of us do. But I am not looking to start an argument on the perceived safety issues of running refrigerator on propane while moving.

But this argument does not hold if your using one of those new 12V/120V compressor refrigerators.
l
  Forum: General Discussion · Post Preview: #3108263 · Replies: 15 · Views: 24,876

towpro Posted on: Feb 3 2017, 02:05 PM





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here is an example

user posted image
  Forum: General Discussion · Post Preview: #3108083 · Replies: 20 · Views: 33,063

towpro Posted on: Feb 3 2017, 08:07 AM





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you could also mount any generator you wanted on a front rack. if your worried about security, get a box for the rack. I got my eye on a nice plastic oen from Tractor Supply for $65.00


I can run my 990 Arctic Fox AC off of one Honda 2000. I have not added the solar to the Arctic Fox yet, but on my last Wolf Creek (same AC) I would turn off my battery charger and I could run the honda on ECO and still start my 9K Coleman AC. doing that I would still have to run the satellite system off of a power invertor because at AC startup on Eco, the AC voltage drops enough that the satellite system would reboot. I was not worried about charging batteries with generator because my Solar will take care of that.

I don't think my Honda will fit straight into my generator compartment door (too tall) but its thinner than the yamaha. I recall I have to turn it sort of on its side to get it through door than it stands up once inside the cabinet. But I do not run it inside this cabinet, its only for storage some times. (If I have my enclosed motorcycle trailer behind me, the generator is inside this trailer.

If you knew someone who had a Honda you could always test one to see if it worked. I think they are 2000w start and 1800 continues. you just have to be consensus your on generator and first switch Refreg and Hot water over to gas, then remember you can run the AC OR the microwave, but not both the same time.
  Forum: General Discussion · Post Preview: #3108077 · Replies: 20 · Views: 33,063

towpro Posted on: Jan 23 2017, 08:53 AM





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for everything accept the roof, I would recommend Geocel for RV's for the sides. now the roof depends on what your roof is made from.

rubber roof? dicore.
TPO Vinyl Roof? jury is still out on this one. dicore makes a product, but in small print it says its a 2 part solution and I have never seen the missing part.

  Forum: General Discussion · Post Preview: #3108005 · Replies: 6 · Views: 17,345

towpro Posted on: Jan 12 2017, 07:26 AM





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QUOTE(SidecarFlip @ Jan 11 2017, 07:44 PM)
Could have fooled me on that.  I just posted about that very same false assumption on the Forest River forum.  That is a very false assumption on anyone's part, perpetuated by good PR and nothing more.

The Amish working in any RV plant are no different than their gentile counterparts.  Same attitude, same work ethic.  They may be craftsmen in their mom and pop shops, but in a factory churning out RV's, never.

Quality in the end product distills down to management and their attitude toward profit, production and the employees, Amish or not come in dead last.

You can dwell on that fantasy but it reality it is just that.

I live close enough to Elkhart, Goshen and Colon, Michigan, that I can take an afternoon and drop in and I have, more than once so I can observe attitudes and worker bees in the floor and candidly, I've never seen one Amish wotker being more attentive than their gentile counterpart.

Pretty easy to pick them out, the men have beards and the women wear bonnets.
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I agree 100%
  Forum: General Discussion · Post Preview: #3107905 · Replies: 29 · Views: 63,546

towpro Posted on: Dec 29 2016, 01:17 PM





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QUOTE(SidecarFlip @ Dec 28 2016, 05:49 PM)
RV mattresses in general kind of suck....because there is no box spring underneath.....
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I was removing the mattress in that photo to install an Amazon memory foam mattress.
Than when we bought the Arctic fox this fall they switched the factory Arctic Fox mattress into the Wolf Creak we traded in, and we kept my memory foam. We also have a memory foam at home.

Than this spring my Daughter moved to Fla, she got a new bed so we bought her another Amazon memory foam and she loves it.

  Forum: General Discussion · Post Preview: #3107875 · Replies: 5 · Views: 16,084

towpro Posted on: Dec 29 2016, 01:06 PM





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I have the Honda 2000.

It appears that both Champion and Honda have exact same specs from load to noise, all the way down to how much oil they hold. accept the Champion is 80cc engine and Honda is 100cc.

I do know my Honda will also run my campers Coleman 9200btu AC, even on eco mode.

I also use mine to backup my computerized home heating system during winter outages (and use old 3600 rpm generator to power the reset of the house during outage
  Forum: General Discussion · Post Preview: #3107873 · Replies: 19 · Views: 38,322

towpro Posted on: Dec 13 2016, 08:09 AM





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This Link shows about what this camper should weigh, which is around 2600 loaded.

if you look through This Link you see the mega cab 4x4 with that engine can carry around 3200 lbs max (you will find its the rear tires that make this number low) Looking at the crew cab with short bed, it actually seems to be rated lower as the megacab SRW could come in a higher GVW than the crew cab.
but this link is for 2016 trucks, I don't see numbers for 2017.
if you look in the glove box of new trucks on the dealers lot there should be a paper telling of what truck camper weights are allowed. (if you don't see it, ask to see if).
BUT with dodge, there is an option that triggers a paper to day "not recommenced for truck campers" I think its the snow plow package (which only adds a transfer case skid plate)

also the SRW 3500 don't have the upper helper spring that starts to work as the truck drops (at least not in 2015, last time I looked). but the do offer a rear suspension air system that auto levels the truck. Kind wish I had this but I bought what was on the lot.

next you will probably want to tow something? you sill have 500 lbs left for tong weight, that will tow a smaller boat but not a big box trailer full of ATV's.
  Forum: General Discussion · Post Preview: #3107815 · Replies: 8 · Views: 18,450

towpro Posted on: Dec 2 2016, 02:26 PM





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ratchet tie downs. but if it is a metal spring mattress, it will have a V bent in the center when your done.

user posted image
Larger View
  Forum: General Discussion · Post Preview: #3107783 · Replies: 5 · Views: 16,084

towpro Posted on: Nov 27 2016, 09:02 AM





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as for the mounts and slop, when camper is on the fast guns are pulling the mounts up with 200 lbs of pressure, they don't move than.

Also the pins with spring clips work well. only recommendation I have heard is put the spring around the top of the tube.
  Forum: Support Equipment · Post Preview: #3107755 · Replies: 5 · Views: 37,924

towpro Posted on: Nov 24 2016, 09:20 AM





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even on my 30' 5th wheel I find I have to open the top vent during heating season to let the condensation out.
  Forum: General Discussion · Post Preview: #3107743 · Replies: 2 · Views: 15,383

towpro Posted on: Nov 22 2016, 09:40 AM





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I saw this link on another forum today and thought of this thread.

Truck Vaults
  Forum: General Discussion · Post Preview: #3107727 · Replies: 5 · Views: 20,822

towpro Posted on: Nov 21 2016, 02:35 PM





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I know my Open Range just about any FEC key will open both dead bolt and door lock sad.gif.

I believe my truck is more secure than my camper, so I would put the lock box inside the truck.


  Forum: General Discussion · Post Preview: #3107725 · Replies: 5 · Views: 20,822

towpro Posted on: Nov 3 2016, 10:19 AM





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QUOTE(SidecarFlip @ Nov 2 2016, 08:14 PM)
So long as you don't get it on your hands or clothes.  It won't come off...or out when it dries.
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how to get herculiner off
  Forum: General Discussion · Post Preview: #3107627 · Replies: 10 · Views: 24,694

towpro Posted on: Oct 22 2016, 08:31 AM





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QUOTE(twilliams @ Oct 19 2016, 10:34 AM)
how many amps will a 2000 watt generator put out ? will it be enough to run the air conditioner & frig
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P (power in Watts) = I (current in amps) X E (voltage)

1600(p) = ?(I) x 120(v)

1600(w) devided by 120(v)=13.3(amp)

120V 2000W max. (16.7A) 1600W rated (13.3A)

turn refrigerator onto propane.
make sure hot water heater is on propane.
I have solar so i only run my AC to run the AC when boon docking.
my EU2000 starts my Coleman Polar Cub 9200 BTU AC fine.
I can also run the AC with generator in Eco mode (this is where generator idles down real quiet when there is no load)
  Forum: General Discussion · Post Preview: #3107521 · Replies: 10 · Views: 20,439

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