RV Doctor – My RV Furnace’s Gas Ignition Isn’t Working

Dear Gary, I have an Excalibur 8500-II furnace and the gas ignition has stopped working. The blower works fine but no spark to ignite gas. What could it be? - Mike Watt, (Winnipeg, MB) Answer: Mike, there are a few things that may be causing this, the most likely of which is low voltage, a faulty control board, incomplete ground circuit or loose wiring. Open the furnace access panel on the outside of the coach to gain access to the control board and wiring. Carefully unplug the wiring harness from the control board and visually inspect the plug and board contacts for damage, dirt or corrosion. If the board contacts show any sign of corrosion you can clean them minimally with a regular pencil eraser, completely with a chemical cleaner and protectant. If there is corrosion or dirt on the plug contacts carefully scrape it off with a fine screwdriver, dental pick or similar tool. Be very careful not to bend the connectors in the plug or they won’t make proper contact with the board contact strip. Check for voltage between the red and yellow wires with the furnace turned on. Any voltage lower than 10.5-volts DC will likely cause the system to malfunction. Check the connector wires for damage and loose connections, paying particular attention to the yellow ground wire. Securely re-connect the wiring harness to the control board and test the system again. If it still doesn’t work, I would suspect a board problem. The board can be easily removed and taken to a qualified RV shop... Read more

From Bookdocking to Bugging Out, the SRMR covers it all

by Brian Brawdy I like to think of it as my “Just in Case Place.” Balanced between wanting to boondock or needing to bug out, the SRMR (Self Reliant Mobile Residence) has multiple functions. From the moment I began RVing, I realized the duel purposes of recreating on the one hand and evacuating on the other. There is no better way to bolt to somewhere or from something. Family vacationing emergency vacating, your home away from home can be a perfect base camp, wherever you find yourself. In a few short weeks I will be launching 3 videos here on RV.net highlighting the engineering and building of the SRMR. Read more  Read More →

RV Waste Valve Maintenance, Repair & Replacement

  One topic about our RV seldom discussed in-depth is the RV waste valves. You know what I mean, the valves you open when it’s time to empty the RV holding tanks. We don’t really think about them much, you just hope they work okay when it’s time to use them. Read more  Read More →

Designer saves RVers from global warming

By Bob Difley I feel safer now that a designer has come up with the vehicle that will save us RVers from global warming, a food shortage, escalating fuel prices, peak oil, brownouts from overstressed power suppliers, and expensive campgrounds–not necessarily in that order. Designer Mario Pitsch has introduced a futuristic creation on The Design Blog, the Nomad RV, whose mission is to help us cope with the coming post-apocalyptic world, roaming the earth as nomads bent on survival as our pre-historic ancestors once did–minus the RV, of course. The Nomad RV includes its own system for growing food, captures moisture, mist, and fog to produce water from the air for drinking and other uses, and creates electricity from integrated solar panels. It also includes a greenhouse with algae reactor and will accommodate a family of four. But don’t reach for your American Express card just yet, no manufacturers have stepped forward to produce the design.  However, when it does become available, be sure to have a copy of my eBook on hand, BOONDOCKING: Finding the Perfect Campsite on America’s Public Lands.  Read More →

The economic advantage to the RV Lifestyle

By Bob Difley When it comes to financing our passions, we RVers are among some of the luckiest people on earth. Compare our RV lifestyle with the way most of the rest of the country lives. When you live in a house, you can pretty much predict what your monthly expenses will be. Mortgage, car payments, club dues, gasoline for the commute, food, etc. They don’t change much. But when times get tough–like now and for the past couple years–how do you pare expenses to compensate for a drop in wages, maybe a loss of a job, and falling stock prices slicing away at investments? Now consider the advantages of the RVer. About the only static major expense is the payment on your rig, which if you were lucky enough to start fulltiming, you sold your big house and bought your dream rig for cash. Now when times get tough, you can easily–and instantly–make adjustments to your “out go” to keep finances in check until the inevitable turn around. For instance, look at the following ways to trim your RV Lifestyle expenses. You may find that some are much easier to do than others, and may actually free up some “play” money even when there is no financial crunch to deal with–and maybe even be more enjoyable. Move from pricey full service RV resorts to “back to nature” primitive forest service or BLM campsites for several days a month. Two nights at a forest service campground at $10/night could save $30/night or $240/month. Try... Read more

The “seemingly” endless search for the Ideal DP!

We have had a lot of good comments throughout the course of this series of posts on finding the ideal DP.  I want to take a break from writing my own thoughts and use this column to summarize some of the subjects others have brought up.  I am just going to list the items and some of the various options.  I am not picking anything here, just listing things: 1. hydraulic vs. electric slides 2. three point vs. four point leveling 3. electric vs. hydraulic vs. air leveling 4. single piece vs. split windshield. 5. rubber roof vs. fiberglass 6. king size vs. queen size bed 7. 2 vs. 3 vs 4 vs full wall slide 8. freightliner vs. Spartan chassis 9. solid axle vs. independent front suspension 10. battery charger that charges both battery sets. 11. curbside vs. driver side dinette 12. hinged stove top 13. driver controls, arrangement and what do they include 14. additional fire extinguishers 15. the “captcha code” on this blog 16. duel fuel fillers with 125 gallon tank 17. larger fresh/black/gray tanks 18. convenient water manifold 19. one vs. one and half bath 20. basement entertainment center 21. basement freezer 22. small footprint surround sound/dvd 23. in dash GPS 24. side hinge vs. top hinge vs. pantograph hinge doors 25. typical front door vs. mid entry 26. raised rail chassis 27. get rid of phone plug 28. hydro hot vs. normal water heater/heat 29. automatic awning vs. manual awning 30. top mounted mirrors vs. bottom mounted 31. top mounted vs. bottom mounted windshield wipers 32.... Read more

Navigating Your RV With GPS in the Real World

Another view from Lug_Nut.  So you have GPS navigation in your RV, it should be smooth sailing now.  Well, maybe not quite.  There are issues that can be experienced when using many of the makes and models  with an RV or any larger than a normal size vehicle.  Additionally, there are the odd quirks inherent in many, if not all, GPS makes out there.  We can’t do much about these, but we can better manage the GPS RV application.   The sizes and configuration of some RV’s can make negotiating some roads, turns and geographic conditions, difficult, or  in some cases, impossible.  The GPS programs are basically made for navigational guidance for general use.  Many do not take into account such things as bridge clearance, narrow roads with tight turning radius, grade steepness or other overhead hazards.  The upper photo shows a bus that the bus company says was routed by a GPS through a low clearance overpass. So, how can an RV owner deal better with these challenges?  First, the GPS should be user configured to best meet this unique application.  Configuration usually includes such things as enabling or disabling interstate highways, toll ways, secondary roads, fastest routes, shortest routes, etc.  Generally, choices like “Shortest Route” can lead to less than ideal roadways, at least for larger vehicles.  There are some makes that allow you to select your vehicle type, motorcycle, car, truck or bus.  These are far more adaptable to larger RV types.  ... Read more

RV Cooking Show Goes Greek (Salad) in Tarpon Springs, FL

I absolutely love it when I stumble upon a hidden-gem RV destination…and that’s just what happened to me in Tarpon Springs, FL. Sure, I’d heard about the little Greek town slightly north of Clearwater Beach but it turned out to be so much more than I expected. Of course there’s the sponge docks worthy of an afternoon stroll but there’s also a historic district, great shopping, interesting neighborhoods, and even a couple great beaches. The Greek ‘flavor’ of Tarpon Springs isn’t just for show, either. Explore this small town with us then get ready for a modern twist on a Greek classic…we’re making a Chopped Greek Salad that would make any Tarpon Springs restaurant owner proud. It is not only easy but it’s delicious. And bonus…you’ll also learn how to make a tasty vinaigrette from scratch. Try it and I bet you’ll never go back to bottled! Natural beauty, fresh air, inspiration, culture, good friends, good times, and healthy, local, delicious meals…that’s what RVing and camping is all about. It’s time…see you on the road!  Evanne www.RVCookingShow.com  Read More →

GPS Navigation with Netbooks and Droid

by Chris Guld, www.geeksontour.com We love GPS systems.  Maybe too much!  All of a sudden we have more GPS navigation devices than coffee cups!  And we can’t decide which one we like best.  So, we’re using them all.  We’ve been using Microsoft Streets and Trips on a laptop since the beginning of our travels in 2003.  Actually, the first 2 years it was Mappoint -  S&T’s big brother – but basically the same thing.  See this previous article about that.  A couple years ago, we got a Garmin Nuvi 255 – a dashboard navigation device.  And just a few months ago we bought our Motorola Droid cell phones which includes GPS and a Navigation application for free.     The photo above is what the cab of our Class-C motorhome looks with all three navigation devices.  It’s tough to get a good photograph of this, but hopefully you got the idea.  What you can’t see is that I am usually sitting in the passenger seat with a large print Road Atlas on my lap to keep me grounded in the midst of all these screens. Laptop GPS Jim always plans our travels using Streets and Trips.  Every route we’ve ever plotted is stored on a S&T file somewhere.  It’s so easy to see the entire route (8,174 miles planned for this summer) or zoom in on one spot.  And, with the Points of Interest megafile, we are assured of finding anything we want like a Thousand Trails park, a Walmart, a Flying J, or a hot springs!  One problem with using a GPS system on your laptop is how... Read more

RV Doctor – Why Does The GFCI on My Brand New RV Keep Tripping?

Dear RV Doctor, I have a troubling electrical issue. Last year when I plugged in my brand new RV at the campsite the GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) on the pedestal tripped immediately. The campground had to wire up a standard non-GFCI outlet and then everything work fine. I took the RV into the dealer for service and everything checked out fine. They said that possibly the GFCI in the coach needed to be reset or I had moisture in the plug. Recently I took the RV out of storage and plugged it into my house which had a GFCI in the circuit and it tripped again as soon as I plugged it in. I’m taking it in again for service but I am expecting a similar response that everything works fine when they plug it into their GFCI outlet. Any ideas on what might be the problem? - Jeff Hayes, (Monroe, OH) Answer: Jeff, you clearly have an electrical problem within the alternating current (AC) system on the RV. I would avoid using it until this situation has been resolved. Plus I doubt I’d take it back to that same dealer. At least not until their technicians get some further training. As to the actual problem; the GFCI is tripping because it is detecting an imbalance between the hot and neutral conductors in the unit which usually indicates a leakage to ground on one of the wires. You can easily do some preliminary investigation yourself. Purchase a plug-in circuit tester from your local hardware store. They are inexpensive, reliable and invaluable when checking out AC electrical... Read more

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