The Low-Down on Drinking Water Filters

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our E-mail Digest or RSS Feed. We will then send you the stories that are posted each day in an e-mail digest. We use a service called Feedburner for delivery of these emails. You will receive an e-mail from Feedburner after you subscribe and you must click on that email to activate your subscription. Thanks for visiting and enjoy all the information! RV.Net Blog Admin As an RVer, you can come across many different water sources in your travels. Most campgrounds and RV parks take care to ensure their water supply is free of contaminants by pre-filtering the water before it arrives at your RV. Often though, the water doesn’t taste very good either because it was improperly filtered or not filtered at all. Or maybe the chlorine levels are so high to prevent bacterial growth that you think you’re drinking pool water. There are several drinking water filter solutions you can easily modify your RV with to get the best tasting water possible. So here is the low-down on various types of filtration systems available. Read more Tell a Friend Read More →

Get Some Control Over Holding Tank Odors

Holding tank odors can be a real problem, especially if you don’t know how to deal with them. If you are new to the RV scene, this issue is perhaps the most popular complaint (aside from dead batteries!). When purchasing a new RV, part of the delivery process is explaining how to empty and rinse your holding tanks, as well as preventing holding tank odors by using chemicals. But on a particularly hot day, even chemicals can’t stop the odoriferous emanations gagging you out of your RV. It’s the same problem porta-potties have which everyone has probably experienced at one time or another. So what can you do to assist in controlling tank odors? Do the Lil’ Stanker holding tank fan mod. Read more Tell a Friend Read More →

Installing a 3″ dump valve in a blue tote, life made easy.

This blog pretty much goes hand in hand with my last blog titled “Boondocking and Dry Camping Solutions here. A real money saver and effortless dumping! Dry camping has become such a breeze for me with the purchase and use of the macerator pump as I simply pump my tanks into my two blue boy totes. I have a 22 and 15 gallon type giving me a total of 37 gallons I can dump each trip to a dump station. Of course the benefit of this is you never have to hitch up go to a dump station, return and re-setup the trailer, and so easy. My problem was when at the dump station I would have to get up into the bed of the truck and lift the heavy totes up to dump them. With my bad wrist this was becoming a chore. I had decided to invest the money ($250 or more) to buy a 32 gallon tote with the dump valve on it so all I had to do is hook the hose to it, pull the valve and done! Rinsing with the same method this also eliminates you having to tow the totes through a campground to the dump station as well and especially if the dump station was off site and a mile or two away. After speaking to a Rob, owner of Morro Bay RV and Marine he suggested I just put the valves in my 2 totes instead of spending all that money on a new tote. $45 worth of parts and a little time saved me about $200 or more! Some people ask why my totes are in the back of my truck in the first place. Hey to me it’s all about making life on the road as easy as possible. Here’s a pic of my 22 gallon tote before... Read more

RV Security Improvements - Change Those Locks!

Do you know what CH751 means? It’s a number stamped on your RV storage door lock key. And it’s the same number stamped on almost every RV storage door lock key. Go ahead. Take a look right now. From the factory, most RVs use the same key and lock combination for all the external storage doors. This means you can wait until your camping neighbor leaves the campground for the day and then you can go check out his “stuff” with your key. All kidding aside, to improve your RV security, you should change out those locks or have them re-keyed. This goes for your RV entrance doors as well. Read more Tell a Friend Read More →

Making Your Air Conditioner Generator Friendly

Some RV air conditioners have a difficult time starting when using a generator, especially portable generators. There are a number of factors that contribute to hard starting but most often it’s because there is not enough available power to start the compressor quickly. The compressor motor in a typical RV air conditioner system can draw a tremendous amount of current during it’s start-up time. This can be as high as 50 amps for a typical 15,000 BTU A/C on a hot day. All but the largest of RV generators can struggle to provide this kind of power without significant voltage droop. Not having enough voltage and current to start the A/C compressor, the generator goes in to overload and pops it’s circuit breaker. What can be done to help this situation? Modify your RV air conditioner with a hard start boost capacitor. Read more Tell a Friend Read More →

Energy efficient RV cooling!

Here are some Energy efficient A/C cooling and a few hints and things I’ve done in setting my 5’er up for the long hot dog days of summer. Now I may be gone during some of this time, but the 5’er will remain cooler! The rear of my 5’er sat facing the west and the afternoon sun. What I did here is to as Reflectix to the rear windows facing the afternoon sun. Before I put this on I noticed the window itself was pretty hot and it was only in the mid 80’s! Once I put the Reflectix up it made quite a bit of difference! Now the biggie and yep another real big time money saver! Being in the valley or anywhere where it’s over 100 like it got there some days for several days on end. I only had the one Carrier Air V that came with the 5’er. 13,500 BTU A/C was NOT enough for that kind of heat. I knew eventually I’d have to ad another A/C. I did my research as usual and went the unconventional route (as I usually do). Another RV type A/C added over the bedroom would run after cost and install around $900 to $1,0000. After extensive research AND with great apprehension I bought a Amcor KF 9000E portable A/C at Home Depot for just at $300. I had heard these things were noisy and didn’t work well so I figured I could take it back if I had to, but also had read raving reports too. Let me tell you this thing WORKS! It is QUIET! A 9000 BTU A/C that really pumps out the cold air and runs on only 7.9 amps and 830 watts!. Roof top A/C’s usually run around 1800 watts! The drawback... Read more

Interesting new product

Anytime I travel in the motorhome I take an LCD projector with me.  I do this for several reasons.  First, I use the projector in my work to give seminars on electrical safety.  Second, I use the projector for viewing my photos.  Third I like to project movies on the side of my motorhome for friends and family to enjoy, and finally, once a year the group I camp with gets together to watch the Ohio State Buckeyes play the Penn State Nittany Lions and we use the projector to view the football game on a large screen. I recently became aware of a new product on the market that attracted my interest.  The Benq Joybee GP1 Mini Projector.  On the surface this is a very clever tool, weighing in at 1.4 lbs. and fitting in the palm of your hand. Read more Tell a Friend Read More →

Awesome Tech Tip

“Awesome” Tech Tip An excerpt for my RV Tech Tip book I thought I’d drop another tech tip here for those unaware of it. I use “Awesome” a product you can get in most dollar stores and have used it for years. One thing it is really good for is the trim around your windows, seams and other stuff of trailers or motor homes that always seems to yellow out due to the UV rays. It removes that yellow and turns the trim white once again as well as cleans the sealants like the silicone etc. In the years I’ve used it I’ve seen no degeneration of the silicone sealant. I always wash the trim well and immediately apply 303 or Protect All due to their UV protection values. The UV rays are what turn the trim yellow to begin with. The side of my rig that faces the sun is always the worse and the side that doesn’t gets very little yellowing. It doesn’t take a lot of effort really and the result is worth it. My 5’er looks almost like it did the day it rolled off the dealer’s lot. Here’s a pic of before and after to give you an idea how well the Awesome works. Not the best pic, but it lives up to its name. The lighting was bad, but the part that was yellow was pretty bad and you can see where it was returned to it’s original white condition and look. For only $1 and a little time you can’t go wrong. I usually do this once a year depending on conditions. I apply the UV protection however a few times a year as needed. It also keep the trim from... Read more

Awning Choices On Today’s RV’s

Recreational vehicles transport all our needs to provide both comfort and convenience to any chosen destination.  This even includes items to adjust to the environment.  Things like site leveling and shade.  Leveling jacks make what was a sloped surface, livable and level.   Shade offered by patio awnings can provide a cooler spot to eat, play or just relax.  Today we will look at what’s available in awning choices for trailers, 5th wheels and motor homes.  There are three general awning applications: door, window, and patio.  The latter is the largest and by far the most popular.  Yes, the patio awning is found on nearly every trailer and motorized recreational vehicle we see. The patio awning, however, is found in two installation configurations; either fastened to the main body or attached to a slide or pop out.  The type that is fixed to the main body is usually larger than that of a slide attached unit.  This, in part, is due to it not being restricted to the size of the slide.  Additionally, the main body installed types have more support than a slide mounted unit therefore can withstand more wind pressure.  Both, however have trade-offs.  Many of the main body installed awnings don’t work real well with slide equipped vehicles that have a slide directly under the awning.  This not only reduces the shade provided but also may cause wear on the awning canvas where it touches the slide top.  The slide mounted awnings are smaller and may be constructed... Read more

On the map… Wrap it!

Click Here For Velcro Wrap info I have found the 3/4″ the best suited for most stuff. Also great for your water hoses and things like that as well. Tony (aka Firedude) Tell a Friend Read More →

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