Extended-Stay Maintenance Checks

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 AdminNormally when you plan a trip in your RV you conduct some type of pre-trip checks to make sure the RV is properly prepared for travel. When it’s time to leave the campground you perform these checks again for the return trip. But what happens when you find that perfect campground or RV Park and stay put for extended periods of time? Do you conduct routine maintenance checks on the RV to make sure it is in a safe and operable condition while it’s parked? Most likely you do, but if not here are some extended-stay maintenance checks to consider performing. Read more Tell a Friend Read More →

Rear Radiators Vrs. Side Mount

Class “A” coaches are available with many options, but there are some things that can’t be changed. Depending on the make and model, you may get a rear mounted radiator or a side mounted unit.  So, what is the difference? Well, if you think one is better than the other, you might be wrong. Even though all high end coaches have side radiators and most of the entry level diesel pushers have rear, not cost, but specific design issues, may be the real reason.   While there is no question that side mounted radiator systems cost more to build, we have to look at why they would be designed and used on larger engine equipped units.  That is, on all diesel pusher engines in excess of 360 horse power. These radiators consist of two main cooling sections, the charge air inter-cooler and the engine coolant. The charge air section has large internal tubing that cools the already boosted air pressure between the turbo charger and the intake manifold.  The engine coolant section works similar to that of your automobile, that is, it keeps the coolant at a reasonable operating temperature.  The larger the engine, the larger the radiator size has to be. Ideally the radiator works, design wise, best if it is mounted in the rear, directly behind the engine.  This design requires less horse power to drive the cooling fan than does a side mounted cooling package.  Additionally, some natural air movement, due to its location, is also a benefit.  As far as blocking access... Read more

Nitrogen Filled Tires. Is It Worth The Bother & Cost?

One of the topics that come up often in the RV community is the use of dry nitrogen in tires. That is, using compressed dry nitrogen instead of regular air.  Is there an advantage to this that warrants the cost?  I think first we have to understand why, and if, nitrogen works better than normal compressed air in an RV tire application. Normal dry air contains mainly nitrogen to begin with, in fact about 78% by volume.  The balance is around 21% oxygen and 1% argon and mixed miscellaneous gases.  Moisture, however, is usually present in this air after it has been compressed.  For that purpose, air compressors generally employ a dryer in order to reduce this.  But, in normal service station tire fill-ups, you can expect an additional product, vapor or humidity, 1 to 5%.  The later being the worst case scenario. Though we can not see them, the air is made up of molecules.  Nitrogen molecules are much larger than those of oxygen.  This, in its self, serves as a benefit when used to inflate a tire.  More on this later. Over 99% of tires in use today are tubeless. Tubeless tires expose the rim to the gases that support the tire.  Over time these gases and vapor can oxidize or rust the rim surfaces.  While such internal damage is slight given the wheel’s life span, it can produce micro metallic pieces or dust.  There is a remote possibility that this debris may eventually end up in the tire valve seat.  This could occur when air is being expelled such... Read more

The RV Trivia Challenge!

  It’s time for the Lug_Nut RV Trivia Challenge.  Are you an RV Guru,  a fairly well informed RV enthusiast, or are you an “RV For Dummies” candidate?  Check it out and let’s hear how you score. Alright, if you are up to the challenge, let’s see how you do. Read more Tell a Friend Read More →

Run Flat Tire Safety For RV’s

Last week, we looked at the added safety tire monitors can provide.  This week, we will look at another product that may add even more safety to your coach travel. Run-Flat tires were introduced to the automotive industry some years ago and were a great enhancement in tire safety, as well as the convenience .  Unfortunately they could not be designed to handle large tires, like those found on trucks and motor coaches.  However, there is a product and design that has been around for some time that may offer a similar run-flat experience.  It is a steel band that installs in two halves, over the recessed well that every wheel rim has on its inside circumference.  This recessed well is required on a wheel rim to facilitate the installing or removal of a tire.  It allows the inner circumference of the tire to be able to pass over the slightly larger rim diameter. So how is covering the recessed well going to help?  First we have to understand that if the recessed well was made to allow the tire to be removed or installed, what’s going to happen in a blowout scenario.  Once the tire becomes flat, the bead, or the inner edge of the tire, pulls away from the rim and moves inward.  A portion of this will find its way to the recessed well of the rim.  Once in the well, the tires diameter exceeds the diameter of the wheel and starts flogging in an eccentric motion.  The tire, now in a spinning elongated shape, makes contact with the fender liner and coach body.  The... Read more

Answering the Mail, More on Battery Charging and Stuff

Well I have been negligent in writing my blogs, but the great adventure is really keeping us busy. We left New Hampshire the third week of October after installing solar, a big battery bank, and a Magnum 3000 inverter/charger/converter. Since then we have driven across the middle of the country covering parts of the Old Lincoln Highway swinging northwest at Salt Lake City into Seattle. We spent time there getting to know a new grand baby before heading south along the coast to San Diego. We spent time there with family and headed into the desert of Arizona where we are currently. Yes we experienced Quartzsite and the Yuma Territorial Prison and long term boondocking. And yes solar works regardless of what the doom and gloomers say. While our limited solar array (170 watts) does not fully support our life style, which I will be the first to admit we are not energy efficient, it cuts generator time by at least 50%, and that is significant. Before next years trip I will add one more panel and rig them so that they can be tilted catching more sun. But there are a couple of comments and e mails that I would like to address. Question Don T. wrote: I have my 5th wheel setting at home, not being used, plugged into 50amp/convert to30amp land line………question is, am I hurting or helping my battery situation as I’ll be parked until June. I’d appreciate any comments for this Dumbo…….Thanks Answer The answer is that generally keeping the battery fully... Read more

Getting The Most Out Of Your RV

Today, with RV’s costing so much money, both in the capital and operating costs, one has to get the most out of the equipment and features of their purchase.  So, how can an owner get the most out of the equipment and features from their current, or future, RV? The answer is pretty basic really: know how to operate and service each item that makes up the rig.  Surprisingly, or perhaps not, a large number of RV owners either do not thoroughly read the manuals, or do not retain much they are told or read.  Time and time again we hear or read of people asking elementary questions, like, “How do I get the chrome wheel cover off the wheel on my motor home?”  Also, one can not assume that a component on a new coach or trailer that appears similar to that of their last rig is, in fact, the same.   Perhaps many believe they already know how each component operates or maybe they don’t read the manuals as they are waiting for the movie to come out.        Knowing how to operate and carry out simple servicing and care of each component is a necessity to get the full value and maintain each in top condition.  To fully understand this requires the reading of each section of the manual, including those that seem most familiar, like the television set operation manual.   This one I can relate to first hand.  Back in October I purchased a digital TV converter for my rig, which is an ‘07, built in ‘06.  Dah!  It didn’t need one as... Read more

Is There Quality In Today’s RV’s?

It seems that we see more and more reported quality control issues from RV owners today. Is the quality of today’s motor homes and trailers really that bad when compared to earlier years?  To understand that, we need to look more closely at what the common problems are and determine why they are happening. Read more Tell a Friend Read More →

The Simple Facts Of Battery Charging-101

I have seen more than one thread in the forums recently concerning the charging of batteries. One question, “can the vehicles alternator fully charge a battery”? Another concerning the best type of charger/converter for battery charging and concerning the cycling of batteries and the effect on battery life. Read more Tell a Friend Read More →

There Is Little Mystery About Battery Isolation!

Isolation Is Not Gilligan’s Island. Battery isolation simply means keeping the batteries in your RV separate to operate different things while being able to charge them from a single source. Sounds complicated but it is really a simple task that can be accomplished by a battery isolator or a series of relays or a combination. The battery isolator used in most RV’s today is a simple device that uses the principle of the silicon rectifier diode. A diode is simply an electronic gadget that will let electricity flow in one direction but not in the other. It is like a one way valve in a hydraulic circuit. Way back in the time machine a guy names Walter Schottky, a drinking buddy of Al Einstein and equally as bright, discovered that when a direct voltage current was applied to one side of a wafer of silicon and a load (like a light bulb) attached to the other side, the light would like when the current was traveling in one direction but not the other. And so was born the silicon diode and the dawn of the electronic age. From the diode came transistors and a raft of other electronic goodies that we all take for granted today. The battery isolator is simply put a device that uses several diodes to control the flow of electrical current. The simple isolator that we use in RV’s is an arrangement of diodes that lets the center terminal be connected to the alternator of the engine and the engine or chassis battery connected to one side, and the house or coach battery pack connected... Read more

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