Keep odors from your black tank from permeating your campsite by leaving the dump valve closed until you are ready to dump--even when hooked up--and not until the tank is at least half full (a fuller tank will dump more powerfully than a partial tank). Dump your black tank, then your gray tank (which should be kept closed also) so the gray water will wash out your dump hose. Install a venturi sewer vent to suck away odors from the black tank while parked.
Even a slightly corroded battery terminal can shut down the power to your rig, and it usually happens at a critical moment.
Extra diligence at keeping your terminals clean will prevent untold electrical troubleshooting time trying to figure out whether you have a short circuit, blown fuse, or mice-chewed wiring.
Wire brush the connections often and spray on a thorough coating of battery terminal protection spray, which is available from any auto supply store. And when you have a mysterious power outage, check your battery terminals first.
When visiting many of our larger scenic national parks you may find that most wildlife has lost its fear of humans.
This is good for wildlife viewing, but not good when hiking and you run into a bear--especially a mama with cubs.
Don't take chances when hiking. Hike with another person or a group, make enough noise (talking, not singing operatic arias) that they can hear you coming--especially when entering places on the trail where you can't see ahead.
If you do encounter a bear, don't run. Back away slowing, do not make eye contact, drop your daypack if it has food in it (you may lose your pack to a hungry bear, but better that then the alternative), and if it does attack (not likely), fight back aggressively.
When an appliance mysteriously stops working you might save the cost of replacing it by first checking whether it has an inline fuse that may have blown and most often is a simple matter to replace it.
Read the owners manual on where to find it, or check online for troubleshooting help. If you find a blown fuse and replace it and it immediately blows again, you have a short circuit somewhere and you will need an expert to tell you whether it is in the appliance itself or in the circuitry leading to the appliance--which has to be remedied as it indicates a larger wiring problem.
Look up. When was the last time you checked your ceiling for evidence of a water leak?
Look for stains where water has made its way inside. The size of the stain is not indicative of how serious the water leak may be.
And where the stain shows on you ceiling also does not indicate where the leak is coming from, since water can follow paths between your roof and ceiling before making its appearance.
Do a thorough search immediately of your roof, looking for cracks in the sealant around roof-mounted equipment like vents, TV antenna, etc., checking every possible place that water could make its way through.
Then--and don't rush this procedure--thoroughly cut away the old shriveled caulking and clean the area before applying new caulking. A careful check and completion of this maintenance task could save hundreds of dollars if roof rot is not detected before it does great damage.
If you've thought of buying bicycles to enhance your RV lifestyle--and get a little exercise--how to carry them will enter into the planning. Think twice about folding bikes. They tend to get stowed in your RV's outside compartment and get set up only when in a campground.
Consider instead rugged hybrid mountain bikes that you can carry on a rack where they are easy to get to. However, put the rack and bikes on your dinghy--rather than leaving them in the campground or on the back of the motorhome. Then you will have them ready wherever you go and wherever you find a fun trail.
If you are a wandering RVer driving a big rig or towing a large fifth wheel around the country, knowing the top allowable speed is not enough, you also need to know the rules for towing, including overall length, number of vehicles you can tow, and other pertinent rules.
It is not as easy as it sounds, since there are no federal rules that govern such things. Every state has its own set of laws, but fortunately Towing World assembled the information you need to know before you enter a new state with its chart of Towing Laws Listed by State that lists combined towing widths for two vehicles and triple tows, widths and heights allowed, safety chain and breakaway requirements, tow speeds, and much more.
Every RVer that tows should have a printout of this chart or as a bookmark on the computer.
Food particles and other debris that collects in your kitchen sink from food preparation and washing dishes ends up in your gray water tank and can cause odors, can get caught on your gray water tank monitor probes resulting in inaccurate readings, and get stuck in your dump valve preventing it from closing tightly causing leaks.
You can prevent these problems with a stainless steel drain screen, available in hardware stores, that fits into your sink drain. Throw whatever it collects in the trash, before it enters your waste tank.
Rvers, campers, boondockers, hikers, mountain bikers, and whitewater rafters can pat themselves on the back for contributing substantially to the American economy.
In a speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday, Senator Mark Udall (Dem. CO) stated that a 2006 study found that outdoor recreation activities contributed $730 billion annually to the US economy.
“Perhaps even more important – this is an area of our economy that continues to grow,” Udall said. “It has grown by more than 6 percent just in 2011 – and it has outpaced U.S. economic growth more generally.”
The message is for outdoor lovers to continue to do their part in helping the economy to grow: go RVing, do more boondocking, hiking, and canoeing. It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it.
When you have full hookups, leave both the black and gray water valves closed. This allows solids and tissues to start breaking down and liquefying so they will flow better.
When your black tank is about half full, empty it followed by a good flush from your gray tank. The gray water will thoroughly clean out your dump hose.
When you leave the valves open you are likely to have bad odors, create a build-up just below your toilet discharge valve, accumulated waste will collect in your dump hose causing even more odors, and un-flushed matter will collect on the bottom of your holding tank and harden becoming almost impossible to clean out.
Use a board or commercial product (like a Slinky - photo) to lay your hose on that will maintain a slant between your hose outlet and the dump station to create a better gravity flow and no low spots where waste will collect.
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