By Russ and Tiña DeMaris
One of the banes of winter RVing is the buildup of humidity in a rig. Cooking, taking showers and running non-vented LP heaters like Blue Flames and catalytic units build up the amount of water vapor in the air. Result? Nasty slickness that can promote mold growth.
To reduce condensation, first reduce the amount of water vapor in your environment. Cooking? The more you cook, the more moisture is released. So keep it down and use the range hood fan. Showering? Crack open the bathroom roof vent to release some of the moisture. Need hot water? When it starts boiling, turn off the burner immediately.
Keeping the air in your RV circulating will also help. If you’re plugged into shore power, a small fan will help and even out the temperature in your rig making it easier to keep warm (huge fans used by orange growers increase the temperature about two degrees, sometimes saving a crop from freezing). If you’re away from shore power, a 12-volt fan kept on low will move the air with little battery power.
Dehumidifiers pull moisture out of the air. Mechanical ones are rated by the amount of pints of water they can remove in a day. A 50-pint unit is plenty big for an RV, but can make noise. You’ll also need to dump the device when it fills.
Other dehumidifiers work without motors and claim they don’t have to be drained. How? Says an advertisement, “Air-Dryr tackles moisture by drawing in cool, damp air through its bottom panel. Once the air is heated to the point that moisture is held in suspension, it’s released through the perforated top surface.” We’ve never tried one of these and perhaps we’re wrong, but it sounds like hocus-pocus. There are several air dryers (including Air-Dryr) available on Amazon, mostly with 4.5 star ratings.
Keeping a couple of windows cracked can help. Many RVers use Maxair Vents, which allow keeping a roof vent open without rain coming in.
Best recipe for killing off condensation? Move to someplace less humid!
As we’ve often written, EternaBond can help you make a repair on just about any kind of RV roof material in a hurry. EternaBond is a micro sealant tape that installs simply. Clean up the area to be repaired, cut off the correct length of the tape, peel off the backing, press the tape down on the repair area and rub the dickens out of it. It works — and it lasts.
Highway rest areas
often end up bounced right off the rod into a heap on the floor. This is not good! Most of us know first hand. Now, fixing our highways so we don’t bounce around so much isn’t easy. But keeping your clothes hanging in your closets is easy as pie!
Since the inverter doubles as a battery charger when tied to shore power or running the generator, a frequent question is this: What happens if the inverter stops working? Happily, you can keep your batteries charged by running your coach engine. Trouble is, if the transfer switch inside the inverter fails, you may no longer have “shore power” to run stuff like your microwave oven or entertainment center. This is because some power outlets may be fed through the inverter, regardless of whether you’re on battery power, on generator, or plugged into an outside source of shore power.
When an engine runs at full throttle, cylinder pressures are naturally at a high level; you can expect a bit of knock then. Towing a rig, particularly when climbing a steep hill, calls for higher cylinder pressures resulting in some ping. But prolonged engine knock can cause damage. Fuel injected gasoline engines automatically adjust for driving and performance conditions, squeezing the most mileage out of whatever gas you’re burning.
Most RV’ers stock up on water bottles or purchase high price filtration systems and let their water worries float away. But should they be putting down their guard? Is that water free of contaminant? The answer is NO!
About that 45 watt ouput: On a clear summer day it translates to about 45 amp-hours of usable power. Knowing how much power you use is the key to determining if it’s adequate. For example, an RVing couple boondocking on the desert in winter says they use the following electrical “stuff”:
Visit any of the popular RVing discussion forums like Mexico Forums and you’ll find that Mexico is still a popular destination for adventurous RVers. If you’re thinking about traveling through Mexico with your RV here are some preliminary steps to ensure a smooth border crossing.
Do you remember when you could jump up into the bed of your pickup with ease. As we age, we find things like jumping-up not as easy as they used to be. So when I saw this tailgate ladder, I had one of those why-didn’t-I-think-of-that moments. It’s such a simple and practical concept, and your back will thank you for it. I’m referring to the Traxion Tailgate Ladder.