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One-of-a-kind motorhome on display in Polson, Montana

Chuck Woodbury
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One-of-a-kind motorhome on display in Polson, Montana
mo-home-1-736You won’t see another motorhome like this one, which I found at the wonderful Miracle of America Museum in Polson, Montana. The plan is to eventually restore it. For now it just sits.

It was built by Marshal Sanders of Highland, Michigan in the late 1960s out of a bunch of other vehicles. It’s powered by a 1966 Olds Tornado engine with front wheel drive. The front of the motorhome is from a GMC truck. The grill and front bumper is from a Pontiac. In back, the taillights are from a 1959 Ford.

mo-home1-736Marshal had a big problem when he first drove the motorhome: when he turned the steering wheel left, the RV went right. Not good. But it was not a problem that couldn’t be solved, which Marshal did with a bellcrank.

GMC had the same problem when it was developing its motorhomes. To figure out what to do, GMC representatives visited Marshal to see his solution. They liked it so much they copied it for their own RVs.

Dim interior lights: Battery problem or power converter?

RV Staff
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Dim interior lights: Battery problem or power converter?

By Steve Savage, Mobility RV Service

Here’s a common question that’s worth sharing.

From a reader: Recently my lights in my fifth wheel have started getting dim and sometimes flickering. How can I determine whether my problem is a four-year-old battery or the charger or the converter? I have disconnected my negative battery post while plugged into campground service.

When I disconnected the negative (battery cable) and checked my lights, they were very bright for about two minutes and then went dim. Then I turned on another light switch and they went bright again for a few minutes. How can I check the battery charger? I have a meter to check it, but I don’t know the procedure to check it.

My response: Very simple! Connect your battery and test the voltage with your meter. If you don’t see over 13 volts, your converter is dying. Any time a power converter is plugged in and working, you will always “see” more than 13 volts. The power converter is also the only thing that can make your 12-volt lights flicker, provided your AC power is good. That is to say, as long as you have good power at your receptacles and at your microwave, your power converter is the only possible villain.

It is not unusual that power converters become erratic before they fail completely. The battery is not relevant with an operational converter because it can easily carry the lighting load. You could have a completely dead battery and still have good lights.

You can temporarily work around this by putting a regular battery charger on your batteries, but you need a new power converter. I am not clear why you are using the terms “charger” and “converter.” You have a power converter that converts 120 volts AC to 12 volts DC, and that charges the battery. It also supplies 12-volt power to your lights, etc. The remainder of the panel is called the distribution panel. You either have a distribution panel with the converter built in, or you have a distribution panel with the converter mounted separately and tied to the panel with a red (+) and a white (-) wire.

Receiver hitch recycling

RV Staff
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By Jim Twamley
Recycling is good for the planet and for the pocketbook. The price of aluminum keeps going up ($1 a pound in Phoenix in February 2015) and many folks cash in on the soda can redemption deposit by turning in uncrushed cans. But sometimes (and in some states) it’s just easier to crush your cans and turn them in by bulk weight.

I ran across a guy using a can crusher in his receiver hitch and tossing the cans in a bag hanging on the ladder of his class C motorhome. As a money-making hobby he takes a walk, collects cans, and the nickels and dimes add up. When he gets back to his motorhome he runs the cans through the receiver hitch can crusher.

Just don’t get your fingers caught in it!

Tailgate open or closed? Which is more fuel efficient?

RV Staff
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By Russ and Tiña De Maris

It’s an age-old campfire discussion among RVers and pickup owners. Everybody wants to save money on gas — do you drive with the pickup truck tailgate open or closed? Up or down?

Driving with the tailgate closed would seem counterintuitive. After all, won’t the wind get “caught” by the tailgate and simply tend to slow you down a bit? Why not leave it open and let it flow freely? A story carried by Autoblog.com attempts to settle the issue. The results — if they cut across all lines of pickup truck design, tell you the answer. But it’s a big “if.”

Autoblog approached Ford Motors for the definitive test. Ford provided a 2015 F-150 — you know, the new “aluminum” aerodynamic pickup. The machine gains its notoriety for good fuel economy because of all that aluminum — it’s a great deal lighter than a similar “steel-sided” truck. But all that lightweight construction is easily wiped if aerodynamics are ignored. Tailgate open or tailgate closed — which is it?

Well, Ford has a secret built into their tailgate — a tailgate lip that acts as a spoiler. A wind tunnel demonstration Ford put on for Autoblog shows that keeping the tailgate up (closed) makes for less drag. Here’s why: The wind blasting over the top of the pickup cab needs a place to “touch down” and be redirected away from the truck. If the gate is left open, it doesn’t know where to go and, hence, tends to bunch up in the bed of the truck. Ford engineers say the same is basically true for all pickups — not just theirs.

One thing Ford says can improve aerodynamics even more — a tonneau cover will allow for even smoother wind movement, thus, increased fuel economy. Look at the autoblog.com post for more details. There are tons of tonneau covers available at Amazon.

Does your refrigerator have indigestion? Burp that baby!

RV Staff
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Does your refrigerator have indigestion? Burp that baby!

By Steve Savage, Mobility RV Service

There was a time when “burping” an RV refrigerator was a standard service technique. Burping has gradually fallen by the wayside, so only old-timers remember when it was commonplace.

Up until somewhere in the early 1990s refrigerator cooling coils — those coils you can see when you remove the exterior cover on the back of your refrigerator — used to block easily. Refrigerator manufacturers eventually modified the design and the problem is less frequent. It still pops up from time to time, and sometimes you can get lucky and save over a $1,000 on a new refrigerator using the burp method.

Coils most often become blocked when an RV refrigerator is left turned on while the RV is parked on a steep slope. When in that position for a prolonged period (hours), the rust preventive that circulates in the coils, along with the water, ammonia and hydrogen, form crystals. These crystals travel up and down the tubing until they block the smaller tubes and the refrigerator then stops working.

How do you know if your cooling coil is blocked? In a blocked coil, the burner tube will be very hot but the coils on the left side of the refrigerator (in the back) will not be warm at all. This will manifest itself after the refrigerator has been run overnight. Anytime you smell ammonia or see yellow or a yellow liquid on the bottom of the burner tube, you have a definite “leaker.” Your cooling coil has gone to heaven and must be replaced.

If the coils are hot on both sides of the back or you hear a gurgling sound and the refrigerator is not cooling, it most likely is a leaker. The coolant charge is likely gone, meaning you’re in for either a new refrigerator or cooling coil. If the refrigerator is very old, given the cost of new factory coil I would opt for a whole new refrigerator. I also only “recoil” with original factory coils, given the problems we and fellow techs have experienced with reliability from other sources.

If your refrigerator is not cooling and you find it is only hot on one side in the back, burping is worth a try. It does take a considerable amount of labor and time.

• Familiarize yourself with how to remove your refrigerator from the cabinet where it is installed.

• Allow the refrigerator to cool down, if you have been operating it, and remove the refrigerator. Place it on the floor of your RV. We use a heavy carpet remnant so as not to mar the floor. It will be heavy and awkward, but two strong men can do it without too much trouble. Mind you, we don’t even attempt this with one of the big four-door models.

• With the refrigerator completely disconnected, tip it gently onto its side in such a way that the side that was not heating up is down. The side with the burner tube will orient up. Leave it overnight and the fluids inside will redistribute. Historically, folks said to turn it completely upside down, but we have had equally good luck laying it on its side.

• Next day, stand it back up, plug it in using an extension cord, and extend the 12-volt leads so you have power to the control panel (eyebrow board) at the front of the refrigerator. Turn the refrigerator on.

• Allow two hours to pass, and if you are lucky you will find the coil that was not getting warm before is now becoming warm. You should have a cold freezer and the lower compartment will begin to cool. It takes almost a day for it to completely cool down. If this is taking place, the refrigerator coil is no longer blocked and you can reinstall it and leave it on.

The downside to this procedure is there is no guarantee the coil will not become blocked again in the future. Despite this dark cloud, successfully burped refrigerators often go on to have many more years of productive life. The upside is, if it works, you have just saved yourself well over $1,200 in replacement costs or the expense of a new coil and the labor to install it, so we try this procedure first.

Why don’t dealerships do this? Many techs are young and do not know this was routine in years past. Additionally, it is not possible to issue a guarantee with this type of service, so the owner has to understand it may not work. Of course, if it doesn’t, the refrigerator is already out and ready to be serviced or replaced, so the labor involved is not a total loss.

Ask the RV Tech: How much value is there in RV forum advice?

RV Staff
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Ask the RV Tech: How much value is there in RV forum advice?

Steve Savage
Mobility RV Service
flat earthIn my opinion, the more you know, the less value there is in following these sites — and the less you know, the more confused you are likely to become. The problem, as I see it, is this: Some information on the forums is as good as you will find anywhere. On the other hand, some information is so bad, it moves into the realm of downright dangerous.

What I find is some very long threads discuss theoretical issues as though they present themselves as common problems when, in fact, they never occur. Those issues raise anxiety unnecessarily and waste folks’ time tending to things that never break.

The posts, however, that drive me crazy are the ones which read as though how things work and what is safe is simply a matter of opinion and openly deny legitimate sources of information.

For those reasons, I encourage anyone who uses the Internet as a source of information to conduct broad searches giving priority to manufacturers and professionals. Bear in mind, just because everyone says something doesn’t mean it’s right, and consensus is never a substitute for engineering. At one time everyone believed the world was flat!

Not boondocking? Here’s a way to save some money

Chuck Woodbury
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Not boondocking? Here’s a way to save some money

By Jim Twamley
Liquid petroleum gas (LPG), or propane, is what we full-time RVers try to conserve. Lots of things can run off of propane in RVs including the refrigerator, stove/oven, heater, water heater and even the generator.

One of the ways to conserve your LPG is to use as many electric appliances as you can. I rarely use the stove unless I am boondocking (dry camping — without hook-ups). Instead I use electric appliances like the coffee pot, microwave, electric heater, crock-pot, electric pot and electric skillet. I use the pot and skillet almost every day. I particularly like the pot because it has a vegetable steamer and I like the safety break-away magnetic cord. We also switch the refrigerator and water to electric when in a campground with hook-ups.

By using appliances we conserve on LPG to the point that we only refill the tanks every three months or so. When we first started RVing we were filling the LPG tanks every few weeks. At campgrounds you have already paid for the use of the electricity, so use it and save $$$.

More ammo than you ever imagined in rural Nevada

Chuck Woodbury
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More ammo than you ever imagined in rural Nevada

No matter which direction you drive into Hawthorne, Nev., you will be fascinated with the miles of countless bunkers surrounding the small desert town. But if you nose around you will soon learn that those bunkers — 3,000 all together, spread over 237 square miles — house the world’s largest supply of munitions. One third of the weapons used in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan were once stored in Hawthorne.

The Hawthorne Ordnance Museum, right on the main drag of town, tells everything you ever need to know about munitions — bombs, rockets, depth charges, mines, torpedos and whatever else the American military has developed in the last 75 years or so to kill an enemy. All the weapons were either manufactured, stored or tested in Hawthorne. The display is mind-boggling.

My tour guide was Herman Millsap, who retired from the Hawthorne Army Ammunition Depot after 42 years. The military facility was established in Hawthorne in 1930 after a disastrous explosion destroyed a similar Navy facility in New Jersey that leveled a town and killed more than 50 people.

His “five minute” tour lasted about a half-hour and was fascinating. What I came away with was the thought of how incredibly brilliant and innovative we Americans are at building weapons, but saddened that we need to create such evil things in the first place. Just thinking about the destruction many of the weapons can bring to a human body is like pondering a nightmare.

“The way it works is develop and counter,” said Millsap. “One side develops a weapon, then the other side devises a way to counter its effectiveness and the process goes on and on.”

One story that Millsap told was of a World War II magnetic device that was launched over the side of a destroyer with the intent of landing on a German submarine and then attaching to its side. Once there, the “Anti Submarine Knocker” would bang away, exposing the location of the sub for the destroyer’s depth charges. Watch the one minute video below to see Millsap explain the device.

Stop by the museum if you are traveling U.S. 95 through Nevada. You can’t miss it. It’s open 10 to 3, Monday through Saturday. Admission is free. For more information, call (775) 945-5400.

Photos: Top: Inside the museum. Middle: Outside the museum. Bottom: Control panel that controlled remote control helicopter than could be used to drop torpedoes or for reconnaissance.

Why your RV roof needs to flex

RV Staff
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Courtesy Dicor Corporation
[Editor’s note: This information is provided by roof membrane manufacturer Dicor. While there’s plenty of “promotion” for their product included, some of the information and principles may be of assistance to our readers.]

Most people don’t think of the need for an RV roof to be flexible, but flexibility is a vital characteristic that every RV roof needs. Why is flexibility so important? The reason is simply that as an RV travels down a road it flexes. Whether it’s from going around a corner, or traveling over an uneven road, or coming to a sudden stop, your RV flexes. So your roof must flex, too, because if it doesn’t, it could start to crack and that could cause leaks. If you are thinking about putting a new roof on your RV or buying a used unit, read on.

Two significant factors that can affect a roof’s flexibility are colder temperatures and the roof’s age. Let’s talk about colder temperatures first.

All of today’s modern roofing membranes are flexible at moderate temperatures but will stiffen when it gets colder. Some membranes such as Dicor’s DiFlex II™ hold up better under colder temperatures than others. This was demonstrated by an independent third party testing certain membranes in what is known as a “Low Temperature Impact Test.” Sounds pretty scientific, don’t you think? Well, it is.

During this test, a six-pound hammer is brought down on a sample of material at a specified temperature. The sample fails if it shows any signs of cracking. DiFlex II TPO passed the test down to -60 F. Another membrane used in the manufacture of RVs roofs failed at only -20 F. Although it’s unlikely that anyone will be RVing at 60 below zero, this test vividly demonstrates just how flexible and tough the DiFlex II membrane is.

How might age affect your roof? Some RV roofs use a material that requires additives to make it flexible. These additives are called phthalate-based plasticizers. The common designations of these chemicals are: DEHP, DINP and DIDP. As the membranes that contain these materials age, these plasticizers will over time leach out of the membrane due to rain or exposure to the sun, causing the roof to become more brittle. If the roof gets too brittle, it becomes at risk of cracks from hail events. As hailstones impact a brittle roof, they can cause spiral or lateral impact cracks. DiFlex II does not contain any of these plasticizers and remains flexible throughout its lifetime.

Today’s roofing membranes are really marvels of chemistry, but like all things, they each have their own characteristics. So if you’re thinking about a new roof for your coach, consider DiFlex II. It’s one more layer of security and peace of mind. When you think about everything you have riding under your roof, that kind of assurance is an important part of your RVing experience.

Using small inverters to keep your stuff charged

RV Staff
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Using small inverters to keep your stuff charged

By Dave Helgeson
Traveling with all of today’s modern conveniences like digital cameras, cordless tools, laptops, tablets, electric razors, etc., equates to the need to charge them on a regular basis. If you frequently dry camp for long periods, do you find yourself constantly battling to keep things charged? While some of the items mentioned above can be operated with a 12-volt adapter/charger via a 12-volt outlet in your RV, others cannot.

One solution to this problem is an inexpensive, low wattage inverter. An inverter converts 12 volts DC, which is the primary operating voltage of your RV, tow vehicle and/or dinghy, into 120 volts AC, which is what comes out of your wall outlets in your home and RV when connected to shore power.

In the United States, chargers that plug into a wall outlet require 120 volts AC. When moving between dry camps or out exploring from base camp, plug the inverter into the 12-volt outlet (cigarette lighter, for those of us over 50) of your motorhome or tow vehicle and the items that need recharging into the inverter. When the vehicle is running, the engine’s alternator provides the amps to power the inverter and, in turn, the item that needs recharging. This technique is much more efficient than running a generator to provide the low wattage most items need for a recharge. (Your dry camping neighbors will appreciate the lack of generator noise, too.)

Note about inverters: Ohm’s law tells us that the voltage multiplied by amperage equals wattage. Therefore, if you have an item that requires 120 watts of 120 volt AC power, that equates to 1 amp (120 volts x 1 amp = 120 watts). Conversely that 120-watt item, when operated via a 12-volt inverter, requires 10 amps* (12 volts x 10 amps = 120 watts). For most low-wattage inverters, your standard 12-volt outlet can deliver sufficient amperage. However, if you plan on powering something that requires higher wattage items, make sure you have heavy enough wire on the 12-volt side of the inverter.

*Actually, the amperage will be somewhat higher than this as inverters are not 100% efficient, but for quick calculations this keeps the math simple. [Editor’s note: Inverter “efficiency loss” can be significant, and varies by the inverter itself. Many experts in the field suggest knocking off at least 10 percent for efficiency loss.]

Simplify backing into your RV space

RV Staff
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By Steve Savage,
Mobility RV Service

If you tow, I suspect you  have suffered through the stress that comes along with backing into your space in the campground with everyone watching. The yelling matches between spouses can reach divorce-pending proportions and discussions about the best way to communicate between the person driving and the person directing have been going on for decades.

My wife and I are no different than many of you and, although we’ve been RVing now since the early ’80s, I rate myself about average when it comes to backing into a space at the campground. Sometimes I do “really well” — other times I do “oh, well.”

My wife and I have finally discovered something that really works well for us and thought it might be worth passing on. To do this, you will both need cell phones and also have either a radio in your tow vehicle that can receive phone calls via Bluetooth or something like a Jabra (headphone/headset) that clips to the visor and does the same thing. For us it goes like this:

After we stop at the office and register, my wife calls my cell phone with hers and my radio answers her phone. Once that happens, we are linked and can talk hands-free when I back into the spot. Once we get to the spot, I get out of the truck one time to look over what I am trying to do. Then I get back into the truck and from then on, she is in control via her phone. She is the “quarterback,” so to speak.

Doing it this way it is very easy for her to move from side-to-side behind our fifth wheel and give me instructions. It also eliminates the driver getting in and out of the truck and makes it tons easier to get into a space after dark.

If you are already using walkie-talkies, think how much simpler it would be to talk hands-free while backing rather than having to “key” your mike, and how much easier it is to use your mirrors for backing rather than trying to locate your assistant and interpret hand signals. Now, nothing I am suggesting here means you can’t use your mirrors just as you always did. It just makes it easier to communicate with the person helping you back into your spot when you can talk in “real time” instead of stopping to yell at each other.

Roof reflectivity can help your RV beat the heat

RV Staff
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Courtesy Dicor Corporation and RVtravel.com staff
You may have noticed the logo for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program attached to various appliances, electronics, office equipment, heating and cooling products — and the list goes on and on. But what exactly is Energy Star? Energy Star is a program to identify and promote energy-efficient products and buildings in order to reduce energy consumption, improve energy security, and reduce pollution. An Energy Star rating means the product has been tested and found to meet high standards for energy efficiency.
However, did you know that one such requirement for roofing products can apply to RV roofing membranes? A key feature in energy efficiency in roofing products is a factor called reflectivity. What is reflectivity? It’s the measurement of a material’s ability to reflect solar energy back into the atmosphere. It is like the expression: “Right back at you.” Light hits a surface and, instead of being absorbed, it is “reflected” back into the atmosphere. Reflectivity is measured as a percentage on a scale from 0 (hotter interior) to 100 (cooler interior). The higher the number the better, since it is reflecting more light. It’s what makes for a “cool” roof.
There are many roofing choices available nowadays for RVers, whether you are buying a new RV or replacing a roof on a current RV. There are different colors, different types (EPDM, TPO, etc.) and different textures. But for greater reflectivity, flexibility and long life, look to products like DiFlex II Polar White and its Energy Star testing performance. In order to be eligible for the EPA’s Energy Star program, our DiFlex II Polar White roofing had to have a reflectivity greater than or equal to 65 percent. Polar White’s reflectivity is a whopping 86 percent, putting it well ahead of the requirement, and designating Polar White as the kind of roofing material that can make a difference in your energy costs. It helps extend the life of your air conditioner because it runs less. And because it runs less, it also saves energy while reducing noise in the campground, something your neighbors will appreciate as well.
Editor’s note: This information is largely provided by roof membrane manufacturer Dicor. While there’s plenty of promotion for its product included, some of the information and principles may be of assistance to our readers. 
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