Thursday, January 23, 2020
Welcome to another edition of RV Travel’s Daily Tips newsletter. Here you’ll find helpful RV-related and living tips from the pros, travel advice, a handy website of the day, tips on our favorite RVing-related products and, of course, a good laugh. Thanks for joining us. We appreciate you. Please tell your friends about us.
If you shop on Amazon, please visit through our affiliate site (we get a little commission that way – and you don’t pay any extra). We appreciate it!
[activecampaign form=34]
Page Contents
Today’s thought
“I am grateful for the silence of winter mornings, for the beauty and wonder of the glint of sunlight in frost melting to dew, for the early-riser’s peaceful solitude that sets a mood of thankfulness, hope and calm for the dawning day.” —Terri Guillemets
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Handwriting Day!
Tip of the Day
A tip for “tightening up” loose screws
Ken Wahl sent along this great suggestion for dealing with loose screws in your RV: “Sometimes if a screw vibrates loose it’s because the screw has no more gripping ability in the wood – the hole is stripped out or too big, or the wrong size screw was used. To repair a hole that isn’t holding anymore, remove the screw then squirt a dab of wood glue in and add a few broken-off pieces of a wooden toothpick into the ‘gluey’ hole. This creates a wood plug. Let it dry partially or fully before you use this as the ‘new’ hole for the old or replacement wood screw. If the glue is a bit damp, this will add to the holding ability of the screw and hole. This old attachment trick with the new hole is stronger that the original arrangement.” Thanks, Ken!
Do you have a tip? Submit it here.
Rewrap your assist handle with this mod
Right up in the “neatest thing since sliced bread” category, for the De Maris family at least, are big “assist handles” that you can mount on the side of your RV. At the end of a long road day, or a long trail, being able to grab that handle and stabilize yourself heading up the steps into the rig has been a lifesaver. Trouble is, the grips sold as standard on many of these units just don’t hold up too long. Read here for Russ and Tiña’s quick, inexpensive mod.
Yesterday’s featured article: RV moisture misery
Collapsible containers perfect for RV kitchen
If you don’t have collapsible food containers for your RV yet, you’re missing out. This set of four is BPA free and microwave, dishwasher and freezer safe. Never worry about taking up room again, these fold practically flat! These containers come with air-tight lids which keep food longer, and keep food safer. Order for a great price here.
Reader poll
Quick Tip
Easily get water off your slideout
In wet conditions, before retracting your slides, raise or lower the front end of your trailer and almost all the water will run off the slide before it comes in. —Thanks to George Bliss, Casey Piton, and others who mentioned they do this when their slide doesn’t automatically tilt when being retracted.
Where have you been all my life?
A useful quick tip from electricity expert Mike Sokol! “I used to drag out a bottle of Windex and a roll of paper towels to clean the inside of my windshield periodically, but unless I was home to think about and do the task right then, chances are I would forget about it until the next time I had to drive at night. My wife just gave me a pack of Windex Wipes for my truck, and now I can clean up the inside of my windshield any time it gets a film of streaky dust. Works great.” Buy them here.
Motorhome sideswipes truck and video captures it all. Ugly! Watch here.
Random RV Thought
Do not throw away your favorite old shirt, even if your spouse orders you to. Instead, put it in the closet of your RV. It will be perfect for wearing around a campground or by the campfire. And you will be happy wearing it again.
Firearms laws guide updated for 2020
The 2020 updated edition of the Traveler’s Guide to the Firearm Laws of the Fifty States has just been published. The book is always a best-seller among RVers, many of whom carry a firearm when they travel. The annual guidebook helps ensure they stay out of trouble when crossing state lines, where the laws may be different. Learn more in this article.
Website of the day
Camp Florida.
All the information you need about RVing and camping in Florida. Happy (and warm!) travels!
Handheld sewing machine is a must-have for RVers
This portable sewing machine is perfect for your RV. It fits in your hand for easy operation. Great for silks, denim, wool, leather, and to hem pants, jeans, hanging curtains and crafts, etc. It can repair drapes without taking them down, repair clothing without taking it off, and repair bedding without stripping the bed. It’s so neat you’ll want to buy one.
And the Survey Says…
We’ve polled RVtravel.com readers more than 1,500 times in recent years. Here are a few things we’ve learned about them:
• 8 percent of our readers’ pets wear a flea collar.
• 25 percent have had at least one tick on their body in the last 20 years.
• 12 percent always bring an off-road vehicle with them on their RV trips.
Recent poll: What will today’s high temperature be for where you are right now? Answer here.
Trivia
Charles Dickens was an insomniac. He believed that his creativity was dependent on his bed pointing directly north. He also insisted on sleeping right in the middle with his arms outstretched and his hands equal distances from the edge.
How much does the Earth weigh? We told you yesterday.
Leave here with a laugh
Only in America …
• do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries and a diet Coke,
• do banks leave vault doors open and then chain the pens to the counters,
• do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.
Thanks to George Bliss (a Canadian, BTW)
Today’s Daily Deals at Amazon.com
Best-selling RV products and Accessories at Amazon.com. UPDATED HOURLY!
Join us: Facebook • Twitter • YouTube • RVillage
Check out our Facebook Groups: RV Horror Stories • RV Advice • RV Electricity • RV Parks with Storm Shelters • RV Buying Advice • Northwest RV Camping • Southwest RV Camping • RV Crashes and Disasters • NEW Free Campgrounds
Did you miss the latest RV Travel Newsletter? If so, read it here.
Oh, and if you missed the latest Sunday News for RVers, make sure to catch up here.
Become a Member!
This newsletter is brought to you Monday through Friday by RVtravel.com and is funded primarily through voluntary subscription contributions from our readers. Thank you! IF YOU APPRECIATE THIS NEWSLETTER and others from RVtravel.com, will you please consider pledging your support? Learn more or contribute.
RV Daily Tips Staff
Editor and Publisher: Chuck Woodbury. Managing editor: Emily Woodbury. Senior editor: Diane McGovern. Advertising director: Jessica Sarvis. Financial affairs director: Gail Meyring. IT wrangler: Kim Christiansen.
This website utilizes some advertising services. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Regardless of this potential revenue, unless stated otherwise, we only recommend products or services we believe provide value to our readers.
Everything in this newsletter is true to the best of our knowledge. But we occasionally get something wrong. We’re just human! So don’t go spending $10,000 on something we said was good simply because we said so, or fixing something according to what we suggested (check with your own technician first). Maybe we made a mistake. Tips and/or comments in this newsletter are those of the authors and may not reflect the views of RVtravel.com or this newsletter.
Mail us at 9792 Edmonds Way, #265, Edmonds, WA 98020.
This newsletter is copyright 2020 by RVtravel.com
Being from the old “strike anywhere” wooden match generation, I’ve used a matchstick dipped in wood glue shoved into a worn screwhole to re-seat a screw. I don’t wait for the glue to dry; the surrounding dry wood will hasten drying and strengthen the area seizing the screw threads. I’ve never had to replace one of these ‘fixes.’
I might suggest that if this is related to screws on the outside the RV (particularly around the slide outs), you may have bigger issues.
To avoid slide out damage to the extreme, make it a part of your normal maintenance procedure to go around and check the screws around the slide outs. Turn each screw but do not use excessive force (check closely the screws located at the floorboard level). If they freely turn, your floorboard or slide walls may be rotted. You can confirm by going inside and pulling up the corners of the carpet. The carpet will be tough to get up as the carpet is one of the first things that goes down. It is secured by the wall that sits on it. Take a razor knife and cut back a couple of inches at the corners and pull back. If the plywood is black, keep going. If not, you may have caught the damage in time. It helps to pull the carpet back and keep a fan on it to dry the floor before re-installing the screws.
Replacing a floorboard can cost $1200 in labor and $600-800 for a floorboard. And to get a floorboard, you might have to wait 6-8 weeks as manufacturers build units with the just-in-time delivery system. They often do not have spare boards laying around.
If you are buying a new/used rig, do the same thing to avoid a big problem you may not want. It has saved me that trouble multiple times.
About the “strike anywhere” wooden match: one assumes that the flammable match head will NOT be included in the “fix” … right? (grin) Sigh… one can never assume anything.
Okay, about that water intrusion and floor rot issue: good point. There is a boat product called “Git Rot” that is a very thin epoxy designed to strengthen rotted wood sections where replacement would be difficult and costly. Perhaps a little judicious application in isolated floor rot areas might salvage the floor and save a costly replacement. Some boaters will drill very small holes into the affected area (honey-comb) to allow thorough penetration/saturation of the weakened wood.
It sort of goes without saying that RVs are basically sponges seeking only to soak up every raindrop that comes near; and we must forever struggle to keep them apart. So frequent inspection of all seams, fasteners, covers, attachments, seals and other insults to the RV skin is essential. It’s a never-ending battle. Like with boats: the idea is to keep the water confined to the wet side.
A BIG thanks to “Ken,” “A tip for “tightening up” loose screws,” for sharing the tip. I’ve been doing it for years, and it works perfectly.
As for the survey today, the main reason we have a motorhome is that all you have to tell my wife is that she can’t.
On the topic of loose hardware, I have found several of the nuts holding the walls onto the frame of the trailer to have come loose over time. I now check them periodically to make they stay tight.
Why not use lock tite one time and be done with it?
If you need a temporary assist handle, the twin suction cup handle (designed for moving glass) works well. Don’t forget your free flashlight!
Great idea to get water off a slide. I really never thought of that.
DW wanted the motor home for that reason. Great for getting a cold drink. Counting the day until spring.
If you need a replacement cover for your assistant handle, you might consider pipe foam cover that comes in various sizes. It together with spray adhesive works great for a replacement.