Issue 1367
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.
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Today’s thought
“Sometimes you make choices in life and sometimes choices make you.” ―
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Onion Ring Day!
Did you see the news? Click here to read the latest issue of the Sunday News for RVers.
Tip of the Day
Check your water tank venting and save water
By Greg Illes
It’s surprising at times how much impact a simple oversight can be. In our Itasca motorhome, the fresh water tank had a factory-installed venting tube. This is a necessary feature so that the tank can “breathe” with capacity and altitude changes. However, the way the designers chose to install this vent was not ideal.
The vent was routed immediately out of the tank and down below the RV floor. Consequently, normal driving would slosh our fresh water out of the vent. On one occasion, we arrived after a long winding road at our destination with nearly 30 percent of our water already spilled overboard! Here’s how to fix the problem.
Do you have a tip? Submit it here.
RV Electricity – This week’s J.A.M. (Just Ask Mike) Session:
Pedestal readings for 50-, 30- and 20-amp outlets. Mike explains voltages on a pedestal, and includes a diagram you can print out for easy reference.
• Join Mike’s Facebook group, RV Electricity.
• Read more of Mike’s articles here.
Need hospital care? Your RV may be welcome
Many hospitals have designated RV parking. In fact, many have hookups that patients and family members can use for free. These RV facilities are often found at hospitals that have long-term treatment programs. Hotel costs are often prohibitive for people in these situations, which is why the RV solution is a great alternative. Read more.
Reader poll
If your boat sank, how far could you swim to shore?
Paddle over here and tell us.
Helpful resources
• NATIONAL TRAFFIC AND ROAD CLOSURE INFORMATION.
• ROAD AND TRAFFIC CONDITIONS ACROSS THE NATION.
• WEATHER ALERTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
• CURRENT WILDFIRE REPORT.
• LATEST RV RECALLS.
• DIRECTORY OF RV PARKS WITH STORM SHELTERS.
Quick Tip
Use windshield “shades” for your RV skylight
RV skylights giving off too much heat or light? Hit the auto parts store and buy some windshield “shades.” Attach them to the ceiling under the offending skylights using double-stick Velcro tape.
Random RV thought
People who are “homebodies” often prefer to be at home more than anywhere else; they may not like to stray far from home. Sometimes an RV is good for a person like this because they can combine being at “home” in their RV with traveling to other places.
Website of the day
Bears in National Parks
The NPS website shares types of bears in National Parks, what to do if you encounter a bear, what about bear-deterrent spray, and even an interesting section on cultural connections to bears. It’s all beary good stuff to know!
Maintain those slide seals!
If you’ve heard a cracking or popping sound when extending your slides, it means its seals are sticking and/or drying out. Applying a seal conditioner about every 8-12 weeks can extend a seal’s life. We recommend using Thetford Premium RV Slide Out Rubber Seal Conditioner.
Popular articles you may have missed at RVtravel.com
• Reader photos: Another ugly RV park
• Your fifth-wheel: Leave it hitched or not?
• RV Shrink: Campground reservation rip-off
#920-1
Trivia
You might think that great white sharks aren’t afraid of anything, but you’re wrong. Great whites are so afraid of orca whales (also known as killer whales) that they’ll avoid an area for an entire year if they spot one, even if it’s just passing by.
Readers’ Pet of the Day
“Our two toy Aussies, Kayla, 1, and Cassie, 7. Totally bummed out on a rainy day. No Frisbee and no long walks. Makes us feel bad too.” — Ray and Betty Danet
Send us a photo of your pet with a short description. We publish one each weekday in RV Daily Tips and in our Saturday RV Travel newsletter.
Refrigerator bars ensure nothing moves while driving
It’s happened to most RVers – you open the fridge (even slowly) after a day of driving and a heavy jar falls on your toe – “Ouch!” Never have that happen again with these easy-to-install spring-loaded refrigerator bars. They’re also useful in cupboards and closets. Order for a good price.
Leave here with a laugh
I’m more confused than a chameleon in a bag of Skittles.
Today’s Daily Deals at Amazon.com
Best-selling RV products and Accessories at Amazon.com. UPDATED HOURLY!
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RV Daily Tips Staff
Publisher: Chuck Woodbury. Editor: Emily Woodbury. Senior editor: Diane McGovern. Social media director: Jessica Sarvis. Financial affairs director: Gail Meyring. IT wrangler: Kim Christiansen.
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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.
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This newsletter is copyright 2020 by RVtravel.com
CHUCK. Your poll about swimming to shore is scary. I think the question of how many people actually wear a life jacket while boating will scare you even more.
It won’t last when traveling. But if you are not traveling it should last all summer!
I have spent last summer and will spend this summer in Mesa, Arizona. I covered my ceiling fan covers with heavy duty aluminum foil (18″ wide) and it keeps the heat out for pennies, you just have to tape the hinge side! Of coarse it won’t last but replacing it is only pennies!
Here’s a poll question Chuck. “How many Rver’s long distance drive from point A campground to point B campground – carrying 600 to 1,000 lbs of potable water?” We carry about 10 gals for cleanup, toilet or emergency use. Sloshing out of the overflow is not a problem! We add water on arrival and drain down on leaving as needed. Our water tank holds 80 gallons, the gas tank at 78 gallons plus a 50 amp Onan generator in the aft section! PS: I do clean the underfloor tank vent screen every couple years.
I understand your suggestion about carrying less than a full water tank, weight reduction, mileage, etc., makes sense.
However:
I had one time tho that when I got to a beautiful camp ground for RV’s and their well pump had just died and there was no water to use for 3 days….I was Ok and shared my extra water with others.
Another time near Yellowstone there was “potable water” but it has so much metal and sulfur in it we couldn’t drink it. Thus I always run full tank. Also I re-routed my vent hose to prevent lost water.
This. I hate to find a wonderful electric-only campground (or boondocking area) that I want to stay at, or stay longer, but I’m not ‘stocked up’.
windshield shade works great in shower skylight. Keeps summer heat out. Used for years
Be careful when you reroute your vent line, it is also an overflow line, make sure it ends outside the unit.
TY. I enjoy learning about electricity in a simple format as I find it to be very intimidating at times, especially with some of the terminology.