Issue 896 • May 8, 2018
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QUICK TIPS
Put your insurance on pause
If your motorhome, tow vehicle or truck camper is stored on private property for long periods of time, you may be able to save money by canceling the liability, collision, medical and uninsured portions of your insurance policy until you head back on the road (provided your insurance carrier allows this practice). But keep the comprehensive coverage active. If you allow this coverage to lapse and your rig is financed, your lending institution will likely send you a nasty note and then tack on its own expensive coverage to your monthly payment.
Portable ‘fridge’ to the rescue
Sometimes a trip to the supermarket can be a long-distance adventure. On hot days, keeping the frozen foods solid while getting back to the RV can be a problem. Styrofoam coolers with bags of ice work, but the cheap chests get mauled easily. We finally found a “low voltage” cooler chest that plugs into the cigarette lighter socket. While it isn’t actually a freezer, if we pack the frozen goods together and precool the cooler, our stuff gets back to the RV just fine. It works great, too, when you have to “bring a dish” to a potluck and want to be sure nobody gets sick from the potato salad! —Russ De Maris
Easy way to customize your bathroom
RV bathrooms are usually more functional than pretty, but that’s easy to change. Some RV dealers sell costly toilet seat and rug sets, but it’s easy and economical to make your own. For a pretty seat cover, simply sew the sides of a folded hand towel, tuck in the corners, stitch and then place over the seat. Add a matching rug from a discount store. I spray paint small baskets to hold ‘stuff’ to match my bathroom decor. In my current RV a Plexiglas shelf sits on brass supports on a blank wall above the toilet. The local auto glass shop cut it to my specs and heat-curled a front edge. I added car striping for a decorative effect. With this in place, my makeup and a Kleenex box stay in place while traveling. We added a silk plant below to make it pretty as well as functional. To avoid an avalanche when I open the medicine cabinet, I inserted two-inch-high strips of Plexiglas to the front of each shelf, secured at the bottom of each with a piece of wide, clear postal tape. —Peggi McDonald
Know your height
Know what the overall height of your RV is and constantly be aware of road clearances, gas stations, bridges, underpasses and low-hanging obstacles like overhead wires and tree branches. Post the height of your RV where it is easy to see to serve as a reminder. —Mark Polk
Black tank dumping tip
The best time to empty the black (sewer) tank is when it’s nearly full. That way, there’s enough liquid to flush all the solids from the tank. Emptying a partially full tank may leave the undissolved material in the tank. If you must dump before a long voyage, fill the tank with water first and then dump the tank. Be sure to monitor the tank closely as you add water (don’t walk away to take a phone call, for example) so the tank does not overfill and overflow (really, really bad news).
Do you have a tip? Send it to Deanna (at) rvtravel.com .
New & interesting finds at Amazon.com
See what really cool stuff Amazon is featuring today. It’s a whole lot of fun just browsing through all these great items. The selection changes every day, so check back often. You never know what you will find, which is part of the fun of visiting here. Check it out.
WEBSITES OF THE DAY
Grammarly
We use (and love) Grammarly for EVERYTHING. Grammarly is like having your own proofreader, but it corrects everything right on the screen you’re working on, so you don’t have to open up a separate page. We highly recommend this software.
OneLook
“Ugh, it’s on the tip of my tongue!” Can’t remember a word or a phrase? OneLook Reverse Dictionary saves the day! Type in something that’s close to what you’re trying to remember, and OneLook will spit back out several words or phrases it could be.
ManualsLib
Lost the manual to your car? To your new oven? Sigh. Wait! ManualsLib has your manual online! With over two million manuals, they’ve probably got what you’ve lost!
Check out the long list of great RVing-related websites from RVtravel.com.
Temperature gun is ‘essential equipment’ for many RVers!
Just aim this non-contact IR temperature gun to measure the temperature of your refrigerator, tires, A/C and heater output, or, heck, even your oven (and the list goes on). It reads the temperature in Celsius or Fahrenheit with one press of the trigger. A laser light aids in aiming. Many RVers consider this essential equipment. Learn more or order at a great price.
RVing news from around the Web
•RVtravel.com’s Mike Sokol alerting RVers to electrical shock dangers.
•Man seriously burned after trying to start RV with jumper cables.
•Louisiana community approves zoning change for 242-site RV park.
•Ozark parks recover after historic 2017 flood.
Is your RV sitting in your driveway?
It could be earning you money! Cover the costs of your monthly payments or fund your next trip by renting out your RV. A Class A motorhome, for example, can earn you up to $4,250 a month! Join thousands of happy RV owners who are earning money from their underused vehicles. Find out more at Campanda.com.
Join us: On RVillage • Facebook • Twitter • YouTube.
LEAVE HERE WITH A LAUGH
Woman to her husband: “Please say dirty things to me!”
Man: “Bath, Kitchen, Living room…”
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
Editor and Publisher: Chuck Woodbury. Associate editor: Deanna Tolliver. Staff writer: Emily Woodbury. Contributing writers: Russ De Maris, Bob Difley, Gary Bunzer, Roger Marble, Deanna Tolliver, Mike Sokol, J.M. Montigel and Andrew Robinson. Advertising coordinator: Gail Meyring.
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The clip about the man getting burned after trying to jump start his rig would have been better if the story told readers why it went on fire from that.
This has to do with cooking in your RV oven. Place a air bake cookie sheet on the oven rack and bake everything on it you will not burn the food your cooking. I’ve used this for over 30 years
I hated the shower curtain our jayco had. So I went searching for a new one and found it. Had my seamstress take apart the old one and add the strip to the new one. Looks fab. We are also having troubles getting things to stick to the walls. So it looks like we might go with earthquake glue or mollies. Not sure but the nails are not working. Some ideas I am already doing. As for insurance? We cancelled the camper insurance since we won’t be camping until our daughter graduates from college. Too expensive to do both. So it is still under wraps until the day I retire.
A good way to mount objects to RV walls where there is only a thin skin and no wood or metal backing is to use pop rivets. Some pop rivet tools are adjustable to allow access to tight spaces often found in RVs. Check out this video from RV Geeks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3dym_w27W8
I did,t think there was enough choices with today’s poll. I’m a 50 amp coach, but if the weather permits and the electric pedastele seems fine, we live on 30 very well. Also, as some places are, cost becomes a consideration too, $5.00 a day extra adds up just for convenience.
This was just a quickie poll, since a really comprehensive one would probably not be answered by a lot of readers. But your point is well taken. I think the biggest power draw is air conditioners, so if you’re not camping in the summer, you might be comfortable with a roof fan/vent and an open window. But during the real heat of the summer I think that most RVs turn into ovens, so there’s probably no way to run two air conditioners in a large RV on a single 30-amp connection.
ManualsLib needs a lot of work. Links are screwed up and search leads to different products than the actual product number.
Some of us are newbies and appreciate the tips and suggestions. I have just started reading this newsletter and not sure how to find all of the old posts to get the suggestions that all of the “long timers” already know. Thank you for helping those new to the RV world.
Wow, another tip on how to empty a black tank!!