Issue 900 • May 15, 2018
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QUICK TIPS
RV boot camps are highly recommended
For “newbies” and those just thinking about the RV lifestyle, find and attend a special basic education program for new RVers. The Escapees RV Club runs a popular RVers’ Boot Camp, often over a weekend. The RV Education and Safety Foundation (RVSEF) sponsors an annual program, the next one is this coming September 27 to October 1 in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. FMCA offers an excellent RV Basics program at the start of each of its national rallies. Mistakes made with RVs are often expensive and sometimes dangerous. The time and money spent attending an RV basic education course will be a wise investment!
License plate alert!
“Two thousand miles away from home, somebody stole our back license plate from our truck. We implore our fellow RVers to purchase Torx screws to help frustrate thieves.” —Thanks to AF in Reno!
Getting rid of carpenter ants
From Roger Marble: “Carpenter ants are a special problem as they are not attracted to normal ant poison that is based on food and sweets. I had an infestation and after lots of research I discovered that powdered boric acid sprinkled on entrance and anywhere I could find them eventually (1 to 2 weeks) killed the nest. Boric acid used to be easier to find as it was used as an eye wash so you could get it at a pharmacy, but box stores like CVS, Walgreens near me do not stock.” [Editor: A Google search indicates it is available at most box stores (sometimes as roach and ant killer), and sometimes even at dollar stores. And, of course, you can get it at Amazon.com.
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Stinky holding tank odors? Here’s the solution
Eliminate disgusting tank odors for less than $1 per treatment with formaldehyde-free Unique RV Digest-It. Unique’s highly concentrated, non-toxic blend of tank cleaning microbes maintains clean sensors, eliminates odors and liquefies the solids in your tank, ensuring no backups. All without harsh chemicals or dangerous ingredients. Try it once and you’ll be shocked at how clean your tank can be! Learn more or order.
MORE QUICK TIPS
Cushioned steps to bed loft
Lloyd Pilant passed along this great tip: “The rungs on our ladder in our Winnebago View hurt our feet when climbing up to the over-cab sleeping area. My wife suggested we try putting some foam pipe insulation on the rungs to see if that helps. We did, and it does. I used some Gaffer tape to help hold the insulation on the rungs.” Thanks, Lloyd!
Don’t pop your air mattress!
Pat Gerard advises if you have an air mattress on your bed, be sure to let some of the air out before heading up to higher altitudes. That’ll ensure you don’t have a sudden and unwanted pop due to the change in altitude and pressure. Thanks, Pat!
“We travel in a motorhome which is typical in that the bedroom is in the rear and the exit door is in the front. The fire extinguisher is mounted by the exit door. I bought another fire extinguisher that I mounted next to the bed. If a fire is severe then we will bail out of a bedroom window, but for anything else I would rather fight the fire on the way to the exit door. The prospect of climbing out the window and dropping six feet to the ground is something that I would rather avoid. I also keep a fire extinguisher in one of my storage bays.” Thanks to Bill Olsen.
Do you have a tip? Send it to Deanna (at) rvtravel.com .
Propane running low? This will tell you!
With this Dometic LPGC10 LP Gas Checker you can instantly monitor your LP tank’s level. It uses ultrasonic technology to tell you in just a few seconds how full – or empty – a propane tank is. It’s about the size of a writing pen and weighs less than ounce, so it’s easy to store. For use on steel and aluminum liquid propane tanks. Learn more or order
WEBSITES OF THE DAY
GetNotify
Wonder if your daughter read your email yet? GetNotify tells you when your emails are opened! It even goes a step beyond that and tells you what browser the email was opened on, the IP address, and the location of the computer. Wow!
Lightning SafetyÂ
This National Weather Service page gives you all the information you need to stay safe during a lightning storm. Did you know lightning can reach 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit?!Â
StickK
Want to cut down on your sugar intake? Quit smoking? Start exercising more? StickK helps you create goals, and work towards meeting them. Kick those bad habits in the butt!Â
Check out the long list of great RVing-related websites from RVtravel.com.
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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, Mike Sokol, J.M. Montigel and Andrew Robinson. Advertising coordinator: Gail Meyring.
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I know Camping World has a bad rep, but we bought our Keystone Outback in Chattanooga and the sales department made sure to tell us stuff we didn’t know to ask. They also have a wonderful man named Ralph who takes you out and teaches you how to back up and deal with turning issues and also educates you on the basics of your RV. They also introduced us to an RV club that we joined and those fine folks continued our education until we took off full time. Kudos.
I have never heard anyone complain about the sales dept @ camper world, I would like to know what you think when you return for service of some sort. Please post your thoughts when you have experienced that.
On the contrary,CW sales people I have encountered are pushy and arrogant..especially in Cedar Falls,Iowa.They flat out lied to me before I traveled 700 miles to purchase a used Fifth wheel.They took pictures of another fifth wheel’s tires and tried to push them off on me.The list can go on and on…lesson learned..and an expensive one.BUYER BEWARE at any CW.
Regarding ant problem in the RV. We had ants marching across the doorway of the bathroom to get to some sweets in a closet. We have always used boric acid but my delema was how do I get boric acid to stay on our carpeted like ceiling. I mixed the powdered boric acid with water and put it in a spray bottle and sprayed it along the ant line of march and no more ants
Well, RV Boot Camp type programs, valuable as they are, are few, far between, and generally not available to us on the road west coast.
I think holding these events at or in conjunction with RV shows would attract more folks and result in better educated buyers and owners.
I not only have the entry door fire extinguisher, I also have one under my kitchen cabinet, bedroom and rear bath. I also have one outside in my propane compartment, one of my slide out storage tray compartment and a (5# powder type) in the engine compartment.
I have two emergency exit windows and I keep a 3/4″ dowel of the proper length to hold the window open, at both. I make sure that both windows open freely and have actually practiced getting out of the bedroom one.
You spend 40+ years working in the office and commuting in your gas efficient VW bug. Then you retire and buy a huge diesel pusher. Yeah, I’d say some sort of education is called for.
Well, we sold the house, sold the second car, no longer commute to work, heat and cool a much smaller place. I’d say our carbon footprint is 1/2 of what it was before, even with our big diesel pusher.
RV Bootcamp would have been extremely welcome for me. The trials & tribulations learning the basics of what I needed to know were a years experience.
Someday RV sellers will offer a 1 day class held on a Saturday once a month covering the basics of operating, setting up & answering questions from their own buyers.
Afterwards they will discover an entirely new source of return purchasers.
I would agree that an “RV boot camp” needs to be part of any RV rookie’s buying experience.Especially for those buying large motor homes who have never driven anything bigger than a pickup truck. I cant count the times I have seen those large land yachts hogging the center lines on two lane roads or swerved in front of another vehicle while towing a car.Some of those idiots need to be off the road,and this goes for anyone buying a large toy hauler or those 42 foot fifth wheels.Little wonder why RV insurance keeps going up.