Issue 973 • September 19, 2018
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QUICK TIPS
Shirt closet shelves?
Got one of those shirt closets next to your bed, but don’t need it for hanging? Facebook member Beth Haizlip fixed her problem with wire shelving and 3M Command™ hooks from Lowe’s. “I bought a wire shelf from Lowe’s and cut it down to the sizes I needed. Then attached Command hooks to the side walls and now I have shelves. Easily removed if I need more hanging room.” Thanks Beth!
Expanded showering opportunities
Got a BIG family or lots of traveling companions? You may find that the RV shower and associated gray water holding tank just aren’t big enough for the whole mob. Consider picking up a “solar shower” system. Heated by the sun and used outdoors, it’s great for showering down after a swim.
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FROM THE RVTRAVEL.COM READER FORUM
Best fresh water hoses?
From RV Travel reader Ken:
The two water hoses for my motorhome need to be replaced. Kinked, folded and dirty. I’ve seen a variety of them out there. Currently I have the two white Camping World 25-footers. Any recommendation or ones to avoid? I do not have room for any sort of hose reel or automatic reeler. Do you have a suggestion? Click here.
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Adventure Anxiety? Not Anymore!
Nothing gives you peace of mind like good prep work! With Road & Home™’s “Ready for the Road” checklist, you can feel confident you have what you need on board before you head out on the road. Click here to learn more.
Today’s brain teaser (answer below): I have two legs but they only touch the ground when I rest. What am I?
MORE QUICK TIPS
Don’t forget to check RV’s fluids before you leave
Bill Larsen weighs in on pre-pull-out checklists: “Before every run, whether an RV or towable, do we always check our fluids? We all know to check tires, lights and brakes, but do we look under the hood? It’s easy to lose that habit and replace it with watching lights and messages from the amazing array of monitoring equipment. For the little time it takes to look at the tanks and pulling the dipstick, we might avoid unscheduled camping on the shoulder or in a dealer’s repair yard.” Thanks, Bill!
Insurance awareness for motorhomes with toads
If you have a motorhome and are towing a car (toad), you must have a policy that covers both car and motorhome. If you are in an accident, most likely both will be damaged. If you have policies with two insurance companies, you are looking at two deductibles and two claims. You are also liable if your car breaks loose from the motorhome and goes off on its own. Claims will be filed by drivers of other vehicles yours has hit, as well as property owners that have sustained damage caused by your errant car. These claims will most likely be against the liability portion of your RV insurance. Your motorhome insurance does not automatically extend to the car you are towing. This is why you should carry liability coverage on both your motorhome and towed vehicle. —From So, you want to be an RVer? And Enjoy the RV Lifestyle? [Revised]
Do you have a tip? Send it to Russ (at) rvtravel.com
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WEBSITES OF THE DAY
Prime Wardrobe
You’ve probably bought clothes online before, right? With Amazon’s Prime Wardrobe you can order clothes, have them shipped to you and try them on, all before getting charged. Try before you buy! It’s pretty handy, if we do say so ourselves.
Bon Appetit’s City Guides
Heading to a new city? What better way to learn about it and experience the local culture than through the food? These city guides will guide you right to the best restaurants, bars and cafes.
Have a website you like and think other RVers might like it too? Send it to emily (at) rvtravel.com. Thanks!
Check out the long list of great RVing-related websites from 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.
Answer to today’s brain teaser: A wheelbarrow
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LEAVE HERE WITH A LAUGH
Q: What did the janitor say when he jumped out of the closet?
A: “Supplies!”
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RV Daily Tips Staff
Editor and Publisher: Chuck Woodbury. Managing editor: Diane McGovern. Staff writer: Emily Woodbury. Contributing writers: Russ De Maris, Bob Difley, Gary Bunzer, Roger Marble, Mike Sokol, Greg Illes, J.M. Montigel and Andrew Robinson. Advertising coordinator: Gail Meyring. Marketing director: Jessica Sarvis.
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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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We’ve taken grandkids on vacations since 2004 and this practice actually led us to our first MH when we had all four to take along. Now the third oldest is about to join the workforce so our first great-grandson is joining the troop. Show ’em the country and the people in it; enhance their education; give them a lifetime of good memories – and have fun to boot!
Who’d a thought…Check your fluids before driving away.
Really? That’s a tip?
C’mon.
Hey, “Sum Tin Wong” (yeah 😕 ) — If you have some great, new tips that even veteran RVers as well as newbies could use, how about sending them to Russ (at) RVtravel.com . Obviously, according to you, we need them. But we’re always on the lookout for new tips, so send ’em on in, OK? Thanks! 😀 —Diane at RVtravel.com
I find the command strips don’t work as well during weather changes. I bought wire stackable shelving units and use the empty side space for tall things. The pantry came with no shelves so I put the wire shelves there and put tall stuff next to them. To keep things contained I added low sides baskets. Looks great.
Sue, there is always one!!!
CAUTION when using Sun Solar Showers:
When we started camping in the early 70’s we used those solar showers. When were in the Ca desert, you better be CAREFUL as the hot sun will get that solar shower bags extremely hot. Actually hot enough to burn you. Someone in our Jeep club figured out a col/hot system with a “Y” connection & some type of valve!
Dave
Funny that you can shower outside and let the water run on the ground but put it in a holding tank first and it is a no no.
I agree that is strange: “Funny that you can shower outside and let the water run on the ground but put it in a holding tank first and it is a no no.”
I like the jokes, keep ’em coming please 😉 and thank you!
Question for Mike Sokol
Hey Mike, this is from yesterday .
After reading the Quick Tip about checking the condition on a 30A circuit with a 30/15A adapter plug & a 3 light tester. A reader asked Mike about his concerns over his situation.
My question is why the did the dog bone adapter & circuit tester show all was good? It didn’t say what the little tester was though!
Thanks Dave
No I wouldn’t by pass the EMS, I would by pass the camp ground!
I think I answered this already, but I don’t see it on this thread, so here it is again. The key to understanding how 3-light testers can fail to identify faults is to realize that they use very little test current, perhaps a few mA (1/1000 of an ampere) to load the lines, especially the ground wire. If the ground (EGC) wire is broken very close to the outlet being tested, then they can probably find the open ground. However, if the break in the ground wire is a few hundred feet away, perhaps in another pedestal upstream of the outlet under test, then the capacitive coupling of the wires being so close together can fool any normal 3-light tester into thinking the ground wire is connected to the G-N bonding point properly, when in fact it’s actually floating and won’t be able to get rid of any leakage currents.
To properly test an EGC (Ground wire) for continuity, you need to load it with perhaps 5 amps of current and see how it behaves electrically. That’s how a Ground Loop Impedance Tester works. It shoots a single-cycle (very short) pulse of line current down the ground wire and measures how well it does shunting this current to ground. This took me a long time to figure out, and what prompted me to design a 3-light tester that used 100-watt light bulbs rather than neon bulbs. And that’s the design exercise that caused me to realize that the combination of a reversed polarity outlet along with a bootleg ground would create a dangerous wiring condition I named an RPBG (Reverse Polarity Bootleg Ground).
I’m going to incorporate this article on pedestal ground testing with my upcoming lead article about pedestal after-flood cleaning in RVelectricity Issue #11. That’s because after any pedestal is cleaned up after flooding, it also needs to be tested thoroughly. This is getting really important due to all the recent flooding in the Southeast region of the U.S.
Now, this is going to get pretty complicated out of necessity. And I’ll not only show my work, I’ll also have to show how I derived any equations as well as present empirical data gathered during experiments. So hold onto your hats, this is going to get a little crazy…
I think it IS you, Bob.
Maybe it’s just me but, it seems like your leave here with a laugh editor needs a vacation. I haven’t left here with a laugh in about a week. Get some rest!
Maybe you could suggest some of your favorites??