Best Practices

[rockintom]

Thanks all,

Bob, I had forgot Ford does their rotate that way. GM does a regular 6 tire rotation. These wouldn't work for me. I have no problems checking or changing tire pressure the way they are. When I rotate I just make sure the stems are 180* apart just for easy reference, the way they come from the factory. Tom

[ChiefJohn]

Polishing aluminum or stainless steel -- taken from the Excapee's HDT Forum. Use extreme care when preparing this polish.

Quote:

Mike Here is the recipe from 5th wheeler/Jon. I used a towel like rag with some miuneral spirits to do an inital wipe off then a clean rag to finish. I also did this in 2 stages with the green first (course)and the white second (Fine). The 1st stage I used a kitchen/dish type sponge with the scrubber on one side. The scubber WAS NOT the green kind but a white one that was cheap and not real abrasive. The 2nd stage I used a course sponge non-abrasive to apply the white. I found it better than using rag to apply the polish. HOME BREW: Homemade metal polish recipe This recipe works great on aluminum or stainless steel. The ingredients needed are: A. 1 large brick of buffing compound (green for heavily tarnished) (white for super shiny finish on previously polished)(blue or purple all purpose) 8-10" (approx $8 at most truck stops or truck dealer parts) B. 1 gallon mineral spirits or non-flammable paint thinner (approx $4 at hardware store) C. small bottle of household ammonia (approx $2 anyplace) D. camp stove or hot plate E. 1.5 gallon (or larger) pot with lid F. stir stick Directions: PLEASE DO THIS OUTDOORS or in WELL VENTILATED AREA!!! Pour approx 1-1.5 quarts of mineral spirits in pot and place on low heat. Break the approx 10" brick in half and place both pieces in pot. Stir continuously till brick has melted and stir stick has no lumps showing on end. (keep lid handy in case of flare up) I have not had this happen but if you use a flammable thinner it could happen. Adjust heat accordingly so that solution doesn't boil over. Allow to cool overnight. You will notice the thinner/spirits has come to top. Add a bit of ammonia till it gets to your desired consistency. The ammonia will possibly turn the polish into a paste in which case you may want to add more thinner. Experimenting with amounts of each ingredient will allow you to make the polish to your liking and ease of use. I like to use the blue brick and make it into a fairly thick paste that I even use on oxidized paint, aluminum and stainless steel. The green brick is a good one to start with if you are polishing fairly tarnished aluminum and finish with a white or blue polish. If you have badly tarnished aluminum and want a more course polish, omit the ammonia. You will have to shake well before using. Rub on with terry cloth rag till a black sludge appears. Of course, the more you rub, the better the finish. I then use another rag dampened with thinner to clean up the sludge then a dry clean rag to polish to a mirror finish. You can dilute the polish till it is as thin as the store bought stuff but experimenting is the key. Another trick to use if you are lazy is to get a cheap carb cleaner spray ( Walmart under $1) and spray the aluminum sludge off. It dries quickly and then use clean dry rag to buff to high shine. CAUTION please when making this polish. Probably not a good idea to breathe vapors or make indoors. Should wear gloves when making and using this stuff. Your wife may also want to beat you for using her pot as she will never want it when you are done with it. Although this is safe to make if care is taken, I take no responsibility for any accidents, spills, fires, divorces, etc. You will never buy the store bought stuff again! I haven't tried it myself but Toterman had his truck done by a couple in FL at the RV show a year or so back and per David this concoction pretty much matches what the couple used on his truck with great results. Jon -&- Mary ~ SKP #92054 Keeper of the HDT Resource Guide Tommy 2000 Kenworth T2000 Autoshift Cummins 460hp, Singled & Fully Customized Inside 2006 29' Keystone Outback

[Highgturn]

REMOVING BLOOD STAINS FROM COTTON BEDDING


I found the method below on the internet of course. I had 100% success using it with the slight deviation of using "Spray and Wash" over the shampoo. and I did not soak the sheets in water.
I put the shampoo on the blood spots and wet the sheets through with it, then I let it sit for an hour. Next, because the shampoo was almost dry I rewet the spots with spray and wash. I washed the sheets next using the double cycle on my washing machine, then dried. This is a miracle method, even old blood stains which were set came completely out. My expensive sheets look new again. By the way, the shampoo I used was "Head And Shoulder"�, but I don't think it matters.

Bob


Here is what I found on the www.

"Easy care is one of the primary reasons people choose cotton bedding. Removing stains from sheets, blankets, pillowcase and other bedding is easy thanks to the fabric's inherent qualities.
Blood is one stain that most people struggle to remove. In many instances, usable cotton bedding is discarded and considered ruined once blood has leaked on to it. Additional money is then spent on replacing the seemingly ruined items.


In other cases, much money is spent taking cotton bedding to dry cleaners as a stain removal solution. In both cases, the result is spending extra money on cotton bedding than may be necessary.
That's because blood can easily be removed from most washable cotton bedding by using a very ordinary household cleaning aid: shampoo. Shampoo really works in eliminating unsightly blood stains. Best yet any shampoo will usually do the trick, be it your favorite brands or a less expensive store brand.
For optimal stain removal, it's best to attempt to remove the stain as soon as possible, preferably upon occurrence. Albeit, this is not always feasible. But, it is helpful to try to remove blood from cotton bedding prior to 48 hours of staining to ensure complete elimination. In any case, using shampoo will usually eliminate hours-old stains in minutes. For stains more than 24 hours old, you may have to first soak the bedding in a large bucket, or even the bathtub. Then, you can get about the task of fighting that stain – which in most cases can take upwards to 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the density of the bedding, or upwards to a day or so if you have to soak the stain.
To remove blood stains from your washable cotton bedding, just follow these basic steps.
1. Find a comfortable location to begin your stain removal efforts. Keep in mind as bedding is bulky when wet, you want to be near or in the bathroom or by a large sink to avoid water leaking on floors and/or carpet.
2. Douse the stain with a capful of shampoo, making sure that some shampoo touches every part of the stain.
3. Rub the soiled portions of the bedding until the shampoo is completely absorbed, then wet with cold or warm water. Once bubbles appear, briskly scrub the bedding. Rinse the stain and evaluate your efforts. Is the stain completely gone? Is their a slight ring showing the shape of the stain? Is the stain still visible? If any portion of the blood is still visible, including a light ring, then follow this step two or three more times. By the third time, fresh stains should be totally removed. However, if the stain has been allowed to sit in the bedding for 48 hours or so – even if it is still visible after you attempted to remove by traditional machine washing – than you will likely need to pour shampoo on the stain and soak the bedding for several hours. Overnight soaking is also possible, if you desire to do so. Once you have soaked the stain for the allotted time, then you can wash the bedding.
4. Cotton bedding that has been treated for blood stains by shampoo and rinsed can be washed according to your usual preferred methods and/or the manufacturer's instructions. If you prefer bleaching your white cotton bedding, you can do so at this stage – be it liquid bleach for whites or non-chlorine bleach for colored bedding. Since the shampoo has been rinsed out of the bedding, it will not impair your detergent or bleach's cleaning ability."

[rockintom]

Just restrung another 2 string day/night shade yesterday. I took some pix if anyone needs some help doing their first one. I would be glad to email them. My email address is listed in my profile. I understand that PI is not using these blinds anymore (used them for a number of years, though) and I can understand why, as they the strings are always breaking. They are not hard to do...just gotta be patient and take your time, especially on the first one. Once you do one of these you're amazed of how they work as good as they do! Tom

[ChiefJohn]

Originally posted by "Butch50" as a separate topic on 13 Nov.

Quote:

This is just a reminder to folks that might be staying is some cooler temps. Remember to pull your mattress a little bit away from the outside wall at the headboard. This is a good place for condensation with no air circulation. Just a small amount is all it takes. I noticed ours was starting to get some moisture there a couple of weeks ago. Butch 2006 Ford F550 2006 Dodge 3500 CTD 2007 Excel Limited 35RSE

[Bruce and Jenna]

What, you gettin' some moisture along the wet coast?

(We are...in Reedsport.)

[D and J]

I don't remember who posted it, and I just double checked this whole thread for it,

BUT, we just finished cleaning all the dead bugs and stuff of the front nose cap. Someone posted that using used Bounce dryer sheets helps remove bugs.

HOLY COW!! the bug removal has never been so easy!!

Great tip, whoever first posted it!

[Bruce and Jenna]

Ever see dust or DOG HAIR in the floor vents? Can't suck ˜em out with the vacuum no matter what you do? Don't want to take off the grill whenever you clean.

Get a about three feet of flexible plastic tube from a hardware store, with the OD slightly smaller than the distance between two fins of the grill. Mine is ¼"�. Then hold the tube between two fingers and use your hand to cover the opening of your vac tool, so you create a seal with one end in the vac. Then shove the other end thru the grill and suck it up.

Note this will not pick up the raw fish and gold filling that flees the mouth of a guest waxing eloquent about the superiority of the Chev 3500 torque under maximum load.

Oh yes, I find the "power head"� of the in-house Dirt Devil vacuum completely inadequate for extracting dog hair from the carpet. We purchased a Dirt Devil Classic hand held vacuum which has a motorized brush, for $40 at Fred Meyers (like Walmart, only the employees get benefits). It does the job! True you must crawl around the floor, since it is a hand held tool. But there ain't much floor anyway.

[rockintom]

Great idea B&J,
I did something a little different, I took all the screws out of the floor vents, so you can remove by just lifting out of floor to vacuum. The carpet seem to keep them in place without screws, but on the wood (wilsonart) floors it's a different thing. They rattle around when you walk on them without screws. So I put much shorter screws (like 3/4") to replace the long screws and only snug them up to stop movement. I guess one could use some double loop velcro and make that work. Anyhow, the way we have it, we can take out 4 short screws to clean out all heater vents in the rig! Tom

[Workshop]

Don't know where I read it , but thought someone has asked about a simple shower shut-off valve so the water doesn't have to run all the time or turning off the valve knobs.

Just installed a $4.97 device from HD between the spray head and hose to allow shutting off the water without having to adjust the temp settings on the valves. As we are getting ready for vacation trip without full hookups, needed a way to conserve water and tank space.

The picture looks to have a knob?, the one purchased in the store has a push rod, side to side, that controls the water flow. I used teflon tape in the spray end, only to make a tight connection allowing me to position the "rod" going left to right for easier viewing, with soap in the eye.

Link: shut off valve

[rockintom]

Here's a close up of mine installed and in the 'on' position.

[Workshop]

ChiefJohn is right, it's harrrrrrd to keep up. My prior unit had a shut off on the sprayer, felt like something was discovered and the world wasn't flat after all when they showed me the part. Glad to know others had already found it. Don't know why the design is different but like the push thing anyway. One less place to hang things.

[rockintom]

On rare occasion we have had our rear kitchen drawers open. This usually happens on very rough or bouncy roads. This normally wouldn't be a problem, but on our floor plan (FLR) if the one of the drawers comes open and you put out the curbslide (our superslide) the drawers have an "interference issue". Not a pretty picture! I decided to take a 5/8" piece of wooden dowel and cut to size and add a 5/8" self glue pad on one end to prevent scratching to the floor. Just drop the dowel down the drawer handles when you get ready to leave and this will hold the drawers together in the event one was to jump open. Very doubtful ALL drawers would jump open at the same time. When not in use, the dowels store nicely in the coat closet by the front door.

I plan on putting some heavy packing tape length wise on the dowels to make them slick so there is no chance of marring/wearing the fronts of the drawers in travel/movement. I don't have enough tape to do complete the job now. Guess duck tape would work, but wouldn't look as nice as clear tape. We haven't made a trip yet so don't know if there will be any glitches, but don't expect any. Total investment...$6.00 and 15 minutes.
Here's a couple of pics. Tom

P.S. I believe the newer limited models have a more positive latch mechanism and ball bearing rollers, which would be nice and eliminate the need for this little item.

[LarryGodby]

I know a lot of people use the PressurePro Tire Monitor System. Some of us need to convince other members of the family that the expense is reasonable and really is a safety item not just another cool toy. I digress. I purchased a tire pyrometer this spring and it indicated a slow leaking tire on its maiden voyage. Less than $50 and I just check the tires when we stop and don't really look for a certain temperature but look at difference between tires. Tires on the sunny side of the highway will always be 10 15 degrees hotter than the other side.