Just to prove we can have a good camping trip

[davydee]

Finally got time to read & post on the forum. We spent three nights dry camping at Big Meadows in Shenandoah NP. Great to compare the new rig to the previous two TTs. Carried two group 27 90 amp AGM batteries on the trailer and two 24 group 79 amp batteries as back up in case we had a battery issue. Full propane. Filled freshwater at the park.

Six showers and four days of other fresh water use. I probably drained five gallons of fresh water when we got home. 2.5 hrs of gen use over the four days. Gen not too loud. 600 watt converter did fine running the convection oven, hot water heater, and still put a good charge back into the batteries. Only used the heater for about a half hour when temps dropped below 55*F. Still got propane in both tanks. Ran water heater on propane twice daily unless we had the gen running; then once a day.

Finally got the fantastic fan unstuck. Getting better with the Reese Signature Series hitch. Only issue is the recliner mechanism (separate topic) and we had the vacuum cleaner die (no power) when we tried to use it after we got home. I' m thinking we blew a fuse, but got to find it. Got some researching to do on that thing.

Here's the fun part: a new motorhome pulls into the site next to us late Friday night and they're having issues. Guess what their issue is? Hydraulic leveling legs won't extend. Boy, could I sympathize with those guys!!!!

Davydee

[MonacoMama]

Davydee... I don't see any photos in your post ...so your "good camping trip" is still just a rumor!! (Just kidding - but I do love photos!!)

There is only one major thing I would have done differently.... I tend to always use my genny when I use the microwave. The load that it draws from the batteries is tremendous.

I am looking forward to a seeing few photos just to prove that you were there!!

[davydee]

Uh-oh! No pics... Dang! Guess we'll have to go, again. We need the practice, anyway.

[MonacoMama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by davydee Uh-oh! No pics... Dang! Guess we'll have to go, again. We need the practice, anyway.

Yep..."Practice makes perfect" is something Sacs tells me all the time...and I'm still not perfect...

[davydee]

OK, second time out and we're batting 1.000 for rain, but that's why we have the hard-sided RV, right?

We got the prime acron site at Big Meadows Campground in Shenandoah Nat'l Park, so deer were everywhere. This was a cooler, wetter weekend than in August, so we tested how many appliances we could run off the generator and in what combination. Only damage was that we forgot to check the slide and ceiling fan clearance when we closed the kitchen / entertainment slide as we were leaving home Friday.

Oh yeah, we also got that stinking little green "wrench" warning light in the instrument cluster on the F450 as we went to hitch-up yesterday to come home, too. A quick restart and it went away, but it's off to the selling dealer this Monday for a look-see.

We're gettin' there! David

[rockintom]

Davy,
Thanks for the update. I am surprised about the ceiling fan issue 'cause I thought PI had fixed that issue after our old '05 was built. We have to position the blade on the road side slide so that the blade doesn't have a "interference" when the slide is closed!!!

Is your ceiling fan assy. countersunk into the roof of the coach or flush? Ours is flush and I noticed that all (that I noticed) that were built after ours had the motor assy. countersunk so the blade goes above the top of the slide. I hope you have many more happy journeys!!! rockin'

[davydee]

Thanks, Rockin'! The ceiling fan is countersunk, but it's had an issue since the Washington RV show. We believe the slide was accidently slid in while the ceiling fan was running from that show. We had some slight damage to a ceiling fan blade and to the trim over the TV area that we noticed in the PDI and fixed. I had noticed that the slide would, at times, touch a blade and the fan would turn as the slide closed. We weren't watching this time and caught a blade dead-on with the slide trim.

As we surveyed the damage, we found a screw from the one broken blade on the floor. Not sure if it's the cause or the effect, but we may have had a screw drop out that allowed the blade to fall slightly so it would be below the top of the slide trim. We just weren't paying attention and paid the price.

BTW: a gray Excel coming into that campground gets a lot of positive and favorable attention!

[MonacoMama]

LOL...Davydee..I was coming in to post that I wanted to see photos..and you have done it already!!
It looks like a great place to camp.

PS...You don't need to make your photos that small before you put them in. The system will resize them automatically. The photo will get larger when one clicks on them if you leave them larger when you attach them!

[davydee]

Thanks, MM! I'm still learning...

[diamond]

I had my cd player door open while putting slide out and broke the door off no more cd player just a radio!! next time I will double check clearance and be sure all is clear, a lesson learned the HARD way.Television was angled but I put on tie downs that won't happen again...

[BookIIRoadtrash]

Quote:

Originally Posted by diamond I had my cd player door open while putting slide out and broke the door off no more cd player just a radio!! next time I will double check clearance and be sure all is clear, a lesson learned the HARD way.Television was angled but I put on tie downs that won't happen again...

We all have had something we had forgotten when those slides are moving in and out. Here is a thread where we got some what honest.

[ChiefJohn]

We have the flush type fan mount and have not had any issues with the slide making contact with the fan blades. However, our King Dome controller is mounted above the Entertainment Slideout and it has fallen down (velcro fastner) and gotten caught in the top of the slide-out. Marilyn added to our pre-departure checklist