Community Forums

Wryly Blithe · 07-02-2015, 05:15 PM

I don't particularly enjoy the sound of any motor running - gas or diesel, engine or generator - no matter what time of day it is. I don't appreciate being woken up early by the shrieks and screams of children playing unsupervised. I do like campfires, but I don't always savor the smell of whatever they're cooking over it.

That said, as much as I don't particularly like these things, I expect these things when camping in an RV park... they just come with the territory. It strikes me as a little unreasonable to expect a utopian nirvana for just $35 a night.

But since we're making a list - kids in the adult pool or hot tub is a huge peeve of mine. That's just inconsiderate, but it means the parents are probably self-absorbed jackasses to begin with and you're not going to change them with one confrontation, so there's too little to gain from fighting that battle.

As a younger man I would have been in all of their faces giving them what's what, but I've come to realize that tolerance of others' careless stupidity makes me a happier person; I simply don't have the time or energy to waste on letting them make me mad about anything.

Mr_D · 07-02-2015, 05:21 PM

The Magna says to have the engine running when leveling (air leveling) and also either plugged in or the engine running to put the hydraulic powered slides out.

Nomad Mike · 07-02-2015, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkusW

Yes, that's the hardest part about it. I don't have a 40' but I already have issues scouting locations for a 32' the law around here says that you can park your rv anywhere you want as long as it's within 300 feet of a main road and you can't cut any trees or brush to get her into the location. But that's becoming almost impossible now these days since the state is snatching up all the land and putting barbed fence up or digging 30 foot deep trenches around ideal boondocking locations.

What area is that? The state - all of them, side with businesses. Those businesses want us to park our rigs at nice $80 and up places and spend our money at other equally expensive places nearby. I want to park in BLM or NF's and be left alone - but they don't get much $$$$ for that!

b-Bota · 07-02-2015, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkusW

No noise before 9am. I personally enjoy being able to sleep in and hear the sounds of birds and the wind blowing as I wake up. Puts me in an awful mood if I wake up to racket first thing in the morning.

X2 :-)

2005 HR Ambassador 36' ISC 330,
2014 Honda CRV

CampingCajun · 07-02-2015, 06:14 PM

If we have to leave early I'll hook up the toad the night before. I'll also retract the jacks so that all I have to do is dump tanks if necessary (not to noisy), retract the slides & go.

psw757 · 07-03-2015, 05:46 AM

I can live with the idling diesel noise as we all have to arrive and leave at some point. I wouldn't consider a 5 minute idle excessive either.

The thing that bothers me is all the trucks that practically drive around the campgrounds nonstop making noise, dust and safety issues. Some of the places we've been this year you can't even let your kids ride their bikes without worrying about them getting mowed down.

ShapeShifter · 07-03-2015, 01:48 PM

Camping etiquette is quite simple and can be boiled down into two simple rules:

Be considerate of your neighbors and don't do anything to annoy them, or else they will think you are an uncultured buffoon.
Be tolerant of your neighbors, even if they are acting like uncultured buffoons.

Jim_HiTek · 07-03-2015, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nomad Mike

I'm a bit confused about the statement of connecting to shore power to provide extra power to the leveling jacks and slide. For my Journey, my understanding is that these are powered off the chassis batteries. Shore power and gen set are not providing power to those batteries except for an Amp-L-Start I have installed. I'm sure many rigs must get power to the chassis electronics from shore line or their slides/jacks operate on the house batteries.

My manual though does not have me start the engine, except in the HWH it states to start the engine for storing the jacks. That might be because of not only extra power, but I will be airing up to and that will need more power.

I think camping near others, one might expect that people will come and go and they will be either breaking or making camp.

Those devices ARE powered by the chassis batts...which in turn, get charged by the 'converter'. That device is a 120V to 12V charger and generally charges the Chassis batts but not the Starting batt. That's handled by your Amp-L-Start.

So what happens is if you plug in, or start the genset, you're getting the chassis batteries boosted by the Converter so when you extend (or retract) the slides, they have that extra oomph.

ChasA · 07-03-2015, 04:56 PM

Jim_HiTec,
The chassis battery is the starting battery. The coach battery is the house battery. A lot of people confuse the terms coach and chassis. Usually coach (house) batteries are charged by the converter and the chassis (engine/starter) are not. Newer, more expensive motorhomes often charge both systems.

phil57 · 07-03-2015, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShapeShifter

Camping etiquette is quite simple and can be boiled down into two simple rules:

Be considerate of your neighbors and don't do anything to annoy them, or else they will think you are an uncultured buffoon.
Be tolerant of your neighbors, even if they are acting like uncultured buffoons.

Well stated. That should be put on a plaque and posted at ever campground.

Bigd9 · 07-03-2015, 09:44 PM

How about the people who seem to thing everyone wants to listen to their music? Or the "uncultured buffoons" who can't seem to complete a sentence without dropping the F-Bomb several times, and doing it so loudly it can be heard for several campsites away. Or the people who come to a campground to project a ball game onto an outdoor homemade screen the size of a king bed, and play by play descriptions until after midnight? Or the couple who can't back a RV into the space allotted without the spouse that is outside yelling at the top of their lungs "Left, left left...no the other way I meant right"! Or the young woman next door who walks her dog at 6:00 in her skimpy PJ's

because she thinks everyone is still asleep......... OK maybe that one isn't so bad afterwards!

Cliffy · 07-03-2015, 09:56 PM

Boom boxes, Stereos and outdoor TVs. Thumping car stereos! You think the entire world wants to listen to your choices? NOT!

Cliffy · 07-03-2015, 09:57 PM

BigD9 just beat me to it by seconds ! :-)

gemini5362 · 07-03-2015, 09:59 PM

For the poster that says his chassis battery is only charged by the amp-l-start. I obviously do not know how your coach is wired but most class a diesels have at least a 2000 watt inverter and those have the capability to charge your CHASSIS batteries with a 100 amp current or larger. That will help a lot when you are moving slides and doing other chassis things.

For the people that want piece and quiet go buy some property out in the woods and camp on it. I live on 25 acres. My neighbor behind me owns 110 acres, on another side they own 40 acres, across from me they own 55 acres. I literally cannot see another house from my house. I know all about the piece and quiet of living in the woods. I dont expect that when i am in a campground. It is a lot of people crammed into a small space. I do not know what campgrounds you guys go to but most of the ones I have stayed in have been where people are working and stay in the campground near their worksite. I have stayed in a couple where they had pipeline workers, these people have diesel one ton trucks and they get up at the crack of dawn to go to work. We have been living in a campground because my wife took a temporary contract to be near her elderly parents. Most of the people in our campground either work or some go to school near by. When I lived in the campground where they had pipe line workers those people sat around until pretty late at night drinking beer and talking pretty loud. They work hard and they relaxe hard. It bothered me a couple of times and I just asked them to not congregate out behind my unit where my bedroom was. We are all paying for a piece of ground just barely bigger than our units in most parks. Someone else is paying the same amount you are for their space and they are going to use it they way they think is appropriate. If it bothers you too much you can either say something to them, say something to the campground management or move.