December All Topic/Off Topic Thread
 

Just thought I'd get one started since everybody must still be in Turkey overload--LOL

3 Weeks to Christmas

Uhg...... don't remind me :-(

Pretty slow week around here. Anybody getting iced/snowed in yet?

Would you look at that, a stranger started the monthly thread. Good to see you in here Tim.:-X22The bridges/elevated surfaces are starting to get exciting. The surface roads are still wet. But with a low of 16F in the morning...and 7F for Saturday morning I'm sure it's going to get worse. Wonder if I should plug the truck in...just in case.

Checking in

I took Jeff's advice and moved my camper around the side of the house and got her plugged in and ready in the event we have to move in.

So I took the propane cylinders up to Ferrell gas this afternoon only to find that they are both completely full.. DOH.. I've used this thing off and on for the last 8 years and apparently they go a lot farther than I realized.

Our 5th wheel has two 30# on it, back in July I filled both of them for the road trip so not only could we cook but the fridge would stay cold while traveling. I don't know how much gas the fridge needs to function with but it must be very sparingly...I know one is still full. I did discover while prepping the trailer for storage that apparently the two deep cycles weren't getting a charge everytime the trailer was plugged in to shore power...they were dead last month when I dropped the trailer. And they were brand new in April. Guess I'm going to put one of those trickle chargers on them to see if I can bring them back to life before spring.

That happened to moms camper a couple years back and I had to replace the inverter. It acted like it was working, but wouldn't let the batteries charge.

Well I was hoping we'd get by this ice storm without damage. Wishful thinking...when a limb snapped an fell from the tree in the from yard it managed to bounce and hit the trunk of the little blue demon. Lovely :-bangheadThe hit was hard enough that the ensuing dent knocked a dime size chunk of the paint off. But at least the truck is safe!How did you troubleshoot/dianose it was the rectifier? Been thinking I should get one of those trickle chargers to put on one of the batteries...thinking that it would trickle both since thier hooked in parallel. Maybe I should get two trickle chargers, one for each battery?

Sorry to hear about the limb Zach I hope the Pavement Princess is gonna rise from the ashes. J/K
Dunno what you think of Harbor Freight stuff but they have a floating charger for $4.99 w/coupon. If you need the coupon I can drop it off for you.:-jammin

I mis-typed, it was the trunk of the Focus...not the F250 that was hit. The wife isn't happy...her car; guess I get to spend my scheduled day off tomorrow figuring out what this is going to cost me. It's not like I could go ride the scooter...so why not.:-X16Harbor Freight is one of those places that some stuff is a real bargain while others are just cheap. Heat shrink tubing, zip ties and sanding supplies...bargain; everything else, well buyer beware. Or at least in my book. Thank you none the less for the coupon offer.

Hey Zack, does the 12V lighting and such work when plugged into shore power? If so, some RVs have a circuit breaker or inline fuse between the power converter and the batteries in the charge line.
If you have to replace the converter, here's the one I prefer if it is a deck mount PD 9270C 70 Amp RV Converter/Charger
If it is one of the cabinet models, this site should have a replacement to fit.

Not sure which is more frustrating...filing a claim or realizing the cost of damages is mostly labor, not parts & paint. The shining moment was the insurance agent assured us that we're not the only ones that had damage on a vehicle after all the ice last week. Apparently someone had a large limb fall on the hood of their Prius. I wanted to smile, but that isn't nice.
I'm not sure where the one is on the trailer. Would it be in the same area as the circut breakers for the entire trailer electrical system? In this case under the fridge. I know there is a disconnect between the batteries and the rest of the trailer. I checked to make sure it was on when I first noticed the legs weren't moving. Maybe sitting from the end of July to the first of November without being plugged in could have been part of the problem? I'll keep that link in mind when I figure out what might be the issue.

Uh...... Well, let's file that one under lucky guess.

That could possibly be the problem, especially if you didn't turn the disconnect off, the LP gas detector will drain the batteries in a month or so by itself.

I knew I didn't like X-mas time for some reason. The holidays have always been a sorta sad time for me and now they are even worse. My big sister passed away Tues. from unknown causes. We'll bury her tomorrow just down from Donna. Please keep my family in your prayers.

Gees Jeff, that really stinks; espeially here right before Christmas. Our prayers are with you my friend.

Thanks Zack. One of the hardest things I have had to do. RIP big sister.

Jeff, sorry to read about your sister. I was an only child so I really can't relate to losing a sibling, except that one of my sons was in ICU over Thanksgiving with what they thought was stomach cancer(turned out not to be)and I saw all his brothers, who normally can't stay in the same room for 20 minutes come together for him.

Joe, talking about campers.
We didn't use our motorhome at all this past summer except a couple short trips in the spring. Sometime in Sept I noticed that one of the vent covers was cracked, so I started looking on ebay for replacements. I'd been wanting to get those big vent covers that let you keep the vent open in any weather, so instead of ordering 3 new vent tops for $20-something each I ordered 3 of those big covers for around $80. Figured I'd do the lids later.
Anyway, in climbing up on the coach to install them I noticed a soft spot in the roof, and a couple of holes in the rubber coating. I remembered in the spring when I came outside after a big storm and found about a 15' branch laying behind the m/h. Apparently it bounced off the roof on it's way down.
I called Progressive, and about a week later I had a check...what great service!
Took it to the shop(where it sits as I type)and the guy told me that they couldn't satisfactorily patch the EMPD(sp?)roof in the field and he'd have to replace the whole thing. Also couldn't match exactly the interior roof material, so he's going to have to replace the whole bedroom area ceiling.
Will be using all updated materials, leather pattern ceiling panels and 1 piece PVC roof instead of the EMPD that is actually several 4' wide panels bonded together.
Leaving off the roof rack to avoid 16 extra holes in the roof material, re-sealing the a/c unit and all the vents/antennas, etc. and replacing all plastic covers on the roof including the vent tops I was worried about.
He's also going to throw a good used control board in the refer so that it'll light on gas without having to jostle the coach(he suspects bad solder joints on the old board)as a freebie.
Gonna make my 25 year old coach like new again.
Then, to top it off, since I took it to the shop before the storm hit, it's been sitting under a nice covered shed through all this crappy weather(we got about 3/4" of ice and a foot of snow after that).
Damn the luck. :-)

Wally, no one likes a show off.;) The local insurance adjuster for Shelter retired at the end of 2011, so we've got a new one we have been "training" ever since. Our 5th wheel was hooked up to the truck and sitting next to a large cottonwood in May that was hit by lighting. There is a 1.5"-2" streak down the side of the tree where the bolt went to the ground. While I can't prove the trailer took a direct hit...one of the exterior lights had it's cover blown off and the corner of the roof (rubber material) bubbled up and started leaking. We discovered the leak in June and filed a claim. This new adjustor gave me the run around for close to two weeks about going to see the trailer at the shop...only to denigh my claim because "RV's are cheaply made and leaks are going to happen since they're thrown together". Shelter has always taken care of us fairly and I've been very happy with my service...but after dealing with this jerk...our local agent got an ear full while I sat in his office. Guess who I had to deal with on the dent damage to the Focus this week? Yip, same adjuster...:-arrgh :-banghead At least this time he approved the claim.

I never even saw this guy. He called the house, Lynn told him where it was and he came out and looked at it.
Shop sez they never have any problems with Progressive when they have to submit a supplemental claim, and then he asked me how much my deductible is. Hmmmm.

So sorry to hear this Jeff, you and your family are definitely in our prayers.

Good luck on being listed as a member of two different chapters. I used to work in another state and spent allot of time in that state...enough that I tried to join the local FTE chapter for said state. I was informed by a moderator that you can only be a member in the state for which you live. Now you can post in just about any state you desire...as you've already demonstrated...and we've experienced in the past. At any rate, welcome to the chapter, glad you found us.:-wink There are quite a few members that hail from the greater Small Pebble area.What is your definition of ready?

Zack is exactly right about being in 2 different state chapters. You can only join the chapter that is shown in your profile.

On that note, welcome to the chapter:-X03

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...sterman68.html

And I was stuck at work. Guess what the weather is going to be like on my days off? Yip, you guessed it...downpour of rain. Yet more proof that Mother Nature is a psychopath.

Hahahaha...just keep smiling. Only consolation is that you know it'll change eventually.......typical Arkansas weather. As long as it's not that freezing rain/black ice.:-X03:)

It is a full moon, isn't it?? At least you're not riding the tail end of the train doing switch duty during our forecast flood.....:-X04

Welcome to Arkansas, Mysteryman68. If you like to fish I can point you to some dang good crappie spots down in that area. Sure ain't none up here :'(

The joys/pitfalls of experience, the company thinks your worth more wiggling sticks (running a locomotive) than making those high powered decisions about where to go (conductor). On a crappy day I'm happy to be in the cab where it's warm & dry...but when it's 75F and crystal blue skies, I envy the conductor. I'll take back have the mean things I said about Mother Nature. Today and tomorrow (other than the cool temperatures) will be down right awesome. And it's December...so lows in the 20/30 isn't that uncalled for.

Looks like it'll be a busy day tomorrow for me...so Merry Christmas folks!

Guess everyone is still busy playing with their new toys. Scott, I thought of you Wednesday while leave Dad's over in Maumelle. Some clown in a '08-'10 F250 decided he needed to show me just how awesome his truck was. Lets just say the truck had been modified...considering the amount of smoke coming out of the back of that DPF equipped truck. It was a light grey extended cab/short box that said something like "Royce Dozer" on the side. Not sure if he felt he needed to prove something or if he saw my truck going down the interstate that day headed home from the GTG and wanted to show me he could do that as well.:confused:For those of us still stuck at the salt mine...there was two Monday's this week. There should be a law against that.