Neighbors hot over HP noise

[JamuJoe]

Originally Posted by r carl

What the heck kind of fan do you have for that frig????

It's just the standard refrigerator fin cooling fan on the 2012 FC. I must admit that it is loud on a quiet night. I often turn it off on cool nights. No sweat, no spoiled food.

[r carl]

Originally Posted by JamuJoe

It's just the standard refrigerator fin cooling fan on the 2012 FC. I must admit that it is loud on a quiet night. I often turn it off on cool nights. No sweat, no spoiled food.

Its hard to believe a tenter would complain about a fan inside your camper, does it keep you awake? Im surprised they can even hear it.

[JamuJoe]

Originally Posted by r carl

Its hard to believe a tenter would complain about a fan inside your camper, does it keep you awake? Im surprised they can even hear it.

The fan is not inside, it is just behind the louvered refrigerator vent on the side of the trailer. It is louder than it should be for the function. Not a brilliant design by Airstream. The point that I tried to illustrate was about respecting the quiet of a campground and easily defusing a confrontation. In this case the partner of the complainer apologized to me in the morning and we had a nice conversation.

[r carl]

Excellent call on defusing a confrontation. Is the hum from an air conditioning unit considered too loud for a campground?

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by r carl

Excellent call on defusing a confrontation. Is the hum from an air conditioning unit considered too loud for a campground?

Only if yours is the only one running.

[slowmover]

Because it takes quite a while for our truck to warm up to the point where it's usable and will shift out of first gear.

Until a week or so ago, I thought this was completely normal for our truck, but it turns out it's not - apparently there are a couple issues that should be resolved today. Hopefully I won't have to do this any more. But we'll still probably warm it up at least a few minutes on those cold mornings before taking off, just like we would with a gas vehicle.

Just plug in the coolant heater (the "block heater"). Idling does next to no real warm-up (and shortens the already short FORD diesel engine life); a block heater will bring coolant temp in mine to 115F in any weather in about ninety-minutes (just leave plugged in overnight). An engine oil pan heater (aftermarket; KIMM or FOX) can also be added.

Same is true for any gas vehicle. There are solutions, and extended idling is never one of them.

.

[Skater]

Originally Posted by slowmover

Because it takes quite a while for our truck to warm up to the point where it's usable and will shift out of first gear.

Until a week or so ago, I thought this was completely normal for our truck, but it turns out it's not - apparently there are a couple issues that should be resolved today. Hopefully I won't have to do this any more. But we'll still probably warm it up at least a few minutes on those cold mornings before taking off, just like we would with a gas vehicle.

Just plug in the coolant heater (the "block heater"). Idling does next to no real warm-up (and shortens the already short FORD diesel engine life); a block heater will bring coolant temp in mine to 115F in any weather in about ninety-minutes (just leave plugged in overnight). An engine oil pan heater (aftermarket; KIMM or FOX) can also be added.

Same is true for any gas vehicle. There are solutions, and extended idling is never one of them.

.

The block heater only heats the oil. It has nothing to do with the transmission.

"Extended" in this case is maybe 10 minutes, tops. Let's not overstate it.

[Lily&Me]

Many campgrounds do have separate tenting areas. Even those that do, tho, can have tents, pop-ups, etc., in sections for rv's.

I think that a lot of folks in tents are not actually rustic campers.

They have screen rooms with a table within, upon which sit the coffee pot, crock pot, electric skillet, etc. Therefore, needing and wanting electricity just like others.

I suspect that any outside noise can be disturbing to unprepared tenters, whether that is a door, water pump, dog bark, etc. They are the routine noises of daily living.

We try to be quiet at early hours, but some folks are just unreasonable.

The op here may have run into one of those, or a novice who hadn't figured out the benefit of earplugs.


Maggie

[featherbedder]

Originally Posted by Skater

The block heater only heats the oil. It has nothing to do with the transmission.

"Extended" in this case is maybe 10 minutes, tops. Let's not overstate it.

Block heater only heats coolant not oil you need oil pan heater as
slomover posted or some other source to warm oil in engine..... Bill

[Skater]

Originally Posted by featherbedder

Block heater only heats coolant not oil you need oil pan heater as
slomover posted or some other source to warm oil in engine..... Bill

So this heater you describe warms up the transmission fluid? Because, you know, that was the issue I mentioned.

[TouringDan]

Weather idling the motor or operating the engine block heater to warm up the motor, I don't see how either will warm the transmission allowing it to shift better.

Dan

[Ag&Au]

Pulling out of the campground and driving away slowly until your truck warms up will not only warm your truck up much faster, but will also stop annoying everyone else in your half of the campground while it does. Some people enjoy sleeping in as part of their vacation.

Ken

[LawChick]

We have an oil filled heater that looks like the old "radiator" type heaters. It is the best thing ever for the trailer. Makes no noise, pulls very little electricity once the oil is hot, and is just one of the best things we ever purchased for the trailer. It's 1500 watts.

[Ag&Au]

We were camped in Colter Bay campground. The sites are reasonably close to each other. Next to us was one of those sun blocking oversized 5th wheels. It was obviously a couple in their 50's or so. With them were their daughter, her husband and a baby still in diapers. For some reason, I could not fathom, the young couple obviously had a large percentage of their personal effects, including all the baby's paraphernalia in their car rather than the trailer. Their car was as near to the bedroom part of our trailer as it could be and still be in their camp space. They were constantly back and forth from the trailer to their car the whole time they were there. This included several trips during the middle of every night. Every time they accessed their car, they would unlock and relock their car. So far this is not to bad. What made is extremely annoying is that they had their car setup up so that every locking and unlocking caused one or two beeps on their car horn. I decided that anyone one that clueless would not understand the problem if explained to them. So we put up with it until they left which luckily was in about 2 days.

Ken

[DKB_SATX]

Originally Posted by Skater

So this heater you describe warms up the transmission fluid? Because, you know, that was the issue I mentioned.

If your transmission cooling lines still pass through the radiator (in addition to a larger external cooler) then having the coolant warm when you start is going to heat the transmission fluid faster than from a cold start, assuming there's not some thermostat preventing flow through those lines until the transmission's internal temperature comes up.

I wonder if there's an issue with your transmission or the type of fluid in it, though. My F150's 4R75E shifts well enough rolling away at 20F just after a start. I realize the 5-speed Torqshift in your Superduty is a different transmission, but it's a newer design than mine, I'd expect it to be better not worse.

[perryg114]

Why do you need your transmission to shift out of first gear in a camping loop? It will warm up much faster in gear when the torque converter is slipping generating heat. The engine will warm up much faster under load as well.

Perry

[xrvr]

Perry. I agree. Drive slowly in first, it is safer anyway. By the time you are out on the main road, the truck should shift, jim

[Gene]

The transmission and engine are bolted together, thus heat moves through the metal and fluids and will eventually get to the transmission. It will take time, but an engine or oil heater could help.

Driving in 1st gear is a quick way to warm up everything. And if it won't shift out of 1st right away, something may be wrong. Wrong fluid in the transmission could be the answer—who changed the oil last? Oil change stores have been known to use the wrong stuff.

Gene

[Lance M]

One of these for your coolant
Amazon.com: Kat's 12050 500 Watt External Tank Heater: Automotive
and one of these for your XMSN pan
Amazon.com: Kat's 24250 250 Watt 4"x 5" Universal Hot Pad Heater: Automotive

Might need more watts for a monster truck.

[J. Morgan]

If I recall correctly, the owners manual for my Duramax recommends warming up while driving chill for a few miles.