AHA! Moments: What Have You Learned Lately?

[slowmover]

I think you're like me in that not only are the hands old, but that I forget I own something and go out to purchase yet another. (Which at this point sounds better than admitting I'm not willing to unload the bed of the truck to find a $17 item).

I'd say any tool which extends leverage is a good idea. Same for mechanical grabber and magnet on flex extension.

[m.hony]

The flashlight on a headband (headlight?) is handy.



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[GammaDog]

Just learned this in Wyoming on Tuesday. Been mostly out of Internet range till now.

When it's hot and you have the fantastic fans open and running for ventilation while underway, then your GPS routes you down a beautiful, dry, deserted gravel road that lets the tow vehicle kick up dust, don't assume that the closed windows and doors will seal the trailer. Stop, close the lids and fans, and enjoy the drive. Otherwise (let this be a cautionary tale Campers!) you will find every place on the underside of the trailer where the is a penetration of the living space and you will arrive in the Bighorn National Forest with a trailer in which every surface (yes, ceiling too! ) will be covered by somewhere between a thin layer and a full covering of road dust.

[Dot Dave]

Aha! ALWAYS chock the wheels before unhitching. You never know when you're on a slight incline. Thankfully it was very slight and she rolled just a bit, but enough for both of us to frantically grab for her thinking we could stop a downhill roll.

[m.hony]

Wife: "What's to keep it from rolling down the hill? Is the park brake set?"
Me: "Naw, it's on level ground. It ain't goin' nowhere. It's still hooked to the truck and the to gue jack is down. I'll put the stabilizers down tomorrow if you wiggle the trailer."
Wife: "If it rolls down the hill, it'll tear up the trailer, the truck, and the car."
Me: "ah-ite den."
Then, I go outside, set the parking brake, chock all 4 wheels, and let down the stabilizers.


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[AStreamNerds]

Originally Posted by m.hony

Wife: "What's to keep it from rolling down the hill? Is the park brake set?"
Me: "Naw, it's on level ground. It ain't goin' nowhere. It's still hooked to the truck and the to gue jack is down. I'll put the stabilizers down tomorrow if you wiggle the trailer."
Wife: "If it rolls down the hill, it'll tear up the trailer, the truck, and the car."
Me: "ah-ite den."
Then, I go outside, set the parking brake, chock all 4 wheels, and let down the stabilizers.


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I assume that you are referring to your TV parking brake? But I sure hope you do not pull your emergency brake cable on the trailer to be used as a parking brake...you may end up getting another AHA moment when you don't want one.

[John&Vicki]

My wife and I are at Cape Blanco on the Oregon Coast. We came over here to escape the 100 degree heat in Bend - now we're freezing. it's 55 degrees with 45mph winds. Love it though - this is wild and wooly coast.

Anyway, the AHA! moment... I've posted this in another thread but it's really relevant here as well. Hopefully I'm not breaking any rules by double posting it.

My TV is a Mercedes ML500. I don't know how many manufacturers have it, but evidently Mercedes was the first to introduce "intelligent cruise control" which utilizes both the engine and the brakes to control speed. I have always been aware that the cruise control did a great job of controlling speed but I until this trip to the coast I had not realized that it used the brakes effectively as well.

I was coming through curves following the Umpqua River when I used the cruise control to go around a 35mph curve in the shade and noticed that the brake lights were reflected on the trailer. So then I started experimenting, reduced speed closer to the curves and noticing how quickly things slowed down. The next thing I noticed was that the trailer brake controller was engaging. A really, really neat discovery. I've always used the cruise control extensively, almost like a hand throttle, but I had no idea it was so sophisticated. It's not only convenient, I can see how it can increase my margin of safety in many different conditions. A really nice AHA! moment.

Cheers,
John

[donm168]

Originally Posted by m.hony

Always have Channel Lock pliers for this:
Attachment 242089
My arthritic hands can't get it tight enough otherwise.
Always have a Y adapter or 2 so you can hook up city water, black tank flush, and have a free faucet for hand/foot washing.
Attachment 242090
Always have some O-rings/gaskets to stop a leaky hose fitting.
Attachment 242091
Always have teflon tape, too. It is hard to get the water heater plug to not leak without it.
You can never have too many flashlights or batteries.
Attachment 242092
You can never have too many campfire/charcoal grill starters.
Attachment 242093


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I'd add to the first part that I have a short 8 or 10" hose that is always attached to the city water inlet. Its purpose is to allow me to connect the city water hose without having to get on my knees to make the connection. Not easy for my 80+way too many years knees.

[AWCHIEF]

Never ever trust GPS, it lies. Always keep your GPS as up to date as possible. Double check routes on current paper maps and keep it handy for when the GPS craps out, because it will at the worst possible time. This goes for water, road or off the beaten path foot travel.

[m.hony]

Originally Posted by AStreamNerds

I assume that you are referring to your TV parking brake? But I sure hope you do not pull your emergency brake cable on the trailer to be used as a parking brake...you may end up getting another AHA moment when you don't want one.

Yep parking brake on tow vehicle is set.
Break away brake cable is still attached.
I'm sure if I pulled the break away brake cable from the switch, the brakes would apply for a little while and then the batteries would die and the the trailer would roll away...


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[m.hony]

Originally Posted by donm168

I'd add to the first part that I have a short 8 or 10" hose that is always attached to the city water inlet. Its purpose is to allow me to connect the city water hose without having to get on my knees to make the connection. Not easy for my 80+way too many years knees.

That is a good idea. I have a short length of hose attached to the black tank flush- long enough to get from the connection through the hole in the bottom of the compartment to outside the trailer. I could do the same thing with the city water connection.


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[Becky B.]

Speaking of awnings.....make sure you park far enough away from that beautiful tree on your campsite so your awning can fully extend. Don't set up your whole trailers with linx levelers, chocks, legs down, trailer removed from TV (a pro pride at that!) and THEN discover that you can't extend it all the way.....not that I know first hand or anything...

[Hiho Silver]

And if you don't want to or can't fully extend the awning the "caravan position" takes up less space and is quicker and easier to deploy than fully extending the awning. See link for this on post 33
Sandy


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[Rich W]

Originally Posted by AWCHIEF

Never ever trust GPS, it lies. Always keep your GPS as up to date as possible. Double check routes on current paper maps and keep it handy for when the GPS craps out, because it will at the worst possible time. This goes for water, road or off the beaten path foot travel.

The wife says I'm nuts but I have the Garmin in the center dash and my cell phone in a holder on the left side by the A pillar. The cell is running the Waze app, which is nice because it gives me road information (accidents, objects in road, stopped vehicles, congestion, police, etc.). The Garmin allows me to use multiple stops on my route, tells me distance to gas, food and rest stops.

Between the two of them I get a lot of information. Now the Garmin has taken me down the wrong path a time or two. When people flag you down on their 1-lane road and tell you you're going the wrong way you know you're in trouble. Also, when you end up in the middle of the forest and the Garmin announces you've arrived at Mammoth Cave Visitors Center (and the Garmin shows the road as ending) it's probably wrong again.

The Waze app is better for directions but doesn't do multiple stops, doesn't give information on gas, food etc and has a much smaller screen. But between the two, if both tell me to turn the same way, I'm in good shape. If they tell me to go different ways, I believe the Waze app more than the Garmin and so far, that's worked out well.

So my Aha moment was deciding to use both devices when traveling and it's been very helpful.

[Thiatt55]

I thought the fuse box was where the fuses lived but not always the case. I have had 3 experiences with what i guess I'd call inline fuses. Each discovery process either came at the exact wrong time or a long wait for "special" fuses to do a repair. So here are the 3 I have had so far, any others I'd love to hear about.

Power lift at the hitch - I over lifted the unit and finally burned an inline fuse to the lift and there I was I it could not bring it down. I was stuck there till a fellow camper provide a section of wire to "Act" as a fuse to lower it. I think it took a 30 amp slow burn glass fuse which was found at a Napa auto parts store.

Fuse at range hood- needs a glass 3.1 amp glass tube fuse. This one is not easy to find. paid $7 each for fuses from Airstream and they ONLY took 10 days to arrive. I am gong to a 5amp fuse for this as I believe the 3.1 is too week for the job.

Refrigerator fuse IN the refrigerator. My unit would not switch to electric. Waited 8 weeks for a service appt. only to find out it was just a fuse.(just the wrong time of the year). Dometic refer folk said that it also needed the 3.1 amp glass fuse. So the service folk ordered one. When it showed up Dometic had sent the 5 amp fuse because they had also decided the 3.1 was too wimpy. Of course if they had only mentioned that the service folks had plenty 5 amp fuse (easy to find) but not the hard to locate 3.1 amp.

So in closing I have found 3 fuse issues not in the fuse box. Hitch Lift, Refrigerator, and range hood. BEST to have some spare fuses for these 3 on hand.

Any others out there?

[AWCHIEF]

There should also be an inline fuse close to your water pump. And another close to where the power cables come in from the battery. I do not know what that one does.

[greghoro]

I have a 4A glass 3AG 1/4" x 1 1/4" fuse in each Fantastic fan.

My refrigerator does not have a roof vent, it uses a fan to ventilate the coils on the road side. The fan is protected by a 1A glass 3AG 1/4" x 1 1/4".


Greg

[ROBERT CROSS]

This was an AHA
Bob

[lsbrodsky]

Here is another AHA I thought of. When my trailer was delivered by the dealer the trailer brake emergency cable was connected to the hitch at the same point as the chain, in fact the cable was wound around the chain. I did not think anything about it because all of my previous hauling had been without electric brakes.
Months later I saw an article or a post somewhere that explained that if your hitch pulled off the truck, the cable was useless connected that way. Eureka!
I installed a separate attachment point for the cable, not attached to the hitch. But, I have casually noted many trailers in campgrounds with the emergency cable attached to the hitch.
Larry

[m.hony]

The dealer actually threaded the break away brake cable through the safety chain on ours. I didn't say anything. I didn't want to argue and didn't think it would do,any good. I just unthreaded the break away brake cable and attached it separately though the hole where the safety chain goes.
An ah-ha moment: Rather than unplugging the break away switch, running the plug through the safety chain hole and through the loop in the other end of the cable, and plugging it back into the switch, use a carabiner hook to attach the break away cable to the hole in the bumper where the safety chain goes. Pulling the switch every trip is still a good idea to make sure the break away brake controller is still working. You can actually hear the electric brakes engaging.