Bob Jones

We had the same thing with our Diplomat and it was the bathroom GFI as well. It happened several times over the years and because of the timespan we had forgotten about the previous incidents. The last time it did it, it mimicked so perfectly a failed inverter that we almost replaced it...... Like yourself, we had to buy a very specific one in order for it to work. I can't tell you how many times those things caused problems. I'm glad I got rid of them. When I look back on all the houses I've lived in, we never had an electrical problem - ever. But then, GFI's were not in use in those homes.

It makes a big difference if living in it full time. Up here in Canada I have $70k on the unit, 2 million liability, $10k contents and it's $1,600 CAD per year ($1,272 USD) with $500 deductible.

The only GFI I have left is the block heater at the rear of the unit which is on it's own circuit in the panel. So it should be eliminated. I haven't used it in years but did jamb a screwdriver into the two contacts to be sure. The outlets DO work on Generator and they do work on Shore Power. Just not on inverter. Yet all the other outlets on the same circuit do.... They *used* to as of just a couple of days ago. So even worse, it appears to be intermittent. The other day I ran on inverter to exercise the batteries. The two outlets which do not work are across from each other. The kitchen counter outlet and the outlet under the kitchen table.

Hi folks! Just in the middle of a power failure and I'm seeing an issue with my inverter-provided AC power which has me a bit stumped. On my unit (2000 Diplomat) the inverter powers 2 circuits, Inverter 1 and Inverter 2. The Microwave is on it's own circuit, Inverter 2, which works fine. So that circuit can be eliminated from the equation. The issue is with Inverter circuit 1, which powers a slew of outlets. While on inverter, no incoming AC, *some* of the inverter outlets work and some don't. I've reset both breakers on the inverter and also tripped the breakers in the panel. So line 1, coming out of the inverter, is actually working. This leads me to believe inverter is OK. However, some outlets don't work, which leads me to believe there is a wiring issue. They all *used* to work just fine. What I find odd is that one one circuit some items work and some don't. This has me wondering, could this be a GFI-caused issue? I replaced as many of the GFI's as I could with regular outlets just to get rid of such issues. In the coach there are none left. Could I be on the right track with respect to GFI's?

As far as I'm able to tell, she had people working on her unit and one of them may have been working on a claim with Aviva (her insurer). We're thinking that person finked on her when he filed the paperwork for her claim. But it's hard to say. For all I know, she could have told them she has a space heater and caused the issue herself. But I saw the termination letter and it was pretty rude. When she called the broker, that broker told her someone finked on her. That broker than told her to shop for a new underwriter and....when she finds one, to show them the termination letter..... Advice like that makes me think they are intentionally screwing her over. Yup, what you are seeing is the underwriter. On my policy the underwriter was some massive company in Sweden or someplace like that.

I'll introduce you to her 🙂 Actually, I think she's closer to 70. All I know is that she slaps me if I mention a higher number by mistake... 🙂 All I know about someone finking on her is that the insurance broker would *not* say who it was. They were, literally, protecting the identity of the person that did it. I can't see it being a neighbor at all. They would have to know who she dealt with for insurance, and that she had a heater, and that it was illegal under her specific policy. As far as I can see, it must have been someone there doing work or an inspection or something along those lines. You might be right also in that she may well have mentioned it. It's hard to say. She has two policies, she bought her son a trailer and covers that one as well with another policy so she gets the two confused at times. I'm just trying to help her sort it out and bring it back to basics so she can get on and not have the anxiety.

The company is Aviva !

Good point. I've seen those outlets, they have push installed wires (vampire taps) so that they can assemble them fast at the factory. I've replaced pretty much all of mine with regular house outlets. No more GFI's either. The wiring itself appears to be standard issue romex. The whole situation is bizarre. According to her, only one claim for a toilet (approx $500). 5 years of paying $1,600 per year. So that's $8,000 in income with +/- $500 in claims. 2015 unit. So the profit on her insurance to date is roughly $7,500. And you should see the letter they sent her. No thanks, just we're cutting you off. Explanation given? Due to underwriting reason(s). It was her broker that told her the issue was an electric space heater and that someone had reported it and they would not say who. It has to be someone that worked on it, that's the only thing I can think of. But here's the kicker, her broker told her to take that letter with her and to show it to anyone that she is looking to get insurance from!!! In other words, show that denied letter to prospective new insurers.... She is +/- 72 years old. I asked her if she pissed of the insurance company - she says no..

The whole thing is pretty odd. I'm still trying to understand how they knew she had one. What you say makes sense about them considering any space heater a space heater and not distinguishing between an oil-filled heater. My uncle burned his unit down with one of those Chinese ceramic heaters, so I can see that. That is why I got her into an oil filled heater. It's sealed with no exposed element and shuts off if it falls over. My policy says nothing about them. Yes, my uncle lost a unit from a fire caused by a Chinese ceramic heater. This is why in the RV world it's generally known to use an oil-filled heater due to fire hazards. For the sake of others not familiar with this, here is a picture of my oil-filled heater.

This is the thing. I told her it had to be someone working for, or on behalf of, that insurance company. To me, that means she must have made a claim, an independent servicemen came out, and in the process of doing the claim finked on her. They would *not* tell her who it was. To me, it sounds ridiculous. The only way I can see that happening would be if she dicked around the person doing the work. Or, if the person doing the work got some kind of kick-back for finking on her. Either way, it would have had to be during a claim with that specific insurance company. Thing is, she says the only claim she had with that company was a toilet issue where it was replaced, several *years* ago. But they dropped her. Ie, they will *NOT* insure her. Up here there's only 4 insurance companies to deal with, that I know of, so, one down... But I'm really curious since I put her into the oil-filled heater because of the potential fire issue.

Hey folks! I'm mentioning this because it happened to my neighbor. Se *had* an electric space heater (one that glowed red hot) and I told her to stop using it and got her an electric oil-filled heater. The reason for that was because I know the electric space heaters cause fires - that's why I put her into an oil filled one. Her annual insurance is due shortly. This is insurance for 24x7 living in your unit with something like $2 million in liability in case your burn your neighbors down or such. Everyone here in this park has to have it to stay in the long-term areas, so I have it too. Anyway, she gets a letter saying that her insurance company is dropping her after 4 years because....she has a space heater. So we're wondering HOW the insurance company found out, to start with, and her adjuster said someone finked on her! Likely someone that was there doing some work on her unit. So go figure. But here's the thing. As near as we can tell, the only work that was done on it was years after I put her into the oil-filled heater. So whoever finked on her must have seen that one and reported her (of all things) to the insurance company. I find the whole thing pretty disgusting. The way she was treated was reprehensible. Anyway, she's now looking to start up with another insurance company. My question is, have you guys run into situations with respect to insurance and using an oil-filled heater? Or perhaps seen similar things? I have always understood, and heard many tales of, electric space heaters (such as ceramic etc) burning units down. It happened to my uncle. But I was always under the impression that oil-filled heaters are safe because they don't burn anything or anyone. Both of ours shut off is turned over and I can't see them burning anything down because the element is not exposed.

You know you have too much time on your hands when reading Amazon and Ebay reviews is the highlight of your day 😇🤣 I'm guilty of the same....

Have you considered using compressed air to winterize? I don't like the idea of adding antifreeze to the water system.

Interesting! I'm assuming it would work with any web browser based device? Where did you get the valve?

On ours the weight of the panels pictured is about 45 pounds each (90 total). So the weight is completely irrelevant when you take into account the area it is spread over.

Just the big stuff... I have a trouble light in the wet bay that has a thermal outlet that automatically comes on at or around zero. Never had a problem with the wet bay freezing yet in 5 winters. If you want to keep the fresh water flowing from the pedestal you will need a heated water line or...you can leave the water on with a slow drip. I have never had an issue with the fresh water tank or black tank freezing. My unit has no underbelly heat, having said that, if the furnace is on, the heat will leak into it anyway keeping it warm (ish). As for the water heater, never an issue, as long as you are actually using it. The biggest issue I run into is keeping the incoming water flowing. The heating cables from Home Depot etc are junk - they usually last one winter. Next one will be a residential roof heating cable. I do prepare for the winter though, fill fresh tank to the top, flush black tank, get trouble light set up, fill propane, etc. It's not uncommon for the park to loose water for short periods during a prolonged freezing period.

No thanks, mine is just fine.

That's a really good idea! I don't use the propane side at all given the fire risk. I'm also currently stationary so it's always on a pedestal (at least, at this point). What blows me away is that my parents used it for the better part of 20 years, from Canada to the California, every year, using the propane on the fridge the whole way, and never burnt it down! We didn't know any better back then - ignorance really is bliss! I manually shut the propane valve on the back of the fridge so that it *cannot* fire up. Literally 🙂

Ours, pictured above, was $700 CAD for the two panels and about $500 CAD for the solar charger. Add in $200 CAD for miscellaneous and there you go. $1,400 CAD = $1,100 USD for 50 amps DC. We opted for two new Trojan 105's and an optional battery meter and some switches so that was extra but did not have to be done. Our original goal was only to keep the coach batteries charged when stored. When we looked at the cost of buying a setup like that from an RV place it was a no-brainer to upgrade to residential. Up here they were selling RV solar kits for $800. I think they made 200 watts. We went to 900 watts for roughly twice the price with top-end Victron gear and panels. The $800 from the RV store got you cheap Chinese junk. We've got best of breed, quadrupled the output and have an app on our cell phones to monitor the solar charger and the battery meter. 50 Amps DC when the sun is shining...up in Canada, no less. We couldn't be more happy and cannot use more than it generates during the day. We tried. Mind you, no inverter yet and so no Microwave but I don't see any issue with it if we go that route. We just have to live without AC. Best of all, it's 100% seamless. My parents don't have to do anything. It's all automatic and there is one disconnect switch to turn it off in case of servicing etc. We can easily add two half-panels to the roof with minimal effort just by tapping into the existing wires and upgrading the controller to handle the increased output. So there may well be another 500 watts within easy reach bringing us up to 1,400... But the thing is this. When we did it, we made it so it could be done in stages, because, to be honest, I didn't think it work anywhere near as well as it does. I was a skeptic. So we looked at it this way, the RV crap was $800, ours, in the end, with new batteries etc was roughly $2,000 - so we 'risked' $1,200 for a way, way, way better system. Top of the line. And we did it more/less on a lark. I did the math on it, so I knew what it should do in theory, but we didn't really believe it. When we turned it on after it was installed, in the late afternoon, it put out 42 amps. We were shocked. We then left the fridge on, empty, set to full cold, for more than a month. Looking at the app, overnight, the batteries never got anywhere near depleted. As soon as the sun came up the next morning, they were full in no time. During the day we could never use more than was being generated. What I'm saying is, if a guy wanted to dip his toes into solar, in stages, incrementally, so that you can see for yourself, it's easily doable in that fashion. And it can be built-out and expanded quite easily with minimal $$ loss. Just mind the Air Conditioning, if you have to have it where you're at, it changes everything. The big hit for us, since our new unit did not come with one, would be the inverter. If we do it, I want to do it right. The Multiplus 30/50 inverter, the color touch screen, network wiring to all the devices, central control etc. Up here I budgeted $6,000 CAD for that (parts only, we do the install). That's the big hit. But, I'm reasonably certain that Dad could pull into a park and not bother to even hook up to the pedestal after that. Bearing in mind, they are not full-timers, they are weekend excursions during the summer. So in our case, ~ $2,000 for the initial solar install, add in $6,000 for super deluxe inverter install, total, $8,000 CAD ($6,200 USD). That's doing it yourself but that's also the absolute living end on the inverter side. Every option. Highest quality cabling, you name it, it's in it along with a decent fudge factor for bits and pieces.

Good point! I know my dehumidifier can be operated remotely over the Internet but have yet to try the other plugs. Glad you mentioned that, it's probably one of their most important features.

Hi Folks! I realize a lot of motorhome owners are older so you may not be aware of Smart Plugs but they are really handy and I just saw a box of 4 for $20 CAD at Costco so I picked them up and gave some to my neighbors. What they are is just an electrical outlet that is controlled by WiFi. So once they are joined to your WiFi network you just install an app on your phone and then you can remotely turn on and off that outlet. You can label the 'plugs' on your phone to what they do, ie, Fan or whatever. In my unit I have most things using the phone as a remote control. I can turn the hot water tank on & off with the phone, a circulating fan, my dehumidifier has native phone control, and outside outlets such as the TV in the lower compartment, as well as my oil filled heater (on a separate remote). It's very handy, especially the Hot Water tank as I can turn it on when I'm lying in bed before I get up. That way the tank is fully hot for the shower. If you have a Google Phone they have a central app that will run most things on smart plugs. But at $20 CAD for 4, well, that's about $15 USD. So...not much risk there! Because my hot water tank has a 2,000 watt element I had to use a more expensive one for that. It was about $50 CAD. But that one includes a voltage and watt meter and also shows you how many volts AC are available. It's more sophisticated than the Costco ones. If you have the stock 1,400 watt element I bet you could run your water heater on the cheap Costco ones as well because they are rated for 15 amps..... Since they are integrated with your phone you can also schedule items to turn on or off at predetermined times. For instance, you can hit the Away button on your phone and turn everything off all at once and schedule things to turn on at certain times. It adds a LOT of versatility to living in a motorhome when you don't have to get up anymore to turn things on and off. But when I saw a 4-pack at Costco for that price, well, I wanted to mention it in case others have not heard about them yet. At that price you can give them away as gifts!

There's something wrong with those guys or their setup. I did a solar install on my parent's new unit, two large residential panels, I believe 900 watts total, it makes 50 amps DC in direct sunlight......up here in Canada..... It only has two trojan T105 batteries and we left the fridge on 24x7 in the summer for.....more than a month with nothing in it set to full cold. Any modern flat screen Samsung uses about 40 watts max. Point is, the fridge never ran out of power, even through the night (batteries by night, solar by day). With the Victron app you can readily see whether you have a net surplus of solar while operating your equipment. We were never able to get it to draw more power than the sun was making. BUT we do not yet have an inverter so no TV and no Microwave. But here's the thing, The TV's are new. They draw nothing. I would expect them to draw 20 watts each (x3 = 60 watts) if you were watching all 3. That leaves the microwave and loads such as a kettle or coffee maker. Kettle or coffee maker are short time loads. I would not expect any issue with them based on duration of use. The Microwave though is a bit tougher. It's a larger load that, ideally, should be able to run for 30 minutes or in a perfect world, 60. In my motorhome (2000 Diplomat) it's no issue with 4 Trojan T105's with no incoming power at all to replenish the batteries as I have no solar. I would expect, in their case, that we would need to add two more batteries for making a meal with the microwave. There's something wrong with their install, their design, or their consumables in their unit. They also talk too much and say nothing. It's very easy, with the Victron app on your phone, to just shut everything off in direct sunlight and then walk around turning everything on, one by one, and seeing whether you are in a net gain or net loss situation. This also makes it very easy to see what the power pigs are. I'm not a global warming fool, I don't have an electric car, and this was my first solar install, and I was sceptical. But the fact is, the second we turned it on, it started cranking out power. I couldn't believe it since I had never seen a solar install work before. Didn't know anyone that has one.... But I know how well it works up here, and it's much more sunny down there....so...what's the difference? We don't yet have an inverter so we are minus the TV's and the microwave. But I already know how they will work based on my 20 year old 1500 watt Trace inverter and 4 Trojans in my unit. The only issue I can see in my parents setup, once we invert it, is not running AC. That is asking too much of it. Those folks need to spend less time making videos and more time walking around with a kill-o-watt to see where they are leaking power. Btw, there is enough room left on my parents roof (29 foot unit) to add in probably two more half-panels. Bottom line, we could not use enough power to overcome the sun during daylight hours no matter what we did. That will change a bit with the inverter, but not much. Not much at all. Last thing. It's beyond me that people cannot understand that a properly chosen residential fridge uses MUCH less power than, let's say, my Norcold 1200 LRIM. A quick check with my Kill-O-Watt, or even reading the label on the fridge, shows it uses 500 watts. When you extrapolate that out to a month it adds about $30 (!!) to my Hydro Bill, if not more. The go look at the energy label on a new modern fridge of roughly the same size. It will show you that it uses less power in one full year, than the Norcold uses in one month. Should it not be obvious to everyone at that point that if you are on solar it's going to be a cakewalk with a modern residential fridge?

That would make sense, to a degree. I found this from Michelin. It seems they have a service manual for their X1 tires directed at shops that do the retreading. Here's an excerpt or two which I found enlightening; RETREAD LIMITS Line haul = greater than 150,000 miles per tread life: 1 retread (so, 300,000 miles total on the casing) Regional and P&D = 75,000 to 150,000 miles per tread life: 2 retreads (so 150,000 miles to 300,000 miles on the casing) Severe Service, On/Off Road, Urban, Refuse = less than 75,000 miles per tread life: multiple retreads (however many miles you like!) 🙂 CASING AGE LIMITS Customer or tire manufacturer specifications may have more stringent (shorter life) requirements that must also be met. For Line Haul 7 years For Pickup & Delivery 10 years For Severe Use no age restriction If you read between the lines it looks like what Michelin is looking at for casing age limits is not actually age, but mileage. Michelin Retread & Repair Guidelines for the X-One Tire Of course, it's a personal preference but I have a unit that had brand new Michelin's put on it right before I got it. As such, the tires are new. According to the general consensus of the RV owners, they have certainly aged out and must be replaced. I think they may be 7 years old? In due course the unit will be back on the road but there is no way that I would replace what are effectively new tires because of age. Now if they have bulges, signs of weather-checking, broken belts, flat spots that do not 'self-repair' over mileage etc, then I would do something about them. But this idea that all tires that are 'old' must be replaced regardless of condition, it's a crock. And given Michelin's guide above, it does appear that they are NOT looking at age as the decider but mileage. From my research, Michelin has the strictest guidelines on the matter. All of the other manufacturers appear to be much more relaxed and don't appear to consider age of importance.

It's official, you've now broken my mind. I'm ordering up 6 tire pyrometers, and a Nascar team, along with some NASA scientists and ultra-precise scales. I'll case those tire pressures yet!! Not to really stir the pot, but had a neighbor over the other day. Was a long haul trucker for a good part of his life and the manager of a truck tire store later. He started at the bottom, changing truck tires and worked his way up. I mentioned to him that I thought the 5 year rule (or whatever you call it for RV tires) was a big load of crap! He laughed and said they NEVER cared about the tire manufacture date when they recapped tires......He said as long as it wasn't from the '70's they'd cap it. And many of them recapped many times.....go figure.... Makes you wonder what a modern tire guy would say about tire age and how it relates to recapping them if asked......

It is funny the way it works sometimes. I tried different pressures on mine and, in the end, it turned out the best ones to use were on the tires placard behind the driver's seat the entire time. Go figure 🙂 I'm pretty Monaco sat down, did the homework, took into account typical tank levels and weights to come up with their recommended number.