RV-Dreams Journal

Busy Times In Louisville, Laptop Died - (Louisville, KY)

As is usually the case when we get to Louisville, we are running around like crazy.  Can't seem to get time to put a Journal entry together, and my over-worked laptop finally conked out.

So, in addition to friends and family visits, doctor appointments, and more, we have to wade through the laptop options and get a new one all set up and ready.

Plus Linda found out she may have to have a root canal this week which will tighten our schedule even more.  No fun there.

Hope to get an entry about our visit to Augusta RV completed soon and we're working on financials for updates in between everything else.

Oh yeah, and our the beautiful horse farm where we stay in Louisville went on the market and sold quickly, so this will probably be the last time we'll get to stay here.

But, most importantly, my Dad is doing well, and after having one new caregiver he didn't like, he seems to like the newest replacement, Neciy.  She has a good sense of humor and a thick skin, so I think she will work out fine.  :)

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New Pacbrake PRXB For Our Truck

Well, it took three days to install, but our 2005 Ford F450 (6.0L Power Stroke diesel engine) now has an exhaust brake.

Sam Miller and his staff at Frontline Auto Tech in Shipshewana, Indiana installed our new Pacbrake PRXB.  We dropped the truck off early Monday morning and picked it up Wednesday afternoon.

After our $250 rebate, the total bill for the equipment and labor was about $3,000, no small chunk of change and we probably paid too much in labor, but I'm confident it was done right.  Now we will see if it was a good decision.

Sam showed us the Pacbrake module under the hood and the on/off switch in the cab.  With it "on", we started the engine.  The compressor, that is part of the system, came on and the air tank filled.  Once the tank filled, everything got quieter, but the engine definitely sounds different, ... a little louder than before with somewhat of a metallic purr.  If it makes us safer, I can certainly live with that.

Linda thought it would be a good idea if Sam rode with me as I drove the truck around a little bit.  With the exhaust brake on, the only thing I have to do is take my foot off the gas for the Pacbrake to do its thing.

Exhaust "brake" is a bit of a misnomer.  It's more of a speed retarder that slows the vehicle.  There is no "brake" that is actuated that stops the wheels/tires.  If I'm slowly approaching a stop sign and let off the gas, the Pacbrake engages, but if I don't step on the brake pedal, I won't stop.  

At very low RPMs (such as slowing for a stop sign), it's barely noticeable.  At mid-range RPMs (normal driving), it's more noticeable, and at high RPMs, its supposed to really slow the speed.  More on how it works later.

 

Why Did We Add An After Market Exhaust Brake?

Our 2005 Ford F450 has a tow/haul feature.  When the tow/haul button is pushed, it is supposed to 1) delay the points at which the automatic transmission shifts when speeding up (i.e. holds the shifting into higher gears until higher speeds are reached), and 2) retard the speed of the truck in a downhill descent by shifting into a lower gear and activating speed retarding when the service brake is tapped,

That second item, in my opinion, is the most important.  And I have read over and over how the tow/haul has worked beautifully for other Ford owners.  Many never have to use their service brakes (brake pedal) on descents.

However, for us, towing a very heavy fifth wheel, the tow/haul was 1) not holding the speed down enough on descents and 2) was downshifting but causing very high RPMs putting us in danger of an "over-rev" situation.  I tried to let it do its job and not use our service brakes, but that was a mistake one day in a long descent in the Bighorn Mountains.

On a long 7% grade on U.S. Hwy 16 going into Buffalo, Wyoming in 2012, we lost our truck engine at the bottom from what Ford's computers said was an "over-rev" situation.  The mechanics said it shouldn't have happened but, in hindsight, I should have used the service brakes more and not relied on the tow/haul's shifting when the RPMs got too high. 

We were beyond the 5-yr manufacturer's warranty and didn't have an extended warranty.  Ouch!

I don't think our tow/haul was defective, but that could be the case.  I'm more inclined to believe that it just isn't adequate with such a heavy load behind us (although we are well within our towing ratings).  So, we bought a new engine (well, a re-conditioned engine) that came with a two-year warranty.

Since that time, I've wanted to add an exhaust brake, as people I know and respect have suggested, but I was concerned about voiding that two-year warranty.  I never could get a straight answer as to whether adding the after-market exhaust brake would void the warranty or not, but I surmised there was a greater than 50% chance that it would.

Since the summer of 2012, I haven't been using the tow/haul feature at all, and relied more on proper braking techniques to keep us at the proper speed in descents and controlling RPMS but taking great care not to overheat the brakes.  Losing the brakes has been my biggest fear all along, and the guy that towed us off the Bighorn Mountains told me "When brakes fail, I'm picking up RVs in pieces".

So, we've managed in that mode, but we've also been mostly in the east and we go out of our way to avoid long, steep downgrades.  Of course, we can't avoid every tricky situation, and my heart rate increases and my whole body gets very hot when we have steep downhill sections.

Now that the "new" engine is out of warranty, and I found someone I thought I could trust in Sam, it was time to try an exhaust brake.  He did some research for me, and though he had installed BD Diesel exhaust brakes in the past, he felt the Pacbrake PRXB was the best choice for us.

 

Why Pacbrake PRXB?

Though the Pacbrake PRXB provides more speed retarding at higher RPMs, it still doubles the effect of tow/haul (by itself) at a wide range of RPMs.  Some exhaust brakes (including Pacbrake's basic, cheaper model) only help on the high end of the RPM range.  PRXB stands for Pressure Regulated Exhaust Brake.

 

Click on this link for a larger image and more detail:  Pacbrake PRXB. 

Another option recommended was the Banks Power SpeedBrake which uses different technology.  In fact it uses technology already in the truck and enhances it rather than adding equipment.  It's certainly an impressive choice.

However, based on our experiences and our truck, I felt like it was better to add a more traditional exhaust brake.  So, with Sam's recommendation and my research, which, granted, consists of limited knowledge in this area, we went ahead with the Pacbrake PRXB.

By the way, there is an Application Guide on their website that tells which Dodge, Ford, and GM models will accept a Pacbrake PRXB.  Newer pick-up truck models designed for towing have factory-installed exhaust brakes, and I'm hearing rave reviews about them.  

 

How It Works

I don't want to get too deep into the technical aspects, but Pacbrake provides a "Driver's Guide" that I found very helpful.

To paraphrase, an exhaust brake works by capturing the exhaust and holding it back.  The backpressure creates resistance within the engine which "converts" it from energy-producing to energy-absorbing.

The example they use is a bicycle pump.  If you hold your finger over the nozzle and pump, backpressure is created restricting your ability to pump.  There is a "butterfly" valve in the exhaust brake module that closes and holds back the exhaust creating backpressure.

So, when the Pacbrake switch is on and I remove my foot from the gas pedal, the butterfly valve closes causing the exhaust to be captured and sent back toward the engine.  Many less expensive exhaust brakes (including Pacbrake's basic model) are designed to only create maximum backpressure at the highest of engine speeds (RPMs), therefore, speed retarding suffers at lower speeds.

The PRXB maintains constant, consistent backpressure at a much wider range of engine speeds (RPMs) allowing for better supplemental braking in a wider variety of conditions.  Now, with that said, the amount of braking assistance is still higher (more helpful) at higher RPMs.

That's why using the tow/haul feature in conjunction with the exhaust brake works great.  In a downhill situation, removing my foot from the gas pedal engages the exhaust brake and we start to slow down without hitting the service brakes (brake pedal).  But then if I gently tap the service brake (brake pedal), the tow/haul causes the transmission to downshift creating higher RPMs which causes the exhaust brake to work even better.

Ultimately, the combination of the exhaust brake and tow/haul give me the downhill speed control I was hoping for without having to use my service brakes.

 

Now, we've only had the exhaust brake for a few days, and we just towed from northern Indiana to Louisville.  Indiana isn't exactly covered in mountains, so it wasn't much of a test.  And there is only one significant hill (short but steep) on our way to our camping spot where the exhaust brake and tow/haul performed beautifully, so there is much more testing to be done.  But so far, I'm very happy and expect my blood pressure to be much lower while towing on downgrades - we shall see.  :)

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Time With Friends, Rig Purging, and RVing Discussions - (Shipshewana, IN)

Sunday

We've been pretty much going through our usual routines and getting some work done.  In fact, I was so focused today that I never turned on the TV to watch football.  Not even to check scores.  Unheard of.  :)

Sunday evening, we joined Jo & Craig at Pat & Bridget's place where she made another wonderful dinner.  Tonight was pasta and meat sauce.

And Linda had more than her share of wine.  :)

That might have helped lead to the discussion of RV toilets and toilet paper, not really an appropriate after-dinner conversation, but one that comes up more than you would think among RVers.  :)

RV toilets are basically gravity or electric flush (aka macerator toilet).   The gravity toilets aren't complicated - flush and everything in the bowl falls into the "black" tank via ... gravity.  The macerator toilets usually have a low flow push button flush and a higher flow one.  When flushing, push a button and the bowl contents are "pumped" out, chopped up by a macerator (like a garbage disposal), and pumped to the black tank.

The macerator toilets allow for more creativity in toilet location in RVs since they don't have to be directly over the black tank.  When there are two toilets in a rig, one is often a macerator type in order to pump waste to a distant black tank (which may or may not be under a second gravity toilet in the unit).

There are certainly pros and cons to both types depending on camping style.  Of course, simpler is less likely to break and is easier to fix while complex comes with popular benefits that override the increased risk of malfunction for some.

In our case, we've had nothing but a gravity toilet with a foot pedal flush.  Gravity toilets have different ways of filling the bowl, and there are hand flush and pedal flush versions.

On our toilet, we have to lift up the foot pedal to fill the bowl, and we didn't discover that until a few years into our full-timing.  At our walk-through at time of purchase, we were told that we were supposed to hold the pedal down slightly to fill the bowl.  Some toilets work that way and some work the way ours work.  We didn't figure ours out until Linda discovered an owners manual taped to the inside of the back of the toilet pedestal.  :)

Linda told that story in our Chat Room one night, and others discovered the same thing.  We recently told the same story at our Fall Rally.  The next day, one attendee told us he'd had his trailer for eleven years and didn't know to pull up on the pedal to fill the bowl.   He was very happy to have learned that tidbit.

After the toilet discussion, the conversation turned to the topic of RV toilet paper.  All of us know that we don't have to use the overpriced "RV" specific toilet paper sold at Camping World and RV dealerships.

Pat & Bridget's toilet paper seemed a little too .... um, ... "comfortable", but she swore she saw a video of it going through the standard "swish test" us full-time RVers are familiar with.  The test involves placing a square or two in a jar of water and swishing it to see how long it takes to dissolve.  The faster it dissolves, the better it is for RV holding tanks and plumbing.

SaniDumps.com, a website for RV dump station locations, does a slightly different test that allows the paper to sit in the water for longer (under the correct theory that it needs to break down without agitation).  They also correctly assert that it doesn't matter what the toilet paper packaging says ... it all needs to be tested.

We set up our own swish test, and Pat & Bridget's Cottonelle didn't pass - not even close.  To compare, Linda fetched our Scott one-ply, septic safe tissue which broke down very quickly.  Now we haven't tested a bunch of toilet paper, but it may be worth the time to find the best combination of comfort and dissolvability.  :) 

So, that was a strange and often hilarious end to an evening with friends.  :)

 

Monday

We dropped off our truck at 8:00 this morning to have our new Pacbrake PRXB exhaust brake installed.  Sam at Frontline Auto Tech here in Shipshewana said they should be done with it sometime Wednesday afternoon.

After that, we planned to go out and get some new walkie-talkies.  Our old Motorola radios are on their last leg.  We also decided that we would go through all our clothes and do an overdue purge.

While having work done at Master Tech, we purged a lot out of a couple storage compartments.  Now it was time to clean out closets and drawers.

 

 

Who knows why I had three pairs of winter gloves.  :)

We threw away some old raggedy clothes and bagged up the rest for a stop at Goodwill.

 

 

We drove over to Elkhart, dropped off the clothes, bought some Cobra walkie-talkies at Walmart, got a little dinner, and headed home.

Back at the RV Park, Pat & Bridget came by for a chat and we inquired about their trip up to Lake Michigan today.  Later, we made plans to go have lunch and get some ice cream tomorrow.

We also discussed the misfortune of our friends Lee & Tracy (CamperChronicles.com).  Earlier today, Lee accidently put regular unleaded in their diesel truck.  Not good.

It's something we've seen happen to others.  Whereas most gas stations that offer diesel have diesel pumps with green handles, BP and some other stations use green for their unleaded pump handles and a different color (black, yellow, orange, etc.) for diesel.  It's extremely important to check and double check what fuel goes with each pump.

It just so happens that there was a BP station with this variation on pump handle colors close to our Fall Rally location, and it reminded us to inform our attendees to be aware of this potential problem.

Back in 2010 we wrote about another couple that had this issue, and now it's time to remind all of our readers to be very careful when fueling up.

As for Lee & Tracy, it's an expensive mistake, but the repairs (less deductible) will be covered by insurance.  In her blog post Putting Regular Gas In A Diesel Vehicle, Tracy covers how it happened, the emotional upheaval, and the magic words for the insurance company - "accidental fuel contamination".  Tough times, but they'll get through it.

Well, that wraps up another day.  :)

 

Tuesday

In the morning, we took care of some business and then joined Pat & Bridget and Jo & Craig for a trip to Nappanee.  The plan was to go to the Coppes Commons, a historical building now home to shops, delis, and Rocket Science Ice Cream.

We had lunch at Nappanee Bakery, ....

 

 

and then it was the main reason for our visit - ice cream.

Rocket Science ice cream mixes your choice of ice cream ingredients in front of you and then flash freezes it with liquid nitrogen.

They have a board of pre-defined flavor combinations, or you can create your own from the list of sauces, syrups, fruits, nuts, candies, and other "goodies".

 

 

Trust me, though they have "kids", "regular", and "large", the kids size is all you will need.  :)

After ice cream and checking out the shops and building displays, we headed back to the RV Park.  Pat & Bridget are planning to leave tomorrow.

It was a relaxing evening with a little work mixed in.  Another day in Northern Indiana down.

 

Wednesday

This morning, we got an email from Janice & Dennis.  They were at our Spring Rally earlier this year and arrived in the area last night.  They wanted to know if we could get together, and we of course said yes .... as long as it was sometime today.  :)

They flew up from the Houston area to visit DRV Suites in Howe, IN and to stop by Lambright Comfort Chairs.  They have bought a DRV fifth wheel and they wanted to take the factory tour.  The bonus for them is that their fifth wheel is on the production line right now.  So, they got to go on the tour and then got a private look later.

They were going to hop over to Shipshewana later in the day.

We said goodbye to Pat & Bridget and wished them safe travels.

Around 2:30, we got the call that our truck was ready.  So we drove the short distance to Frontline Auto Tech, where we paid our bill, gathered the literature on the Pacbrake PRXB, and made sure we had what we needed for our $250 mail-in rebate.

Sam then showed us the installation and how it works.  Linda suggested I drive the truck around with Sam onboard so we could both make sure it was acting properly and so Sam could instruct me on how to best test it without towing our rig.

It's strange having something called a "brake" where you don't press something.  To activate it, the switch in the cab of the truck just needs to be in the "on" position, and then all I had to do was take my foot off the gas pedal.  When I removed my foot from the gas, you can hear the change in the engine and the truck started to slow down.  The faster I went, the more aggressive the speed retarding when I let off of the gas.

Now we'll just have to see how it does while towing.  I'm kind of excited to test it out.

Back at our campsite, Janice & Dennis pulled in.  Back at our Spring Rally, they were the ones in our "hat contest" with the pick-up truck hat and the DRV fifth wheel hat.  Can't see Janice too well, but she's under there somewhere.  :)

 

 

Her fifth wheel even had an awning and two air conditioners.  :)

 

 

After answering some questions and chatting for awhile, we headed over to the Blue Gate Restaurant in downtown Shipshewana for dinner.

We had their Amish-style home cooking and continued to enjoy our conversation.  Eventually, we called it night and they dropped us off at home.

Tomorrow, we're going to drive at least half way to Louisville, but first we have a little appointment at Augusta RV and then we have to stop at Lambright to pick up our two recliners.

Whew, it's been a busy couple of weeks.  :)

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RV-Dreams Website Going Mobile

Okay, so I've know for awhile now that we've needed to make RV-Dreams.com more user friendly for mobile devices.  Well, I've been working on that behind the scenes.

As of today, RV-Dreams.com is ready to be viewed on mobile devices like phones and tablets.  It will look different than on a laptop and it may even look different among mobile devices (I can actually change how it looks on different devices).

I'm sure there will be glitches, so please let us know your experiences, and I'll do my best to fix whatever issues come up.  I'm no techie, so it may take patience on your part and mine.  :)

You will notice that some pages within the website will look different than others and the navigation or menu will also be different.  This is because most of our pages were built in an older module of our software while some have been built in a newer version.

I'm in the process of converting the old pages to the newer format, but it will take a long time to get them all.  As of today, the Home page, Contact page, FAQs page, and a few others are converted. 

Also, our main RV-Dreams.com website is on a different platform than the RV-Dreams Journal (blog) and the RV-Dreams Community Forum.  So, the three sites that are all joined together will look different on mobile devices.

The Journal (blog) is actually at RV-Dreams-Journal.com.  On mobile devices, you just have to change the URL address slightly.  It looks like this for mobile:  RV-Dreams-Journal.com/.m.

So, you can view the Journal in either format on your mobile device.  Just choose whichever one you prefer.

The Forum is what it is.  It's already mobile friendly as much as a Forum can be mobile friendly.

 

We will soon have an introduction video on the home page and a few other videos that were shot this summer.  There will be more video to come as well.

I'm going through the pages and updating information and links - a time-consuming task for sure.  It's an on-going process, but times are a changing and we need to keep up.

So, as always, thank you for your support and thanks for bearing with us as we go through some exciting changes.

Howard & Linda

 

To send us your mobile device feedback, here is the link to our Contact page.

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A Week Or So In The RV Capital - (Elkhart/Shipshewana, Indiana)

We arrived at National RV Refrigeration in Shipshewana last Sunday after a long day of travel from our Fall Rally location in Michigan.  We spent the night in their parking lot.

Since then we've been quite busy taking advantage of the many RV services available in the area.

After summarizing the Fall Rally in this Journal entry - 2015 RV-Dreams Fall Educational Rally - I wrote separate Journal entries about each of the other places we visited for service or just met with due to our relationships.

National RV Refrigeration - Monday, October 12

Lambright Comfort Chairs - Monday, October 12

Master Tech RV - Tuesday, October 13

Utility Bodywerks - Wednesday, October 14

MORryde - Thursday, October 15

Truma - Thursday, October 15

 

This entry fills in the gaps on the other things we've been doing and what we have going on next week.

We signed the contract for our 2016 RV-Dreams Boondocking Rally.  It will be held at the North Florida Fairgrounds in Tallahassee from March 13 - 20.  We'll be hosting 30 - 40 RVs for that, and I'll be working on getting the information page updated and the registration open.

Right after we signed the contract, I got a call from a fellow in southern Alabama that is considering using a portion of his property for an RV-related business, perhaps for just temporary parking or perhaps something more permanent.  So, sometime around the dates of the Boondocking Rally, we're going to go for a visit to see what we think.

On Monday, between having our refrigerator worked on and dropping off our furniture at Lambright, we went to breakfast at Rise 'N' Roll Bakery & Deli between Shipshewana and Middlebury.

 

 

They have three little meals they offer for sit-down dining in addition to their doughnuts, pastries, and cinnamon rolls.  We each ordered a $3.99 meal plus a cinnamon roll.  We didn't realize the cinnamon rolls would be as big as our heads.  :)

On the wall was this little poem:

 

 

A good reminder for us full-time RVers.  :)

Later, we stopped by Frontline Auto Tech in Shipshewana.  Now that our replaced truck engine is out of warranty, I've been considering having an after-market exhaust brake put on our F450.  So, we stopped in to see if they had done that before and if they could give us an estimate.

The owner, Sam, said they had recently done one on the same engine but he wanted to do a little more research and find the best option for our truck.  He said he would call me tomorrow with suggestions and pricing.

After dropping off our furniture at Lambright, we made the twenty-five mile drive to Master Tech in Elkhart where we spent Monday night.

Tuesday evening, after having service completed at Master Tech, we drove back to Shipshewana where we were going to have dinner with Pat & Bridget and Jo & Craig.

On the way, Sam at Frontline Auto Tech called.  After checking options, he suggested going with the Pacbrake PRXB Exhaust Brake.  It's pricey and it will take several hours to install it, but safety is our main concern, so I said "Let's do it".  The good news is there is a $250 rebate on the system right now.  This may be something we should have done a long time ago, or it may be an expensive mistake - guess we'll find out soon.

So, we're scheduled to drop off the truck next Monday and it should be completed by Wednesday.  We're changing plans a bit and delaying our trip to Louisville, but that will give Lambright more time on our furniture, and it will give us the weekend to relax a little.

We arrived at the Shipshewana RV Park and located Pat & Bridget's Carriage Cameo fifth wheel.

Pat & Bridget are here waiting on their furniture to be completed at Lambright Comfort Chairs.  They are getting the same chairs and loveseat we have.  In fact, they got their chairs and are just waiting on the loveseat.  Cool.

Jo & Craig are here for an entirely different reason.  They were here getting repairs done on their beautiful, new Lifestyle fifth wheel, and, unfortunately, they got word there is a major problem and their home isn't fixable.  So, they have been in a hotel for months now waiting for a final offer of reparations.  Lifestyle, to their credit, has been stepping up to the plate thus far, but Jo & Craig are ready to move on.  They have been incredibly patient considering the devastating news.

Bridget (she & Pat are from Louisiana) made us a delicious gumbo, and we enjoyed our little get-together. 

 

 

It was nice to be able to squeeze it in among all the other stuff going on.

We spent Tuesday night in Master Tech's parking lot, and then moved over to MORryde on Wednesday for our early Thursday appointment.  We went over to Utility Bodywerks in the afternoon, and then listened to the trains all night.  :)

Along with two other couples, we were up and ready to back into the service bays at MORryde at 6:00 a.m.  We spent the morning in their nice lounge getting to know Val & Dan from Kansas and another couple from Michigan.

In the afternoon, we visited Truma.  Back at MORryde, our rig was ready and we made the trip back to Shipshewana where we plan to spend the next week while our exhaust brake is being installed and our furniture is being completed.

We got set up in the Shipshewana RV Park (next to the flea market) which has mix of pull-through sites and back-in sites.  It has full hook-ups with 50-amp electric, but the hook-ups are between every two sites.

 

 

In other words, in every other back-in site, the utilities are on the "wrong" side.  The same goes for the pull-through sites except you can come in from either direction on the pull-throughs and have RVs facing opposite directions, but with the utilities on the "correct" side. 

We're in Site 56.

 

 

Once we got set up, we headed back to Middlebury.  Unfortunately, Linda hasn't had time to do laundry for two weeks, so our wardrobes are limited.  Tonight, our better workout/lounging clothes would have to do.  :)

Full-timers Al & Karen (Wish Upon An RV Star) were in town getting some work done on their Grand Design fifth wheel, and we made plans to meet for dinner.   We hadn't seen them in several years, so we were looking forward to the opportunity. 

We met at Rulli's and got caught up on their travels and workamping adventures.  The Italian food was okay, but we enjoyed the conversation more.  Al & Karen have been workamping consistently since they started, including five stints with the Amazon Camperforce in Campbellsville, KY.

In fact, they are heading that way when their rig is finished.  And they will be meeting up with several other RV-Dreams Family members that will be working there this season.

They also worked this summer at a ranch near the Grand Teton's, and they expect to go back next summer.

After about three hours, we departed with hugs and handshakes.  We hope to see them again in Florida after the first of the year.

On Friday, I finally had time to get a good amount of work done.  Bridget & Pat came back from Lambright with their loveseat, and we got word that ours was also ready.  So we went back with them to retrieve our loveseat.

They helped us get it loaded, unloaded and placed in our rig.  The loveseat detaches in the middle making it pretty easy to get in an RV.  It's pretty nice having the power recline.

We made plans to have dinner together on Sunday.

On Saturday, it was cold and I worked all day while watching college football and some of the baseball playoffs.

We are supposed to have lows in the low 30s this weekend, so I put water in our fresh water holding tank and disconnected our hose for the next two nights.

Tomorrow, Sunday, I've still got a lot of work to do, but I'll have all day to make some progress.

Whew.  I think that catches us up for now.  :) 

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Truma AquaGo & LevelCheck - (Elkhart, Indiana)

Today, Thursday, October 15, we had lunch with our friends at Truma, the German company named after U.S. President Harry Truman that manufacturers components for RVs. 

As most of you know, last year we were selected to test a new entrant to the "tankless" water heater market for RVs.

The product didn't even have a name yet when it was installed in our rig in June 2014.

In December 2014 we attended the annual RVIA industry show in December where it was introduced to the industry and the public.  Our job was to talk about our experiences with what is now known as the Truma AquaGo.

 

 

You may also recall that December was the time when my Mom was in Hospice.  I wrote a detailed article then about how we came to be involved with Truma and our impressions of the AquaGo - 2014 RVIA Show & Truma.

Since that article was written, a production model of the AquaGo Comfort has been installed in our RV.  And though it isn't designed to have an interior on/off switch, they used the prior wiring for our old water heater and hooked it up to the old switch so we can turn the AquaGo on and off from inside.

The reason there is no interior on/off switch is the AquaGo, which works on propane only, is designed to be left on all the time.  So the only time it would be necessary to turn it off is right before travel (for those of us that turn off the propane when we travel) and then it gets turned back on when you reach the next destination, while you are outside getting your utilities hooked up.  But us Americans are used to having an interior switch for our RV water heaters, so we perceive that it's more important than it really is.  :)

Soon, that will be moot as we will be able to turn our AquaGo on and off through the Truma app on our smart phones.  This can be done already on devices in Europe where Truma owns the majority of the heating/air conditioning market.

Anyway, though we really didn't have a need for the AquaGo, we have become spoiled by it and it is really nice (when on full hook-ups) to take long, hot showers without running out of hot water.  Though, in all honesty, we rarely ran out of hot water using our prior 10-gallon tank UNLESS we took back-to-back showers that were a little longer than normal.

Truma AquaGo - Our Opinion

Here's my take on the AquaGo having been a user for over a year now.

First, it depends on whether or not you are buying a new unit with the AquaGo Comfort Plus option.  The Comfort Plus circulates water continuously through the plumbing system so you truly get instant hot water at the tap every time you turn on the hot water.  For the additional cost over a traditional RV water heater, this would be a no-brainer for me, and I would absolutely go with the AquaGo Comfort Plus on a new rig.

Note:  The exception to that last statement would be if I were buying a diesel motorhome that already came with the Aqua-Hot hydronic heating system where there is no separate water heater.  However, if the both the Aqua-Hot system and the AquaGo (with separate furnace heat) were upgrade options, it would be a much tougher call to choose between the two.  The Aqua-Hot is a more expensive system to purchase, maintain, and repair, but in addition to offering instant hot water, it also provides heat to the RV using diesel fuel (or propane in a smaller model designed for towables).

Now, for after-market installations, it would be hard to justify a $1,000 AquaGo as long as your current water heater is doing the job.  However, if your water heater goes out, you RV with more than just two travelers, or you just really love long, hot showers, I would definitely recommend spending the extra money to upgrade to an AquaGo Comfort model.  I would skip the slightly less expensive Basic model.

Remember, the Basic & Comfort models are after-market versions.  The Basic will take longer for you to get hot water out of the faucet (there is no water pre-heated in the temperature stabilizer), but it will be continuous once it gets hot (however, it doesn't have the freeze protection of the Comfort model because there is no temperature stabilizer.). 

The Comfort model also will have a slight delay in getting hot water to the faucet, but not as much as the Basic.  If running on the "Eco" setting, it takes about 30 seconds for the cold water in the pipes to circulate out and hot water to come out.  In the regular or "Comfort" setting, you get hot water faster, but the burner comes on more often to keep the temperature in the temperature stabilizer (a small reservoir or tank) at around 103 degrees (as opposed to 42 degrees in the Eco mode).

We tend to keep ours on "Eco" mode.  For us, it's not so much a matter of propane use between the Comfort and Eco setting as the fact Linda doesn't like hearing the burner come on more frequently in the Comfort setting (even though it is much quieter than the burner in our old water heater).

The one big negative of the AquaGo for most RVers will be that it doesn't have the option of running on electric like traditional RV water heaters.  So, from a cost standpoint, it will be a little more expensive for those that are used to heating their water with campground electricity.  The good news is the AquaGo is very efficient, and it doesn't use nearly the amount of propane that traditional boiler-type water heaters use on the propane setting.The bottom line is it's much better than the prior "tankless" RV water heaters on the market.  Where the others struggle with fluctuating temperatures, especially when flow is low or multiple faucets are turned on, the AquaGo solves that problem.

At one time, the owner of one RV manufacturer told me that he refuses to add the other "tankless" water heaters due to problems and complaints from customers.

Now, there are six manufacturers offering the AquaGo Comfort Plus as either their standard water heater or as an optional upgrade.  We will be posting the list as soon as we get it.

Our friend, and the much more technically knowledgeable, Jack Mayer has been testing the AquaGo for New Horizons.  Here is a link to his full report (including photos):  Truma Continuous Hot Water Heater - Test Report.

In his conclusion he states:

 

"This is the best hot water system I have seen or used in an RV. With an OEM installation that provides continuous circulation of hot water to the primary fixtures this should be as close to “perfect” as is possible. Even the retrofit system is an improvement over a smaller “tank” system. The Truma system exhibits none of the issues that other tankless systems do."

 

Most RVers respect Jack's opinions more than they do mine, so those are some powerful words.  :)

 

Okay, on to the Truma LevelCheck.

The LevelCheck was the first product Truma introduced in the U.S. back in 2013. 

 

 

The LevelCheck uses ultrasound technology to measure how much liquid propane is in our grilling and RV propane cylinders.

We just press it against the side of the cylinder, and where there is propane we get a green light with a beep.  

 

 

Where there is no propane, we get a red light with a different beep.

 

 

And it comes with an integrated LED light for those times you are checking propane levels in the middle of the night.

It beats pulling out our 40-pound cylinders and seeing how much they weigh.  :)

The LevelCheck is a handy little device, especially for full-timers with propane cylinders.  I'm not sure I'd recommend it for part-timers/vacationers as it's a little pricey at $70, but it might be worth it for those that do a lot of grilling at home. 

You can purchase online at their website - LevelCheck.com - or pick one up at the dealers listed near the bottom of the page on their site.

  

I suspect we'll be hearing more and more about Truma over the coming years.  And we're looking forward to learning more about their loyalty program coming out later this year.  It's another win-win-win program of the type we like, and it will help AquaGo owners recover a little of their investment with each referral.

As I mentioned in the other post, we really like that Truma is willing to listen to us consumers in the RV world.

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MORryde - (Elkhart, IN)

Whenever we come through northern Indiana, we try to stop at MORryde to get our suspension, wheel bearings, and disc brakes inspected.

We didn't know if we were going to have time on this trip, but since our stop at Master Tech only took one day, we called Rob at MORryde to see if he could squeeze us in this week - they are usually very busy.  Fortunately, we were able to get an appointment for early Thursday morning.

We settled up with Master Tech Wednesday morning and then moved our rig the few miles over to MORryde's RV spots.  They have a few spots with 50-amp electric right outside their service bays.

 

 

Unfortunately, the sites aren't level front to back and we never can get the front high enough to get level.  And there are busy railroad tracks behind the RV sites.

As background for our newer readers, our 2006 Keystone Cambridge fifth wheel (built in early 2005) came with 7,000-lb axles, 7,000-lb electric drum brakes, MORryde RE suspension, and Goodyear G614 Load Range G 16-inch light truck tires.

With some upgrades we made in the beginning, we were 1,000 pounds over our Gross Vehicle Weight Rating from the day we loaded our fifth wheel for full-timing.  In time, the overloads were taking their toll and we started upgrading.

In late 2008, we changed out our wheels and tires going with Goodyear G114 Load Range H 17.5-inch commercial tires and 17.5-inch Aluminum Hi-Spec Wheels.  You can read about the details of that decision here:  Oct 31, 2008 - Tires & Wheels.

The next year, 2009, we started having brake issues.  So, we decided to upgrade to electric-over-hydraulic disc brakes and to change our axles to 8,000-lb axles.  However, when we priced the MORryde IS (independent suspension), it wasn't much more than changing out axles, so we decided it would be best to spend the extra money and get the best heavy trailer suspension in the industry.

We had our disc brakes and the independent suspension installed in May 2010.  You can read about that here:  May 6, 2010 - MORryde Upgrades Complete.

After that, we felt a lot safer and our fifth wheel towed so much better.  Linda, driving behind as we travel, said the side-to-side rocking was pretty much gone, and I could tell the trailer was going over bumps, railroad tracks, etc. like butter.  And I guarantee that these changes have greatly reduced the stress on our fifth wheel's frame.

So, it's been five and half years since our installation, and we've been here two or three times to have things checked out.  Today, they told us that the two rubber springs on the heavy side of our fifth wheel were "borderline".  They recommended going ahead and changing them out so we did.  They said the brakes were in great shape, so we were good there.

In addition to suspensions, MORryde makes sliding trays for RVs, TV mounts, and many other fabricated metal products for a variety of uses.

But one of the things that sets MORryde apart is their professionalism and customer service.  They treat everyone like they are special and it's always a pleasure doing business with them.

We are often asked about our "must haves" if we were to buy another fifth wheel down the road.  Well, based on what's available right now, we would absolutely make sure we would get Goodyear G114 tires with the appropriate wheels, the MORryde Independent Suspension, and Dexter disc brakes.

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Utility Bodywerks - (Elkhart, Indiana)

 

While we are in the area, we wanted to take the opportunity to go visit Tom Underwood at Utility Bodywerks.

In October 2014, we had our damaged pick-up bed on our 2005 Ford F450 replaced with an Elite Aluminum Hauler Bed from Utility Bodywerks.

 

 

We are extremely happy with the new hauler bed, and I recently created a web page that 1) provides more details about why we went that direction and 2) describes the hauler bed features.  Check it out here:  Our RV Hauler Bed.  That page also includes this printable coupon for our RV-Dreams readers (these hauler beds are not inexpensive).

 

 

This summer, we also shot some video of us unloading all the storage compartments to show how much storage there is.  The video includes Linda describing all the features she loves.  We'll have that video up as soon as the production and editing is finalized.

In addition to seeing Tom, the owner, we also met Joe Jones, the new General Manager at Utility Bodywerks.  He is certainly expanding the marketing, and they have completely re-configured their website, their logo, and their literature since this time last year.

That was another reason we stopped by .... to pick up more literature for our Rallies and RV show appearances.  We were almost out, and we needed the new flyers.

On their Facebook page, we noticed photos of recent Fall Rally attendees Dave & Cindy with their new Utility Bodywerks truck.  I swiped a photo for this entry.

 

 

Dave & Cindy are from Delaware, so they drove from Delaware to Elkhart, picked up their truck, drove to Kansas where they picked up their brand new New Horizons fifth wheel, and came back through Michigan for the Fall Rally before driving back to Delaware.  Their truck and fifth wheel are beautiful.

By the way, Utility Bodywerks also installs air suspensions, and most of the customers that are getting hauler beds are also adding air suspension at the same time.

In the RV park where we are currently sitting, another Utility Bodywerks hauler bed arrived.  It's pulling an older New Horizons, and the truck looks almost identical to ours except it's an F350 with a crew cab rather than an F450 with a super cab.  But the color is the same and it looks sharp.

Utility Bodywerks is also currently building a custom truck camper hauler body.  I'm looking forward to seeing the completed product.  What a great way to add storage for those doing long trips, or even full-timing, with a truck camper. 

We're glad to see things are going well for Tom and his company.  In the next few days, he is going to email me the dealers for the major truck brands that he works with.  Most retail dealers don't know how to go about drop-shipping a cab and chassis, so it's helpful to have some other contacts that do it all the time.

That's it for now.  We LOVE our Utility Bodywerks Hauler Bed!!  :)

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Master Tech RV Service - (Elkhart, IN)

 

We've heard about Master Tech RV Service in Elkhart, Indiana for many years.  We've seen their booths at major RV shows and rallies, and we've heard great things about them and not-so-great things about them.

 

 

The online reviews seem to be mostly excellent with a few terrible reviews here and there over the years.  They have 100 reviews on RVServiceReviews.com with an average rating of "Excellent".  Now Master Tech also does RV remodeling/renovation, painting, and collision repair, so those reviews are mixed in with the service/repair reviews.

The Better Business Bureau gives them an "A-" rating and shows only one complaint in the last twelve months.  They have been on Angie's List since 2010, but there isn't a single review there. 

Note:  We have the Premium membership with Angie's List.  The "Plus" and "Premium" memberships allow you to search for service providers nationwide.  And those levels of membership include "health & wellness" searches so you can search for doctors, dentists, chiropractors, clinics, hospitals, labs, etc.  

RVillage, the RVing social network with 35,000 members, shows they have only one recommendation.

To be honest, we are skeptical about pretty much all RV service centers until we go there.  But with a couple of potentially large issues (our hydraulics and generator) we thought we'd give Master Tech a try for the first time.

We made our appointment a few weeks ago for today, Tuesday, October 13, and told them we had until Friday at the latest.  Our experience with RV repair facilities is that it almost always takes longer than estimated, so we try to plan for that.

We pulled in late yesterday afternoon, and parked at one of their many sites around the building that have water & electric hook-ups.

 

 

Interestingly, we were the only trailer, although they said they had others inside having some interior restoration done.

We met James Borum, who takes care of scheduling, customer service, and many other duties.  He's only been with Master Tech two months, and he doesn't officially have a title yet.  But he was with Forest River for 10 years, and his goal is to improve processes and customer service.

One of Master Tech's weaknesses, not unlike many other repair facilities, has been that they haven't done a good job of getting work done timely on rigs that are dropped off.  The vast majority of RVers aren't full-timers and they tend to drop off their RVs for repairs, service, remodels, etc. with no urgent need for the work to be completed.  That tends to lead to procrastination on the part of repair facilities and a failure to keep the customer informed about progress.

As full-time RVers that need to get work done timely on our homes, we can better stay on top of things.  So, while we have the time to be patient and pleasant, we can make sure we aren't ignored.

James left us with a form to complete overnight.  It included basic stuff like our personal information, rig information, and then a section for the work we wanted to have done.  Linda listed our two high priority items - generator & hydraulic system - and then three or four other low priority items.

It's great that Master Tech has several RV sites, but their location is very near a busy rail yard.  The loud, high-pitched, piercing squeal of rail cars being moved and positioned goes on all day and night.

After a not-so-good night's sleep, we were up early this morning.  As long as the weather cooperated, our work would be done right at our spot.  At 8:00 a.m., our tech, Jim, knocked on our door and was ready to get to work.

He started with the generator.  We had it serviced by an Onan tech at our 2014 Fall Rally, but after that we had problems.  In the Everglades Flamingo Campground in January we started the generator, but then it cut out when a load was applied.  After that, we could start the generator, but it would only stay on a few seconds before it died.

Just before our Reunion Rally in May, we had Tom Johnson RV in North Carolina look at it and they couldn't find the problem.  They wanted us to pull into their service bay so they could remove the generator, but we didn't have time for that.

As a side note, I've told the story many times that a master certified tech told us in the first seminar we ever attended on the technical side of RVing that "It's always the batteries" when there is problem.  It's an exaggeration, but not by much.  Every tech we've talked to in ten years starts with "it's probably that your batteries are low".  Of course, knowing our systems like we do, and being able to monitor our batteries and keep them charged, we can usually rule that out pretty quickly (although some techs, including Jim today, still stubbornly believe it's our batteries until they test them).

Jim, primed the generator just like I had done and just like the tech in North Carolina had done.  And then the generator started right up.  Well of course it did.

We let it run for a half hour or so while Jim started looking into our hydraulics issues.

For years now, our hydraulic system hasn't been powerful enough to lift the front of our rig high enough in cases where we have to raise it pretty high to hitch up.  We've gotten around that in a couple of different ways.

Sometimes, just me pushing up on the kingpin while Linda presses the front landing gear button is all the extra it needs.  Sometimes, removing our propane cylinders or emptying our fresh water tank has been required to remove enough weight so that the landing gear will raise the front end high enough.

Jim found a damaged hydraulic hose on our driver's side landing gear.  It wasn't completely ruptured, but there was a small leak.  The hose needed to be replaced, but I wasn't convinced that was the main problem.

The other issue with our hydraulics was that our slideouts, especially our largest slide, kept tripping the thermal auto-reset 12-volt circuit breaker when Linda would bring them in.  The slide would come in a few inches, stop, come in a few inches, stop, etc.  This had been a problem for over a year, but it was getting worse. 

Eventually, with the generator still running, Jim had Linda bring in our big slideout.  The slideout stopped and, at the same time, the generator cut off.  Hmm.  Clearly there was an electrical issue between the hydraulic system and the generator.  That helped narrow the focus.

After Jim got the new hydraulic hose installed, he tested our auto-reset breakers while Linda ran the slide in and out.  It took awhile, but he eventually figured out the wiring was such that we weren't getting the full benefit of the 50-amp auto-reset breakers.

In our generator compartment, we have three thermal auto-reset breakers that look like this.

 

 

The breakers limit the current through the wiring, and they trip as they heat up too much.  But, as they cool, they auto-reset themselves in a few seconds.

We have a breaker for the generator starter switch, the slideouts, and front landing gear.  Jim determined that the various connections between the breakers weren't correct.  This was causing the breakers to trip prematurely.  So, with a simple change of one wire, that problem was fixed.

 

 

    

We're not sure who mis-wired or when, but now the slides all come in without tripping the breaker, the generator is not cutting off, and the front landing gear is working better.

So, it took most of the day, but our major issues were resolved.

The rest of the day, they replaced our broken outlet, fixed our back-up light on the fifth wheel, and installed a new ceiling fan.

Some will recall that our original ceiling fan had a couple of blades broken when service folks brought in the slides without making sure the blades were out of the way.  Apparently, those instances also bent the blade arms because one of them broke off.

So, Linda went in search of a new ceiling fan.  She found one at Lowe's but we determined it would hang too low, so she found this one at Menard's:  Turn Of The Century Camden 42' Low Profile Ceiling Fan. 

 

 

Now this is where we had a little problem.  When Jim took the old ceiling fan down, he had a couple of wires that confused him.  When he wired in the new fan, we were going to give it a try.  Rather than turning on the main breaker outside, I told Linda to just turn on our inverter.

When the fan was turned on, we heard a nasty sound and our entire 12-volt system went down.  Yikes.

Unfortunately, Jim mis-wired the fan and blew our 400-amp catastrophic fuse between our batteries and inverter.  Fortunately, we had the fuse.

He re-wired the fan, replaced the fuse (their cost), and all is now working properly.

We decided not to add the light since we never used the lights on the other fan.  And this fan is tighter to the ceiling than our other fan, so the slides clear the blades easily when they are brought in.  One less thing to worry about.

So, everything we needed to get fixed got fixed and it was all done in one day.  Most of the labor was in diagnosis, and there was only one part we needed (the hydraulic hose).  The good thing about getting service and repairs done in the Elkhart area is parts are readily available and there is no waiting for them to be shipped in.

Our experience with Master Tech was mostly positive.  I'm not sure I'd give then an "Excellent", but they fixed our issues and did it more timely than we expected.  Of course, we thought the repairs might be more difficult than they really were.  Still, I'd give them a "Very Good" and we appreciated having it all done in one day.

Now that they know us, and I see efforts from James to improve some of the little things that I noticed could be better, I would certainly return to Master Tech.  Perhaps next time we'll be able to rate them as "Excellent".

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Lambright Comfort Chairs - (Topeka, Indiana)

 

In October 2014, we took out our three La-Z-Boy Pinnacle recliners (great recliners for RVs by the way), and put in two new recliners and a reclining loveseat built by Lambright Comfort Chairs in Topeka, Indiana (just south of Shipshewana).

 

 

Vernon, owner of Lambright Comfort Chairs, is such a nice guy and they build high quality furniture.  Our recliners and loveseat were the first in this particular style (Lazy Lounger) with lowered arms.  We were sort of guinea pigs.

Unfortunately, the new chairs weren't quite as comfortable as our La-Z-Boys.  At first, we thought it was just a matter of time to let the foam soften, but after almost a year, I was still struggling with my recliner.  After two or three hours of working on my laptop, my rear would hurt.  We were hesitant to call Vernon because he took such good care of us, and we didn't want to seem ungrateful.

But, since we were going to be in the area we thought we would call and see if there was anything we could do to improve the seating.  Before I could make the phone call, Vernon called us, and he wanted us to stop by the shop/showroom.  We made arrangements and today was the day.

As it turns out, Vernon had been getting some inconsistent foam from his supplier, and he wanted to make our chairs and loveseat right.  Plus, he had discovered a new spring that increases the comfort and naturally adjusts based on the weight of the person sitting in the chair.

In the showroom, we sat in the same design of chair, and quickly felt the effects of the new improvements.  And though we didn't get the electrical option last year, we decided we wanted to give it a try.

So, we dropped off our furniture for Vernon and his family to re-work it.  For the next several days, we will be using our LaFuma outdoor loungers for seating.

 

 

After going over the plan with his sons, ultimately, they decided to put our furniture on the showroom floor and sell it as used (it still looks brand new and they re-foamed it).

Therefore, they are building us new recliners and a loveseat with the new springs, better foam, and the power reclining option in one recliner and the loveseat.  We figured we'll have the inverter on when we're boondocking, so we'll still be able to recline.  On my recliner, I'm going with a swivel-rocker as I missed the rocking aspect of my old chair, and it, therefore, can't be electric.

So, we will be here until late next week and I'll update this entry when we get our new furniture.

In the meantime, if you are in the market for RV furniture, and especially if you are going to be in the Elkhart/Goshen/Shipshewana area, give Vernon a call or stop in and see what he has to offer.

They don't have a website or an email address, but here is the phone number and physical address:

Vernon Lambright

260-768-4820

Lambright Comfort Chairs

1150 S 700 W

Topeka, Indiana  46571 

 

And here is a coupon for our RV-Dreams readers.  Just click on it for a printable version.

 

   

The coupon is only good at the Lambright Comfort Chair Showroom in Topeka, Indiana and you must print it out and present it (just showing it on your phone or tablet won't work).

 

P.S.  For what it's worth, we've met many RVers that swear by Lambright, and our friends at RVs For Less replace the standard furniture in the DRVs they sell with Lambright Comfort Chairs.  It's good stuff.  :)

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