Fresh Water Do’s & Don’ts

Cross-contamination between fresh water (drinking water) components and the hoses and fitting used for wastewater can be a health risk. Just being aware of these concerns is half the battle of maintaining an acceptable level of sanitation. Incorporating these steps into your setup process can help to ensure you keep your fresh water fresh and safe.

• When doing the RV setup do all “clean” activities first. Fresh water hose and filter, electrical connection, jack, slides.

• Leave the “dirty” setup for last. Connect and extend the sewer hose.

• Keep a spray bottle of 9 to 1 bleach water mix. Spray the water faucet and hose ends before connecting. 

• Do not use the fresh water hose to back flush the black water holding tank. Use a different hose preferable with a different color. I have a gray colored hose for this.

• Store the fresh water components in a plastic container with lid. This includes the drinking water hose, water filter, water pressure regulator and a special hose for filling the fresh water tank.

• Sewer hoses and fitting are stored in a separate container or location.

Some RV manufactures do a much better job than others when it comes to sewer hose storage solutions. If you do not have designated sewer hose storage in either a bumper, attached to the underbelly or in a wet storage area you will have to be creative in forming your own solution. A plastic container with a sealed lid approximately 20” by 24” and 6” deep may be sufficient for a 10’ sewer hose and attachments. 

I keep a similar size plastic container for all of my fresh water hoses, filters, and water pressure regulator. This is also where I keep a spray bottle with the bleach water solution. And with all of this segregation of “clean and dirty” components it is not a perfect system. Just think about how many times your water hose was lying on the ground next to or even on top of the sewer hose. 

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 Avoid the Bombs -- Don't Go Cheap on Tires

How often do you hear about travel trailer blowouts and the actual tire brand turns out to be something you have never heard of? Many (or most) RV manufactures put these off-brand tires on new recreational vehicles; it has to be a profit margin decision because great tires are available, they just cost a little more. 

But in all fairness it takes 2 things to make a China Bomb and not just the fact the tire was made overseas.

Goodyear Marathon

1. Poorly made or engineered tires that are prone to heat failure and catastrophic failure. The Goodyear Marathon is pretty much the poster child of China Bombs but there are many other brands on the market today that you should avoid.
2. Owner Abuse. Yes, in countless number of cases it is you, the owner, that sets the stage for tire failure. The top three things that leads to blowouts are: 

• Failing to maintain correct tire pressure 
• Over speeding the tire  (check rating)
• Not replacing an old outdated tires (4-6 years)

My video below looks at all of these issues and provides recommendations on not only how to properly maintain your tires but how to keep you family safe going down the road. In addition, how to prevent tire failure which can cause thousands of dollars of damage to your RV.

Be aware that what your local tire shop recommends may be an off-brand tire or a tire he promotes just for profit reasons. As a consumer be proactive and know what tire you want "before" going in to buy tires. That way the tire dealer will agree with you or have the challenge to convince you in to buying another brand for specific reasons. Listen carefully and make an educated decision.

Once you get those great tires and know they must be replaced every 4 to 6 years you are still only half way there to being safe and money wise. Remember the comment above about "keep the correct air pressure?" Sounds easy and it really is but it takes a certain amount of dedication to check and monitor your tires.

• Each travel day check air pressure and make necessary adjustments. Each tire Brand/Make has a tire pressure chart with recommended tire pressure based on trailer weight. The maximum tire pressure indicated on the tire sidewall may not be your correct running psi. Google search your tire.

• Inspect all tires for damage, bulges or tread separation and cracks. Remember with the 4 to 6 year replacement rule your tire thread is not an indication of how much life remains in the tire. Chances are your tires will still have good thread when they are replace for old age.

• Use a Tire Pressure Monitoring System which gives you an early warning for tire failure. I highly recommend the TST-507 4-Cap System which I have been running for over 15 years.

The last thing you want is a mechanical or tire failure that interrupts your camping experience or worst yet injures someone. You can take preventative actions against tire failure and I hope this information prepares you to travel with confidence and worry free.

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 What Scares People the Most? RV Holding Tanks

When talking with new RV owners you can never talk enough about holding tanks and especially the dreaded Black Tank. After all, who wants to smell that stuff let alone get sprayed with a good dose of poop? No one.

Learning about the plumbing on your RV is an educational opportunity you don't want to miss. Aside from the absolute nasty nature of waste water, you can actually get sick from that stuff. And this is a subject I covered in a different video RV Fresh Water Do's & Dont's.

In this video you will learn how to keep your Fresh Water Tank Clean and free from stale water and worse yet, mold. Additionally, you will learn that the Gray Tank pretty much takes care of itself. Just avoid rinsing any oil or food participles down the drain when washing dishes. 

The Black Tank can be subject to many problems all of which are human induced (no pun intended). Lets walk through them one by one:

• Toilet Paper: I have had good luck using any paper marked "Septic Safe." With this said I don't recommend getting the thicker multi-ply soft stuff. The key here is to flush with plenty of water making sure everything in the Black Tank is covered with water without an opportunity to dry out. When "things" dry in the tank it s get hard eventually creating a clog or stoppage.

• Black Tank Treatment: Use a proven quality treatment and avoid the home remedy solutions; one day you will thank me for this. I use  Happy Campers Black Tank Treatment and after 15 year never an odor or clog. 

• Back Flush: If your RV is equipped with a Black Tank Flush connection use it every time you dump the tank. This flushing removes any particles left in the tank and helps to ensure against poop buildup and the dreaded Poop Pyramid. 

• Never Flush Items: Paper towels, handi wipes, female hygiene products,  toilet paper not marked "Septic Safe." Just because something says "disposable" does not mean you can flush it.

A Final note on dumping your tanks. Keep the valves closed until you are ready to dump. Even if you have a sewer connection at you campsite, keep the valves closed else unwanted critters like rats, gnats, sewer flies and of course sewer gas can come up into your holding tank. Try to fill the black tank to 1/2 to 2/3 full before flushing.

Dump the Black Tank first, do the black tank flush, and lastly, flush the gray tank. Flushing the gray tank last will rinse out the sewer hose and reduce odor while in storage.

Never be afraid of the dump site, just respect it. I hope you can take this knowledge with confidence that you can be safe, clean and respectful of the environment. 

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 When Stopping for Gas is an Adventure

Early evening returning home after a large buffet dinner and my traditional $20 feeding into the slot machine, we stopped for "gas." Well we thought that was the reason to checkout the new Buc-ee's with no idea what we were actually getting ourselves in to.

After a few minutes of gathering all the eye-candy I could hold, I tracked down a manager and started asking questions much to his delight. Yes sir "we have 120 fueling stations with diesel at each one." And No Sir, "18 wheelers are not allowed on the premises, only cars and RVs." He went on to say this location in Alabama was the only Buc-ee's outside of Texas with more planned for construction in Florida.

Long story short, the food was wall to wall along with everything to drink you can think of or imagine. Nic-nacks to kill for stacked among the shirts, hats, sun glasses, camping supplies, BBQ grills, smokers and everything in between. Oh, and the jerky, beef, bison, and others in over two dozen different flavors. Enough already!

During future visits we quickly learned they have one of the best Brisket Sandwiches this side of San Marcos, Texas. We have been back several times since.

And that my Friends is Behind the Scenes of My First Visit to Buc-ee's.

 The Little Video that Could

Expectations can be tricky, take for example the video below. I enjoy working with solar power and have designed and installed three systems, one system pretty large and complex for my standards. So when I decided to clean some solar panels I make a video. Nothing really planned let along notes or scripts (by the way I do very few notes and never a script), just gathered the bucket, soap, hose and a brush and got to work.

Once I posted the "How to Clean Solar Panels and Improve Performance" video it slowly started to gather views. A month goes by then another 3 or 4 months then all of a sudden the views picked up in a large way. Yes, I was surprised to see 20 to 30 view per day; something big for me at the time but not even at the scale of a micro-viral if there is even such a thing.

Now almost 2 years after posting, the solar panel cleaning video on most days is my number 1 video. Who would have ever thought an off the cuff wham-bam no planning video would do so well?

And that my Friends is the Behind the Scenes of my this video, hope you enjoy it and if you do please leave a comment.

Begin at the beginning. 

Learning, a never ending journey in which we are all guilty, on a daily if not hourly basis. Travel and learning are so closely related you can't have one without the other even if the travel is only to the front porch to pickup the morning newspaper. 

My blog and youtube channel are more about the journey than the destination and the oh so complicated technology and machinery making the journey possible. The goal is to share my experiences to benefit others and to enhance my knowledge along the way.

When caught in a storm its always best to bring a friend.