Like The Tittle Engine that could I am approaching the long hill climb to the RMV. Round Two: Preparing for the upcoming season I am now in the process of re-registering the trailer. Two things have happened , well three really. (1) I lost the license plate. It probably fell off 5 minutes after I left Rome. I'm not really sure if it matters, since (2) all trailer registrations have to be renewed annually in MA. I knew this going in, and thought it absurd since most auto registrations are good for two years*. Finally (3) I changed insurance from Progressive to Allstate.
Allstate does not have a physical presence in MA. Which begs the question: How do I get their stamp on the RMV form? Perhaps there's a new device or system of interconnected communication that could help? But alas this is Massachusetts, and we are talking about and the RMV. Form One must have a stamp!
A call to Allstate hooks me up with a lovely lady in Mumbai who at first tells me that Allstate does not insure campers in MA. (So did Progressive if you recall.) I, now an expert at this, informed her that all I needed was an endorsement proving insurance-just like for my car. This seemed to work. However the nice lady in Mumbai can't do it and has to transfer me to another department which at the moment is not answering their phones. She promised she would send them a message and that they will call me.... we'll see how that goes.
* Seriously? One year registrations for trailers? If Massachusetts didn't change the director of the RMV more often than most people change underwear they may be able to address this and other absurdities and anachronisms. E.G. The MA RMV does not notify you that the trailer registration has expired, so I guess there's no automatic renewal, no on-line option for trailers. The most egregious offense, they stopped notifying people that your driver's license is about to expire!
Monday, February 27, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Barking and Clucking
A waste of an opportunity.
Remember a few posts ago I mentioned that I was purchasing a 15 gallon Barker waste water tank? Well it arrived, and quite frankly I am underwhelmed. The cost of these units seems extraordinarily high compared to the amount of thought that actually went into the design of the unit. Please understand this is not a complaint about quality, the tank and the components are made of quality materials, rather me just shaking my head and clucking at the poor user interface. First, the tank comes complete with a 1 ft section of hose, far too short to reach the gray water outlet on my rather small Scamp. Three to five feet would be far more useful for most people. Second, it came with a 3"solid cap, and a 3" discharge cap for dumping waste water, a 3" by 4ft wire wound coiled vinyl tube, and a hose clamp. Nice except the tube does not fit over the discharge cap. No amount of force could make it fit. Now I see this as a quality control problem too. Did anyone at Barker try to assemble these? Third, the so-called tow handle. Supposedly this is designed to wedge under the tank's molded plastic handle and allow someone to tow it to the dump station. Really? It has no mechanical attachment to the tank. From my early assessment, towing this along most camp ground roads could easily dislodge the handle from the tank. (Please reply if your experience is different) Finally other than a cap tether, which broke after only a couple of uses, the lack of any storage or attachment points for these various accessories. Would it have killed them to mold in a place to store the hose and handle, or add a tether to the garden hose cap at the top of the tank?
Problem solving: I can't do much about the missing storage points, but I did find a cheap alternative to the ill fitting 3" dump hose. WalMart has a $3.47 cap that has a standard garden hose attachment point. Now since this will always be a grey water tank I think the garden hose outlet will be plenty adequate for dumping. For the price of these tanks I think that the manufacturer should offer this instead of the plain Jane cap that comes with the tank, and they should probably make sure hoses fit the caps they were intended for.
Remember a few posts ago I mentioned that I was purchasing a 15 gallon Barker waste water tank? Well it arrived, and quite frankly I am underwhelmed. The cost of these units seems extraordinarily high compared to the amount of thought that actually went into the design of the unit. Please understand this is not a complaint about quality, the tank and the components are made of quality materials, rather me just shaking my head and clucking at the poor user interface. First, the tank comes complete with a 1 ft section of hose, far too short to reach the gray water outlet on my rather small Scamp. Three to five feet would be far more useful for most people. Second, it came with a 3"solid cap, and a 3" discharge cap for dumping waste water, a 3" by 4ft wire wound coiled vinyl tube, and a hose clamp. Nice except the tube does not fit over the discharge cap. No amount of force could make it fit. Now I see this as a quality control problem too. Did anyone at Barker try to assemble these? Third, the so-called tow handle. Supposedly this is designed to wedge under the tank's molded plastic handle and allow someone to tow it to the dump station. Really? It has no mechanical attachment to the tank. From my early assessment, towing this along most camp ground roads could easily dislodge the handle from the tank. (Please reply if your experience is different) Finally other than a cap tether, which broke after only a couple of uses, the lack of any storage or attachment points for these various accessories. Would it have killed them to mold in a place to store the hose and handle, or add a tether to the garden hose cap at the top of the tank?
Problem solving: I can't do much about the missing storage points, but I did find a cheap alternative to the ill fitting 3" dump hose. WalMart has a $3.47 cap that has a standard garden hose attachment point. Now since this will always be a grey water tank I think the garden hose outlet will be plenty adequate for dumping. For the price of these tanks I think that the manufacturer should offer this instead of the plain Jane cap that comes with the tank, and they should probably make sure hoses fit the caps they were intended for.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Show Power
Yesterday I went to the Boston RV show with a few camper buddies. I knew going in that Scamp would not be an exhibitor, I was there to tag along as one couple decided whether and when to upgrade their own RV, and to see some parts dealers. I had a shopping list, but was disappointed to find only one parts dealer at the show. Also disappointed to see that his prices were not so show special. I wanted to purchase a 15 gallon Barker waste water tote. He had it at $126.00 plus Mass' 6.25% sales tax. I have found them online for as low as $94.00 including shipping...tax free.
For a while now I have been on the fence about which power converter to buy. I need to start assembling the pieces required to rebuild the 12v system in my Scamp. As we were touring through the RVs on display I began to notice that almost all of them used WFCO converters. I have had my eye on one on eBay for some time, so this morning I went ahead and purchased it. The WFCO 8712.
I'm pretty sure 30Amps AC will be more than enough to power my 10 foot Scamp. Currently (current-ly, get it) it has a 15Amp main breaker. I have been told by some that 12Amps DC is quite enough, and not enough by others. So far I will be powering 4 LED dome lights, a standard car radio, (this will be discussed in an upcoming post), an exhaust fan, and possibly a TV/DVD player. I will have 12v plugs for people to visit with their Game-Boys, or iPads, and when I am not on shore power I will have 110V from the 400watt converter mentioned in an earlier post.
Somewhere out there is an electrical wizard that may be able to tell me if 12amps (DC) will be enough, but for now I'm satisfied just by the sheer number of manufacturers that use it, that the WFCO brand is the way to go.
addendum 2/10
I just received the WFCO 8712. Nice looking, well built unit, but the manual is lacking. For example it states that on the AC side the 8712 supports a 30 amp main and up to three branch circuits. Not so much. The box only has room for two breakers. Sure I could take one of those spots and install a double breaker, but the other? Is it for the mains power? Is it another branch? Is it both?... Somewhere out there someone has published a better manual. I saw it, I just didn't bookmark it at the time.
For a while now I have been on the fence about which power converter to buy. I need to start assembling the pieces required to rebuild the 12v system in my Scamp. As we were touring through the RVs on display I began to notice that almost all of them used WFCO converters. I have had my eye on one on eBay for some time, so this morning I went ahead and purchased it. The WFCO 8712.
The WFCO8712 features
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I'm pretty sure 30Amps AC will be more than enough to power my 10 foot Scamp. Currently (current-ly, get it) it has a 15Amp main breaker. I have been told by some that 12Amps DC is quite enough, and not enough by others. So far I will be powering 4 LED dome lights, a standard car radio, (this will be discussed in an upcoming post), an exhaust fan, and possibly a TV/DVD player. I will have 12v plugs for people to visit with their Game-Boys, or iPads, and when I am not on shore power I will have 110V from the 400watt converter mentioned in an earlier post.
Somewhere out there is an electrical wizard that may be able to tell me if 12amps (DC) will be enough, but for now I'm satisfied just by the sheer number of manufacturers that use it, that the WFCO brand is the way to go.
addendum 2/10
I just received the WFCO 8712. Nice looking, well built unit, but the manual is lacking. For example it states that on the AC side the 8712 supports a 30 amp main and up to three branch circuits. Not so much. The box only has room for two breakers. Sure I could take one of those spots and install a double breaker, but the other? Is it for the mains power? Is it another branch? Is it both?... Somewhere out there someone has published a better manual. I saw it, I just didn't bookmark it at the time.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
First Light
A 59 degree day in February gives cabin fever a whole new meaning. So today I unwrapped my Scamp and ventured inside to begin the installation of the new LED lights. Part one is simple enough, replace the two existing OEM incandescant fixtures with the new LED ones. The OEM lights are riveted onto the fibeglass cabinet above the sink and stove. It became a matter of drilling out the old rivets and replacing with the new. Finding long rivets is a problem. The Home Center had a fairly limited choice. The longest I could find was 1/2" and that required me to drill new mounting holes on the LED lights. The built in holes would requre a much longer rivet. The new fixture is taller than the old, but not as wide, so that leaves two holes visible from the old rivets. As of now I will leave them but I hope to find some little caps or plugs. Oh, by the way I wasn't able to test these new lights. I still have no battery. but am thinking of the Exide 34X. Seems to be a good compromise. it is an AGM, deep cycle multi-duty, and at around $150.00 fits my target price.
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