On this trip we had daytime temps in the low 70s and night time temps in the 50s which meant I wanted to use the furnace at night. The first night the furnace lasted till about 4 a.m. and then we got air blowing but no ignition. We tested the furnace with the generator on and it blew hot and strong. The blower on the furnace had gotten weak which we attributed to low voltage. We suspected our house batteries.
We though it would be simple to replace our batteries with the same set up. We have two 12 V batteries in parallel. They are dated 2006 and 2007 and rated for 950 CCA. However in researching replacement batteries all the info on-line says our setup is terrible and will die within a year. They were put in by the previous owner. We had used them successfully ourselves for 5 years and they are 8 years old at least. We never worried about the furnace, the lights or anything while boondocking. They seemed remarkably strong.
They were Energizer E31C. They were sealed and basically maintenance free. We checked the water level yearly but never had to add any. We can't find them any more. However they are apparently starter batteries and not deep cycle 12V or golf cart deep cycle 6V which everything says is preferable and you will get 4-7 years usage. Of course you can see my confusion because we did get 8 years and we primarily boondock which apparently you shouldn't be able to do.
To further complicate things, while taking them out it was found that the cutoff switch we
installed last year had a loose connection which could have accounted
for the lower voltage at the furnace. We tightened it, tested the
furnace and all seemed ok, although the blower seemed a little weaker
than it was when we bought the RV. So the batteries were dismounted and
taken to an auto parts store for testing. The 2007 one was producing 350
CCA and the 2006 one was 650 CCA. So they probably should be replaced.
So after much discussion between the two of us on the apparent internet preference for two 6V deep cycle in series vs two 12V deep cycle in parallel vs. our current set up of two 12V starter batteries in parallel we are leaning toward the two 12V deep cycle in parallel.
The problem we saw with the two 6V deep cycle golf cart batteries is that although they provide the longest amount of current if one starts to go bad you are stuck with not being able to run anything.
Our current set up is a proven winner. We know it works with how we camp and how we charge.
However maybe a good compromise is the two 12V that are supposed to be deep cycle. We talked to camping world and they have AMG sealed batteries from Exide that we will look at tomorrow.
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Wow! Those AGM batteries are expensive. They also had Exide 31 MDC for around $140, 900 Marine Cranking hours, 205 Reserve, 115 @20 A.H. 1 yr warranty. So this became our battery to beat.
We decided on the Walmart EverStart Maxx Group Size 29 Marine Battery 29DC (Deep Cycle) for $99.99. 61.7 lbs, Reserve Capacity 210 and 114 A.H. 2 year warranty.
The warranty is what did it for us over the O'Reilly SuperStart Marine 31DCM, 1 yr warranty , Reserve Capacity 210, 20 hr Am/ rating 105 A.H. We also looked at Costco (no big batteries available and specs. hard to find), Sams Club (most interesting one was not sold in CO), Batteries Plus SLI31MDC (hard to find warranty info & specs. $120), Sears Diehard $112 and Advanced Auto Parts.
Digging around for specs. and trying to compare the products was challenging. Walmart also did not have the specs. in the product description, you had to go to the Q&A. They also have two 29DC products. One with a one year warranty and the MAXX version with the 2 year warranty.
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Walking in Medicine Bow National Forest
I can't say what I did was hiking. It could more aptly be described as ambling or walking in a meandering manner. The problem is that I don't do well with altitude and we were at 8200 ft and that was too much for me. Last time we were there I was very tired also but I had attributed it to the prep for the trip. No excuses like that this time and I could tell with the slight headache that it was altitude related.
Just two and three more sites beyond the one we selected were two that I thought were pretty spectacular and well spaced from others (as were most of them). Our fellow boondockers were considerate. The first night we had some loud music and yelling at the site next to us but they were so far away you could only hear them slightly when outdoors and not at all in the RV. They went to bed before 10 p.m. as when we went out for the dogs last bathroom break all was quiet. The second night we had no rowdy campers so were very thankful. You always take your chances in the national forest.
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| Pups exploring trail near our campsite. |
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| Many old jeep trails had been blocked off with fences but gave good areas to walk from the camp sites. |
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| Many had water just below. |
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| Rocks in the distance. |
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| Old jeep trail. |
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| More water. |
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| I'm glad the rock did not fall on Sunshine. Interesting rock formations and balanced rocks were everywhere. (Shhh, don't tell the boy scouts.) |
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| Walking along the dirt road lead to a beautiful valley. There was a parking lot for people to go hiking. |
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| This was as far as we got. Didn't get to see the campsites beyond this. |
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| Pretty rocks near the entrance. |
Boondocking in Medicine Bow National Forest
For Labor Day we headed out to Vedauwoo Campground with no reservations. I thought about whether I should be worried about getting a spot since it was Labor Day weekend and quickly dismissed the idea as ridiculous. We've always gotten a spot somewhere, even on busy holiday weekends.
We arrived at Vedauwoo and found four sites empty. One was at the edge, which is what we like for being able to walk the dogs. But it wasn't level. We first tried 4 boards and that wasn't quite enough so then we tried 6 boards but they slid out. 5 boards also slid out. I hated to think it but I figured we would have to take one of the other 3 sites, 2 of which required no leveling. However, my husband had spotted boondocking sites on our last visit while he was hiking so we set out to find them.
Turns out they are ridiculously easy to find, very close, plentiful, roomy and very level. We passed many empty sites and finally settled on one. The dirt road was a little washboard so we didn't go as far as we probably should have in the hunt.
We spent the first 20 min. picking up trash, bottles, glass etc. on the site. Hopefully anyone who uses this blog to find sites will do the same so we leave the national forest cleaner than we found it.
We arrived at Vedauwoo and found four sites empty. One was at the edge, which is what we like for being able to walk the dogs. But it wasn't level. We first tried 4 boards and that wasn't quite enough so then we tried 6 boards but they slid out. 5 boards also slid out. I hated to think it but I figured we would have to take one of the other 3 sites, 2 of which required no leveling. However, my husband had spotted boondocking sites on our last visit while he was hiking so we set out to find them.
Turns out they are ridiculously easy to find, very close, plentiful, roomy and very level. We passed many empty sites and finally settled on one. The dirt road was a little washboard so we didn't go as far as we probably should have in the hunt.
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| The dirt road. |
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| Our selected site. |
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| One of three fire ring areas on the site. |
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| The dogs enjoy sniffing for critters. |
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Thoughts on RVing 5 years into it
We had a wonderful time on our most recent trip. I'm coming very close to accomplishing my goal of seeing all the national parks a reasonable driving distance from the Denver area. We originally bought the 1994 Brave because we could not find a new model that met our requirements of being less than 30 ft, a narrow body, walk around queen bed, and lots of windows. If I revisit my requirements now a couple of things have changed.
I would love a king bed that is easy to get into with being able to walk up to the side of it. The RV queen bed is too small for us and one of our dogs.
We don't need all the windows. We keep them covered with the metal foil insulation most of the time to keep the RV cool.
We still need the less than 30 ft for the campgrounds we go to. Anything bigger will limit where we can stay and is a trade off we aren't willing to make yet. I still want a narrower body because it is downright scary on major expressways to be caught between two trucks. Also many of the older national parks have narrow roads and we take our RV sight seeing in them.
I would love larger tanks sizes. Our 57 gallon fresh water and associated black/gray tanks only get us through 3 days of boondocking. The larger tank sizes is at odds with the shorter RV size in most cases.
I also want a big shower and not one that you can't turn around in. Ours is decent size but has a shower curtain which is annoying. When I look at some new ones they are so narrow in one direction that you hit both sides when turning around.
We find that we have more than enough storage in our RV. Even when we took 14 days of clothes and food for this trip we never filled up all our interior cabinets.
Originally I did not want a slide. I think I am now ambivalent about slides. If I found something I liked that had them, and was fully functional when they were in I would get it. However if I found something (like the 2015 Brave 26A) without them the lack of them would not be a deterrent.
I also didn't want a diesel. I wanted something every mechanic could work on for a reasonable price. Lots of mechanics know the Chevy 454 truck engine so that was a plus for me. I think I would still shy away from a diesel if an alternative in gas could be found. The exception may be some of the Mercedes Sprinter chassis. But they seem to lack in carrying capacity and/or tank size so not sure if they will ever be a serious consideration for me.
There are now several models of RV that meet some of our requirements better. They include the Forest River FR3, Forest River Georgetown 270K, Thor ACE and Thor Hurricane 27K. We would love for there to be a Winnebago choice but they seem to be behind the curve in terms of offering a king bed short RV. They have a new Brave with an interesting option of a corner queen with a bunk above. Unfortunately it has a measly 41 gallon fresh water tank.
Also a new RV will set us back about $80K. I'm not sure that the price is worth it when we already have a RV that we can take into the mountains and over passes like Monarch Pass. We spent $10K on this RV and have put approx. $11K into fixes and upgrades. We have an excellent suspension system, no wandering problems and it holds steady when the big trucks pass us.
I also like our fabric seats better than what is offered on the new ones where they are vinyl but called something like ultra leather which is just a fancy name for vinyl.
Whenever we make a fix or upgrade we choose the highest quality option so I have confidence in our Hankook tires, high temperature spark plugs and our other upgrades. In 1994 Winnebago built a quality product. Many of the new ones seem to be pretty shoddy in materials and build quality in comparison. The Brave generally gives us very little trouble compared to what I see on the forums for new models from the above manufacturers.
Also I'm wondering if we have enough big trips left in our area to warrant a new RV. Will we get tired of it if we get a new one with lots of problems? Many people spend the whole first year getting their new ones fixed and often have to take them back to the factory to fix all the build problems. They seem very happy to get good treatment at the factory but I'm not that sort of person. If my RV was so poorly built that I had to drive it back to the factory I'd be pretty unhappy with the purchase no matter how nice they were while fixing it.
While I ponder all these things I will keep my eye out for my perfect RV. Since I have so many requirements I'll probably never find it and just keep this one.
I would love a king bed that is easy to get into with being able to walk up to the side of it. The RV queen bed is too small for us and one of our dogs.
We don't need all the windows. We keep them covered with the metal foil insulation most of the time to keep the RV cool.
We still need the less than 30 ft for the campgrounds we go to. Anything bigger will limit where we can stay and is a trade off we aren't willing to make yet. I still want a narrower body because it is downright scary on major expressways to be caught between two trucks. Also many of the older national parks have narrow roads and we take our RV sight seeing in them.
I would love larger tanks sizes. Our 57 gallon fresh water and associated black/gray tanks only get us through 3 days of boondocking. The larger tank sizes is at odds with the shorter RV size in most cases.
I also want a big shower and not one that you can't turn around in. Ours is decent size but has a shower curtain which is annoying. When I look at some new ones they are so narrow in one direction that you hit both sides when turning around.
We find that we have more than enough storage in our RV. Even when we took 14 days of clothes and food for this trip we never filled up all our interior cabinets.
Originally I did not want a slide. I think I am now ambivalent about slides. If I found something I liked that had them, and was fully functional when they were in I would get it. However if I found something (like the 2015 Brave 26A) without them the lack of them would not be a deterrent.
I also didn't want a diesel. I wanted something every mechanic could work on for a reasonable price. Lots of mechanics know the Chevy 454 truck engine so that was a plus for me. I think I would still shy away from a diesel if an alternative in gas could be found. The exception may be some of the Mercedes Sprinter chassis. But they seem to lack in carrying capacity and/or tank size so not sure if they will ever be a serious consideration for me.
There are now several models of RV that meet some of our requirements better. They include the Forest River FR3, Forest River Georgetown 270K, Thor ACE and Thor Hurricane 27K. We would love for there to be a Winnebago choice but they seem to be behind the curve in terms of offering a king bed short RV. They have a new Brave with an interesting option of a corner queen with a bunk above. Unfortunately it has a measly 41 gallon fresh water tank.
Also a new RV will set us back about $80K. I'm not sure that the price is worth it when we already have a RV that we can take into the mountains and over passes like Monarch Pass. We spent $10K on this RV and have put approx. $11K into fixes and upgrades. We have an excellent suspension system, no wandering problems and it holds steady when the big trucks pass us.
I also like our fabric seats better than what is offered on the new ones where they are vinyl but called something like ultra leather which is just a fancy name for vinyl.
Whenever we make a fix or upgrade we choose the highest quality option so I have confidence in our Hankook tires, high temperature spark plugs and our other upgrades. In 1994 Winnebago built a quality product. Many of the new ones seem to be pretty shoddy in materials and build quality in comparison. The Brave generally gives us very little trouble compared to what I see on the forums for new models from the above manufacturers.
Also I'm wondering if we have enough big trips left in our area to warrant a new RV. Will we get tired of it if we get a new one with lots of problems? Many people spend the whole first year getting their new ones fixed and often have to take them back to the factory to fix all the build problems. They seem very happy to get good treatment at the factory but I'm not that sort of person. If my RV was so poorly built that I had to drive it back to the factory I'd be pretty unhappy with the purchase no matter how nice they were while fixing it.
While I ponder all these things I will keep my eye out for my perfect RV. Since I have so many requirements I'll probably never find it and just keep this one.
Mount Princeton
Mount Princeton was the last camping spot on our trip. It is an area we have wanted to return to after enjoying Cascade Campground a little further up the road.
I really liked Mount Princeton but there were no official walking trails. You just sort of wander through the woods. I don't think it will be on our list to go back.
At Mount Princeton our refrigerator started to act up. It was fine on electric. When we started it on propane it was fine. However when it cycled off and tried to go back on while on propane it showed a fault. If we moved the switch to restart it then it would restart. It was only when it tried to restart itself that it wouldn't. Over night I moved the ice packs from the freezer to the fridge so it wouldn't get warm. I keep the ice packs so that I can do this whenever we are parked in a non-level position and have to turn the fridge off.
It seemed like a loose wire or bad connection so will put some conductive grease on it. We unplugged and plugged back in the wires and didn't see the problem again but it may have not been enough time to fully test it.
On the way home it rained again. Our windshield wipers reset themselves so they were resting in different positions on the windshield so one more thing to trouble shoot when we got home.
There was a delay on 285 and as we got closer we saw the results of an attempt to pass gone wrong. Looked to be a head on collision with one car straight into a rock wall on the side of the road and the other t-boned in the middle. A short time later we had a car attempting to pass coming the other way and looked like it was going to go right into us. Luckily they got back in their lane on time but it was very scary after seeing the crash. Needless to say we rode with our lights on and an extra sense of awareness.
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| We got a great treed site. |
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| Our picnic table. |
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| The many signs of the campground. |
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| The creek behind our site. |
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| A gentle creek shoots off the main creek and goes behind some sites like ours. |
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| A little further down. |
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| The wood that separates the gentle creek from the main one. |
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| The main one is too rough to go into. |
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| This is what Chalk Creek looks like. |
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| Blossom rests on the picnic table. It was rainy so we didn't want to put our mat down and get it dirty. |
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| The creek the next day with the sun out. |
I really liked Mount Princeton but there were no official walking trails. You just sort of wander through the woods. I don't think it will be on our list to go back.
At Mount Princeton our refrigerator started to act up. It was fine on electric. When we started it on propane it was fine. However when it cycled off and tried to go back on while on propane it showed a fault. If we moved the switch to restart it then it would restart. It was only when it tried to restart itself that it wouldn't. Over night I moved the ice packs from the freezer to the fridge so it wouldn't get warm. I keep the ice packs so that I can do this whenever we are parked in a non-level position and have to turn the fridge off.
It seemed like a loose wire or bad connection so will put some conductive grease on it. We unplugged and plugged back in the wires and didn't see the problem again but it may have not been enough time to fully test it.
On the way home it rained again. Our windshield wipers reset themselves so they were resting in different positions on the windshield so one more thing to trouble shoot when we got home.
There was a delay on 285 and as we got closer we saw the results of an attempt to pass gone wrong. Looked to be a head on collision with one car straight into a rock wall on the side of the road and the other t-boned in the middle. A short time later we had a car attempting to pass coming the other way and looked like it was going to go right into us. Luckily they got back in their lane on time but it was very scary after seeing the crash. Needless to say we rode with our lights on and an extra sense of awareness.
Monarch Pass - the highest we did this trip
Monarch Pass at 11,312 feet was the highest we summited this trip. We tend to turtle up the big passes, sometimes going by vehicles that passed us earlier going faster as they are pulled over on the side of the road to cool down.
There was a ski lift at the summit with a parking area big enough for RVs. Next time we may stop and take it to the top to get a view of the continental divide.
Elk Creek Campground - Blue Mesa Reservoir
We scheduled a night at Elk Creek to break up our drive. The sites had electric just in case it was hot. The campground was nice with rocks for the dogs to climb on which they love. However, Blossom went into the reservoir and came out smelling like raw sewage. She got her first ever RV shower with Johnson and Johnson baby shampoo. We did our best to dry her with towels but she was still wet when it came time for bed so we made her sleep in the bed with us so that we could cover her with towels and make sure she was warm which made it very crowded. My thoughts started to wander to the new short (under 30 ft) RVs with king beds.
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| A site. Could have been ours, I'm not sure. They were all the same. |
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| Blue Mesa Reservoir |
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| Blossom before her unfortunate swim. |
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| After the swim, enjoying the rocks. |
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