Tag Archives: Thunder Storms

Campfire Safety

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As we all get ready to start camping or have already started.  I am reminded that in many parts of the USA you can not have a campfire do to outdoor burning restrictions.  So many of us remember the nights spent by the fire watching the sparks work their way up into the air from the burning logs and hearing the original snap, crackle, and pop. (sorry Kellogg)  Well, things have changed that’s for sure.  First in many states now you can not bring firewood from one state to another or even from one part of a state to another do to bugs, worms, and what have you.  You must use the firewood that is at the park store or Ranger station.

How far is too far to move firewood? And what is meant by “local” firewood?  When discussing local firewood, I am referring to the closest convenient source of wood that you can find. That might be from down the street, or a state forest in your county. As a general rule of thumb, 50 miles is too far to move firewood, and 10 miles or less is the max firewood should be moved.  In many, states there are rules, regulations, and quarantines that clearly state how far is too far. Always acquaint yourself with local rules and regulations when transporting firewood from one jurisdiction to another.  Find out more here Don’t Move Firewood .

So you buy some firewood from the Ranger’s supply at the park and you can burn it during the time you are in the park but you should leave what you do not burn behind.

You have firewood from the local area and you have piled it up in the fire pit and you get ready to light it, but how do you get the green wood, high in moisture content, to burn without dumping a bottle of charcoal starter one it.  One fun idea is to use to get the wood burning is InstaFire .

InstaFire Fire Starter

These little fire starter pouches can get a fire going almost anywhere and burn hot enough to get not so great firewood started.

How can you make a campfire fun and exciting?  Well, S’mores are fun to make S’mores.

When you are done making the S’mores you might want to be amazed by the camp fire northern light show.  Camp Fire Northern Light Show .

Now sit back and enjoy the rest of the evening and watch the light show from your camp fire.

What happens when you can not burn wood but you still want to sit around a campfire.  Well, the solution for that is the gas campfire.  Most RV camping areas do not have a problem with the gas campfire even if there is a burn ban because the fire does not give off sparks and with the turn of the gas valve, the fire is off.  You can still make those S’mores the kids want and you can still enjoy sitting outside of the RV around the campfire.  See Portable Gas Campfire for what I am talking about.

This portable gas campfire runs off of LP gas either the little 1lb green cylinders (runs for 2hrs) or the 10lb gas tanks.  It runs for hours and the red cover is used for storage and to elevate the gas campfire off the ground.  Also, the red cover has the carry handle attached.  With an extra accessory, you can even cook on the campfire just like a fire log one.

With any fire outside you need to have a fire extinguisher at the ready just in case.  Not just for grass fires. Fire Gone White/Red Fire Extinguisher – 16 oz

Until next time.

Don’t forget to join the Weekend RVers group on Facebook a no DRAMA place with Hints, Tips, Free Stuff, Recipes, for every kind of RVer.


And finally, please remember that this blog is an Amazon affiliate. When you order something through any of the Amazon links, it doesn’t add anything to your cost, but I do earn a small commission on everything you buy. Just click on an Amazon link, then shop as usual.

Do RVers Really Need A Power Monitor System?

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I see that question all the time on Facebook and most of the Blogs that I read.  For the simple, easy, straight forward answer, YES you do.  There are so many factors involved here that I can not possibly cover them all in a single post but, I would like to cover the basics so that you can better understand why you need a Power Management system of some kind.

1. You need to know what the AC (Shore Power) voltage is inside your rig.  This is the power that indirectly powers lights, water heater, microwave, furnace, charger for the 12-volt battery system, etc.  If the voltage gets below 102 volts and should stay there for a few minutes it would be possible to sustain approximately $1200 of damage or more.

So what do you need?  You will need an AC Line Voltage Monitor.  The unit shown below is plugged into an AC wall outlet that you can see and will monitor what the line voltage is.  If it should go below 105 volts you need to unplug your rig from the outside power pedestal until the voltage goes back to normal.

AC Line Voltage Monitor

So how do you know when the outside power pedestal is back to normal.  You plug the Voltage Monitor into the 125 volts two pin socket in the power pedestal and see what the monitor reads.  It should read 110 volts or higher up to 125 volts.  The same caution goes for overvoltage.  You should unplug the rig form the power pedestal if your Voltage Monitor begins to read over 122 Volts.  Plug the Voltage Monitor into the power pedestal and watch for the voltage to drop to below 122 Volts.

Could this monitoring of the voltage be done for less money?  Yes, by using a cheap Digital Volt Meter  pictured below;

 Digital Volt Meter

You could plug the test leads that come with the meter into the meter and then the other ends of the test lead into the slots on the AC wall socket. (Caution do not leave unattended) Or you could make up a cord from a 6-foot extension cord and the test leads that come with the meter.  See below for an example.

AC Cord With Test Meter Leads

2. Next is  The Polarity Tester.  This is used to be sure that the Neutral wire of the power line is not reversed with the positive lead of the power line.  If that were to happen you could have what is called a hot skin condition.  Meaning that if you had an aluminum skinned rig you could receive quite a shock from your rig.

 The Polarity Tester

The Polarity Tester can also tell you if the Earth Ground (the bare copper wire) is hooked up properly.  

The Earth Ground is a separate conductor which may seem to be doing nothing but, is, in fact, a protective wire. It is there, ready to take the current away to earth ground, from the body or frame of the electrical device it is connected to, makes contact with any “hot” wire. [the 120 volts mains power is carried in two current carrying conductors called “hot” and “neutral”.] 
So, IF one of the “hot” conductors should contact the metal frame of the rig or housing of an appliance, perhaps because the appliance got damaged by being dropped from a table, or similar accident,  the third wire which is the earth ground wire, which runs directly from the housing to the grounding [or earth ground bus] in the fuse or breaker panel, will in effect cause a short circuit which should blow the fuse or trip the breaker. 
This third wire also guarantees a current path back to the electrical panel where the fuse or circuit breaker protecting that circuit is located, in the event that the hot wire should come in contact with the rig frame, but the neutral conductor should happen to have been cut or damage and become disconnected, or open. 
The idea is to guarantee that if a part of the rig, device or appliance should become “hot,” which could be fatal to anyone who then came into contact with it. That the earth ground would trip/open the circuit protection device [fuse or breaker], and turn off the flow of AC current. 

To help further in checking for unwanted or wanted electricity a good investment is the Voltage Sensor which is shown below;

 Voltage Sensor

With this probe, you do not need to touch the power line to tell if there is voltage present.  You can use this probe to find power lines behind the wall or under the floor of the Rig as well as the towing vehicle.

3.  Often times you want to know or need to know how much power something uses, especially if you keep popping a breaker or the power pedestal. The solution is Kill-A-Watt.  The unit shown below can be used to show how much power an appliance, tool, or piece of electronics is using.

 Kill-A-Watt

4. Next, let’s look at surge protectors for the various pieces of equipment in your Rig.  Surge Protectors protect only what is plugged into them and only for overvoltage surges.  Surge Protectors do not protect for under voltage or high voltages.  Shown below is a pair of good simple surge protectors;

Surge Protectors

There are Appliance Surge Protectors made just for appliances like, microwave and coffee makers

Appliance Surge Protector

AC refrigerators, freezers. 

Refrigerator/Freezer Surge Protector


These special surge protectors offer extra features like audible alarms, flashing lights, displays, etc and are to be used with just the items listed on the packaging for the one you would buy.

5.  Next is a group of power management items that will protect your entire Rig not just one item or several items in it. First is the Portable Power Management System This type of system looks at High and Low voltage protection, time delay for air conditioning compressor startup, 3-mode surge protection, reverse polarity protection, open neutral protection, open ground protection, AC frequency protection accidental 220 Volt protection. Includes an Integrated information panel, previous error code display is weather resistant and has a built-in locking bracket so it can be chained to the power pedestal at the campground to prevent theft.  The only thing this unit cannot do is flush the black water tank.  The miracle unit we are talking about is shown below.

30 Amp Portable Power Management System

These portable units come in two sizes the one above 30 amp and the one shown below 50 amp.

50 Amp Portable Power Management System

Let’s say you were involved in a lightning-caused power surge at a campground.  It is estimated you would suffer approximately $3000 worth of damage to the electrical system of your Rig along with the things plugged into it.  The features of the 50 amp unit are the same as the 30 amp unit.

Ah, but there is more!  What happens if you do not want something portable but something more permanent in the Rig? Then you have the permanent installed units which are called Fixed Power Management Systems  These units are not really DIY type of items but, they can be installed by the DIYer if care is taken during the installation.  The 30 amp models is shown below;

 30 Amp Fixed Power Management Systems

There is also a 50 amp version of the same unit as above and can be found here;  50 Amp Fixed Power Management Systems .  The features of both units are the same and are,  high and low voltage protection, time delay for air conditioning compressor start-up, 3 mode surge protection, surge trip indicator, reverse polarity protection, open neutral protection, open ground protection, AC frequency protection. Accidental 220V protection, with the remote information display panel, and unit bypass switch.  Unfortunately, this unit also does not dump the black tank.


 I hope that you now have come to the conclusion that some type of power management is needed to protect your Rig, its contents and YOU!

 

Until Next Time

Do RVers Really Need A Power Management System?

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I see that question all the time on Facebook and most of the Blogs that I read.  For the simple, easy, straight forward answer, YES you do.  There are so many factors involved here that I can not possibility cover them all in a single post but, I would like to cover the basics so that you can better understand why you need a Power Management system of some kind.

1. You need to know what the AC (Shore Power) voltage is inside your rig.  This is the power that indirectly powers lights, water heater, microwave, furnace, charger for the 12 volt battery system, etc.  If the voltage gets below 102 volts and should stay there for a few minutes it would be possible to sustain approximately $1200 of damage or more.

So what do you need?  You will need a AC Line Voltage Monitor .  The unit shown below is plugged into an AC wall outlet that you can see and will monitor what the line voltage is.  If it should go below 105 volts you need to unplug your rig from the outside power pedestal until the voltage goes back to normal.

AC Line Voltage Monitor

So how do you know when the outside power pedestal is back to normal.  You plug the Voltage Monitor into the 125 volt two pin socket in the power pedestal and see what the monitor reads.  It should read 110 volts or higher up to 125 volts.  The same caution goes for over voltage.  You should unplug the rig form the power pedestal if your Voltage Monitor begins to reads over 122 Volts.  Plug the Voltage Monitor into the power pedestal and watch for the voltage to drop to below 122 Volts.

Could this monitoring of the voltage be done for less money?  Yes, by using a cheap Digital Volt Meter  pictured below;

 Digital Volt Meter  

You could plug the test leads that come with the meter into the meter and then the other ends of the test leads into the slots on the AC wall socket. (Caution do not leave unattended) Or  you could make up a cord from a 6 foot extension cord and the test leads that come with the meter.  See below for an example.

AC Cord With Test Meter Leads

2. Next is  The Polarity Tester .  This is used to be sure that the Neutral wire of the power line is not reversed with the positive lead of the power line.  If that where to happen you could have what is called a hot skin condition.  Meaning that if you had an aluminium skinned rig you could receive quite a shock from your rig.

 The Polarity Tester

The Polarity Tester can also tell you if the Earth Ground (the bear copper wire) is hooked up properly.  

The Earth Ground is a separate conductor which may seem to be doing nothing but, is in fact a protective wire. It is there, ready to take the current away to earth ground, from the body or frame of the electrical device it is connected-to, makes contact with any “hot” wire. [the 120 volts mains power is carried in two current carrying conductors called “hot” and “neutral”.] 
So, IF one of the “hot” conductors should contact the metal frame of the rig or housing of an appliance, perhaps because the appliance got damaged by being dropped from a table, or similar accident,  the third wire which is the earth ground wire, which runs directly from the housing to the grounding [or earth ground bus] in the fuse or breaker panel, will in effect cause a short circuit which should blow the fuse or trip the breaker. 
This third wire also guarantees a current path back to the electrical panel where the fuse or circuit breaker protecting that circuit is located, in the event that the hot wire should come in contact with the rig frame, but the neutral conductor should happen to have been cut or damage and become disconnected, or open. 
The idea is to guarantee that if a part of the rig, device or appliance should become “hot,” which could be fatal to anyone who then came into contact with it. That the earth ground would trip/open the circuit protection device [fuse or breaker], and turn off the flow of AC current. 

To help further in checking for unwanted or wanted electricity a good investment is the the Voltage Sensor which is shown below;

 Voltage Sensor

With this probe you do not need to touch the power line to tell if there is voltage present.  You can use this probe to find power lines behind the wall or under the floor of the Rig as well as the towing vehicle.

3.  Often times you want to know or need to know how much power something uses, especially if you keep popping a breaker or the power pedestal. The solution is Kill-A-Watt .  The unit shown below can be used to show how much power a appliance, tool, or piece of electronics is using.

 Kill-A-Watt

4. Next let’s look at surge protectors for the various pieces of equipment in your Rig.  Surge Protectors protect only what is plugged into them and only for over voltage surges.  Surge Protectors do not protect for under voltage or high voltages.  Shown below is a pair of good simple surge protectors;

Surge Protectors

There are Appliance Surge Protectors made just for appliances like, microwave and coffee makers

Appliance Surge Protector

AC refrigerators, freezers. 

Refrigerator/Freezer Surge Protector


These special surge protectors offer extra features like audible alarms, flashing lights, displays, etc and are to be used with just the items listed on the packaging for the one you would buy.

5.  Next is a group of power management items that will protect your entire Rig not just one item or several items in it. First is the Portable Power Management System This type of system looks at High and Low voltage protection, time delay for air conditioning compressor start up, 3-mode surge protection, reverse polarity protection, open neutral protection, open ground protection, AC frequency protection accidental 220 Volt protection. Includes an Integrated information panel, previous error code display, is weather resistant, and has a built-in locking bracket so it can be chained to the power pedestal at the campground to prevent theft.  The only thing this unit can not do is flush the black water tank.  The miracle unit we are talking about is shown below.

30 Amp Portable Power Management System

These portable units come in two sizes the one above 30 amp and the one shown below 50 amp.

50 Amp Portable Power Management System

Let’s say you were involved in a lightning caused power surge at a campground.  It is estimated you would suffer approximately $3000 worth of damage to the electrical system of your Rig along with the things plugged into it.  The features of the 50 amp unit are the same as the 30 amp unit.

Ah, but there is more!  What happens if you do not want something portable but something more permanent in the Rig? Then you have the permanent installed units which are called Fixed Power Management Systems  These units are not really DIY type of items but, they can be installed by the DIYer if care is taken during the installation.  The 30 amp models is shown below;

 30 Amp Fixed Power Management Systems

There is also a 50 amp version of the same unit as above and can be found here;  50 Amp Fixed Power Management Systems .  The features of both units are the same and are,  high and low voltage protection, time delay for air conditioning compressor start-up, 3 mode surge protection, surge trip indicator, reverse polarity protection, open neutral protection, open ground protection, AC frequency protection. Accidental 220V protection, with remote information display panel, and unit bypass switch.  Unfortunately this unit also does not dump the black tank.


I hope that you now have come to the conclusion that some type of power management is needed to protect your Rig, its contents and YOU!

 


 

Until Next Time

Severe Weather — It Happens

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When you are asleep do you worry about this,

or maybe this

or even this?

Well I did!!

At the beginning of camping season and at the end of camping season are the most dangerous times for storms expected, or not. And if predictions are correct and this is an El Niño year then things could get really bad or not.
What is an El Niño? El Niño is an ocean-atmosphere climate phenomenon that is linked to the periodic warming of waters across the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. This warming is part of the natural climate system. On average, an El Niño event occurs every 2 to 7 years and typically lasts about 9 to 18 months.
So why should you worry or even be concerned about an El Niño ? During periods of El Niño warm water builds up off the South American coast and this sends more than the normal waves of moisture into the US. These waves of moisture can, and do cause more storms, some of which are more severe than storms in a non El Niño year. This translates into more severe thunderstorms and more than normal tornado’s
While you can use your phone most of the time for weather alerts and weather radar, when you are out camping your phone may not get a signal or changing weather conditions may suddenly make your phone not work. And the basement of a 5er is not a safe place to be. So what is a person to do?

During the check-in process to get your RV site, you should ask, where do we go in case of severe weather and do you have a method of alerting the campground of approaching bad weather?
In most cases the park will have a severe weather location, like a cement block bath house or underground facilities. But most will not have a warning system. It is left up to you to know when bad weather is approaching and it is time to take cover.

So now your phone has no bars and the park has no way to tell you that a large thunderstorm is approaching your RV site. Now what are you going to do to keep you and your family safe? Buy a weather radio with built-in weather alert. Our government built, many years ago, a National Alert System to let citizens know about disasters before they happen. That was the old weather radio that went off (with its built-in siren) all the time for just about any reason (some good, mostly bad). After a lot of citizen complaints over many years a new system of alerting people was developed by the government that had a better built-in method of stopping false alerts and added text messages to each alerts displayed on a screen on the new generation of weather radios.

RadioShack SAME Weather Radio / Dual Alarm Clock / AM-FM Radio

I could go into detail on how this type of radio works but this is not a DIY Blog. This type of radio can be programed simply, thanks to SAME(Specific Area Message Encoding) technology you will only receive alerts for the locations that you have entered into the radio and you won’t have to worry about false triggers or deal with an event that has nothing to do with your area. Also some weather radios like the ones pictured (above and below) you can customize some of the alert types, so it only alerts you to the alert types that you have selected. For example, if the National Weather Service issues a thunderstorm watch and you have only thunderstorm warning selected. The radio wont alert you unless a thunderstorm warning alert is sent. Most of these radios have battery back-up and you can attach your HDTV antenna to them to extend the pick-up range of this type of weather radio. You should never leave home to go camping with out one of these special SAME radios.

RadioShack 7-Channel Handheld Weather Radio with SAME

Here is one that operates on just batteries and can be carried on the hiking trail or just outside around the campground.

No matter which one, or maybe both, you choose like a smoke detector or gas detector your RV is not complete and you are not fully protected nor safe until you have one.

 

Until Next Time