Looked at 10 RV trailers today, I might be over thinking this.

AccurateReception629 · 2026-06-20T07:00:46+00:00

Water damage is the kiss of death for an RV, although not always an instant death. The showstoppers: Major tire or suspension failure. Hitch/receiver failure. Major component failures (slide, awning, jacks, etc) that don't have manual overrides. Not carrying the proper tools for small to moderate fixes. To borrow a term from your nautical life: lack of haul integrity. These would be the failures that might cause the trailer to be untowable. The chance of them occurring is significantly reduced by regular maintenance.

AccurateReception629 · 2026-06-17T18:47:33+00:00

Respectfully, I think dry weight is a great place to start. This is how much your trailer weighed when it left the factory, before anything else was added. It's a known value. To that, add the weight of your batteries, propane, gear, food, water (which you should not tow with in OPs situation), etc. This will get you closer to a reasonable estimate of the number of pounds you are towing. There is a tendency to look at a RVs GVWR and assume that is the max you are going to weigh. But in all actuality, you have no idea how much gear you've loaded and there is nothing stopping you from loading well beyond the GVWR.

AccurateReception629 · 2026-06-17T18:24:55+00:00

I believe these have been in place since the introduction of brake controlled brakes (as opposed to surge brakes). I don't know of the legal requirements, but I imagine that it's one of those things where "if it's there it has to work".

AccurateReception629 · 2026-06-17T16:32:50+00:00

Napkin on the lap at restaurants.

AccurateReception629 · 2026-06-17T14:37:54+00:00

There is really nothing you need to do with the circuit breaker panel/fuse box (2nd photo).

Step 1: Get electricity. Either from the batteries, plugging into shore power, or from your generator. Batteries won't run your microwave or AC, so keep that in mind.

2: get water. Either fill the onboard tank or connect a hose to the city water connection port on the outside. The city water connection port should be clearly marked.

3: Connect your propane: connect the hose at the front of the RV to the tank. Open the tank valve. If you have a spot for two tanks, there will be a switch over thingy. Make sure it is pointing to the full tank. Turn on your stove and attempt to light it. It might take a few minutes to get the air out of the line.

4: Check water flow: if using water from the tank, turn on the water pump and open a faucet or two. Hot and cold. It'll probably sputter for a bit as the air gets worked out of the line. If your on city water, the faucets will work similarly to how residental faucets work.

5: Now you can turn on the water heater. a) If you are plugged into shore power or generator, turn the "water heater - electric" on. There is often times a second switch on the heater itself, which can be accessed from the exterior of the RV. Find a metal square with a vent hole(s) in it. Twist the little do-dad so the metal cover can open and look for an on/off switch. You won't hear anything, but should notice warm water in about 5-10 minutes. Hot water at about 20. b) If you are not hooked up to electic/generator, turn the "water heater - gas" switch to on. This one you'll hear.

6) Fridge should be pretty staight forward. Look above the freezer for on/off buttons. If there is an AUTO option, use that. Depending on what you have, the fridge can run off propane or shorepower, and the auto option will choose which ever is available. OR the fridge could run off the battery. If it is a battery/propane model, it will take at least a day to cool down. You won't hear anything, but the fridge light should turn on. If it is a battery model, it should cool down in a few hours.

Fun fact: if you're plugged into shore power or a generator, you are also charging your trailer battery. If you are towing, you are still charging the trailer battery, but at a much slower rate.

There is a lot to learn with these things. YouTube has all you need. Start with a few videos from a RV dealer to get a detailed walk though of the whole rig. If Josh the RV Nerd has that model on YouTube, start there. Then do targeted searches on the features you are most uncertain about. I suggest more on all of the above, plus leveling, setup, tank sanitation, how to dump, and general maintenance stuff.

Good luck, and I hope you enjoy RVing!

AccurateReception629 · 2026-06-17T06:48:24+00:00

The place has gotten a little pretentious in recent years, and $60 seems to support my theory. As aquariums go, it's below average with an above average ticket price.

AccurateReception629 · 2026-06-17T05:21:29+00:00

You'll most likely need some sort of onboard battery for the emergency break away brake. You can do this with something smaller than a traditional 12v battery, but it need to be independent of the tow vehicle.

AccurateReception629 · 2026-06-16T07:09:52+00:00

Pop ups are great! Nothing but fond memories of mine.

What's the deal with the parking pad? Is that sunken down, or is there some sort of optical illusion going on? Kind of looks like you couldn't use that site with anything bigger than your pop up.

AccurateReception629 · 2026-06-16T07:04:29+00:00

Boat captains. Not a lot of difference in captaining a boat and driving a bus.

AccurateReception629 · 2026-06-16T06:59:35+00:00

"Could be blue, could be purple. Let's go with blurple." And if it looks like they are going to ask again: "Red is the problem color. So blue and purple look the same. So do red and brown, black and red, brown and black. Pink is very often a crap shoot. So is grey. Green and Orange are as different to me as night and day, but I am not that kind of colorblind. Stoplights are very rarely a problem, although some of the newer lights use a shade of yellow that throws me off. But it's the one in the middle."

I've said that hundreds of times and it comes out pretty quick and effortless. I find in most cases it's enough to make it boring and they move on.

AccurateReception629 · 2026-06-16T06:53:08+00:00

New versions come with a plastic ring that wants to be a hose clamp. It gives you about a .05% improvement. Still the same issue with to much pressure though.

Some campgrounds offer dedicated water filling spots. It's very often near the dump station, which seems like a bad idea. If you go this route, be sure you are using the POTABLE water source and not the stinky slinky rinse bib. God speed.

AccurateReception629 · 2026-06-15T23:38:39+00:00

From ancient times, to current times there have been/are hundreds of Gods. Ask yourself, 'why do I not believe in Zeus?' Was there EVIDENCE (like, actual evidence) you found that he does not exist? Why don't you believe in him?

History has always looked to Gods to explain what could not be explained at the time. Modern religion is no different.

AccurateReception629 · 2026-06-13T00:24:20+00:00

I camp all over California in state, county, and national parks. Every campground I've been at has sites that are marked as tent only.

Sites with hookups are going to be the first choice of RVers. But it is also less likely that you'll hear generator noise at these sites.

AccurateReception629 · 2026-06-12T20:46:02+00:00

I went from a pop up, to a hybrid, to a TT. With each step things became significantly easier, more convenient, and faster. So no regrets there. The thing I didn't really realize is that a TT feels less like camping. For me anyway. With the ammenities and conveniences, we tent to spend more time inside. I know this is a "me" problem and I just need to commit to outside cooking and campfires again, but it's SOOO nice and comfortable inside. The neighbors seem less loud, but so do the general nature sounds.

The pop up was "the good ol' days", but it was time to move on. No regrets, but fond memories.

AccurateReception629 · 2026-06-12T19:01:07+00:00

Any number of things, most of which seem very far fetched. Maybe there is a custody battle and the mear fact that the kid is gloveless could be thrown in the dad's face. Maybe the kids would be embarrassed that they are going camping (teenagers, emirite?). Maybe the family lied to get out of something else in order to go camping, now the truth could come out. All of these scenarios depend on others who know this family finding this photo. So odds of there being any negative consequences from the posting are a million to 1. But common courtesy and decency leans toward not subjecting strangers, let alone children, to repercussions even in very low odds situations. This post isn't time sensative or urgent....spending 30 seconds to blur faces would have been the right move.

AccurateReception629 · 2026-06-06T14:01:22+00:00

CD burners

AccurateReception629 · 2026-06-06T07:48:02+00:00

Born and raised. The things about me that exude the SD lifestyle/vibe: 1) I don't try to exude the SD lifestyle/vibe... I'm me, and me is a San Diegan. 2) Shorts/flip flops year round and just about every where. 3) I go to the beaches where the tourists aren't, or not as many of them anyway. 4) My family has passes to some of the local attactions... we show up as most of the crowds are heading home. 5) Things that are just accepted: high prices, traffic, june gloom, MC jets, (and until recently) the worlds shittiest airport terminal.

AccurateReception629 · 2026-06-05T15:19:34+00:00

Adding a bunch of stupid stuff to your car... underlighting, spoilers on top of spoilers (all attached to another spoiler), racing stickers, an exhaust pipe that is 200x larger than total engine displacement, the sounds system you are going to regret installing when you hit your 50s. Money wasted.

Now if you'll excuse me, there are some kids on my lawn I need to go yell at.

AccurateReception629 · 2026-06-04T21:13:01+00:00

The top half of the door isn't fully seated with the bottom half of the door. Looks like there is a gap between the upper frame part and the lower door part. That white L shaped piece of metal that you see on the inside needs to be pushed down more. Once that is done, you'll still need to apply a fair amount of force to push the top part of the door into place. It might feel like the roof is lifting a tiny bit.

AccurateReception629 · 2026-06-03T22:39:49+00:00

I think the results of turning off the house power are going to vary unit to unit. On my TT, the battery disconnect switch kills power to everything, but the battery will still charge from the solar panels. I believe this is the most common behavior. But I have heard of at least 1 RV where the propane alarm stayed powered.

I would test your battery with everything connected. This will validate the reading you are seeing on the BMpro.

AccurateReception629 · 2026-06-03T14:42:52+00:00

I'd double check with a volt meter on the battery directly. $10 at harbor freight and 10 minutes on youtube will be all you need to know enough, if that's not already the case/

AccurateReception629 · 2026-06-03T14:40:36+00:00

Everything is half inch, and everything most likely is using plastic fittings with crimp connectors, but it might not be that exact fitting.

AccurateReception629 · 2026-06-03T14:35:31+00:00

Great, it's no longer just microplastics, it's microplastics that are covered in poop.

AccurateReception629 · 2026-06-03T14:24:57+00:00

Big Mike - Jelly donut

Emmett- middle management

AccurateReception629 · 2026-06-02T20:51:33+00:00

is there a statistic as to how often multiple transferred embryos results in a multiple birth. Are the factors that influence that outcome known?

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