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MAX Burner

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Posts posted by MAX Burner

  1. On 3/27/2023 at 2:34 PM, Frank C said:

    We have chlorinated city water at our house so when we get home after camping trips I drain the fresh water tank to empty out any water left from our last campground hookup, then I run our house water through the trailer city water connection to flush all the faucets and toilet, then I fill the fresh tank, drain it, then fill it again and run all the faucets again using the trailer onboard pump.  This gets our chlorinated house water into all the trailer lines (and I leave the fresh tank full with our house water).   

     I repeat this process once a week or so, including draining and refilling the fresh water tank if the trailer is sitting at home for any length of time between trips to keep the water fairly fresh.  I also plug into shore power about once a week at home to keep the trailer batteries charged, and I get the propane tanks refilled.  

    It’s easy to do (I have quick connect hose couplings on all of the trailer water connections) and this way I have a 30 gallon emergency fresh water supply at the ready if anything happens at the house with city water being turned off due to borough water line maintenance, etc.  Plus the trailer is ready to go on short notice if needed (think of the situation of the folks in East Palestine Ohio that had to evacuate after the train derailment). I like being prepared for emergencies as much as possible, and a stocked & ready Ollie provides a good backup for a lot of situations.

    We do drink and cook with the water from our fresh water tank while camping, but we always use a multistage filter system.  I do winterize as recommended during winter months, and I do the bleach sanitizing process in the spring after de-winterizing.  

    Awesome write-up, Frank!  We've been using Berkey Water Filters in our campers for years.  Our house water is supplied by an artesian well and tastes great without any weird smell to it - so that's what we start of with on our camping trips.  For the Ollie, we like the Travel Berkey - smallest one they make (19"H x 7.5"W), and easy for carrying in the Oliver, we move it around but it usually lives on the night stand.  We typically don't drink from the fresh water system but I'm sure we've cooked with it.  The Berkey system is simple - no moving

    parts, gravity drains.  Here's a pic off their website:image.thumb.png.99387fc040ffb76e216868c5727062f1.png

    So it holds 1.5gal and can filter up to 2.75g/hr depending on how frequently it's filled. This feature makes the it a great solution for emergencies when your water source is questionable.  Like you, we keep our rig watered, fueled, and loaded with dedicated kit just in case something "HTF".  We like to keep the fresh water tank as sanitized as possible - so it gets treated 2-3x annually.  We also carry a Katadyn KFT Expedition pump filter - works great when the situation presents itself.  Water is the next "gold", IMHO.  

    • Like 3
  2. 4 hours ago, MobileJoy said:

    I installed this several weeks ago while in storage and we are now testing it out on our first (short) trip with it. So far so good. We are at a Myrtle Beach site where there is some but not a lot of outdoor lighting hitting the white blind. Very little light is coming through. Will have a better report next month when we have had a number of sites behind us as we travel to the west coast. But so far we can say this is one of the better bang-for-the-buck improvements that can be made.

    Thanks to all of you above for your installation comments. While working with John Halter was a pleasure, it was nice to have a number of questions to ask, and it was helpful to have warnings about installation issues. The end result of the installation is beautiful, and the function is very good.

    The only negative I have to report is that one of the handle screws will come loose after a number of openings and closings using the grip button on the handle. Retightening works, but only for a short while. I found that using the grip button to close the blind applies sideways torque to that screw. The workaround is to open or close by pressing the handle where it curves at the top of the vertical handle shaft portion. I was careful not to over tighten the screws and not to elongate the drill holes during installation.

    Couple drops of Blue Locktite on the threads should keep those screws where they need to be...

    • Like 1
  3. OK - this is a great thread with a lot of stellar ideas!  Thanks to all the contributors!  

    That said, we've always loved a good fire whenever we're camping (RV, car, or backpacking).  The options are out there depending on what you're doing. Since we've gotten a bit "long in the tooth" lately, it's been more RV camping than the others.  Since RV camping obviously takes you into a variety of venues which, as noted above, may or may not allow wood burning.

    So, we give ourselves options, right?  

    For camping areas where wood burning is allowed, we'll typically use the provided fire ring and enjoy sipping that Mezcal with all that smokey/crackling wood.  When we can't burn wood - it's the Outlander for us.  We love that piece of kit!  With a dedicated 20# LPG tank and 12' hose - we put it wherever is convenient.  The Mezcal works well with the Outlander, for sure and for certain.

    But our other option is the SoloStove.  They're available in 3 or 4 sizes - we have an intermediate size called, "The Ranger."  It'll efficiently burn 13" pieces of wood which I cut in advance of the RV trip - it really cranks out the heat as well.  The SoloStove comes with an available pellet tray - very cool option!  We can get 2+ hours of fireside Mezcal sipping & Macanudo burning with a stove-load of pellets.  The unit is half the size of the Overlander and no lava rock dust in the back of your TV.  So, where we're allowed to burn wood/pellets, it's our "go to" option.  Suggest checking them out!

    image.thumb.png.891af87551eb180460a1261e236f838d.pngimage.thumb.png.376850db77cb4a60abd9fc7925b25c34.png

  4. 16 hours ago, John E Davies said:

    I prefer this brand of snap cap.

    E87AE816-70DE-408C-8A49-66202A027961.thumb.jpeg.0b4095791fd981125df194c2c75a155f.jpeg

    John Davies

    Spokane WA

    Concur 100% - these are the only "Snap Caps" I'm familiar with.  Got 'em all the popular sizes - very handy for keeping those perishable skills honed, ha!

    • Like 1
  5. I'm in the process of replacing the corner "pole" mount with the newer "flip-up" mount and moving it to a centered position.  We didn't like the "always down" positioning - it seemed to be in the way of whoever is using the starboard (street) side rack.  But we really like the flip-up feature of the newer mount since we don't watch much "tube" these days and can stow it away in the "UP" position.  I replaced the original TV unit because the integrated DVD was INOP.  The new tube is a smart TV with all the bells and whistles, but still a 24" diagonal viewing area.  I'm liking Charlie's (CnC's) idea of using a WHITE cord cover - I'll do the same.  I can send pix in a subsequent post - if anyone's interested.

  6. We were coming back to the Great Southwest after a month on the road to Key West, and running Goodyear Marathon/Chinabombs we experienced our first and only (knock on wood) right rear tire failure.  We run TPMS, which worked perfectly, but a catastrophic failure happens in a couple dozen micro-secs.  On a smooth secondary road in good WX, didn't hear anything - but we felt a slight tug and pulled over to inspect.  What was left of the tire looked like a "ghost" - only belts and chunks of tread rubber, totally see-through.  Fortunately, the relatively slow speed (25-30mph) may have helped to save the wheel well and we didn't experience any significant secondary damage.  Limped over to a Discount Tire a few miles away and bought 5 Michelin RIBs.  Thanks to having a spare axle!  

    • Like 6
  7. image.thumb.jpeg.a7c64a6af28d489d737f0f77ef79b2c8.jpeg

    We had the dark blotches on our window glaze also...(1st pic)  Judging by the debris found in the track, it appears the PO never cleaned the glaze or removed them to clean the tracks (we've only owned our Hull #226 for a few weeks, FYI.). After soaking in bleach over night most of the blotches were dissolved, but the glazing still didn't look fresh.  In addition, over time, the strips tend to shrink which caused 1/4" - 3/8" gaps on either end (see second pic).IMG_6910.thumb.jpeg.1485ad8e1246df5fa61002ae9ed03bd9.jpeg

    Decided to replace the glaze strips with new white ones...  Could've gone black, but we'll see - maybe change them in a few years, who knows.  There's definitely an "inside" and "outside" of the glaze strip to consider when installing.  See pic #3 - the longer edge goes toward window ("inside")while the shorter lip orients to "outside."

    Pic #4:  shows new glazing being installed into the window sill track...IMG_6909.thumb.jpeg.1cb1d5dea9acbed994f3a916b36b9a81.jpeg

    The plan is to simply keep the glaze strips on a regular maintenance schedule and keep them from "blotching" as long a possible.  R&R of the strips was definitely an opportune time to clean out the debris collected in the tracks!

    IMG_6912.jpeg

    • Like 3
  8. On 3/10/2023 at 9:47 AM, Ollie-Haus said:

    At least it didn't have this problem............🙄

    Searching for Good Truck - CrossRoads RV Family Forum

    Hey, Ollie - OK, that's hilarious.  But as a previous AS owner, I've never encountered what looks like a fairly newish 25-foot Flying Cloud without Worthington tanks and a hitch jack!  How did they attach that rig to the VW?  Photoshop, maybe?  Dunno...  Still funny tho!

    • Haha 1
  9. Hey, SeaDawg:  I'll pass on that paint job for awhile - there's way too many items on our "punch list" before a 2-tone job get's to the top of the list...  Know what I mean?  

    Regarding previous comment about "driving through sub-freezing conditions to get to warmer WX":  We were winter camping in Death Valley at Furnace Springs (about 15 years ago) - I couple pulls in late in a brand new massive Class C coach on a Fruehauf chassis; water draining from multiple points beneath.  Terrible sight.  They had departed Kalispell many hours before and didn't understand their holding tank heating system (or maybe they didn't know they even had one).  In any case, a half dozen or so plumbing fittings freeze cracked enroute and they didn't know there was an issue until hooking up next to us in DV.  A nightmare for sure!

    • Wow 3
  10. 😃  Congrats y'all!  As former Airstreamers too, we really are impressed with both the wiring and plumbing design.  We thought we'd miss the extra 6 or 8 inches in width, but not so much after all...  Tows better than our 25-footer, for sure and for certain.  Should I assume your connected with an Andersen?

    Enjoy your trip with your new rig!

    Best,

    Art

    PS: maybe consider some WWII Army Air Corps nose art... ha!

    image.png

    • Like 1
    • Haha 1
  11. Welcome justjames!  We recently joined also - Hull #226, we use the Proven Industries coupler lock as well.  Good choice.  

    QUESTIONs to the group:  1)  What's an efficient and clean way to keep the Andersen chain assembly off the ground when parked?  and 2) Where does one find the US map of "states travelled" for the forum signature block?

  12. On 3/7/2023 at 2:34 PM, Frank C said:

    When we were given our Hull #461, the name “Ocean Boulevard” immediately came to mind.  Haven’t gotten around to putting a palm tree decal on the trailer yet though.  And I don’t want to call the trailer “Eric” 😂.  

     

    2551197F-DC30-45B1-9902-39717F115B0D.jpeg

    Brilliant!

    On 3/7/2023 at 2:34 PM, Frank C said:

    When we were given our Hull #461, the name “Ocean Boulevard” immediately came to mind.  Haven’t gotten around to putting a palm tree decal on the trailer yet though.  And I don’t want to call the trailer “Eric” 😂.  

     

    2551197F-DC30-45B1-9902-39717F115B0D.jpeg

    Brilliant!

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