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Since we have finished our very first camphosting job, I decided to add, from a camp host's point of view, the following to our original blog about camping etiquette.
1. Don't flick your cigarette butts all over the site. This is just plain rude! As a former smoker, I can sympathize. My favorite alternative when there is no ashtrays is to twist the butt between your fingers until all you have is the filter. Put the filter in your pocket until you find a trash can. The next best alternative is throw your butts in the fire pit. 2. Don't leave trash all over you campsite and don't use the fire pit as your trash can. Yes, I know you say, what's the matter with burning the trash? Well nine times out of ten unburnt trash is under the ashes and pop tops, cans etc. do not burn (last time I checked). 3. Don't leave a fire unattended! This is just common sense! A burning ash can easily flutter to the ground and start the woods on fire. This goes for grills also. At the very least place a metal mesh barrier over the pit to keep big ashes from getting away. Please don't check out and leave a burning fire unattended. 4. Keep your site uncluttered. This is your temporary home, treat as such. Your neighbors don't want to see your dirty house.I know this is very difficult when camping with children and you have five bicycles, five wet towels, five swimming trunks, five skateboards - you get the picture. Just make the effort. 5. Read and follow the campground's rules. I am sure I will follow up on campground etiquette with part three in a latter blog! Thanks, Mike and Sherrian
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It is important to run your gas generator as often as the service manual recommends. This is usually one to two hours a month. Sometimes this is hard when your motorhome is in storage or you're staying at campsites where the noise will bother fellow campers. One time I went two months without cranking it and when I tried it just wouldn't turn over. After a friend played with the choke and throttle for fifteen minutes we finally got it to crank.
When using the great and mighty ethanol gas (don't get me started) and especially when this gasoline sits for a long time, it gums up your jets, gas lines and well in the generator (remember the same thing happens to your car). The easiest way to prevent much of this "gumming up" is to use non-ethanol gas. Seeing as how 99.9% of stations don't carry it, this is next to impossible. It was recommended to me, when ever you have to go long periods of time without running your generator (or car), use an ethanol treatment in your tank. I am using a product called Stabil and it seems to work. This treatment will help keep the lines clear. It is important to note, only use this treatment when really needed because overuse will result in premature deterioration of your gas lines. Recently during a strong thunderstorm, water seeped from under our bathroom cabinet. I went on the roof to try to determine where it was coming from and decided the leak was around the refrigerator vent or bathroom vent fan. Using Dicor self leveling caulk, I caulked around both and for good measure I caulked a seam down the length of the motorhome. It rained again and leaked again.
Next, we thought it may be coming from the bedroom slide. When I inspected the seals, we found a couple of possibilities so we closed the slide and waited for the next rain. With the slide close, it looked very tight. It rained again and leaked again! This time, thinking I didn't caulk the roof well enough, I re-caulked and let it dry throughly. Instead of waiting for the next rain, I went on the roof with the hose and blocked around the vents with towels so water wouldn't go anywhere except over the side. It leaked!! It just didn't seem right that it would leak after I did such a great job of caulking. I looked over the side of the motorhome and directly under where water ran down the side of the camper was the water heater enclosure. We ran water directly over the water heater and it leaked like a sieve. A little silicone caulk around the flange of the housing did the trick. It has not leaked during heavy rains in two weeks! In summary, the next time we have to find a leak, we will localize small areas, one at a time, until the leak appears. Thanks, Mike |
AuthorWe love to travel in our 2021 Coachmen Beyond van about half of the year. Join us, if you will, to see where our adventures take us. Archives
April 2021
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