1. We agree to leave the breaker off when plugging in and unplugging. 2. We also leave the gray valve open (except when plagued with sewer flies) as you stated. We forgot a couple times and had the bathtub fill with gray water. When this happens my wife is not a happy camper because we store our dirty laundry in our bathtub, which gets horrendously filthy and ripe. When boondocking (which is most of the time for us) we use our soapy gray water to flush out our black tank when dumping. 3. As far as the propane, we never turn it off as we are FTers with an RV fridge that only runs on propane, so must leave it on 24/7. We've been FT for 4 years and never had a problem with the flame blowing out on our motorhome fridge. As an ex-chef, I'm more afraid of food poisoning from spoiled, warm food than fire. Years ago, before we went FT, we had an Aliner camper. After we first got it, we noticed that the fridge flame would sometimes blow out when big trucks would pass us (as it was on the driver's side) or when experiencing strong crosswind gusts, like in mountain passes. Dometic makes a wind kit which eliminates this problem (if you have a Dometic fridge). It consists of a metal shield and 3 baffles that go over the vents on your fridge door. We found 2 of the 3 baffles to be sufficient for our fridge. It is better to use the least you can as they reduce air circulation behind the fridge, so you lose some cooling ability the more you need to use. It costs us about 1/2 gallon of gas an hour to run our generator to power our front AC. It is a high-output Furrion so one AC is sufficient up to about 100 degrees. So if gas is averaging say $3.25/gallon like it is here in TX and if we were to run it for 14hrs straight (which is the maximum you could run it due to quiet hours between10pm to 8am) it would cost about $22.75 which is a little less than that $30 FHU site, but not much less considering the comfort of having AC at night. However, we like to boondock in cooler, mountain areas in the summer where AC is not needed. But to expand the places we can boondock, without running a generator, we will soon be expanding our solar/battery system and adding a super high efficiency mini split to replace our rear AC. We just added 7.2kwh of lithium batteries but will be adding a 15.8kwh 48v bank and about 4,000 additional watts of solar racked above our ACs to keep these batteries charged. This will give us a total of over 4,600 watts of solar and 23Kwh of LiFePo-4 batteries (equal to 18 Battleborn 100ah batteries.) This system will allow us total off grid electrical independence for 24/7 AC and supplemental heat from the heat pump and occasional use of our Furrion AC during peak demand hours. We spent $3,600 on the first 12v phase and we estimate the cost of the 2nd 48v phase to be just under $10k, so the total cost of both phases should be around $13,5k. If we were to attempt to do this with Victron and Battleborn components the cost would be well over twice that. Heck to match the capacity of these 6,000 cycle grade "A" cells in Battleborns would be almost $17,000. And while it's true that it may sound like a lot of money to invest in a solar system, it will provide not only our air conditioning, heat and other electrical needs but gives us the freedom to go wherever and whenever we want without needing to spend a dime on RV parks or electricity, living virtually rent and electric bill free for the rest of our lives. To me, this perspective makes a mere $13.5k investment seem like the bargain of the century.
Nice video. Breakers OFF while plugging in or out always. Propane tanks closed while traveling always. EVEN if the fridge is propane. Appliances shift, connections come loose, and even a small fender bender can rupture a connection. Black tank closed always. Gray tank closed always. (Roaches, sewer flies/bugs can breach the p-traps. FYI: I live in the Texas Hill Country and scorpions will also come up thru the sewers/sinks. Any plumber from the hill country in Texas will tell you the same. I'm sure it's the same for other arid climates where scorpions are.
Propane- we leave on. The trick while dewinterizing, is to clear any spiderwebs out of the hot water ignition tube, with a small pipe cleaner or cable tie.
We use a maserater pump at present, so I close my gray for use during black flush. Prior to maserater we left gray open. We went all electric because of refrigerater and furnaces, I closed tank valve when we had propane. Considering your plug, we echo your position on the turn off. A few years ago we lost our electric during the night. No one else lost power. We contacted our surged protecter company, they check out our equipment, it was fine. They suggested that we had oxides built up on our connections as we had been plugged in for awhile (3 months). Told us to just unplug then plug back in, the action of doing this would clean the receptical and the plug blades of the oxidation. Travel safe. Steve
Hi Stacy and Phil. It's Doris from your great interview at the Tampa RV Super Show. Still at TTO for the time being. Yes I have a two way RV frig and I do leave my propane on all the time. I know it can be unsafe and I wish I had a 12 volt frig. I leave my black closed, of course, but leave the grey open and do not get the bugs only rarely but close it about 48 hours before dumping if I remember to do it. Yes I always lock my door even during the day as a reflex so I will be in the habit of locking it for travel. I double lock it for boon docking and yes I make sure it is securely closed and locked for travel. The door did fly open one time on my old big Bounder. Lol! Love your channel and I am back following you again.
Yes keep the black tank closed and gray open. 24 hours or so before we leave a site I close the gray tank also and let it fill up a bit. Then the next day when it's time to leave, I drain the black tank and use the water from the gray tank to flush out the hose. Love your videos!
I generally keep the gray closed unless I’m going to be on full hookups for over a week so I’ve got plenty of flush after dumping black. If I’m staying 3 weeks, I close it for a day or two before dumping to build up a good flush. Black is always closed. I’m guilty of leaving propane on. 😮 once I get the fridge on my LiFePO4 system that’ll change.
We keep both black and gray tanks closed until we dump. I like to rinse after dumping black tank with a lot of gray water. I dump gray tank as needed in the interim. Propane is off while we travel. I always turn the pedestal at campground off to plug in or remove the plug.
I like to have a LOT of sink and shower water to flush through the slinky hose after the black tank is dumped. I leave the propane ON and have the Gas Stop valves. We also shut off the breaker for the 50 amp plug (or whatever we will be using), then connect the surge suppressor, switch the breaker on to confirm the proper ‘lights’ are on and the power is good, shut off the breaker, plug in the trailer cord, then turn the breaker back on.
We've stayed twice at that campground in Dalhart. Great full hookup stop. We do our electrical the way you do it. We do open the grey tank when on full hookups and we also close it the night before departure so that when we dump the black tank down the road we can follow with the grey dump. We too don't need propane when moving so we always shut it off. We use a checklist for any move, which like you do, we check brakes, lights, and a few other things. Navy guy here, though not a retiree (7 years). Married to a Marine's daughter. We're retired from Boeing (flight training, engineering, production flight test).
There is a company up in Michigan who cleans out both black and grey tanks professionally. They suggest for the best upkeep of your grey tank leaving it closed. The thing is no matter how hard you try to keep stuff out of your drains, little bits get down into your tank. So just like with the black tank you can get a huge pile of debris, by leaving the tank open the water is going out, but any debris will stay put. It makes sense. Even though you run flushes through there, the dry debris are less likely to leave than the wet ones because you left it closed. Me being autistic, I don't want anything hooked up to the sewer when I am not right there dumping it. So, the hose comes out and then gets put away when done. Just set a schedule that gives you a notification that you must dump it and you dump on that day every week. That may mean that you must take a little trip to do it, or in the worst case you could move it to the day before or after. When you are done you put it away and store it till your next dump date. My father always did it every 7 days, but he didn't have a washing machine. He and my mom didn't shower as much as I do either. I just know that because of my autism that I must dump the grey tank more often than other people. That said, as a solo female it works itself out. I mean technically I can go three months without doing laundry. Shower is every morning though. Don't be playing with electricity. Turn that bad boy off! As far as propane? I am not particularly comfortable with it to begin with. Turn that stuff off on travel days. Too explosive!
Always check the breaker at the parks outlet with our surge protector and then make sure it is off before we plug anything into it, we close our grey tank and travel with propane off.
We - always turn off the breaker before plugging in or removing the surge protector and cord. - always leave the grey and black closed until it’s time to dump the black tank. After dumping the black tank, we use the grey water to wash out the sewer hose. - always turn off the propane while traveling. Yes, we have the Gas Stop devices but it’s still not worth the risk. We put ice packs in the fridge to keep it cool. Besides, we rarely travel longer than 3 hours so the fridge stays just fine.
Propane off keep a 2L bottle frozen for the freezer and another for the fridge , never an issue even after 8 hrs. Leave a low loop in the sewer hose to act as a p trap when the gray waste gate is left open to keep smells and bugs out.
Thanks for your Service and all the things you do for the vets. # Breaker off LP off Gray close. We are sometimers and took a trip from Green Bay to Yellowstone our fridge stayed cold we just added ice Bottles as we went down the road. At night we will put them back in the freezer to refreeze them for the next day never had a problem. Thanks From Wisconsin
1) I make sure the pedestal is off before hooking up my surge protector. If it tells me all is ok I turn off again before hooking my electrical cord up, then I turn back on. 2) We are weekend warriors so with old camper that had RV fridge we traveled with propane on to get fridge cold. With new RV with fridge that runs off 12 v which is cold by the time we get there and doesn't us propane we have propane off until we arrive. 3) As weekend warriors we leave grey tank closed to build up so when we empty our tanks we have enough to rinse out after emptying the black tank.
1) make sure pedestal is OFF before and after using, 2) keep our black and grey sewer tanks CLOSED when set up to keep critters out, 3) propane OFF when traveling - we have 3-way fridge.
As a retired Jarhead and expert in everything (just ask my wife) I had to comment. Black closed, gray open & propane open. Our first trailer we had for over a dozen years and never thought about shutting it off. We were only weekend warriors and nothing long distance. Now retired and with a new 5th wheel we did an 11,000 mile trip last year. Following the majority of You Tube RVers we tried shutting off the propane when traveling. It DID NOT WORK in our fifth wheel. The fridge was a Huge problem on the trip. So on future excursions we will only turn off the propane if we will be going through a long tunnel or something similar. Just for info this same discussion has come up every time we talk to other campers about traveling & propane. I have yet to talk to someone who turns off their propane. Enough said except love your channel ❤
Now that was funny!!! You have to do what makes you comfortable. Spoiled food is a show stopper. They have conversion kits out there for RV fridges to go from propane to electric as a thought.
Breaker off, gray open/black closed, propane on (refrigerator and heat if needed run on propane). No, I spend time driving in the Southwest where the sun beats on the fridge side of the RV with Temps 100°+. The fridge won't last an hour cold in those conditions. So yes, propane on. And yes, I also have the fridge propane burner as well as the propane furnaces checked to make sure they are functioning properly.
Propane isn't a problem because my coach is all electric. I keep the gray tank closed. I also have a switch in the 1/2 bath that lets me dump it without going outside which means if I need to dump before laundry or shower, no problem.
😲😲😲 My father in law served 2 tours in Vietnam and his name is on that memorial wall!!!! My husband was born and raised in Rye, right where you all wete hanging out there at bishops castle! Lol It's so neat to see you guys checking out our old stomping grounds. I hope you tried a green chili slopper while in Pueblo!
we had an interesting thing happen with the LP. while traveling ( we leave ours open), the fill valve tee. shut down and did not let gas, though, to the refrigerator the alarm went off. went back to re light it,did not work, checked the stove , had no gas, started tracing it back to the tank, and found this valve had shut down? took it out, and gas was restored. have not really looked at the valve. but that was the problem. we leave our grey open, until about two days before we leave to flush line after black dump. Always check the breaker to be off before plugging in, and always turn off when leaving.
I can always expect an informative, well made video whenever I tune in to your channel. Thank you. My comment on this video is this- No one else can dictate what makes you feel safe. Only you know what makes you comfortable. Whatever makes you feel safe is the right thing to do.
Agree with 2/3. We keep our grey tank closed. Just a preference. Our fridge runs on battery, so we don’t have a use for propane when traveling, but in our previous rv that had a fridge that ran on propane, we turned it off and the fridge stayed cool between stops without any issues. Always turn off the pedestal before plugging up, and we plug the surge protector first and verify all is well before we let that get anywhere near the rv plug. Another tip - we always check the pedestal with our surge protector before we start to level or set up at all. That way if we need to move sites, we’re still in driving mode. Happy Belated Veteran’s Day! Thank you for your service! My grandfather was lifetime Navy, and my dad was Navy for a few years as well.
Hope you both had a happy Veterans Day. We had our annual Veterans Day celebration and barbecue dinner with our neghbors here in Mount Olive Shores North. There are many veterans who live here, and we hold this annual celebration every year to honor all of those of us who served our great country. We leave the grey tank closed so there’s enough water to flush the sewer hose after dumping the black tank. And we stopped flushing out the black tank with fresh water years ago when we began using TankTechs RX. Our propane is always closed unless the temperatures are forecast to drop below 38 degrees. We only use propane for the furnaces. We had a problem with our door coming open while underway a few years ago. I contacted PTL Engineering who asked for photos of the door bumpers. They determined that Tiffin had installed the wrong bumpers (the bumpers are the rubber stops between the screen door and the main door). Tiffin had installed large bumpers, which prevented the door from closing properly. They sent me the short bumpers free of charge.
Agree on all 3 👍 close Gray couple days beforehand to flush Black from Stinky Slinky. Keep inverter on while on the road Generator only if need A/C while driving.
Getting caught up with you old videos. 4 things. Power OFF when connecting and disconnecting, all tank valves closed as I don't have a washer in my rig, propane ALWAYS off while traveling. 4th - I hope you were wearing seat belts while moving. LOL
We never put our our sewer hose until ready to dump. I never leave the grey tank open and I have flushers in both tanks as well. Yes, even when we do our laundry in the RV, there is never that much water to worry about. We also have the See Level monitor system.
Great video !! Power off before plugging in and before unplugging, Grey closed (wife is very concerned with sewer flies), propane off when traveling. We do light and wheels as well, every time !!
We close grey tank now because we have been at some campgrounds where smells come up. So depends on the campground really. We turn our propane off because we have a residential fridge so propane is for hot water only.
Good video. I always turn the breaker off while hooking and unhooking the cable. Grey tank is open if we are there for a few days and closed the night before to do just what you all do. Black tank is always closed. In the past we traveled with the propane on but about a year ago I started turning it off and letting the fridge sit. We have ice packs in both the freezer and fridge and it will stay cold until we arrive.
We keep both closed until ready to dump. We never get anywhere near full. But we have multiple grey tanks. We always power off before disconnecting. We always turn the propane off. Some states require it. We have a 5th wheel and always check lights, connection and a tug test for the connection and brakes.
Pedestal off before connecting, all tanks closed unless dumping, propane off when traveling (and when leaving the rig for the day, along with the water), door (5th wheel) locked when traveling.
Gray open, until we dump the black. If access to our RV site location is questionable, we always unhook the car and drive the car in first to make sure we can get the RV into our site without any mishaps from obstacles or difficult maneuvering. Excellent information! We enjoy your videos very much. Also, Thank you for your service!! God bless you and keep you safe as you travel!
If you go back through Dalhart, the little Mexican restaurant just outside the Corral RV Park has terrific breakfast tacos!! :) We're in agreement with most of the comments... black tank closed, gray open when parked (closing it for about a day before we leave to let it fill a bit for the black tank flush). We're in the process of changing over to Lithium batteries, but then we will go to a 12v refrigerator ( which means we won't need to keep propane on during a trip). And check the electrical pillar before connecting the trailer. Then breakers off, connect, turn on the pillar, turn on the breakers... And I'm retired Air Force; Bill spent some time in the Army, so both of us understand the military family concept. And the safety first philosophy... :) Thank you for your channel.
I agree, turn the electric off before hookup and disconnect. Grey tank closed but I have an system that will automatically open the grey tank when it reaches a program level. No propane all electric coach. Keep the rubber on the road and safe travels.
Both gray and black stay closed and just open gray as needed. Keeps smells etc. out and give you a clean flush when you drain the tanks. Good habit turning off the breakers before connecting and disconnecting plugs. I also flush the fresh water hose before hooking up to rig. Let it run for a minute and water the plants and then hook up.
We would love know what you use for RV Trip planning along with where you stand on those 3 hot RV topics! Don't forget to sign up for the Army VS Navy game smackdown! #gonavy LINK: todayissomeday.net/veteran-football-fundraiser
Turn off breaker before plug in and when we unplug, Black Tank Closed, Gray closed unless doing laundry, we got sewer flies once, Propane OFF always and yes, we have a ''RV Refrigerator". If it is very hot out generator is on, AC is on, and the refrigerator is on. We also only drive the first half of the day when it is hot. Door deadbolt is always locked when we travel. Love HH
Yeah its Tiff; We roll with PP off but we do have a RV Refrigerator I love it so we run our Generator during travel days because we run the Front-AC unit and Refrigerator, oven for lunch for the kids and leave the front AC off.
Hey guys. Just a comment about the sewer flies. If you make a "P" trap in your stinky slinky you would never have to deal with those little critters again. Thanks for all the videos and I love the name change. Safe travels!
We have all electric now but propane off for safety. Breaker off always. Gray open but i added a gravity anti backflow valve to my macerator line. Alternate create a trap in sewer line
I learned the two main reasons you should close it is by the time the bugs come in they have already made a nest on your walls especially in the black tank & the other is sometimes you get a smell from older campground that flows back into your Rv … because this has happened I just close it & open it when I really want to dump. Most of the time I don’t put out my slinky because once I had something put a hole in it from a bite mark😫
We’re big fans of Harvest Host also! We’re not full timers, but we take month(s) long trips. We travel with a 100lb Labrador retriever and have found the majority are pet friendly. Go Air Force Fighting Falcons!
Love u guys. Breaker off to connect/disconnect. Grey tank closed to prevent sewer odors and so we have flush for black. Propane on during travel for fridge.
We keep the breaker off at the pedestal when connecting or disconnecting. I prefer keeping both the black and grey tank closed. I like using the grey tank to start the flushing the sewer hose after dumping the black tank.
As always, great video. I just have to tell you that the t-shirts I ordered from your site a few weeks ago arrived and they are just perfect. The quality is outstanding, so soft and so pretty. Thank you!
We leave grey open except for last day when we clise ut to have enough grey to flush out the hose after dumping. Black stays closed. Gas is off. We use portable 12v fridge to keep critical items (ice cream) cold in transit. Power is always off when connecting and disconnecting electrical.
Propane off, we have a 12 volt refrigerator, black tank closed unless flushing/ emptying. Gray tank open unless the dreaded gnats/ bugs are apparent. We watch our tank levels daily.
I do, gray water open until the night before departure to help flush the lines. Propane off in travel, but I have a residential fridge and lots of battery/DC2DC charging. I always check even at a rest area, when no one gets into the camper (5er), I walk around to check tires and lights.
My answers: 1. turn the breaker off, plug in your EMS, make sure the pedestal is good, turn the breaker off, plug in and then turn the breaker back on. 2. I don't have a strong opinion on the gray tank, it's sort of a matter of personal preference but I like to have a lot of water in the gray tank to flush the hose after the black tank dump. As for the propane, turn it off while traveling and use the 110 if your alternator will handle it or just leave it off and stay out of the fridge. Keep the good stuff coming guys.
Love the tips, I always get a few nuggets when you discuss trip planning. I need to get more Harvest Hosts in my travels. I struggle to incorporate them in my travels. Pedestal breaker off is a must. Power can be pretty sketchy at some places. Grey tank closed, not because I think the other way is wrong, just cause. And with an all electric coach no worry about propane. But, when I had a 5th wheel propane was always off when traveling. Definitely a safety issue for me.
How interesting that you mention Tiffin doors flying open. We own a 2013 Tiffin and I've found that lately the door has not been fully latching when I close it! Locking the door absolutely helps if you are locking the deadbolt as that's a failsafe.
We always turn our propane off while traveling, keep grey tank closed at campground and do not plug into a live pedal. While staying at HH, we always look for breweries. The ones near Chancellorsville, Va. are our favorites.
Driver's side always. Except if someone is pouring. You do have to be versatile, when it counts. Yes, turn off the pedestal. Then check status with the PD. We learned that from you folks.
Breaker OFF, Gray CLOSED, Propane OFF. A few days before moving, I put recycled 1/2 gal. and 1 gal. bottles filled with water into the freezer. Just before departure, I leave a few in the Freezer compartment and move a few bottles into the Ref. compartment to help maintain a lower temperature until I am stationary and can use AC or Propane to renergized the Frig.
Propane on in my 17 year old camping trailer; the thing takes many hours to cool down, sometimes it tales 4-5 power cycles to light. I have turned off the propane and lost all the ice cream in less than 4 hours. Shut off the breaker before connecting and disconnecting, leave grey tank closed (lots of bad crawling things in SoCal); I also drink Diet Coke, not Diet Pepsi. I do about 90% boondocking so seldom have sewer at a site.
Our grey tanks are always closed, but we don't have laundry. I generally don't even hook up the sewer hose until the day before we leave a site. (Up to 2 week stays) We generally shut the propane off before we travel. If we are in freezing conditions, we leave it on with the heater set to 50. We froze up once, don't want to go thru that again.
I grew up in Rye, Colorado and Bishop’s Castle is a hop skip and a jump down the road. Bishop’s Castle is a very cool plaice to go see. I’ve been there several times. Driven by it more times than I can count as we would take that highway to Westcliff and Canon City on a regular basis. The fall colors through there are amazing. Thanks for sharing and Safe Travels!!
Hey guys. I always turn off power before plugging in or disconnecting. I shut grey tank valve and pull daily, except the day prior to flush hose. And we always travel with propane off. Safe travels! 👍🇺🇲⚓️
We have a 2019 Jayco Greyhawk 29mv. We turn our propane off while traveling, but we have our fridge on because I hooked the fridge up to our inverter for our solar, works great.
We definitely keep propane off, but add frozen water bottles to fridge while moving. We also keep the gray closed, but leave the galley grey open. Loved the episode!
Army guy here, COMSEC repair but years was all the fun I could stand. Getting ready to join your lifestyle (sort of). My wife and I plan on RVing, but maintaining a landing pad back home. I am learning a ton of useful information from you two. I love how you change things up, and present things differently all the time (day in the life, with water saving trips, things to do in Hilton Head, with a eBike crash {just kidding}). Keep up the good work, and Phil mad respect for being able to go from E1 to O4, that says alot about you. My dad went from E1 to CWO3 in the Army, E5 is as far as I got. 😊
Thanks a ton! We try to have fun while still getting the info out. The Navy was really good to me, that's for sure! We hope to see you out here in the wild soon!
I don't care what kind of rig you have the first question should be a NO BRAINER! YES Definitely turn off all those switches before plugging in and unplugging! Park the rig, make sure you are ready to start your hook-ups, turn off the electrical in your camper, pull out the shore cord, go to the pedestal and flip all those switches off. THEN plug in! 2)Well I have only experienced this a few times (the full hook-up), but I think I would keep my gray tank closed for the most part. Have a day of heavy laundry and water drain time, then leave it open until back to regular usage. Never leave the black tank open! LOL. #3)I will be looking into it. LOL I have never turned it off, but again I'm not a full time RVer! Love watching your travels still!
We have two grey tanks so we leave the one from the bathroom closed and that way when we open the black tank to drain we can rinse out the hose with the bathroom grey tank. But we leave the kitchen grey tank open.
Door flew open one time now I double check it before I move the rig anywhere. It will get your attention for sure. We shut propane off keep the grey closed. Great video love the trip planning.
We leave both tanks closed unless we are doing laundry then we open the gray tanks and close them when we are finished. We also shut the propane off while traveling. I would love to see how you connected your gas stop. Did you make a video of that? We have one and are intimidated to put it on, so unfortunately it is still in the package.
Been with you for years...love your channel (old Vietnam vet). Would love to see how you handle the back roads & by ways. We stay off the I system & can't believe what we find....try it. Close the black & Grey until your leaving or tanks are full.
Hi guys - great video! We agree with all three; never plug into to live electric pedal, gray tank open at campground & turn propane off while traveling. The only thing we haven’t gotten into the habit of is running the generator & a/c before we stop for the day. I don’t like the heat. We’re looking forward to January. Safe travels & hugs for little Walter 😊❤️🇺🇸
Thanks for all the RV tips! When you showed the Bar Z Winery I thought it looked familiar so I checked my camping logbook and we stayed there back in April. Interesting owner, very talkative. We LOVE Harvest Hosts. Our favorite was in Dayton OH, Todays Harvest in October last year had a corn maze, fresh apple cider slushes, pumpkins and Jack Splat (a pumpkin cannon)! We do not turn our propane of in route but it is good for thought! Maybe we’ll see you on the road!
Sonic milk shakes!!!! 💩 You Navy folks and your donuts and your “fresh baked goods”. Lol This was a cool Harvest Host! We are members of Harvest Host, however have yet to use it. Safe travels!!!
My black is closed and gray tank open until the last night before travel day on travel day I drain and clean the back tank and re-charge it ready for travel and then drain the gray tank after our showers to clean the sewer hose out and flush everything. I always make sure I have 1/2 to 3/4 fresh water for traveling and if we have to spend the night at a boondocking place.
Loved the info! The next time you are in Gainesville, TX, Phil would love a fried pie at The Cornerstone Cafe. They are the best in north Texas. Also, Rumpy's on IH35 has great baked goods.
Have you guys ever considered a thermal protector for under your generator pipe, for parking on grass? We carry one by Doc Safe, 38” round…we either use it under our propane firepit, or under an exhaust pipe. Also a nice way to keep that lovely soot off a friend’s driveway when you are airing up.
I turn propane off when travelling. I rarely use propane as I too have a household refrigerator and only use it for the furnace when not plugged into a electrical source.
Leave the gray tank closed. Just want to have plenty of gray water to wash everything out. We have a propane refrigerator and leave the tank open. We do have a gas stop on the tank. Love your channel and have been watching from day 1.
Go NAVY! My Dad was a Navy man in the early 60s. He was waiting on the ship to go during the Bay of Pigs. He met President Kennedy too during that time. I'm a Navy girl!
Grey water and black water keep CLOSED majority of the time, even with FHU. Every few days dump black tank then grey tank. (This way the gray water flushes out the blackwater that’s in your sewer hose) While doing laundry keep grey open.
i always leave both tanks closed , until full or close to full , then open black tank and do at least one flush with tank cleaner , then close black , then drain grey , to help flush out the hose , and always lock hose together to store. my plan , but you may have yours
1. We agree to leave the breaker off when plugging in and unplugging.
2. We also leave the gray valve open (except when plagued with sewer flies) as you stated. We forgot a couple times and had the bathtub fill with gray water. When this happens my wife is not a happy camper because we store our dirty laundry in our bathtub, which gets horrendously filthy and ripe. When boondocking (which is most of the time for us) we use our soapy gray water to flush out our black tank when dumping.
3. As far as the propane, we never turn it off as we are FTers with an RV fridge that only runs on propane, so must leave it on 24/7. We've been FT for 4 years and never had a problem with the flame blowing out on our motorhome fridge. As an ex-chef, I'm more afraid of food poisoning from spoiled, warm food than fire.
Years ago, before we went FT, we had an Aliner camper. After we first got it, we noticed that the fridge flame would sometimes blow out when big trucks would pass us (as it was on the driver's side) or when experiencing strong crosswind gusts, like in mountain passes. Dometic makes a wind kit which eliminates this problem (if you have a Dometic fridge). It consists of a metal shield and 3 baffles that go over the vents on your fridge door. We found 2 of the 3 baffles to be sufficient for our fridge. It is better to use the least you can as they reduce air circulation behind the fridge, so you lose some cooling ability the more you need to use.
It costs us about 1/2 gallon of gas an hour to run our generator to power our front AC. It is a high-output Furrion so one AC is sufficient up to about 100 degrees. So if gas is averaging say $3.25/gallon like it is here in TX and if we were to run it for 14hrs straight (which is the maximum you could run it due to quiet hours between10pm to 8am) it would cost about $22.75 which is a little less than that $30 FHU site, but not much less considering the comfort of having AC at night. However, we like to boondock in cooler, mountain areas in the summer where AC is not needed. But to expand the places we can boondock, without running a generator, we will soon be expanding our solar/battery system and adding a super high efficiency mini split to replace our rear AC.
We just added 7.2kwh of lithium batteries but will be adding a 15.8kwh 48v bank and about 4,000 additional watts of solar racked above our ACs to keep these batteries charged. This will give us a total of over 4,600 watts of solar and 23Kwh of LiFePo-4 batteries (equal to 18 Battleborn 100ah batteries.) This system will allow us total off grid electrical independence for 24/7 AC and supplemental heat from the heat pump and occasional use of our Furrion AC during peak demand hours. We spent $3,600 on the first 12v phase and we estimate the cost of the 2nd 48v phase to be just under $10k, so the total cost of both phases should be around $13,5k. If we were to attempt to do this with Victron and Battleborn components the cost would be well over twice that. Heck to match the capacity of these 6,000 cycle grade "A" cells in Battleborns would be almost $17,000. And while it's true that it may sound like a lot of money to invest in a solar system, it will provide not only our air conditioning, heat and other electrical needs but gives us the freedom to go wherever and whenever we want without needing to spend a dime on RV parks or electricity, living virtually rent and electric bill free for the rest of our lives. To me, this perspective makes a mere $13.5k investment seem like the bargain of the century.
Nice video.
Breakers OFF while plugging in or out always.
Propane tanks closed while traveling always. EVEN if the fridge is propane. Appliances shift, connections come loose, and even a small fender bender can rupture a connection.
Black tank closed always.
Gray tank closed always. (Roaches, sewer flies/bugs can breach the p-traps. FYI: I live in the Texas Hill Country and scorpions will also come up thru the sewers/sinks. Any plumber from the hill country in Texas will tell you the same. I'm sure it's the same for other arid climates where scorpions are.
Propane- we leave on. The trick while dewinterizing, is to clear any spiderwebs out of the hot water ignition tube, with a small pipe cleaner or cable tie.
We use a maserater pump at present, so I close my gray for use during black flush. Prior to maserater we left gray open.
We went all electric because of refrigerater and furnaces, I closed tank valve when we had propane.
Considering your plug, we echo your position on the turn off. A few years ago we lost our electric during the night. No one else lost power. We contacted our surged protecter company, they check out our equipment, it was fine. They suggested that we had oxides built up on our connections as we had been plugged in for awhile (3 months). Told us to just unplug then plug back in, the action of doing this would clean the receptical and the plug blades of the oxidation.
Travel safe. Steve
Hi Stacy and Phil. It's Doris from your great interview at the Tampa RV Super Show. Still at TTO for the time being.
Yes I have a two way RV frig and I do leave my propane on all the time. I know it can be unsafe and I wish I had a 12 volt frig.
I leave my black closed, of course, but leave the grey open and do not get the bugs only rarely but close it about 48 hours before dumping if I remember to do it. Yes I always lock my door even during the day as a reflex so I will be in the habit of locking it for travel. I double lock it for boon docking and yes I make sure it is securely closed and locked for travel. The door did fly open one time on my old big Bounder. Lol! Love your channel and I am back following you again.
Glad to have you back with us!! Good tip on the door!
Yes keep the black tank closed and gray open. 24 hours or so before we leave a site I close the gray tank also and let it fill up a bit. Then the next day when it's time to leave, I drain the black tank and use the water from the gray tank to flush out the hose. Love your videos!
I generally keep the gray closed unless I’m going to be on full hookups for over a week so I’ve got plenty of flush after dumping black. If I’m staying 3 weeks, I close it for a day or two before dumping to build up a good flush. Black is always closed. I’m guilty of leaving propane on. 😮 once I get the fridge on my LiFePO4 system that’ll change.
We keep both black and gray tanks closed until we dump. I like to rinse after dumping black tank with a lot of gray water. I dump gray tank as needed in the interim. Propane is off while we travel. I always turn the pedestal at campground off to plug in or remove the plug.
I like to have a LOT of sink and shower water to flush through the slinky hose after the black tank is dumped. I leave the propane ON and have the Gas Stop valves. We also shut off the breaker for the 50 amp plug (or whatever we will be using), then connect the surge suppressor, switch the breaker on to confirm the proper ‘lights’ are on and the power is good, shut off the breaker, plug in the trailer cord, then turn the breaker back on.
We've stayed twice at that campground in Dalhart. Great full hookup stop. We do our electrical the way you do it. We do open the grey tank when on full hookups and we also close it the night before departure so that when we dump the black tank down the road we can follow with the grey dump. We too don't need propane when moving so we always shut it off. We use a checklist for any move, which like you do, we check brakes, lights, and a few other things. Navy guy here, though not a retiree (7 years). Married to a Marine's daughter. We're retired from Boeing (flight training, engineering, production flight test).
When my folks were retired they used to go to Creed every summer in their Airstream. Loved it there & my dad loved the fishing.
There is a company up in Michigan who cleans out both black and grey tanks professionally. They suggest for the best upkeep of your grey tank leaving it closed. The thing is no matter how hard you try to keep stuff out of your drains, little bits get down into your tank. So just like with the black tank you can get a huge pile of debris, by leaving the tank open the water is going out, but any debris will stay put. It makes sense. Even though you run flushes through there, the dry debris are less likely to leave than the wet ones because you left it closed.
Me being autistic, I don't want anything hooked up to the sewer when I am not right there dumping it. So, the hose comes out and then gets put away when done. Just set a schedule that gives you a notification that you must dump it and you dump on that day every week. That may mean that you must take a little trip to do it, or in the worst case you could move it to the day before or after. When you are done you put it away and store it till your next dump date. My father always did it every 7 days, but he didn't have a washing machine. He and my mom didn't shower as much as I do either. I just know that because of my autism that I must dump the grey tank more often than other people. That said, as a solo female it works itself out. I mean technically I can go three months without doing laundry. Shower is every morning though.
Don't be playing with electricity. Turn that bad boy off! As far as propane? I am not particularly comfortable with it to begin with. Turn that stuff off on travel days. Too explosive!
Always check the breaker at the parks outlet with our surge protector and then make sure it is off before we plug anything into it, we close our grey tank and travel with propane off.
We
- always turn off the breaker before plugging in or removing the surge protector and cord.
- always leave the grey and black closed until it’s time to dump the black tank. After dumping the black tank, we use the grey water to wash out the sewer hose.
- always turn off the propane while traveling. Yes, we have the Gas Stop devices but it’s still not worth the risk. We put ice packs in the fridge to keep it cool. Besides, we rarely travel longer than 3 hours so the fridge stays just fine.
Propane off keep a 2L bottle frozen for the freezer and another for the fridge , never an issue even after 8 hrs. Leave a low loop in the sewer hose to act as a p trap when the gray waste gate is left open to keep smells and bugs out.
Thanks for your Service and all the things you do for the vets. # Breaker off LP off Gray close. We are sometimers and took a trip from Green Bay to Yellowstone our fridge stayed cold we just added ice Bottles as we went down the road. At night we will put them back in the freezer to refreeze them for the next day never had a problem. Thanks From Wisconsin
Thanks for sharing
1) I make sure the pedestal is off before hooking up my surge protector. If it tells me all is ok I turn off again before hooking my electrical cord up, then I turn back on. 2) We are weekend warriors so with old camper that had RV fridge we traveled with propane on to get fridge cold. With new RV with fridge that runs off 12 v which is cold by the time we get there and doesn't us propane we have propane off until we arrive. 3) As weekend warriors we leave grey tank closed to build up so when we empty our tanks we have enough to rinse out after emptying the black tank.
1) make sure pedestal is OFF before and after using, 2) keep our black and grey sewer tanks CLOSED when set up to keep critters out, 3) propane OFF when traveling - we have 3-way fridge.
Happy Veterans Day weekend guys, thanks for your service and continued giving to those who serve! Peace and safe travels.
As a retired Jarhead and expert in everything (just ask my wife) I had to comment. Black closed, gray open & propane open. Our first trailer we had for over a dozen years and never thought about shutting it off. We were only weekend warriors and nothing long distance. Now retired and with a new 5th wheel we did an 11,000 mile trip last year. Following the majority of You Tube RVers we tried shutting off the propane when traveling. It DID NOT WORK in our fifth wheel. The fridge was a Huge problem on the trip. So on future excursions we will only turn off the propane if we will be going through a long tunnel or something similar. Just for info this same discussion has come up every time we talk to other campers about traveling & propane. I have yet to talk to someone who turns off their propane. Enough said except love your channel ❤
Now that was funny!!! You have to do what makes you comfortable. Spoiled food is a show stopper. They have conversion kits out there for RV fridges to go from propane to electric as a thought.
Breaker off, gray open/black closed, propane on (refrigerator and heat if needed run on propane). No, I spend time driving in the Southwest where the sun beats on the fridge side of the RV with Temps 100°+. The fridge won't last an hour cold in those conditions. So yes, propane on. And yes, I also have the fridge propane burner as well as the propane furnaces checked to make sure they are functioning properly.
It is always great to link up with old military buddies. There is a bond that can never be explained to a civilian.
Very true!!!
Propane isn't a problem because my coach is all electric. I keep the gray tank closed. I also have a switch in the 1/2 bath that lets me dump it without going outside which means if I need to dump before laundry or shower, no problem.
😲😲😲 My father in law served 2 tours in Vietnam and his name is on that memorial wall!!!! My husband was born and raised in Rye, right where you all wete hanging out there at bishops castle! Lol It's so neat to see you guys checking out our old stomping grounds. I hope you tried a green chili slopper while in Pueblo!
Gas off, black closed, grey closed (no washing machine) and always turn off the breaker.
Love this channel
We turn off breaker, we leave grey tank open but I put a trap type bend in sewer line to keep smells out, Gas on never turn ours off.
we had an interesting thing happen with the LP. while traveling ( we leave ours open), the fill valve tee. shut down and did not let gas, though, to the refrigerator
the alarm went off. went back to re light it,did not work, checked the stove , had no gas, started tracing it back to the tank, and found this valve had shut down? took it out, and gas was restored. have not really looked at the valve. but that was the problem. we leave our grey open, until about two days before we leave to flush line after black dump. Always check the breaker to be off before plugging in, and always turn off when leaving.
Go Army!
We have been to a few HH museums ❤️, co-op❤️ 🚜 farms❤️
I can always expect an informative, well made video whenever I tune in to your channel. Thank you. My comment on this video is this- No one else can dictate what makes you feel safe. Only you know what makes you comfortable. Whatever makes you feel safe is the right thing to do.
Agree with 2/3. We keep our grey tank closed. Just a preference. Our fridge runs on battery, so we don’t have a use for propane when traveling, but in our previous rv that had a fridge that ran on propane, we turned it off and the fridge stayed cool between stops without any issues. Always turn off the pedestal before plugging up, and we plug the surge protector first and verify all is well before we let that get anywhere near the rv plug. Another tip - we always check the pedestal with our surge protector before we start to level or set up at all. That way if we need to move sites, we’re still in driving mode. Happy Belated Veteran’s Day! Thank you for your service! My grandfather was lifetime Navy, and my dad was Navy for a few years as well.
Hope you both had a happy Veterans Day. We had our annual Veterans Day celebration and barbecue dinner with our neghbors here in Mount Olive Shores North. There are many veterans who live here, and we hold this annual celebration every year to honor all of those of us who served our great country.
We leave the grey tank closed so there’s enough water to flush the sewer hose after dumping the black tank. And we stopped flushing out the black tank with fresh water years ago when we began using TankTechs RX.
Our propane is always closed unless the temperatures are forecast to drop below 38 degrees. We only use propane for the furnaces.
We had a problem with our door coming open while underway a few years ago. I contacted PTL Engineering who asked for photos of the door bumpers. They determined that Tiffin had installed the wrong bumpers (the bumpers are the rubber stops between the screen door and the main door). Tiffin had installed large bumpers, which prevented the door from closing properly. They sent me the short bumpers free of charge.
I really enjoyed you showing how you plan your trips. Especially with Harvest Host since we just joined last week.
Agree on all 3 👍 close Gray couple days beforehand to flush Black from Stinky Slinky. Keep inverter on while on the road Generator only if need A/C while driving.
Getting caught up with you old videos. 4 things. Power OFF when connecting and disconnecting, all tank valves closed as I don't have a washer in my rig, propane ALWAYS off while traveling. 4th - I hope you were wearing seat belts while moving. LOL
We never put our our sewer hose until ready to dump. I never leave the grey tank open and I have flushers in both tanks as well. Yes, even when we do our laundry in the RV, there is never that much water to worry about. We also have the See Level monitor system.
Also we shut water when we leave for more than an hour
Great video !! Power off before plugging in and before unplugging, Grey closed (wife is very concerned with sewer flies), propane off when traveling. We do light and wheels as well, every time !!
We close grey tank now because we have been at some campgrounds where smells come up. So depends on the campground really. We turn our propane off because we have a residential fridge so propane is for hot water only.
Good video. I always turn the breaker off while hooking and unhooking the cable. Grey tank is open if we are there for a few days and closed the night before to do just what you all do. Black tank is always closed. In the past we traveled with the propane on but about a year ago I started turning it off and letting the fridge sit. We have ice packs in both the freezer and fridge and it will stay cold until we arrive.
We keep both closed until ready to dump. We never get anywhere near full. But we have multiple grey tanks.
We always power off before disconnecting.
We always turn the propane off. Some states require it.
We have a 5th wheel and always check lights, connection and a tug test for the connection and brakes.
Pedestal off before connecting, all tanks closed unless dumping, propane off when traveling (and when leaving the rig for the day, along with the water), door (5th wheel) locked when traveling.
Gray open, until we dump the black. If access to our RV site location is questionable, we always unhook the car and drive the car in first to make sure we can get the RV into our site without any mishaps from obstacles or difficult maneuvering. Excellent information! We enjoy your videos very much. Also, Thank you for your service!! God bless you and keep you safe as you travel!
If you go back through Dalhart, the little Mexican restaurant just outside the Corral RV Park has terrific breakfast tacos!! :) We're in agreement with most of the comments... black tank closed, gray open when parked (closing it for about a day before we leave to let it fill a bit for the black tank flush). We're in the process of changing over to Lithium batteries, but then we will go to a 12v refrigerator ( which means we won't need to keep propane on during a trip). And check the electrical pillar before connecting the trailer. Then breakers off, connect, turn on the pillar, turn on the breakers... And I'm retired Air Force; Bill spent some time in the Army, so both of us understand the military family concept. And the safety first philosophy... :) Thank you for your channel.
I agree, turn the electric off before hookup and disconnect.
Grey tank closed but I have an system that will automatically open the grey tank when it reaches a program level.
No propane all electric coach.
Keep the rubber on the road and safe travels.
We have 2 grey tanks.... We keep the kitchen one open and use the bathroom tank to flush the hose after we drain our black tank ! Works for us !
Both gray and black stay closed and just open gray as needed. Keeps smells etc. out and give you a clean flush when you drain the tanks. Good habit turning off the breakers before connecting and disconnecting plugs. I also flush the fresh water hose before hooking up to rig. Let it run for a minute and water the plants and then hook up.
We would love know what you use for RV Trip planning along with where you stand on those 3 hot RV topics! Don't forget to sign up for the Army VS Navy game smackdown! #gonavy LINK: todayissomeday.net/veteran-football-fundraiser
Turn off breaker before plug in and when we unplug, Black Tank Closed, Gray closed unless doing laundry, we got sewer flies once, Propane OFF always and yes, we have a ''RV Refrigerator". If it is very hot out generator is on, AC is on, and the refrigerator is on. We also only drive the first half of the day when it is hot. Door deadbolt is always locked when we travel. Love HH
Learn something new with every video. Thank y'all so much for doing what you do!!
Thanks Chrs! We need a meet up soon!!! Hope you guys are well and spending time with family!
Yeah its Tiff; We roll with PP off but we do have a RV Refrigerator I love it so we run our Generator during travel days because we run the Front-AC unit and Refrigerator, oven for lunch for the kids and leave the front AC off.
Hey guys. Just a comment about the sewer flies. If you make a "P" trap in your stinky slinky you would never have to deal with those little critters again. Thanks for all the videos and I love the name change. Safe travels!
We have all electric now but propane off for safety. Breaker off always. Gray open but i added a gravity anti backflow valve to my macerator line. Alternate create a trap in sewer line
I learned the two main reasons you should close it is by the time the bugs come in they have already made a nest on your walls especially in the black tank & the other is sometimes you get a smell from older campground that flows back into your Rv … because this has happened I just close it & open it when I really want to dump. Most of the time I don’t put out my slinky because once I had something put a hole in it from a bite mark😫
We’re big fans of Harvest Host also! We’re not full timers, but we take month(s) long trips. We travel with a 100lb Labrador retriever and have found the majority are pet friendly. Go Air Force Fighting Falcons!
Love u guys. Breaker off to connect/disconnect. Grey tank closed to prevent sewer odors and so we have flush for black. Propane on during travel for fridge.
We keep the breaker off at the pedestal when connecting or disconnecting. I prefer keeping both the black and grey tank closed. I like using the grey tank to start the flushing the sewer hose after dumping the black tank.
As always, great video. I just have to tell you that the t-shirts I ordered from your site a few weeks ago arrived and they are just perfect. The quality is outstanding, so soft and so pretty. Thank you!
We leave grey open except for last day when we clise ut to have enough grey to flush out the hose after dumping. Black stays closed. Gas is off. We use portable 12v fridge to keep critical items (ice cream) cold in transit. Power is always off when connecting and disconnecting electrical.
We do exactly the same way you do with the black and gray. We shut off the propane for travel. Our fridge is 12 volt so no propane used.
I keep both closed and use the gray to help flush the line from the black tank
Propane off, we have a 12 volt refrigerator, black tank closed unless flushing/ emptying. Gray tank open unless the dreaded gnats/ bugs are apparent. We watch our tank levels daily.
I do, gray water open until the night before departure to help flush the lines. Propane off in travel, but I have a residential fridge and lots of battery/DC2DC charging. I always check even at a rest area, when no one gets into the camper (5er), I walk around to check tires and lights.
My answers: 1. turn the breaker off, plug in your EMS, make sure the pedestal is good, turn the breaker off, plug in and then turn the breaker back on. 2. I don't have a strong opinion on the gray tank, it's sort of a matter of personal preference but I like to have a lot of water in the gray tank to flush the hose after the black tank dump. As for the propane, turn it off while traveling and use the 110 if your alternator will handle it or just leave it off and stay out of the fridge. Keep the good stuff coming guys.
Happy Veterans Day. We are ARMY. We keep grey and black closed. Stay Safe and keep making memories
Love the tips, I always get a few nuggets when you discuss trip planning. I need to get more Harvest Hosts in my travels. I struggle to incorporate them in my travels. Pedestal breaker off is a must. Power can be pretty sketchy at some places. Grey tank closed, not because I think the other way is wrong, just cause. And with an all electric coach no worry about propane. But, when I had a 5th wheel propane was always off when traveling. Definitely a safety issue for me.
♥♥
How interesting that you mention Tiffin doors flying open. We own a 2013 Tiffin and I've found that lately the door has not been fully latching when I close it! Locking the door absolutely helps if you are locking the deadbolt as that's a failsafe.
We always turn our propane off while traveling, keep grey tank closed at campground and do not plug into a live pedal. While staying at HH, we always look for breweries. The ones near Chancellorsville, Va. are our favorites.
Driver's side always. Except if someone is pouring. You do have to be versatile, when it counts. Yes, turn off the pedestal. Then check status with the PD. We learned that from you folks.
I leave the gray open and black closed till day before leaving to flush hose after black empty.
Breaker OFF, Gray CLOSED, Propane OFF. A few days before moving, I put recycled 1/2 gal. and 1 gal. bottles filled with water into the freezer. Just before departure, I leave a few in the Freezer compartment and move a few bottles into the Ref. compartment to help maintain a lower temperature until I am stationary and can use AC or Propane to renergized the Frig.
Dalhart is my old stomping grounds. I grew up in Clayton NM and still have family up that way.
Propane on in my 17 year old camping trailer; the thing takes many hours to cool down, sometimes it tales 4-5 power cycles to light. I have turned off the propane and lost all the ice cream in less than 4 hours. Shut off the breaker before connecting and disconnecting, leave grey tank closed (lots of bad crawling things in SoCal); I also drink Diet Coke, not Diet Pepsi. I do about 90% boondocking so seldom have sewer at a site.
Gray tank closed until the night before we leave. Thanks for all the great videos.
Propane on, gray closed. Also adding to your take off checklist we make sure all cargo bays are locked.
Our grey tanks are always closed, but we don't have laundry. I generally don't even hook up the sewer hose until the day before we leave a site. (Up to 2 week stays)
We generally shut the propane off before we travel. If we are in freezing conditions, we leave it on with the heater set to 50. We froze up once, don't want to go thru that again.
I grew up in Rye, Colorado and Bishop’s Castle is a hop skip and a jump down the road. Bishop’s Castle is a very cool plaice to go see. I’ve been there several times. Driven by it more times than I can count as we would take that highway to Westcliff and Canon City on a regular basis. The fall colors through there are amazing. Thanks for sharing and Safe Travels!!
I (Phil) grew up in Fountain.....I miss the fall colors!!!
Hey guys. I always turn off power before plugging in or disconnecting. I shut grey tank valve and pull daily, except the day prior to flush hose. And we always travel with propane off. Safe travels! 👍🇺🇲⚓️
We have a 2019 Jayco Greyhawk 29mv. We turn our propane off while traveling, but we have our fridge on because I hooked the fridge up to our inverter for our solar, works great.
We definitely keep propane off, but add frozen water bottles to fridge while moving. We also keep the gray closed, but leave the galley grey open. Loved the episode!
I lived in Colorado for over 20 years. I use to lead 30 to 40 jeep tours for over 450 4x4 families.
Army guy here, COMSEC repair but years was all the fun I could stand. Getting ready to join your lifestyle (sort of). My wife and I plan on RVing, but maintaining a landing pad back home.
I am learning a ton of useful information from you two. I love how you change things up, and present things differently all the time (day in the life, with water saving trips, things to do in Hilton Head, with a eBike crash {just kidding}).
Keep up the good work, and Phil mad respect for being able to go from E1 to O4, that says alot about you. My dad went from E1 to CWO3 in the Army, E5 is as far as I got. 😊
Thanks a ton! We try to have fun while still getting the info out. The Navy was really good to me, that's for sure! We hope to see you out here in the wild soon!
I don't care what kind of rig you have the first question should be a NO BRAINER! YES Definitely turn off all those switches before plugging in and unplugging! Park the rig, make sure you are ready to start your hook-ups, turn off the electrical in your camper, pull out the shore cord, go to the pedestal and flip all those switches off. THEN plug in! 2)Well I have only experienced this a few times (the full hook-up), but I think I would keep my gray tank closed for the most part. Have a day of heavy laundry and water drain time, then leave it open until back to regular usage. Never leave the black tank open! LOL. #3)I will be looking into it. LOL I have never turned it off, but again I'm not a full time RVer! Love watching your travels still!
We have two grey tanks so we leave the one from the bathroom closed and that way when we open the black tank to drain we can rinse out the hose with the bathroom grey tank. But we leave the kitchen grey tank open.
Door flew open one time now I double check it before I move the rig anywhere. It will get your attention for sure. We shut propane off keep the grey closed. Great video love the trip planning.
Thanks for sharing
We leave both tanks closed unless we are doing laundry then we open the gray tanks and close them when we are finished. We also shut the propane off while traveling. I would love to see how you connected your gas stop. Did you make a video of that? We have one and are intimidated to put it on, so unfortunately it is still in the package.
Been with you for years...love your channel (old Vietnam vet). Would love to see how you handle the back roads & by ways. We stay off the I system & can't believe what we find....try it. Close the black & Grey until your leaving or tanks are full.
Hi guys - great video! We agree with all three; never plug into to live electric pedal, gray tank open at campground & turn propane off while traveling. The only thing we haven’t gotten into the habit of is running the generator & a/c before we stop for the day. I don’t like the heat. We’re looking forward to January. Safe travels & hugs for little Walter 😊❤️🇺🇸
We agree all the way around!
Thanks for all the RV tips!
When you showed the Bar Z Winery I thought it looked familiar so I checked my camping logbook and we stayed there back in April. Interesting owner, very talkative.
We LOVE Harvest Hosts. Our favorite was in Dayton OH, Todays Harvest in October last year had a corn maze, fresh apple cider slushes, pumpkins and Jack Splat (a pumpkin cannon)!
We do not turn our propane of in route but it is good for thought!
Maybe we’ll see you on the road!
Sonic milk shakes!!!! 💩
You Navy folks and your donuts and your “fresh baked goods”. Lol
This was a cool Harvest Host! We are members of Harvest Host, however have yet to use it. Safe travels!!!
We turn off the breaker before connecting or disconnecting. The grey tank is closed since we used the grey to rinse the sewer hose. Propane is off.
My black is closed and gray tank open until the last night before travel day on travel day I drain and clean the back tank and re-charge it ready for travel and then drain the gray tank after our showers to clean the sewer hose out and flush everything. I always make sure I have 1/2 to 3/4 fresh water for traveling and if we have to spend the night at a boondocking place.
4:50 Omg I have "Talk to me Goose" T-shirt. You know the Tomcat from the first Top gun is on the deck of the Lexington in Corpus Christi....
Yes, we have seen it. Stacy loves the shirt!
Loved the info! The next time you are in Gainesville, TX, Phil would love a fried pie at The Cornerstone Cafe. They are the best in north Texas. Also, Rumpy's on IH35 has great baked goods.
Have you guys ever considered a thermal protector for under your generator pipe, for parking on grass? We carry one by Doc Safe, 38” round…we either use it under our propane firepit, or under an exhaust pipe. Also a nice way to keep that lovely soot off a friend’s driveway when you are airing up.
Great idea! Thanks
I turn propane off when travelling. I rarely use propane as I too have a household refrigerator and only use it for the furnace when not plugged into a electrical source.
Leave the gray tank closed. Just want to have plenty of gray water to wash everything out. We have a propane refrigerator and leave the tank open. We do have a gas stop on the tank. Love your channel and have been watching from day 1.
Been there 5+ years ago and a very interesting place in the middle of Nowhere !!!!!! Love ur videos.
Go NAVY! My Dad was a Navy man in the early 60s. He was waiting on the ship to go during the Bay of Pigs. He met President Kennedy too during that time. I'm a Navy girl!
Hand Salute!
Grey water and black water keep CLOSED majority of the time, even with FHU. Every few days dump black tank then grey tank. (This way the gray water flushes out the blackwater that’s in your sewer hose) While doing laundry keep grey open.
I close the gray only to keep fumes from coming back up into the RV.
i always leave both tanks closed , until full or close to full , then open black tank and do at least one flush with tank cleaner , then close black , then drain grey , to help flush out the hose , and always lock hose together to store. my plan , but you may have yours