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General Discussion / 2021 Phoenix Cruiser Travel Club Reunion

« on: May 02, 2021, 10:46:31 pm »

The 2021 Phoenix Cruiser Travel Club reunion will be held from Sunday, September 19th until Friday, September 24th, at the Spearfish City Campground, 404 S. Canyon Street, Spearfish, South Dakota.  We currently have SEVEN spots left—that’s 7 humans, not 7 rigs!  Once those slots are filled, we will establish a waiting list. 

Registration information and pricing is available at www.PhoenixCruiserTravelClub.org.    You do need to be a Phoenix Cruiser Travel Club member to attend.  Membership dues have been waived for 2021 so it costs you nothing to check out the Club.  Just complete a membership application on our website Phoenix Cruiser Travel Club.org.  If you miss the seven-person cut-off, don’t despair.  We will have a wait list and will quickly fill any spots opened by cancellations.  No money is due until you have a confirmed reservation. 

Our five-night event includes 4 breakfast meals, a welcome cookout, a farewell dinner, group campfire, an optional day trip, competitive Bingo game with wonderful prizes, casual social hours, sharing of RVing and travel tips, and generally enjoying each other’s company.  Phoenix USA RV Representatives will be there to chat with club members and to update us on what’s new at the factory.  The optional bus day trip will take us through stunning Spearfish Canyon with stops at a waterfall, gold mine, historic Deadwood (where we will have time to browse and buy lunch before a guided trolley tour of the town and cemetery), and finally a stop at Kevin Costner’s Tatonka attraction.  The PCTC is a social club and that’s what we are going to do—SOCIALIZE!!!

Our campsites surround Snapper’s meeting hall in the Spearfish City Park.  There are plenty of trees, a multi-use trail, trout stream, and historic fish hatchery on site.  Historic downtown Spearfish is just down the road with fun shops and restaurants. 

Spearfish is at the top of the beautiful Black Hills.  The annual adventure guide available on the VisitSpearfish.com website has information on hiking, biking, fishing, scenic drives, shopping, National Parks and historic sites, and more in the area.  Additional information is available at the Travel South Dakota website.   

Club members can check out the reunion page on our website for more information and pictures.  It’s going to be a great reunion in this spectacular region of our country.  We look forward to seeing everyone at this fun and friendly event. 

Holly Cook, President and Spearfish Reunion Co-Chair
Phoenix Cruiser Travel Club 

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General Discussion / Re: What NOT to do when flat towing a 2021 Jeep Wrangler

« on: March 19, 2021, 05:47:06 pm »

That is just downright scary.  I am always scared when we first pull out after hooking up.  In fact Carrie always walks alongside for a few yards to make sure everything is working before we move and even then I'm still worried.

I did manage to pull the toad about 5 feet with the emergency brake on once.  Fortunately in gravel and with Carrie watching.  The drag was immediately noticeable and so were her screams.............

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General Discussion / Re: Household GFI keeps Tripping when plugging in to a Non-30 Amp circuit

« on: February 15, 2021, 07:33:12 pm »

Thanks Ron!  High praise from the guy who always has a good answer.

I'll credit my dad who was logical and methodical in solving such problems.  He instilled that thought process in all us kids.  Start at the beginning, remove as many variables as you can and test one at a time until you get to the end.

Sometimes drove us crazy, when the answer seemed obvious he would just ignore it and go through his process anyway.  Often the obvious answer was correct.  But often enough his process found something unexpected that we wouldn't have seen by jumping to conclusions.

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General Discussion / Re: Household GFI keeps Tripping when plugging in to a Non-30 Amp circuit

« on: February 14, 2021, 08:08:04 pm »

I assume it is tripping the GFCI not the actual circuit breaker, yes?

If so then there are a number of things it could be:
1) Your GFCI receptacle might be getting weak.  If they trip a lot they tend to get more sensitive over time.  That is possible but unlikely.  Test that by plugging into a different GFCI.

2) Your extension cord might have an issue.  A frayed place in the insulation might let enough moisture in to trip the GFCI.  Test by trying a different cord.

3) Your extension cord or adapters might not be making contact properly.  If the plug is worn and has overheated it might be arcing internally.  It could also be the input port on the rig where the extension cord plugs in.

4) GFCI's trip when there is an imbalance between hot / neutral.  So you could have a neutral wire in the rig touching ground someplace.  Possibly in the circuit panel or converter.  Hopefully not in the wall someplace.

5) Your converter might be causing the issue.  Some converters leak enough voltage to ground to set off a GFCI.  Not much you can do about that except replace the converter.

6) RV's rattle everything in them so it might be a loose wire someplace.  Check the breaker panel and tighten down anything loose.  WITH THE POWER OFF!

To see if you can isolate the issue turn off all breakers in the RV.  Plug in and see if the GFCI trips.  If so that indicates an issue before the circuit panel.  If it doesn't trip then one by one turn on the breakers until it does trip.  Then figure out what is on that breaker.

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General Discussion / Re: Grill storage / grill reccs

« on: January 25, 2021, 12:28:51 am »

attempt to recycle them?  and where can they be recycled?

They are supposed to come with a green plastic cap that has a pin that opens the valve.  So after they are empty you are supposed to push that cap on, pin down.  That opens the valve and 'proves' that they are empty.  Then put them in recycle / garbage depending on your local rules.

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General Discussion / Re: House power from RV generator as back-up

« on: January 22, 2021, 03:18:05 pm »

draws closer to 10 amps with the 50 extension cord

Check the gauge on the extension cord.  Smaller gauge cords will heat up and as they heat the resistance increases.  On short runs or intermittent use that rarely matters.  But continuous use over 50 feet, it can be a factor.

Good quality 12 gauge cords are crazy expensive right now but that's what I would use in this situation.  Per spec a 14 gauge cord can carry 15 amps but over a large run and continuous use that should be derated putting you close to maximum.  A 12 gauge cord can carry 20 amps so even derated you have a comfortable margin.

If you already have a 12 gauge, then never mind...........

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General Discussion / Re: LED strip lights in newer units

« on: January 22, 2021, 03:04:35 pm »

Well, it may be pedantic, but I have found the LED's themselves DO have a long life.  Its the driver circuitry that fails. 

Not pedantic, you are almost certainly correct.  At least in most situations.  In the old house the bulbs that failed had the driver circuitry enclosed so not something I felt it worth messing with so I just tossed them.  In the new house I have had one LED 'shop light" fixture fail out of 24 installed in the shop and garage.  I dissected that one and as far as I can tell the LEDs are totally fine but the driver box is toast.  I located a replacement driver box but the cost was actually higher than a new fixture.

I had one spare fixture left so I just swapped them.  I have the failed one in the shop and maybe someday I'll mess around with repairing it.

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General Discussion / Re: LED strip lights in newer units

« on: January 21, 2021, 09:52:20 pm »

I was thinking LED would last longer.

The 'promise' of LED lasting nearly forever does not seem to be working out well.   When they first came out I added a number of them to the Oregon house and almost universally they failed within 2 years.  However, I think the manufacturers have learned and newer ones seem better built and last longer.

The new house has all LED fixtures, not bulbs.  So if it fails you replace the whole fixture.  I guess we will see how that works out.

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General Discussion / Re: LED strip lights in newer units

« on: January 13, 2021, 08:48:43 pm »

Thanks I'll give that a try.
 
I messaged Phoenix but have not heard back yet on what replacements would cost.

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General Discussion / LED strip lights in newer units

« on: January 11, 2021, 09:02:51 pm »

Is anyone else having issues with the LED strip lights in newer models?  Mine is a 2017 and has LED strip lights in various places that are supposed to turn on / off using a capacitance touch switch.  One of them has always been a little flaky but now all of them are on and refuse to turn off using the touch switch. 

Any thoughts / solutions?  I am going to have to replace them all unless someone has a good idea.

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General Discussion / Re: Crank battery charging

« on: January 08, 2021, 01:52:40 pm »

I need to find that fuse..is it under the dash?

On my 2017 it is under the hood behind the radiator overflow tank.  I installed my own  TRIK-L-START and it was easiest to put it under the overflow tank because all of the wiring needed was already there for the white cross-connect switch.

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General Discussion / Re: Entrance Door Magnet

« on: January 06, 2021, 05:00:25 pm »

And my solar PC and home charges them for free.

Our home is also solar powered, net zero actually.  Last summer I was in the market for a new lawn mower.  After comparing the dozens of gas powered models I suddenly realized I was being stupid.  Why buy a gas mower when I generate all of my own power?  I got a really nice electric model from Lowes.  Very, very happy with it so far.

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General Discussion / Re: Entrance Door Magnet

« on: January 05, 2021, 12:07:18 pm »

I have a small LED flashlight stuck there on my rig.  Easy to grab if you need to run outside at night.  Its possible the previous owner did something similar and the magnet detached from the flashlight (or whatever) at some point.  Leaving the mystery magnet.

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General Discussion / Re: Crank battery charging

« on: January 01, 2021, 12:11:12 pm »

Here is the link to the Sigma switch on EBay:

Thank you sir! 

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General Discussion / Re: Crank battery charging

« on: December 30, 2020, 11:09:12 pm »

Hank, any chance you have the ebay link or the model number for that switch?  I'm thinking I should go ahead and swap mine out as well.