It’s 25 feet long and weighs 12,300 pounds. I can’t find this information on the Web site.
Larry A. Barry, F386852
Amarillo, Texas
A list of companies that offer RV transportation services appears at www.rvtrader.com/rvlinks/rvtransport.php.
Faulty Ground Fault
I own a 2000 Monaco Windsor. I recently purchased an LCD TV to watch outside in the patio area. With the generator running, it would trip the ground fault circuit breaker. It would work for a while but eventually would trip the breaker. I tried several plugs but had the same problem. When the motorhome is hooked up to shore power, however, there is no problem. I took the coach in for this problem and after several hours I was told that an LCD TV would not work on the ground fault, but would work on a plug that was not in the ground fault circuit. Also, I was told that it would work when I had shore power on any circuit. Why is this problem occurring?
Bob Snyder, F205291
Newberry, Florida
Evidently there is a current leak somewhere that is tripping the GFI circuit when power is coming from the gen set. If it trips only when operating the TV on that same outlet, but does not trip if operating other electrical appliances on that same outlet, I would think it would have to be some idiosyncrasies between the electronics of the generator and the TV. If your local RV shop can’t fix the problem, perhaps you should contact Monaco’s technical service directly (877-466-6226 between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.) or take your coach to Monaco’s Wildwood Service Center at 4505 Monaco Way in Wildwood, Florida.
Inverter And Storage
I’m buying a 2008 38-foot Safari Simba, and it has a 2,000-watt inverter in it. What exactly is its function? Do I plug it into the electrical hookup as well as the 50-amp cord? The salesman says it gives us more electrical power. I’d be interested in learning more about this.
One more question. The Simba will be in storage from November until April. We bought a cover for it, and it’s being winterized. Should I start up the diesel maybe once a week and let it run, along with the generator? Thanks for being there with technical support and advice.
Vernon Pratt, F390234
Newport, Michigan
First of all, congratulations on your new coach!
The inverter converts 12-volt-DC current (typically from your house batteries) to 120-volt-AC current. When you’re using the coach, you simply leave the inverter on. Everything it does is automatic. If you store the coach for more than two weeks, you should turn off the inverter, as it does draw current even when it is not powering anything. If you wish to know how many appliances it will operate, you need to ascertain the rated wattage of each appliance and add the numbers together for a total. You also need to read the inverter’s owners manual to learn how to operate and maintain it. And don’t forget to operate your refrigerator on propane while you’re not connected to shore power, or it will pull down the house batteries very quickly.
To answer your second question, no, you should not start the chassis and generator diesel engines during long-term storage. If they’re not fully warmed up and worked a bit before they’re put to sleep again, they will build up acids, fluids, and other gunk that eventually will cause you problems. Instead, just prior to storage, fill your fuel tank as much as possible. Add a diesel fuel stabilizer to your fuel tank (the amount will be printed on its label according to the size of your fuel tank) and run both engines until you’re sure the stabilized fuel solution has filled the fuel lines and the engine intakes (approximately an hour of idling, less if you’re driving around and/or running your house air conditioners). Park your motorhome on a level surface. You also may want to provide a protective surface for the tires to sit on (heavy-duty plastic sheet, plywood, etc.) and cover the tires to protect them from direct sunlight.
A Mouse In The House
I just read the “Objectionable Odor” letter by Gary Hand, F44478, of Greenwood, Indiana, in the February 2008 issue of Family Motor Coaching (“Tech Talk,” page 24). I would like to make a suggestion regarding his problem with a hard-to-describe odor in drawer areas. I had the same kind of problem. A strange and hard-to-describe odor was getting worse over a few weeks in my Holiday Rambler Imperial. We had, for a time, visiting mice, and I located them under the counter and under the drawers beneath the cooktop. I removed the drawers and set a couple of traps.
My experience with mice has been that they travel in pairs. If you catch one, another is somewhere in the cabinetry. I caught two and felt secure in winning. Just in case, I set two more traps and pushed them into different areas in the same location.
We were spending some time in Florida and began to smell a strange, different, and rotten odor. It seemed to be coming from the cabinet drawer area. After a lot of crawling around and groping inside the lower areas of the kitchen, I discovered another mouse in a trap, and it apparently had been dead for some time! I disposed of it and sprayed various odor eliminators around the area. Over another few weeks, the odor seemed to abate. That one little mouse sure put out plenty of odor.
Crawl as far inside the cabinets as you can and look for any little space where a little critter could expire. Keep looking until you find it. Spray anything you can try on the spot where it was found, and be patient! Waiting will work, as the odor will fade.
Bob Bergevin, F295270
Plattsburgh, New York
Cover Color?
This question concerns the color of my tire covers. I’ve used white covers for years, but they always got scrubby looking, so I bought black covers. Now everywhere I stop “they” tell me my tires will age much more quickly with the black covers. Is there any info out there on color as it relates to tire aging?
Wally Kruse, F40845
Pahrump, Nevada
Bridgestone, Goodyear, and Michelin all publish tire care guides for RV owners. None of them recommend or discourage the use of tire covers that are made of one color or another. So using a black cover rather than a white one shouldn’t be an issue.
The reason the color doesn’t seem to matter very much is that the cover is not necessarily used for the reduction of heat. Rather, it serves to block ultraviolet light, which both the Bridgestone and Michelin guides say can lead to tire deterioration. The Goodyear guide says that tire covers are not required for protection of Goodyear tires.
The best thing you can do for your tires to avoid premature deterioration is to keep them at the proper cold inflation pressures; remove the tires or keep them from direct contact with the ground during long periods of non-use; use only mild soap and water to clean them; and avoid using any cleaners or dressings that contain petroleum products, alcohol, or silicone, as these can accelerate the aging process.
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