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Old 11-27-2017, 07:10 PM   #1
artho45
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newbie questions

As I mentioned in another post, we have gone from tent camping to a Montana 5th wheel. because we bought a used one, and because I don't know much about them, I have a couple questions.
Propane tanks, I don't see any gauges to tell if they have any fuel in them. Do you turn them both on, or do you use one and then the other?
Battery, the battery is dead. I am sure that I need a new one. Where's the best place to get one? An Rv place, or just where I buy other batteries. When you are hooked to electricity, that should charge the battery, right?
Slides. Do the slides need greased? how often? where?

Thanks in advance.
 
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Old 11-27-2017, 07:23 PM   #2
DQDick
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Unless someone replaced it you should have a valve on the drivers side that points toward the tank you are using and a gage turns from green to red when that tank is empty and also automatically switches to using the other tank. You then have to move the switch to point toward the tank now in use for the red/green thing to continue to work. Batteries can be purchased anywhere you get quality batteries and you need a deep cycle type or a pair of golf cart batteries. If you do use golf cart batteries they have to be connected differently than 12v deep cycle's are, and yes the converter should charge the battery when you are hooked up or when you are towing your truck should charge it. For the answer to the slide issue we need to know if you have hydraulic or electric slides but the general answer is I use silicone spray on the parts that move and will wear a couple of times a year.
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Old 11-27-2017, 08:09 PM   #3
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Before heading out on a trip, I always disconnect my propane tanks from the rig and pick them up to get a feel for the amount of fuel remaining. I top off any tank that is approaching 50% capacity.

Definitely go with deep cycle batteries, stay away from marine or automotive batteries.
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Old 11-27-2017, 11:18 PM   #4
mtlakejim
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Some 5th wheels come with automatic butane regulators that swap between tanks and some don't. You can post pictures of your tank area on here and we may be able to tell. I prefer to swap tanks manually anyway since we don't use it for the furnace and it lets me know when one tank runs out (which no more than we use gas is almost never). They do make some gauges and stick on tapes that are supposed to read the levels but they are unreliable at best. Best way to tell is to disconnect the tank, pull it out of trailer and feel of it by hand or even weigh it with a set of bathroom scales. We tend to use one tank till it runs empty, refill it but switch to the other tank so they are both used equally. If you are only using your 5th wheel for vacations and don't boondock, a 20# tank will last you a very long time. About the only thing we use ours for is to cook on rare occasion inside the coach and to heat water IF we are on 30amp connection (our coach is a 50amp with gas/electric water heater). I don't expect we will fill a bottle more than once per year.
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Old 12-02-2017, 07:20 AM   #5
L0veless
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external tank gages are unreliable at best. reason is they work off pressure (liquid converting to gas) the tank will always have pressure until they are near empty. I know because of my regulator for C02 tank for my beer keg would go from full (for 6 months) to empty over night. people at the welding shop where I get my tanks explained this to me. slides I spray silicone on them couple times a year when its nice outside.
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