Essentials for new 5th Wheelers

[sreigle]

I bought this one at Home Depot on the recommendation of a couple of MOC members. It's a Whirlpool, model WHCF-DWHV, and cost around $30 to $40. I had to buy, while at HD, an adapter for the inlet and the outlet to adapt to a hose connection. That's in the plumbing section. The filter is supposed to handle a whole stick home for six months. We'll see about that. I bought a 2-pack (or is it 3?) of spare filters for something like $14. The flow rate is 6 gallons per minute, so it does not restrict the water flow. That's important to us. I just lay the thing on the ground near the park's water connection. It has a switch on the head for Filter, Bypass, and Off. The manual doesn't state the physical size but I can easily transport it under one arm. OK, hold on and I'll do a quick measurement. Total length is 13 3/4 inches. Widest point is where the hoses connect. That's 5 inches in diameter, excluding the hose adapters. Those add maybe an inch or inch and a half.

This link might be more informative. It's the second one on the page.
http://www.whirlpool.com/catalog/cat...categoryId=174

[Bill Hill]

My Wife! She is absolutely indespensible, but I'm the lucky one who gets to keep her!

[Montana_669]

A 3KW hardwired inverter. It MUST run my wifes hairdryer!!

Dave

[Kimmrg]

Maps, sense of humor, the dogs, whole house water filter, drinking water filter (I hate yucky water), an interest in where we are going, all my families phone numbers, a fire safe with our important papers inside. We saw a motorhome burn to the ground at our last campsite, I went to WMart and bought one the next day. Full timer stuff: medical, dental and vet records. But most important is the sense of humor!

[Parrothead]

Besides all the things mentioned, we always carry an extra water hose. We've had to replace several. If you need a new drain hose, you can always wait a day or two, but you need water right away. We like the coil type so it is neater and nothing lays on the ground.

[rames14]

Steve -

Saw a trailer that had used an orange safety cone with a little cut off the top. Stuck the filter down inside the cone. Now, if I have vehicle trouble, I can set out my cone and the rest of the time it does a nice job of keeping my filter upright and off the ground and a place to wrap my hose around. I had the inline style until I tapped it with a lawn mower and broke the fitting. The whole house filters are much better anyway. We got the 1 micron charcoal filter. About $3 at Menards.

[jrgwdenner]

Thanks for the great response to my question, Steve. We figured it must be some monstrous filter since it was for the whole house. Is it different, other than in appearance, to the inline water filters that you can buy at Camping World?

[sreigle]

Ron, I'll have to see if the charcoal filter is an option for ours. This one says it filters a minimum of 97% of the particulates with an average of 98.6% But I'm not sure at what micron level. Is "um" the symbol for micron?

Also, I used to have one of those orange cones but let it go when we started fulltiming. I might look for a small one that would fit in some of the remaining space in the basement when on the road.

Judy, water flow rate of those I saw at CW is 3.0 gallons per minute, max. That's not satisfactory for us. Ours is 6.0 gpm. Also, the ones I looked at had filters that need to be replaced far more often than ours (6 months advertised for a stick home). And most of the replacement filters were far more expensive. Some were about the same price as ours, though. I think I paid about 14 bucks for a 2-pack of replacement filters.

[Thunderman]

Extra keys for the tow vehicle and the Monty.
2 small folding tables to use with lawn chairs.
A good household glue.
A good gauge to check proper inflation of tires.

[sreigle]

Ahhh, the tire gauge suggestion reminded me. You might have some kind of compressor to air up the tires if one gets low on you. It's a good idea to check air pressure frequently anyhow. The biggest cause of blowouts on trailers is heat caused by underinflation. The tire usually ends up getting shredded because you don't know it's flat and flying rubber can cause additional damage.

We have one of those small 12v compressors but also have a 110v compressor (from Walmart) with a tank. It rides in a box in the basement. It's much faster at airing up the tires. They're priced around $69, give or take ten bucks.

[Parrothead]

Good point Steve. I forgot that is one of Ed's primary "musts". We have several. My SUV has a special little place for one and we keep one in the truck and another in the car. Therefore, we can always pump up the Monty's tires. Some plug into the cigarette lighter and one runs on rechargeable batteries.

[Montana_2785]

I was a semi-regular on rec.outdoor.rv-travel while we had our TT. I dug up an old post I had made back then about what to decide you needed to carry...

-----------------------

Eric A. Roellig Jul 28 1999, 3:00 am show options

Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.rv-travel, alt.rv
From: "Eric A. Roellig" - Find messages by this author
Date: 1999/07/28
Subject: Re: Accessories List
Reply to Author | Forward | Print | Individual Message | Show original | Report Abuse



stan_ri...@hotmail.com wrote:

> Has anyone complied a list of all of the necessary accessories that are
> not included when you purchase an RV? I am trying to compile such a
> list so that when I start out, I won't be in east podunk and suddenly
> discover that I need a dump donut, or left handed power water reducing
> valve, or whatever.


> ~next time
> Stan



Stan,

While we have a list, it isn't accessable to me to post. Perhaps someone
else will point you to one of the sevral lists I have seen on-line.
However, I will re-post something I sent out last year on a similar
topic. I really didn't try to provide a comprehensive list, but to
suggest situations you should think about. The bottom line is you need
to think through the possible situations/mishaps you may encounter and
see what the best way for you to deal with them is...


Look in dejanews for the topic below to see the other suggestions people
made.


-------


Subject:
Re: 10 Most Necessary Accessories
Date:
1998/04/16
Author:
Eric A. Roellig
Posting History




Katie Price wrote:

> What do you consider the most necessary accessories to have while RVing?
> --



Be able to care for your tires!!!
Tire gage.
5-7 gal. portable air tank or heavy duty 12v air compressor.

If you are often at parks with electricity (and you rarely stay at the
same campground..) you might as well get adaptors so you can use 15/20
amp, 30 amp, and 50 amp outlets. The more places you visit the more
likely it will be a matter of "when" not "if" you will need them. My
TT has 30 amp service but I was once in a place where the only
available site had nothing but a 50 amp outlet. Several times only had
15/20 amp outlet. A 30 amp extension cord has also been used several
times.


An extra long (50 ft) water hose also gets used a couple of times/year
as not all water spigots are close by.


Good flash lights (NOT fluorescent!!!) big enough (i.e. 6 volt lantern
battery type) to give you light at night in the rain (and wind.) You
should try changing a flat tire at night in your driveway with a
"normal" flash light some time to see how frustrating it can be (with
rain its 10X worse...) BTW: Fluorescent lanterns don't put out light
worth anything when its cold out.


Good flash lights (as above) so you can hitch up in the dark in the
rain because the state park ranger has come by to say you have 30
minutes to leave the park because the river is going to overflow the
banks due to the heavy rain. Try THAT in the dark in your driveway
sometime as well!!! (BTW: I go to a place where that does happen now
and then. And there are NO security lights.) Also, if you travel to a
river site it wouldn't hurt to review exactly what the minimum of tear
down you require to hit the road for a case like this. In our case,
there are items that would simply get dumped on the floor so they
won't fall. We will worry about getting them put away when we get to a
safe location.


A rain suit for the above if you care.


A nice medical kit. Sam's had one for sale over Christmas that was a
real dandy (MUCH better than the one WalMart normally carries.)
Bandages(normal to very large), antibiotic creams, burn creams,
anti-diareal pills, eye patch & cream, instant cold pack, etc. Our
medical kit has been used to help mop up after a bike spill as well as
a few splinters & minor cuts. The kit also had a smaller box for the
car as well as an even smaller pack for bike, hike, etc. The further
out into the boonies you are the more important this is. We also
usually keep a couple of the gel cold packs in the freezer to help
with the aches & pains of "doing more than we are used to"


I also have an assortment of chemical flares, electric flashing
flares, road reflectors, and a reflecting/flashing belt made for
joggers. I'm determined to be SEEN if I have problems at the side of
the road at night in the rain.


An inexpensive hand held CB so my Lady can help back me into our site
at night as it is dark about 95% of the time we get anywhere.


A minimum of tools that you are comfortable using (assortment of
wrenches, screw drivers, a few extra screws for things that shake
lose.) I keep a tool kit in the trailer at all times as well as carry
a few other things along besides. Face it, you try taking your house
and drag it all over the road and you gotta EXPECT something to go
wrong now and then. Usually they are simple things that just aggravate
you during your outing. Decide ahead of time how much you think you
can handle on your own and be ready to deal with it. Whether your
experience/skill level is "overhaul the engine in the park" to "I can
at least change my own flat tire", the most frustrating thing is to
have something go wrong that YOU CAN take care of and not have the
tools to take care of it.


Check lists. They can be a bit of a pain to put together but they are
VERY helpful. We have a list for "preparing to leave for the trip",
"Setting up at the camp site", "Preparing to leave the camp site",
"Leaving the TT in its normal parking spot til next time", and the
"Evacuation" check list. These lists identify items/procedures that we feel MUST be included/done at those times (i.e. battery on/off, gas on/off, trailer running lights/turn signals tested, water heater
on/off, antenna down, water pump on/off, stove vent locked/unlocked,
etc...) We don't move until we have checked everything on the list so
we know it is safe to move/have everything "necessary" with us. In
addition, we have an inventory list of things we like to keep with us
(i.e. is there enough TP, wash kit, paper towels, medical kit stock,
food stuffs, etc)


IMHO, the most >necessary< items are "those that will help you
prevent/deal with/travel/get home even if you are having some
problems." Everything beyond that is just convenience/favorite toys.


For catastrophic problems have good road insurance and the "well
stocked credit card" (tm) mentioned in an earlier post.


Enjoy!!


Eric


--

[sreigle]

Good list, Eric. Thanks. I, too, used to be a semi-regular on that usenet newsgroup.... until I finally got fed up with W.S. (I'm sure you know who I mean).

[Montana_2785]

quote:Originally posted by sreigle

Good list, Eric. Thanks. I, too, used to be a semi-regular on that usenet newsgroup.... until I finally got fed up with W.S. (I'm sure you know who I mean).

I do indeed know. Actually, we visited the top of Sill Hill one year and had a nice visit with him and his wife. He has an RV hookup site right on the side of his house and we parked our TT there during our stay. Will is one of those people who has a very different personality in person vs on-line. I very much don't agree with his on-line personality but I get along with him OK, both on-line & in person.

I learned a lot from Will when I was just starting out. I also eventually learned he did know quite a lot about a lot of stuff because he had done it or tried it and found that some things just didn't work. I also learned which things he was just bull headed about. Such as his on-line persona

As much as I learned on that NG, however, this forum is SO MUCH quieter and more pleasant....

Eric

[sreigle]

I heard that from someone else, too. It's a shame he can't be as nice online as he apparently is in person. It would have made that NG much more enjoyable. I'm pleased that our administrators on MOC do not allow that kind of behavior here. As you said, this is a much quieter and enjoyable place to spend some time. No "stupid questions" and "idjits" here!

[kwbosch]

quote:Originally posted by sreigle

Good list, Eric. Thanks. I, too, used to be a semi-regular on that usenet newsgroup.... until I finally got fed up with W.S. (I'm sure you know who I mean).

RORT is a pretty peacefull place with generous usage of your kill filter. Will was in mine after the first weeks reading. The only time I see any "Will Sill ranting" is when somebody quotes him.

Ken