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Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: Cleaning trailer electric cord contacts
deoxit for cleaning is great.
I also use dielectric grease, which should prevent any oxidation, but has the bonus of preventing arcing.
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philh
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09/06/22 10:10am |
Towing
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RE: B&W fail or Operator Error?
I dont understand some peoples obsession with not using proper procedures or included safety features. The pin in the handles is there for a reason why not us it? Is it soooo hard to do a pull test?
I went to do a pull test with landing gear barely off the ground. And "experienced" 5th wheel RVer, was freaking out, stating I was going to damage my landing gear dragging it like that. I should have asked for more advice from him... to not follow!
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philh
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09/06/22 10:05am |
Fifth-Wheels
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Men - Get your PSA checked!
Watch the numbers. Be alarmed at a sudden spike. Don't let the primary care use the words, let wait and see. I did and it made a bad situation worse. I"m presently 64.
Over 18 months, I went from 1 (tested for years) to 3.5 to 6.0. PCP was following the med center playbook, of it had to be over 6 to take action. Tested again at 6 months (5.7), and again at 12 months (6.0). He wanted to follow the playbook and I forced his hand to do the referral to urology. MRI showed gleason 4+3, which is indicative of fast growing cancer. Biopsy confirmed the entire prostate was cancerous, and it was deemed stage 3C, which is one step before spreading.
I decided on surgery over radiation for a couple of reasons. One, surgeon did two of my friends and they were very happy with the outcome. Second, given my age, it looked like long term survivability is better for younger men going through surgery over radiation. This advantage appears to wain as men get older. I'm not old, yet! There's another little issue, if you do radiation, you either can't have subsequent surgery, or it is a very difficult procedure.
Surgeon after report (confirmed by pathology report), surgery was my best option, they got all of the cancer, and yes, it was about to spread beyond the prostate. Literally got it in the nick of time.
My recovery has been a bit difficult, had a bleeder that did finally stop, but I'm getting bladder leakage into the abdomen. Wound suction drain was awful yesterday, slowed up after 3am, but is picking up steam again today. Supposed to be no more than 30ml over 48 hours, yesterday's 24 hr total, 475ml. Surgeon's liason nurse talks to me 2x per day, did the CT scan, they are suggesting I'm one of his 2% patients that are not following his recovery plans :( What they have said, keep up the fluids, don't be alarmed by the qty, to expect it to suddenly stop.
Completely disrupted our post retirement plans we spent months developing and getting reservations. Has also delayed my retirement! Even then, the original plan was 3 weeks off work, doc just put me off for 8 weeks! I'll take the extra weeks of pay ;)
I regret not pushing PCP before now, but they still got it all. I wish this recovery was going according to plan. Still concerned about how much, if any function I'll get back as I continue to recover.
This is an old mans disease, and I'm not an old man ;)
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philh
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09/06/22 09:55am |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Looking for Route MI --> Pheonix
:D;) Arizona doesn't allow Michigan residents into the state. Especially UM fans.
Go BLUE!
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philh
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09/06/22 09:30am |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Looking for Route MI --> Pheonix
Phil,
Well, our starting points probably are separated by several hundred yards and about a dozen years or so. Then, we had two objectives. One was to travel the Mother Road Rt-66 and the other was to be in Albuquerque for the Balloon Fiesta. We managed both and had a great time.
You will want to pick it up the other side of Chicago, and that is a great place to start.
While Rt-66 technically no longer exists, the route is marked and most of it has been supplanted by more modern roads. This was a great and comfortable route and if you care, I can tell you a lot more.
Our mailing address is Belleville, but we actually are in New Boston (Huron Twp).
Matt
Sorry for the late response, but the recovery is not going as planned :(
I do need to update my home town, and we sold our belleville house and live south of battle creek in a park model trailer. That is our base, and the 5th wheel is our travel home.
I hadn't considered rt 66, that's an interesting suggestion! If it doesn't technically exist anymore, then how do I find it?
I have a training class scheduled for 10/23 about an hour north of phoenix, we're holding that date for right now.
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philh
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09/06/22 09:30am |
Roads and Routes
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Looking for Route MI --> Pheonix
We;;. our well laid out detail retirement travel route plans have gotten derailed due to medical issue. It's actually delaying my retirement now.
Looking at the time we "should" be able to start the journey, it's now going to be about the destination, and not the Journey. Trip will be starting probably second week in October.
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philh
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08/26/22 01:13pm |
Roads and Routes
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Retirement and health care
Retiring mid sept. No post retirement pension or health care.
Wife is eligible for medicare in October, me in February.
Looks like my COBRA is affordable to carry at least through the end of the year.
Our income will be limited to her SSDI, until I decide to take my SSI, which I'm looking to hold off until 10/2024.
Will our reduced income help with supplemental costs?
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philh
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07/20/22 03:59pm |
Around the Campfire
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MI to AZ/UT
Spent several weeks setting up a post retirement route, basically going across the top of the country to WY, then down to AZ...
Best laid plans :(
I now have a medical procedure schedule planned which is disrupting our travel plans. Basically losing all my top of the country plans.
If we are to go straight from MI to AZ in early October, what might the route look like? In this case in will no longer be about the journey, but getting to the destination. Not exactly sure where we are going to pick up our original travel plans, that will partially depend on followup MD appts.
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philh
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07/20/22 03:48pm |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Winegard® Connect™ 2.0 WiFi & 4G LTE
IF you can find a cooperative AT&T dealer, have them set the sim card for a cell phone, and manually attach the IMEI # to the sim. Plug in the sim card and truly have unlimited data for the cost of a cell phone.
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philh
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07/20/22 03:42pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Super Duty Backup Assist - Fifth Wheel
Ford employee here... I trialed this system on a trailer before it was ever offered to customers. I struggled to make it work, and they asked I back up through a slalom course without it and I nailed it.
Fast forward, I ordered it on my F350, and still can't make it work :) I also struggled a bit moving from TT to 5th wheel, but pretty much have it down after a few times backing up. I'm going to let my wife try it without my commentary, to see if it helps her.
I'm sure it works great, but with my experience, don't really need it.
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philh
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07/20/22 03:36pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Using a Cpap in my AF 27-5
I mounted an inverter in the battery box and put a 50a receptacle on the front of the trailer, wired to the transfer box. 2200w inverter hard wired to 50a plug. I pull the plug out of the battery box, plug it in, and I have 120v throughout the 27-5L
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philh
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07/20/22 03:16pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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Health rant
Very good friend of our had tattooed on his chest as a memoriam to his way to early departed wire, "every day is a gift".
Fast forward 10 years, and he gets remarried and dies in a somewhat strange household accident on his honeymoon.
Father in law on his death bed, said don't wait to do the things you want to do. He continued to work, robbed his then departed wife of the one vacation she wanted to have, and it wasn't for lack of money.
So, covid kind of helped pull forward all of our retirement plans, and I'm done working 8/31. Got our 5th wheel and truck last fall, and I have it set up sweet for full hookups, boondocking, whatever we want.
We leave 9/8 for a grand tour of several states, every thing is booked to 12/1, after that is still somewhat up in the air.
Now, my health challenged wife need cervical surgery and is scheduled for 8/12, which means she'll have to have it loaded before then. No big deal, but just to eff with our plans, I've discovered I have moderate to aggressive prostate cancer (confirmed by MRE), and have to go through the biopsy in a couple of weeks. This puts treatment starting probably beginning about the time we would be leaving. And just to make it even more interesting, I have ongoing cancer treatment on my esophagus on 8/10.
We'll see what comes out of the biopsy, but I'm thinking of doing the already planned part of our trip and maybe wandering back to MI in the beginning of December, and {shudder} spending the winter at our park model while I undergo treatment.
Every day is a gift!
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philh
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06/05/22 06:32pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: DC to AC help
I did something interesting on my new 5th wheel
It came generator ready, but I chose to not get the gen. I put a 50a plug on the front of the trailer, and tied it into the transfer box. I then mounted a 2200w inverter in the front, tied to s dual 100a LiFePO4 battery bank and attached a 30a cord to it, and added a 50a plug. I turn on the inverter, plug in the connector, and I have 120v throughout the entire trailer. I also added a switch to turn off the charger too.
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philh
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06/05/22 06:12pm |
Public Lands, Boondocking and Dry Camping
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RE: Tesla Semi truck unveil & test ride set for Oct 26th !
The amount of energy needed to fast charge just one semi(let a lone a whole fleet) in the 30 minutes that Tesla states is huge or even over night is a lot more than places a long these major routes can handle.
EE friend of mine did the calculation, I accept his calculation.
To charge a semi given Musk's data of charging to 80% in 30 minutes on just one truck, would require 1.2 MW. Just ONE charging station.
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When towing my 5er, I find many truck stops will have a dozen fueling stations, and most if not all are occupied or there are trucks waiting.
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philh
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06/05/22 06:05pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Ford F150 Lightning Started Deliveries
time will tell, but I'd bet on 100 or so miles with a trailer
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philh
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06/05/22 05:57pm |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Ford 350 mile per gallon
3.1 Gears, F350D. My fuel economy is directly related to speed. At 65 on flat land, 11.5. At 70 climbing the hills in TN, it gets as low at 9.5. Trailer is at GVWR of 12.6k.
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Remember, head winds or component of a head wind adds directly to your speed. 65 with a 20kt headwind is the equivalent of driving at 85 mph.
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philh
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06/05/22 05:39pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Disc Brakes - Saved me $$$$
We almost got into an accident coming home from FL this spring. When I say almost, it was a few inches. Wife was driving and I saw the issue developing before she did. I had felt my new disc brakes were slow to activate, and this event really put on steroids the need to bleed the brake lines. Wife was standing on the brakes and I could feel the trailer pushing us closer and closer until it finally built up enough pressure and ****, it stopped right there.
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The next place we were stopping, I had an opportunity to bleed the lines, and there was still a ton of air in the lines. Now, when I need it to stop RIGHT THIS SECOND, it stops.
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philh
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06/05/22 05:35pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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