Camper Spring Service

Spring Lubrication Tips

Each spring it is time to inspect the camper and prepare for the journey ahead.  A properly maintained camper and lubricated one will help things go a long way without trouble.  Also, the more you know about the camper the better you are at finding something that doesn't seem right or operate the way it has in the past.  So, this is a good time to talk about dusting off the camper and lubrication.

Things we do:

1. Main power winch - pack worm gear with grease (Peak 2) and check the stop limit switches for tightness and operation
2. Lubricate the cable drum and cable on it with WD40
3. Spray the pivot joints of the stabilizers with WD40
4. Spray the threaded rod of the stabilizer with Silicone Lube, which is a dry lube and doesn't attract dirt as much.
5. Grease the main wiffle tree below the camper at the front and rear grease points
6. Add oil to the spring lifter posts while the camper is down
7. Raise the roof, and then spray the lifter posts with dry silicone lube along the tracks
8. Clean the door hinges to make sure they didn't get full of grit
9. Add a few more pumps of grease to the main wiffle tree now that things have moved during raising the roof.
10. Lubricate the wheel hubs and bearings (nice with the EZ lube hub system)
11. Check operation of the hitch coupler and lock, lube if needed.

Closed, with tools and lubrication items ready to go

Current products we use for most of the camper servicing

Wahoo! Camping is here!

No Snow,... just lots of wind and rain this spring.  Luckily our camper has stayed dry inside and protected.  I've been lax lately about posting, since we are working so hard on our new house to renovate and to get our current house ready to put on the market.  Finally, we will be getting a chance to open the camper and enjoy the comforts of camping without the cell phones on and work papers everywhere.  We need a rest.

Some upcoming posts will be about our camping trip, spring cleaning, and lubrication of the camper parts.  More to come soon!

This Winter Sucketh!

Our Poor Flagstaff Camper,...

Our camper is holding out, dreaming of spring sunshine and warm beach side camping at Assateague Island,.... but first, this snow has got to go! We have been getting close to the snowfall records in the area for the past few years, passing many in the last decade.  6-10 inches at a time, we are getting pretty tired of it.

Planning for Spring..... Can't get here fast enough!

So, as I sit here and type, we had 8 inches of snow a few days ago which crippled the area for a bit till they got a good chance to clean things up.  The camper survived well, with the wind blowing most of the snow off of it in the day that followed.  Now, it is freezing rain that is soaking into the snow, freezing on top, freezing the sidewalks,... and making it miserable.

So,.. why not think about the camping season and what we can do this year!

I managed to score a great deal on the Harbor Freight 45W Solar Panel system with charge controller on New Years Day during the big sale.  Lowest price that I have seen for it when I used the 25% coupon too!  That got me thinking on a rainy day like this, what is the best way to hook everything up for our camper and our needs.  The Solar system will only be used a few times a year when we dry-camp out back, camp on the beach of Asseteague Island, or find another new place to go.  The rest of the time we will have the opportunity to plug into the campground shore power and have the converter charge our deep cycle battery.

I read a bit about how the systems work and I wanted to add a way to disconnect the power from the battery to the camper as well, so that when sitting for a few weeks between trips the LP and CO detectors can't draw on the battery.  Doesn't seem like much, but after 3-4 weeks it makes a difference when you go to power lift the camper roof.

Bring in the Blue Sea battery switch.  This is a marine grade switch used on boats to select between two points of battery source, or both, and would be a perfect fit I think for our objective.  If I wire the "common" terminal as the 12V battery, then option 1 can be the camper and option 2 can be the solar array.  If we need, I can even select "1+2" and have the camper and solar array connected to the battery at once.

Typically, we will operate at Position 1, which gives us all the features we have connected now as if we are directly connected to the terminal.  Battery is connected to the Camper Fuse system and Converter.  If at a campground with hookup, the battery can be maintained thru the converter in the camper and charged.

Parking for the weeks between trips, I can select Position 2, but NOT have the solar system connected.  This would effectively be my battery disconnect position.

Camping at Asseteague Island for 4 days with no hookups at the site, we can be in Position 2 and connect the solar controller and array to charge and maintain the battery during the day.  Set to Position 1, the camper lighting, fan, and water pump can be active when we are in the camper in the evening and the solar array disconnected.

I still have to read up, but doesn't seem to be any reason why we can't be in Position "1+2", when connected to the solar array (not connected to shore power at a campground), so that the water pump can be run and the battery can have a load on it / charge on it at the same time.


In order to keep tabs on the battery voltage, a simple digital LCD volt meter will be wired across the battery terminals with a single pole switch so that I can turn on / off the meter to see the voltage of the battery.  It is always a good idea to keep an eye on the voltage, but you also have to remember to read it at rest, which may mean an hour after disconnecting the solar array.  You can read it while charging, but it is effectively reading the solar panel voltage output/charge, and not the actual state of the battery.

2013 - Winterizing Again :-(

Another great camping season has drawn to a close here in the Northeast United States.  Well, I'm sure there are people out there camping and there are some campgrounds still open, but the majority of the area closes November 1st for the winter and will reopen next April once the temps are back up above freezing.  This year we had a lot of great trips and especially perfect weather for all of them.  Most importantly, we spent a lot of time together as a family and enjoyed the outdoors, from here in PA to Assateague Island, MD, we were able to enjoy camping with each other and friends we made along the way.

Prior to our last camping trip at Little Red Barn, we decided to move the camper from our current storage/parking location up to my MIL home.  This property is large and had ample room to make a parking pad for the camper.  After scavenging some timber beams that were on the property, we called and had 4 yards of 3/4 Modified-minus stone mix delivered.  Wow, that stuff is dense and like raking/shoveling concrete, but it made a very nice pad.  All the kids helped too, which made it even better.

Spreading the pile of Modified mix for our new parking pad

Compacting the nearly level pad using the lawn tractor

Parked, awaiting the final cleaning

The weather was nice for a good cleaning so I pulled out the checklists I made last season and and began on the interior.  Compartments were emptied and wiped out, and the kids placed the items in the van for the trip home.  Everything was done quickly and neatly, and then it was time to RV antifreeze the lines, water pump, and tank.  Took a little while, and almost 2 full gallons of the pink stuff until the water pump was able to pick up the solution and pump it thru the lines.  Everything was now done inside, and I began to close the camper back up.  A walk around the outside, completing the list of items on the checklist as I went, and it was time to put the cover on nice and secure for the winter weather and cold winter winds.

Till April my friend,....

2013 - Trip 10 - Little Red Barn Campground - Halloween Weekend!

The weeks leading up to Halloween have been extremely busy between work, home, and planning for the weekend.  Finally the weather forecast began to show the camping weekend ahead, but not as a comfortable fall weekend that we have been having but with a cold front passing thru middle of the week dropping the nightly temps into the freezing mark and daily highs struggling to break 50 degrees.  The packing list now changed to include gloves, hats, and more blankets, we began to talk about driving two cars.  This would allow the costumes to be packed safely so they didn't get bent or damaged with everyone in the car, as they are quite large this year.  If you recall, Little Red Barn is where the Lego Family had their debut,... so this year we had to come up with another good family theme.

Over the past few weeks, we began gathering cardboard, paint, and the thoughts for this years costume theme,... and finally decided on Mr and Mrs Pac-man and ghosts!  Each of the girls are a different color ghost, with their backs being painted in the color scheme of after Pac-man eats the power pill, changing the ghosts and making them run away.  Becky and I would be the love struck Mrs and Mr Pac-man, chasing after the ghosts.  I even downloaded the theme music to the arcade game onto my iPhone so we could have that play as we walked.  The costumes are made from large cardboard sheets, primed with paint to help resist curling, and then finish painted on the outside with the colors each of the girls chose.  For ease, they just slip their heads thru the costume and it rests on their shoulders.

Front of the Costumes

Back of the Costumes!

Our Campsite for the weekend, spacious and Large!

All the kids playing Washers

Craft Time at the pavilion making Trick or Treat Bags

Fall Festive Group Photo!

End of Season Photo with Becky

As you can see from the photos, we had a great weekend of fall weather camping and meeting new friends, while also running into a few other campers that we have seen at previous campgrounds through out the season.  At the costume contest, the girls took SECOND place!!!  This year they didn't have individual categories, so taking second place was even a better accomplishment!

End of Season Already? BOO!

2013 - Trip 8 & 9 - Colonial Woods Campground

School is now in session and darkness creeps in earlier now, so our camping trips are just to local campgrounds for the quick weekend get-away.  Also, since it is now no longer peak camping season, the rates have dropped a few dollars and there are some good deals out there.  At Colonial Woods, if you book two weekends in a row, you can leave your camper on-site, just turn off or unplug the electric, and you get 10% off the second weekend!  So, that's what we have done this time.

Friday was the typical caos of getting everything loaded and the camper picked up before the kids got out of school.  We were able to pick them up and get on our way before long which made it nice for the setup.  Check in was a breeze as usual and we were off to our site.  While the site is long, if I place the popup all the way back I can't reach the power pole location, so it took a minute or five to get the placement right so our main plug could reach, and then we disconnected and let the kids out of the van.  The rest of the setup went smoothly.  Friday evening we enjoyed a small campfire and riding our pedal bike around the campground while others were moving in and setting up.  Saturday was going to be a full day of activities as it was Grandparents weekend, and both Nana and Momsie were going to be coming to visit!

Madie enjoying her Hot Dog!

Saturday Afternoons Swedish Fire Log Attempt,... worked pretty well.

Playing Mini-Golf, Crazy Kid Style

Riding the bikes and Scooters

Sunday arrived and we took our time packing up what we needed and securing our canopy and camper.  It felt weird loading so little stuff back into the car and leaving the camper there.  We double checked everything was off and secure, and then loaded into the van to head home.

All secure, time to head home.

On the way home, we stopped by the Lake Nockamixon dam overlook to show the kids and see how it was.  Quite a difference from the time we passed before when the full dam was overflowing at a pretty good rate, now just a little bit in the middle remained. 

Back to work for the week, with only having to get groceries and a few odds and ends for the second weekend of camping, it was an odd feeling knowing that we didn't have the camper packed up or at its usual storage spot.  Honestly, I almost felt like I should drive over sometime and check in on it just to feel more secure.

Second weekend came up quickly and it was made even better by having off work on Friday and already having a fully setup camper.  We dropped the older kids off at school and then headed up to Scott Powersports to drop off my motorcycle for some maintenance and tires.  Then a good breakfast with Madie, and we were to the campground still before 11:30am.  Just a few things to re-organize, turn things back on, and open up the awning, and we were back in camping mode in less than 30 minutes!  This weekend was more about relaxing and enjoying camping than anything else.  The kids did crafts again and we were able to get some fishing in too.  Hey,.. look what I found....

Rob the Turtleman,... Ayahaaya,.. Live Action!

Becky go the bullseye!,... at least I hope so,.. otherwise, not sure what she is doing....

Bella throwing for the bullseye again!  She was good!

As you can see in the photos, the weather was rather spectacular for a mid-september camping weekend.  Both weekends were great as a matter of fact.  Hard to believe that we will only have one more camping weekend left before it will be time to winterize and put away for the winter.