bicoastal eric

On my sunrader I used a flexible self adhesive panel.

I'm a fan of permanent roll out awnings. The beauty of them, is it takes 30 seconds to roll out and can shade the whole living space. I found it invaluable in my old rig living off the grid.

It's automatic. Called an isolator, will charge your coach battery while driving, but not let your starting battery die while using electricity in the coach.

1991? Low miles? $1000? Yes, good deal regardless of the state of the coach.

Solar panels work fine in the shade, just not full capacity. I'd rather just get a second panel on the roof to get the same power output than have to store a big panel in the bathroom and have to fabricate and set up a stand and run cables every time. Depending on how/where you use your camper, that might not even be an option. Also, one of the biggest benefits of solar for me is that it's always working, keeping the batteries charged and ready to go even off season or unused. I wouldn't say 100w is a minimum, but it's a good size and should be more than enough for most needs. It is also one of the cheapest sizes $/watt making it an economical choice. $100 on eBay. 100ah 12v deep cell battery is standard and is also plenty sufficient for most needs. If you have space for two than that's great. $100 at Walmart. In my opinion, the benefits vs paying 4 times more for an mppt controller to use with a panel that is designed for 12v is just not worth it. $10 on Amazon for a pwm solar charge controller. 10 gauge power wire is more than sufficient $10-20 at home depot or Amazon. I also recommend getting a crimper tool that does mc4 connectors and a few extra connectors on eBay or Amazon $25 Make sure your panel has mounts or buy some separately, or I made some out of scrap aluminum angle. Run the wires through a sewer vent tube into the coach. Convert all indoor lights to led $15 Amazon

Depends on how far inward the pipes are. Frost can't travel more than a foot or so horizontally underneith with the skirting in place

thought Id post this here instead of making a new topic http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/rvs/5851180647.html

very nice! so I lived in mine for a couple years too and found the shower invaluable, are you staying mostly at campgrounds with full facilities?

Good idea, I'll check the curtains. How about the screens though, the big windows would have came with them right?

I've had my toy home parked on the street for over a year in the heart of los Angeles' sf valley in van nuys. Not a single issue. I actually feel more comfortable parking it on the well lit street with lots of close neighbors (several Mexican-American families) than I do parking it up Maine at our family camp. I'd be interested to hear more of the details in this case ie. Were all the windows locked and curtains closed? Visibility to the coach through cab? Valuables in sight? how long it was there? Also, I'm not an authority on the matter, but isn't it a bit tricky to cross the border with a stolen vehicle? Swap vins? Oh and a dog is huge for theft prevention

Even if it was not multi stage, I wouldn't worry about it too much, just don't keep it plugged in.

I always turn off any pilot lights or open flames before gassing up. I HIGHLY recommend you do the same for yours and others' safety!

right, I have a hitch mount scooter rack I plan on welding fabricating and bolting attachments to hold two bikes, two paddle boards, and a 50cc scooter all on the back of my 1990 dolphin. scooter is 190lbs, hitch carier is about 50lbs, two bikes are 70lbs and paddle boards are about 50lbs together. This is about the most weight I would want to put hanging off the back, but I have a heavy duty hitch and full box frame extensions so it should be up to the task

wow, thats interesting, I have a lock pick that could probably unlock it in under a minute too. but I guess theres not much sense in hardened steel when the steering wheel is made of plastic! I wonder if this poor guys rig was hot-wired? seems like a hidden kill switch is the cheapest / best way to go.

the curtain that closes off the bed from the rest of the house, it came with the curtain itself, and theres little tabs on the ceiling, but it seems to be missing a track or something, I'll have to take some pictures to show whats going on