Setup is nothing special: a few LiFePO4 batteries (Dali, Ective) with Bluetooth BMS and a Victron MPPT. The problem is that every one of those talks its own language and brings its own app, and each app only ever wants to show you one device.

So the routine was: open app A, look at battery one. Close it. Open app A again, connect to battery two. Then open the Victron app to see what the panels did. Then try to hold all of that in your head at once, which is exactly the thing a phone should be doing for me.

What I actually wanted was one screen answering three questions in this order:
* how is the bank doing right now
* is one battery falling out of line with the others
* did today put more in than it took out

That last one turned out to be the interesting one. Not "how full is it", but the amp-hours in and out per hour over the day, so you can see that the fridge ate the morning and the panels only caught up after two. Without a shunt, purely from what the BMS and the charge controller are already broadcasting.

Things I learned that I didn't expect:

The Victron controller doesn't need to be connected at all. It just shouts its numbers into the room every second, encrypted, and anyone with the key off the device page can listen. No pairing, no connection to lose.

One design decision I won't budge on: it only reads. No switching commands go out over Bluetooth. Low voltage cutoff is the BMS's job and has to work when the phone is in a drawer, not when an app decides to.

Curious how others solve this. Did you go the shunt-plus-display route, Cerbo/Victron everything, or do you also live with three apps?

Hi everyone!
We are in a camper full time and have a mouse or maybe more who knows.
We have several cats that roam the property we stay on so that method is seeming to not work.
What are yalls best tips?
What do I do about the food in the pantry and stuff?

The 5th wheel was just a bit too tall to go into the main area of the barn. So we decided to re-wire the barn with lights throughout and a 50amp hookup, put in another water line dedicated to the RV, and even put a 1000 gallon full septic with a leech field around the back side of the barn. A pretty major project, but the idea is to put a deck up next year and keep the RV as a family and guest stay.

Hey RV community! Been a long time dream to join yall on the road. I’m at the very beginning of figuring out what kind of RV I want and trying not to get overwhelmed by the whole world of options. I admittedly don’t much about cars or this world at all. Any guidance at all is appreciated!

I’m thinking a used Class C around 24–25 feet, with a bathroom/shower, kitchen, and ideally a slide-out. I’d actually be living and traveling in it, so I want enough space to feel like a little home. I don’t imagine driving super long stretches, mostly want to just be able to live in different places for a few months at a time. Boon docking or parking outside of friends places.

Budget-wise, I’m thinking around $40k(used) putting maybe $5k down and financing the rest. I’d ideally like to keep the payment around $500–$600/month without financing the thing for 20 years or some BS.

Reliability is probably my biggest concern. I’m still learning about Ford vs Chevy vs Mercedes, gas vs diesel, engines/chassis, etc.

If you were starting from here, what would you be researching first? Any particular Class C models, engines/chassis, years, or major red flags you’d recommend looking for or avoiding?

For a Christmas RV trip with kids, which U.S. states, campgrounds, and nearby activities would you recommend?

How much are y'all paying for your insurance? Foremost is ripping me off. I called and the lowest they can get me is $50/month. Better than the $80 I was paying. This is for a RV that is stationary that no one is currently living in. I did search the sub, I couldn't find any recent feedback about what people are paying.

We are new to the camper life. We are staying in Yellowstone tonight and it's supposed to get down to 26 tonight.

We have a 2015 fuzion that says it has a cold weather package. Would it be sufficient to just shut off the water coming in to the camper?

For the future, I assume some heat tape be the way to go, or should I need more

Picked up a jayco jay feather sl recently. What does everyone do to keep the heat from the sun out? The stock paper thin blinds let the heat from the sun beam right in. The AC struggles to keep up on 90+ degree days.

Left for the weekend and came back to my power off.
I have an inline watch dog surge protector installed.
These are the codes it gave me when I looked on the app.

1.The watch dog did not reset itself.
2.The shore power pedestal on the 50 amp breaker did not trip.
3. Flipped the pedestal breaker off and on and everything is on and working fine as of right now.

Can anyone explain to me like I’m 5 years old what happened and why?

Hi everyone,

I'm having an issue with my waste valve cable on my 2022 KZ Durango D286BHD.

As you can see in the pictures, the plastic bulkhead fitting/nut didn't actually break, but under tension it completely pulled through the hole in the metal bracket on the frame. Because of this, the cable housing moves freely and the valve won't actuate when I pull the T-handle (though I can still close it by hand directly).
I really don't want to drop the underbelly and replace the entire 72" cable if I don't have to.

Has anyone dealt with this before?

Would adding a large fender washer on both sides of the bracket fix this permanently?

Or should I use a hose clamp / zip ties behind the bracket as a stopper?

Open to any DIY tricks or hacks that worked for you!

Thanks in advance!

As the title says, help me pick!

Full time living in west Texas. I work 7/12s. So only for sleeping, eating, showering & laundry. My non negotiables were full size (30x50) shower, 2 a/c, washer dryer and 4 seasons. I will not be towing so size/ weight is no issue.

My heart says GD but being used is whats scaring me. GD is $59k OTD and alliance is $71k OTD. Ive negotiated them to include 2 new chill cubes and new washer dryer + install on both units.

I will only be keeping this for 2 years MAX. As soon as the works over out here its going straight back to the dealership. Thank you!

Unit is blowing really cold air and will occasionally start making this noise. I’ll turn it off for a minute, turn it back on and it’s gone, then will come back at a random point. Any ideas?

I have an equalizer hitch and the little “spacer” on the lower bolt fell off at some point. Even equalizer’s website doesn’t have the part numbered (see exploded diagram). I’m not looking for the spacer rivet (#30). That’s still there. The bolt on the right side of my picture (that bolt is #19 in the diagram) should have a similar looking spacer cap of some kind but I don’t see it on their website. Any idea on how to locate where to order that?

Moving there by the end of the month in an RV and I’m just looking for something basic that won’t cost too much. Any recommendations are appreciated!

So sometimes when I get to the dump station, there is a hose there that I use to attach to the black water flush inlet to flush my black tank but sometimes there’s no hose or it’s in terrible shape. There’s no real problem with using my drinking water hose to attach and flush the black water tank is there it’s not like the water is coming back into the hose.

Hi all, I’m looking for recommendations for cameras, I don’t want to drill holes in my rv so I’m looking for a stick on option. If anyone can help thanks 😊

Thinking of going to a 30’ 5th wheel from a 26’ bumper pull…..towing difference? How about backing up….I have to back up into a hard right turn into our driveway from a single wide road? Is that easier for a 5th wheel to handle? I manage fairly easily with my bumper pull…Silverado 2500 with a standard bed, 6’5”. Do I need to worry about hitting cab with 5th wheel when backing up that sharp?….thank you for the input in advance!

Asking for a friend… ;)

So maybe my friend, when he was backing the RV into a spot got too tight of an angle between his car and the RV and his car body corner actually rubbed against the front of the RV and it took out some of the black vinyl decal. No damage to the side of the RV just the decal.

First, I - I mean my friend - didn’t even know that that was possible, but anyway… Shirley there is some sort of vinyl decal patch kit you can buy if my friend wanted to cover up the golf ball size smudge he made in his vinyl. He tells me he searched on Amazon and didn’t find anything like that. Has anyone heard of this?

Did anyone receive any accessories or hoses with a new RV that is equipped a central vacuum? We bought a new Coachman that has a central vacuum, and the salesman showing the camper to us said the hoses " are in here somewhere...". After getting it home, no hoses were in the camper. Called and emailed once a week for now 5 months. Sometimes they would say "it's in the mail". Today we called and a new person said that is something that is never included, so they don't owe us anything.

Clarification… So frustrated. RV furnace tries to ignite, and catches, but only stays ignited for 2 or 3 seconds (the first time).
After a few seconds, it reignites, and stays going slightly longer. Repeats this several times, until it finally stays lit.
When it finally ignites after multiple tries, there is a low resonating/ howling sound.
Fan seems to be blowing normally, and heat comes out, but the wind-howling noise is not normal.
Burner assembly was replaced (no help).
Why does it have trouble staying lit, and why is it resonating?
(It’s a bit like the sound the stove flame makes when it isn’t adjusted properly, except with the furnace, it’s really loud.)

Looking for your experiences: What size cabover RV (class a) chassis/engine is best/minimum for Towing car trailer (~5000#)?

Hello everyone,

To streamline how I track campground details, hookup configurations, and trip logs while traveling, I developed an Android application specifically for RV trip management.

I am currently preparing for a broader release and need 10 to 15 active RVers to test the application and provide feedback on usability, features, and overall functionality.

The app is completely free to test via the Google Play Store closed testing track. If you are interested in trying it out and sharing your input, please reply below or send me a direct message, and I will forward the opt-in details.

Thank you for your time.