"Possibly one of the best darn campgrounds in the country"

This page of web excerpts will provide campers with hints & tips to make your life at lake pleasant even more enjoyable.

Subject: Ticks/From the Internet

A School Nurse has written the info below -- good enough to share -- And it really works!!

I had a pediatrician tell me what she believes is the best way to remove a tick. This is great, because it works in those places where it's some times difficult to get to with tweezers: between toes, in the middle of a head full of dark hair, etc.

Apply a glob of liquid soap to a cotton ball. Cover the tick with the soap-soaked cotton ball and swab it for a few seconds (15-20), the tick will come out on its own and be stuck to the cotton ball when you lift it away. This technique has worked every time I've used it (and that was frequently), and it's much less traumatic for the patient and easier for me.

Unless someone is allergic to soap, I can't see that this would be
damaging in any way. I even had my doctor's wife call me for advice because she had one stuck to her back and she couldn't reach it with tweezers. She used this method and immediately called me back to say, "It worked!"

 

Waste Water Tanks and Toilet Treatments

Hint 1:  Find out for sure which light on the master control panel (1 or 2) designates black water so you can monitor it.  Then you can decide when and where to dump.  If your master control panel sensors are not working properly use a waste digester, conditioner, or probe cleaner to remove the clogged up waste.

Hint 2: Do not mix tank deodorants and cleaners. You may create a dangerous or deadly combination.

Hint 3: There are two basic types of toilet treatments – Chemicals or natural bacteria and enzymes.  Stay away from the formaldehyde family of products as they are a known environmental hazard. Dry and tablet products are convenient to use and store easily. Enzymes products, sometimes listed as waste digesters, breakdown waste and toilet paper.  This keeps the system clean and minimizes problems with your tank sensors. Gray water tanks occasionally need deodorizers.

Hint 4: Use biodegradable RV toilet tissue or any paper safe for use in septic systems.  Minimize the amount of paper used. Don’t put Kleenex or other disposable products down the stool; you may jam your dump valve in the OPEN position.

Hint 5: Keep a pair of waterproof gloves or disposable plastic gloves handy to wear while dumping. Even though you seldom come in contact with waste water, the hose is often dirty and wet after dumping.

Hint 6: Special outlet caps are available for draining gray water through a standard garden hose, leading out of the campsite.  Use this only when such discharge is permitted.  Carry a gray colored hose for this purpose to make sure you don’t use your drinking water hook up hose.

Hint 7: Do not leave the black water dump valve open when connected to a sewer. Liquids containing the deodorizer will drain away, leaving smelly solids behind. In extreme cases you may have to replace the tank.

Hint 8: Before storing your RV, dump the tank; add one of the commercially available waster digesters/conditioners and completely fill your tank, let stand at least overnight and drive around at least once to agitate prior to dumping.  RV stores sell tank wands and other spray devices that facilitate the cleaning of the black water tanks.

Hint 9: If you decide to use any tank flushing product that hooks up to a freshwater hose, always install an anti-siphon valve onto your fresh water faucet. This under $5 investment will protect your fresh water supply from contamination

Fresh Water  

Hint 1: Always use a tasteless, non toxic, high pressure white water hose for your water supply. RV stores sell hoses designed for this purpose. Keep it scrupulously clean and NEVER use it for any waster water applications.

Hint 2: Carry a minimum of two 25’ hoses. Not all spigots are handy in your parking spot, but a 50 footer is a real nuisance when you are close to the faucet.

Hint 3: When done with your hose, drain it, coil it up and screw the ends together tightly to keep out bugs and dirt while it is stored.

Hint 4:Your internal water system is rated for only about 50 lbs. of water pressure. Unless you are certain that you have a pressure regulator built in, always add one to your hose before connecting it to your pressure fill fitting.  Install it on the water spigot end of the hose to protect your hose as well.

Hint 5: Always turn your pump OFF before pressurizing the system from and external source.

Hint 6: Always TASTE water before adding to your fresh water tank from an unfamiliar source. Use drinking water freshener.

Hint 7: If you want to maximize your on board water supply, fill your water heater before topping off your storage tank.

Hint 8: Your fresh water tank (full) may contain 30 to 50 gallons of water. Conservation is paramount. And remember, heavy usage will quickly fill your waste and gray water tanks. Listed below are some water saving techniques.

·         Showers are water wasters – but they don’t have to be. Practice the Navy way—wet down, soap up; rinse off. Use just enough water to wet down; then shut it off.

·         Wash your dishes in the smallest container practical. Using only as much soap as needed will minimize rinsing. DO NOT rinse using a running stream of water.  Use a second container for rinsing. Your rinse water can be carried outside to irrigate trees and plants, saving your holding tank capacity.

·         When brushing your teeth, do not let the water run.

Refrigeration  

Hint 1: Before your first trip, level your trailer (using jacks or blocks of wood) so that the freezer SHELF is as level as you can get it –both front to rear, and side to side. Now apply some level indicators in a convenient spot (side to side and front to rear).  Make sure the bubbles are absolutely centered before you permanently fasten them down. After that, you can always level your trailer without opening the refrigerator.

Hint 2: If you experience frozen lettuce at the bottom of the refrigerator or spoiled milk at the top, you can buy a small inside fan that sits on the bottom of the fridge circulating the air for even cooling.

Hint 3: Operating the refrigerator for long periods , while out of level can stop the evaporation process that makes the unit cool.  It takes care of itself while driving.  If you must park unleveled for more than a brief time, turn the refrigerator off.

Hint 4: The term UP or DOWN is ambiguous when talking about refrigeration.  Think of it as turning it COLDER or WARMER. To that end, the thermostat control may display a white streak that gets wider as you rotate the knob. It represents how thick the ice will get – thick ice is the coldest setting; thin ice is the warmest.  Newest units have a temperature control on the outside, labeled 1-5. Much handier, but not quite as flexible, 5 is the coldest setting.

Hint 5: Any shade you can provide for the back of the refrigerator will improve performance when parked in hot weather.  If you regularly camp in very hot weather, install a thermostatically 12v fan that improves air circulation behind the box.

Hint 6: If you are not getting as much cooling as you expect, check the vent at the roof line for birds’ nests. The vent must let the heat escape or the refrigerator will stoop cooling.

Details and Cautions on High and Low Voltage

HIGH VOLTAGE SURGE

What is it? Lightening and failed power company equipment. Catastrophic in nature.

What can you do? Use a good surge protector. Unplug your RV from commercials power when storms threaten.  If you see a “crackling/arcing” power transformer, unplug.  If someone drives a vehicle into a power pole, unplug.

ARTIFICIAL SURGE

What is it?  Similar in effect to the high-voltage surge above, but caused by someone (you?) who interferes with the power system. Examples: * Tearing power connections apart with a vehicle or tripping over them, * Running a generator that isn’t properly isolated from the commercial power system.

DO NOT ever run a generator without disconnecting from the commercial power when you’re “sharing” power with others. DO NOT trust an automatic transfer switch to protect your RV or your neighbors.

 * Running a faulty appliance in your RV that “melts down”, * Plugging in faulty power adapters. All these may affect your neighbors on the same system.

What can you do? Pay attention to what you are doing. Artificial surges are the most common cause of severe damage (the kind that can wipe out your whole RV – and your neighbor’s).

DON’T BURN UP YOUR NEIGHBOR’S RV!

HIGHER-THAN-NORMAL-VOLTAGE

What is it? Not a surge, but a voltage in excess of 130V AC for an extended period.

What will it do? Burn out or cause premature failure of lights, refrigerator heating element, sensitive electronics in any number of appliances (including things like automatic coffee makers with timers).

What can you do? Every RVer should have a simple, cheap voltage monitor plugged into one of the easily seen AC receptacles in their RV. If you don’t have one, connect your multimeter.

LOWER-THAN-NORMAL-VOLTAGE

What is it? The most common cause of damage to electrical items in an RV.  It is any sustained voltage of 104 V AC or less. Common at RV gatherings, as well as at campgrounds with insufficient power to sites.

What will it do?

Electric Motors          

·        Low Voltage means higher amperage. That means more heat, slower running and early failure. LV also means that motors with a starting switch (see “air conditioners” below), like washing machines, may not reach starter winding cutout speed, and this will result in motor damage. Some motors, however, will just run slowly and not be damaged. Do you want to risk yours to find out?

Air Conditioners

·         LV= Motors die early as above. Also, compressors (constant horsepower loads) will be severely stressed and burn out.

Fluorescent Lamps

·         LV= Constant cycling of circuit board and ballast. That means premature failure.

 TV/VCR/etc.

·         LV= Heat= premature failure of components. (And see “power supplies” below).

 Refrigerator

·         LV= Relays fail to operate properly; unit goes into search mode from 120V AC to LP to 12V DC constantly and thoroughly confuses circuit board that, in consequence, fails.

 Furnace

·         LV= Slow fan, which=too much heat in furnace enclosure, which destroys circuit board.

Microwave Oven

·         LV= Fan runs slowly. Fan cools a magnetron (the cooking element). Hot magnetrons die if run too long in this condition.

Power Supplies

·         LV=Some power supplies will run too hot (switching power supplies); some just won’t regulate properly (linear type). Warning: computer equipment, TVs, VCRs, etc. could be damaged. 

Excerpts from:

http://www.geocities.com/nor_westlows/marty-hints-2003.doc