New member with some varied questions

[Ross956555]

I'm with a search and rescue program and we recently received a granted 20' v nose toy hauler with AC, generator, etc. We decided to join the forums to bounce ideas off of you fine folks and to learn the ins-and-outs.

We currently have a fleet of 5 16' dual axle box trailers w/surge brakes...but ACs, on board generators, etc. are new to our fleet.

The trailer...20' CargoMate Eliminator series with a v-nose, 8000w Onan diesel, Dometic 15k A/C unit, Solera 18' electric awning, electric tongue jack, electric brakes. I have more specs if folks need them.

Some questions off of the top of our head and one funny mistake in manufacturing we discovered.

1. The trailer is pretty high up (step-in on the side door is maybe 19" off the ground), and the doorway has a 'step well' - the side door doesn't open directly at floor level. We want to install something like the Lippert steps, but we can't find any information regarding if they will work on a "step well" type of doorway. Has anyone used these before with a 'step well' doorway? Attached pic "0013" you can barely see the step well I'm talking about.

2. Tips for shore power cable protection. We have a 50a connection...but we often deploy on open gravel lots or similar where you'd find a fire base camp. We are trying to figure out if there is any DIY type of solution to help protect our shore power line. We always leave one vehicle space open on any fuel port side of a trailer so the base camp fuel vendor can access us if we need to run on generator power. That means stretching our shore power line out. The "usual suspects" for cord protectors aren't cheap, so we are wondering if anyone has found an economical DIY type of solution.

3. Our communications group wants to add solar...and I'm a bit nervous due to a solid aluminum top (meaning I'm afraid of leaks). We are debating just making the panels ground mounted (tilt stands) vs mounting them to the roof. Outside of the issue of keeping them clean when mounted to the roof...does anyone have confidence stories or 'don't do it' stories for mounting solar panels to the roof?

4. Part of the grant was supposed to include a 15k Dometic A/C unit with heat option. We discovered the heat strip was not installed...the vendor claimed "too many complaints/problems". I did a quick Amazon search for the suspect $80-some-dollar part and found if anything, complaints that it worked TOO well and got the RV too hot. No real complaints that it didn't work good enough. Does anyone have experience adding these heat strips by Dometic? Especially failure stories?

Funny defect story for you...we took possession of the trailer before it was completely processed by our fleet office for a week-long medical support event. I washed it up and took it to get fuel to discover that the fuel nozzle wouldn't fit inside of the filler neck. Thinking how old our City fuel pumps were, I decided to check with the gas station down the street - same deal...nozzle is too big for the filler neck.

I'm not a diesel guy (I drive a V10 Excursion)...a quick google search later I can only surmise they put a diesel tank in, then attached a gasoline filler neck, then put a diesel cap on it. How this happened?? ...no clue. Obviously we are waiting on the warranty instructions to give us the shop they want us to use to get it fixed.

Again - thank you in advance for any advice, tips, or tricks you all might have up your sleeves on operating these!

 

[Octodad]

For #2, if you are saying what I think you are, your concern is someone driving/tripping over the shore power cord. If that is the case, I have seen people build a sort of cradle out of 2x4s . They lay the 2x4s flat and place the cord between them. People then can drive over them. Their still a small tripping hazard, but you can paint them bright yellow and most people will not have an issue.

If you are saying something other than what I think you are, sorry for not understanding.

 

[Lou Schneider]

Passenger car and light truck diesel pumps have the same diameter fill nozzle and flow at the same rates as gasoline pumps. Were you trying to fill at a big rig high velocity diesel pump? These have larger diameter nozzles and even at the lowest setting flow too fast for a small tank.

You can get an adapter that slips over the end of the large nozzle to adapt it down to the passenger car size but I don't know how well it works.

Diesel Fueling Adapter

As far as protecting the shore power cord, they're pretty rugged on their own. There's not much you can do if someone drives across them other than use one of the speed bump style protectors that will absorb the truck's weight. Or make something similar using 2x4s like Octodad suggested.

For the Lippert Solid Step, the question is if the step well is deep enough to accommodate the steps when they're stowed. Here's a link to Lippert's Support website. If you can't find the info there contact their Customer Support department in the sidebar.

Solid Step® | Lippert Customer Support

For the solar panels you'll probably want to lay down a couple of longitudinal brackets going the length of the panels so they intercept at least a couple of the cross-ribs supporting the roof and mount the solar panels on them. Angle stock will work. Cover the screws going through the roof with the same kind of sealant you'd use on any other roof penetration. Doesn't hurt to put some on the threads before you insert the screws so it oozes out as you screw them in.

https://www.amazon.com/Dicor-Self-Leveling-Lap-Sealant-2/dp/B00H554R98

 

[Ross956555]

For #2, if you are saying what I think you are, your concern is someone driving/tripping over the shore power cord. If that is the case, I have seen people build a sort of cradle out of 2x4s . They lay the 2x4s flat and place the cord between them. People then can drive over them.

That's exactly what I'm worried about. We looked at making a couple of jigs with thin ply, then a 2x4...a space say 1 1/2", then a 2x2, another space, then another 2x4. The though was the shore power line plus say a water hose could be protected...or maybe 2 antenna feed lines. We weren't sure if anyone has made those and had any issues. Keep in mind the vehicles that could be driving over these could range from a standard Battalion Chief SUV all the way up to a grass rig (F550 or equivalent).

Hoping someone has pics of their design.

 

[Ross956555]

Passenger car and light truck diesel pumps have the same diameter fill nozzle and flow at the same rates as gasoline pumps. Were you trying to fill at a big rig high velocity diesel pump? These have larger diameter nozzles and even at the lowest setting flow too fast for a small tank.

You can get an adapter that slips over the end of the large nozzle to adapt it down to the passenger car size but I don't know how well it works.

Lou,

This is in CA, and I tried our regular city fuel pumps and a regular gas station down the street (not a "high flow" pump) and both nozzles were the same size (too big for the filler neck).

First pic is the diesel nozzle (millimeters too big), the second pic is an unleaded nozzle (juuuust right).

Google searches confirmed diesel passenger cars use a larger opening than gasoline (one way protection against filing using the wrong fuel...the "other way" protection has something to do with the filler neck depth), and the mfgr confirmed they screwed up. I'm not sure if the manufacturer of that part just put the wrong caps on or what happened.

With all of that being said, and volunteers and/or CalFire contractors operating on no sleep at 2am (either of them possibly filing up the rig w unleaded since it was the only nozzle that fits), I'm not willing to risk using the adapter.

It's going to be fixed by the vendor or our fleet office so I'm not worried just thought it was a funny/odd screw up.

"For the Lippert Solid Step, the question is if the step well is deep enough to accommodate the steps when they're stowed. Here's a link to Lippert's Support website. If you can't find the info there contact their Customer Support department in the sidebar."

Great link, I'll check that out in the morning!

"For the solar panels you'll probably want to lay down a couple of longitudinal brackets going the length of the panels so they intercept at least a couple of the cross-ribs supporting the roof and mount the solar panels on them. Angle stock will work. Cover the screws going through the roof with the same kind of sealant you'd use on any other roof penetration. Doesn't hurt to put some on the threads before you insert the screws so it oozes out as you screw them in."

Figured the same, I'm just asking if anyone did the ground mount option instead and pros/cons for each option.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

2. Tips for shore power cable protection. We have a 50a connection...but we often deploy on open gravel lots or similar where you'd find a fire base camp. We are trying to figure out if there is any DIY type of solution to help protect our shore power line. We always leave one vehicle space open on any fuel port side of a trailer so the base camp fuel vendor can access us if we need to run on generator power. That means stretching our shore power line out. The "usual suspects" for cord protectors aren't cheap, so we are wondering if anyone has found an economical DIY type of solution.

When at a base camp, are you using the trailer's own generator or a central one for the camp? If using the trailer's Onan, how/where is the shore cord exposed to damage? Does the shore cord have to be plugged to the Onan? And the Onan outside somewhere, away from the trailer? I don't think anybody carried that Onan 8000 very far.

 

[CharlesinGA]

I can see the cord getting chewed up or cut laying on gravel and someone driving over it. As Gary asked, do you sometimes use a large generator to power multiple pieces of equipment/trailers?

I any case the only thing I am familiar with it similar to the pic below. We used them on a smooth concrete floor of an airline maintenance facility hangar, but they really were not too practical, as stuff being rolled over them usually would not go. Sicissor lifts would hang on them, toolboxes were too heavy to push over them and so was most other equipment. However driving over them is a different story. The biggest issue is how they would hold up on gravel, but if you smoothed the area somewhat first (iron rake or the like) to where they lay flat, they might work.

Charles

 

[Matt_C]

Ross,
I am a "diesel guy" and I would bet dollars to donuts that the wrong filler neck was installed. The no-lead nozzles are the smallest, then the light duty diesel. That happened a lot in the early days of diesel passcar and light truck production. Get a hold of the builder and have them change out the fill neck. Then, get big bright colored sticker to put near that fill that say "Diesel Fuel Only" and may a locking cap with a ribbon like "Remove Before Takeoff" that says the same. A load of gas will finish off that diesel real fast..
That cable protector above is a great idea, but I never even looked for one. There was a time that I had my coach in boat yards and was parked across the lane from the client's boat and powering it with my generator. So, I have several 2x4s with a dado cut large enough for the cable in one side and the shoulders ripped off the other side. This takes a very small time to make on a table saw.
Matt