Summer Safety For Your Loved Ones

Spring is in the air and temperatures are rising. Extreme temperatures are hard on RVs but potentially deadly for us and our loved ones, especially the ones that love us despite our flaws, our fur babies!

This blog is not your typical “Flush & Fill your radiator…”. There are dozens of good online resources to prepare the mechanical and other systems in your RV. Cindy & I wanted to share how we have used technology and a good network to keep us informed & connected to our RVs environmental systems.

First, a quick story.

Cindy & I left Las Vegas after spending several emotional weeks with my Mom who was in hospice. After collecting our emotions, it was time to go and spend some time with family. As we were driving south on I-15, just past the California “Fruit & Nut” checkpoint, we got a warning alarm to “STOP ENGINE” in our Volvo heavy duty truck. Cindy pulled over immediately and then, that familiar smell of antifreeze wafted into the cab. Although heavily traveled, this is a desolate stretch of interstate.

Immediately, I got out to survey the damage and found we’d blown a golf ball sized hole in our radiator hose. Grabbing my phone to call CoachNet, I realized I had no cell signal. I thought “Perfect, this all we need”. I told Cindy I was going to walk to one of the emergency call boxes sprinkled along that stretch of highway. Thank goodness Cindy’s brain was working because she said, “I checked our router, we have service!”. When we installed our Cradlepoint router & Parsec antenna, we wired them into the 12VDC of the RV, so they are “Always” on. Our antenna caught what little signal there was and allowed us to make the call to CoachNet and, we even helped them find a mobile Heavy Duty Truck mechanic!

Here are some additional pieces of technology that makes our lives easier, safer and reduces our worry about our beloved girls, Charlotte & Sierra.

TempStick

We found TempStick when looking for a way to monitor temperatures and humidity in our RV & truck. TempStick is an incredibly simple device that measures temperature and humidity., Using 2 AA batteries, it is small and can be placed nearly anywhere! We placed them in our basement, wet bay, the living area and in our Volvo semi-truck cab and then connected them to our RV’s WiFi network.

The TempStick App (on your Smartphone) is easy to set up. You can set different levels of alerts based on high & low temps as well as high humidity. The TempStick in our wet bay sent me an alert of high humidity, upon investigation I found the city water supply leaking due to a bad washer.

The TempStick in our truck gave us a High Temp alert while we were in a Truck Stop, our dogs were in the truck, so we checked it out immediately and found that the windshield shade had fallen down and the direct sun was hitting the TempStick directly. We feel very fortunate to have the peace of mind that tools like this provide.

Micro-Air “Easy Touch-RV” Thermostat

This thermostat has been a game changer for us. It’s a straight replacement for the factory unit. One of our friends, Aaron Jones (JonesN2Travel) told us about this. We connected it to our routers’ WiFi and like magic, we can see all three AC zones and most importantly, we can adjust the temperature, change from heat (or heat pump) to AC. So, when my TempStick sends me an alert, I can do something about it!

Besides keeping Charlotte & Sierra safe, this comes in handy when our rig is in the shop or storage to ensure we don’t return to an experiment in Mold growth or other unworldly things!

Here’s a link to check it out: The Mobile RV Tech. Aaron has become a good friend and is one heck of a good mobile RV tech.

Find Your Solutions

These are only two of many solutions to monitor your precious and valuable possessions. We’ve found that these 2, along with our very reliable internet solutions ensures we do not come home to an unpleasant surprise. We will be at Escapades in Lebanon, June 19-23 2022. Please stop by our booth if you’re in the area!

Safe Travels and Thanks- Bryan & Cindy

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