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• 26May

  Hot Skin Test

  How To Guides, Tips and Tricks No Comments

  Sounds like a pretty sexy test, right? Well, sorry to get your hopes up, but it’s actually pretty tame. Unless you get all steamy for precautionary safety measures on recreational vehicles, that is. The Hot Skin Test is the name for a test you can perform to determine whether or not your rig has an electrical short, and it is just about the most important test you can perform for your RV, perhaps next to the “Is my RV currently on fire?” test and the “Is my RV sinking to the bottom of a large body of water?” test.

  Usually this is done by professionals, and we recommend that you carry on that tradition in the name of safety. Obviously, some of you are professional electricians, so we leave it to your better judgment in deciding if you want to do this test on your own. This test is important to perform whether your RV has a lot of exposed metal or not. Even fiberglass RVs have the electrical system attached to the metal chassis somewhere, so no RV is immune from injuring or killing you with a high resistance electrical short. Exciting!

  Here’s how a Hot Skin Test works:

  • Plug the shoreline into shore power.
  • Make certain all the circuit breakers are flipped to “on.”
  • Adjust your Volt-Ohm-meter to test at the 250 volt AC scale.
  • Attach a test lead onto a bare, metal surface somewhere on the RV. If you have a fiberglass RV, you can use the metal entry steps or some part of the chassis.
  • Attach the remaining test lead to an earth ground. You can use a grounded water pipe or drive a grounding stake into the earth somewhere nearby.
  • Check your Volt-Ohm-meter. If it reads “0,” there’s no high resistance electrical short. Good for you! You can celebrate a little, but don’t get all smug about it.
  • However, if you do measure some voltage, you’ve got a high resistance short. Repair it before you use the RV! This is non-negotiable!
  • Switch the test leads and measure again.
  • Repeat the test on a different component of the RV’s exposed metal.
  • Get the rig repaired.
  • Do the test again from the beginning. Repeat as necessary.

  How do you know if you may have a high resistance short on your hands? Well, there are several potential warning signs. Check your AC wires regularly for wear, tear, nicks, cuts, bends, and pinches. Another helpful sign is if you feel buzzing, shocking, pain, or anything else associated with human-on-electricity action when touching the ground and a metal part of the RV. If the sensation disappears when you detach the 120 volt power source, you almost certainly have a high resistance short.

  So that’s that. Check this stuff out, stay on top of it, and keep your friends, family, and self out of harm’s way. Trust us, it’s a much better option than letting it go and just hoping you get superpowers from a freak RV electrical accident. That almost never happens, and if it did, you’d probably get a really stupid set of powers. RVs aren’t exactly known for their ability to grant amazing superhuman abilities in the same way that radioactive spiderbites, dying alien worlds, and flying mechanical armor suits are.

  Tags: 12 volt, 12 volt systems, electrical maintenance, Hot Skin Test, misleading names, RV, Safety

• 21May

  Pac-pac-pac

  How To Guides No Comments

  If you, like many people, have been to Google’s homepage today, (or if, like us nerds, you heard about this already,) then you know today is the 30th anniversary of Pac-Man. Yep, that hungry little puck of yellow pixels has been eating energy pellets, navigating mazes, and doing battle with ghosts since 1980. His influence is undeniable, his appetite insatiable, and his game surprisingly still quite fun. Yes, there were regrettable (if hilarious) consequences to the cultural zeitgeist of Pac-Man, but we try not to spend too much time dwelling on those.

  So, in honor of the first guy to turn eating while moving into a cultural pastime, we have here some recipes for RV cooking. Sorry, no instructions for making energy pellets.

  Appetizer: Bacon & Cheese-stuffed Mushrooms

  • Fry and crumble 4 strips of bacon
  • Remove the stems from 15 fresh, large mushrooms and wash the caps
  • Combine the crumbled bacon with 8 oz. of cream cheese, 2 Tbsp. of sour cream, 1/8 tsp of dill seed, 3 cloves of minced garlic, and mix well
  • Stuff the mushroom caps with the mixture
  • Toss a pinch of dillweed on each mushroom
  • Lightly butter a baking sheet and place the caps on it
  • Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees

  Main Course: Sloppy Joes

  • Brown and drain 1 lb. of ground beef and a 1/2 cup of chopped onion
  • Add 3 Tbsp. of ketchup, 1 Tbsp. of mustard, 1 tsp. of chili powder, and 1 can of chicken
  • Simmer for 30 minutes
  • Toast rolls or hamburger buns and spoon on some sloppy joe
  • Garnish with cheddar cheese and slivered onions

  Dessert: Apple Pie Cake

  • 1/4 cup of butter
  • 1 cup of sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 tsp. of salt
  • 1 tsp. of cinammon
  • 1 tsp. of nutmeg
  • 1 tsp. of baking soda
  • 1 cup of flour
  • 1/2 cup of chopped candied walnuts
  • 1 cup of diced apples
  • 1 tsp. of vanilla
  • 2 Tbsp. of hot water
  • Mix the ingredients in the listed order.
  • Grease a 9″ pie pan and fill with batter
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes
  • Serve with whipped cream and à la mode

  Tags: Pac-man, RV cooking, travel eating

• 10May

  Slayeth ye…

  How To Guides No Comments

  … the Dragon of Winter! Cowereth not in the tender bosom of the living room. Hark, the Frostwyrm’s strength wanes even now. If ever were the time to deal the Lord of Frost a mortal wound, that time is now!

  Okay, so that was a little strange. Let’s just ignore it. No, quit that, don’t go back and reread it, cause it isn’t going to make any more sense than it did the first time. I think what we were getting at is that winter is finally breathing its last foggy breath, and it’s high time you shook the cobwebs off the RV and took it out for a weekend spin. Enjoy a spontaneous trip to somewhere a half day’s travel away and get all the kinks worked out before you take off somewhere a little more distant for the summer (we know you’re itching to, cause this winter seemed to last forever). In the interest of getting you off your duff and into your tin can, here’s a reminder of some of the important things to take a gander at after you pull the tarp off the RV.

  • Take off the covers. All of them! Tarps, window covers, anything you’ve got on the stove or fridge, etc. Open the windows all the way, squirt some Febreze or air freshener, and let the beast breathe.
  • Check the outside for rust, cracks in the sealing and seams, and any other external damage.
  • Pretend like you’re a poltergeist and open every single door, window, cabinet, cupboard, compartment, and drawer. Wearing a sheet like an old-timey ghost is optional. Give all the hinges a greasing and patch any weather seals that have warped or dried out.
  • Tell any bugs, critters, and vermin you find that their rent is due. If they don’t pay up, kick them out. Bugs and rodents are known for having terrible lawyers, so don’t worry too hard about them nailing you with a wrongful eviction lawsuit.
  • Pull out the awnings and give them a similar rundown. If the awning has developed any holes, get a kit and patch them up.
  • Put the batteries back in if you took them out (which it is advisable to have done), making sure you connect the terminals correctly. Check the levels if necessary and charge it to full.
  • Go back in the RV and turn on all of your 12 volt electronics. After you’ve watched as much of The View as you can sanely handle (approximately 30 seconds in the tests we conducted on friends in our living room), you can flip on all the others, making sure that the battery is functioning as it should.
  • Check the safety protocols. Inspect your fire extinguishers and put batteries in your smoke detector, carbon monoxide detector, and emergency flashlights.
  • Flush the plumbing system. If you used anti-freeze, drain it out.
  • Check any air and water filters you have.
  • Flush and drain the waste water system, check the seals, and add some odor controlling and waste degrading treatments.
  • Inspect your propane tanks with extreme thoroughness. Look for pitting, rusting, damaged hoses, broken seals, and any other wear and tear. You can spray soapy water on the various connectors to look for a leak. If you see bubbles forming, congratulations! You are now the proud parent of a propane leak.
  • Change all the filters on your generator, if you have one.
  • Clean your solar panels, if you have them.
  • Look at the bottom of the RV for any tears, breaks, buckling, bowing, or anything else that might make you say “Huh, I should have that checked out.” Gremlins, for instance. Any gremlins seen chewing wires or scratching at bearings should be reported to Mythological Animal Control, just as you would with gryphons roosting in your trees or gnomes infesting your lawn.

  Now you have no excuses. Shake that RV down for spring, and do glorious battle with the fading menace of winter!

  Tags: de-winterizing, dragon slaying, RV cleaning, Spring shakedown

• 27Apr

  Neither snow nor rain nor gloom of night…

  How To Guides, Tips and Tricks No Comments

  …stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. But if the postal service can’t find you, they probably can’t deliver your mail to you, either. If you’re going to be RV travelling for a good stretch of time, or if you’re already a full timer, getting your mail can be a tougher prospect than one may initially think. If your solution at the moment involves having someone with a permanent address forward it to you, know that they secretly resent the crap out of it. Just sayin’. So what can you do to get a handle on your postage? The solution is actually fairly simple, and comprised of three main umbrellas that each cover a few smaller tasks.

  First, go automatic. Look at your bank website and see if you can get your monthly statements sent to you via email alert. Check to see if you can set up automatic bill pay for monthly expenses, so they won’t get shut off or go to collections because the mail hasn’t caught up to you yet. Have your paychecks go through direct deposit, if possible. Full timers will have fewer things they’ll need to keep track of online, as they likely won’t have a set of monthly utilities for a permanent residence the way that a vacationer will. If you’re simply leaving home for an extended RV trip, see if your utilities can forward any notices to your email, and use automatic payment methods to care for them.

  Second, minimize junk mail. Now that you’ve transferred some of your mail to the internet, it’s time to clean up the mail you don’t want. Go to the Direct Marketing Association, the Federal Trade Commission,  and the Federal Trade Commission junk mail site. At those sites, you can file to have your name, address, and cell phone numbers removed from junk mail and junk call lists, which will greatly reduce the amount of envelopes you’ll receive that tell you you’ve already won $1,000,000 on your Preapproved Ultimate-Super-Platinum Credit Card that is also a Brand New House.

  Third, sign up for a mail forwarding service. There are lots of these, and a bit of internet snooping should tell you which ones are worth the money and which aren’t. It will cost you money to ship out packages of your collected mail, so following the first two steps is highly advisable. No one needs to have grocery store coupon books and real estate agent flyers mailed to them at their own expense. That is pretty much the definition of adding insult to injury. Once you’re signed up, check ahead with camps and parks you’re planning on staying at, see if they allow mail delivery, and have your post forwarded to the next one you’re headed to. Let the office know they’ll be receiving your mail and that you’ll be by to pick it up shortly.

  Finally, as an extra step for those tenacious junk mailers that still manage to hassle you, there are a couple of things you can do. If you’re a full timer, don’t leave a forwarding address with the post office. This will kill a huge amount of the junk you’d get. Another trick, and this one is a lot of fun, is to take the prepaid return envelope that comes with most junk mail offers, stuff it full of other junk mail, and insert a note that you want to be taken off their list. Why is this so gratifying? Because they’ve pre-authorized the sending of that envelope, and will automatically have to pay shipping on it no matter how much it weighs. Suddenly, what would normally be a $.02 return jumps up to $.40 or more, depending on how much you get in there.

  Enough of those, and they should get the picture.

  Tags: mail, mail forwarding, RV, RV vacation, RVs

• 21Apr

  Watt the heck?

  How To Guides No Comments

  If you see a terrible electricity pun titling a blog post, it probably means we’re about to lay some science on you. And what do you know! There’s an awful pun right up there! Well let’s put on our lab coats, then.

  Thinking back a few weeks, you may remember a post about Ohm’s Law. It was a handy little device for figuring out voltage, current, or resistance in a circuit, as long as you know the other two. Today we’ll discuss Watt’s Law (also known, quite masculinely, as the Power Law). Ohm’s Law is certainly useful, but if you own a conveyance that uses a lot of appliances, such as a boat, RV, or semi-truck, you’ll like Watt’s Law even more. Say you want to figure out how many watts you’re going to need to adequately power your appliances (you don’t actually need to say it, we can’t really hear you). This is something you would reasonably consider doing if you were thinking of buying a generator or installing a solar panel array, and you wanted to make sure the set up would be sufficient for your energy needs.

  In the interest of accomplishing a goal like that, here is the relationship between the elements of Watt’s Law:

  

  I know what it says, but we're telling you, you can't eat it.

  • P = I x E [Power (aka watts) = Current times Voltage]
  • E = P / I [Voltage = Power divided by Current]
  • I = P / E [Current = Power divided by Voltage]

  To do something like determining which generator/how many solar panels to get in order to meet your energy consumption requirements, then, you would add up the current rating on all the appliances you’d be running, and then multiply it by volts (which is almost always 120 in the kind of situation we’re talking about). If the current rating came out to, let’s say, 40, and you multiplied it by voltage, which is likely 120, you would get a total of 4,800. You would then need a generator or solar array able to provide 4,800 watts (which may also be listed as 4.8 kilowatts, just so you know).

  You may be surprised that we didn’t make any pie jokes considering the letters involved and the fact that the diagram is even shaped like a pie. The reason we didn’t do this is because pies are no joke. We are deadly serious about pie.

  Tags: boat, electronics, pie, RV, science, truck, Watt's Law

• 20Apr

  How to give a smokin’ hot gift.

  How To Guides, MP3 Players, Tips and Tricks No Comments

  When it comes to giving gifts, are you sort of a dope? Think back to the last gift you gave. Could have been for someone’s birthday, an anniversary, Christmas, Hannukah, a going away party, or any other special day. It doesn’t matter. How well did it go over? If you couldn’t tell, or your memory’s too hazy to remember, we’re gonna help break it down for you. Here are a few ways to tell whether your gift left the recipient a little green around the gills

  • You got your 10 year old cousin the weed trimmer you wanted, then asked to borrow it
  • You got your mom more pots so you have something to take her cooking to your house in
  • You gave your grandmother with the chronic back problem the free partner membership you got for joining a kickboxing gym
  • You got the neighbor kid a discount party clown that took his break in the middle of the birthday song, and all the kids had to stand around watching him smoke for twenty minutes while he yelled on his cell phone about his backed up toilet

  The astute reader may notice that all these nuggets of bad gift giving stem from one central problem: not being thoughtful. A bad gift is one that doesn’t make a memory. It’s bland, forgettable, unexciting, or not suited to the tastes of person, and will be gone from their mind like vapor the second they open the next present. Gift cards often (but not always) fall into this category. A really bad gift is one that you are surreptitiously giving to yourself, or that factors your benefit as much as or more than the recipient. Like giving your significant other a vacuum cleaner, house paint, or a pipe that oddly enough matches the one you’ve wanted replaced under the sink for the last month. Gifts shouldn’t be reminders of cutting grass under the blazing sun.

  So how do you give your love, your coworker, or your best bud a piece of how much you value them? Simple. Know them. Give it some forethought. If you aren’t sure, act like a secret agent and case the joint. Pay attention to what their interests are, look at the kind of papers they read and shows they watch. Ask their friends. Here’s an example of a gift that on its own is certainly fun, but with a little bit of planning, will elevate itself high up on the gift stash.

  1. Step one: Purchase Video/MP3 player.
  2. Step two: Find out what albums, artists, and songs your target likes, and pre-load a few onto the player.
  3. Step three: Find out what the target’s hobbies are. Do they like cooking? Put a few interesting looking recipe videos on the player. Do they like skateboarding? Load up some how to videos for tricks. Are they learning to play guitar? Download an instructional video for their favorite song.
  4. Step four: Load a few of the recipient’s favorite TV shows or movies onto the device.
  5. Step five: Use the built in microphone on the player to record a personal message from you and everyone else at the party.
  6. Step six: Roll it all up in some gift wrap or in a decorative gift bag with colorful tissue paper and present it.

  Now that is a cherry of a gift that will stay clipped to their brain for a good long while, and keep you out of the sticky situation of “giving the lamest gift at the party.” Plus, there’s a hidden upside to good gift giving: people remember it when it’s time to return the favor. We would of course never endorse such a hairy attitude about the altruistic act of giving a present. But, you know, in the interest of full disclosure… yeah, we totally would.

  Tags: bad gifts, gifts, good gift giving, good gifts, MP3 players, presents

• 14Apr

  Bugging out: Part 2

  How To Guides 2 Comments

  Since we last saw the intrepid hero known as “you”:

  After wolfing down breakfast, gargling with mouthwash, and throwing on a set of rumble-ready clothes, you grabbed your B.O.B. and drove out of town minutes before your rear view mirror shows black smoke rising from what was once your neighborhood. Later, when you’ve settled down, your thoughts will turn to your neighbors, whether they’re okay, and what will be left of your home if you’re ever able to return to it. As of right now, all you can think about is where you’re going to go, what you’re going to do, and why no one is answering their cell phone.

  Half a day passes, and the one thing keeping you calm is the peaceful, old timey music coming from the only radio station your car stereo’s auto-seek function was able to find. The more or less hourly radio reports that punctuate the music are detailing survival protocols, like what to do if one encounters one or more of the infected, how to dispose of contaminated material, and how to keep from drawing attention to yourself. They’re promising directions to a military and militia reinforced safe zone by 10 o’clock tonight, and with half a tank of gas left, you decide to wait out the rest of the day somewhere. You don’t know when the next time you’ll be able to fill up the tank will be, and you want to be able to get to that safe zone.

  An abandoned steel water tower a mile off the road makes an ideal camping spot; good view, provides shelter from the elements, and is hard to climb up and get inside of without making noise. You park the car behind the small maintenance shack at the foot of the tower, throw your B.O.B. over your shoulder, and scale the ladder to the top. The keys from the maintenance shack open the hatch, and a scan with your flashlight shows it to be empty and bone dry. You set up your tent and sleeping bag, eat some trail mix, and put one earbud in as you listen to your portable radio for news.

  All that’s left to do is count your blessings, and wait.

  Let’s go over 10 vital things to keep in a well-stocked B.O.B. You’ll be glad you did.

  • Survival food- It should have a real “sticks to your ribs” quality, be high in calories and fats, and ideally have a “low glycemic index,” meaning it burns slowly to sustain you over time rather than metabolizing quickly. Get a few days worth.
  • Clean, bottled water- This should go without saying. While it’s of course a good idea to have several gallons of the stuff in your garage in case of emergency, it’s still important to have a few bottles in the B.O.B. for when you only have time to grab one thing before you run out the door.
  • Water purification- You can get these in tablet form as well as from filters, solar purifiers, and battery operated devices.
  • Emergency clothing- Prioritize durable, warm clothing that allows you to move. You don’t know what kind of situation you’ll find yourself in, so having a couple changes of survival clothes (with a few balls of thick socks), a poncho, and heavy-duty shoes or boots will keep you in good shape. Go for water- and wind-proof stuff.
  • Shelter- Anything you would think to use for lightweight camping works well here. You’ll definitely want a small, warm sleeping bag, and you can choose between a compact tent, a tarp, a Bivy sack, or anything else that you think would work. Again, waterproof and wind-resistant is ideal.
  • Firestarters- At least 3 different ways to start a fire. Windproof lighters, magnifying glasses, flint-and-steel, strike-anywhere matches, chemical starters, etc. There are many different kinds, and they’re all pretty small.
  • Radio- This will by absolutely vital for receiving emergency instructions, locations of safe zones or supplies, where to find help, what progress is being made, and any other important information about the calamity. This Digital Mini Radio is an ideal example. It’s small, has a clear, digital display, can be attached to your belt, arm, or from the neck, works with headphones (included), and has a powerful antenna. Keep a few sets of batteries in the B.O.B. and change them out every year.
  • Survival gear- This includes a compass, a mirror, a first aid kit, a hunting and a Swiss Army knife, a Leatherman or some small toolkits, rope (preferably parachute cord), a can opener, and many other odds and ends.
  • Money- A lot of people forget this one. If you can manage, put a few hundred dollars in small bills somewhere hidden on the B.O.B. Depending on the situation, money may or may not be of use, but you’d be surprised how long people will trade for the stuff in the hopes that the disaster will turn around and they’ll have made a profit. Same reason people loot furniture and TVs during floods and fires. Chalk it up to hope springs eternal?
  • Toiletries- In an emergency situation, personal hygiene will probably be the last thing on your mind. However, once things settle down for a moment, and they will, little creature comforts like a clean mouth or some antiperspirant can keep your morale from getting low. Throw a few travel sized hygiene products (toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, soap, etc.) into your B.O.B. and stay fresh even when everything around you isn’t.

  Those are the essentials of a decently stocked B.O.B. Did you think of something we missed? What else would you put in your B.O.B.? Have you ever had to use one? Let us know in our comments! When the zombies are moaning at the gates, we’ll all be glad you did.

  But what next?

  Tags: Bug Out Bag, car stereo, emergencies, emergency preparedness, portable radio, survival, zombies

• 19Mar

  Ohm my goodness! Part 2

  How To Guides, Tips and Tricks No Comments

  Sometimes sequels are even better than the original (see Dark Knight, Terminator 2), and sometimes they’re pale imitations (see Blues Brothers 2000, the second set of Star Wars movies). We’re hoping this post lands in the former category. Or at least with “flawed-yet-lovable,” like Temple of Doom.

  Getting back to the matter at hand; Ohm’s Law. In case you didn’t catch it yesterday, here’s what you missed. For those of us that didn’t miss yesterday’s lesson, here’s the crunch we threatened you with last time. IF you need to figure out a missing portion of the volt/current/resistance relationship, here’s how you do it:

  • V = I x R [Voltage = Current times Resistance]
  • R = V / I [Resistance = Voltage divided by Current]
  • I = V / R [Current = Voltage divided by Resistance]

  

  this

  If you know two of them, you can figure out the third. Simple as that! There’s also a handy wheel you’ll probably see referenced in electronics texts to help you visualize this relationship, and it looks a little something like…

  Keep this puppy in your brain-parts! To use it, just pretend one of the pieces isn’t there, and solve for it. (V) is on top because it’s above the dividing line. (I) and (R) are next to each other because they multiply. Say you need to figure out how many amps are gonna move through the circuit. Cover up the (I) segment in your brain, and divide what’s left (V/R) to fill in the gap. If you don’t know the voltage, block that part out, and multiply the current times the resistance (IxR).

  The cool thing about this is that it looks way more complex and sciency than it actually is. Whip this out on a coffee napkin and explain how it works to seem like an extra-smarty-pants the next time you’re with your friends.

  We won’t even ask you to credit us. Just remember us fondly in your last will and testament.

  Tags: amps, current, formulas, Ohm's Law, power, resistance, voltage, volts, wattage, watts

• 18Mar

  Ohm my goodness! Part 1

  How To Guides 1 Comment

  Heh heh, see what we did there? We’re so clever, we could just eat ourselves up. Puns truly are the highest form of humor. Anyway, before we pun-ish you (teehee) with any more dumb word games, let’s get on to the subject of today’s blog. Put on your thinking caps and your smarty pants, cause this one gets a little scienticious!

  If you’re the type of person that would rather figure out how to adjust and add to your 12 volt system on your own rather than take it to a shop, we commend you. We also want you to know a thing or two about electricity, so “singed eyebrows” won’t be a prerequisite for installing a television on your RV. We’re going to talk a little bit about an electrical constant known as Ohm’s Law, which is named for a German physicist called George… wait for it…

  …

  Ohm. His name is George Ohm. Totally surprised you, it’s so obvious all over your face. Psssh, you’re too easy sometimes. By the way, this previous post may be useful to you if you come upon any words or phrases that you don’t recognize or know the definition of. Here’s some other stuff you’ll want to know:

  • Current- Usually designated with (I). Current is the word for the electrical flow on a circuit, like a leaf floating down a stream or a line of ants on a branch. Current always moves across a conductor in a negative-polarity to positive-polarity fashion, and is measured in amps, which are usually designated with (A).
  • Voltage- This is a measure of how much “push” or “oomph” is behind a current moving through a circuit. The greater the difference in electrical potential between two points on a circuit, the higher the voltage. Volts are usually designated with a (V)
  • Power- The level of current multiplied by the level of voltage at whichever point you’re measuring. If you’ve ever heard someone mention how much “wattage” or how man “watts” are going through something, they’re talking about power.
  • Resistance- Usually designated with (R). Resistance denotes how much current will be allowed to move through some element of the circuit. They are used to control how much electricity gets through. Think of it like a faucet. Turn on the faucet only a little, and you have a high resistance to letting water through, so only  a dribble comes out. Turn it all the way, and you will have a very low resistance to letting water through, so a lot will come out. The lower the resistance, the more electricity will flow, and vice versa.

  So now you have the knowledge necessary for us to explain Ohm’s Law to you, buuuut… We’re actually going to do that part next time, just to keep you riveted. No cheating and going on Wikipedia first!

  Tags: current, electricity, Ohm's Law, puns, resistance, voltage, volts, wattage, watts

• 02Mar

  Oh my God, it’s full of sound!

  12 Volt TV, How To Guides, Tips and Tricks No Comments

  We are, of course, talking about your RV, if you have a surround sound system set up to accompany your 12 volt TV (and if you don’t, you should, cause you’re basically driving around in a swanky living room). If you’ll pardon another 2001: A Space Odyssey reference, setting up your surround sound can be frustrating enough to make you beat the ground with your remote like a monkey with a bone. Where do the speakers go? Why does everything sound so horrible? WHY IS THIS SO DIFFICULT?! It doesn’t have to be! Like an all-knowing monolith, the JuJuDeals team is here to guide you to the next stage of human development. Or television enjoyment. Whichever.

  For the purposes of this tip guide, we’re assuming you’ve already researched and purchased the kind of speakers you’ll be needing. What we’re principally concerned with here is proper placement. What you don’t want to do is just put the speakers in the four corners of your RV. Before you place your speakers, you need to find what is usually called your “sweet spot.” Stop laughing, children, or it’s detention for all of you. The sweet spot is the place you’ll ideally be doing most of your viewing from, so go find the comfiest seat in your RV. Go on, it’s okay. We’ll wait.

  …

  …

  …

  Okay, good, you’re back. What took you so long? Seriously, we didn’t say we’d wait all day. Well whatever. Did you find the sweet spot? Excellent. Now you need to consider where it is in relation to your 12 volt TV. Is it directly across from it? Is it at an angle? In either case, you want to orient your speakers, as much as you can, around the sweet spot when you are directly facing the TV. Just pretend you’re this smug little guy, and try to place your speakers as follows:

  

  You wish you were as cool as this guy.

  Now, there are all kinds of other hassles to hack through, like adjusting levels depending on what kind of media you watch most, choosing the best cables for high audio fidelity, etc. But that is a guide for another time. For now, sit in that glorious sweet spot and enjoy the music.

  Tags: 12 volt, 12 volt tv, placement, surround sound

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