JuJuDeals

• 30Mar

  Green RVing

  Tips and Tricks No Comments

  Common sense dictates that RV camping would be more wasteful and less environmentally conscious than “regular” camping and backpacking. Well common sense can cram it, because RV camping can be as Earth-friendly as any other kind of camping. I mean, you’re already driving your car to the campsite. Only now, you don’t have to set up camp when you get there. If you’re very committed, you may even be able to make RV camping even more environmentally sound than regular camping! Here are some of the ways RV camping is low-impact:

  • Used water is stored until it can be disposed of in a sanitary manner, as opposed to trickling down into groundwater and rivers.
  • RVs are built for efficiency and economy of supplies, which means the toilets, kitchens, and showers tend to be conserve resources better than those provided by the campground.
  • You don’t have to light any fires, as you can both cook and stay warm in your RV.
  • Since you have storage and cleaning ability in your RV, you don’t need to tie down laundry lines, dig up the campground, or do any of the other things one must do to make a site accommodate humans.
  • You can wash and reuse your dishes as opposed to using disposables and throwing them away.

  Here are some tips to keep in mind to make RV camping even more clean & green:

  • Install solar panels to recharge your batteries with the limitless might of the sun!
  • Recycle worn or punctured tires instead of throwing them away
  • Pick up books on beginner maintenance and electrical repair. You’ll save money by doing your own fixes, and you’ll save resources because you didn’t just go buy a new widget.
  • Since you’re on the road, you can stop by farms and farmer’s markets to pick up fresh, locally grown food. This is always a good idea, since it tends to be cheaper, healthier, and tastier than buying from a grocery store. It also spares the environment all of the transit costs associated with shipping food across the country. Plus, you’ll in all likelihood meet the person who grew it, and they’ll be glad for your business.
  • Schedule regular oil changes and check ups for your engine to make sure it stays running in tip-top shape.

  Do you have any other tips and tricks for keeping the environment clean while RVing? Share them with us in our comments section! We’d love to hear them, and the best ones may be used in a future eco-friendly rundown.

  Tags: camping, environmental friendliness, green camping, RV

• 23Mar

  The Horror of Travel Radio

  Consumer Electronics News, Our Products News No Comments

  Stop us if you’ve heard this one before:

  You’re on a road trip. You’ve listened to the three CDs in your glove box five times each. You have some more in your trunk, but they’re probably under all your luggage and you really don’t want to pull your car over and get to your destination any later. You look out your windows at the landscape speeding by and all you see are hills and the occasional bored-looking cow. You grit your teeth, brace for impact, and turn on the radio.

  Middle of nowhere radio is pretty much the definition of a crapshoot, in that it’s mostly crap, and it makes you want to shoot your radio. Sometimes you’ll get some barely audible, static-riddled pop music from the early 90s. Sometimes its deeply unhinged local talk radio from a guy that believes politicians are actually alien reptile men in disguise. Usually it’s someone reading from the holy text they wrote in their tool shed about how his talking dog is blessed with the power of prophecy and you should give him some of your money. It’s times like this you think “I would give everything I own to pick my own tunes right now.”

  Fortunately for you, everything you own is waaay overshooting the mark. Try something closer to $15. With an FM Transmitter, you can broadcast your MP3 player, CD player, heck, maybe even your record player to your radio. Just find a station with nothing on it, set the transmitter to that station, and voila. You are now the owner of your very own portable radio station.

  Oh, and if the alien-hating talk radio guy is taking call-ins, you should tell him about the guy with the psychic dog. They’d probably get along swimmingly.

  Tags: FM transmitter, radio, travel

• 22Mar

  Home on the range.

  Tips and Tricks No Comments

  The cooking range, that is. If you’re intending on preparing a meal in your RV using the liquid propane stove, and it doesn’t seem to be working, what do you do? Well, the obvious answer is to check your tank make sure you actually have any propane. Intense, burning desire to have your food cook has been shown in scientific studies to produce next to no actual heat, so you’ll want a tank that actually has fuel. If you do have the gas, but you’re still getting no heat, your next step is probably to order a pizza.

  But wait!

  One of the most common and most easily eliminated problems when troubleshooting your stove top is the tendency for cooking gunk to gum up the works. All you need to do to fix it and get back on your way to boiling up a delicious pot of chili/cake frosting/whatever you’re cooking is to do the following:

  • First, completely shut off the liquid propane tank valve
  • Inspect the burners and valves of your stove top
  • If one looks like it’s become clogged, remove it from the system
  • Mix some detergent and warm water in a mild solution
  • Soak the part for several minutes
  • Gently scrub the part clean with a toothbrush or other soft bristled scouring device
  • Dry the part completely and reattach
  • Open the liquid propane tank valve

  There you go! That simple task should help surpass a lot of unnecessary troubleshooting. Granted, if it still doesn’t work, you’ll definitely want to have the system looked at by a professional. You should probably close the liquid propane tank valve again and leave it closed unless you need it for something else or have had your cooktop repaired.

  If your propane cooker is broken, it can definitely be a hassle. But look at the bright side. It gives you the moral high ground to order a pizza, guilt free!

  Tags: propane, RV, RV cooking, RVs

• 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

• 16Mar

  You snooze, you lose.

  Our Products News No Comments

  We’ve all heard the sayings and platitudes, usually from some uptight authority figure.

  “You snooze, you lose.”

  “The early bird catches the worm.”

  “The longer you sleep, the greater the chance you’ll have a nightmare so bad it could kill you.”

  Okay, so we made up that last one. Still, as much as we don’t want to admit it, all those people do have a point. If you’re supposed to meet a client at 8 in the morning, they’re probably not gonna be too jazzed when you meander in at 11:30. If you’re scheduled to pick your significant other up at the airport at 6 a.m., only to find them angrily pounding on the door at noon with a taxi cab behind them, be ready to pay for it. Both the cab ride and the flaky transgression. Really, though, your mate will rake you over the coals for this. Forever.

  Not that we’ve ever done something so irresponsible. We’ve just heard about it, is all. From other people. That weren’t us.

  Ahem.

  So, procrastinators and sleepers-in, what can you do to keep from absolutely ruining your life with your constant lateness? Gee, I don’t know, maybe try using an alarm clock? I mean honestly, it’s 2010 here. This isn’t exactly unheard of technology. Plus, having one that plays AM/FM and CDs might make you actually want to wake up. Or at least be willing to.

  Tags: cd, clock, procrastinators, radio

• 15Mar

  Chaaarge!

  Tips and Tricks No Comments

  Look out! They’re charging! Oh wait, they’re not actually moving at all, it was only some batteries that were charging. Never mind.

  Sorry to scare you like that.

  If you have something that uses 12 volt batteries to power numerous devices, like on a boat, a truck, RV, or maybe a really ghetto spaceship, then you have doubtlessly had to deal with charging the batteries back up. It is also pretty likely that you have a multiple battery set up, or perhaps a battery bank. You also probably know that, when your batteries are charging, you can use a “selector switch” to choose which one gets charged, Battery 1 or Battery 2. You can also select “Both,” which will,  not surprisingly, charge up both at the same time.

  Everything is hunky dory with this set up under normal use. However, an important thing to remember is to be sure of the appropriate settings for charge and for discharge. If you have “Both” selected when you’re charging, that’s fine. The charger will tend to power your lowest battery first until both batteries are even, then charges them equally. The problem arises when you leave the “both” setting active when you’re not charging. If you have a battery that is in good condition, and a battery that is dead, “both” will allow the dead battery to siphon off juice from the good battery until you’re in all likelihood stuck with a mostly dead battery and a severely drained battery. That does no good to anybody, especially if the battery that got drained is your starter. That’s a great way to get stranded real quick.

  It can be easy to forget about switching selections when going back and forth between checking on your battery and going about your other day to day errands. That’s why we recommend you invest in a Battery Isolator. This neat little machine will act like a gateway for your battery’s electricity, only letting it flow in one direction. Like a polite booth operator in front of a fancy gated community, this device stands guard between your charger and your batteries. Juice goes in, and the isolator manages the flow so that you don’t have to worry about one battery cannibalizing the other. At JuJuDeals, we frown on cannibalism of any variety, including battery-on-battery.

  Get yourself a battery isolator and you’ll be charging like a Beverly Hills socialite in no time.

  Tags: 12 volt, batteries, charging, RV, RVs

• 12Mar

  The Age of Adventure

  RV History No Comments

  … is pretty much dead. Sorry. :/

  It was sort of inevitable. By its very nature, adventure uncovers frontiers, and as the foggy edges of the map clear up, so too does the mysterious nature of the world that draws adventure out of us. The world gets bigger and bigger until the exact second we find all of it, at which point it gets smaller and smaller. The problem with this kind of thinking, though, is in its assumption that just because someone has discovered something, we don’t need to discover it, too.

  Well that’s just plain wrong.

  Back in the mid 1910s, when RVing was a new idea that few had heard of and fewer had tried, a group of guys got together to adventure. The line-up of this gang was so impressive, it sounds like something out of a comic book. They called themselves “The Four Vagabonds,” and you’ve probably heard their names before.

  VAGABONDS, ASSEMBLE!:

  • Henry Ford, captain of industry and insatiable drinker of life
  • Thomas Edison, genius inventor, futurist, and super-scientist extraordinaire
  • Harvey Firestone, industrialist and great friend of Ford
  • John Burroughs, famed naturalist, ahead-of-his-time conservationist, and writer

  These men gathered annually to pack up their gear in a few Ford cars to explore the splendors of the nation, breathe the fresh air of nature, and grow closer as friends. National attention followed them everywhere they went, and their highly-reported exploits inspired the foundation for hundreds, then thousands, and because of them, now millions of people to try the RV hobby and lifestyle.

  Sometimes the men would go to new places. Sometimes they would go to land that Ford already owned. What’s important to remember when you go adventuring in a shrinking world, and what the Four Vagabonds knew, is that it’s not whether the place you go is new. It’s whether you have the eyes to truly see it anew. To breathe it in, drink it in, and be ready for the adventure that could be waiting half a day’s drive away just as easily as it could be half a world away.

  When’s the last time you took a weekend and turned it into an adventure?

  Tags: adventure, Four Vagabonds, Harvey Firestone, Henry Ford, John Burroughs, RV, RVs, Thomas Edison

• 10Mar

  Travelling cafeteria

  Tips and Tricks No Comments

  Well, I certainly know describing RV food preparation that way doesn’t really make it very much more appetizing. Regardless, something you may not have considered too deeply before you started planning out that RV trip was what you wanted to do for food. Eating on an RV is similar to regular dining in some ways, and in some ways, it’s very different. Sort of like how your high school reunion is different from your time in high school. Yeah, all your old classmates are there. Even some of the teachers. Songs you remember rocking out to as a kid are being half-heartedly plucked out by a local garage band playing for beer money. The elements are there, but they don’t add up to the same thing. Fortunately for you, preparing food in your RV is vastly less depressing than seeing your high school crush has turned into a paunchy grouch that smells like wine coolers.

  

  What the heck? It's only our 10 year reunion!

  One major concern is space. No, not outer space (though that does concern us too. Anything could be out there! We don’t trust it),  but fridge space. You’re going to have to really consider what specific perishables you can’t do without, because your real estate for such endeavors is going to be a sixth of what it would normally be. You’ll also want to factor in how well it can handle periods of less-than-frigid temperatures, in case of a malfunction in the unit or a loss of battery power. Most veggies can survive pretty well, but that big ol’ tupperware full of lutefisk is going to go so bad, so hard, so quick, you’ll probably have Homeland Security on your tail. Take stock of where the farms and grocery stores will be on your trip, so you can get the perishables and incidentals on a more daily basis.

  Cooking space is also something to keep in mind. While we’re sure someone has found a way to cook an entire Thanksgiving bird in their RV, that person was probably Hercules, and that guy’s half god. Think smaller in everything but flavor. You want smaller ingredients, smaller cookware, and smaller portions, but the biggest flavor you can jam into your comparatively tinier meal. Also, find some canned and boxed ingredients that you like, and spring for the nicer ones when you can. It will make a difference, and will keep eating out of a can from feeling like eating out of a can.

  Now, of course you have the option of dining out. There are many fantastic places to eat on the way. Finding great diners and restaurants on the road is one of the best parts of the trip, so pick up a guide to travel eating, or check the internet for highly rated eateries before you get to each town.

  Lastly, by way of example, here’s a tiny size, big flavor meal you can easily make with only a few ingredients. If you’ve never had fried green tomatoes before, you don’t know what you’re missing.

  • Put 2 tablespoons of your favorite cooking oil (or butter) and heat it in a frying pan.
  • Slice up a few green tomatoes. One usually does this in about 1/2″ thickness, but you can vary to taste.
  • Mix some cornmeal up with some salt, pepper, some spicy stuff like cayenne or cumin, chili powder, and any other seasonings you think you’d like.
  • Toss the tomatoes in the cornmeal until they’ve got a decent coat.
  • Fry them ‘maters up in the pan for about 3 minutes each side on medium heat.
  • Serve ‘em hot, on a bed of couscous or rice pilaf if you like. They also go great on burgers, sandwiches, or with a steak fillet.

  Man, this is making me hungry! I wonder if the lunchlady has any more of that lutefisk.

  Tags: cooking, high school reunion, RV, RV cooking, RVs

• 08Mar

  Make yourself heard

  Uncategorized No Comments

  What’s the difference between a musician and a crazed hobo yelling wildly on a street corner? The musician has the good sense to record what he’s doing. Also, probably amount of teeth and number of days since their last shower, though if you’ve ever been in a band with some really dedicated music guys, you know that the latter isn’t always true.

  The crazy thing, aside from the hobo, is that even when you’re flat broke, you can still afford some pretty awesome microphones to record or broadcast the avant garde stylings of your folk-techno-clogdance fusion band. Take this one, for instance. Dirt cheap, highly sensitive, cool looking, and comes with all of the stuff you need to rock out. Or, if you dig through your sofa cushions and find another couple bucks, you can go wireless. Think of how nice it will be to bust some Van Halen-style jumping splits during a high note without worrying about your mic cord snagging your band mate’s Jamaican steel drum set and knocking down everything in your garage.

  In this modern day era of music studios in a laptop and easy collaboration between musicians regardless of geographic location, you really have no excuse not to tap into that inner Beethoven (or that inner Johnny Rotten, whichever) and let your creativity out into the world. Or, you could go back to yelling on the street corner about the government agencies that used space lasers to steal your pants. Your call.

  Tags: hobos, microphones, music

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