RV Question & Answers by Mark Polk~

*NOTE: At Mark's discretion, material might be edited to suit a wide audience. Due to the large volume of material and correspondence we receive, individual replies might not be possible, nor can we acknowledge receipt of submitted material. Selected questions will be answered in future issues of our RV Education 101 newsletter and on our site. Thank-you for your understanding.

Q. I Have received conflicting responses to my ??? about the use of OD in my RV. We have a 31' 2002 Dutchmen Class C (bought new) with approx 17,000 miles. Powered by Ford E450 V-10 (gas)and we tow a '98 Jeep Wrangler. Have used OD with cruise @ 60 mph +/- a couple of miles. Have also used under same driving conditions without OD. Which is most efficient? Have been told by some RVers not to use OD when towing because of damage/wear on transmission, yet this was just debunked by a Ford fleet truck service manager who said he wished they'd never put Overdrive on the "darned" shifter. He said if it had 1-2-3-4 on the shift selector "you'd probably put it in 4 and never look back." He said it's okay to use OD when towing & that the powertrain/engine is "doing what it's supposed to do" when it shifts down. He agreed the problem for some people is the noise it makes giving you a feeling the whole thing is either going to take off or explode. Your thoughts?

Mark Says: I agree with the fleet manager. I use OD all of the time and the only time I turn it off is when it is constntly shifting in and out (hunting). Under normal driving conditions and on fairly flat surfaces I always leave it on.

Q. Hi Mark, Great articles, been RVing (not full time) since 1969, retired from USN. I think my 10 year old window awning (54 inch) springs are too wimpy and need replaced. Can I do this myself?

Mark Says: As you are probably aware awning springs are wound under a great deal of tension. I have seen several serious injuries to the fingers and hands of certified RV technicians caused by awning springs. Out of good conscious I would recommend letting a qualified RV repair center replace the awning springs.

Q. The videos are excellent but I have one thing that isn't clear to me. Where I plan on camping I will always have 120 Volt electricity to plug the main 30 Amp power cord from the trailer into. Will the 12 volt appliances work as long as I'm plugged into the electrical supply of 120 Volts? ( I assume the 12 volt converter will enable me to do this). Or , do I always need to have a battery connected and charged? I called the manufacturer and still am not sure. I plan on not even bringing a battery with me most times. Any insight you could provide will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Mark Says: You are correct, the RV converter will convert 120V AC to 12V DC when the unit is plugged in. The downside to having no battery is
1) you can't use any 12 volt items when you are not plugged in i.e., when traveling
2) If you plan on using the refrigerator in the LP gas mode (while traveling) it would need a battery
3) The break-away switch on the front of the trailer won't activate the trailer brakes in the event of the trailer separating from the tow vehicle. (some states require the break-away to be operating properly).

Q. If you can steer me in the right direction that would be great. We bought our first travel trailer last year, stored it over the winter here in Colorado, and have found that mice moved in recently. Is there any product we can use to repel mice? I don't want to use poisons where they could die somewhere inside the trailer.

Mark Says: This is one of those topics where everybody has different suggestions about what to do. Here is a link to an article I wrote that may be helpful.

RV Expert Mark Polk, seen on TV, is the producer & host of America's most highly regarded series of DVD's, videos, books, and e-books. http://www.rveducation101.com/