Beginner's Guide to RVs

Optimized Storage Systems In Fifth Wheels

Wed, 12 Apr 2006 20:05:33 +0000

As you know, fifth wheels have limited space and therefore a need to fully optimize the storage space that there is. Manufacturers have taken design measures to innovative new spaces for storage.

There may be a large storage compartment located under the bed. You can access it by grasping the end of the bed ledge at the foot of the bed and lifting. Make sure before lifting, that there is nothing on the bed that will restrict its movement, or add extra weight. When storing items under the bed, be sure to leave space in the storage compartment for the struts when the bed is closed.

Store items in the areas designated for storage. DO NOT store anything in the area reserved for the converter and electrical panels.

Use caution when lowering the bed to keep hands and fingers at the edge of the end ledge provided; and not on the side or further back than necessary, where you may encounter pinch points.

Seating, Tables, and Additional Beds In Fifth Wheels

Wed, 12 Apr 2006 20:06:11 +0000

Depending on which model and options you have in your recreational vehicle, seating will include some combination of the following:

Jack Knife Sofa - The sofa will comfortably seat three adults. It also converts to a bed by lifting the front section and pulling toward you. The sofa back follows and pivots down into a prone position. To reconvert back to a sofa, lift the front and push back and down into place. The sofa back will follow and pivot up into its upright position automatically.

Hide-A-Bed Sofa - The sofa will comfortably seat three adults. The sofa contains a pull out bed that is accessed by removing the seat cushions. To open the bed, use the handle provided in the center, pulling up and out to its fully extended position. To store, simply reverse the procedure, lifting and folding it back to its original position. Replace the cushions on the sofa to complete the procedure. Make sure not to force operation of the sofa if there is resistance. Look for obstructions that may be interfering with the folding mechanism.

Dinette - The dinette will seat four people. The dinette can also be converted into an additional bed if required. To convert, lift the tabletop off of the two support posts. Remove the support posts from the floor and lay them down between the seats. Insert the table top between the seats on the ledges provided. Loosen the seat cushion from the Velcro fasteners and slide each together to form the bed. Reverse this process when reconverting to the dinette configuration. Storage and/or various systems components can be accessed from above by removing the seat cushions and lifting the seat supports.

Resources:

WWW.ALFALEISURE.COM
WWW.FORESTRIVERINC.COM
WWW.NEWMARCORP.COM
WWW.PALOMINORV.COM

Motor Homes

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 16:31:19 +0000

Motor Homes Overview

Class A Motor Homes

Class B

Class C

RV Insurance

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 16:32:46 +0000

RV Insurance Overview

Bodily Injury & Property Damage Liability

Uninsured / Underinsured Motorists

Medical Payments

Pop-Up Campers

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 16:34:10 +0000

What are Pop-Up Campers?

Why would I need a Pop-Up Camper?

What are the advantages of Pop-Up Campers?

Where could I use a Pop-Up Camper?

RV Equipment

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 16:35:55 +0000

RV Equipment Overview

RV A/C

RV Covers

awnings.php > RV Awnings

Fresnel Lenses Overview

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 15:12:25 +0000

Have you ever looked at something and couldn't quite make out what the small print said so you used a magnifying glass to see it? Or perhaps you were looking at a high definition TV screen and enjoying a wonderful movie? What you didn't know was the lens that you looked through was more than likely a fresnel lens. If you examined the magnifying glass carefully, you would probably notice the glass as being thick in the middle and tapered at the edges. This is a typical fresnel lens. A fresnel lens is made differently from other lenses which gives it the ability to show objects differently when viewing them through the lens. What is the significance of a fresnel lens? Well, considering Fresnel lenses are used for many purposes, it would do you well to know about the lens, how it works, and why it is used. This way, if you ever used a device that allowed you to view objects differently, you would know the reason. Just what devices do use Fresnel lenses? These devices include:

• Solar concentrators: Solar concentrators are not used much anymore like they use to because they require electronics, bearings, motors, and other gadgets to work. They have been phased out by more flat panel solar panels.
• Enhanced focusing screens: Fresnel lenses are good in some applications because they direct light going through the glass to the place where the viewer's eyes are aim. If the lens is placed correctly and at the right distance from the viewer's eyes, a good amount of vision can be seen through the lens.
• Overhead projectors: Overhead projectors use Fresnel lenses quite often for the benefits they produce. If you look at a projector, you will notice a top piece of glass and a plastic lens below it. This plastic lens has a lot of circular lines on it. This is the Fresnel lens.

What is a Fresnel lens?

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 15:14:33 +0000

The Fresnel lens was invented by a French physicist, Augustin-Jean Fresnel. Augustin also helped to invent wave optics. Fresnel studies light and how it worked and functioned. The Fresnel lens was originally built for lighthouses. Fresnel lenses were designed in large sizes and small sizes. The only difference is there is no additional weight and volume of material involved as in conventional lenses. The advantage to Fresnel lenses is that less light is lost compared to other types of lenses. And with Fresnel lenses you can see the light further than regular lenses.

The Fresnel lens was made to be thinner and lighter so as to be more useful. When the lens is made, it is broken into a set of concentric annular sections. By separating the lens into sections, or zones as some call it, the overall thickness of the lens is reduced. This chops the surface of the lens into a set of surfaces that have the same curvature but with gaps between each section.

Fresnel lenses were made of different sizes and designs. Many of the early ones has an oil lantern burning constantly inside day and night, while the newer ones had lamps that shown continuously. Because of the demands for the lenses, each one that was created had to be unique. Some had to be built with flash panels while others had to be built with bull's eye type design. There were also Fresnel lenses that were red in color so red could be flashed out to sea for boats to see the light.

What are Fresnel Lenses used for?

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 15:15:11 +0000

Each Fresnel lens is built for a purpose. It depends on the application and reason for the lens that determines how the Fresnel lens is built and used. But for the most part Fresnel lenses were used where image quality was not an issue as much as the amount of light passing through the lens was. So what are some of the things that Fresnel lenses were made for? These include:

• Overhead projectors: Overhead projectors use Fresnel lenses quite often for the benefits they produce. If you look at a projector, you will notice a top piece of glass and a plastic lens below it. This plastic lens has a lot of circular lines on it. This is the Fresnel lens. The Fresnel lens in this case is used to project the light to a mirror which reflects the light to the board or screen.
• Projection televisions: Many high-definition or rear projection TVs use Fresnel lenses to transfer the light from the light source to the screen for viewing. Since Fresnel lenses are built to reflect light more than images, the Fresnel lens in a projection TV will provide more light for people to see. If you look at a screen of a high-definition TV or rear projection TV, you may notice the picture quality may not be as good as it should but the brightness may be exceptional. Newer Fresnel lenses are being developed so as to reflect images better as well as light. This will give your image more quality.
• Magnifying glasses: Magnifying glasses are used for magnifying an object so it appears larger than normal. The magnifying glass creates the magnified virtual image of the object behind the lens. But the length between the lens and the object must be shorter than the focal length of the lens in order to see the object in this manner. Focal length is the measure of how strongly the lens focuses light.
• Solar Forge: This is a device that uses the sun's energy to met materials including asphalt. The Fresnel lens purpose, in this kind of situation, is as a lid of a hollow standing cylinder. The lens takes the sun's radiation and focuses it on a point inside the cylinder. Inside the cylinder is material that is being melted. As a kid, did you ever take a magnifying glass in your backyard in the heat of summer, and aim the lens to a dry leaf on the ground? Did you notice the sun's rays going though the glass and shooting a beam of light at the leaf, eventually causing the leaf to burn? Well this is the same principal the Fresnel lenses do in solar forges.

Advantages of Using Fresnel Lenses

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 15:15:41 +0000

Fresnel lenses were developed to make life a little easier for the person using them. People who did use them noticed many advantages that they would not have gotten from using conventional lenses. Such advantages made the lens so practical in design and in performance. The lens was made lightweight so it was easier to carry and install. This means that fewer materials were needed to install and maintain the lens. Being modular also accounted for the lenses popularity. If for some reason a crack had formed in the element somewhere, only a small decrease in performance was noticeable. Of course the element was cheap to replace. Today, Fresnel lenses are made from thick sheets of glass or plastic. After the sheets are produced, the lenses are stamped out of the sheets.

Another advantage to using Fresnel lenses is its ability to reduce the amount of energy required to produce light. Instead of using several lamps with reflectors, a single lamp is necessary. This helped to reduce fuel consumption, since the lamp did use oil to burn with.

Fresnel lenses were built for a purpose. They were originally designed for lighthouses and still are used in lighthouses. But they are also placed in magnifying glasses, projection TVs, and wherever bright light is needed, or image quality is not such a requirement as the light source may be.

RV Camping Overview

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 16:26:44 +0000

Does the idea of crawling into a hot sweaty tent when you go camping not sound appealing to you? Does the sound of a sheeted bed sound much better to you instead of lying on your back with just a sleeping bag between you and the ground? Or do you not want to cook open a campfire every night when you go camping? Then you are a prime candidate for recreation vehicle camping. RV camping has always been an option for people retiring from normal living situations, but has only in the last ten years become an excellent option for many people just looking for an excuse to go camping in a little more comfort.

RV camping may mean to you staying at a concrete campsite in a huge living space with air conditioning, but that isn't all that offers - though it doesn't sound that bad. You have to understand some important things before you decide to join the RV family. The first is to know the basic components that make an RV and some of the options that are also available to you. Not all RVs are created equal - and that is the second thing, the different types of RVS that you should know. The next important thing to know is to hear some tips on finding an RV campsite that meets your needs as an RV camper. And finally, after buying your RV you will need to take great care of it and we have some amazing tips to keep your RV in top running order.

The components of the basic RV and other options

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 16:30:25 +0000

The most basic RV comes with four things. The first are beds. Some RV's will only have one bed in the rear (that is sometimes as large as a queen sized bed), while others have more than one. Also RV's will typically have a table or couch that they can transfer into a sleeper sofa. RV's with multiple beds may have one large full bed with two smaller twin beds that are bunked into the walls. The second basic part of an RV is a table. This table can be seated for two people or for more than eight people in a larger RV. The table is used for dinner table settings and late night card games. Like we said before, the benches of the table usually turn into a bed, which makes this part of the RV usable all the time. The third part of the basic RV is a food preparation area. This could be simply one burner and a microwave to make all your meals. The fourth part of the basic RV is storage space. This is an important part of RV because there isn't much living room so if you tried to store your stuff in the open then you wouldn't be able to move around too much. This also presents an opportunity for you to store RV only items when you are not going on a trip.

This is just the basic parts of the RV. RV's can be extremely simple or elaborate depending on the size and price tag on the RV. Some of the other options are: half or full bathrooms, refrigerators, family rooms, full range in a good sized kitchens, master bedrooms, satellite TV, computer desks, portions of the camp that slide out for more room with they are not in transport, and awnings that pull out for a "front porch."

The different types of RVs

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 16:31:01 +0000

There are quite a few RV categories out there and within each of the campers there are variations and options that make most RV's completely customizable. The first category of RV is Truck Camper, which is a small camper that sits on the back of a pickup truck. This is usually the smallest of the campers and the most inexpensive. The next category of RVs is Folding Camping Trailer. If you look at the words of this RV you will probably understand it completely. When you see this type of RV behind a truck it will probably just look like a low rectangle, but when you reach the campsite this will expand to a small living area with possibly two beds.

The next style of RV is the 5th Wheel Trailer. The 5th Wheel is usually pulled behind an extremely large truck or van by a trailer hitch. This is when the RV's start to really get big. The next category is a hybrid of the 5th wheel - a Toy Puller. This is living space and part garage for a motorcycle, Jet Ski, or small car. 5th Wheel's may be as short as 15 feet in length or up to 40 feet in length. The final category of RV's is the motor home. The most popular name given to the motor home is the Winnebago, which is the number one company for many years. A Winnebago has actually combined the transportation of a large truck and the 5th wheel. The Winnebago's are also extremely large and have different classes depending on the chassis and size of the motor home.

Finding an RV campsite

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 16:31:25 +0000

An RV campsite can be easily found because almost anything can be a campground for an RV. If you drive by your local Wal-Mart you may see a couple RV's sitting in the parking lot. Many RV's on long trips will just stop in a large parking lot for the night and then move on because there is no difference for short stops. RVs will also stay at city parks, county parks, state parks, and national parks. Traveling in an RV is great because you never have to stop at a motel room for long trips. As long as you can drive your RV into a large parking lot, then you can stay the night for free.

RV campsites offer a lot of amenities in most cases. Many RV campsites will offer cable hookups for Internet and television. Since RV campers tend to stay longer at the campgrounds, many of them will have lots of activities planned for RV owners and exclusive amenities such as a cafeteria, horse riding stables, swimming pools, jungle gyms for kids, game rooms, and senior activities. These RV campsites will also have water and electrical hookups, and some have a sewer hookup as well. There is also another option for RV owners in rural areas or regular campsites that don't have all the hookups for RVs. You can find either campsite by typing into any search engine for "RV camping." There are many websites built exclusively for RV camping such as rvcamping.com, campingworld.com, rv.net, and rvzone.com.

Taking care of an RV

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 16:31:55 +0000

Here are some great tips for taking care of your RV. Remember an RV is just like a car and house put together. You will probably not just wear out an RV. There is a good chance that at sometime you will want to trade in your RV for something better or perhaps sell it to someone else. So make sure that you pay attention to these steps for your own benefit.

• Check the mechanical fluids and filters - If you drive a motor home or tote your trailer behind your vehicle, you need to check the fluids in both the driving vehicle and the RV. This is the easiest and probably most important check that you can do.
• Take a lap - Before you leave on any trip and once you arrive to your destination take a trip around the exterior of your RV before you open it up. This is the most optimal time to see if your RV is having any malfunctions or damage from the trip.
• Treat your RV better than your home - Most people feel like when they are camping that they can act a little rougher with stuff. This does not apply to your RV - treat this as staying at someone else's home.
• Open up the Windows - There is nothing worse than the smell of a closed in RV - well maybe there are worse things but it is still really bad. Even though you are going to use the air conditioning, open up the windows and doors every once in a while.
• Storing your RV properly - Make sure to store your RV in a location that it is protected by the elements, either enclosed or covered by a tarp. Also make sure that all your containers are emptied (water and sewage) before storing it.