Shownotes
Transcripts
INTRO
Let the rubber blow where it may; Tire monitor systems. That's what we're going to be talking about today. This is Eric Stark with TheSmartRVer podcast, delivering the smarts you need to enjoy the freedom of the RV lifestyle without the fear of breaking down. So, before we get into the show, I just want to bring up one small thing.
Well Alexis, how are you doing today? I'm doing good. It's been for you. It's been weeks since we've seen you. I know. So, one little thing I want to bring up, and that's a solar panel disconnect switch. So, we get people asking us about them. Do we carry them? And you know, I haven't been able to find anything.
It's just made to become the solar panel disconnect switch just about anything that's a switch could do it. Some people bill, um, you know, the battery disconnect is one. You can get a small toggle switch, rocker switch, it doesn't really matter. If you want to put a disconnect switch in the solar system, um, you know, that would go before the charge controller if you're going to put one in.
I would think that's where it'd be the best place to be. And the point of it is, so if you're working on your solar system, you can turn off the panels work on your charge controller or your batteries without that wire, having voltage going through it, it stops, you know, at a certain point there, which makes sense.
But the only ones I've seen that truly are made for it, um, are kind of hokey. They mount on the outside of a wall. and they're not very expensive and they're on one of those platforms where you buy a lot of cheap junk. So that's the only one I saw. Not impressive. Um, not very clean looking. You'd have to make it look CL clean, which was only going to look so nice.
Now, it was going in a compartment someplace where you'd never see it. Maybe it doesn't matter, but. Of these things end up being someplace where it does matter. So, if you really want to disconnect your solar panel and you're going to disconnect the wire from the battery, do some things, maybe changing out your batteries.
You know, 99% of them have a fuse right on the wire at the battery. Just pull the fuse out. There's your simple solar panel disconnect switch, you know, that way you don't have to worry about that wire, um, shorting out and causing a problem with your panels. Just pull the fuse or just let it short out and let it blow the fuse.
Either way, it's disconnected, I'm just kidding about letting it blow the fuse, but just pull the fuse.
LIVING THE RV LIFESTYLE
Alright so now let's talk about living the RV life. So, the RV lifestyle's a, a lifestyle that if you own an rv, as far as I'm concerned, you're living it. You don't have to be a full-time rv or you just own an RV.
Because when you are in your rv, that's a different lifestyle. Mm-hmm. So now let's break away from the RV life. During this section, we're going non-RV here. This shows about RVs, but we're going non-RV. This is Alexis's idea. We're going to blame it on her. Oh, great. Cause we blame everything on Alexis. Well, and Gavin too.
He is not here. Yeah. All right, so this shows about RVs, but we are seriously talking about a non-RV related trip. And this is one, if you have kids at home, let them be part of. The process of choosing the location or where you decide to go, the destination. And it doesn't have to be all about the kids, you know, keep that in mind.
Um, you're the parents, they're the children. You don't have to appease them, appeal to them all the time, you know it's about you as well. But it's nice when they're included in the process. I only say that because it seems like parents are losing control of their kids. It's more of a non-RV related thing. But anyway, so taking a non-RV related trip, that could be anything.
You could go someplace in the United States, you could go abroad, another country, go to Mexico. Canada. I mean, there's all sorts of places to go. So, it just depends on when you go, um, you go on a cruise, I mean, there's just a multitude of things to do. You go to the islands or some island somewhere, you go to Fiji, you know, Tahiti.
Just the whole globe and sus where if you really let the kids help, they might come up with some place you'd never really thought of. You know, outside the box, your comfort zone, a little bit, but it might be worth going to, you know? So, it will take a little bit of planning. And of course, you might have to reign in some of the ideas because maybe they exceed the budget, you know, or exceed something.
You know, you can't do this. Like maybe you're not a mountain climber, so you're not going to want to go climb Everest. Mm-hmm. But they might want to. So, you have to reign that in a little bit. And you know, trying to find a destination that works for everybody can be difficult sometimes. So, you have to dig a little bit deeper.
Like if you're going to take them on, you know, a river trip through Europe, that might not even fly at all. The boat might be cool, but that's about the only thing. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Unless you can really prove to them that there's going to be something for kids there. Right. You know, they're not into museums and fine art.
It doesn't matter in most cases. So, think about that. Make it for both the parents and the children. And heck, if you don't have kids at home, you don't have to worry about it. Go anywhere you want. Do anything you want, and that's that. But sometimes planning a non-RV related trip is nice. Get away from the rv.
You know, sometimes maybe only one person loves it as much as you do because you're the one that loves it. Um, So, you know, it is just a break, and it can be nice and it doesn't mean you give up your RV and you never go back to it. It's just a nice break from it. And the trip doesn't have to be in another country, be right here in the United States.
You don't even have to leave your state if you don't want to. Most states have plenty to do. Right. So just, just a, a change of pace is all. Suggesting here, uh, change it up a little bit. Yeah. They know I don't do everything in an RV and. Doesn't mean I don't like or dislike RVs either. What about you at Alexis?
Do you use your RV all the time? Uh, well, it's still under repair, so no. Well, the point is no, exactly. Needs a little work. A little bit. work in pros and pro process. That's right. All right. You know, just let the kids feel like they're part of the family. That's the deal. They're not running the show, you're running the show, but make them part of the family.
Makes the vacation nicer and then they're going to enjoy it. And then if anything else, you always blame it on them. You chose this place. That's right. Always good to blame the kids. Point the finger man. Point the finger.
STAYING ON THE ROAD
All right, so now staying on the road, we're going to talk about tire pressure Monitor Systems. TPMS’s are quite often called. So Frank, one of the listeners, brought. A long time ago and I told him I would talk about it. So here we are. And it’s actually kind of been on my radar. Um, not in a good way, believe me. Not in a good way, but we're here now, so we're going to talk about it. So let the rubber blow where it may.
I don't know who came up with that title, but we got it. So, we're going to talk about two different systems today. One is going to be the tire link system from lipid components. Well, actually these are. And the other one is TST, um, which is Truck System Technology. I can never remember the name, I can remember the acronym, but um, so these are two that I've actually tested recently.
But we're going to talk about tire pressure systems in general. There’re other ones like Tire Pressure Pro. I mean, there's, there's a lot of them out there. Everybody's coming to this market. Some have been around for a long time. Um, like Pressure Pro Tire, pressure Pro, I think that's the name of, they've been around for, for decades.
Um, I think they're owned by, by Valera now, which is owned by Matic. So, it's a Matic product. And over the years I've looked at them and regardless of what they'll do for you, I could never see myself buying a set of them until recently. Wow. They just have not been that great of a product in my eyes. Okay.
Now the idea behind it is, and many of you have tire pressure monitor systems on your cars. Yeah. Yep. You know, it tells you when your tire's getting low, or it's blown out or about ready to blow out. Yep. And. You know, sometimes it doesn't mean a thing if a tire just blows out. You know, it just, you hit something on the road, and it's done right.
But if you start losing pressure, that light comes on, then hey, that's worthwhile. You can pull over and take care of it before you destroy a tire. Yeah. And an RV is not just destroying a tire, it's all the other damage that can get done to it. So like if you're drain valves for your black and uh, gray water tanks or near the tire, you get a blow.
Actually, rip those valves off. Mm-hmm. And if you're going on a trip, that could ruin the trip if you're coming home. Not so bad, but it's still expensive. Yeah. So, you know, you look at things like that, a blow, a blowout is in itself is not really that big of a deal. You know? What's attire? 150, $250.
Yeah, it's money. But on the grand scheme of things, considering what it could have been, it's not that much. Right. You know, on a car when a tire blows, usually it doesn't do a lot of damage. Um, if any. It kind of depends on the car, how it's made, how the tire came apart. I'm on a trailer. It just seems like there's always damage.
Mm-hmm, fender skirts, even on a new rv, they can be really hard to get. You know, aftermarket stuff sometimes is a pain, but even from the factory it can be a pain. They might only had enough made for that one RV for that one particular year, and that's it. So, you can be out on your own. So, you kind of get the picture here that the tire itself is not the big deal.
It's the damage it can do. And let's face it, if you're going on a trip, you know, going without like black and gray water tanks that are functional can really ruin a trip. Yeah. Or you might be towing the trailer or your motor driving your motor home just to stay in a hotel or a motel someplace. Yeah. The family's going to love that, right?
So, is your wallet? Oh boy. Yeah. What'd you bring the trailer for? Huh? We were hooked up. Thought we'd just bring it just for looks, you know, and, you know, blowouts, you know, on a trailer can lead to one. One tire blowing out the next tire could blow out. So, there's a whole nother set of issues there too, with tires.
And you probably know by now that I talk about tires frequently because they are a problem or can be a problem if they're not maintained and watched. So, tire pressure monitors can help avoid some of those scenarios. You know, if you hit something on the road and your tire decides to just go flat instantly, or you get a blowout.
it's not really going to help you other than it's a reminder that, hey, you got a problem back there. Um, it might be mocking you in a sense, or it might feel that way, but now if you hit a, a screw and the tire starts losing air slowly, that tire pressure monitor's going to pick that up and it's going to tell you which tire you have a problem at.
And if you're pulling a trailer, you have four tires back there. In most cases you might have six and some, well, it's going to tell you which tire even So when you get out, you're not kind of trying to guess this, you can actually see the tire and if it's losing air rapidly, you know, obvious, it would be more obvious.
But if it's so slow leak, it might not be so obvious, you know, because sometimes all tires look like they need. Unless the modern radial tire does that. Mm-hmm. So, it's going to give you some heads up on that. And, you know, depending on the system, um, they're going to be better at it, worse at it, um, more efficient, more uh, reliable.
Um, the, like the tire link from Lippert, you know, you can use it on your phone, or you can buy an optional, uh, monitor that you can set on your dash or, you know, suction cup to the windshield. Tire Pressure Pro, same thing. You know, monitor on your phone on the dash, um, TST Tire System. It's the same thing.
Um, well actually they don't, they don't really recommend the phone. They just have a monitor for the dash. It's more of kind of its own little system, right? So, they all have their, their pros and cons. And by the way, I will be doing a video on each. The tire link and the TST system on those two, and we're going to try to speed those up.
They're already scheduled, but we're going to try to move that schedule up and get to them sooner. So, it'll be two additional videos, but we're going to do them on the same day. Okay. So, they're not going to be two weeks apart. They'll be, they'll both come out at the same time, so you can watch it. So, it's going to be one video per each though, because these are 10-minute videos.
And 10 minutes is pretty much enough to explain how each system works, right? And if you're listening to this now, it's going to give you an idea anyways of where you're going to want to go. Um, so the systems are great, but now we're going into the winter months and in episode 112, I brought out the point about using the winter months to do you.
So, if your RV's sitting for the winter, it really doesn't matter what kind of tire pressure system you want today, because now you've got several months to look at it and decide what system you want to go with. And I think on these, the more research you do, the more you really understand how they work and the advantages of having them.
But then how each company is a little bit different. And that's the main thing is what's going to work for. What isn't going to work for you? Um, what's your technical level? Are you technical? Are your tech savvy? Or when it comes to technology, is it just really hard for you to even get an app working on your phone?
Things like that. What kind of phone do you have? Do you have a smartphone that you can put an app on it? Do you have a flip phone? Do you have one of them things from Star Trek? You know, I'm going to be me up Scotty that don't do anything. So, it depends on what your technology is or if you have an iPad or a, some sort of tablet where you can, uh, you know, put an app on it, then have to be a phone.
A tablet would work just fine as long as it has, um, Bluetooth on it, right? Or Wi-Fi, which they would, so anything will really work. Um, so it depends on the system you want. So what I found with the Lipper and the TST, um, they're very similar in some ways, but putting them on a trailer, they're different when you're actually getting them set up and linking the tires because you have to link each little, um, pressure, uh, cap, you know, it's like you replace the cap on your valve stem and this goes on there and it, you know, reads the pressure, the, the temperature of the.
And so, each one of those has to be linked to, whether it's your phone or a monitor that comes with the system. If you buy like the TST brand or, or the Tire Pressure Pro, whatever brand you buy, they're going to be a little bit different, but they still have to be linked. And what I found with, um, the lipid components, one tire link, I had a little harder time linking the tires.
To the, to my phone, and it's working off Bluetooth and now I'm not a fan of Bluetooth. To me, Bluetooth is still a third world technology, because it only works in some case. Seems like with a speaker it's going to work, but that's about it. Now, it's just my experience. I'm not a fan of Bluetooth. But it also can depend on your phone too if your phone is actually working good.
You know, if you have a phone that's just barely working and things aren't really, you know, it's just kind of hit and miss how it works, the Bluetooth might be hit and miss, so it might make it harder to do so Bluetooth might not really be the option for you. And I think overall though, there's nothing wrong with Bluetooth and Bluetooth in this application.
It's more of just me, a personal preference. But if I was looking for a system and the Lippert Components tire link was within my budget, that would probably be the one I would get because of a budget constraint. But once it hooks up, it works fine. You have to put a receiver into the center of the RV and so it's closer to the axles for it to work properly, which isn't really a big deal.
You know you have cabinets with lights where you can tap into the 12-volt system. Pretty simple. You just have to put an inline fuse in there, even though the light circuit would have a fuse, you still want another fuse. Between the tire link or the, you know, the receiver and the light, if that's what you're tapping into.
So, it's just finding a 12-volt source that's consistent, which isn't really a problem in an rv, like I said. And so, you have to make sure if it is a light circuit that you is not going on and off with the switch, you know? Right. Somewhere. Not the light switch itself, but a wall switch that controls that, uh, light remotely, if you will.
So that will work out pretty good. Um, it's inside, so it's protected from the elements. You don't have to worry about it. And then once you get it set up, you know it's going to show the tire pressure, the tire temperature. And so, if you really start looking at this stuff though, it's going to throw you for a loop because you, if you look at it in the morning and you look it in the evening, the tire pressure's going to change.
And the tire pressure can change, I think, up to two pounds per every 10 degrees of fluctuation in the weather or the temperature. So, if you're really looking at. You might start driving you crazy, oh, this isn't working right. What's going on here? Why am I losing pressure? Why am I gaining pressure? Yep. So, if you're going to monitor it, you really want to look at it about the same time every day.
Now when you're driving, it's a whole different story. The tire's going to heat up then, the temperature's going to change, the pressure's going to change, and so you're going to want to just make sure that they're all the same. You know the, if you have them set at 80 PSI that they're all at 80, or maybe when you start at 80, now they're at 82, or maybe they're at 78, that they're all staying the same.
You know, the exact pressure's always going to be a game depending on the temperature that's outside. Right? And you know, if you're driving that hotter, they get the temperature's going to change, the colder the temperature, they're going to change. So, it's just, it gives you an idea. So, don't let the numbers drive you crazy, you know?
And the temperature, the tire, that gives you an idea if a tire's getting too hot. But if one's extremely out of bounds compared to the others, then that might have a problem in that tire. But if they're all the same and the all look will warm to you, then they're probably all fine. Right. So that's what I noticed with the Lipper components.
One, using the app and um, when you go to connect to it, it would have to cycle through, at least on my phone a couple times, trying to find the connection. But once it connected, everything was. and you know, they recommend, at least what I read in the instructions, it just, it's for an RV not to be used on anything else, for the most part.
And so that could be a drawback if you have multiple trailers. Oh. And doing different things, huh? So like I have a travel trailer, I have a dump trailer, I have a utility trailer. And if I wanted to put them, all of them, the lipid components one wouldn't be the one for it. But if I just had a travel trailer, It would be the one, you know, for the money it's, it's about $150 cheaper I think, than the other brands, so it's well worth it.
So, it's not a bad system, but I don't like Bluetooth. But I'm going to talk more about it in detail. Show the parts in the video. Even though some of you're watching this on video, I'm not getting into all the parts cause we're going to save that. Then the tire monitoring system from TST that. Rather than Bluetooth, it has its own little Wi-Fi.
So, the tire, um, sensors that go on the valve stems, they're connecting to the monitor that sits on the dash via Wi-Fi. So, it's a more consistent connection and I think it's more reliable. And again, I have a prejudice against Bluetooth, so this would be the. I would probably go, if this is the system I wanted now, this system would fit my needs more.
The TST system, because it'll work on, you could put four sensors on your trailer tires. If you had, let's say a boat trailer, you could put two on there, or four, whatever. And if you had another type of trailer, you could put two or four on there. You could put them on the vehicle of your tow, behind your motor home, as well as the motor.
And the, the, uh, receiver can mount just about anywhere. It's not really critical that it be inside the rv, next to the tires, so you can mount it up on the tongue in a battery box, or if you had a compartment in the front, you know the battery box would be fine for it and just mount it in there, mount it to the lid, depending on the side of your battery box and how it's consider.
It may or may not be the ideal way to do it, but that's where it can go. In fact, that's what they recommend. And so, you'd have to get a different receiver for each vehicle, but you'd already have the sensors that are on the valve stems. And what's cool about it is when you set it up as you. Let's say you pull onto your property and you're pulling one trailer, or actually not, yeah, pulling one trailer.
It's going to go from one to the other as it picks them up. And so, you can be able to see, you can, you know, actually turn off one and turn on another. So, it's always working. So that's pretty cool. That's really cool. You know, it makes it pretty simple for just about anybody to do so if you know your spouse takes the truck and the trailer, it's not some complex thing, you know, it, it's, it's real simple to use.
And so, the Wi-Fi though, the big catch for me and the, well, the multiple trailers, if you have just one trailer, then the, the lipid component's tire link could be just fine. But it is one of those things where you have to look at. and really decide what you need is the extra money worthwhile and the money's going to vary depending on where you're looking at buying them.
You know, whether it's on the internet, in stores, wherever it might be. If you're going to have a shop install, which I wouldn't, I would do it myself. That way. You understand how the system works that way. If you're out on the road, you're not like going, oh no, what do I do? You know, do I really have a problem with the tires, or is it the system?
So then you can figure that out. And either way you go on this way, it doesn't even matter if it's the Lipper components or the TST brand. All these, you know, tire pressure monitoring systems sell extra parts, extra sensors so you can add them to more wheels and, you know, expand it. Um, to a degree. Some of them you can do more or more than others.
Like the TST, they originally were in the trucking. You're looking at a semi with a whole lot of wheels, you know, 24 wheels, 26, but I think it'll actually do up to like a hundred wheels. Wow. So, if you had one of those trailers with a whole bunch of wheels on there, this would work for you. And when you're setting it up, it kind of looks like you're setting up a semi.
But once you get it set up and you're using it, it goes back to look like your trailer. You know, even your spare tire has one on it and it's on the back where it should be, and it looks like a spare tire. Wow. So regardless of the brand, these are pretty much an ideal thing to have, you know, and part of your, uh, arsenal to keep your trip going.
Well, you know, like I said, a blowout that just happens. You can't control, I mean, a lot of times there's a reason why you get a blowout, low tire pressure. The tire's getting too, um, you know, tread separation because the tires are old. So, some of those things are avoidable, but if you have brand new tires, one decides to blow, there's nothing you can do about it.
Or you hit something in the road, you know, hit a pothole or something you couldn't get around, well it's, you can't avoid that. But for the slow leaks, things that lead to big problems, these things are ideal and it just get a little peace of mind while you're going down the road. Cause once they work, they continue to work and so you don't have to sweat it.
Nice. So, I just recommend using, you know, doing your research, looking up the ones that you really want to look at, and narrowing it down. And if you can find someone who has a set, maybe talk to them, get their opinion on it. Um, I mean, these things are so easy to do. You can actually borrow somebody and put them on your trailer and set it up, you know, and then just give them back to the person they could, you know, you can reset them and they're that easy.
It's not a big deal. , but you know, someone might not want to do that, but it's just an idea. Um, sometimes it makes it easier. Just look at them. We're going in wintertime. You have time to do it. And like I said, we will have some, uh, YouTube videos on both of these coming out very soon. And in the meantime, check out our YouTube channel and subscribe to it and share it with others.
And we're asking you to subscribe to everything we do. So, if you're listening to the podcast, subscribe to it. You know, give us some good reviews. If you like it, um, let people know about it. Share it with. Um, you know, it's a great resource for people, especially, uh, newer RVers who don't have a lot of education.
NEXT STOP
Eric- So, share it with others. So now we're going to go to the next stop, which is the Tualatin Valley in Oregon. So, Alexis, how did you come up with this place?
Alexis- Oh, you know, the West Coast is so beautiful and Oregon's beautiful, so why not go here.
Eric- Okay, so Tualatin. Mm-hmm, so it's T U A L A T I N. Yes. I'm probably saying it wrong, but oh, that's okay. I'm trying. Okay. So, what is there to do at the Tualatin Valley in Oregon?
ALexis- There's a lot to do. Um, one thing you can do is take a helicopter tour. Have you ever been on a helicopter?
Eric- No, I haven't.
Alexis- Yeah, I haven't either. I don't know, but it looks kind of fun.
Eric- I never had the opportunity. Okay. It's never really been there. Yeah. All right. It would be cool.
Alexis- Yeah. Especially here. This is such a beautiful area, right? And then there's a website with every, uh, trail on there in this valley. So, you can click on there, it's called Take a Hike, and it'll show you all the trails, biking trails, walking trails, hiking. So, if that's something you're into, this would be the place to go.
Eric- Okay, nice. Yeah. And what about entertainment?
Alexis- Yeah, that too. There's a theater called Bag and Baggage, which is just a small theater company, but they put on really good shows. Um, I kind of checked out the reviews and they, they got great reviews. So, if you're into live theater, go see a show here.
Eric- Okay. So live theater at home might really be lame, but on a trip it might be good.
Alexis- Exactly. Yeah, exactly. It'd be really fun. That's funny how some things you go on a vacation is really great to do and then you try it when you get home. Like lame.
Eric- Yeah, exactly. Or eating something. Yeah. Oh, this doesn't taste the same. Right. Yeah. Okay. Well speaking of eating, is there some place to eat there for the hungry RVer?
Alexis- Oh yeah. If I feel like tacos or nachos, which I constantly feel like those can go to LA Industria and get that LA Industrial.
Eric- That's an interesting name.
Alexis- I know, I thought so too.
Eric- So, must have Industrial Street look going on?
Alexis- Probably. Yeah.
Eric- Okay. So, tacos and nachos. Tacos are always good.
Alexis- Mm-hmm. And then you can go to a Roxy's Island grill for some Hawaiian barbecue, which sounds amazing. Or you can check out to. Tualatin Station, Bar and Grill. They have pulled pork and chicken wings.
Eric- So, I am saying it wrong. It's Tualatin. Maybe it is. It is. I've heard other people say it now. You say, okay. Okay, now we're getting it. Now we’re both wrong then who knows? All right, so the pulled pork sounds good. And the chicken, the Hawaiian, eh, whatever. Yeah, not. Um, sorry. Roxy. Then the tacos a definite, so there's always some place to eat.
Mm. And so all these places you come up with Alexis. is there always some place good to eat?
Alexis- There's always some place good to eat. Absolutely. Yeah.
Eric- These places always seem to have little hot spots, right? Exactly, yes. All right, so then where do we stay when we get there?
Alexis- Well, um, if you're taking your RV, which hopefully you are, um, there's Roamers Rest RV Park, they have free Wi-Fi. There's Sun Outdoors Portland South. Which comes with, I think there's a pool and a hot tub, and then, or you can choose to stay at Clackamette RV Park, and they have a, an RV dump there.
Eric- So if that's something you need to do on your road trip. Then you should probably stay there. All right. So just to be sure, an RV dump is not where you take your RV to get rid of it, right? Like a trash dump is too. A dump station to empty your holding tanks.
Alexis- Exactly.
Eric- So, when you're out on the road, that RV Park might be worth this waiting goal. Right? Exactly. I think so. So, then the free Wi-Fi, so they all have something to draw you in. Which is nice. Mm-hmm. So, sounds like a good place to go. Um, so when would you recommend going?
Alexis- Um, probably July to August the west coast. Can. Really cold, especially up towards Oregon. So, if you're going to go, I would go in these months, the weather's going to be nicer, warmer, and the seafood will be really abundant. So, you want to make sure you get up there and get some good seafood.
Eric- So that's really a two-month window. July to August. That's July and August. Yeah. Okay. So, summer.
Alexis- Yeah, Oregon gets cold.
Eric- Parts of it get really cold, so you could probably go up there earlier, but the seafood might be your attraction to it.
Alexis- Exactly, yep.
Eric- So, for me, that wouldn't be an attraction. I'd go any other time.
Alexis- There you go.
Eric- All right. Well, that sounds good. So that's another place to go in the next stop, you know? And for more information about the next stop. If you go to our website TheSmartRVer.com, click on the link for next stop. And it'll take you to all, all the articles, even ones we haven't talked about yet.
So, everything's there. Um, so it's nice to get that little bits of information. And again, this is just to wet your appetite. Mm-hmm. is not going to be the catch all for everything. Um, but it gets you thinking about some place to go. All right, so now we're coming up to RV and we're going to talk about battery gauges.
RV ENVY
And again, these are going to be done in videos as well, but we get a lot of people asking about battery gauges. And the two brands that I’ve got, that I like, are the Expion 360. They have a, a battery gauge and go Power who makes solar, has a nice battery gauge. They're very similar in functionality, they're just different sizes.
Um, on both of those, I actually got a little frame, which in the video I'll show you a, it's a, uh, oh, I call it a discussion, but it's a, it, it sets in there. So, if you cut the hole a little too big, it kind of hides it and it makes it a little more visible too, because both of them are kind of small. At least for me, they are.
So, battery gauges are cool. It's going to tell you what your battery's doing. Now, one thing to keep in mind, if you have a bank of batteries, let's say you have two batteries or four batteries, and you hook a battery gauge up to it. It's just going to read all the batteries as one battery, which is okay.
It tells you the amps, the voltage, all that. So, it's not really going to pinpoint one particular battery if there's a problem. But most people aren't looking at their battery gauge for that reason. They just want to know how their voltage and amps are. And either one of these work that way. And the only thing I don't like about them, but it's a necessity, is it has a.
A device that goes on the negative battery cable that has to mount on the battery or very near the battery and it's kind of big and clunky, and so depending on your battery situation, it might be harder to get that in, but it's still doable. If you want a battery gauge, that's just part of the process.
It mounts into the negative cable and that's where it has to be and closer to the battery. It's not the end of the world. And then you just have a small wire running from the batter. um, up to the, the gauge wherever you put it in the RV. And it seems like they come with 25 feet or 40 feet of cable, depending on which one you get.
They're fairly easy to install. It's just running that cable and trying to keep it, you know, invisible from everything else. Um, that can be the issue. So, if you want a battery gauge, the Go Power one or the Expion 360 or the two, I would recommend. And like I said, we'll be doing a video on those. And what we're trying to do, we keep talking about videos, we're still trying to talk about products, wetting your appetite.
Um, even though they're not things we make, we're just trying to get you thinking about it. Um, if it's something that's been on your mind, then the videos come in later because this is a podcast. So, then, you know, doing these reviews on products isn't really sustain. On a podcast. Mm-hmm. So, the videos will come out and if you subscribe to our YouTube channel that whenever a new video comes out, you're going to know about it and then you can watch it.
And the videos will be under the Fast Tip Fridays. So, they come out every other Friday. And these two I might do at the same time as well, or back-to-back videos, just because they're unique items like that. They're not a standalone thing. You don't want to wait three weeks to see the next one either.
CTA
Right. All right, so go to TheSmartRVer.com website. All the information's there that we talk about in the podcast, some stuff we don't even talk about in the podcast. Yeah, it comes the catch all for a lot of stuff. Um, we put things there and we're trying to add new content all the time. So that brings us to the end of the podcast for today, episode number 113.
OUTRO
And this is Eric Stark. And I want to thank you for listening and it's been great hanging out with you today. And if I don't see you on the road, let's connect at TheSmartRVer.com.
