We met you at the RV Show in Hershey, PA and we picked up – “Know Your RV – A Guided Tour” DVD.  For that we are extremely grateful!

“This is million dollar advice on a $19.99 DVD.  No matter what your RV skill level, you are going to learn something new or be reminded of something you have forgotten. Truly, this is something every travel trailer or 5th wheel owner will find useful and worthwhile.”

We very much enjoyed the short, easy-to-digest segments and the advice about the mud dauber screens is something no one has mentioned before.

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge with those of us who most need it!

Sincerely,

Graham and Jayme Mongeon of Virginia

I believe now – more than ever, that people are fascinated with the fact that folks can exist living the ‘good life’  in an RV. The freedom and adventure -  one would have doing this full-time or not full-time is certainly intriguing. Here are the topics that were covered in this article.

1. Massage therapist
2. Creative services
3. RV – Related sales
4. RV repairs
5. Teacher or trainer

Do you dream of buying an RV, traveling the country, and staying at beautiful campsites every night? You don’t have to retire — or wait until you’ve saved enough money to quit your job — to make that happen. Here are five portable businesses that you can operate completely from the road, no matter where you go. Read more of the articles by clicking HERE!

30 Amp vs. 50 Amp Power Cords – Which One is Yours?

Why is it you can only run one air conditioner at a time on the  30 Amp power cord but if you have the 50 Amp power cord you can operate both air conditioners?

Then we hear other RVers use the terms Amps? Volts? Watts? What does all this mean?  You just want to sit and enjoy the scenery but instead you are sitting in the dark?  How can you determine the limits of your RV electrical systems?

There are 3 electrical systems in your RV

• 12 Volt DC (direct current - automotive type battery) that runs the exterior running lights, stop lights and turn signals of your coach.  On a trailer they are powered through the 7 way pin connector from your tow vehicle. On a motorized unit they are powered by your chassis alternator and battery just like your car.
• 12 Volt DC (direct current - deep cycle battery type) that powers all the 12 volt lights, fresh water pump, circuit boards for your appliances, propane detector, room slide outs and powered leveling jacks. The converter (fancy battery charger) that takes 120 volts AC like we have at home wall receptacles and changes it to 12 volts DC for this deep cycle battery.
• 120 Volts AC (alternating current like we have at home) that powers the air conditioner, microwave, electric element in the water heater, ceiling fans and wall receptacles and the AC to DC converter.  This 120 Volts AC gets its power from the 30 or 50 amp power cord we plug into the pedestal shore power or generator.

Most electrical products have a label or plate on them that list voltage, amperage and sometimes the watts it will use.  What does all that mean?

Voltage – is the “push” that the electricity has.  Voltage is the same to electricity that water pressure is to a water system.  Voltage is either 12 volts DC (direct current) or 120 volts AC.

Amperage - is the flow of electricity.  Amperage is the same to electricity as gallons of water flow is to a water system.  The size and length of the wire carrying the amperage or current determines how much flow we can have.

Wattage or Watts – is the power of the work that can be done.  Watts is figured by taking the voltage and multiplying it by the amperage.

Every electrical device has a wattage or power rating.  For example: We rate our generators by the wattage they produce.

Recreational Vehicles come with one of two power cords.  The power cord is either rated at 30 amp or 50 amp at 120 volts AC.

50 amp & 30 amp Power Cord

So if you Rig has a 30 Amp power cord, you will have a 3,600 Watts or 3.6 KW (kilowatts) to run all your 120 volt AC appliances.

The 30 Amp power cord has a black wire as it power leg, white wire as its neutral leg and a green ground wire.

If you Rig has a 50 Amp power cord, you will have 12,000 Watts or 12 KW (kilowatts). Yes you read that correctly….12,000 Watts of Power available to use.

The 50 Amp power cord has 2 hot or power legs.  One is black and the other is red.  Each hot leg is capable of carrying 50 Amps.  One white wire is the neutral and the other wire is the green ground wire.

Typically, motor homes and 5th wheels will have the 50 amp power cord to handle their power requirements.  It is the ‘extra’ power that allows you to operate that 2nd air conditioner.

It is surprising how fast your AMPS add up which cause your circuit breaker to trip. Sometimes the individual circuit breaker for those powers appliances will trip other times it is the main circuit breaker that goes.  When you locate that tripped ciricuit breaker you flip it to the OFF position then back to the ON position.

Typical Power Requirements for your RV Devices

Air Condition – 15,000 BTU                       12.5 amps x 120 volts= 1,500 watts

(your air conditioner will somtimes pull 20 to 30 amps to get started)

Electric Water Heater – 6 gallon               12.5 amps x 120 volts= 1,500 watts

Microwave Oven                                             12.8 amps x 120 volts= 1,536 watts

Electric Coffee Pot                                                9 amps x 120 volts= 1,080 watts

Toaster                                                                   10 amps x 120 volts= 1,200 watts

Hair Dryer                                                             10 amps x 120 volts= 1,200 watts

TV                                                                               2 amps x 120 volts=     240 watts

Dirt Devil hand vacuum                                    2 amps x 120 volts=     240 watts

Electric Frying pan                                          10 amps x 120 volts=  1,200 watts

Iron                                                                        10 amps x 120 volts=1,200 watts

Food Processor                                                     6 amps x 120 volts=  720 watts

Crock Pot                                                              1.5 amps x 120 volts=   180 watts

Heating Pad                                                           .5 amps x 120 volts=      60 watts

Take a minute and  figure how much power you are using. It is suprising how fast it adds up. You can trip your breaker and be in the dark.

We must become good managers of our power usage so we can enjoy the RVing Lifestyle.

It’s our job to help you keep your wheels rolling…we’ll see you down the highway!!!

Order the 6 hour Electrical Course by clicking here!

But first – we arrived at 7a.m. at the IHOP in southwest Houston to have breakfast with our good friends – Ron & Sheila Howerter of League City, TX.  Ron and Sheila are the owners of RV Wooden Staircase.  We have travel along side these two wonderful people-  as we all have gone to one RV Show after another. As we have been building our relationship, the Howerter’s have been building their newly formed business. What great products they have!!  Sturdy, beautiful and safe – are the wooden staircases that they produce to fit on any size RV….and they are portable. If you are in the market for a great product, checkout Ron and Sheila’s RV Wooden Staircases .

By 10 a.m. the crowds at PPL Motor Homes were big.   When not one more person could fit inside that conference room…the Professor talked about RV Air Conditioning. With so many things to learn on how to keep this appliance up and running properly…we spent most of the day visiting with folks and answering their questions.

PPL Motor Home’s  top rated RV Parts Store generates thousands of orders per month for quality, brand-name RV parts, motorhome parts and RV accessories, from RV covers to RV awning and more, and process the majority of those orders almost instantaneously. In fact, most RV parts orders that are placed before noon CST leave the warehouse no later than the following business day.

After journeying back to our home in Somerville, TX  – on Sunday morning – we decided we would take a day and drive to our beautiful coast line.  Our first stop was of BIG interest to the Professor  …. the wind turbin parts yard in Freeport, TX.  He taught solar and alternative energy at the college in Waco, TX for a time so this was near and dear to his heart.   Here  are some great photos of the gigantic-ness of these wind turbine propellers.  The Professor is standing in front of this stack.  All of us have seen these babies going down the highway. In fact, when we lived in Waco, TX – we saw many of these going through on there way out to west Texas. Yes, we knew they were big but standing beside them like this was overwhelming.

This holding yard was less than 1/4 mile from the coast. It provided an inlet close by which  allowed  barges to come and unload here at this facility.  This is just a small amount of the parts that we saw that day. It truly is really something to see.

After spending sometime here ….we went on down to the sandy beach of Freeport (where everyone else was that day) and joined in on the fun.  With the wind really blowing I  elected to leave my camera in the car rather than taking it on our walk up and down the shoreline. Moe Joe (left) and Ginger (right) – our two dachshunds were with us …and what a great time they had exploring, letting the folks pat their heads….but it wasn’t long before we could see the tell-tell signs of fatigue on both of them. I brought towels to rub some of the sand off then we loaded up to go north toward Galveston, Tx. Here they are after getting back in the car and enjoying the drive.

It was fun being back in Galveston, TX. It was a beautiful day …the beaches were full. As we drove up, it was great to see all the rebuilding that had been done. Lots of new homes, businesses …all signs that Galveston is back after all the destruction of Hurricane Ike in 2008.  The Flag Ship Hotel now is completely gone….which is good. We saw very little reminders that the Island had gone through such devastation.  This was our first trip to our gulf shores after the Gulf Oil Spill of April through August of 2010.  Other than all the dead sea weed polluting the beaches…it looked fine. 

Next up….riding on the Galveston – Bolivar Ferry which opened in 1930.  This 13 minutes mini cruise, I thought,  was fun because of all the dolphins that were around us.  There are five ferry boats in the fleet. The two smaller ferries carry an average of sixty-nine cars. The larger boats, the Gibb Gilchrist, Robert Lanier, and Greer accommodate eighty-five cars.

Though the ride on the ferry was fun…nothing could have prepare me for the way  Bolivar Peninsula and all of it’s beauty had been destroyed – back in 2008 with Hurricane Ike.  It was surreal. Very little commerce is back.  But what we did see was RV parks sprouting all along the thirty mile long sandy strip of land separating the Gulf of Mexico from the waters of East Galveston Bay.  We believe these are construction workers. It would be the only way to keep the workers from having to cross back over into Galveston each morning and night. This was a very popular vacation spot for a lot of people..however, it has a long way to go before the peninsula to get back to that lifestyle of pre-Ike.

Here is where we stopped with our picnic lunch and sat out on the practically deserted beach- Crystal Beach.  There was only one other family that was out. It looked like grandpa brought his metal detector roaming up and down the beach while grandma and grandchildren played in the water.

From there…the Professor and I wound our way back around Houston to see the sun setting across the lovely city skyline.  It was an hour and a half drive back home..and a great finish to a great day. We both agreed that we needed to take trips like this more often – and now we can since we are working for ourselves full time.

Until my next ‘Tells from the Highway”….Happy RVing y’all.

The Annual PA RV & Camping Show is held every September in Hershey, PA. It is the first show in the nation to debut manufacturer’s new products. The show is set up differently from many other RV shows since it is laid out by manufacturer instead of dealers making it the easiest way to shop and compare the many RV brands. There are over 21 acres of RVs on display allowing you to shop hundreds of RVs of every make and model. It is so large, you will need at least two days to see it all!

Accessory vendors are a major part of the show – providing you with all the RV and camping accessories you will need. The show also provides quality educational seminars from RV industry experts.

The PA RV & Camping Show debuted in 1968 and has evolved to be the largest RV show of its kind. With the first two days attributed to members of the RV industry and the remaining 5 days dedicated to consumers, it is the largest hybrid show in the country. The show is brought to you by the PA RV & Camping Association (PRVCA).

PRVCA is proud to sponsor the #1 RV Trade/Retail Show in the nation, held annually at the Hershey Entertainment and Resorts® Company – Giant CenterSM, in Hershey, PA. Representatives from states east of the Mississippi attend the trade portion of the show and it ranks #11 out of the 200 largest tradeshows in the U.S. and Canada. 59 leading manufacturers and over 100 supplier vendors are represented. Industry Days bring over 4,500 people to the Hershey area. Public days paid attendance is over 32,000.

Explore your FREE copy of the ‘Explore PA Magazine’.

Take a look at this episode of Ask the Professor with RVNN.TV …where we talk about several subjects.  Look for my other recordings – all on RV Maintenance.

Happy RVing,

Terry Cooper

The Texas RV Professor

Terry Cooper w/8 RV techs in training

Terry Cooper, owner of Mobile RV Academy in Waco TX  was contracted  by General Manager, Diana LeBlanc  of PPL Motor Homes RV Consignment Dealership -Houston, TX  to provided training for PPL’s RV service technicians.  For three days during the week of December 20th, 2010 – Cooper provided intense  one-on-one training to bring the group of 8 technicians up to the RVDA-RVIA standards of technical knowledge.

Two weeks later, after one additional day of training by Mr.Cooper, 6 of the 8 techs participated in testing for the RVDA-TVIA RV Service Technician Certification.  Out of this group of 6  it was announce that 5 qualified for certification. Plus,  1 of the 5  qualified for Masters.

Cooper, an RV technician instructor explains, “Our Texas RV dealers no longer have had a state training facility for their technicians since the closing of the Recreation Vehicle Training Program in Waco, TX in May of 2009. Thereafter, our Texas dealers have been struggling to educated their technicians to the proper level of knowledge required to work in the service departments. After working with the Texas RV Association and serving on their Education Committee, it was decided that what better way to educate these technicians than for the instructor to come to them.”

“First, each potential technician is tested for their personal level of RV maintenance knowledge.  Based upon those results, I design a training program specifically for that dealership. Doing this, we have a much higher percentage of success on getting each technician certified by RVDA-RVIA.” Cooper adds.

Cooper has been teaching RV Service Technicians since 2003 at Texas State Technical College in Waco. However, he has continued teaching RV maintenance when opening his online business, Mobile RV Academy.  Consumer and professional training is the  goal of MRVA. Cooper also teaches online courses for Northampton Community College in Bethlehem,  PA for the RV Service Technician program.  Since the closing of the RV Tech program at TSTC in Waco, Mr. Cooper has been teaching the Solar & Alternative Energy Program at that location.

Dealers are invited to contact Terry Cooper for RV Service Tech training to be performed on location by calling  (254)715-7388 or sending an email to Professor@MobileRVAcademy.com

“I was so excited to receive the letters from RVDA stating that 5 of our 6 technicians passed their RV certifications while you were at PPL. They couldn’t have done it without you. You are a very special teacher because you actually teach from the heart!!!”

PPL General Manager – Diana LeBlanc

]]> http://mobilervacademy.com/2011/02/mobile-rv-academy-trains-on-site-for-texas-rv-dealers-techs/feed/ 2 http://mobilervacademy.com/2010/12/rv-centennial-cookbook-update/ http://mobilervacademy.com/2010/12/rv-centennial-cookbook-update/#comments Thu, 16 Dec 2010 04:39:49 +0000 LadyECooper http://mobilervacademy.com/?p=1293

Author Evada Cooper_12-10-10

What a surprise I had last Friday when the Professor (my husband Terry) called me around 11:30 a.m. to meet him for lunch…at my favorite restaurant here in Waco, TX  (Chuy’s).  I arrived before him so I got to watch him walk in with a gift wrapped package that was in beautiful red Christmas paper and it was tucked under his arm. My heart started racing because I had heard ‘through the grapevine’ that my publisher was doing some paperback prints of the cookbook to use as samples for the wholesale buyer’s to view. Could this be IT!  YES!

Oh and what a thrill it was to hold the book that I have been anticipating for so long.  Here is a photo that Terry took of me after taking some time to thumb through the beautiful pages of  the RV Centennial Cookbook – Celebrating 100 Years of RVing. I wanted to share that moment with all of you because this is one of those very special days…I will always remember.

Order cookbook here!

 January 1st, 2011 – begins our NEW program – ’2011 Gold Star Club – RV Maintenance Consumer Program’. 

There are some new changes to this coming years program compared to 2010′s GSC Program. We would like to explaing those changes. 

The Gold Star Club originally was a 10 month program and consisted of an accumulation of all the RV maintenance courses that the Professor teaches. Plus: Becoming An RV Inspector (4 hr course) and Becoming A Certified RV Walk-Thru-Technician (6 hour course).  All of these are recorded and are placed in a library where the user could access them at anytime, at their own pace (for 10 months).  If purchased separately, these courses originally sold for $1070. The 2010 Gold Star Club member received it for the special price of $497. This was a huge value.

As a bonus, the Professor also added two live events each month which was 1 hour of Q & A (where the GSC members had the opportunity to pick his brain on specific issues they were having with their own units). Also 1 hour visiting with an RV Expert on different topics that would be of interest to the RV enthusiast. (*How to purchases and sell an RV – *Explaining the Finance & Insurance – *Working & living in your RV – *Staying Connected: Internet on the Road – *My RV Kitchen: Learning how your RV kitchen works – and more….)  ALL these live events were recorded and now are a permanent part of the Gold Star Club. (we do not charge extra for these 20 hours when entering the program.)

When planning for the upcoming 2011 program, the feedback we were hearing was…. A lot of people asking for only the maintenance courses. So we have made the program now only 4 months long and giving the 2011 Gold Star Members the 8 core RV Maintenance courses. The Professor still wants to give each member the 20 hours of pre-recorded Live Events as a bonus.  The only courses that will NOT be included in the new program are: 1) Becoming An RV Inspector 2) Becoming A Certified RV Walk –Thru Technician.   Because of that fact….We can now bring down the price of the 2011 Gold Star Club  $297.  (There courses purchased separately are valued at $576)  So again, what a great value.

Now with all that being said…we have the Gold Star Club RV Maintenance Training 12 DVD Bundle available in our store for you to purchase and have for your library for only $497. Access it at: http://www.shop.everythingrvtv.com/B-GSC-RV-Maintenance-Consumer-Training-DVD-Bundle-12-GSCBun-12.htm   

However, if you would like to enroll for the 2011 GSC and take 4 months to access the 8 core courses (plus bonus material)…it is available for only $297.  Also know that you will have access to the Professor via email to answer any questions regarding RV Maintenance …along the way.  Here is the link where you can read more about the details and purchase this 2011/4 month program. http://www.workamper.com/rvprofessor/goldstar2011/

 We will mention that this is a 2011 online access to our personal library and does not include any DVDs with this purchase.

We hope this information allows you to make the comparison of both programs to see which one is right for you.  Should you have any questions, please send an email to: LadyEcooper@MobileRVAcademy.com

“It’s all about making the commitment to be successful. You refuse to be a victim of soaring repair costs and the mercies of less than honest repair personnel! Did you know that you can successfully repair over 80% of the issues with your RV if someone will show you how? The 2011 Gold Star Club is all about putting you on the pathway to success by showing you how.”

 Doug Vipond 

 - 

 Sault Ste. Marie, ON