RANDY’S RAMBLINS – Dutch Oven, Woodall’s Books, Combo W/D, Electrical Connections

My last blog, Campsite Style Gourmet Cookin’, brought more e-mail and comments than any I have recently written.  Without a doubt, the Dutch oven is one of the favorite campsite cooking utensils of all campers.  Nancy and I are growing to love it more and more and are finding that it is also useful over a gas grill or on a gas stovetop – of course you can’t stack coals on the lid with a gas grill but it does provide all-around cooking if you put the grill on low and close the lid over the Dutch oven.

Speaking of e-mail and comments — I have duly noted a hesitancy of readers for all of the blogs to post comments on this site.  Instead – at least for my postings — they elect to click on the forum button at the top of the page and write to me via my “Private Mail” on the Woodall’s or RV.net forum.  I realize this is more personal and private but many of the e-mails would be nice to have posted for all to ponder or enjoy.

Did you know that Woodall’s has books?  Lots and lots of excellent books are available from the Woodall’s Store.

Two of their books caught my eye last week, so I decided to order them for my collection.  The first, Wrinkle-Free RV Laundry by Sandra E. Jones, was a title I could not resist.  You see, we have one of those combination washer/dryer machines in our fifth wheel.  It is a beautiful little machine that takes all the functions of the big units at home and builds them into a much smaller machine for use on the go.  We have come to love our combo washer/dryer in the fifth wheel, especially when we are at the beach.  It is extremely convenient and negates the need to lug towels and sheets to the Laundromat and deplete your supply of quarters.  Unfortunately, for anyone that owns one of these appliances, you know that clothes can come out of the dryer cycle looking worse than a wadded up paper lunch sack.  Well, Sandra has discovered how to make these machines produce clothes and sheets with far fewer wrinkles without pouring in two gallons of fabric softener.   We have not tried her method yet, but it all sounds logical.  We will give them all a good test in July as we bask in the North Carolina Costal sun.

Oh, the secret to wrinkle-free RV laundry in a combo washer/dryer?  I can’t tell you.  If I did you would not want to read the book and then you would miss all the other excellent RV laundry tips Sandra writes about.   Looks like you will need to order your own copy to learn the secrets!

The second Woodall’s book I ordered was Fulltimers – The Adventures of Lou & Martha by John Catsis.  I started reading it last night and before I could finish the first chapter I was literally in stitches.  The style of writing is perfect and conveys their experiences so perfectly.  Truthfully, the book is a hoot.  I had planned on reading this one while at the beach but I guess I will need to find something else to read under the umbrella.

Heat damaged contacts of 15 to 30 amp plug adapter are on left - right shows 30 amp plug end.

Lastly, it is HOT in the east right now.  The inland humidity has soared.  Unless you are well acclimated to the heat air conditioning in your RV is an absolute must – especially at night when we can’t stay in the pool or lake to keep cool and have fun.  Air conditioning brings added electrical loads and added electrical loads can cause problems to RV power cords and park power pods.  I’ve included photos of two electrical parts that I recently helped fellow campers replace or correct.  The first is one of those 15 amp to 30 amp plug adapters that allow your 3 blade RV plug to connect to a conventional duplex 15 or 20 amp receptacle.   These are OK if your electrical load does not exceed 15 amps.  But if you are trying to run an RV air conditioner with one of these adapters you are asking for trouble.  The one shown here melted and could have caused a fire.  You cannot always depend on a circuit breaker kicking off.

Heat damaged 30 amp TT plug commonly found on the end of a camper's power cord connection.

The second photo is a conventional 30 amp 3-blade travel trailer plug.  You will note one of the blades is no longer a shiny brass color but has turned reddish brown with some blue-green stuff along the bottom.  The discolored blade on this plug overheated, probably due to a corroded contact in the park power pod.  Continued use of this plug would cause excess heat in the damaged blade and eventually lead to total failure of the plug.  It is a good idea to inspect your plugs every time you use them for signs of corrosion or heat damage.  Replace any damaged plug promptly.  As an Electrical Engineer who also has a Master Electrician License I know all too well the dangers of fire and electrical shock that damaged and overloaded electrical circuits can present.

BE SAFE – it will make your future camping adventures possible!