Leaving CG!

[dezolen]

Probably thinks it's disposable. Did he leave his garbage behind as well?

[B47]

Originally Posted by dwaynerz

I disagree that it's stupidity

i have to disagree with your disagreement. last summer we were leaving the house, all hooked up ready to go, followed the checklist.. yep. looks good. pulled away from the house and didnt notice power cord dragging until i made my turn out of the driveway. luckinly, the power cord storage area was on the back of the camper and the outlet was facing the trailer so no harm there.

i had to walk over it twice. once to do my walk around and the second time to close the garage after making sure all the lights were out in the house. complacent? maybe, but walking over it twice should have triggered some type of mental alarm.

I think you are argueing with yourself here. If making certain that your power cord is disconnected and properly stowed before moving your RV is on your C/L and you followed your C/L twice (according to you) then what else could you possibly call it when your power cord is still connected when you started moving?

Yeah - "...walking over it twice should have triggered some type of mental alarm."

You Think?

[dwaynerz]

didnt say i follwed my checklist. said i did a walk around twice and should have said i had a brain fart both times.

[B47]

Originally Posted by dwaynerz

didnt say i follwed my checklist. said i did a walk around twice and should have said i had a brain fart both times.

But you did say you followed the checklist - first paragraph.

I'm done with this.

[Lostdog]

Originally Posted by Road-King

Something similar has happened to me before. The DW now knows that I appreciate any offer for help, but I'll ask her for help if I need it. If I get out of my routine, I can and have forgotten something.

AMEN! Had some neighbors wanting to "help", got me outta my routine and I promply left the $300 surge supressor hanging on the power pole. Even after a final walk-around. Please...nobody help me!!!!!!

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by Lostdog

Please...nobody help me!!!!!!

X2

I hear you, loud and clear. I try to tell this same thing to my camping buddies who think they are helping me. Maybe we need to get shirts printed up with this stated on them, that we could wear while breaking camp. We could sell them in the FROG store. LOL

I do several walk-arounds after packing up and BEFORE hooking up to the truck.. I have caught myself leaving the tv antenna up several times, and the stairs down.

I'm have been more prone to make mistakes when leaving home, than at the campground, as I am usually in a bigger hurry to get on the road. Not long after I got my current camper, I forgot to retract the rear power stabilizer. When I raised the tongue to put it on the truck, it bent my rear stabilizers. Luckily, I was actually hooking the trailer up to take it in for a warranty repair on another matter, and the dealer fixed my stabilizer at the same time.

Hopefully, I won't make that same mistake again......and have learned to get the trailer ready a day ahead of time, where all I have to do is hook-up when leaving the house.

As far as leaving a power cord attached, I can see that easily happening. The power cord is the last thing I detach before leaving, as I leave the trailer plugged in to shore power while using the tongue jack to hook up to the vehicle.

I tend to believe we all have experienced some "live and learn" moments while camping.

[RattVader]

X3-Can I get an Amen for Brother wmtire! Do it almost the same word for word.(All except that alien part down there at the bottom).

[Mark and Linda]

I try to run a checklist but I find that if I am interupted, something gets undone inadvertently. I guess people wonder when I am leaving the campsite why I am running around the trailer looking like I am lost. I have a small Remove Before Flight key chain that I hang on my antenna knob when it is up, just so I don't forget. I tell the Dw to take care of things inside while I am outside, then before I lock the rear door I go back in and recheck. More eyes the better....

[B47]

Originally Posted by Mark and Linda

I try to run a checklist but I find that if I am interupted, something gets undone inadvertently. I guess people wonder when I am leaving the campsite why I am running around the trailer looking like I am lost. I have a small Remove Before Flight key chain that I hang on my antenna knob when it is up, just so I don't forget. I tell the Dw to take care of things inside while I am outside, then before I lock the rear door I go back in and recheck. More eyes the better....

That is one reason why the airlines and military use what is known as the "Challenge and Respond" (CR) type of C/L and that cockpits have either mechanical or now electronic C/L for the flight crew.

CR C/L requires one flight crew member to ask a C/L item (challenge) and another flight crew member to response when the challenge item action is completed.

The mechanical or electronic C/L in the cockpit is used to record if and when each C/L item is completed.

Works very well - if and when it is used.

[joelek]

Pretty much nowadays when most people drive, they are ALSO doing other things in their vehicle at the same time. Eating, on phone, texting, minding kids, applying makeup, etc. The driving task has become something they do automatically in the background and they are not really paying attention to actually driving.

Here is another example.

[jonnys_walkers]

The faster I go, the behinder I get!

[trell]

What you gone do happens all the time brain farts...I hate them..electric I am very aware of.

[TURBS]

I happened upon this today....... enjoy !




A few days ago, during our stay in Fernley, we were entertained one morning by two separate neighbors as they pulled out of the RV Park. All RV'ers make mistakes from time to time... I know we've made a few. But the two we witnessed that day are of the type that really shouldn't happen if even a modicum of care is taken during departure.Blunder One:*a motorhome parked immediately to our right. After unhooking all the utilities, hooking up his car (he tows a Jeep Liberty, with a tow-bar, all four wheels on the ground), and warming his engine for a few minutes, he started driving off, but turned the wrong way, away from the angle of the parking pad and the natural flow of traffic... apparently trying to short-cut his way out of the park. Well, big motorhomes don't turn very short... and due to turning the wrong direction, he wasn't quite able to make the turn without backing up and taking another stab at it. The problem is that when you're towing a car, four wheels down, you NEVER, EVER back-up. You see, the front wheels of the car naturally "caster" correctly when going forward, that is, they naturally steer themselves in the direction of travel. But in reverse, they do the opposite of what you'd want them to do... and do so quickly. So, as our friend backed up, Dar and I watched as the front wheels of his car abruptly turned all the way to the left and his reverse motion was pushing the front end of the car sideways. Doing this can destroy a tow-bar, damage the car's steering and alignment, or both. But despite the awkward position of the towed car, it's front tires screaming in protest as they were dragged sideways, and this guy continued backing until he though he could make the turn. I wondered, as he pulled out of sight, if he knew or cared what he'd done... and if he'd damaged anything. Preventing this blunder is easy... don't ever back up when towing. If you get caught in a tight situation and can't continue without backing up, always disconnect the car from the tow-bar and re-connect when you can continue forward again.Blunder Two:*not 20 minutes after Blunder One, another fellow with a motorhome drove through the same site in a similar effort to short-cut his departure from the park. The good news is that he was able to make the turn without using reverse. The bad news is that he was dragging about 25 feet of his big 50 amp power cord... the one that plugs into the power receptacle at the site. Yeowzer! These things don't come out, un-plug, of the power pedestal easily... especially when pulled from the side with a motorhome providing the power... and almost always they damage the power ped at the site. He too wasn't aware of what happened and drove merrily on his way. Don't have any idea how far he got before someone alerted him to his dragging, and by that time, frayed power cord. Preventing this blunder is also easy... make it a point, prior to moving the RV, to get out and do a complete walk-around checking for things like this, or that the jacks have been retracted, and steps and awnings are stowed.*I don't know if other RV'ers do this, but watching arriving or departing neighbors is big sport with some of us... watching for mistakes or trying to learn something.Now, where's that hose

[VinceU]

The pedestal was renewed the next morning, not too much in labor. Interesting the cables were double runs to each connection at least 7/8" in diameter copper, Huge. All connections 50 amp, 30 amp and 20 amp were wired separately, no piggybacking. Anyway the TV cable, lighting box and orig box were also damaged and renewed. The "Bus" was a Tiffin Phaeton lists for a cool $250,000. I guess he could afford the repair bill. Talking to another camper, the cord did not rip from the camper, only pulled over the pedestal and then popped free. And oh yes Lou, it was high noon when it happened, two hours before checkout.

This little toy was my next door neighbor. Its a Newell coach, only custom built for each eager purchaser. Each coach is 45' length choice of lots of floor plans including a Business office. For quality note the slides have all radius corners on both Drivers side and same on curb side. Beautiful paint job, thats our red Ford Focus in the reflection. Felt like we were in Coleman tent by comparison. Oh yes, theres two offered on their website, price? a cool 1.7 million each!

[dashonthedash]

That's one of the advantages of camping alone: avoiding the "co-pilot syndrome"; i.e., the tendency to believe that the "other person took care of it". I check everything inside and out (including the roof) and walk around the RV at least twice.

[OldCoot]

Once we get hooked up and think we've got everything done, I pull forward about 5-10'. Turn on the emergency flashers and go completely around the truck & trailer to check all lights, doors, steps, storage hatches, stab jack switch doors. This allows the truck engine to warm a little before taking off. Once back in the truck, turn off emergency blinkers and try the trailer brakes again. Do this even when we do a "Before dark 30" exit. Never bother about the roof antenna, cause we never use it.

[JohnBlair]

A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new. - by Einstein, Albert
John
2013 Windjammer 3008W
The Canoeing Capital of Canada