Archive for March, 2010

Whether you have an air conditioner or a heat pump in your RV, here’s a list of things to check before you call for a technician:

• Setting the thermostat on its minimum temperature setting and the fan on low speed in high humidity situations can cause evaporator freeze-up.
• If the air conditioner/heat pump doesn’t run (the fan and/or the compressor), check the AC voltage. Look at the breaker in the electrical panel.
• If the thermostat has no lights showing, it means it is not receiving DC power. The 12-volt DC fuse should be checked.
• When the fan runs and the compressor tries to start but won’t run, check the RV’s power cord, plug and receptacle. If those are in working order, check the AC voltage. Inside your RV connect the leads of a voltmeter to a receptacle and start your air conditioner or heat pump. Once the compressor has been running for two minutes, check your voltage. It must be at least 103.5 volts for the air conditioner to operate.
• If the fan runs, but the compressor cycles on and off and doesn’t cool correctly, it could be poor air flow due to a dirty filter, dirty condenser or a duct leak. Low AC voltage may also be the problem.

Points of Interest or POIs are locations that are part of, or can be added to, GPS devices. A POI could be a gas station, a hotel, a restaurant, a shopping mall, or a historical location.

The data for the POI databases is collected from a variety of sources. In some cases the mapping companies compile it, sometimes the data is provided directly by larger chain locations, often times the information is gathered by companies who specialize in creating business directories. Sometimes they are even compiled by people with a special interest like RVers who create POIs of their favorite RV parks.
The data typically includes the physical address, name of the location, category of the POI, a phone number, and the geographic coordinates.
RVbasics.com Yahoo Group member Jon offers his top 5 POI databases.

In my experience as a driver, here are my top 5 POI databases for you to download for your GPS. (Free & paid).

Speed cameras
http://www.gps-data-team.com/poi/united_states/safety/Speed_Trap.html

Low clearances
http://www.lowclearances.com

Truck stops
http://www.poifriend.com/poigroup.php?poigroup_id=6749

Gas stations
http://www.gps-data-team.com/poi/united_states/petrol/

Walmart
http://www.poifriend.com/poigroup.php?poigroup_id=406

I have all of these installed and they all work really well.