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  • Tech Q&A: More Winter RVing Questions, Fixing a Bad Thermostat, and More

    Our resident RV maintenance expert provides advice on a wide variety of topics.
    RV winter camping

    Image Courtesy of MAD.vertise/Shutterstock

    More Questions on Winter RVing in New Jersey

    Thank you for being so helpful with my questions about our 22-foot Keystone Cougar and wintering full-time in New Jersey. A few more queries for you here! — Shelly Sterling-Williams, Bogota, NJ Q: Staying warm while keeping the humidity level under control has been a big challenge. Thoughts? A: I suggest using a hygrometer (relative humidity meter) to monitor humidity inside the coach. They’re not expensive. Q: Should we stuff the storage compartment with storage bins to keep that area warm? A: Depending on the size of the storage area(s), you could store seasonal clothes there— blankets, towels, bed linens, etc. If that’s not enough, try some foam boards. Empty plastic storage containers don’t insulate well. Q: Should we try to put something over the outside door before the snow comes? A: The outside door is fully weatherproof and should be fine in snow. However, if cold intrusion is a problem, rig up an insulating curtain on the inside. (However, make sure it won’t slow egress in case of a fire.) Q: I was told to change the filter in my 10-cubic-foot Furrion refrigerator every six months. Do I really need to? A: The filter you refer to is only used for food odor control. It’s not necessary for safe operation—many RV refrigerators don’t even have this feature. Replacement frequency really depends on what kinds of food you have stored in the fridge, and if they are well sealed. Many folks use a package of baking soda, at significantly lower cost. That said, the filter is easy to replace—it basically snaps in. Look at the mounting points on the new one before removing the old one.

    Photo Credit: Dometic

    Replacing a Faulty Thermostat

    Q: We have owned our 2019 Forest River Impression 20RB since new. The Dometic Single Zone LCD Thermostat has always been very sensitive to the touch—hard to select the mode or temperature you’re aiming for. We suspect we need to replace it. What do you think? — Jim and Pat Thompson, Seaford, DE A: I haven’t heard of those exact symptoms, but it sure sounds like the circuit board is going bad. Replacements are not very expensive. I suggest changing it for a model that has the features you want. A DIYer can change one quite easily—just keep track of which wire goes to which terminal. I always take a picture of the wiring before taking it apart.

    Photo Credit:

    Slo-Flo Resolved

    Q: We have a new 2024 Grand Design Imagine 2500RL. We have very low water pressure in the shower— worse on city water, marginally better on the internal tank. The flow is not enough to keep the tankless water heater engaged. Water pressure and flow at both bath and kitchen sinks are good. To keep hot water in the shower we have to turn on hot in the bathroom sink. The tankless water heater is factory installed. What’s going on here? — David Reece, Fort Wroth, TX A: In my initial response to David, I noted that I strongly suspected the shower head had a flow restrictor installed. It could have been partly clogged with debris—or maybe something was just wrong with it. In a second note, he related that the original dealership had investigated and asked about a brass fitting on the water intake: a pressure regulator he’d used for years. The dealership advised removing it, but that didn’t resolve the problem. A new multi-position head did the trick, working fine with the old pressure regulator.

    Photo Credit: Anetlanda/Getty

    Tune In

    Q: My wife and I are part-time campers, thinking of full-timing it. Currently we have DirecTV in the house as well as in our 2020 Winnebago Adventurer. At some point, we lost local channels in the rig. DirecTV told us to switch the control box, but as it turns out, the local stations are SD vs. HD, so only available with an antenna. Any suggestions? My wife likes to tape her soaps, and (in fairness) I like the golf channels. — Lance Arnold, Elyria, OH A: Dish and your current DirecTV are the two options for mobile RV satellite reception. You can get their services anywhere in the country. And yes, you can use an external antenna for over-the-air TV—this can be iffy, depending on where you go. IPTV, or TV over Internet (TCP/IP connections), can get you to services like Netflix, Hulu, Roku, etc. Most charge a moderate monthly fee. However, campground Wi-Fi likely can’t give you the needed bandwidth for streaming. If you don’t want to be a bandwidth bandit, you can get TV applications on your computer. There are a number of TV applications like LinuxTV, in addition to streaming via a web browser. Some, such as Miro on Linux using Bittorrent, can be throttled so you don’t hog bandwidth.

    Ask Us Anything!

    Share your tech tales and send us your questions: knowhow@wildsam.com.

    This article originally appeared in Wildsam magazine. For more Wildsam content, sign up for our newsletter.

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  • Road Icon: The International Scout is the Grand Father of Modern SUVs

    When the first International Harvester Scout rolled off the assembly line 64 years ago, the term “sport utility vehicle” was not yet part of America’s automotive lexicon. Equipped with four-wheel drive, beefy suspension and only two doors, the original Scouts were rugged—designed for hard work on the farm and harder miles off-road. Available with a truck bed or a full-length hardtop, the often-two-toned Scouts had few peers outside of military-inspired Jeeps of the era. In some ways, International Harvester—which mostly built commercial agricultural and trucking equipment—created the template every SUV has copied since. And before Scout was discontinued in 1980, they also spawned a cult following.

    A bright orange car parked above a blue lake on a fall day. Leaves are turning in the background.

    By the time Ryan Duvall moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1999, the newspaper columnist was nostalgic for the 1974 Scout II he’d driven in high school. At that point, he wasn’t aware he’d landed in the city where the original Scouts were built. But when he saw an uncanny number of them around town, he tracked down a 1976 Scout Traveler for himself and began researching the origins. He connected with other Scout owners and former employees, and in 2019 organized a meetup for International Harvester drivers. Today, he runs Harvester Homecoming and is creating a museum to honor Fort Wayne’s truck-building history. The nonprofit also hosts an annual festival that attracts upwards of 20,000 people and 500 vehicles. “I thought, the things that happened here, we should be honoring,” Duvall says. “Honoring these amazing Scouts.” Today, the community he brought together has reason to celebrate. In 2021, Volkswagen Group acquired Navistar (which had bought International Harvester in the ’80s), and launched Scout Motors—an independent American company promising a resurrection of the iconic brand.

    Photo Credit: Scout Motors

    The Scout Motors team sought out enthusiasts like Duvall as they prepared to launch two new vehicles, which they officially unveiled in October 2024. “We wanted to create something that felt like the original vehicle,” says Chris Benjamin, chief design officer for Scout Motors. “Something original owners would look at and say: ‘That’s a Scout.’” The new Scout will be available to consumers in 2027 in two models: an SUV (the “Traveler”) and pickup (the “Terra”), both modern electric vehicles that honor their predecessors. With 35-inch tires, low front overhang and slanted rear windows, the new Scouts are unmistakably nodding to the past. The Scout Motors team even invited Duvall and other owners to the reveal event in Franklin, Tennessee. “I had tempered my expectations. I was buckled up for something way newer than it was old,” Duvall says. “But I was wrong. I was emotional when they pulled them out. They hit a home run.”

    This article originally appeared in Wildsam magazine. For more Wildsam content, sign up for our newsletter.

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  • Camp Keepers: Warthen RV Park in Warthen, Georgia

    Josh Gordy is the Camp Keeper at Warthen RV Park in Warthen, Georgia. Here’s the story of how he started that gig after a career in the NFL. “Back in 2011, the land that the park sits on came up for sale and it was right in the area where I grew up. I was playing in the NFL at the time. I wanted the opportunity to buy some land and hold onto it for the family—and then ambition started to roll in our stomachs. We started thinking: What can we do to capitalize on it? My mom and my late uncle suggested an RV park, and we broke ground in 2012.

    Photo Credit: Josh Gordy/Warthen RV Park

    “I didn’t know anything about RVing. But I spent a lot of my life outside, and we eventually became more connected with the recreational side of the industry. Every little thing we do in the park ties back to our ability to help people recharge. We’re getting a fishing pond built and a walking trail constructed— peaceful activities. That was a big ‘why’ to the mission. I just love adding value to the place and giving people a place to recharge and clear their mind, because you gotta unplug a little bit. We host events for people to come together and get to know each other, too. “Being African American, it’s no secret there are not a lot of owners of businesses like this in the country. So, naturally, a big portion of our clients are African American. We want to add value to our community by providing a great product. We attract a diverse community, and that’s what makes us good. We say people come to us as strangers but they leave as family.” Gordy played with five NFL teams, winning a Super Bowl with Green Bay in 2010-11.

    This article originally appeared in Wildsam magazine. For more Wildsam content, sign up for our newsletter.

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