FROG Rally Day 3: Solar Power and Maintaining Slideouts – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
The slide room workshop was standing room only as Lippert team members shared tips for maintenance and use. (Photos by Tony Barthel for RVBusiness)
Coachmen Entourage Super C
EDITOR’S NOTE: Tony Barthel, who with his wife, Peggy, produces the Stressless Camping podcast and website, is attending the Forest River Owners Group (FROG) International Rally this week at the Elkhart County 4-H Fairgrounds in Goshen, Ind. He is providing a daily update on the FROG Rally for RVBusiness.
The RV industry is nothing if not flexible as put on display for attendees of the 2023 FROG International Rally at the Elkhart County 4-H Fairgrounds in Goshen, Ind. Held for owners of Forest River products, people from all over North America come with their RVs for six days of workshops, fellowship, repairs and tours.
In a nod to how RVs are changing several manufacturers have new models on display for attendees. Several of those models include very advanced solar and lithium battery technologies. In workshops about this some of the questions from attendees included “can I run my air conditioner on battery/solar power?” With at least two of the systems on display, the answer would be “yes, indeed!”
Rockwood and Flagstaff displayed their Power Package option in a fifth wheel that elevates battery systems to new levels.
Perhaps not for more than 5-7 hours to continue that answer but, for many off-grid RVers, that would be sufficient. For others, of course, not as much. As with anything, there is no single right answer.
Based on attendance alone some of the most asked questions were getting answered in seminars about the systems that make RVs happen.
One of the workshops featured several of the team members at Lippert answering questions about use and maintenance of slide rooms. This standing-room-only session provided real answers to proper maintenance of one’s slide mechanisms.
From this reporter’s experience many, many RVers turn to social media for these answers and many of the answers people are getting were flat wrong based on the real information from the people who actually design and build these components.
Curious attendees learned to service wheel bearing and brakes from a Dexter team member.
That was also the case in another standing room only presentation on axle and brake system maintenance by Dexter where attendees got to see and what makes RVs roll and stop under the watchful guidance of Dexter’s trainer.
Finally one of the day’s highlights is the dinner at the conclusion of the day but things were changed up as food trucks arrived and provided their mobile meals for patrons instead of the catered dinner.
Attendees seemed to like the food trucks but they were there at lunch instead of dinner which wasn’t clear to all attendees, including this one.
We will have daily wraps and highlights from the show in RVBusiness. There will also be a daily live wrap at 6pm on StressLess Camping’s Facebook and YouTube feeds with this reporter and RV electricity expert Mike Sokol.
Source: https://rvbusiness.com/frog-rally-day-3-solar-power-and-maintainging-slideouts/
