Vacuum Breaker Replacement - Window Valance Removal or Not?

Yesterday I completed replacing the vacuum breaker for our black water clean out water circuit. Once I had it removed I could tell that it wasn't working as the diaphragm didn't move at all it was stuck in the closed position.

Hopefully the replacement will work. The idea of this part is to prevent contaminated water from the black tank from backing up into the fresh water system while you are connected to fresh water to clean out the black tank. I think it is an essential part of the coaches systems.

Removal was difficult for me as I don't bend so well, However, persevered and after cursing and skillfully weaving and stringing expletives together in creative sentences, the damn thing is in place. But not without a few scrapes on my hands and elbows.

RV factories should be mandated (yeah, right) to build a prototype of each model they manufacture. At this point they should bring in a panel of seasoned RV'rs. These RV'rs jobs would be to randomly tell one of the officers of the RV company to remove and replace random parts.

I 'm thinking that one of two things would happen. 1.) They rethink the layout  2.) Or, they decide not to make that model because it takes too many man hours to replace the random part.

A knowledge and skills test should be given to those responsible for building our RV's.  A very simple test could be administered. I think you they should give a potential RV Design engineer two steel balls. Then  lock him in a closet for ten minutes. If after ten minutes the candidate emerges without having broke or lost the steel balls they should be hired.

Dumb arses!

Anyway, a photo of the finished installation. Looks easy to replace doesn't it?  I'd rather wrestle a rabid raccoon.

In another one of our quests we are trying to make the coach more our own. To this end we want to update things within our budget.  One of the things we hate the most is the window valances. I think these were designed by a curmudgeon that needed to be decaffeinated.

So, here is where my regular readers get to help me. Which do you like, the right or the left side of this window?  Let me know in the comments section. (Yes, you too Ken and Ann)

Now that the vacuum breaker has been replaced all that remains on my major system repair list is to install a new surge protector.  I am inclined to order the following:

Progressive Industries EMS-HW50C Portable Electrical Management System - 50 Amp 

These are highly rated and priced sort of on the upper end of my budget comfort zone but come pay day I am going to order it. Once it's installed then I can quit fussing over broken stuff.

Ever Hear The Expression "Be Careful What You Ask For. You Might Get It?"

Selling stuff to go full time is a real pain in the arse. I have listed books, wall art and furniture thus far on a local Facebook Buy/Sell page. People are such dumb arses, really!

So, I have been listing things for sale with photos. The photos are clearly annotated with the sale price and if it is something I am willing to negotiate on I state the price is OBO.  I have actually had people contact me on Facebook messenger wanting to know what an OBO is????  Wow, you got be one big dumb arse.

Slowly, I am ridding myself of garage items. I sold a 3 gallon air compressor yesterday and a work bench today.  The work bench had four drawers in it and when I went to prep it for sale I had to clean them out. The stuff inside filled one of those long plastic clothes baskets. Nothing but tools.  What the heck am I going to do with this stuff. Most of it is duplicates of tools I already have, or they are discards due to upgrading to better tools.

Garage sales are inevitable but I hate taking the beating that people give you. You know the ploy. You have something marked a dollar and they offer you a quarter. Do you take it and move on or do you say know and get stuck with finding a home for it?

Good grief, this takes the joy out of wanting to full time. It'd be easier to just lump everything into an estate sale and have an auctioneer sell if for you except they get 20%...that sucks too. What to do, what to do? I guess that I will need to keep putting stuff on the Facebook Buy/Sell page.

As they say "Suck it up buttercup."

Motorcycle Carrier Test Run - Removal Of My Faulty Black Water Clean Out Vacuum Breaker

Motorcycle Carrier Test Run

My friend Mike brought his motorcycle carrier by yesterday. The thing is a one hundred pound beast. And should work (with some minor modification) out providing that I can get the bike up the ramp by myself. To that end I met my friend Jim at 9am at the storage yard to try this out on the RV.

And the conclusion is that there just isn't enough room to get the bike onto the carrier because of the width of the bikes handlebars.

Looks like plenty of room side to side for the bike. it measures 54" axle to axle plus and 76" in length. But, in reality the RV Ladder is in the way.

So, it seems this is not the solution I am seeking as the width of the handle bars is also an issue.

This ultimately leads to two viable options for hauling both bike and car. A car hauler or back to a tandem dolly. 

Black Water Cleanout Vacuum Breaker Replacement

Wow, not a hard job at all but twisting this old body into position required a lot of gyrations.  I had the vacuum breaker out in about five minutes this afternoon. Finding a replacement was much harder than I expected. Nobody including the plumbing supply houses had one in stock.  I ordered one from Amazon and expect it on the 1st of March.

Thoughts

I was thoroughly bummed that the Motorcycle Carrier Test Run was a bust. I was hoping to save some money. Looks like that won't happen now. Just another nail in the road I guess.

                        Our Countdown Clock to Full Time RV Living - CLICK HERE

The Countdown Begins -Vacuum Breaker Replacement - Contemplating a Motorcycle Carriers

Just thought I would share our countdown to departure clock. We are less than 100 days from departure to a Full Time RV Life.

Check it out HERE.

The work on the RV continues today. I will be pulling a faulty vacuum breaker from our black water tank clean out supply line and replacing it.  Once again it is in an impossible location to reach easily and is crammed up high under our bathroom sink.

The part that is currently leaking is plastic and reportedly others have had this same problem.  Evidently the flutter valve on top of the vacuum breaker sticks shut and causes water to be discharged from top of the device instead of letting it pass on and into the black water tank.

The culprit looks similar to the one below but in my coach it's plastic. Not a pricey repair but one that needs doing none the less.  I have read that the problem may also be exacerbated by a clogged sprayer head in the black tank itself. This would also cause (in theory) water to be discharged from under the head of the vacuum breaker (anti-syphon) valve.  The fix for the sprayer head is a bit different. You simply use a hose with the end that hooks to the coach loaded with CLR. Then you hook the other end of the hose to the water source and then very slowly put a low pressure charge of water on the hose. 

The idea here is to clean the nastiness that is clogging the sprayer head using the CLR.  I have read that it can take up to an hour for the CLR to work it's magic but when it does the water will start flowing and you will hear the sprayer working. The trick here is to stop the water flow before you fill your black water tank.  Pay attention Chuck!

When we last tried to clean the black water tank I ended up with water running from the existing vacuum breaker onto the floor beneath the sink and then ultimately into the basement wet bay from above. So, once more into the breach as they say.

I will post photos of the existing location and vacuum breaker, photos of the replacement parts and of the finished project once I have done the deed.

On to motorcycle carriers. I already know I can't afford a fancy smancy hydraulic lift so, here is what I am contemplating.  A friend has an extremely stout well built hitch carrier. If the hitch carrier provides enough stability to allow the bike not to shift around inside the hitch receiver I might be able to adapt a cheap ATV winch on the end of the moto carrier to run the bike up the ramp and onto the carrier.  The catch here is how do I stabilize the bike while I am winching it at the same time?   I'm thinking about it.....hmmm.

So, in the mean time, work on the RV continues as does the countdown clock.

Stay tuned.

Wet Bay Mini-Modification

Small Wet Bay Upgrade

Part of the upgrades I wanted to do before we leave was to improve the use and functionality of the wet bay.  since our six week practice run back in November and December I've wanted to install a decent water pressure regulator on my coach since we bought it last November. We have had low pressure, high pressure and pressures in between at the places we've been since owning the coach. The high pressure situation was at Carrabelle Beach RV Resort with pressures approaching 100 PSI.

To insure that we don't damage the water systems aboard the coach I purchased an adjustable pressure regulator and did my install today.  I had to use a stand off to stabilize the apparatus on the face of the wet bay panel.  I also added quick disconnect hose connections to make things easier when setting up or tearing down to leave.  I know this isn't as fancy as some of the wet bay mods I have seen but it will be functional.

Consideration was made to permanently plumb a line to the black water clean out connection but I am really not wanting to cross contaminate my water supple. For now a separate hose will work fin.

Before

Test Fit 

(you can also see the bright shiny new sewage and grey water blade valves that I changed out)

Stand Off Clamp

Finished Installation

I now have a rigid mount for my hose connection as well as the ability to adjust water pressures when required. You can order this valve from Amazon (Click Here)

A suitable cleaner to clean the floor of the sewage discharge side of the wet bay (left) is now needed, You can tell that the black water valve had been leaking for a very long time. the PO didn't keep it tidy and you can sure see it. I like to keep things in this area really clean to prevent sewage cross contamination to the fresh water systems.

Playing With Sewage - Windshield Washer Sprayer Heads -Adjustable Water Pressure - Motorcycle Lift

From the movie RV:

Cassie Munro: Mom, some idiot just parked this ugly RV outside our house.

Jamie Munro: What?

Cassie Munro: Oh, my God, it's your husband.

Waste Water Blade Valves

Sewer and grey water blade valves. They suck!  I finally got the new ones in place and I can't really tell if they are working correctly (well maybe, read on).

I installed the valves on Thursday and before I could tackle them I had to empty about two gallons of waste from each of the tanks (mostly food grade antifreeze and some of the yuck the tanks are designed to store).  I had a three gallon bucket along just for this purpose but had to schlep the waste to the storage place bathroom. As I was walking the first bucket to the bathroom the storage unit, the  manager strikes up a conversation with me while he passes in his golf cart. "Whatcha got in the bucketttttttt.......OH MY!"

Yeah, Fun times.

Also from the movie RV:

Bob Munro: [holds high the waste hoses with a Y-adapter as Howie instructed him to in order for the waste to not spill out the top]

Bob Munro: You sure this is going to work?

Howie: Yeah, man, it's basic hydraulics.

Bob Munro: Ok, Archimedes.

They build the plumbing systems in these coaches so that it takes a six mechanical engineers three plumbers and a four ton jack to do the work. First the engineers create plan and then the plumber's disassemble and re-install the valves from their affixed positions.

I swear, it took all the muscle I had to pull the two sides of PVC drain line adjacent to the blade valves away from the valve itself. I tried to muscle the PVC three different times to get the grey valve into place and each time, the gaskets dislodged upon trying to reinstall the new valve. The fourth time finally saw it safely into place and the blade working properly.

Next up was the black water valve. This one was considerably harder because of it's location in the belly of the beast. It only took six tries to get this one into place.  Working on these valves is an awful job, elbows in leaking sewage and your clothes reek bad enough to burn them.  Phew...what a job.

After the installations I closed the valves thinking I would not be able to test actual operation until we camp for the first time this year.   Yesterday, while working on other things I decided to look at the clear 90* elbow attached to my main discharge to see if there was any waste present (this initially alerted me to the valve problems in the beginning). There wasn't.

However, the next day my curiosity got the best of me,  I pulled the black water valve and some waste entered the clear elbow.  Dumb idea.

I'm returning to the storage place today. I will get to bucket more waste to the storage units bathroom. Hey, at least I know the valve works!

Windshield Washer Sprayer Heads

These buggers are hard to find. I finally posted on irV2 and asked if anyone knew where I could get them. I had an answer instantly.

It figures, I wasted a couple of hours googling them so I could find replacements. From the advice offered on iRV2, I ended up getting them from UNITY Bus Parts. $2.89 each. They are small and could have been shipped in a padded business size envelope. But no.  You can't get them shipped that way from the supplier so I had to pay $8.98 cents in postage to ship a total of 1/2 ounce of weight via USPS in an 8"x8" box.  Damn, what a racket.

I purchased "universal fit sprayer heads" and guess what?  They actually fit perfectly. Now the next time I need to use them the water won't squirt into the air, over the coach or into the next lane.

Adjustable Water Pressure Gauge

My next fix on the RV is to permanently install my new adjustable water pressure gauge on the wet bays city/storage water input inlet.  I purchased a brass body pressure gauge that will make it easy to see what the actual water pressure is at a campground.  Our coach has a notification at the inlet "Do not exceed 60 PSI."  Now I will know what I have for sure.

To make the installation I had to purchase parts to create a "Pipe stand off" from the face of the wet bay panel which will also be clamped around the pressure valve to provide a rigid mount so that when I attach the water hose it will not break the attached water fill or anything else. I will take photos of the final installation.

Manual Hydraulic Motorcycle Lift

Yesterday I followed up on a lead for a Manual Hydraulic Motorcycle Lift.  This lift jacks the bike up off the ground and to hitch height. The guy has had it for 10 years and never used it. He says it's in great condition and I am going to look at it today or Monday depending on his schedule. Perhaps I can get it for a reasonable price. We'll see.

Keep on keepin on y'all

How To Tow my Motorcycle And Our Car? - What Choice Should We Make?

There are many options for taking both a car and a motorcycle with you while full timing.  These include hydraulic and cable lifts, motorcycle hitch carriers, tow dollies that let you tow the car and load the motorcycle in front of it and of course car hauler trailers with tandem axles.

Our options as I see them are:

1. Hitch mount motorcycle carrier - $450.00 + welding two more stabilizing tubes onto the RV's receiver to keep the motorcycle from swaying. and allowing a tow dolly or trailer to be pulled from the same hitch.

2. Hydraulic motorcycle lift - $3500.00 plus three tube receiver hitch + welding

3. Manual operated (manual hydraulic) hydraulic lift - $1900.00 + three tube receiver hitch + welding

4. Tandem Tow Dolly that hauls bike and car - $5200.00

5. Car Hauler trailer - $2500.00 - $6500.00 depending on type and materials.

The additional variable for us is whether I can find any or all of these used. In any case options one, two and three are out due to expense.  So, I have narrowed my search to either the tandem tow dolly or a car hauler trailer.

Disadvantages of  a tandem dolly

Heavy and big
Can't easily moved around the campground after unloading
Can't be backed up loaded as the car and the dolly turn independent of one another.
The car must be unloaded in order to back the trailer and bike out of a tight place.
I would have to move the dolly to a designated storage area after unloading due to it's size
Crawling under the dolly to hook up the break away chains
Expensive for the size of the dolly (more perception on my part)
Will require a hitch on the car to move to designated parking

Advantages of a tandem dolly

No hitch welding required as I have a Class V hitch on the RV
One vehicle to tow both bike and car
Very easy to load the bike and car
Most come with a rock guard on the front that protects the bike and car from road debris
Versatile in that it can carry a lot of things on the motorcycle deck
Light weight of combined car, bike and trailer

Disadvantages of the car hauler trailer

Heavy and big, may impact RV towing with the combined weight of the bike, car and trailer
Can't easily moved around the campground after unloading
I will have to unload the car and park the trailer in designated parking with the RV due to weight
Most do not come with a rock guard unless it's an ad on expense
Larger footprint will make it harder to have room to back up and manuever

Advantages of the car hauler trailer

I will be able to back it up without the trailer and car going in different directions
Much easier loading, unloading and tying down as I will not have to crawl under the car
Trailer can be of minimal length, car length 12' plus 3' for the  bike which will keep cost down
Heavier duty and more versatile

After looking at all of these options I still could use some help deciding which of the two options open to me financially, to pick. It would be a lot easier to just sell the motorcycle but after a lifetime of riding I hate to have to stop. Besides, that gives us two options for transportation.

If you are a regular reader please leave a comment with your opinion on what you think we should be looking for.

Health Roller Coaster and Parts for the RV

My leg is a bit better today. The swelling remains a concern as does the care of my cellulitis. But, it appears that I am winning the battle as my leg is not as red, or as "angry" looking as it has been.  The itching and rash from my drug allergy is slowly abating but can't move on quick enough to suite me.

As for our departure preparations, I have received some of the parts I need to repair or upgrade some things in the coach.

I 've received the following parts:

3" and 1 1/2" Valterra Blade valves for re-doing my black and grey water tank valves
A pair of new windshield wiper sprayers (these were difficult to find) from Unity Bus Parts
New adjustable pressure regulator for the coach with gauge from Amazon.com
A set of four Camco anti rattle grommets for the stove grating from Amazon.com

In the next month I will be ordering the following parts:

Back flow preventor replacement for our black water clean out hose bib
Small safe to be installed in an undisclosed location from Amazon.com
Patio Rug from Amazon.com
A new lawn chair to replace a broken one
A replacement "Progressive 50 amp Surge Protector" with remote readout from Amazon.com
Coach engine servicing and air filter replacement
Car Tow Dolly or trailer needs to be purchased

We've decided to put off flooring replacement in the coach until we've departed. Our reasoning is purely for financial convenience so that we can actually leave with money in the bank rather than broke. That's good incentive right?

I hope to have all of the above items purchased and installed along with the engine being serviced prior to June 1st.  It would be nice to have most of this done prior Jazz Fest in New Orleans in Mid May.

Jazz Fest should prove to be a great time as we are going with five of our closest friends!

In order to accomplish all of this, the weather needs to cooperate and I need to get better so I can get all of this done. (knocking on wood as I type).

Ugh, Can't Win For Losing - An ER Visit Today

After writing my last post this morning I ended up in the VA Emergency Room this afternoon.  I am no stranger to medication allergies but this afternoon I started breaking out with hives and itched very badly.

I quickly showered and Martha took me to the ER with EpiPen in hand.  I have been in Anaphalactic Shock  shock twice before and I was taking no chances. Turns out that I must be allergic to a mild antibiotic called Clyndomicin.  I was given this drug to counter skin infections (complications from my calve injury) called cellulitis.

The Doctor in the ER gave me a Depo-Medrol injection to get the allergy in control.  The thing is, I am a diabetic, Depo-Medrol drives blood sugars way up. Now I have to be extra diligent about keeping my blood sugar under control.  Gah......!

For pity's sake, all I want to do is get the coach on the road and travel. Is that too much to ask?

Life Is Returning To Normal - Started Recieving Parts For Minor RV Repairs - My Leg Is Better

Life goes on, my leg is getting better and the cellulitis I had has now mostly healed. My leg remains swollen and the edema that caused my cellulitis is now causing severe itching as my calve heals. It's always something.

Yesterday the USPS brought some of the goodies I ordered for repairing the RV.  I received a niece adjustable water pressure valve, a grey water and black water tank valve, four hose quick connects, and some expandable refrigerator bars to keep stuff from sliding off of the shelves.

My intent is to do some plumbing work on my wet bay that will permanently install a adjustable pressure regulator. Our last outing in Florida found pressures that exceeded our coaches specifications of 60#s.

I am thinking that if I do place the regulator in wet bay the weak point now becomes the hose. All I know is that my coach has an inline pressure regulator and it is too restrictive as it's set to 45#'s. I want to cut it out and then use the adjustable pressure regulator instead.

As for the grey and black water blade valves. Well, just...yuck.  I really don't want to do this but I guess this is the best time as the tanks are empty with just a bit of bleach in each tank. My problem is that getting to the valves is a giant pain in my back.

If I remember I will take photos of the removal and re installation.

Calve Muscle Injury Update

As of today, the cellulitis has started to get better. For a while I thought it was going start weeping which would indicate that the bacteria is getting worse. This is not good for a diabetic, at all!

It appears (knock wood) that it is now on the med after four days of antibiotics and countless applications of anti itch salve.  I am hoping for continued healing.  As for the calve muscle itself, I am still swollen badly 4 weeks and two days after injuring it.  I still cannot walk up an incline without pain though stairs don't hurt nearly as much anymore.

For those of you that have asked about me and how the injury is doing. Thank you for checking up on me.

Jacks Down Alarm and Light - Mitigating The Loudest Alarm Module In My Coach

As the title states our coach has a very loud jacks down audible alarm.  In a diesel pusher this alarm serves as your "put the jacks up before you move the coach, you "dumb-ass" alarm. It has both a audible (under the dash) and lighted alarm (on the dash).  In our coach the alarm is ear piercing. No, really it is, and many others have this complaint as well.  The intent of the alarm of course is to make you put the jacks up prior to moving the coach. The problem with the intent of the alarm is two fold. First you cannot warm your diesel engine without the alarm blaring and second, it is so loud that even with my 67 year old ears I can hear it from outside the coach.  Something had to be done.

Knowing where the alarm module is located and that it either modified to switch it on or off or at the least it needed to silenced or muted somewhat is what drove this project.

To that end I started with google searches on the subject and found out I was not the only one that though the audible alarm was too intrusive.

First I had to know the location of the circuit board so I could find the correct fuse/s that allowed power to flow to the audible alarm.

In the case of Class A coaches you will find that they have about as many circuit boards, fuses and circuit board locations as the International Space Station. finding the correct board and wiring schematic was the first order of business.

I eventually got advice from the [url=http://www.irv2.com/forums/]iRV2.com[/url] (an enthusiasts website) and was able to determine that the circuit in question was located directly in front of the driver and was accessible through a hatch in the dashboard.

The schematics told me that the fuse was F-15 on the circuit board. For a fleeting second I thought I would just pull the fuse and perhaps that would silence the alarm and leave the large red "jacks down" light burning. No such luck.  Next I thought I would trace the wires from this fuse and put a simple single pull single throw switch in line to turn the audible alarm off and on.  I determined that given my history of being ready to drive before being "actually" ready to drive should be of concern. So, I nixed the switch.

Next, I had read on IRV2 that several other coach owners decided to "mute" their alarms with multiple wraps of electricians tape to get the sound to an acceptable level of not making their ears bleed.  I opted to try this.   So the search began for the speaker module. As you can see from the above photo there is a lot gong on under the dash.  After about 40 minutes of subjecting my ears to the damn alarm I finally found the stupid thing. It was about knee high in front of the driver on the left side of the steering column all the way up on the firewall behind about 6.7 billion wires. Not easy to get too. I had the ignition on and off many times while trying to locate this beast.

After contemplating the best approach to wrapping tape around and over the module I noticed that the module (two inches in diameter) had what appeared to be a series of triangles on a movable plate that was attached to the noise modules face. I reached in, and rotated the plate until the solid portion of the little spinning dial covered the triangular portions of the noise maker module below it. This effectively closed off the area where noise could come out. Could it be that easy?  I turned on the ignition switch and the noise maker was barely audible.  

Success!  I killed the noise.  All without a switch, solder, soldering iron or electricians tape, cut or burned figures and no injuries to the existing wiring......   Wooohoooo! It's good to the king.

Next up?  New black water and grey water knife valves and repairing my black water clean out sprayer circuit (it has a bad leak when trying to use it).

Stuck In Limbo - Skin Infection Caused By My Injury.

Waiting for things to happen isn't my strong suit. I just want to be on the road now. However, my leg injury has turned into worries about cellulitis. Diabetics have to keep blood sugar under control for sure.  However, we also have to worry about things like cellulitis. Since my leg has been swollen and I have had a lot of edema of late, I started getting blisters and cracked skin. This can lead to an infection called cellulitis which if left untreated can lead to amputation.

Needless to say, I am going back to the doctors office today for a treatment plan.  The last time this happened it was under the same circumstances. First an injury, then swelling, edema and eventually cellulitis.  If the treatment is the same I will end up with med's and ointments and something to stop the itching.

I will post up once I know what the Doctor says. It's always something. Just one of those glorious diseases (Diabetes) caused by Agent Orange. Ugh.

Edit:

Just returned from my PCP.  As expected, it is the beginning stages of cellulitis.  Also as expected, antibiotics, ointment and something to keep me from itching.  I hope it goes away quickly.