The Coach is Done - No, Really It Is - Fan Bearing Problems with photos.

Periodic inspections and preventative maintenance isn't something the previous owners of my RV knew anything about. Arkansas Diesel found this (pictures below) when I had the coach in for annual pm (oil, oil filter, fuel filters, lubrication of the chassis).  The bad part is that you cannot see any of these parts from the engine compartment because the fan, fan clutch and serpentine belt are inside a fan shroud without inspection holes. It now has inspection holes in it (wink).  Without this fix our trip to New Orleans and Jazz Fest (first week of May) would have ended badly. 

The coach was also missing (as in gone, not there, vanished) all eight of the front sway bar bushings, this created considerable slop in the steering wheel and was one of the things I wanted checked during the annual maintenance. We still haven't figured out why or how they had gone missing.  Anyway, it is now safe to drive and shouldn't be as wonky in the wind as it was.

I had them use full synthetic oil in the coach and that gives me 15,000 miles on an oil change. The air filter was another shocker. When they pulled it they found that it had been last serviced at the Speedco (truck oil change shop) in Dallas. It was dated 1/27/11. Yeah, maintenance wasn't something the PO was good at. The service tech turned the air filter over and it immediately deposited a pile of silt on the floor.  Fortunately the end of the filter that was at the supercharger end was very clean.

Based on the fan bearings I had another oil analysis done on the engine and it all came back pristine. That's a relief.

Fan Bearings (what's left of them)

Fan bearing and clutch block front assembly

Parts from the fan 

The Coach is Done - Part 2

Well the bushings have been delivered to the shop and can be installed. That's a good thing right?

But, since I am trying to rehabilitate a twelve year old coach I thought it would be prudent to ask Arkansas Diesel to check the serpentine belt and all hoses to insure good condition. However, as this saga seems to go, there is always a "but."  During this inspection the mechanic noticed powdered metal on the belt.  Upon investigation, they found a bearing on the fan assembly was going bad and slowly shredding itself.  Leaving this in disrepair would cause eventual failure and lead to overheating and other possible problems down the road. So, you guessed it. The coach will not be done again today.

Arkansas diesel is running down parts at the moment and the job is reportedly a half a day of labor to affect a full repair. Yeesh....I am thinking of going all Jesse James to get the money I need to repair this stuff.

One could argue bad luck, but I choose to look at this as a necessary repair that was caught during normal preventative maintenance. We purchased the coach at bargain basement prices and knowing it's age we assumed the liability of the associated repairs that would required to get it back into prime condition for the road. If we can't laugh this off as due diligence we might as well stay home.

As for how I feel about further delay? Well I am not a good "waiter."  Ugh.

The Coach Is Done - It's Not - The Coach is Done - Wait...It's Not

No Parts, Wrong Parts, Some Parts - In These Parts

We were promised our coach would be back on the last Sunday. It is now Tuesday morning and we don't have our coach back.  The coach sits on a Freightliner XC chassis. This is a very common chassis that luxury RV's are built on. But, there is a caveat. It has three frame rail configurations. The rail on my RV is an XCR rail with an I-beam front axle with independent suspension. I have an inkling that this is why our parts came in and were wrong.

The parts delay started with a late day order of parts last Friday the 7th. Apparently the order was received at the Springdale, Arkansas Freightliner dealer in time before they closed for business that day. However, from what I understand they discovered an inventory error and were only able to ship two of the eight sway bar bushings. These arrived on Sunday at Arkansas Diesel and Repair (my shop). When the crew came in on Monday of course they knew the order was short. So, Sprindale Freightliner scrambled to get the remainder of the parts (which still weren't at my shop as of 6pm yesterday (Monday).  So, Arkansas Diesel hedged their bet and ordered six more bushings from six different suppliers to insure delivery today.

I can't say enough good about the efforts on behalf of Arkansas Diesel to get us back on the road. They have gone above and beyond.  I was informed by their marketing manager Brian that they felt bad about the delay so while the coach was in the service bay, they washed it. I was going to have to do that anyway. So, kudos ...so far.

So, we sit. Waiting in anticipation of completion.  Hopefully it will be done today. Brian and Jacob (the owner) said they tought it would be completed by noon today. We'll see. 

The Fix - A Late Evening Call From Our RV Tech

Late Evening Phone Call

Last evening I got a late phone call (22:30) from the RV tech working on my coach. He said that the living room slide works now. (I've heard that before).

The Fix 

When I pressured to find out what he found I received an extensive run down of the diagnostics. He found two things. First, he found what he called a "good/bad 20 amp fuse" in the bathroom blade fuse panel. This in turn was allowing the circuit to complete/activate but voltages at the slide motor side of the fuse were low (more on that when I find out more). He said that the fuse looked as if it had been dipped in water then plugged into the board because the interior of the plastic fuse was green an looked corroded. He put a new one in. 

If I remember correctly, that's supposed to be a 10 AMP fuse instead of 20amps, I will consult the schematics to confirm that.

Secondly, he found "a wire" that goes from the controller to the motor (had to be a ground or the positive wire, that's all there is at the motor itself) that was skinned back a bit but not broken. He said it appeared that my tool box top came into contact with it and damaged it. He cut it and soldered the wires back together and used shrink tubing over the repair. The problem with this theory is that the top of my tool box is rounded and smooth on all sides.

The motor winding's are good as checked for continuity by and ohm meter. He said to confirm proper controller operation he used the three remaining boards each in turn to run the living room slide. He said the other three operated it fine. He then used the questionable board in the other three slides and it worked there. So it was not the board. His conclusion was the wire that was skinned may have been touching my tool box lid but more than likely it was the bad fuse.

There Is Always Something Else

Now for the real shockers. I had the coaches annual PM done while it was in there. I only had oil the oil and oil filter and fuel filters changed at my first service on the coach last November. My intent was to bring it back in mid May for a complete service before we departed full time. 

While greasing the steering linkages he said he had a double take. The steering stabilizer rack was missing all of its rubber bushings. Four in total. This created a steering lag of about three quarters of an inch in the side to side steering wheel turning (steering slop). This revelation certainly explains the steering wander I was experiencing. I am grateful he was on his game as this one could have been a wreck in the making. New bushings come in today or Monday. We should have the coach back tonight or before noon tomorrow (Sunday) or if the bushings are delayed we will get the coach on Monday. 

Dirty Rotten Filter

When I bought the coach the P.O. told me it had been about a year since the last change. That was last November. When the mechanic pulled the old air filter, they found a date of service and installation written on the old filter. The date was 1/6/2011. Yes, it had been 6 years on the same air filter. It was absolutely loaded, he tapped it on the shop floor and piles of dust fell out. Not good but he said the manifold where it attached was very clean, at least the clogged filter kept dirt out (along with free flowing air). Maybe I will get slightly better fuel economy?

It appears the coach will be home tomorrow so I can proceed with some furniture removal and re-installation. We camp next weekend at a nearby state park, Lake Fort Smith. It's a pretty place and we're looking forward to being there and testing all of the "fixes" and our new furniture. 

Waiting For The Coach To Be Repaired - Again

We are still stuck waiting for the coach to be repaired. Same slide won't work, similar symptoms. I hate waiting. I'm not good at it.

In the mean time we are waiting for the arrival of two new dining room chairs. They are scheduled to be delivered today. We've been slowly accumulating new things that will need to go into the coach to redecorate. Martha found some turquoise pillows that will help put some color in the coach, and we bought a two foot wide, eight foot long carpet runner to put down to hide the old ugly carpet until we can purchase flooring.

We've dedicated a place in the corner of our leased stix n brix kitchen to place things we need to put into the coach. I also have a small amount of hardware stuff that needs to go into the basement of the coach.  We are nearing what will be our full time load I hope.

When Martha retires (master massage therapist) on May 22nd she was going to need to sell a massage table, some art and other items or bring them all home so we can include them in a garage sale.  Instead we decided to ask the owner of the spa if she would consider a barter. The owner gets the massage equipment and in turn we get two nice Euro Chairs that recline, rock and swivel that are located at the spa where she works and not used often.  These will go into the coach where the incredibly uncomfortable kitchen slide couch is located. This is yet another project we need to do in the next 55 days but is worth it to get some comfortable seating. My only worry is getting the couch out.

In the mean time I have sold just about everything that needed to go from my garage. What is left is just small stuff that will be easy to sell.

While we wait on the coach to get finished so we can load it, we've been working on sorting, organizing and deciding what papers, photos, certificates ect. will get stored or saved. The rest will be shredded, recycled or thrown away. Our gigantic photo collection is another issue. We've been creating a "save" box of photos and the rest are getting scanned and placed into the cloud for storage and I intend to do a backup on an external hard drive. I estimate that I have scanned somewhere in the neighborhood of 2500 photos now. But we are now on the downhill side of the project.

That's all for now, as soon as I find out what is going on with the slide out problem I will post up and let everyone know.

Keep on, keepin on.

The "Smoke Test" Campout

Martha and I went camping Monday of this week to test the modifications, repairs, replacement and additions we've made since last December.

Our campsite this week was Withrow Springs State Park, Arkansas.  We really enjoyed this place. There are only 30 campsites in this park so, should you want to go, book early after school is out and on holidays.

The Trip Wasn't All Roses

In fact the coach is still at the park because the living room slide out once again refuses to close. I have a repair guy that is going to come out to the park with me and look at it and I have printed a .pdf of the repair procedure in case he is clueless. This slide room problem stuff is eating our lunch. It is however, why we decided to smoke test the fixes. Now we just got to get it repaired correctly so that we don't worry about it again.

Here are some photos of our RV, the park and of the woods and hiking trails.  The trails are just gorgeous in the spring.

How did the testing go?  Well.....

Progressive Industries Surge Protector

I was really worried about this one. I'm color blind so wiring has been the bane of my existence since forever.  Originally I wired the SP and found as I went that the colors (as they look to me) didn't seem to be quite right.  According to the wiring diagram there was a red and a green wire (yes, I'm red/green color blind). After I wire the device in line I got to looking and those particular wires were not as prominent as I thought they might be. So, I asked a bystander to verify which was red and which was green. Sure enough, I had them reversed.  So, I rewired again and hoped for the best.  And you know what?  It works as it should.  Phew!!!!

Black and Grey Water Blade Valves

Since we brought our coach home last year I had valve leakage into the clear 90* pipe that our sewage line connects to.  The previous owner kept the cap on the bottom and each time you would hook up the sewer line about a quart of nasty liquid would pour out.  As a result I replaced both blade valves with new ones. No more worries, they close tight.

Black Water Sprayer Supply Line Vacuum Breaker

Three times I tried to make the black water sprayer operate and three times the inside of the bathroom lavatory sink base got cleaned instead of the black water tank.  I did a lot of research and found that this line has a vacuum breaker that prevents siphoning of contaminated water back into the parks water supply system.  Our vacuum breaker was not functioning and water would come out of the vents in the vacuum breaker instead of flowing on into the black tank sprayer.  I replaced the vacuum breaker and I am happy to say all works well again.

Ubiquiti High Power Antenna and WIFI

In order to optimize our possibilities for internet I purchased, set up and installed a Ubiquiti NanoStation Loco M2 and Ubiquiti Air Gateway in our coach. These two pieces of equipment let me used a high powered antenna to located and amplify RV Park WIFI systems to optimize the use of WIFI so that we can enhance our possibility of staying connected in a crowded park. The best part is that the entire system is less than $100 in cost.  I used this tutorial to set up my coaches personal WIFI:

David Bott's Ubiquiti High Powered Inexpensive Park to RV WIFI System 

Cell Phone Signal Booster

Withrow Springs proved to us that communications is needed. We had no cell signal what so ever. This screwed us over because of the slide room problem. We had to travel to the nearest Ozark Mountain top to get a signal to call the repair guy for help.  It might have been more palatable to call from the coach to arrange him coming to help.  Maybe after we pay for another slide room repair we can afford the booster. 

That's all for now, I have a few more photos from Withrow to post but Martha needs to download them before I place them on the blog. 

Tomorrow We Camp - or Will We?

Tomorrow we are camping at Withrow Springs Park in Arkansas. It's only about an hour from our home in Fayetteville. I am anxious to test our surge protector, the sewage valves and dewinterize the coach.

Once again we picked an iffy weekend weather wise but we're going anyway.  I checked our reservations tonight and found them to be flawed.  Arkansas has contracted with "Reserve America" to make their reservations.  I reserved the nights of Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and the reservation confirmation shows Monday and Tuesday nights.  I don't think it will be a problem as only 10 of 41 sites are reserved but just the same I find it annoying that after I talked with a human and made the reservations they still screwed them up.

Screw it, if I have to move to another site to get the reservation I want I'll do it.  I can't wait to get out of the house for a few days.  I intend to take photos and video of our coach and campsite this weekend. Yeah, yeah...I haven't been so good at that lately but things have been hectic for us.

I continue to sell stuff from the house and I am narrowing down what gets sold and what doesn't. Also, on a brighter note my son has now made arrangements to move out ahead of our lease expiration.  He will be taking a lot of our furniture that I thought I might have to sell. This is good because now I know it will be out of the house at lease termination.

The weather is supposed to be marginal with rain and thunderstorms but this park is deep in a valley so we should be ok, but wet, maybe.

Martha and I both need a few days off. I am glad to get the opportunity.  I likely will not be able to update the page until our return because this park has no cell signal. Bear with us and after we return, unload and normalize I will post up and let you know what, if anything, didn't work properly.

I'm Still Here - Not Much To Report At The Moment

We are just about finished getting the camper ready for travel. Yesterday I too a stab at consolidating and organizing stuff in the basement. I tried hard to find places for stuff that actually made logical sense. For instance, hoses near the wet bay but separate from the sewage bay. Tools where I can get to them quickly but away from the areas where lawn furniture, patio rug and BBQ grill are placed.

My bay doors all open like a gulls wing, they swing up. So, before deploying the slides I want to be able to quickly hook up water and sewer as well as throw the patio stuff out of the bays.  Sounds like an easy storage task doesn't it?  Those of you that RV know it's not as easy as it sounds.  In fact storage is a giant jigsaw puzzle. When departing a location you put everything aboard and hope all of those pieces are back where they belong or, "poof" you start over again.

We now have some nice pieces of art placed on the walls on a hook with velcro on the bottom backs to keep them on the wall and from swinging or shifting when we move.   I've slowly loaded what I can into the coach in preparation for our "smoke test" camp out next weekend.  Yes, we're going to try again! This time we'll likely get a tornado. The last reservations at a campground resulted in the first snow of 2017 in NW Arkansas.  Yeah, we're that good.

Before we leave next Saturday afternoon I will need to take on some propane. Our last camp out and my brother in laws was when we last had any in the tank. Once that's done look out Withrow Springs State Park, here we come for a few days.

I know I promised pictures from the coach and I apologize for not having them here but I forgot. I will try not to forget when I go to the coach today.

Surge Protector, Valances, Wall Art, Prop Rods, Dinnerware, Camping Chairs, Camping

Surge Protector

Yesterday I spent about four hours hard wiring my new Progressive Industries surge protector. I didn't take into account just how stout the shore power cord is. It took all these arthritic hands could do to make the necessary connections.  I had one side all done when I realized that I had actually wired reverse of what was called for in the installation instructions. It took about 40 minutes to correct that problem.

At this point I am wired in to only protect the shore power connection. I will do some research and figure out how to install the device to protect from surges from my generator and then change as required. But for now, done with that project.

Valances and Artwork

Since we took down the window valances Martha wanted to add some cheery decor so we have been going through some of our art that's been stored. We came up with three small portraits that are going to be hung in the living area.  We still have three or four places that we place some art but we need to get the coach out, leveled and have the rooms out to see what will work best and where it should go.

Gas Strut Prop Rods

My next project was to replace the gas strut prop rods on my "pegboard bay." My replacements took all of five minutes to install. For those of you who don't know what this item does, it is simply a mini-shock that acts as a hold open device for your bay door, they also raise the door automatically after you unlock and pull on the bay door handle.

New Correlle Dinnerware

In the spirit of shedding old stuff and selling it we purchased some new Correlle dinnerware.  It's lighter and tougher and fits our needs.

New Zero Gravity Chair

We are hard on camping chairs. I have broken two in recent months. Since we had to replace at least one chair we bought Martha a new Zero Gravity Chair.

Camping This Weekend 

In our infinite wisdom we've decided to camp Sunday and Monday night (Martha's days off). Well guess what?  It's going to be below freezing for a week now at night.  Highs in the low fifties and lows around thirty. Typical for us.

The idea is to test the repairs I've made. To see if the black water clean out leaks is truly repaired, to test the black and grey water valves, and to insure the Progressive Industries Surge Protector works properly.

Wish us luck.

Continued Work On The Newmar - Window Valance Removal - LED Tail Light Replacements - Progressive Industries Surge Protector Ordered

Valance Removal

I've been nibbling away at repairs and improvements on our coach.  The other day I asked my regular readers what they thought about taking the factory window valances down. Well the results are in, they've been removed (pictures to follow).  We are people that are not comfortable with ornate decorations and these valances were definitely ornate.

Tail Light bulb replacement to LED 

My rear tail lights were a bit dated. I decided to remove them from the coach so that they could be cleaned inside and out.  I replaced the incandescent's with "Zeta" brand ultra bright LED's.  To this point I have now replaced four of the six light positions and still have two to go (the buggers are $24.00 a pair for 1156's and $29.00 a pair for 1157's).  The old bulbs were standard automotive lighting and were 12 volt 1156 and 1157 lights.  The are being replaced with the LED equivalent lights which will draw 1/10 of the amperage and burn much cooler.  The turn signals and brake lights are 1157's and the running lights are 1156.   The differences in the incandescent's and LED's is startling. I'm pretty sure I will be seen now.

Surge Protector now ordered

The Progressive Industries Surge Protector is now on order. I should get it on the 7th. This unit has a lot of features:

• Over/Under voltage Protection

• Open Ground, Open Neutral & Reverse Polarity Detection

• Open Ground, Open Neutral & Reverse Polarity Protection 

• Accidental 240V Protection

• Miswired Pedestal Indication

• Surge Failure Indicator

• Amperage Meter Display

• Previous Error Code

• A/C Frequency Protection

• Time Delay (136 seconds)

• Adjustable Time Delay

• Thermally Protected

• Built-in Scrolling Digital Display
• Field Servicable with a lifetime warranty

Each unit includes a digital display, scrolling continuously through the power source information: Voltage(s), current, frequency, error code, and previous error code (if applicable). Replacement parts are simply plug-and-play, making repairs quick and easy.  Should the software ever change, EMS owners can receive a free upgrade at no cost.

I think that is a pretty darn good product.  My plans are to install it so that my coach is protected from both shore power and generator power anomalies.

Bay Door Gas Struts

In my vintage Newmar there is a basement bay known as the "Pegboard Bay."  This bay is my catch all for grease, spare oil, spray penetrating oil, silicone spray ect. It also has a peg board that carries various tools and other daily use items.  The gas struts in this bay are kaput.  I ordered a new pair today. They got me again though. $20.95 for the product and $14.50 for shipping. Have I mentioned how much I hate being ripped off on shipping? These buggers weigh just two pounds combined and the company offers no option for USPS only UPS. That sucks. Anyway, they are on the way.

Miscellaneous improvements

Other improvements today were more subtle. I finally found a silverware organizer that will fit in our measly 9" wide drawers and I bought new clear 90* elbow for my sewer discharge. 

What's left?

I need to install a 110 volt outlet in our bedroom for my CPAP.  Currently I am using an extension cord which goes from our dresser at the foot of the bed across the floor to the my side of the bed. It works fine but tends to be a pain when bringing the slides in.  I still need to indentify a circuit that I can tap into for this.  Maybe Harry (a regular reader with the same coach) can suggest a place to get power from the Northern Star bedroom?  How about it Harry?

I will post up when I receive the Surge Protector and also include some photos of what the coach looks like without the valances. 

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.