Oh say can you see....

Those that have been by our old house know that I've flown a flag just about every day since 9/11, and not having one on the RV has bothered me a lot actually. I finally got a lit flag on the RV last night, and I'm really happy with how it came out.

The LED light that I picked up from Home Depot really is bright enough to light it well, and I'm very pleased with that. Most people don't realize that those landscape light systems are 12V, so they can work in an RV environment right off the batteries, without any kind of transformer.

I'm not sure about how high a wind-speed it can take yet, but we'll figure that out as we go along. It's still only rigged up temporarily, but I'll fix that this weekend.

Back on the grid.

Hey all... Yes, I've been a little MIA lately, and that's because the last couple of weeks have been really busy, really long, and I just haven't had any time to spare.

Finally... [breathing out], this week feels good again. Its nice to be in places for longer than a week, and I'm finally getting not only some serious work done, I'm also getting a few projects out of the way. Yesterday, I fixed the problem of having my desk right behind the kitchen sink. You can see from the photo that I put in a lexan shield that's just about the right height to make doing anything at the kitchen sink a little easier. A fairly simple project, but I figured I had one shot at doing it right, so it took me a little time - as projects tend to do until they rattle around in my head a bit.

Today I got the 12V outlet in the belly in, so that way I can monitor the tires without a problem now. I bought a TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System) for the truck and the trailer (at the tune of close to $500), and after I installed it in Kentucky, it didn't have enough power to monitor all the tires. Turns out this is a normal problem they don't tell you about when you buy it, but a little calling and complaining got me a new piece of equipment to help. I had to wire a new plug for it, but it seems to work so far. I hope it continues to make my life easier when we're travelling - one less thing to worry about.

Last thing... Today I went to the Mohegan Sun to play poker for the first time since the regular homegames in Kentucky. I went and visited Harrington Raceway once when we were in Delaware, but it wasn't a place I felt comfortable and I just didn't want to play there. There have been other opportunities at various places, but I'm glad I didn't force the issue. Tonight, I was ready to play well, have fun, and told Jill my goals before I left. Start with $100 and turn it into 3.

The Sun is a huge casino (found out by parking at one end and having to walk the ENTIRE complex to get to the poker room). I can't wait to get to Foxwoods to compare, but that's another post in about three weeks. The place was clearly modeled after Caesar's in Vegas (before the super-huge mall), and I felt like I was in Vegas, as did the thousands of people there on a Tuesday night. Its within minutes of another casino, so clearly - there is enough business to go around. For me, the Poker Room was my destination.

Once there I signed in for the cheapest game they had - $2/4. They had some big games running, including ones where not just house payments, but the cost of entire houses could be won and lost in one hand. Not my size of game, but my goal was clear - have a good time, try to double your money - quit if you do better. I enjoyed the table, tripled my buy-in and came home within 4 hours of leaving. All-in-all a really good night. I was really glad to see that my game is still pretty good, even though I've been off it for so long.

I hope all is well out there for you who read the blog. We're doing this for a variety of reasons, first of which is to document the trip - but if we can entertain a few people while we do that, we're excited. Let us know you're out there - if you haven't already. :)

Found it!

So, on Assateague we had yet another power problem, and that was just not the place to fix it. Chincoteague got busy and I vowed that I would trace it down no matter what it took when we were in Delaware. There's a lot of technical stuff in here that I assume people know, yet I KNOW people don't, so skip to the end and just think - whew, that's fixed... if you're so inclined. :)

/begin technical mumbojumbo

I tried a lot of things - starting with the generator, then thinking that it must be the charger - but the charger showed the proper voltages at the proper times where the wire connected (it has different modes depending on what its supposed to be doing, and each was exactly in line when tested with a meter). And the battery meter I put in was showing a positive flow of amps to the bank, just much smaller than I was accustomed to. So, I ruled the charger out.

I tested the batteries individually, and they were weak as can be, but none worse off than another. I check all the fuses that I can find, all test OK. At this point, I checked the wire running from the charger to the batteries - it showed to be connected - so I was stumped.

I spent that first afternoon running around to marine shops since we were in Ocean City, MD figuring that they would be pretty similar systems. Boats and RVs have a lot in common as to self-contained living spaces, but much to my surprise they either weren't willing, or weren't able to help. It was like the question I was asking was foreign - enough to have one of the guys at the boat ship tell me he just sells them, and had no idea how they actually worked. (*note: I must assume that he knew the V-shaped closed part of the boat went in the water and the open, softly-padded sitty-surfaced part went up, so maybe he just didn't understand all the systems). ;) I finally went to a boat repair shop, described to the mechanic on duty what I was seeing and we were in agreement - it had to be a bad battery bringing down the system (I have 3 total). Possibly even bad enough to the point that the plates got warped, therefore totally trashing the batteries.

Another day of running through tests and working through what it might be, with no results finally runs the batteries down to a point where the coach won't respond. So, still not knowing quite what the deal is, I go to Walmart and pickup a battery that I know is good, and wire it accordingly, and wait for (now Chincoteague) to continue troubleshooting.

In Chincoteague I tested, and ran, and retested, and figured out that I could charge the coach battery with the car & jumper cables, running a couple of hours at a time. SO temporary fix in place, we continue to enjoy our time on the island, and I run the car every night for a couple of hours. No big deal - I'll fix it when I can tear the belly out, since I've now got it down to a short in the wire that runs from the charger to the battery. See, now that wire isn't testing through with the ohm-meter, but in order to get to it I have to take out the walls they put in hiding all that stuff.

Anyway - after pulling everything apart I find out that the culprit in this whole mess is a fuse. A 50 AMP maxi-fuse that not only had I tested, but had traced as the likely problem early in this endeavor. See, it failed because of a surge, like it was supposed to do, when I was running the generator on Assateague. However, it didn't completely fail. It left enough of itself connected so that it tested ok when I used the meter, but wasn't thick enough to carry the electricity from the charger to the battery banks, therefore showing a small reading of power into the batteries, but not allowing them to really charge at all. See, I should have just replaced the fuse, but RVs aren't built like cars. The fuse in block A-1 on this unit isn't always your left taillight. Being built by hand you have to run everything down individually - they don't make diagrams.

/end technical stuff

Anyhow - mystery solved and not at too much expense, except for some sanity. Jill and I have figured out a few things and probably my most important from this problem is this: RVing is all about experience. I can't go to school to figure out all the little peccadillos I'm going to run into with this rig, and even if I went to school, what happens on my rig is different than what happens on yours. I can read until my eyes are blurry about every possible problem, except the next one I'm going to encounter, because that one is different than what anyone else will encounter. Now, sure - some things are always similar, just like with car problems, but there's something about throwing the whole house factor together with it that makes it ultra-unique.

Now that we've got that down we will just keep moving forward and experiencing whatever is thrown at us. As Jill said, we're starting to feel settled and like this is where we want to be. Yes, we both had moments in the last couple of weeks where we wanted to quit, walk away and not feel bad about it. Heat, humidity (multiplied by 5) on top of broken things and frayed nerves will do that. But we also vowed to stick through it, and now we are on the other side and happy about sticking around. Well, maybe until the next thing breaks... (just kidding).

What a day - "Karma called, and they hate you..."

I don't really understand. Maybe I pillaged a village in a past life and its all catching up? Maybe, just maybe, what we are doing is so cool that Karma is trying to level the playing field just a bit...

I started off this post in a much, much worse mood. But those of you that are Facebook friends might have seen tonight's full melee of posts and comments, and its put me in such better spirits that I can't be upset. Good friends, good memories, maybe even, even after today, a good mood.

You see, last night I was in a good mood. I did a lot of work, was happy with where things are here, and this morning woke up with great anticipation of getting things done. New things, not fixing things - advance, advance - not C.M.A. Then, power, once again, reared its ugly head.

I've said for the last couple of days (to myself mostly, and slightly under my breath) that this stop would be the most important of the trip. We've been hot, sticky, sullen, unhappy, tempermentalists, forlorn, snippy, etc... (and I only got to Sunday morning in that list...) Bottom line is that none of us were meant for this July in this place, with no power, no AC, heat indexes of 105, tired, stressed, and everything else that goes with that this early into our trip. Jill and I have both come close to packing it in (and have stated such verbally) and the kids it seemed at times would almost rather that we did... BUT, slow down folks - the heat is doing a lot of talking here. Its really been miserable, and while I'm sure that many of you have suffered through more, with less, in less fanciful settings, please note that we have also gotten to the three-week-into-our-trip phase. First week - Honeymoon. Second week - Adjustments. Third week - REAL Adjustments, and this was not the place to be, with these conditions, when REAL ADJUSTMENT hit the girls... and us.

I think we'll reflect back on this and realize that this week defined a lot of stuff going forward. What we will, and won't do. What we will, and won't plan. And how POWER in summer is very, very important (water too). Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this was a bad thing/place/experience for us. Very much the contrary in fact as we learned so much.

Unfortunately, just as Jill and I discussed this last night, and had come to grips with everything... BUMP. Something else went bump.

Personally, I'm pretty sure its why the two girls in the tent camp next to us moved camp after one night. I'm pretty sure its why I've been whacking my head into a steel pole all day. I'm pretty sure its going to make it that I'm replacing just about every system on this rig, each at its own time...

The bump was batteries. Seems like last night might have run them down further than I expected. Now, I've been monitoring them for the last several days. Paying attention to levels and running the generator to recharge them daily (as needed), but last night might (ok, WAS) too much to ask. And, unfortunatley, unlike any other inverter (takes Battery 12V and turns it into House 120V) I've ever had, this one just beeps when its mad. My others have all beeped, then refused to be taken advantage of and turned off. I found this out because the girls watched a movie yesterday, then I of course worked, and played on FB and watched a movie - with earphones in... The manufacturer of the RV did buy one that beeps, but not enough to be heard inside (its in an outside storage compartment), even without earphones - so when it got to a dangerous level, it annoyed our neighbors, but didn't tell me anything... and I went to bed.

So poof. Now we have no power - no fridge - no laptop - no lights - no nothing. Three great big piles of weight that won't respond to a charge. I have a generator, and I keep trying to push power into them, but sadly, as I learn later, they are too far gone. Dead after only three months of use, and now its just another set of stuff I'm going to have to replace. I'm hoping that I can work out some kind of warranty issue.

>>> Sometime Later...

I've gone to Walmart to pick up some kind of lifeline, we have 12V again - jury-rigged as it is. To top it off I've fixed Jill's lost laptop from this morning (should get me points) and the fridge is beginning to creep back into real temperatures. I know there's more research to be done to see if I can save anything battery, or if the solution I thought I'd come up with in theory (before we'd left) is the right one now. We'll see. Lots of tests tomorrow to make sure things are working as they should, then replacement of what needs to be replaced, moving of what needs to be moved - and hopefully, at some point - I'll finally get a bike ride. :) I'm quite tired of fixing things. I really want to enjoy all the spoils, but this is clearly trial-by-fire, as the trip has dictated all along. I hope someone finds a firehose soon. :)

<<< A little later... Fortunately, as I edit this I've stopped thinking that Karma is getting me back for things in my past. I now realize that what it's doing is getting even for how cool this trip is, how lucky we are to be taking it, and how cool its going to be for the rest of my kids lives (and ours). And honestly, I think I can pay it forward now, figuring that the upside is worth the payment.

Water Heater - show me the light(s)!

Since we have one of those water heaters that's a double boil... Electric and Gas -- it has a light in the middle of the switch. That light only goes off if there is a problem. Well, while that works for many - I have kids. They turn on the front lights to our regular house six times a day, and I need to know when a switch that's at their level is on without my permission... right?.

So, I decided it was necessary to put lights in for when any switch was on. Criteria was - 1. if it lit, it had to be very low draw. 2. lit up, it had to be rather small because I don't want it lighting up the room. 3. I didn't want to have to 'check the panel' by the door to see what was up.

So, I found some LED lights from Radio Shack - they were small, both in size and in draw. I'd seen from ModmyRV.com that it wasn't unheard of to make this mod, so I decided I knew enough how 12V worked to do it. I wanted to see if the waterheater was on.

So, I bought the lights, drilled the holes, found the connectors, and modified the switches. Now, when the WH is on - we'll all know. I think its a mod - using LED's - that should be made to every Water Heater.

A VERY busy day.

So overall today was quite successful in the RV mod world. I was up early which, if you know me, is quite an accomplishment in itself. But, I knew there was work to be done. On the schedule was the new cam locks I got, a desk to fabricate (the Steel Part anyhow) and battery wiring to do. The desk was the main focus, with other items filling in the cracks while I couldn't help.

Cam Locks

So I decided that the last thing I want is to need keys to get into the belly of beast, not to mention that there are really probably 2 key types in the RV world (CH751 and CR128 or something). So I'd wandered around the net (maybe I found them at the RV show?) and found combi-cam locks. I wasn't sure they'd fit (measure carefully) and the offset that my manufacturer used was different than I could buy - but go for it, right? Installation wasn't too bad (just take the old one's out and push the new ones into the same space) but like I said, the offset was a little short. I'd come this far, so I just thought I'd bend em a bit. I couldn't use the manufacturer offsets because the square on the back was too large - wouldn't turn. Anyway - the bending worked great. I don't need keys, the compartments are more secure and in my opinion actually easier to operate. I'm interested to see how they do when we're actually on the road, but I'm feeling pretty good about it...

Batteries

Time to finish up the wiring for the batteries and put the tops on the boxes. Turns out this was much tougher than I thought. I ended up needing to go get 2 gauge cable at Lowe's because the auto cables I could get were too short to be run right. It amazes me how much cable was required for my battery setup. The bending and the placing also turned out to be a little difficult - that house 2 gauge copper is much bigger than the auto stuff (the wires inside the cable, not the nominal ID) I think the House that I had used 12 ga. and the auto stuff, along with having a more flexible casing, uses 18 or 20.

Building the Desk

What a task, but I was confident that Adam could get all that worked out. He seemed so happy to be welding, and since its something I know nothing about, I was happy for the help - very happy. I built the top of the desk out of foamboard so that we could measure and make it all work right. Turns out that may have been the most important thing I did in this project. Building the top allowed us to lay out the desk right on it, so that we were absolutely sure the structure would work.

The top was offset back from the sides and front 2 inches, with the top being cut very creatively. Pictures (right) tell a lot about the build. We had a little trouble with the measurements at one point (How did that extra 1/4 inch get in there?) but with the top we were able to figure out the problem.

The legs were a little more of a problem - how do you know what height is right? We put it at a couple of different levels, and finally came up with something that works pretty well. On the bottom we welded extra pieces under to support the legs a bit better - and it seems to work very well.

After Adam finished the frame (endcaps and all) came time to clean and paint. I hate underestimating what that takes, and had to run to the store in the middle of the paintjob. Adam painted wheels at the same time, and it had a whole paint-booth feel to it. After the primer (2 coats) I went with the textured paint that I so very much like (a brown speckle). I think the final result came out very nice.

Next Steps

I still need to install the desk and put a top on it. I know that it seems pretty easy and straight-forward, but my guess is that, as usual, it'll be much more work than I was expecting. I'm hopeful to finish it in the next week or so, and we'll see how those pictures look :)

I also need to put in the battery manager and double check the fluid levels in the batteries. All work still to be done. I need a couple of extra days a week :)