Since May 1st is Mayday, would today be 'September Day?'
Last Thursday I picked up the repaired Solstice, $368.00 for repairing "Andy's" scratches and where he actually bit the front wheel well metal. I was pretty happy about the cost, I don't think in California it would have been anywhere near that inexpensive for what was done. Hopefully the neighbors will still chip in for half of it. It's money neither of us should have had to spend!
Car looks good though, I'm happy.
Next week we'll be venturing out and traveling over the Jackson Wyoming area for niece Stephanie's wedding on the 12th in "the little ('expensive') chapel in the Tetons." I know I've mentioned this trip in a couple of posts, and now it's almost time. This is her second marriage and she's feeling that he's her soul mate, and the guy she should have married the first time. They've known each other for many years. Stacy and I hope the best for her.
Her parents and Stacy's father are using our Dodge Diesel and Tahoe 5th wheel for their trip, Stacy and I are using our two month old Wilderness pull trailer with our Chevy.
The next day, Sunday the 13th, Stacy and I have to leave for Idaho Falls for almost a week of a Juvenile Justice Convention that starts on the Sunday, we're glad it's only a couple of hours or so away from Jackson.
Anyway, Stacy and I had been working on pre-trip cleaning up the Tahoe, it's mainly been a "guest house" for visiting family the last couple of years so it still is in great shape even if it is 10 years old!
Every system had been working fine, we'd checked and rechecked. Now that it's getting close, they're all leaving next Tuesday morning, us on Wednesday afternoon, time to check everything again last Saturday evening. Stacy and I were in the 5th wheel and since it's been pretty toasty during the days I went to turn on the unit A/C. Turn it to high cool and..................nothing! What the heck?!? While I'm checking to see if I can figure out the problem, Stacy wants to listen to XM Radio through the trailers AM/FM Cassette unit. She presses the power button and.................nothing, again! I'm still trying to figure out the first thing, the A/C unit, as I'm looking like I just came out of a jungle movie in sweat, and Stacy tries to turn on the refrigerator. Pushes the on/off area of the face panel, and you can already guess,..again nothing!
OK, the radio isn't critical and I'd always planned on just getting a really good automotive unit if the cheap one that came in it died. But the A/C and Heater as well as the fridge, are very needed for this trip! We went through everything 12 volt or 110 in the trailer, all worked except the those three things. What could it be??????????
Getting late and still hot in the 5th wheel we call it a night and decide to tackle the mystery next morning when it will be much cooler.
Sunday morning we get Stacy's father out there with us to see if he has any idea's on why just those things don't work, same as the night before, no popped fuses, no tripped circuit breakers at the breaker panel. He's stumped too.
So I start with the easiest thing to start with, the dead radio unit. It's the most accessible also, so I unwrap the wiring in the cabinet and find that it, in addition to the fuse panels 15 Amp fuse, it has a 3 Amp fuse at the radio unit. Not only popped, it's fried right down to the black residue of 'almost a fire' on the holder. Put in a new 3 Amp, it lasts for a millisecond. Check back with the tester and the wiring and there's 12 volts to it so the radio's fried.
After unsuccessfully finding any power getting to A/C-Heater control panel, and after seeing the secondary fuse for the radio I wonder about the other units, and start looking at the manuals for the A/C unit and see.... YES, there is also a fuse listed. Pull the small panel and see a circuit board and a another 3 Amp fuse, also popped but not burned. Put in the new fuse and the A/C works again! In checking both the A/C and the heater are functional again! Two fixed, one to go! VERY happy!!!
Now to the Norcold Fridge, check both 12 Volt and 110 to the unit, yes. Take off the cover to the circuit board and A-ha! Another 3 Amp fuse! Excellent! Another easy fix!
WRONG! Put in a new fuse and smoke starts pouring out from the circuit board by a resister block and it still pops the fuse. Fried board! Stacy starts to check on line, then we find that only a couple of places say they have them, power boards for units this old, but $180 to $310 for them and they're "special order" parts so there's no way to get one in less than a week. We talk about it and Stacy's father had recently given Scott (Stacy's brother) his old 33 foot 'toy-hauler' 5th wheel that had been our primary 'moving van' for our move from California in 2006. He calls and talks to Scott and it's agreed to take the refrigerator unit from that 5th wheel and put it into ours since they're both 6 cubic foot in size units.
So, longer story shortened a bit, that's what we spent the rest of Sunday afternoon doing, taking out the Norcold, going to Scott's and removing, then coming back and installing the Dometic into the Tahoe.
From total disaster to just about all fixed in a day and a half! Just need to put in a new radio this Saturday, Scott and his wife Cheri were by last evening putting some things their taking on the trip into the 5th wheel.
The only thing we can think is that the same near miss lightning strike that took out electronics in the house on July 13th had effected the 5th wheel also. In thinking back, although I'd been in the trailer, I hadn't used the radio, I'd been listening to Podcasts on an MP3 player, or the A/C unit, it wasn't really hot then. And since we'd already checked all that stuff out and it had worked, we thought everything was fine! How wrong.
We think that the energy was transferred into the 5th wheel through the two front electric leveling jacks that had contact on the ground. Why all the damage was done without any other or any popped fuses, etc. will forever be a mystery just like all the burned out stuff in the house from it!
Yesterday I took the radio unit apart and found that the circuit board in it had been fried, also almost to the point of a fire, with burned residue in the back of the case.
Everything seems OK in the new trailer luckily since it has many more electronic panels in it. Because it's new it's fully insured but even this trailer wouldn't be able to be fixed in less than a week! The extended warranty on the Tahoe had expired in 2007. We decided to keep it for now, even after it gets used for this trip, to continue being a 'guest house' for visitors. Plus we wouldn't have gotten anything for it even as a trade in for the new trailer because of it being 10 years old. So we kept it.
Last night I found out that my father may have to have another surgery for a problem that keeps occurring with his heart. I'm hoping the reason will be discovered without continued surgeries but we'll all have to see what happens. He just has to be feeling great for the big get together in early November!
Till next time, Tad
Last Thursday I picked up the repaired Solstice, $368.00 for repairing "Andy's" scratches and where he actually bit the front wheel well metal. I was pretty happy about the cost, I don't think in California it would have been anywhere near that inexpensive for what was done. Hopefully the neighbors will still chip in for half of it. It's money neither of us should have had to spend!
Car looks good though, I'm happy.
Next week we'll be venturing out and traveling over the Jackson Wyoming area for niece Stephanie's wedding on the 12th in "the little ('expensive') chapel in the Tetons." I know I've mentioned this trip in a couple of posts, and now it's almost time. This is her second marriage and she's feeling that he's her soul mate, and the guy she should have married the first time. They've known each other for many years. Stacy and I hope the best for her.
Her parents and Stacy's father are using our Dodge Diesel and Tahoe 5th wheel for their trip, Stacy and I are using our two month old Wilderness pull trailer with our Chevy.
The next day, Sunday the 13th, Stacy and I have to leave for Idaho Falls for almost a week of a Juvenile Justice Convention that starts on the Sunday, we're glad it's only a couple of hours or so away from Jackson.
Anyway, Stacy and I had been working on pre-trip cleaning up the Tahoe, it's mainly been a "guest house" for visiting family the last couple of years so it still is in great shape even if it is 10 years old!
Every system had been working fine, we'd checked and rechecked. Now that it's getting close, they're all leaving next Tuesday morning, us on Wednesday afternoon, time to check everything again last Saturday evening. Stacy and I were in the 5th wheel and since it's been pretty toasty during the days I went to turn on the unit A/C. Turn it to high cool and..................nothing! What the heck?!? While I'm checking to see if I can figure out the problem, Stacy wants to listen to XM Radio through the trailers AM/FM Cassette unit. She presses the power button and.................nothing, again! I'm still trying to figure out the first thing, the A/C unit, as I'm looking like I just came out of a jungle movie in sweat, and Stacy tries to turn on the refrigerator. Pushes the on/off area of the face panel, and you can already guess,..again nothing!
OK, the radio isn't critical and I'd always planned on just getting a really good automotive unit if the cheap one that came in it died. But the A/C and Heater as well as the fridge, are very needed for this trip! We went through everything 12 volt or 110 in the trailer, all worked except the those three things. What could it be??????????
Getting late and still hot in the 5th wheel we call it a night and decide to tackle the mystery next morning when it will be much cooler.
Sunday morning we get Stacy's father out there with us to see if he has any idea's on why just those things don't work, same as the night before, no popped fuses, no tripped circuit breakers at the breaker panel. He's stumped too.
So I start with the easiest thing to start with, the dead radio unit. It's the most accessible also, so I unwrap the wiring in the cabinet and find that it, in addition to the fuse panels 15 Amp fuse, it has a 3 Amp fuse at the radio unit. Not only popped, it's fried right down to the black residue of 'almost a fire' on the holder. Put in a new 3 Amp, it lasts for a millisecond. Check back with the tester and the wiring and there's 12 volts to it so the radio's fried.
After unsuccessfully finding any power getting to A/C-Heater control panel, and after seeing the secondary fuse for the radio I wonder about the other units, and start looking at the manuals for the A/C unit and see.... YES, there is also a fuse listed. Pull the small panel and see a circuit board and a another 3 Amp fuse, also popped but not burned. Put in the new fuse and the A/C works again! In checking both the A/C and the heater are functional again! Two fixed, one to go! VERY happy!!!
Now to the Norcold Fridge, check both 12 Volt and 110 to the unit, yes. Take off the cover to the circuit board and A-ha! Another 3 Amp fuse! Excellent! Another easy fix!
WRONG! Put in a new fuse and smoke starts pouring out from the circuit board by a resister block and it still pops the fuse. Fried board! Stacy starts to check on line, then we find that only a couple of places say they have them, power boards for units this old, but $180 to $310 for them and they're "special order" parts so there's no way to get one in less than a week. We talk about it and Stacy's father had recently given Scott (Stacy's brother) his old 33 foot 'toy-hauler' 5th wheel that had been our primary 'moving van' for our move from California in 2006. He calls and talks to Scott and it's agreed to take the refrigerator unit from that 5th wheel and put it into ours since they're both 6 cubic foot in size units.
So, longer story shortened a bit, that's what we spent the rest of Sunday afternoon doing, taking out the Norcold, going to Scott's and removing, then coming back and installing the Dometic into the Tahoe.
From total disaster to just about all fixed in a day and a half! Just need to put in a new radio this Saturday, Scott and his wife Cheri were by last evening putting some things their taking on the trip into the 5th wheel.
The only thing we can think is that the same near miss lightning strike that took out electronics in the house on July 13th had effected the 5th wheel also. In thinking back, although I'd been in the trailer, I hadn't used the radio, I'd been listening to Podcasts on an MP3 player, or the A/C unit, it wasn't really hot then. And since we'd already checked all that stuff out and it had worked, we thought everything was fine! How wrong.
We think that the energy was transferred into the 5th wheel through the two front electric leveling jacks that had contact on the ground. Why all the damage was done without any other or any popped fuses, etc. will forever be a mystery just like all the burned out stuff in the house from it!
Yesterday I took the radio unit apart and found that the circuit board in it had been fried, also almost to the point of a fire, with burned residue in the back of the case.
Everything seems OK in the new trailer luckily since it has many more electronic panels in it. Because it's new it's fully insured but even this trailer wouldn't be able to be fixed in less than a week! The extended warranty on the Tahoe had expired in 2007. We decided to keep it for now, even after it gets used for this trip, to continue being a 'guest house' for visitors. Plus we wouldn't have gotten anything for it even as a trade in for the new trailer because of it being 10 years old. So we kept it.
Last night I found out that my father may have to have another surgery for a problem that keeps occurring with his heart. I'm hoping the reason will be discovered without continued surgeries but we'll all have to see what happens. He just has to be feeling great for the big get together in early November!
Till next time, Tad
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