What's the problem?

FOUR PAWS KINGDOM

Rutherfordton, NC 28139

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RV MODS: What's the problem?

Symptoms: 

Fridge flickers on and off when on AC power

Lights dim when too many are on.

Battery indicator shows low.

Check battery strength...9.9 volts which meant essentially dead.

Advanced Auto Parts in Forest City, NC, put the batteries on their tester/reader and it wouldn't give a print out because the batteries were dead.

Purchased new batteries at Advanced Auto Parts, OPTIMA BLUE TOP at about $210. each, needed two. We opted for these batteries as to cheaper ones because these are sealed and no need to check water levels. Plus they were smaller. We could fit BOTH these batteries in the space that ONE of our old batteries were in.

Check battery strength indicator periodically. It is now 2/3 strength. Fridge is on.

Next day check battery strength indicator periodically, uh oh, 1/3 strength. That's not right. We have new batteries!

Check power at converter... uh oh should be 13.6 volts DC, but was 1.8 volts.  

Replace the converter. No problem. Scott has wanted a better converter anyway.

Purchased  Progressive Dynamics PD9260CV Inteli-Power 9200 Series 60 Amp Converter/Charger with Built-in Charge Wizard $150. from Amazon.

We had to empty part of the basement to get to the converter, but easy install.

We've had a couple of fairly cold mornings, but were afraid to turn on the RV propane heater for fear of draining the battery. But it SHOULD be ok because we have a new converter.

Check battery strength indicator, not rising. Still 1/3. Is the converter defective??? We don't want $400. worth of NEW batteries to die!

Scott goes back into the basement and checks around the converter again to make sure all lines are secure...oops! A fat white electrical cord come free. It's the ground! So without the ground secured, of course everything else won't work correctly.

Scott secures the ground and feels that is the solution to all our problems.

So we don't know if it was the loose ground or if the converter really stopped working.

Scott also purchased a Progressive Dynamics PD 9200 Series Pendant for $10. at Amazon. This is a monitor  for the converter. When flashing quickly it is in "Boost" mode, meaning it is actively charging the batteries. When it is a very slow flashing, it is in "Normal" mode, meaning the batteries are charged and the converter is charging as needed.

After 2 new batteries, a new converter, and securing the ground wire, our battery strength indicator is now showing FULL!!!! But, the converter monitor is still fast flashing, so it's still actively charging the batteries. We can't relax yet. A day later, the battery indicator is still showing full & we are feeling more confident that all is well. Later in the day, the converter monitor switches to it's slow flashing. All is well.

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More RV MODS: 

We had originally purchased these plastic thingies to hold spices and medicines. They are cheap and easy to install, but the plastic stretches and eventually breaks off rendering them USELESS.

I now have purchased 3M COMMAND SMALL ORGANIZER. Although much more expensive at almost $8.00 for a piece of clear plastic to hold 4-5 spice containers, I like them much better and over the long run, more durable and easier to use.

 We will be replacing the cheap plastic rings with the more efficient clear trays as the cheap plastic ones break.

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More RV MODS: 

Another little mod, but oh so rewarding is replacing our kitchen & bathroom sink drain strainers and also the shower drain strainer.

We originally replaced all three with the MESH TYPE STRAINERS from Camping World. 

The large works great for the kitchen sink. The middle size was for the shower. Yes, it did prevent hair from going down the drain, but between the fine mesh and the hair, the water did not drain quickly enough and we ended up showering in a pool of 2"'s of water. The itty bitty strainer was for the bathroom sink, which that also slowed the draining of water and collected gunk quickly and clogged quickly.

Next we tried a plastic flexible strainer for the shower. 

This drained better, but what a pain in the &** to clean the hair out of this one.  There are little teeth that the hair wraps around.

Finally, Scott picked up this large flat one at Walmart.

This works perfectly! The holes are large enough for the water to drain. It catches the hair efficiently. It is very easy to clean.

With that, we changed the small mesh for the medium mesh for the bathroom sink and that is also working sufficiently.

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RV LIFE: Octoberfest at Four Paws Kingdom is over. This event was held on the 1st & 2nd weekend of October. Always a lot of fun.  Meik is a very good entertainer. I just sat back and enjoyed this event. I wanted to take it all in and keep in my memory as one of our special times RV'ing.

Of course, being workampers this year, it wasn't all relaxing.  We had Kitchen Wagon clean up after. Luckily we were assigned to clean up the next day.  I am an early to bed person and would have been miserable having to clean up at 9pm after a full day. That's my bedtime!

So Sunday morning, I washed the pots & pans and Scott dried.

I actually enjoy doing the dishes. I get a sense of accomplishment. To reduce that huge pile of dirty items and see them later cleaned and ready for the next time.

Usually the ladies are on bathroom cleaning duty. Although many guests do thank us for the clean bathrooms, I don't get that sense of accomplishment with that duty. The bathrooms are constantly kept clean, so it just feels like we are cleaning a clean room already. We never let the bathrooms gets dirty enough that they look like they NEED  a cleaning.

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CRAFTS:

Finished the CLADONIA SHAWL. It was really a quick knit, but I took forever to purchase beads and figure an edging instead of the picot.

I really like this piece. It is more of an shawlette and better worn as a scarf type accessory.

Also crocheted a watch band. The clasp is magnetic. I'm not sure it's strong enough for me to feel that I won't lose my watch. May have to replace with a traditional clasp.

I used crochet cotton thread. Chain 45, single crochet 4 rows. That's it.  The band ended up twisting and I liked that look, so just let it do what it wanted.

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PRODUCT REVIEW:

Citizen Solar powered watch

My rating 5 out of 5

By the way, this watch is solar powered! It is a CITIZEN ECO-DRIVE. It's charged just by wearing. It can even be charged with indoor lighting. I'll never go back to battery operated watches again!

I paid approximately $100. on sale for my watch, 5 years ago. Now they are anywhere from $170. to over $500.