Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Fixin' this and that

Our new best friend Al came over on Sunday and helped with some needed repairs to our motorcoach. It was a blue sky day for us! With Al’s help we were able to accomplish so much.

First item on the list was trading out the “house” batteries. Included with the purchase of our motorcoach were four new batteries. The previous owner had purchased them but hadn’t needed to install them. It was now necessary to trade up to better power. Al and John studied how they were already installed very carefully to be sure everything was lined up properly. There also was a guide to help you too. They carefully cleaned out the battery area and removed all the corrosion and dirt with a mixture of baking soda and water. Al had an old rubber mat that was cut to fit the area and provide a little more cushion. It did not take them long to install them. They were off to a good start.







In the meantime, I was using my new toy. It is a labeler that I had purchased at Cosco. It was recommended to us to use this to label all our bins and various items in the coach such as computer cords. I practiced using it with our filing system. Over the years I had cut out articles about places we would like to visit. Plus there was lots of campground information and seminar information we had received at the RV Dreams Rally. Everything is now nicely organized and in alphabetical order. I was able to discard a lot of information that we will no longer need such as motorcoach brochures.





The next project for the boys was to fix the automatic step cover by the front entry way. It is a cover that is supposed to cover this area when you are driving. It allows the passenger to put their feet down on a level surface and keep them from falling into the stair well. The previous owner said it had not worked for them. Before long this amazing duo had it working. They were both very pleased that they could trouble shoot this and determine why it had not been working.





With building confidence they then decided to install the solar panel on the roof. The panel had met with an unfortunate awning accident a couple weeks ago. We knew better at the time, but had opened out the awning at the rental house and had not secured it with stakes in the ground. It was not windy, but within no time John heard a loud thwack and found the awning on top of the roof with the solar panel crushed. I found a replacement one at Frye’s, a local electronic store, that was significantly less expensive then Newmar’s. With a little creativity they were also able to install the new one.




 


 

Four projects completed!  That was great.  Afterwards we celebrated dinner with Al and his family.  It was a perfect day.  Happy Mother's Day!





Tuesday, May 4, 2010

This lifestyle has a bit of learning curve

This is our first motorcoach and it can be said that there is certainly a learning curve. We have been told this many times by others. So, we are trying hard to remember to be patient, breath, and hopefully locate someone, when all else fails, to ask for help. I read on a blog today that to pack in your motorcoach a sense of humor and patience.  That's a great suggestion. 
 
Our hot water was not hot…it was more like lukewarm at best. John read the Newmar manual and RV repair guide and we were pretty much convinced that an expensive repair was going to be in our future. Sheesh!   After two days of very cool showers John mentioned it to our campground host (Al) and his eyes lit up. He said it might be the “bypass valve”. I think the look on our faces made him quickly realize that might be the case.   "Easy fix" he said and off he went to our campsite. Well, to make a long story short we had hot water in no time and no repair bill. Whew! Al is our new best friend!  It's my understanding that this valve is turned on when winterizing your coach to decrease the amount of antifreeze that needs to be added.  Once you de-winterize you are supposed to turn off the valve, or something like that.
John has a long “honey do” list already.  That's not unusual, however, the list now includes many  tasks he has not done before. I'm sure he will gain more confidence as time goes on.  Having hot water sure made our life a lot more comfortable. It's the little things in life that you come to appreciate.

The next morning I'm up early getting into the shower.  There is hot water but alas guess what...it ran out.  Just like that!  We had checked the gauges the night before but they are not accurate.  Imagine that! We had heard that this is a common problem.  I just wish we hadn't learned it right in the middle of my shower.  :) My coworkers today thought this was hysterical. In fact, they seem to be really enjoying our new adventure.

So to all our new followers out there...could you please add us to your prayer list! Thanks a million.