In Preparation for getting ready to leave for the Maritimes, I thought I would do a few projects I have been wanting to try from some ideas i found on the forum.
Changed Oil, Filters & Lube
Install Rear & Tag Koni FSD's Shocks to match the fronts I did years ago.
Replace Front TV with a 32" Samsung outside the enclosure.
I replace the DVR with a Directv Genie and put it behind the TV in the box where it has more air circulation.
Replaced the Trac Star in motion Satellite Dish with a new KVH R1 in motion Satellite dish. Much smaller foot print and put the hub behind the TV next to the Genie DVR.
Added a quiet fan directly over the hub as it seems to get very hot.
I fully insulated the front cap where I found at least 6" of nothing up there. Between that, the dark color paint and the windshield a lot of heat is getting into the coach.
Added a Wireless Direct TV mini Genie for the bedroom so we can watch our own programs at the same time.
Replaced Rear TV with a Samsung.
Replaced Winegard OTA Antenna with Jack Antenna & new cable.
I guess Direct TV does not reach the Maritimes so I made digital movies out of a bunch of my DVD's and put them on a hard drive , velcrowed it to the back of TV and hooked it up to a USB port. Now we have movies available without having to bring movie disks to watch.
Installed a Passenger side RV Camera
Added 3 Rv Refer Fans to fins that I got from Ebay.
Put some insulation in the back outside of the refer on the sides where air was getting thru.
Hopefully funneling the air up thru the coils better.
I saw a post from George Hatfield awhile back where he tried opening the refer vent to allow air to come in thru the bottom. I thought I would try it with a few modifications. I cut some strips of reflextix and added it to the inside of the vent cover, not covering the holes. Then I made a Reflectix shade cover for the vent. Now when we park and the sun is on the refer side I can just open the vent and snap on the refectix cover. I will remove it when we leave.
I have reflectix in the side windows to keep some of the heat out that I did not like the looks of and it is blinding outside sometimes. I bought some palm tree fabric and spray adhesive it on. Now it looks like drapes on the outside.
I added some curtains behind the seats to keep the dash Air up front.
I saw the post where they make sunscreens that you can install without a ladder. Taking out the ladder each time is probably why I don't put them up on short stays. So I decided to buy some rare earth magnets and sew them into the top of my existing sunscreens while still using the snaps on the bottom. I just put them up with the inside magnet loose and just sitting on the glass while holding the sunscreen on the other side. I will silicone them in when I see how good they work. I don't know how it will hold up to wind yet but it was worth trying and I still have the snaps on top if needed.
Replace A/C Shroud
Replace Lights in Utility Bay with LED's
Passenger side Wheel Bearing Leaking. Replaced the seal
Replaced leaking Front tank Check Valve and replaced "O" Rings in 6 pack solenoids.
My Utility Bay keeps popping open on the road since I had my bulkhead repaired awhile back. I have had it adjusted many times and even sent James T a video showing the locking mechanism and how it is locking just like it should. I have run out of ideas on getting it to stay closed. It could go days without doing it and then it could pop anytime. I am constantly having to watch for it in case it does so I can pull over which sometimes is a long way down the road. So I added a magnetic switch to the utility bay door and ran a wire to the dash and put a lighted rocker switch and a sounder. Now when it pops open I get a warning immediately and I can take action without having to watch it the whole trip whileI am driving. I also added some reflective tape to the sides of the door that becomes visible when the door is open. And if it becomes a real nuisance I added an eye hook under coach to attach a bungie cord to hold it down if needed.
Most of what I was trying to do is remove heat sources from the coach and get the refer to work better in extreme summer heat.
Barry what did you do the next day?????
My kind of guy always improving the coach.
On the "keeping the fridge cool" I have often thought about getting a spare awning, say 36' wide and an extra long shade and installing it on the outside body behind the fridge so it casts a shadow (or totally blocks) the sun and heat on that wall. I now have the residential and do not have the problem but think it would work good and would not look out of place if awning material was matching. What do you think??
JohnH
That was my thoughts exactly. I wanted to try this first to test my theory to see if it helped before I put an awning up over it.
Good to see you're still having fun with the coach...as long as we've known each other, I'm also still making friends with mine over the years and expect to continue the pleasurable learning experience for as long as I'm able.
Sorry unable to join you on the Maritimes trip; including yourself of course, we'll be missing the experience with some of the other familar FT'ers listed on the trip; Nelson's, Hamilton's, Buchowski's God Speed to you all.
Wanted to take this opportunity to ask about the fridge fans....I kept the cooling fans when I replaced the old Prosine Inverter "just in case" and I see an opportunity to use them here. Can you provide a brief comment how you hooked yours up; when/why do they turn on? airflow directed from fins toward the door?
Going to miss you to buddy. :(
I bought these units from ebay already wired and mounted on metal frames. Dometic Refrigerator Fan w on Off Switch to Increase Cooling Standard Model... (http://www.ebay.com/itm/180999049305?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT) Very well put together. I wired the three units (6 fans) to the fridge light before the switch so it is always on. Each module has its own on/off switch. It comes with an alligator clip on each unit on the bottom I guess to clip to the fins for the negative side. I was not successful in using them so I ran a negative wire from the light to attach to the three alligator clips. I thought they would be wired to blow out from the fins but they actually blow into the fins. I am not sure which will work better. But I might have to reverse them if I don't get the desired effect.
Barry
They will work Awesome!!!! I used one unit (two fans) in my Dometic (when I had one.....) and never had a frost problem again - three will kill it! Interesting you are looking for more cooling/venting to the back side of the refer - even in 95 degree hot and humid conditions my refer never struggled.
Sounds like a fun trip - Maritimes and Barry! Wish I could be there with you, work in the way of fun,
Hopefully the fans inside will solve the issue by themselves but I wanted to try everything just in case as a learning experiment.
I noticed the back of the refer had open spaces on the sides so I added some insulation to keep the outside air from going around the sides and directing it up into the cooling unit.
Now that is a crime :(
Barry,
Going to be here in hot Florida for most of the summer so I just ordered 2 of these. It is starting to get into the mid 90's each day so It should help. My refer seems to cool better on #3 than 4 or 5 and for the most part I have not had any real problems with cooling/ frosted fins. For me, two weeks is about the limit for defosting in this hot weather so maybe this will eliminate the defrost or at least extend it. I do have one jury rigged old computer fan in there that seem so do OK most of the time but for the small $$ for the ones you show I went for them. I may move the old one into the upper vent to pull some air out there too.
Thanks,
Rick
After purchasing our FT we found window screens for the windshield in one of the compartments. Instead of snaps these screens had suction cups across the top. We just stick them to the inside of the windshield, no ladder, no standing in the sun, they keep the heat out and provide privacy! We had the get-out-the-ladder put them up outside on our SOB. We can't imagine why we didn't think of this! It's great!
Barry, I would love to meet up either on the way up or the way back down.
I think it would be a great idea. Probably on the way up. Going to see Ken and Ann Lemon tomorrow.
I am still planning on coming by John.
5/17 Left for Las Vegas and had dinner with my sister, Walmarts in Richfield UT and Campground in Rifle CO.
Spent the night at the Walmart at Richfield Utah woke up that morning with my new tire monitor system beeping low pressure in the tag tire. I had a nail in one of my tag tires.
Got it repaired at the big O tire just down the street.
Filled up with fuel and headed to Rifle Colorado without missing a beat.
The tire monitoring system I got in Q just paid for itself
Then my laptop would not power on.
I went to the apple authorized dealer and they determined it was a bad motherboard.
They did not have one in stock as it is a 2009 macbookpro.
They gave me the name of an online company.
I called and ordered the motherboard and had it overnighted to my daughters house in Kansas City $350.
I will replace it myself.
We spent the morning looking for a place to stay to go see Kenny Lemon.
No overnight parking in Denver area.
No RV park openings due to holiday.
Finally called Kenny and he said they have parking.
Had a great visit. We went to dinner.
We left for Hays and then K.C. MS to see daughter
Made it to my daughter in Kansas City.
I stayed at World of Fun Amusement park.
They had an RV park attached.
I connect to there wifi but could not connect to the internet. Same problem with my hot spot.
Neither of us could connect. Sometimes I want to scream.
Picked up my mother board and tried to install it.
There were 2 screws that I could not remove because they were too tight they were stripping.
I found there was an apple store in Kansas City.
I tried calling and somehow got connected to Apple Care.
Explaining my predicament that I needed them to change the mother board.
I made an appt at the store for 12:30 and then he said Micro Center also is a service center.
I called them and they said they could change my board for $80 with NO WARRANTY.
I said I dont care about warranty I just need a working Laptop.
I drove 45 minutes to the store and the check in guy said they cannot change the board because it is not theirs.
I told him I already called and got the OK with no warranty.
He said no way. I said let me talk to the tech. The tech said the same thing.
By that time I lost my 12:30 Appt with Apple store and I wasn't leaving.
I said i want the manager.
He said the same thing. I said I called and was told you could do it.
I gave up my 12:30 appt with apple to drive 45 minutes to get here.
I am traveling and my whole itinerary is on this laptop and I have to get it working NOW.
He called in another tech and he said sure I can do it.
After an hour the tech called and said he could not get those screws off either.
He said he could dremmel them off but it might destroy the board.
I said do it.
A couple of hours later he got it done.
It appears to be working ok.
I finally got to my daughters late and could only spend dinner time with them.
But I will catch them on the way back home after she has another grandaughter. in June.
I headed for HWH.
5/25
We had to stay in a nearby RV park last night so we could be at HWH at 7:00.
Their gate is closed on weekends but open all night on weekdays.
This AM we got a deluge rainfall and we were stuck in mud with wheels spinning.
In the pouring rain I got out my shovel and started digging the mud out and around of the tires.
I put some 2 X 10 lumber that I carry under the tires and after several rocking attempts I jumped out burying the boards which we left.
Got to HWH at 7:00 on the nose soaking wet.
Meanwhile my drivers side windshield wiper arm broke in the middle of the arm rendering it useless.
I called everywhere and no one uses the double arm wipers even the truck companies I called nearby.
Drove to Davenport to see if someone could find a solution.
Their internet search brought them to my web site.
Foretravel has been backordered for weeks from supplier.
MOT was out also.
Foretravel told me who they buy from and they sell to OEM only.
I called them and told him my sad story and he said it takes 2 weeks to get them from Germany and then another week for something else.
Understanding I was dead in the water because i could not drive in this heavy rain without a wiper. :help:
He said he had something close that I would not know the difference 15' away.
I told him I would take anything that works at this point and would just replace both.
He said he had one on hand and he would stay late and make another one for me and overnight it to HWH to be here by 10:30.
Overnight UPS almost $100.
Without these I would have had to replace the wiper motors and everything to go with something different because I could not continue without them.
Meanwhile HWH got the bladder installed but the room not put back together.
They said we can stay in the coach in the bldg overnight.
Tomorrow they will finish putting the room back together and troubleshoot some things that I saw and they confirmed.
5/27 Got my wiper arms and the mounting holes were to small.
Called the company and he apologized many times.
These were the new ones Foretravel is using and he sent the wrong ones.
He said he will overnight the correct ones at his expense ($100)
So we will spend the night here again at Moscow Iowa and leave after UPS delivery about 10:30
I told the tech I want to have him check underneath for any leaks on the Rack while I am here.
He said he could put it on the rack if we don't mind spending another night inside up on the rack and he can look at it tomorrow.
We drove up on the rack and he made a fast look for leaks underneath with me.
Only found 1 and he said we are not allowed to fix it if it is not part of our system.
I said I know. I would give my left arm to have a Pit to work on this.
He said you will be here inside all night if you want to fix it.
Guess what I have been doing with a rack all to myself.
Found a leaking air regulator to the sliding step cover.
Half to get one later and replace it.
Will be heading for Indiana to Deusenburg Museum, visiting John Sichenze in Virginia on way to Mount Vernon, Monticello, Williamsburg, Jamestown Settlement, Museum of Confederacy, Wash DC & Roosevelt Library. The last presidential library on our list to see. Then on to meet up with the group.
This should be the end of My Maritimes Preparations and the beginning of a trouble free Maritimes tour . :dance: b^.^d
That's my story and I am sticking to it.
Barry
Sorry to hear about all the aggravation in KC. I was going to say "welcome" to the area, but not sure if you felt very welcome. if the micro center you went to was the one in Overland Park, I have had mostly good workings with the tech's on my home computers. Sorry for all the hassle. I live about 30 minutes south of the store so am familiar with the area. Hopefully when you come back, it will be much better results, and a new grand daughter.
Hope the rest of the trip is fun, not so much of an "adventure".
Larry
Barry, like I said in Q this year, anytime you want to come to Gods country you are welcome to use our pit, and we do not have the rain that most of Mid west is having.
JohnH
I thought the tour took us to your home. Oh that is the other coast. Dang all that money and I miss the main event. :(
Yup, operator error problems. But a great time anyway.
Barry,
We're at Xtreme getting our Newfoundland trip preparations completed. Hope to be out of here this weekend.
If so, we'll be on the Port Aux Basque ferry on the 14th of Jun.
We talked to Beverly yesterday and got your schedule. Perhaps our paths will cross when you arrive in July. We've been several times before. I'm sure you'll have a grand time.
Rich
Those fridge fin fans need to blow in toward the fins. If they blow out, away from the fins they would blow all your cold air out when you opened the door. Maybe wire them to turn off when the light comes on. Now there's an idea! ;)
They appear to be working blowing into the fins all the time. No frost at all. Guess I will keep them that way.
Well not quite. The prep continues.
New wiper arms arrived before we left HWH and I installed drivers side.
Headed for Indiana to see Deusenburg Museum.
Then my hard drive failed on my laptop after a few days of working great with new motherboard.
Ordered a new 2TB hard drive from OWC and had it overnighted to Virginia.
Made it to Virginia and had hard drive waiting there.
I had a great visit with John Sichenze while there.
After I installed the hard drive I could not install the operating system because it is a 2009 laptop and Apple has to do it.
I drove 150 miles to Richmond VA to the Apple store and begged them to do it even though I did not have an Appt.
They did it for me.
Restored data from my 2 week old backup and now several programs don't recognize the new motherboard serial number and thinks I don't own the programs. Needless to say I did not bring the disks with the registration numbers.
We drove to Williamsburg VA to see Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg because weather reports said 20% rain here. They revised it to 100% after we got here since it has been raining all day and night. The rain is so severe we cant leave the coach.
There was a slight window yesterday when we got here where the rain stopped.
I decided to get under the coach and fix the leaking check valve and air regulator.
Sure enough when I had it all taken apart it started again.
Enough water to float me back from under the coach.
Well maybe float is an exaggeration but I had to stay under there to finish the job as the water engulfed me.
It looks like we will have 3 days here of watching the parks cable TV and missing the historic places we came to see.
I should have brought a canoe instead of a tow car. :sleepy:
The prep continues.
Sorry you have rain. You should still get out and see williamsburg and if nothing else, eat at the Kings Arm Tavern for Dinner.
I never thought about the motherboard not recognizing the software. I hope you get that worked thru.
We have a great time visiting. Have a wonderful trip and I feel your pain. I headed west in the rain all afternoon.
Found 2 leaking front travel solenoids after seeing my coach doing excessive leveling causing the aux compressor to come on.
After I got the leaks under control I found my Aux Compressor taking too long to build pressure.
Realized it was going to have to be rebuilt. I ordered the Minor service and ring kit and had it shipped.
I restored my data from my backup drive of 2 weeks ago and there are some issues with it not seeing the licensing of some of the programs because this motherboard has a different serial number.
So I can't use some programs.
Not sure how I am going to get around that as I don't have any of the disks with me with the licensing numbers.
I headed for Mount Vernon and could not find suitable parking anywhere so continued on to Wash DC.
We head for Philly on Wed and, then to NY.
Now my kwikee steps only come out half way. I think it is the motor.
I will have to troubleshoot that tomorrow.
I researched the internet to find a new motor and control rebuild kit 909770000.
Part # 44-8127 $20214 from PPL and had it sent to my Aunts house in Mass.
I lubricated all the outside points before we left.
We got to Philly and did our own walking tour.
Went to N.Y. and did the Roosevelt Library & home.
That completes all the Presidential Libraries we visited.
Did the Vanderbilt Mansion Tour.
Headed to Mass to visit Relatives.
Spent 2 nights at my Aunts Apt Bldg. Parking lot.
She had most of my packages and mail that my daughter sent.
The next day Fedex & Ups pulled up late in the afternoon with my Kwikee step motor & Aux compressor rebuild kit.
Had a great visit with relatives and some they cooked up some great meals.
Lobsta & steamed Clams with my Aunt & Red meat & my other 82 year old Aunts home Made Pasta. (God's gift to mankind)
We laughed ourselves silly for hours as I told the saga about my RV adventure getting there.
I hooked into my cousins high speed DSL to download a new copy of MS Office for Mac that I had to buy again.
They don't make disks for it anymore so I needed the connection to download the huge file.
Tried 3 times to download it from Amazon and could not get past 5mb.
I called Amazon and they said they were having server issues and the engineers were working on it but it should download if I stay hooked up.
Finally it got late and I could not wait any longer.
I called and said I needed a refund but they said on digital software because I had the activation code they could not issue a refund.
I explained this was my only opportunity to have high speed internet to be able to download such a big file as I was headed to Canada for 2 months.
She checked with manager and because I was headed to Canada they could issue a refund.
So they did.
Pulled into Pumpkin Patch RV in Maine.
What a terrific Campground and highly rated in the reviews.
What a surprise to find Jack Bradshaw, Tom & Eileen Neels & 2 other Foretravelers here 4 days before we meet up in Fredericksburg.
2 of them are doing their own Maritimes trip.
I installed the new Kwikee Motor and control and it was an easy install.
Newer parts but were a direct fit.
I happen to ask the manager here at the park if they had a high speed internet I could use.
To my surprise she said yes we have a booth in back for everyones use with a high speed internet for free and another booth with a phone that anyone in the park can use to call anyone for free. What a shock.
Got up this AM at 5:00 and headed over to try and download the the software again.
I bought it and started downloading and the same thing happened with the 5.2mb file.
I finally looked at the file and it was Amazons downloader that you have to install before you can download your file. ^&*%#$
After I installed it the software downloaded in 10 minutes.
I installed the Office program and I am still getting the same message to reinstall the software.
I have to call Microsoft (That will be the highlight of my day) trying to get someone on the phone that knows anything.
To my surprise I got to talk to a knowledgeable person immediately who did a remote hookup, wiped out all the previous version Office files and did a clean install and low and behold we are up and working again. I take back half of what I said about them.
I talked to the Nells last night and it looks like this will be the last Maritimes Motorcade which is what I expected.
Because of the low number in the group they had to make some adjustments.
Mainly using our cars more instead of renting buses at $1600 a day.
He did say for the 16 hour Ferry ride we will have staterooms.
We will leave here tomorrow and follow Jack into Canada.
Jack, Tom and another coach here are all 2003.
Tom said we should rename it to the 2003 Maritimes Motorcade.
I will probably rebuild the Aux Compressor tomorrow after we get to Canada.
Well after almost $400 in Tolls coming across the country, rebuilding the coach with overnighted parts, rebuilding my laptop and a few hickups we made it. It ate up all the money from the reduced fuel cost I saved once we got out of Calif.
I will complete my Genealogy research now by seeing all the towns my direct ancestors come from and where most of the Brideau's ( I mean Beam's :giggle: ) still live.
As we start to leave, here comes the rain again.
Let the journey begin. b^.^d :dance:
Hi Barry,
Just read your saga. Wow! Good that you can make the repairs
How is the passenger side camera working? Seems like a good idea. Do you switch between the read and side monitor?
Dick
barry, once you get onto the rock, the newfies will cheer you up, and everything will be good.
I have amazed myself and my wife with what was accomplished on the trip over.
I have 2 retractable touch screen monitors and have wired them and the TV to be able to see any input.
Both Cameras, GPS, Sirius radio, ipod, radio, DVD player & Direct TV.
The 2 cameras are good when going thru those skinny toll booths. :o
I have heard that and going to hold them to it. 8)
Barry, are you going to do a writeup on your screen connections for all those devices?
Here is a flowchart showing all the devices and wiring. It took awhile for me to figure out how to get all the inputs to work on multiple monitors and the TV. My Alpine touchscreen monitor has 2 video inputs for the cameras and built in navigation. Sometimes I have the Rear Camera up on the TV Screen for a larger view.
Over the top as usual Barry! Nice flow chart. What do you use for software to make that?
What an adventure (ordeal) just getting towards your Maritimes Motorcade. I hope everything goes well. Looking forward to pictures and advice for those who follow in your tire tracks.
Roger
Thanks Barry. I just printed out a copy. It helps to have a good flow chart :))
Larry
It is a Mac App Shapes Shapes – A Simple, yet Powerful Diagram and Flowchart App for Mac OS X (http://shapesapp.com/)
Jack did his inspection. Found 1 Broken shock mount on rear drivers side. Shock just hanging there. Must have happened since we left as I just had the Koni FSD's installed back there. I have had the other side shock mount broken 3 times. I had Wayne at the factory put a whole new mount the last time. I still think something is causing stress on those mounts to be sheered off like that but they did not find anything. Now to find a welder up here somewhere. :headwall: Also found a small radiator leak at some side bolts. I tightened them up. Hoping that is all it is since this is a fairly new radiator. I had Jack adjust my leveling sensor as I thought it was too sensitive and I could not adjust it. I thought maybe I was missing a step in my instructions but I was being optimistic. It is not working and needs to be replaced. Since the trip officially starts Sunday I guess I am still prepping and prepping and . ::)
Barry,
Check the travel on those shocks. If you have shocks without enough travel the symptom is broken shock mounts. Having one broken 3 times would seem to indicate the same. Just a thought.
Yes, with these symptoms, first thing to check is RIDE HEIGHT. No shock or shock mount was designed to take the full load of the axle (particularly the rear axle) if ride height is too high. When that wheel goes in a hole, the shock is now supporting the whole weight of the axle and "the 'H' frame below the air bags.
And, if ride height too low, the shocks and shock mounts will get a huge stress on compression as they are now asked to support the entire weight on the coach!
I Was thinking that is what it had to be. Wayne checked it when he made the new mount but that has been awhile. I have to find a level place to check it. Haven't had much luck.
Barry,
Walmart is your friend-- big, often flat parking lots.
And, after setting ride height, it would be a good idea to take loose one rear shock (if that is where they are breaking).
Measure:
Compressed length of the shock.
Extended length of the shock.
Pin to pin distance (attachment points) with coach at correct ride height.
Let's make sure these are the correct shocks, or I can get with Justin McCoy at Koni to discuss alternatives.
Barry, Do you need clearance from the tower before you can leave the pad ? :)
Gary B