We Got A/C! New Inverter. Visitors

 

In my last blog it looked like we could not replace our Motorhome A/C due to parts not being available.  Yes, there were A/C units...but not the parts to convert our older thermostat to work with it...and the brand new thermostats required a special circuit board, which was not available.  Well, on Monday June 6th Arny and I went back down to McColloch’s RV repair and storage to drop off some donuts since he never charged me for the hour or two that he put in researching a work around for the Air Conditioner.  While there, Nick had a surprise for us...the previous Friday he had found a way to do it!  He had a Class A motorhome in his yard which needed two A/C's.  This time Nick found someone to talk to at Dometic who said that if he put in a thermostat which was not the most up-to-date thermostat, but one that was newer than the thermostat that we had (my motorhome and the Class A he had in the yard), that there was a circuit board which would talk to this thermostat and both the A/C and the Furnace.

  

Above is the new thermostat which needed to be put in.  The first picture in this post is what the new A/C unit looks like.  This new thermostat has an "inside temp" so that we now can know how hot or cold it is back by the thermostat.  It also has a clock, and it can be programed to turn on at certain times of the day.  This 'might' be good for those cold mornings when we are using our portable heater, that the furnace can come on automatically at 7 am so that the motorhome is nice and toasty when we get up.  

So we committed to the new A/C right then, and three days later (Thursday) we took it down at 10 am, by 2 pm we were on our way to pick it up.  Just can't say enough about the professionalism and the work that McColloch’s RV repair and storage has done for us over the years.  Cost: $2,300, includes the AC Unit (about $1,650), Thermostat (about $200), Circuit Board (about $125), Labor (about $225) and Tax (about $135).  By-the-way, Friday it was 105 degrees, followed by 102 on Saturday, so it was just in time!

 

Ever since we got this motorhome back in 2014, I always wondered what the 400W inverter, which is under the bed, did...it did not seem to operate any outlets.  I only used it 4 or 5 times, and each time I plugged an extension cord directly into it for a short time in order to make coffee, or run a vacuum cleaner.  Twice I blew its internal circuit breaker (both times running the vacuum).  Well, I lost the use of two outlets, both up by the driver's area, one on each side.  When I got the portable AC, I used one of those outlets, and it immediately lost all power.  It took a bit of trial and error, and found that both these outlets were being served by the inverter, and when plugged into a 110V system, the 110V power bypassed through the inverter to these two outlets.  When I plugged in the portable A/C, the Inverters internal circuit breaker broke...it could not be reset.  So I found this 1000W inverter (pictured above) which is also a pass through for those outlets, and it ALSO has a remote on/off so that I can turn it on and off without having to raise the bed, move things around, to get to the inverter to turn on and off.  So "IF" we need 110V while not plugged into 110V, I can turn the inverter on and use one of these two outlets.  Cost:  $175.00, no labor since I did it myself.

Kathryn (my niece) and her fireman husband Dallas came out to visit, and also to attend a few Baseball Games in the bay area where their hometown Royals are playing both SF and then Oakland.  Kathryn arrived on Wednesday (a week ago) while Dallas went fishing at Lake Erie with a dozen or so friends (it is a yearly thing he has done for years now).  He flew in Monday morning, and we had a family dinner Monday night (Arny's famous Tri-Tip).  Tuesday they took Amtrak to San Francisco where they attended Tuesday night's game (SF won 4-2) and today's game (KC won 3-2).  They will also attend a Oakland vs Kansas City game Friday before heading home.  Kathryn is a die-hard fan of both SF and KC, and you can tell by the picture above (stolen from her Facebook page) that Dallas has a KC hat, and she has a SF hat.  Kathryn wins no matter who wins...unless Oakland wins and then they both lose.  But the big winner was her Grandmother (my mom) who enjoyed many hours visiting Kathryn, and also seeing Dallas on Monday.  We almost had to drag her out of Sandy's house to return her to the Independent Living Facility after Monday's dinner!

It has been a busy month and included a visit down to Aunt Florence's house with Mom and Marcia, a visit with Michael (son) and Anna (pregnant wife), a Walmart Day for Mom and Marcia followed by a lunch at Black Bear Restaurant, many visits over to Mom's, some minor work on the motorhome, another grooming for Indy, and some other odds and ends to help Sandy and Arny and even Patti out.  It has been a busy and productive month, and now we don't have to worry about the summer heat!

Replacing a Slide Floor

Who put that big hole in our motorhome!  Well, it is expected and scheduled work on the motorhome that we have wanted to have performed ever since we got our La-Z-Boy recliners last year.

We thought about having it done in Florida last winter, and even thought about having it done in Arizona on our way out west this year.  But we have had work done at McColloch’s RV repair and storage twice now….last year when we needed to have the slide awning put on, and when our Transfer Switch Relay Box shorted out on our previous motorhome in 2013.  When you feel comfortable with the quality of work, the honesty of the owner and workers, and feel that when you pay the bill you have paid a fair price for what you have received…well, you tend to want to return to have work done there again when work needs to be done.

    

McColloch’s is not a large shop, owned and operated by Kerry McColloch, his son Nick and a good, reliable worker name David (sure like his name).  If he has a lot of other RV’s on his schedule, he will tell you and give you a fairly decent idea as to how long you might need to wait to get your work done.  I have seen them, however, do some minor yet important work for someone to get them back on the road again…like last year when there was a full-timer in an older motorhome who blew an electrical box.

And when you come in at lunch time, as I did on Monday to get a picture of our motorhome without a slide, you don’t get any of that “Hey, this is our lunch break!” type of attitude as I have seen at other car and RV ‘world’ type of places.


MONDAY

So here is the slide, sitting on blocks.  This is the bottom of the slide out less the floor.  The walls of the slide are in great shape, which is good.  When they removed the slide they pulled it out onto a fork lift.  Kerry got two guys at a business across the street to help them set it gently onto the blocks…so it took five guys to handle the slide.

Although the slide is good, the floor, however, is another thing.  You can see how rotted the floor is.  Kerry said that we were lucky we didn’t break right through the floor…which is why we have not had the slide open this entire trip except to show Kerry and Nick McColloch a few weeks ago when I dropped it by for them to look over and to schedule the work.



I dropped off the motorhome Monday morning promptly at 8 a.m.  Before noon Kerry called to tell me that they had the slide out and it would be a good time to come and get some pictures. 

 

I dropped by again shortly after 4 pm and they had the new floor cut, and David (pictured above) and Kerry had just glued the white protective Filon bottom on and had attached blue tape over the beveled portion which allows the floor to rise up and then slide along the carpet of the inner floor of the motorhome.  This floor is going to be a little thicker than the previous floor which had the white material on both the top and the bottom of the wood floor.  So this is a thicker piece of plywood, better type of plywood, and the bottom will still have the protective sheet over it to keep the water from hitting the wood.  He also is replacing the trim which attaches the floor to the walls of the slide.

They also had replace that black strip which the slide runs along the carpet…the old one was in a wasted state.   That was about as far as they could take it for Monday as the white Filon sheet needed a few hours to set.  Then they will trim it down to size, and install the floor into the slide out, and essentially put everything back together again.


TUESDAY

After a restless night in the motel, I went back to McColloch’s at 9 armed with a couple dozen donuts.  Kerry was out, so I gave Nick the two boxes of donuts and told him that one of them was for the guys across the street who helped with the slide.  Nick smiled and said, “That’s real nice of you.”  Since a young kid I had learned that mechanics love donuts, and they love having their work rewarded.  While there David showed me how they were lining up the new floor to the old floor to attach the parts which get attached to the two arms that move the slide in and out.

I was hoping to get a picture of them putting the slide in, so I went back at 1 pm and found the slide was already in.  There is still trim work to do, and lay the carpet down correctly, but they are nearly done with it.  Kerry was appreciative of the donuts, and he said the guys across the street got their box and were really appreciative of them.

   

When I first talked to McColloch’s about doing this job when we were still in Florida, we were told that we needed to be prepared for it to be a 3-4 day job.  After they saw it a few weeks ago, Kerry felt it would be more like a 3 day job, perhaps 2 days.  We are so happy that the work only took two days, which means only one night in a motel.

Just before 5 pm Kerry calls me and tells me that they are done.  I was down at Arden Fair Shopping Center so it was a quick drive over to the shop.  By 6 pm I was un-hooking the HHR and pulling into the backyard at my sister’s house.  It took a bit of time to get everything back together that we needed for the night, and tomorrow we will finish it all up.  It is the first time we have been able to enjoy the room to its fullest since we left last year.  Those white things between the chairs are our computer tables. 

It is so nice to have a solid floor in the slide.  This should last us a long, long time.  Kerry said that the water intrusion came along the length of the slide, picture left.  He showed me the floor, and it was in worse shape than that picture I took and showed earlier in this posting.  It had been something which had been going on for many many years.

So, what was the cost????  22 hours of labor at $120 per hour, along with supplies of just under $500, plus tax, came to $3,150.  I have read about others who had slide floors replaced, and few have paid less than this, many have paid more.  This was an easy slide, but I KNOW Kerry and his crew did it right.   Good quality piece of lumber, Filon to protect the outside bottom (which was the most expensive part of the materials used), 3-M tape, paint, and caulking along with various screws and hardware is the extent of the materials used.  Kerry told me that side of the floor, which is the most vulnerable part, is protected with the 3-M, three coats of paint, and lots of caulking.  The Filon is glued to the lumber and protects the outside bottom.  The carpet is stapled into the top of the floor, and this floor is very very solid…probably better than when it was brand new.

We give McColloch’s RV repair and storage two big thumbs up.  Now days it is becoming rarer and rarer to find trustworthy establishments to fix our motorhomes and RVs.  If you are ever in the Sacramento area and need work done, we highly recommend McColloch’s RV repair and storage.

Week is Gone, Time Moving Quick Lately

It has been a busy week.  The caregiver for Arny’s mom needed to take a week off, so I filled in on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday in assisting Arny in moving her around a few times each day until my sister gets home from work.  Good news is that the doctors are going to do a procedure next Tuesday to help fix her back so she will have less to no pain, and hopefully be able to start walking with a walker and assistance again.

Got a few things ready for our Alaska trip.  Put the new intake and exhaust Variable Valve Timing Solenoid on the HHR with the assistance of Arny, and now the HHR is running like a dream car with 110k miles on it.  No more check engine light, no more rough idles, and now I know how to do it if they need to be replaced again.

    

On Monday we take the motorhome back to McColloch’s RV repair and storage so that our slide floor can be replaced.  I mentioned back in February that we were going to do this, and a few weeks ago I took the motorhome by for them to look at, and we set May 11th as the date for repairs to begin.  “IF” we are lucky, we will only be without it for three days, and we will be out around $3,500, but we will have a new sturdy floor.  We have not extended the slide the entire trip (outside of letting them look it over at McColloch’s).  It will be nice to pick up that extra room again, that’s for sure.  In the meantime, I have gotten all the bugs off the front of the motorhome, checked fluids, and we have the tire pressure system in hand, but I am waiting until we get the motorhome back to install it.

One thing we always enjoy while we are here are the many family gathering, normally for dinner.  Today we had a seafood medley, with Arny grilling different type of shrimps, some lobster, and Marcia and I cooking some more shrimp and some scallops using her lemon butter shrimp recipe.  On Sunday we had some brats that Arny cooked, and Marcia did her super sauerkraut along with cheesecake from the local grocery store.  Well, Patti went up to Reno early this week and came back with the BEST Cheesecake I have ever had from the Atlantis Casino, were they have a New York Style Deli inside.  Tomorrow Marcia is making her special Sausage-Egg-Grits-Cheese dish, and for Mother’s Day we are all getting together for a Pork Tenderloin dinner with lots of trimmings.

Of course, Sunday is Mother’s Day, and I cherish the times I get to spend mother’s day with mom.  From when I was 16 through 31 years of age, I was pretty much working in a restaurant and Mother’s Day was ALWAYS a work day because it was the busiest day of the year.  Then I moved away from California, and frankly most of my Mother’s Days were spent away from mom…except these past few years when we have been fortunate to be in California.  I feel very lucky.

As work is done on our slide, I do hope to get a few pictures to show the progress…but I don’t want to do anything to slow down the process.  Once we get it back, we still have a graduation to attend, a few more family gatherings, and it looks like we will head north on Memorial Day since most folks will be headed south.  If all goes well, we will be entering Canada on either May 27th or May 28th, at which time we will slow it up a bit and enjoy the scenery.

66 Years–Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad

One’s 65th Anniversary is called the Blue Sapphire Anniversary.  When you have your 66th Anniversary, there is no such honor.  So instead we made up our own….the Black Angus Anniversary.

Stuart Anderson founded the Black Angus Steakhouse chain in 1964.  They entered the Sacramento market when I was working for Mr. Steak back in the 1970’s, one in South Sacramento and one in Citrus Heights.  Only the Citrus Heights location is still in business.  As a restaurant chain, Black Angus once boasted over 100 locations….now down to 45 locations in six Western States.  As the name suggests, they serve Black Angus Beef, although they also have Seafood, Salads, and the normal items you would find in a classic Steakhouse.

Here is mom and dad above giving grace during our Memorial Day BBQ nearly two weeks ago.  I failed to take my camera to Black Angus today because I got caught up in the time…thinking it was a 5:30 dinner, instead it was a 4:30 dinner….barely had time for my shower after getting a few repairs done with the motorhome today.  (The above picture of the steakhouse was taken off the Internet from their website.)

Today I finished installing our LED floor lights which I got from Amazon, pack of 10 for $9.99.  Thought that was a pretty good deal.  Getting down on the ground to replace them, not such a good deal…but it was worth it.

Wednesday I replaced three of our lamps with these LED lights.  These were $9.95 each, and each lamp took two lights.  Not as good of a deal, but it was needed to in order to keep the draw of the battery down when we are not plugged into power.  They also give off a brighter, whiter light than we had before, so that is a bonus.

Also installed this AVIVA TRIO Dispenser in the shower.  This is our second dispenser in a motorhome, and we like having the convenience of not having to open and shut the soap, shampoo and conditioner bottles during each shower…and especially like not having to bend down and pick up said containers when they get knocked off a shelf, or fall from our hands.

We are having a slight problem with a few of the windows.  The window cornice is in two parts, and the inner part is stapled to the outer part from the inside.

As you can see with this one, they have a tendency to separate.  The one in the bedroom on Marcia’s side had a massive seperation…so much so that it was hard to raise the window shades because the shade would get caught up on the inner portion of the cornice.  So I took the cornice and shade down (all in one piece, which made that easier….only four screws!), and Arny used his staple gun on it and I put it back.  It now looks like the first window picture above.  I am going to get us a staple gun because I KNOW that it will need to be used from time to time.

Need to get back over to Camping World and get one of these Pleated Shades First Aid Kits.  Had one in our last motorhome…and of course, it went up in flames too.  Need to replace some of the cord retainers on a few windows too, and having the strings, springs and guides will come in handy “IF” a shade completely falls apart…which I am hoping never happens. 

    

Previous I talked about the missing propane line…well, Kerry McColloch at McColloch’s RV repair and storage called today and the line he ordered was in.  So around 3:00 pm Arny and I crawled under the motorhome and Arny installed the line in about 10 minutes or so….with the “or so” being the time needed to go back to his garage and get the proper tools…along with an “or so” for the time to find the white silicon tape used on the threads of the new fitting.

The new line did not need this elbow, which Arny removed first.  One end went where the elbow was, and the other went on the reverse side of the yellow cover in the picture above-left.  Then it was a matter of using tie downs to secure it, and it was done.  We should be able to get propane now, which I plan to do on Friday or Saturday.  And since we started this project at 3:00….and dinner at Black Angus was at 4:30 and not 5:30 like we both thought, it made for a quick shower and out the door in order to get there…and now you know why I forgot to take the camera for the 66th Anniversary Dinner at Black Angus.

And how was dinner?  Two had Prime Rib, three had New Yorks, and two had Filet Mignon (the coupon we used had Filet Mignon on it in place of Ribeye).  Since six of us were using three “Campfire Feast”, they came with three appetizers, and three desserts.  All I can say is that we were all stuffed when we left, and the three desserts came home in boxes for later consumption.  And mom remembered to share a little of her Filet Mignon with Skruffy and Bubba, who gobbled it as fast as they could.  We are blessed to still be able to enjoy mom and dad and to celebrate their 66 years together.

There Be Awning…

The year, 1986.  The event, Star Trek IV, The Voyage Home.  Scotty utters one of his many, famous lines, this one being, “Admiral, there be Whales here!”  I now feel Scotty jubilation….because “Folks, there be AWNING here, and it is up on the motorhome doing its job.”

It took quite a voyage to get here, there were many battles which had to be faced, but in the end, Kerry McColloch at McColloch’s RV repair and storage got the new awning on, put in the toilet gasket, ordered the line for the propane which should be in Thursday or Friday and Arny and I will install it, all for $375 after taxes.  We got it in there a little after 8 am, and as we were leaving he was crawling under it looking at the missing propane line, and he already had opened the awning and verified that everything was there.  Now that is service, and Kerry gives good service.  He is just a tad younger than I am, he works with his son and another “hired hand”.  I asked him which one of them did the toilet, and he looked me in the eye and said, “I did it myself.”  Wow, would have never guessed that, but that is the type of guy he is.  If you ever need service in Sacramento, give McColloch’s RV repair and storage a try…I don’t think you will be disappointed.

With the motorhome out of the “perch”, I told Arny that I would clean the RV pad.  Didn’t know he had a very high pressure washer, so I did the RV pad and the driveway leading up to it.  It did not get all the marks and stains out, but it sure looks better.  I told him that I would do the patio another day, and do the driveway again since I ran out of gas before I could give it a second shot.

This little White-breasted Nuthatch has been hanging around a lot lately.  Has some characteristics of a Woodpecker, but it is of the Nuthatch family instead.

And I also got some good pictures of the hummingbird…I think it is the same one that was hanging around, or should I say, keeping all other hummingbirds from hanging around, that was here last year.  He is very protective of “his area”, always chasing other hummingbirds away, except for another female who he allows to use “his” feeder.  I nearly got a picture of the Black Hawk that has been hanging around also.  Had him in the camera view and just as it was auto-focusing…whoosh, it was gone in the blink of an eye, and I had a picture of fuzzy tree.  I sure hope I can get a picture of it before we leave in a few months, it is a huge hawk.

Toad Tires from Wally World

Ok, RV Basics for those who need it….a “TOAD” is the “Tow Vehicle”.  We pull a 2009 HHR which has 109,000 miles on it.  It is easy to tow, light (about 2,000 pounds), and it tows well.  Arny put a kill switch in for us a few years ago so all I have to do after hooking it up is to turn the key on ACC, put in neutral, and hit the kill switch to kill the power so the battery does not drain.  We put new tires on the HHR back in 2012, and we have put over 30,000 driving miles. 

We also put around 5,500 tow miles pulling it with the American Eagle…

… 9,000 tow miles pulling it with the Jayco Melbourne…

… and around 4,500 tow miles pulling it with our current motorhome, the Dynamax Isata.  So we had over 30,000 driving miles and 19,000 towing miles.  The Goodyear tires had a 60,000 warranty.  So when I went to Wally World yesterday, they looked at me a bit strange when I told them I wanted new tires.  “But these ones look fine,” he says, “what do you need new tires for?”  I explained how many “real” miles they had on them, and that I feel much more comfortable towing with new tires than tires with 50,000 miles on them.  I feel more comfortable with new tires.

With the tow vehicle, aka “Toad”, I like to use Walmart because there are so many of them around, many with tires stores in them.  The price is good, even Wally World can mount and install tires.  The one thing about Walmart is it is hard to stay with just one brand each time.  Thursday the best deal was Bridgestone, two years ago it was Goodyear.  Of course, $109 per tire after mounting and road hazard and tax and tire disposal equates to around $550, but that’s how it goes.  (As a side note:  There was a man there who was having his Lexus oil changed, and although it was pulled into the stall just before the HHR was pulled into a stall, it took an HOUR for them to change his oil, it took 75 minutes to change my tires.  I just had the oil changed the day before at a place on Greenback Lane called “All Star Lube”, cost $29 plus tax, took 12 minutes….so I told him about it, and I think All Star has a new customer.  I always use All Star if I am in the area.)

I asked about the tire tread, and two guys looked them over and both said it looked good and even, as I had thought.  I asked about the rims and the guy changing them said he saw no problem with the rims.  There was on tire which I constantly had to add air to just about every week to ten days.  Previously a Walmart guy told me I had a small nick in the back part of the rim…which seemed strange to me.  If this tire does not leak, then they must have nicked the tire during installation two years ago causing the leak.  If it still leaks, I am going to find another rim unless it can be hammered out by a professional.  I am just glad we have new tires, I can really tell the difference when I am driving it.

Went by and talked to Kerry McColloch at McColloch’s RV repair and storage yesterday.  Kerry is the owner, his son works there, and Arny has known him for a long, long time.  They fixed our Transfer Relay Box problem last year.  On Tuesday we will take the motorhome in, and Kerry assured me he will have it ready by day’s end…with a “however”, of course.  However #1, that the awning is indeed the one for this motorhome and all the parts are there.  However #2, that the toilet part (which should arrive today) is indeed the right part.  However #3, that does not have to order the propane line that is missing.  Either way, it will be back in our hands Tuesday evening, and we are hoping all three problems are behind us.  My bet is, all three will be done on Tuesday.