Yesterday started off with a great breakfast. Donna cooked sunny-side-up eggs for me in the Pampered Chef microwave egg cooker our friend Mona gave us. She served it with cilantro and avocado over skirt steak strips with salsa on the side.

Breakfast of champions

I puttered around most of the day. I’m still resting my sore shoulder, so that means no bicycling or anything strenuous. I need to get on the roof to clean and polish the crown where the roof meets the side walls of the coach. I hope I can do that next week. I don’t want to lift the ladder and climb it right now. For the first time since we hit the road, I’m getting a little bored, sitting around and waiting for my injury to heal.

FedEx delivered a couple of items I ordered through Amazon from Ryder Fleet Products. I bought new wiper inserts. The wiper blades on the coach are dry and cracking. That’s common in the southwest from sitting in the sun. My neighbor, George, gave me wiper blade covers to protect them when I install the new inserts.The covers are a mesh cloth that wraps around the blade and are held in place with velcro strips. They’re supposed to filter the sunlight and keep the blades cooler. I want to be sure we have good wipers when we hit the road. We could drive into a thunderstorm anytime, any place.

I also ordered two fuel filter/water separators. Diesel engines need a clean fuel supply. Filtration is necessary. Water can build up in the fuel tank from condensation. Any time we will be sitting in one place for more than a week, I try to have the tank as full as possible. With less air space in the tank, the chance of condensation forming is reduced.

The Fleetguard external fuel filter on our coach is also a water separator. It has a sensor on the bottom that plugs into a wiring harness on the coach. If we have excess water, it will illuminate a warning light on the dash. It also has a drain port on the bottom. The water will separate from the fuel in the bottom of the filter canister. Opening the drain will allow the water to run out.

Water in the fuel can cause corrosion in the fuel system. The other problem with water in the fuel is the formation of algae. Once this happens, it clogs the fuel filter and is hard to eradicate. I haven’t worried about it too much while we’re parked here in the dry desert air and I haven’t had to drain any water from the filter. However, once we start our travels again, I’ll start adding an algaecide additive to our fuel tank.

The water separator is in the service bay – the last bay on the right rear of the coach. This service bay allows access to the fuel filter, air filter and air filter restriction gauge, engine oil dipstick, transmission fluid dipstick, air suspension water drain and various relays and fuses.

Coach service bay

Last week I opened the air filter housing to look at the air filter. It looks okay and the restriction gauge shows 8 inches vacuum (H2O) – almost no restriction. I won’t replace the air filter element until the gauge reads above 20 inches H2O. Replacing air filters too soon isn’t a good idea. New air filters don’t have as much filtration efficiency as one that has already trapped some particulate matter. The trapped particulates act as added filter media. With the vacuum gauge set-up in the service bay, I’ll know exactly when we need to replace the air filter element.

I’ll replace the fuel filter/water separator next week, before we leave here. I don’t know for sure how old the current filter is. Barring any contamination issues, replacing the fuel filter/water separator will become an annual maintenance item. I ordered two of them so I can carry a spare on the road. If we get a tank of contaminated diesel fuel, I can change the filter on the side of the road.

Last evening, Donna and I had dinner at Red, White and Brew. Then we drove over to DNA Cycles to pick up Donna’s bike (she rented a car for the weekend). Afterwards, we came home and I watched the NCAA basketball tournament. Both Michigan and Michigan State advanced to the Elite Eight round. Dayton is in as well. San Diego State was eliminated Thursday night. Sunday’s games will determine the final four. This is my favorite basketball tournament.

I hope whatever is wrong in my left shoulder heals soon, so I can get some things done and quit moping around.