Category Archives: Maintenance

Call Me Nosy

Donna and I had an early lunch in the coach on Tuesday. We scootered over to the Pacific Beach Recreation Center on the corner of Gresham and Diamond Street at noon. They have open pickleball on indoor courts from noon to 3:45pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The park attendant unlocked the gymnasium right at 12:00pm sharp. He then turned around and walked away.

We went into the gym and felt a little out of place. We were the only people there. The floor of the basketball court had painted lines for three pickleball courts. I saw a box with balls and pickleball paddles and also three canvas bags with nets. About then, another guy named Bob came in. He started setting up one of the portable pickleball nets and told me to start setting up another one. He briefed us on the procedures they follow to get games going.

Shortly after that, people began to arrive. We soon had games on all three courts and people waiting to play. Many of the players were experienced and played at a high level. We played several games and stayed until 3:30pm. Playing on an indoor court is different than the outdoor courts we’re used to. The ball is different – it’s softer and has larger holes in it. I think it’s easier to control. The floor reflects light and the overhead lights, windows and sky lights made it difficult for me to see the ball at times. Also, lob shots cannot be sent too high or they’ll hit fixtures and be called out of bounds. It was fun – we’ll go back. Afterwards, Bob e-mailed me a schedule for pickleball at other San Diego Recreation Centers.

I spent the day running errands yesterday. First, Donna and I scootered to the Sports Rx store on Santa Fe Street. Donna needed a new bicycle helmet. They had high-end helmets made by Smith that cost far more than Donna expected to spend – and they had nothing in size small. The sales associate went into the store room and came back with a size small Rudy Project helmet that had been discontinued. It was an open-box item that they offered to sell to Donna at a 40% discount. It was a great deal, but we decided to go to another store just down the street to check out what they had. She tried on some moderately priced helmets but didn’t like the fit or style. That’s what happens when you shop the high-end stuff first – you see the shortcuts taken to keep costs down on other offerings. We went back to Sports Rx and she bought the Rudy Project helmet. It’s a nice, lightweight helmet and she’s happy she went for it. She immediately headed out for her first bike ride in 3 1/2 weeks with a promise not to crash.

While Donna was out riding, I rode the scooter to Kearny Mesa. I needed to buy a new drinking water hose for the fresh water supply of our motor home. One of the hoses I connect to our filtration system was leaking at the swaged connector fitting. You shouldn’t use a regular garden hose for drinking water. Most garden hoses are made from polyvinyl chloride and have metal fittings of unstated origin. According to Rodale News, they can add heavy metals and plasticizers to the water.

I went to the La Mesa RV Center off Ruffner Street and looked at hoses. They had Valterra brand drinking water hoses, but they were only 1/2″ inside diameter (I.D.) and priced high. They wanted $21 for a 25′ hose. I rode over to Walmart and found Camco drinking water hoses with 5/8″ I.D. – 25′ for $10. These hoses are Bisphenol A (BPA) free and won’t contaminate drinking water. We don’t drink from the taps in our coach, but we do have a double filtered water dispenser for making coffee and filling water bottles. I bought the Camco hose.

I made a couple more stops for groceries and also picked up a bottle of Belching Beaver Milk Stout and a bottle of Eraser IPA.

Later, I took a stroll through the park. There are two other Alpine Coaches here but I haven’t met the owners. I also saw a few other coaches that piqued my curiosity. One was a Country Coach Magna 630 – this is a high end coach. It had damage on the left front corner and just pulled in yesterday. I can’t be sure since I didn’t meet the owner, but I think the same coach was here in a different spot when we arrived and it was damage-free. The broken fiberglass on the front looks fresh and the tire had fresh marks from contact. The left front basement door was taped shut with duct tape.

Country Coach Magna 630 damage

Country Coach Magna 630 damage

In another site, I saw a National RV Pacifica that also had left front damage. The Pacifica was the top of National’s line. This one didn’t have fiberglass damage – only the metal compartment door was hit.

Pacifica with dented compartment door

Pacifica with dented compartment door

These were graphic reminders to always maneuver the coach slowly and carefully in tight places. I don’t want to be nosy, but I would like to know what happened to these nice motor homes.

The third site that has me curious is site 138. There’s a Ford F250 pickup truck parked in the center of the site. The tag in the window shows it belongs in that site, but there’s no RV. I wondered if someone was sleeping in the back of the truck, but the site is within view of our place and I haven’t seen anyone there since we arrived on Sunday. Paying for a full hook-up site in a RV park seems like an expensive way to store your truck. Again, I don’t mean to be nosy but I can’t help wondering what the story is there.

Truck parked in a full hook up RV site

Truck parked in a full hook-up RV site

My daughter, Shauna, stopped by after work last night and joined us for dinner. She has a few more weeks of school and exams before she graduates from Cal Western with her law degree on May 1. We discussed plans for celebrating the occasion and her plans for moving to D.C. to start her new job. It turns out that she might be going to Albany, New York to take the bar exam at the same time we are there!

Today I plan to go back to the PB Recreation Center for more pickleball. Donna has opted to stay home and get some work done so she can spend the day with her sister, Sheila, tomorrow.

Getting Into Hot Water

I checked a few items off my “to do” list yesterday. Donna’s number one item was a follow-up visit to her doctor on 4th Avenue. I would have taken her there on the scooter, but I had an RV tech from RV Pros coming over to help out with the hot water situation at 11:30am. Donna’s appointment was at 11am. So, Donna took an Ūber car to her appointment.

Jorge from RV Pros arrived on time. I explained how our hot water flow was restricted – it had suddenly been reduced to a trickle while the cold water side had good flow and pressure. I told him about the corroded anode rod and how I had flushed the hot water tank twice. He looked at the back of tank through an access panel in our kitchen and diagnosed a bad check valve. The hot water outlet of the tank has a check valve that only allows water to flow out and prevents backflow into the tank. Jorge didn’t have the part with him.

To replace the check valve, the tank would have to be drained. I told Jorge I had a new anode rod. He said we should install it since the old one would be taken out to drain and flush the tank. I also showed him the pressure relief valve which was stuck. He said he would come back by 5pm with a new check valve and pressure relief valve.

After Jorge left, I rode the scooter to the Ben Bridge Jeweler at the Fashion Valley Mall in Mission Valley. I had talked to the watch maker there earlier. In 2007, I bought Donna a nice watch with a mechanical automatic movement at the Ben Bridge store in Scottsdale, Arizona. Her watch stopped when we were in Hemet. I suspected a set lever problem because the stem didn’t feel right. The watch was about eight years old and could use a complete servicing. I was once a watch idiot savant (WIS) – I had a collection of mechanical watches. I kept them on automatic winders – these are devices that rotate the watch so the auto-winding mechanism would keep the mainspring tensioned. I also had a collection of railroad pocket watches. I reduced my collection over the years – I only have one railroad pocket watch now and five wrist watches.

Israel, the watch maker at Ben Bridge confirmed my suspicion of a broken set lever. The set lever is selector that allows the watch to be manually wound or the date to be set or the time adjusted. He will do a complete overhaul of the watch including a new set lever, mainspring, seals and gaskets and polish the case and bracelet. Our goal is to have the work completed before we leave San Diego in four weeks.

While I was at the mall, I had lunch. I ordered teriyaki chicken with rice and vegetables at the food court and sat at a table in the sun. The meal was served in a flat styrofoam container. The day was breezy with sustained 12 to 15 mph wind. I ate a little over half of the meal when a sudden wind gust picked up the container and deposited the contents in my lap! Oh well.

Jorge came back around 3:30pm with the parts needed. I had talked to Thomas, the security supervisor here, and told him I would be draining the hot water tank. They are very sensitive to water spills here at Mission Bay RV Resort due to the proximity of the bay. Contaminated water run-off into the bay is frowned upon and could result in fines. Since I was draining fresh water and only expected to drain 10 gallons, he told me not to worry about it.

Jorge removed the old anode rod and he had a 1-1/8″ socket to remove the adapter from the tank. Now we could install the new genuine Suburban anode rod once the tank was drained. He used a wand on the end of a water hose to clean the inside of the tank. He also pulled the pressure relief valve.

Old corroded aftermarket anode rod

Old corroded aftermarket anode rod

File photo of a new Suburban anode rod for comparison

File photo of a new Suburban anode rod for comparison

Once the tank was empty, Jorge went inside and removed the check valve from the tank outlet. His diagnosis was correct – the check valve was faulty. The check valve has a brass housing which screws into the tank. Inside this housing is a spring-loaded plastic stopper. The spring seats the stopper inside the housing in the opposite direction of normal flow, thus preventing backflow into the tank. When a faucet is opened, the water pressure on the downstream side of the check valve drops and water pressure from the tank overcomes the spring and opens the valve, allowing hot water to flow to the faucet. The plastic stopper has a piece behind the spring that limits the amount of travel of the stopper. In our valve, this plastic piece was broken off and the stopper was floating inside the housing. Water flow would move the stopper against the outlet of the housing, restricting the flow.

Old broken check valve

Old broken check valve

With the check valve replaced and the new pressure relief and anode rod installed, we refilled the hot water tank. Voila, we had good hot water flow! I paid Jorge $170 for his time and materials and learned about our hot water system while he was at it.

With the tank working correctly, I had the electric heating element and the propane burner heating the water. I had hot water for a shower within 10 minutes. I showered and rode the scooter over to the Offshore Tavern and Grill to meet up with my school mates, Gary Stemple and Jim Birditt. Jim was in town on business and Gary set up the meet. We had a few beers and laughs while the bar filled with people wanting to watch the NCAA men’s baskeball championship. It was noisier in there than ever.

Jim and I had dinner there while Gary had to leave for a softball game in Kearny Mesa. I ordered the SD Cheesesteak sandwich – sliced beef, jalapenos, mushrooms, spicy jack cheese sauce and guacamole on an amoroso bun. I don’t know why I felt compelled to eat the whole thing. I was uncomfortably stuffed, but it was tasty.

That's a lot of sandwich

That’s a lot of sandwich

Today Donna and I will go to the Pacific Beach Recreational Center to see about getting into the open pickleball games.

Between Here and San Diego

They are pretty serious about pickleball here at Casa Grande RV Resort. I’ve played for a few hours every morning for five days straight. On Saturday, Donna and I went out for an evening walk and found people playing on the lighted courts. It was mostly the same group that plays in the morning – they were playing twice a day! No wonder there are so many good players here.

Two of the blogs I follow had similar themes recently. Nina Fussing (Wheeling It) wrote about their top six “incidents” on the road. Then Clarke Hockwald (What’sNewell) wrote about “when, not if,” things go sideways. Wouldn’t you know it, we had an “incident” Sunday night. I wanted to watch Wicked Tuna, so I turned on the satellite and TV. When I turned on the audio amplifier, I had no sound. I thought this was odd. I noticed the radio in the dashboard had a blank display. I thought a fuse may have blown and the radio and amplifier weren’t receiving 12 volts from the chassis batteries. The audio amplifier is on the chassis circuit, not the house 12-volt circuit. I think Western RV wired it this way so that when you’re driving down the road, listening to the in-dash radio which also goes through the audio amplifier, it wouldn’t be drawing current from the house batteries. Like Clarke said, “It’s when, not if things go sideways.”

After checking fuses, I got my multi-meter out and went outside to check the batteries. Oh no! The chassis batteries only showed 7 volts. Something had drawn the battery down. I looked around and found that I had neglected to turn off the CB radio. It doesn’t draw much current, but five days of continuous parasitic draw had killed my chassis batteries. I put a charger on the batteries right away. By Monday morning, they were up to 12.8 volts. I’m sure damage has been done. I’ll keep my fingers crossed and hope they can hold an acceptable level of charge.

Donna hoped she might be ready to play pickleball on Saturday, but in doing a couple of squats to test her readiness, she aggravated the muscle pull in her groin. She had been trying to stay active by walking, but even that’s more than is comfortable right now. The afternoons have been clear and very warm with the temperature approaching 90 degrees. We’ve relaxed most afternoons and have been running the air conditioners. It cools at night – the temperature dropped to the low 50s last night.

Sharon, one of the pickleball players, organized a happy hour gathering at the courtyard by the clubhouse yesterday. Everyone brought hors d’oeuvres which really turned out to be dinner. There was a lot of food and we enjoyed hanging out for a couple of hours and talking with different people.

Happy hour with the pickleball group

Happy hour with the pickleball group

Donna and I were trying to figure out what our plan is for the 12 open days we have between our check out day here and check in at Mission Bay RV Resort in San Diego. We thought about extending our stay in Casa Grande, but we really felt like moving on. Donna found a special offer at a high-end RV resort in Hemet, California. The full price rate for a week-long stay at Golden Village Palms RV Resort runs from $336 to $546 – way more than we usually pay. The special deal Donna found was for first time visitors to the resort. We reserved a site for one week for $199. It’s a true RV resort with all the amenities – three swimming pools, hot tubs, fitness center, pickleball courts and more. They have a concert series as well featuring artists such as the Eagles, Shania Twain and Tim McGraw, and Jimmy Buffet. Unfortunately, we missed their winter concert season.

We’ll pull out of here tomorrow. Our plan is stop in Yuma for fuel and groceries, then head west and spend a night in the desert. From there, we’ll travel up through El Centro on highway 111 past the Salton Sea and through the Coachella Valley to Hemet. We’ll cover about 200 miles per day and check in Thursday afternoon. After our week in Hemet, we can spend a few days at the Escapee’s Jojoba Hills park before we head down to Mission Bay. That’s our plan – we’ll see how it works out.

Two for One in Casa Grande

We’ve settled in at the Casa Grande RV Resort. It’s relatively quiet. We’re near a busy road but it’s nowhere as noisy as our location in Mesa.

When we visited the Casa Grande ruins and arrived here on Wednesday, we dodged a few rain showers. The rain continued Thursday through most of the day with a few breaks here and there. I left the scooter and grill in the trailer until Thursday afternoon when the skies started to clear a bit. I mentioned in my last post how accommodating the management was here at Casa Grande RV Resort. They gave us two back-to-back sites for the price of one so we wouldn’t have to drop our trailer!

Spacious site(s) 310/305

Spacious site(s) 310/305

Donna made meatloaf for dinner. Her meatloaf is always sensational – I think it’s mainly due to the way she manages to get the meat really fine by “whisking” it with a fork. I enjoyed a bottle of Rough Draft Eraser IPA with dinner.

Rough Draft Eraser IPA

Rough Draft Eraser IPA

Meatloaf served with steamed Kale and bacon and mashed sweet potato

Meatloaf served with steamed kale and carmelized bacon and mashed sweet potato

The skies were partly cloudy with cooler weather on Friday. I think the high was in the lower 70s. I went to the pickleball courts in the morning. They have four courts here. When I arrived, all four courts had games in progress and 11 people were waiting to play. They have a good system here to rotate players in. There’s a rack for paddles. Placing your paddle in the rack serves as a placeholder. When a game is finished, all four players leave the court. The next four paddles in line are retrieved by their owners and that makes up the next foursome. I played several games and I’m beginning to move better now. I still have some tightness in my right leg, but it’s definitely improving.

On Friday evening, Donna prepared green chili turkey burgers. They’re really good, but these have been bothersome to grill in the past. The turkey burgers tend to fall apart because of the wetness of the diced green chilis in them. So I tried something different this time. I used a grill mat on our Weber grill and it worked perfectly. Now I just have to figure out how to clean the grill mat.

Grill mat on our Weber grill

Grill mat on our Weber grill

The clouds had moved to the east while I was grilling. I shot a photo of the sunset reflecting off the clouds looking east from our site.

Sunset reflecting off the clouds in the east

Sunset reflecting off the clouds in the east

Donna has been taking walks for exercise while her road rash heals. She pulled a groin muscle when she crashed and that’s preventing her from jumping back into pickleball. But her injuries are getting better every day.

We had warmer weather on Saturday. I started the day with pickleball again. Donna continued formatting one of her books which she recently updated and will re-release shortly. I had a lazy day. I spent most of the afternoon reading another Vince Flynn thriller – Protect and Defend. I managed to break away from relaxation time long enough to replace the filter bag in the central vacuum cleaner system and try it out. We haven’t been using the central vacuum cleaner, just our Dyson DC44 cordless vacuum. Donna wanted to try the central vacuum cleaner so I got it up and running. It seems to work really well.

Central vacuum cleaner

Central vacuum cleaner

In the afternoon, we joined our neighbors, Bill and Cris Filby for happy hour. They are snowbirds from Michigan planning to go full-time soon. Right now they have a fifth-wheel RV, but they’re planning to move to a 40′ motor home when they hit the road full-time. They are also avid pickleball players and provide lessons for new players.

This morning I went to the pickleball courts early. I was there by 8:30 and played for three hours! I’m whipped. We expect the temperature to reach the mid-80s today. It looks like another good day for rest and relaxation.

St. Paddy’s at Orangewood

Donna was feeling sore and moving slowly on Monday. She had a dentist appointment at 9:40am and drove herself to the dentist office in Lana’s Toyota Highlander. Thankfully we still have Lana’s car and didn’t have to scooter over to the dentist office. That would have been a bit uncomfortable. After her dental appointment, Donna took pain medication. Unfortunately, the medication made her nauseous. So she took it easy for the rest of the day.

I resealed the seams on the left bedroom slide-out after a few games of pickleball. On Monday evening, we walked down to the grassy common area by the pickleball courts for the Orangewood Shadows memorial pizza dinner. Residents decorated luminaria bags memorializing those who have passed on. Since we’re newcomers to this park, we didn’t know the proper etiquette.  We found a spot on the grass, set up our chairs and got in line for pizza. Then we figured out that we were set up in an area reserved for VIPs. I’m still not clear what constitutes an Orangewood Shadows VIP. We ate our pizza slices and decided to re-locate. The folks around us told us not to worry about it and stay where we were. We didn’t feel right, so we moved. Then we figured out that the grass had been divided into zones. They were calling people up to get in line for pizza by zone. Oh well, we didn’t mean to jump the line.

We sat with Jim, one of the guys we often play pickleball with, and met his wife Kay. We enjoyed their company and chatted for a while. We learned that they came to Orangewood for the first three years in a motorhome, then rented a park model for two years before deciding to buy one this year. All in all, 90 pizzas were served that night! Donna and I had two slices each, not a bad deal for a two-dollar ticket.

On Tuesday morning, I hit the pickleball court for the last time before we pull out of here. We quit early as the Orangewood Shadows St. Patrick’s Day parade was scheduled to begin at 10am. Some of the residents went all out for the parade. Donna and I sat in chairs in front of our site as the parade came by. It was fun.

Bag pipes

Bagpipes

Our neighbor Al driving a golf cart converted to a fire engine

Our neighbor Al driving a golf cart converted to a fire engine

Orangewood Shadows band. Our neighbor Brian in front with the saxophone

Orangewood Shadows band – our neighbor Brian in front with the saxophone

Another musical group from the park

Another musical group from the park

After the parade, I started working on organizing the trailer. The longer we sit in one place, the more work it takes to get the trailer ready for travel. I removed the tire covers from the coach and checked the tire pressure. I also tackled another chore on my to-do list. I wanted to sanitize our fresh water tank and lines. It’s been more than a year since I’ve done this and I think it’s a good idea to make this an annual maintenance item.

The last time I sanitized the fresh water tank, I used household bleach. Two ounces per 15 gallons is the proper mixture. Household bleach has about 3% available chlorine. It also has other components that make it smell and taste awful. When I sanitized with bleach, I had to flush the stuff out of the system a couple of times and it still took a while before the odor was gone.

This time I used a chlorine concentrate called sodium dichlor. It’s available at pool supply stores. I bought a pound of granulated sodium dichlor at Leslie’s Pool for five bucks. It contains 62% available chlorine, so a little bit goes a long way. It only takes a teaspoon of sodium dichlor to treat 100 gallons of water. I put a teaspoon of sodium dichlor into the fresh water supply line and filled our fresh water tank with 100 gallons of water. The solution needs to be in the tanks for three hours or longer to ensure all bacteria are eliminated. I also opened all of the taps and shower head to distribute chlorinated water throughout the fresh water system. With the tank filled, Donna and I went to the recreation hall for the fish fry lunch.

The park was having its annual fish fry with Alaskan halibut, French fries and cole slaw. Our ticket also included our choice of beer or soda. They served a large plate of fish and chips. I managed to eat all of the halibut, but couldn’t eat all of the fries. The halibut was good!

Fish and chips plate

Fish and chips plate

The fish fry lunch was running a little behind schedule. Apparently only two of the three fryers they rented were working. We had to scoot out of there so Donna could make it back to the dentist at 2pm. She had an appointment to have her retainer adjusted to fit the new crown that was put in on Monday.

After the dentist, I drove Donna to her friend’s house. Dara lives in Las Sendas a couple of miles from the dentist office. Dara is into essential oils and she had several she wanted to give to Donna to help her road rash heal. Dara and Donna sometimes ride together and she’s had her share of road rash. Some years back, she was hit by a car and seriously injured. She founded Not One More, a non-profit foundation committed to making roads safer for cyclists and helping those who have been injured to meet their medial and personal bills.

From Dara’s house, we drove to Lana’s to return her car. Lana dropped us back at the RV park. Lana also had my old laptop, which her fiance Joel had repaired. He took the laptop completely apart and replaced the cooling fan. It works like new. He said it was a difficult unit to disassemble. When I looked for someone to fix it, I was told the labor would be over $200. I paid Joel for the part – he fixed it gratis. Now I have a back-up laptop. Thanks, Lana and Joel, for your generosity.

I made one last trip to Lucky Lou’s to say my goodbyes to the gang. When I returned, I dumped the chlorinated water from the fresh water tank – it had been in there for nearly six hours. I had turned off the water heater earlier in the day. I dumped the water from the water heater and flushed it out. I refilled our fresh water tank and ran water through all of the taps. I can barely smell the chlorine. Sodium dichlor will be my method of choice from now on.

I made a few more preparations for our departure. I removed and stored our front window covers before I fired up the grill. I grilled Trader Joe’s chicken jalapeno sausages while Donna prepared creamy avocado cauliflower – steamed cauliflower blended with avocado, olive oil, garlic, lemon and parsley in the food processor. It paired perfectly with the sausage and the color was in the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day.

Non-traditional St Paddy's Day fare

Non-traditional St Paddy’s Day fare

I have a few more things to load into the trailer before we kick the tires and light the fires. We’re heading back to Casa Grande.

Orange Blossoms

We tend to follow nice weather. We try to avoid cold, wet climates and opt for warm, sunny weather. This means we are mostly in areas where flowers are blooming. I have severe pollen allergies – most tree and grass pollen really sets me off.

This year, I tried a form of immunotherapy that involves taking daily doses of local, minimally processed honey. The theory behind this is that the honey contains small amounts of local pollen. Taken daily, an immunity is built up in the body. I started doing this last fall in San Diego and continued here in Arizona.

Here in Arizona, I bought local honey that was labeled mesquite. It’s from bee colonies that are in the open desert and contains a mix of pollen. It seems to have helped. I’m not free of allergy symptoms, but they haven’t been as severe as last year. Recently I switched to orange blossom honey in anticipation of all the orange trees around here flowering.

Orange tree blossoming next to our site

Orange tree blossoming next to our site

But the honey treatment is no match for the current profusion of orange tree blossoms. I now have full-blown allergy symptoms – sinus congestion, runny nose, and puffy, watery eyes. I’m taking Flonase, but mornings are misery.

I mentioned meeting up with Dave Hobden at Tekris Power Electronics in yesterday’s post. While I was there, I made an impulse purchase of a device that seems somewhat controversial. It’s a battery desulfator that I installed on our bank of 6-volt house batteries. Sulfation is where the lead, lead oxide and sulfuric acid in the batteries combine and form crystals of lead sulfate. These crystals cling to the lead plates, diminishing capacity. Charging the battery removes these crystals, but it doesn’t remove them completely. Over time, they accumulate. Some crystals may fall to bottom of the battery where they can collect and eventually short the plates.

The device I bought is called Battery Life Saver BLS-12N. It’s connected to the battery bank and draws a small amount of current – I took measurements and averaged 23ma. It generates a high-frequency signal through the battery. The frequency it generates shatters the lead sulfate crystals so they can recombine into the lead, lead oxide and sulfuric acid components.

I say it’s controversial because an online search reveals two camps. One camp says it’s nothing more than snake oil or voodoo and does nothing. The other camp says they use it and it absolutely works. I haven’t found any evidence of valid testing by the nay-sayers to prove it doesn’t work. On the other hand, there are test results that show battery capacity can be restored with this device. I don’t know for sure and I don’t know how I can make a valid test on our batteries while they’re in use. I guess if our batteries need to be replaced in the next year or two, I’ll join the nay-sayer camp. If our batteries last for several years, who’s to say the BLS-12N helped or not? Like I said, it was an impulse buy.

Battery Life Saver mounted in the battery compartment

Battery Life Saver mounted in the battery compartment

We played pickleball yesterday morning. It’s such an addicting game and Donna and I love playing it. I took it easy and played four or five games. My calf was a little tight, but it feels fine today.

We had warm weather with low clouds yesterday. The temperature was in the upper 80s. If we didn’t have the cloud cover, it would have been a real cooker. As it was, we ran the air conditioners in the afternoon. I took a photo of the sky before sunset while I was outside grilling. We have the same low ceiling again today.

Low clouds near sunset

Low clouds near sunset

Donna and I enjoy Thai food. We don’t have to eat out to enjoy this type of food though. A week or so ago, Donna made a variation of Thai satay called Malaysian chicken sate. She marinates the chicken and I grill it on skewers. It’s served with a delightful peanut sauce. We liked it so much, Donna prepared it again last night.

Malaysian chicken sate skewers on the grill

Malaysian chicken sate skewers on the grill

Malaysian chicken sate with peanut sauce and sauteed veggies

Malaysian chicken sate with peanut sauce and sauteed veggies

I have a project to attend to today. I want to reseal the seams on the driver’s side bedroom slide-out with silicone sealant. When it rains, water is collecting behind the trim and leaves a stain as it runs down the side of the coach.

Easier Battery Maintenance

Having the right tool for the job always makes the task easier. I’ve posted about battery maintenance before. To recap, the house 12-volt system on our coach is powered by four 6-volt deep-cycle batteries. In our case, they’re golf cart-type, flooded wet-cell lead-acid batteries. This means the cells have lead plates immersed in electrolyte. The electrolyte is 65% water and 35% sulfuric acid.

To produce 12 volts from a bank of 6-volt batteries, they’re connected in pairs. Two 6-volt batteries connected in series produce twelve volts. Each of our four 6-volt batteries is rated to 186 amp hours (AH). This rating is typically taken over a 20-hour period. In other words, the battery should provide a little over 9 amps for 20 hours. In reality, you never want to completely discharge a battery. There’s another factor as well – discharge rates aren’t linear. The higher the discharge rate, the less capacity the battery can provide. In our case, the batteries are rated for 100 minutes at 75 amps. If it were linear, you would expect close to 150 minutes (186/75=2.48 hours).

Our two pairs of batteries connected in series amounts to two large 12-volt batteries. The two pairs are connected to each other in parallel so the voltage remains the same, but the capacity is equal to the sum of the two battery pairs. Our 186 AH batteries are now capable of providing 372 AH.

It’s important to keep lead-acid batteries charged. Storing them in a discharged state causes sulfation of the plates which diminishes capacity and ultimately ruins the battery.

Our bank of house batteries is charged by the inverter/charger any time we are connected to shore power or are running our generator. It’s a smart charger that monitors the battery condition and temperature and adjusts the charging rates accordingly. The charging goes through three phases. First is bulk charging. This phase takes care of 80% of the charging. Constant current is applied and voltage is raised above 14 volts. The second phase is called absorption. In this phase, the voltage is constant at 14.1 to 14.8 volts and current decreases as the final 20% of the charge is completed. The last phase is called float charging. In this phase, the voltage is dropped to 13.0 to 13.8 volts and the current is reduced to less than 1% of battery capacity. This phase will maintain an unused battery in a fully charged state.

The smart charger shouldn’t allow the temperature of a flooded wet cell battery to exceed 125 degrees Fahrenheit. However, some gassing of the electrolyte is inevitable. This gassing plus normal evaporation causes the electrolyte level to drop over time. The lead plates in the cells should never be exposed to air – they should be completely immersed in electrolyte at all times. Exposure to air causes irreversible damage. The evaporation or gassing only affects the water in the electrolyte. The sulfuric acid is not diminished. Therefore, only water is needed to top up the battery.

We don’t want introduce minerals into the electrolyte, so tap water shouldn’t be used. The cells should be topped up with distilled water. Whew, all that to say our house batteries need to be checked and topped up periodically. Our chassis batteries, which are used to start the engine and power the instrument panel, are maintenance-free 12-volt batteries that don’t need to have water added.

In the past, I’ve been checking our batteries every few months by removing the caps on the cells, sticking my head into the compartment and peering down into the cells. It’s easy to see if the electrolyte level is above the plates, but it’s hard to tell how high the actual level is. The cell needs to have enough electrolyte to cover the plates with about 1/4″ to 1/2″ of liquid from the plate to the surface of the electrolyte. The electrolyte shouldn’t reach the neck of the fill well though, or acid will be forced out of the vent when the temperature rises during charging.

I used to look, make my best guess and use a turkey baster to add water to each cell. The batteries in the back of the bank were a real shot in the dark as I couldn’t see into the cells very well.

Yesterday I rode the scooter to NAPA Auto Parts and bought the right tool for the job. It’s a simple thing and something I should have done long ago. It’s a battery filler with an automatic shut-off. You fill the container with distilled water, then you push the spout into the filler well on the battery cell. The spring-loaded spout opens and allows the water to flow into the battery. When the electrolyte level reaches the spout, it automatically shuts off.

Battery filler with auto shut off and distilled water

Battery filler with auto shut-off and distilled water

Using this filler is a breeze. I removed the battery caps, inserted the filler spout until the flow of water stopped, then moved on to the next cell. Job done in five minutes. I didn’t have to lean into the battery bank and peer into the cells – it automatically filled each cell to the proper level.

Couldn't be any easier

Couldn’t be any easier

Based on my experience over the past year, I’ll do this task every three months or so.

Yesterday I walked to the RV park office and back to purchase tickets for the big fish fry on St. Patrick’s Day. My leg is getting much better. I’ll get out and enjoy the weather with another walk today. Our forecast calls for a warming trend. We should see temperatures in the high 70s today and into the 80s over the weekend.

Stormy Monday

Pardon the pun, but rain pretty much puts a damper on our activities. The heavy rain that was forecast to hit us around noon on Monday actually arrived around 9:30am. Donna drove the rental car back to Enterprise at 11:30am and they gave her a ride back to Orangewood Shadows RV Resort. With the rain pouring down all afternoon, we stayed indoors. I spent most of my time reading after I posted to the blog.

Stormy Monday

Stormy Monday

Donna had a pork tenderloin in the slow cooker all afternoon with a maple syrup and mustard sauce. She served it with cumin-spiced roasted brussel sprouts. The aroma from the slow cooker was delightful.

Pork tenderloin with brussel sprouts

Pork tenderloin with brussel sprouts

The rain continued through most of the night. Donna was up early Tuesday morning. She left at 7:30am to join the Orangewood Shadows hiking group on their trek up Siphon Draw Trail in the Superstition Mountains.

The first photo from the hike was shot by Donna, all others courtesy of Don Dunning.

Water running down rock and forming a pool on Siphon Draw Trail

Water running down Siphon Draw

Superstition Mountains

Superstition Mountains from the trailhead at Lost Dutchman State Park

Orangewood Shadows hiking group

Orangewood Shadows hiking group

Part of the trail is wide, but it gets rocky toward the top

The trail gets rocky toward the top

Mountain top shrouded in low cloud cover

Mountain top shrouded in low cloud cover

While they were stopped for lunch at the top, it started raining. They carefully made their way down the slippery rock section and headed back.

Meanwhile, back at the coach, we had sunshine. I took advantage of the dry conditions and refilled the hummingbird feeder. I restocked paper products from our stash in the trailer. Then I dumped and flushed our holding tanks. After that, I gave my leg a rest and read for a while. Although it was sunny out, it was also breezy with the temperature hovering around 60 degrees.

When Donna returned around 12:30pm, she told me about the rain on Superstition Mountain. I was surprised since it had been dry here all morning. Within 10 minutes, the rain returned. It rained in spurts off and on all afternoon.

The wet road coupled with a lane closure outside of Orangewood Shadows RV Resort on University Drive proved to be challenging for some drivers. Twice we heard the screech of locked-up tires sliding on the tarmac followed by a metallic crunch. Fender benders! So many inattentive drivers in these conditions kept me home without a thought of venturing out on the scooter.

Last night, Donna made pepperoni chicken. She uses pounded chicken breasts as the base for a pizza-like entree topped with pepperoni slices, homemade marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese. Last time, she served it with sauteed zucchini and onions. She served it over spaghetti squash this time.

Pepperoni chicken over spaghetti sqaush

Pepperoni chicken over spaghetti squash

The forecast calls for clear skies and a warming trend with the high temperature reaching 80 degrees by the end of the week. My calf injury is much improved and I plan to start gently exercising it with short walks and careful stretching.

Ponzi Scheme Crook

Donna and her teammate Angie raced in the duathlon at McDowell Mountain Regional Park early yesterday morning. Angie ran the first 3.6-mile leg, then transferred the timing chip to Donna in the transition area. Donna had a goal of averaging 15mph over the hilly 25.2-mile bike course. She made the ride in 1:36:40 for an average speed of 15.6mph. Then Angie finished the race with another 3.6-mile run. They were happy the rain held off and had a good time.

Angie and Donna - up at 5am and all smiles before the race

Angie and Donna – up at 5am and all smiles before the race

While Donna was at the race, I was thinking about the Filter Minder Air Restriction Gauge I wrote about in yesterday’s post. First I went online and looked up troubleshooting information. I found the Filter Minder FAQ page. It warns the consumer not to judge an air filter’s restriction by visual examination. An air filter that looks dirty may have much filtration life left. Air restriction through the filter remains low through much of its service life, then rapidly increases as the filter clogs at the end of its service life. The large air filter on our Cummins ISL is designed for commercial use which usually entails high mileage in a relatively short time. In a motorhome, high-mileage driving is the exception.

I found a chart on the site that showed typical results over miles driven in non-severe (not dusty) conditions. It can take more than 50,000 miles before the restriction starts to show on the gauge. Of course, they also warn not to change filters on a mileage schedule – always use restriction as the factor unless the filter is in danger of deterioration due to age.

With these facts in mind, I went out to test our Filter Minder Air Restriction Gauge. First, I disconnected the vacuum line from the top of the gauge. I put a short length of vacuum hose on it and applied vacuum. The gauge responded – there’s nothing wrong with the gauge. Then I blew air through the vacuum line between the gauge and the intake tube behind the air filter. The air flowed freely – there’s no blockage. I reconnected the vacuum line at the gauge and crawled under the coach. I disconnected the line at the intake tube and applied vacuum at the line. I stepped out and looked at the gauge. It works fine. There’s nothing wrong with our Filter Minder. Apparently I’m guilty of assuming that the old filter should have shown restriction based on its appearance.

Filter Minder Air Restriction Gauge on or Alpine Coach

Filter Minder Air Restriction Gauge on our Alpine Coach

The way the gauge works is this – as air is pulled through the air filter element into the intake system, a slight vacuum may be created between the air filter and the turbocharger compressor. As the filter collects dust and debris, it gains efficiency in dust collection. Eventually it starts to overload and the vacuum in the intake between the air filter and turbocharger increases. Once the vacuum exceeds 8 in/H2O the gauge begins to register. At 22-25 in/H2O, the air filter element needs to be changed. Our gauge didn’t move because we hadn’t exceeded the 8in/H2O threshold. That said, our air filter was old and it was time to change it. Enough about air filtration.

Another event took place over the weekend. On Saturday I talked to my step-dad, Ken. I try to stay in touch by phoning him every couple of weeks. He’s 84 years old and lives alone in Sun City (Menifee), California. He told me some unsettling news. He had rolled over a sizable IRA investment into an annuity account. Last year, he took a distribution from the annuity. As he was preparing his tax documents, he realized he didn’t have a 1099-R form for the distribution. In fact, he didn’t have a year-end statement either. He tried to reach the insurance broker who set up the annuity. The guy’s phone was disconnected and could not be reached.

He told me the guy’s name was John P. Slawinski. I did a quick Google search and found that John P. Slawinski of Palm Desert, California was arrested last August on five counts of felony financial elder abuse after stealing more than two million dollars from five senior citizens. Ken confirmed that this was the guy who set up his annuity. The article included a phone number for the Rancho Cucamonga regional office of the California Department of Insurance. I gave Ken the phone number and told him to call on Monday (today) to add his name to the list of plaintiffs.

Later I talked to my daughter, Shauna. Shauna is set to graduate law school May 1st. I told her what happened. Yesterday Shauna called me and said she found out that John P. Slawinski is currently incarcerated and a hearing is set for the end of April. She said she would follow up with the California Department of Insurance to make sure Ken’s claim is properly filed.

It makes me sick to think of scammers preying on seniors and stealing their life savings. Hopefully this guy has some assets that can be seized and liquidated to provide some restitution to his victims.

Last evening, Donna and I went out for Italian food. We wanted to go to our favorite – Roma Cafe Ristorante in the Sun Valley Plaza on Main Street, but discovered that they’re closed on Sunday. So we went to Alessia’s Ristorante Italiano on Higley and Brown Road. We dined al fresco. Donna ordered the Che Calamari plate and I had Strangola. We both opted for cappellini as the pasta. The Che Calamari is calamari sauteed with fresh tomatoes, garlic and basil marinara. The Strangola is homemade sausage sauteed with onions and button mushrooms with parmesan in a chicken broth-based  sauce. We both thought the food was excellent and the service was fine, but it doesn’t top Roma Cafe. We’ll try to have dinner there before we leave Mesa.

The rain in the weekend forecast didn’t arrive until we had a few smatterings after 7am this morning. It’s overcast and blustery out. Now the weather guessers say we should expect heavy rain around noon and it will continue into the night, with clear weather returning tomorrow.

 

Keeping it Clean

Another rest and recuperation day for my leg on Friday. I’m seeing progress now. I can walk better and with less pain. I still have to take care not to stretch the calf excessively or try to stand on my tippy-toes. I’m not there yet.

I scootered Donna over to Enterprise where she picked up a rental car for the weekend. Enterprise has weekend specials – we get a car for $9.99/day. Donna had a free upgrade, so she got a Nissan Altima which is big enough to transport her bike to the duathlon at McDowell Mountain Regional Park on Sunday.

On Friday evening, Donna and I went to the Red, White and Brew for happy hour. Our intention was to visit with friends, have a cold one and order food. Turned out the only friends we knew there were the bartenders. Everyone else was at Lucky Lou’s. So we drove down the road to Lucky Lou’s and sat out on the patio with Mike and Jodi Hall along with Kellie and Amber.

Donna, Kellie, Amber, Jodi and Mike

Donna (caught mid-blink), Kellie, Amber, Jodi and Mike

Afterward, Donna and I had dinner next door at the Thai restaurant.

Saturday we awoke to heavily overcast skies. The forecast called for rain Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Donna contemplated backing out of doing the duathlon with her teammate Angie. The weather guessers revised the forecast several times throughout the day.

While Donna took the car shopping at Tempe Marketplace, I completed a task on the coach. I had ordered a new air filter element for our Cummins ISL engine and UPS dropped it off by our steps while were out Friday evening.

Air filters shouldn’t be replaced unless they develop restriction or they’re damaged or at risk of failure due to age. Our filter minder air restriction gauge didn’t indicate a restriction, but I was skeptical. The gauge hasn’t moved in the last year. Also I was concerned about the age of our air filter.

Our air filter element is made of cellulose fiber, like most air filters. The filter is 98.5% efficient when new, but the efficiency increases to well over 99% with use. As dust particles accumulate on the filter media, it traps smaller and smaller particles. When new, many of the smaller particles might pass through. That’s why changing the air filter too often can actually increase engine wear.

Diesel engines do not have a throttle. They need all the air they can get to make maximum power. The power output is regulated by the amount of fuel injected into the combustion chamber. Gasoline engines need to maintain an air/fuel ratio of about 14.7:1 although realistically it varies between 12:1 and 15:1. Diesel engines can have air/fuel ratios of 15:1 and up to more than 80:1. A good supply of clean air is essential. According to Cummins, if a tablespoon of dirt is ingested by the engine over time, it will ruin the engine. The B50 life of a Cummins ISL (B50 is the point where 50% of the engines maintained to specification will need an overhaul) is 600,000 miles. Over this life span, very little dirt passing through the air filter can add up.

So, my task was to remove the old air filter element, keep everything as clean as possible and install the new element. On our Alpine Coach, this is a fairly simple operation. The service bay allows easy access to the air filter element.

Air filter housing in the service bay

Air filter housing in the service bay

First I removed the outer end plate on the air filter housing by loosening the wing nut. This exposed the air filter element which is held in place by a second wing nut.

Air filter element held by a second wing nut

Air filter element held by a second wing nut

The air filter element was dirtier than I expected, confirming my suspicion of something wrong with the filter minder gauge.

Dirty air filter element

Dirty air filter element

I noticed the old element was made by Luber-Finer. It had a spiral band of adhesive around the outer screen to keep the filter media from collapsing. This band only made three passes around the outer screen.

The filter media was intact and the inside of the filter was clean. The engine draws air from the outside of the filter, through the filter media and clean air is presented through the inside diameter of the filter.

Inside of the old filter is clean and media is intact

Inside of the old filter is clean and media is intact

The new filter I ordered is the Cummins-recommended Fleetguard AF 25549 filter element. The spiral ring of adhesive on this filter wraps around the outside diameter five times. This looks to be better though the old filter held up fine with three wraps.

New Fleetguard filter element

New Fleetguard filter element

I carefully cleaned the air filter housing and installed the new filter element. The air filter element has an axial seal where it meets the back of the filter housing. It’s important to have this seal undamaged and in good contact with the housing. Tightening the wing nut on the filter element compresses this seal in place. It should be snug, but not over tightened.

New filter in place

New filter in place

All that was left to do was to install the end cap. Job done! We won’t pull out of here for another 17 days, but I wanted to check this off my list and not let everything pile up until the last days before our departure. Next I traced the vacuum line on the filter minder air restriction gauge looking for leaks. I didn’t find any leaks. It’s either plugged or the gauge is defective.

With that job done, I retired to the sofa and finished reading Executive Power by Vince Flynn. These espionage thrillers aren’t very realistic, but they’re fun reads.

When Donna returned from shopping, I pumped up her bicycle tires and loaded her bike in the rental car. The weather guessers had pushed back the rain forecast until sometime Sunday night or Monday morning. Donna whipped up her famous crab cakes for dinner. As always, they were outstanding.

Donna's crab cakes

Donna’s crab cakes

Donna was up early and off to McDowell Mountain Park with Angie at 5:30am this morning. I hope the race is going well for them.