I drove my 1988 Itasca Sundancer 25ft motorhome to West Branch State Park near Ravenna of Portage County yesterday to get some shore power. The outlets at it's storage facility were dead. The engine was having the same power problems going up hills at speeds greater than 35MPH. But it also still had the old gas mixed half in half with 87 octane.
Back at the storage facility, I jumped the auxiliary batteries with my car. Afterwards, my auxiliary generator fired right up, but it was only giving me DC power to the lighting only. Because I thought that I had some drilling to do, I needed AC power. And that's what led me to get a electric campsite.
The first thing that I wanted to do was bore a hole underneath on of the breakfast nook seats for coax communications cable that would escape around the propane gas tank, then bore a hole into the side of a compartment where it would store wound up when not in use. This cable is for a cell phone signal booster. Well, I just ran the cable out the door to it's suctioned cup antenna and I simply plan to get a rubber strip for the floor so I don't trip over it. But the right way to do this is to upgrade the lines and couplers for the present analog coax system so that the exterior line just has to screw in and everything's just nice an clean.
I then got to working on the new cigarette lighter power socket. Yesterday, I stopped at Radio Shack and purchased a 12 gauge - 12V DC switch. But it connects with flat prongs and I didn't have those in that size. Since the motorhome was parked and on shore power, I really couldn't get to the store to get the right ones. so, it is further along, but not complete.
And totally forgot about this when I built my utility hauling trailer three years ago. O'Reilly Autoparts doesn't sell crimping electrical wiring parts. Instead, they sell parts that need a heat gun and I've never really had the facility for that. I've always used crimped. So, I accidentally got some and I was trying to crimp them. And they're really hard to push down. But once I'm at the wits end of my gripping power, it still doesn't collapse the metal cylinder over the bare wires. And that's how I know that I've got the wrong stuff.
After I unscrewed the bench cover in the breakfast nook, I found a dead mouse today. It seemed like it was recently dead. I poked it a few times with an empty caulking gun to to make sure. Then I used it to scoop it up and toss it outside. I'm not sure if it was surrounded by some ultra light insulation, or whether that was it's nest? It was like handfuls of some kind of wooden like shavings. So, I'm not sure if I should dispose of it, or how to replace it if I even have to?
- I used my new ultra light vacuum today. I felt kind of silly using it because it's so small.
On the way back, I filled up with about 23 gallons of 89 octane. I didn't try to get the motorhome to down shift when going uphill, but it seemed to run better. But also, it wasn't going against the wind on the way back like it was when it usually has trouble. There are some vapors seeping into the cab. But, it has engine access inside there. And after 28 years, maybe the seals aren't what they use to be? But if I remember my car correctly when it had a misfire, there was reduced power and some vapors. I have yet to inspect that part of the engine. And since I have mice problems, if they nested in the engine, they could have chewed some of the wires. But if that's the case, even with a motor that old, wouldn't it trigger some kind of check engine code? Who knows.. maybe the addition of the 89 octane dilute and the (finally) burning off of that old gas might be the improvement that it needs?
The side view mirrors are something of concern. They're bar mounted to the cab doors. And I can replace the mirrors themselves no problem. It's the hardware between the mirrors and bars that could use replacing. The nuts and bolt holding it together are very rusty and if I try to tighten or loosen them, they will probably snap. Then this piece of hardware wraps around the bar and has a shim. Both shims are dry rotted and that's why they're not holding the mirrors in place. The problem is, I have yet to find any replacements. So, I'm going to have to replace the nuts and bolts, probably right in hardware store's parking lot. But as for that shim, I need a rubber strip at least 1/16th of an inch thick x 2 inches wide x 5 inches long or more. However, I just thought of this as I was typing... I may be able to shim with recycled aluminum from soda cans? I've done it with a bicycle when adding componentry to them in the past.
Anyways, the motorhome has dual CB antennas mounted there. I'm considering keeping them there in case the Buckeye Trail ever has a project that requires communication in a remote area. But the mirrors are mounted for somebody who's 5'7 and I'm 6'6. On the bars, they only have two dimensional movement. In order to get the 3rd dimension (up and down), the mirror and mount need to be physically moved up the bar, which means that they and the CB antennas need to switch places.
The driver's side does not have a blind spot mirror. Well, when changing in to a left lane, I can look over my shoulder quickly and see out of the breakfast nook's window. But I'm not entirely confident with it because I can only imagine that there has to be so much that I can't see along the final 5ft of the motorhome.
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