Hot Water Tank, LP Gas Alarm, Roof Seals

The replacement hot water tank and propane gas alarm for my 1988 Itasca Sundancer Class C motorhome is ordered.

In order to survive another winter, I'll have to see what's going on with the auxiliary battery capacitor?  I may have to replace the electrical lines to the generator, but right now, I don't know what to get that could withstand low temperatures?

The auxiliary batteries might be needed to keep the pilot lit in the overhead heater/ air conditioner?  I'll have to ensure that they're full and I need the on-board battery conditioner to do it when the power converter is plugged into the AC source.  Also, the motor home is more than 2° pitched back right now.  I may have to seal the roof in order to get it to within 2° in order for the pilot flame in the heater to make proper contact?

Tomorrow's Addenda

Tomorrow, the automotive objective is to fill the transmission fluid in the motorhome, charge it's cab batteries, turn the engine on and watch for any leaks.  Then I should run the engine for about 90 minutes, while jumping the auxiliary batteries.

Today, I purchased a 5 inch extension for my 3/8ths ratchet and a set of deep well bolt grip sockets to cut into and remove the corroded bolt that is still retaining the exhaust manifold in my 2008 Chevy HHR LS.  I'm hoping to have the exhaust manifold (header) dismounted from the engine block tomorrow as well.

Oil Valve Manifold and Auxiliary Battery Re-Charge Continued

The Haynes repair manual for my 2008 Chevy HHR LS wanted me to torque the oil valve manifold bolts to 89ft lbs.  I got my torque wrench ready today and as I did this, I snapped two bolts in the engine manifold.  Haynes' torque specifications must be talking out it's behind.  It certainly wasn't that hard to get oil valve manifold off.  In ignorance, I was taking Haynes' word for it, but now I think I should have known better?  It was the first time working with my digital torque adapter.  Now, I'm going to have to get them replaced and find a way to get out what in the engine side holes.

The battery charger that I'm using is a Carquest CQ-80CR.  From yesterday's log, this morning, it read an error code of FO5.  Last night, I had both deep cycle marine batteries hooked up to simultaneously charge.  I'm not sure if my little 8amp charger can really handle the load?

Oil Valve Manifold Gasket, Seals Grommets and Auxiliary Battery Recharging

When the 5th leak happened in the motorhome, it was right above the kitchen table where I had the laptop.  It was leaking from the plastic surrounding the front roof hatch.  So, I place the laptop on a towel with the keyboard upside down because that was what got wet.  Shortly then after, a second leak from the roof hatch started pelting down on the table where near where the laptop was and got its underside wet.  So, I not only had to keep in on the towel for 24 hours... no, I put it on a towel in an unaffected area for 48 because I had to change it's resting position to make sure that any water inside the laptop either left out through the keyboard, or on its side through the CPU's breathing gills.

Suffice to say that I tested all the keys except for the "F" ones.  I couldn't test the F keys because I'd probably have to go through about 5 different applications just to test them.

I just replaced the oil valve gaskets and I'm in the middle of finishing up the gromets.  My tool kits contain just about everything that has ever been needed for my 2008 Chevy HHR LS.  And I don't usually miss not having a small, thin, flat screw driver.  But today, I was having to use a razor blade to cut the old gromets off, then fitting the new ones around some flanges with my fingers.  There are  15 of these and they have given my hands a workout.

The coil for spark plug #4 is showing a little antifreeze.  It looks like I'll be doing a cylinder head gasket replacement in the near future?  But tearing down the oil valve cover wasn't a big deal, it just took the better part of today and this was my first time doing one.  I've looked at the procedure regarding the cylinder head gasket and I'm comfortable now with doing it myself.

With certainty, I'm sure that my clutch master cylinder is gone.  My clutch pedal goes to the floor and doesn't come back.  That might have been one of the leaks that I observed when I changed the car's oil about a week ago?  And I also noted proper brake pedal pressure, which is something I haven't had in a long time. 

When I last did the oil change about a week ago, I used a couple ounces of sea foam to try and solve some idle problems.  But I wasn't getting a dip stick reading after I turned the car on.  I had it up on ramps and when I saw it spitting what I thought was oil, I immediately shut it off and waited about a week, which is today.  The problem is that I'm not sure what the Seafoam has done with it sitting.  I was using it to temporarily seal my gaskets.  It really hasn't gone through the system, so, I'm going to replace the oil again just to be on the safe side.

If I just had an hour more, I could have finished the job.  I got a late start today because I had a medical appointment this morning.  My AC powered battery charger has not been up to the task of charging my motorhome's auxiliary batteries, which are dual marine deep cycles.  So, I did what I've done before, which is hook them up to jumper cables, attach those to the motorhome's cab batteries and run it for about 90 minutes.  I had ever breaker on my converter switched off and my interior lights came on using the batteries.

My car has a 50amp fuse for my batteries and it's alternator is smaller.  But seeing if the motorhome's amperage is similar, my AC charger only puts out 8amps.  Currently, it's charging both deep cycles and is reading as "LO" or low.  I'm content to leave it connected to the marine batteries over night and see what it does?

It wouldn't do them when they were dead.  All it read overnight was a moving "8," which is when the unit is initializing.  But with them jumped, the charging light is on.

All in all, everything that's going on alright.  Even if I have to do a Oil Valve, Cylinder Head Gaskets, and a clutch, it's just things that have been put off since my back was messed up.  But my therapy ended 3 weeks ago and after a day of working on it now, I feel great.

Motorhome in the Winter

Currently, I'm in Woodsfield of Monroe County, Ohio.  And I'm camping next to full time oil and gas workers with full hook-ups.  At around an outdoor air temperature around 30°F, my heat pump on my combination heat/ A/C roof unit probably gets my 1988 motorhome upto about 56°F?  I have a ceramic heater and I keep it around 65°F.  Right now, I turned it's mode up from "Eco" to "Lo" and it's turning on and off like it should.  Right around a 23°F daytime high is where I might have to turn it on to full time "Hi" mode?

There's something wrong with my converter.  My batteries won't charge from the engine, or the generator.  I think that tells me that wherever they intersect is bad.  Since I'm at my laptop right now, the box on its power cable is not a surge protector, but an AC to DC converter.  Considering that the motorhome probably channels more power than that, I bet that the cylindrical device on the back side of the auxiliary battery compartment is the problem.

The power to the hot water tank is routed through that area.  I have a 20ft set of jumper cables that I've been charging the auxilliaries with from time to time and I know that the panel over the stove will work when the batteries have charge.  Also, my LP gas tank has been empty for about 2 years.  I'm not even sure if it will hold it's gas anymore.  And my LP gas sensor needs replaced.  I think it's missing a wire and that it's under the refrigerator?  But I do have a portable LP camper heater onboad and 40lbs of propane standing by in case the power goes out.

I'm fortunate to have a camp host who doesn't mind however much electricity that I use.  But for most of you out there, you're going to want to have a working LP system.

Woodsfield and Breaker Switch

The motorhome is in Woodsfield of Monroe County.  I replaced the breaker switch for the chassis air conditioning and it's working now.  But I think I may have traced the auxiliary battery charging problem to the converter?  Maybe tomorrow, I'll try the city water intake port.  I'm not sure if I have the right ends for it?  Or if it's going to spring a leak somewhere? 

Marietta Unit, New Matamoras Floods, Memorial Day Weekend 2018, Auxiliary Batteries and Whipple Maintenance

- Apparently, New Matamoras floods less than Marietta.  Marietta's problem is that it's near where the Muskingum, Little Muskingum Rivers and the Duck Creek that meet the Ohio River there.  If there's a big enough storm, all of its water is going to converge on the city.

- This is Memorial Day Weekend 2018.  Today, I did some rounds looking at campground capacities and reporting them to the Buckeye Trail Association Facebook group.

- My auxiliary/ house batteries are somehow disconnected from both the generator and the cab's alternator.  But I'm able to charge them now by jumping them with my car.  It takes about 1hr 15min to get them full.  Lightning is in the forecast for tomorrow, so I plan on tracing their power lines.  It's possible that they all need to be replaced?

- The maintenance priority on the Whipple Section is blazing.  We may have a marathon runner/ thru hiker come through.  He's going to need the trail's navigation to become more efficient. 

Air Conditioning, Weather Station, Towel & Tablet

The chassis air conditioner might be working, but for now, the it's A.C. outlets have quit. I might have a fuse out?  I don't know if the auxiliary house batteries are charging? Right now, they're holding at 11.8V. I'd s
Like to see them at 12.7V and im pretty sure that that the dual mode rocker switch that is used to charge them is broken?

- There's a ton of projects waiting to get done in the bin areas above one of the beds/ tables.

- I just installed new alkaline AA batteries into my outdoor weather station. I secure it to the back of the motorhome with stick on Velcro.

- I found my towel. For the past few days, I was drying off with the paper hand towels in the shower houses. I'm too tall for my motorhome`s shower and I just use it for storage.

- My tablet is very sensitive to direct sunlight. I'm sitting in my camp chair now that was over in the shade before, but it wanted to overheat in the sunlight.

Log 2016071002

The seat covers that I bought for the motorhome... I don't like them.  They require that something passes through the crack of the seat to the other side.  But the other side doesn't have a reciprocal crack to feed it through.  Meanwhile, I was hoping for something with more padding that was a little more sporty feeling.

Well, I didn't get a mechanic today.  Instead, I did some work with the multi meter.  I found out that the reverse lights work with the same 1157 bulbs that the tail lights do.  Their maybe a problem with a ground.  That will have to be ascertained before I trace their wire back to the transmission.  But the hardware inside of the lens cap looks good.

As I mentioned in my last log, I tested the positive terminals on the auxiliary battery and generator and found their voltages reading at 12V on both ends.  That eliminated the possibility of being an unknown power drain.  The auxiliary generator requires a voltage of at least 7V to start.

The generator wouldn't start today.  That's a surprise because it usually likes to turn over for 15 seconds after the motorhome's been in motion.  I once heard somewhere that generators won't start if the gas tank is only 1/4th full.  Since it probably not very advanced to only insert a gas line so far in a tank, I assume that this is probably true on my motorhome, too?  With my fuel gauge being broken and roughly estimating what it probably has in it now, it's in the relm of possibility that it is that low.

At the moment, I've been filling up every 200 miles and have been tracking it's MPG's using the amount of gallons on the gas pumps display.  It's getting to be time for another fill-up.  The MPG's have been going up lately and the latest data still doesn't account for the new fuel pump and filter. I might increase it to a 300 mile fill-up intervals, even in light of its continuing engine problem.

I mentioned in a previous article that I found the drain valve for the water reservoirs.  That I most certainly did.  After I pressed it down and left Storage B, I drove it to a relatives house, filled it up and it held water... well almost.  There's still a slight leak in the valve, but it will certainly hold water for a few days.  But it did add an extra bounce on the road today when trying to transport both containers full.

I don't know for sure what their capasities are.  My guess it that they might combine for 30 gallons?  Also, the electronic display above the range and the water pump works.  This is good because now when I'm working on the motorhome at Storage C, I might now have a working toilet.  And even though the containers might need cleaned, I might be able to boil my water?  I've seen my range work before I bought the motorhome 66 days ago, but I haven't used it since.

When at a stop light today, it was if one cylinder almost wants to stall sometimes.  But it doesn't always do this at every stop.  However, in park at Storage C, I gave it a rev and it nearly shook the cab and sounded just like a V8 should.  I'm use to 4-cylinder compact cars, so it was impressive.

Log 2016071001

I just tested the the auxiliary batteries and the positive terminal on the auxiliary generator. There isn't a power drain as both read 12V.