*Aloha, chapter 9- I don't like the fact that we live in a throw away society. I don't like to throw stuff out. I have a habit of saving old parts from things I have worked on and built. Being in the shipyards, I have seen major refits of large scale repairs of some ships. A lot of perfectly good old parts and supplies get thrown into the trash.
-After work, we would act like scavengers sometimes, and pick the small parts off a piece of junk. You would never know what you would find. A trinket here, a thingamajig from that, and some of that stuff that I will probably never use, but look, it's still brand new.
-Over the years of being an industrial pack rat, my small tool shed was being over loaded. I had 2 or 3 of everything, I know I have one somewhere, but I don't know what box I have it in. I need more space. I need to get organized.
-Just to let you know how pathetic this sounds to me, as I hear myself say it. I just did that. I moved here last year and packed up everything I had, and shipped it over to the ranch from Hawaii. I threw away a ton of junk that I had kept for years. I sold anything and everything I didn't want, and some stuff I did want. I still had literally tons of stuff. I packed two small containers that weighed 5 tons when they were full. The price for the container was set, so it did not matter how heavy they were. I threw every widget and gizmo I had inside that would fit.
-I need more then a tool shed, I need a warehouse. Well, maybe someday. Or at least a covered place to park the motor home.
-After realizing I needed more small electrical parts to finish wiring the ATS, I switched jobs, went inside and looked to see how the water tanks might fit. It looked like they laid out the tanks and plumbing so they could assemble these parts easily. To me, it looked like a waste of space.
-I knocked out the center section in the bed box. When I placed the tanks inside the space, I could tell I will have to remake the plumbing for the drain, as the old one will not fit where I want it. I will just make a new drain from scratch. I can make it look better then how they had it, and it will take up less room.
-I had the two tanks mounted with some blocks screwed into the floor, and started to hook up some fittings for my pump and accumulator.
-There must be a thousand different kind of fittings, brass, stainless steel, high pressure, air, water, gas. A million applications and sizes. And each one cost a lot of money. I need 6 of those things, and some of that stuff, and one of those do-hickys. I'm going to look in my tool shed.
_Hey, there's a couple of those things, and one of those do-hickys. And look, there's some of that stuff, and I can use it on that gizmo and it will make it look brand new.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Different Volts For Different Folks
*Aloha, chapter 8- Cool, the UPS truck has come here about 3 times in two weeks. I have parts coming in faster then I can install them. It's starting to feel like Christmas, except that I realize that the bill on the credit card will come next week. I got four big boxes. Two 40 gal. water tanks, and two 110w solar panels with a voltage regulator. All I have to do is put them in. Ya, that's all...
-I looked at the solar panels. They were bigger than I thought. I hope they fit up on top somewhere. I will have to make them fit somewhere. I think solar power is worth the extra cost. I could use a lot more if I had them. I think these will give me a good start, and I can add more later. I don't want to run the generator if I don't need to. It would be nice if I never had to run the gen set, and I had the freedom to just park anywhere and not make any noise.
-Motor homes are a lot like boats with wheels, and everybody has a different level of a need to be independent. I guess some people can never be without a full hook up, and other people's power needs can be less.
- Once, while I was staying on a friend's house boat at the Ala Wai Marina, in Honolulu, I met a guy that came into the harbor, and tied up to the guest mooring in a small sailboat. He said he used to be a ship's captain on a container ship, and has sailed around the world numerous times. After listening to his stories, I believed him. He said he has sailed his small boat all over the world also, and he does not use an engine. Well he said he has one, but it does not run, and he needs to get some parts.
-He said he just sailed from Trinidad with basically no power. He ran his power from the alternator that was on the diesel engine that didn't run. He had his crank flash light so he could see inside the cabin at night. He cooked on a gas stove, and the heater was also broken. Sailing in the south pacific I don't think you would need a heater much, kind of like driving your motor home in Mexico. I can't imagine sailing alone for thousand's and thousand's of miles on the ocean with no power at all. -He said, ah, I didn't need it.
-But me, I'm not that independent. I wish I could hook up a welding machine to the generator of the motor home. I have to learn if there is a way to do that,(does anybody know how).
-Maybe someday in the very distant future, we will have electric powered motor homes with solar panels and batteries.-I guess different volts for different folks.
-I looked at the solar panels. They were bigger than I thought. I hope they fit up on top somewhere. I will have to make them fit somewhere. I think solar power is worth the extra cost. I could use a lot more if I had them. I think these will give me a good start, and I can add more later. I don't want to run the generator if I don't need to. It would be nice if I never had to run the gen set, and I had the freedom to just park anywhere and not make any noise.
-Motor homes are a lot like boats with wheels, and everybody has a different level of a need to be independent. I guess some people can never be without a full hook up, and other people's power needs can be less.
- Once, while I was staying on a friend's house boat at the Ala Wai Marina, in Honolulu, I met a guy that came into the harbor, and tied up to the guest mooring in a small sailboat. He said he used to be a ship's captain on a container ship, and has sailed around the world numerous times. After listening to his stories, I believed him. He said he has sailed his small boat all over the world also, and he does not use an engine. Well he said he has one, but it does not run, and he needs to get some parts.
-He said he just sailed from Trinidad with basically no power. He ran his power from the alternator that was on the diesel engine that didn't run. He had his crank flash light so he could see inside the cabin at night. He cooked on a gas stove, and the heater was also broken. Sailing in the south pacific I don't think you would need a heater much, kind of like driving your motor home in Mexico. I can't imagine sailing alone for thousand's and thousand's of miles on the ocean with no power at all. -He said, ah, I didn't need it.
-But me, I'm not that independent. I wish I could hook up a welding machine to the generator of the motor home. I have to learn if there is a way to do that,(does anybody know how).
-Maybe someday in the very distant future, we will have electric powered motor homes with solar panels and batteries.-I guess different volts for different folks.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Money Can't Buy You Love, But It Sure Can Help
*Aloha,chapter 7- The program that I write this with, for some reason will not make a space at the start of a paragraph. So I'm going to use one of these things --- just so you know what the heck I am doing. I know it's only a click away, but what click? I will figure it out later maybe.
-The UPS truck showed up at my house this morning, and brought me a big box. Cool, a new inverter and an automatic transfer switch. I have to give those UPS guys credit. I don't live close to anywhere. My driveway is a 2 mile dirt road. And the driver brings the stuff right to my door. My house is about 70 miles from the large city. Wow, I'm going to order more stuff. I am use to shipping cost to Hawaii, where on the average you have to pay about 25% for shipping. That can add up fast. Here in WA. the shipping cost for this order was only about $30. And the inverter was heavy. In Hawaii that would of cost me about $200. I wonder if they would deliver groceries?
-I looked at the mess of unlabeled and cut electrical wires and battery cables in the rear compartment of the motor home. I wondered what it use to look like with all the parts still installed and the wires hooked up. Not only will I have to figure out how to put everything back, I will have to figure all the wires and cables. I don't even know how it's suppose to be. I had a fuzzy idea in the back of my brain, but this was a need to know item. And before, I didn't really need to know. But now I do.
-I looked online for a few sites that talk about the subject, and downloaded some owners manuals that had some R/V wiring schematics. At least I had a clue on how to go about this. I used a meter to check to see which were ground wires, and to follow where the wires went to. I was still trying to find simple things like, where the heck is the breaker panel? I looked in every cabinet except the one that it was in. When I found it, you did not have to call me stupid. I did that already. Remember, I can be as stupid as the next guy. Hey I even found the 12v circuit box. This gave me the color code for which color wire was hooked up to what. Now I don't have to guess. Similar to house wiring, but almost exactly like a boat. Motor homes don't have bilge pumps do they? Ha-Ha, I bet a lot of them could use them, mine included.
-I took a small wire brush and scrubbed out the rear compartment. I vacuumed it out and put some flat black paint on the inside. It made it look brand new. I then took some foil tape and put a strip across the frame that was showing in the back. This plugged up some holes and made it look clean and high tech.
-Now I needed to take the inverter, the converter, and the automatic transfer switch, and position them in the compartment, and try to plan some kind of lay out for the wires that were needed.
-I made some mahogany wood strips to place under the mounts of the inverter and converter. This will provide more air flow for cooling, and less chance of water damage. Plus it just makes it look neat. And that's where I get a lot of satisfaction from the things that I fix and rebuild. --Ya, I built that.--
-A related story- Once, I was lucky enough to be a judge at a small town auto show. There were some very nice high dollar cars, and a few ordinary low budget projects, and one very young kid with a cool looking rat-rod that he built himself with no money. I talked to the kid,(he did not know I was one of the judges)he said he earned his money from a paper route. He found his parts in old junk cars and just plain built some of the parts because he did not have money to buy them. His car was entered up against some cars that were probably worth $100,000.
-I talked it over later with the other judges and they said, let it rip. They agreed with how I felt about the kid doing all his own work with no money. We awarded 3rd. and 2nd. prize to those who deserved it. An arrogant loud mouth guy in the crowd with a head that was too big to even fit in his own hat, thought that he had automatically won first prize because he thought he had the best car, simply because he had spent more then anybody else. He started to pat himself on the back, and walk on stage. I had to tell him to stop. I was not finished talking yet. I seen the young kid was starting to pack up his car for the day to get ready to leave. I laid it out flat and cold. I said just because someone can spend the most does not make for the best car. I read out the kid's name. He looked like he had just heard from God. The kid was shaking when he came on stage to win the big trophy, $300, and a set of new tires. The other guy was mad as heck that he did not win anything. When I said over the microphone that "it looks like money can't buy you love", the crowd of about 100 people went wild and cheered. The other guy took off in a huff, and I have never seen him since. I still stand by those words.-Money cant buy you love,(but it sure can help).
-The UPS truck showed up at my house this morning, and brought me a big box. Cool, a new inverter and an automatic transfer switch. I have to give those UPS guys credit. I don't live close to anywhere. My driveway is a 2 mile dirt road. And the driver brings the stuff right to my door. My house is about 70 miles from the large city. Wow, I'm going to order more stuff. I am use to shipping cost to Hawaii, where on the average you have to pay about 25% for shipping. That can add up fast. Here in WA. the shipping cost for this order was only about $30. And the inverter was heavy. In Hawaii that would of cost me about $200. I wonder if they would deliver groceries?
-I looked at the mess of unlabeled and cut electrical wires and battery cables in the rear compartment of the motor home. I wondered what it use to look like with all the parts still installed and the wires hooked up. Not only will I have to figure out how to put everything back, I will have to figure all the wires and cables. I don't even know how it's suppose to be. I had a fuzzy idea in the back of my brain, but this was a need to know item. And before, I didn't really need to know. But now I do.
-I looked online for a few sites that talk about the subject, and downloaded some owners manuals that had some R/V wiring schematics. At least I had a clue on how to go about this. I used a meter to check to see which were ground wires, and to follow where the wires went to. I was still trying to find simple things like, where the heck is the breaker panel? I looked in every cabinet except the one that it was in. When I found it, you did not have to call me stupid. I did that already. Remember, I can be as stupid as the next guy. Hey I even found the 12v circuit box. This gave me the color code for which color wire was hooked up to what. Now I don't have to guess. Similar to house wiring, but almost exactly like a boat. Motor homes don't have bilge pumps do they? Ha-Ha, I bet a lot of them could use them, mine included.
-I took a small wire brush and scrubbed out the rear compartment. I vacuumed it out and put some flat black paint on the inside. It made it look brand new. I then took some foil tape and put a strip across the frame that was showing in the back. This plugged up some holes and made it look clean and high tech.
-Now I needed to take the inverter, the converter, and the automatic transfer switch, and position them in the compartment, and try to plan some kind of lay out for the wires that were needed.
-I made some mahogany wood strips to place under the mounts of the inverter and converter. This will provide more air flow for cooling, and less chance of water damage. Plus it just makes it look neat. And that's where I get a lot of satisfaction from the things that I fix and rebuild. --Ya, I built that.--
-A related story- Once, I was lucky enough to be a judge at a small town auto show. There were some very nice high dollar cars, and a few ordinary low budget projects, and one very young kid with a cool looking rat-rod that he built himself with no money. I talked to the kid,(he did not know I was one of the judges)he said he earned his money from a paper route. He found his parts in old junk cars and just plain built some of the parts because he did not have money to buy them. His car was entered up against some cars that were probably worth $100,000.
-I talked it over later with the other judges and they said, let it rip. They agreed with how I felt about the kid doing all his own work with no money. We awarded 3rd. and 2nd. prize to those who deserved it. An arrogant loud mouth guy in the crowd with a head that was too big to even fit in his own hat, thought that he had automatically won first prize because he thought he had the best car, simply because he had spent more then anybody else. He started to pat himself on the back, and walk on stage. I had to tell him to stop. I was not finished talking yet. I seen the young kid was starting to pack up his car for the day to get ready to leave. I laid it out flat and cold. I said just because someone can spend the most does not make for the best car. I read out the kid's name. He looked like he had just heard from God. The kid was shaking when he came on stage to win the big trophy, $300, and a set of new tires. The other guy was mad as heck that he did not win anything. When I said over the microphone that "it looks like money can't buy you love", the crowd of about 100 people went wild and cheered. The other guy took off in a huff, and I have never seen him since. I still stand by those words.-Money cant buy you love,(but it sure can help).
Friday, February 5, 2010
No Rules, Just Go
Aloha, chapter 6- I have read some of your replies, I'm going to try to be honest here. I can be as dumb as the next guy at certain things. I hope we can teach each other. Everybody is good at something... I don't know how to start a blog, I've never learned how. I have never taken any type of computer class ever. I will make some changes. I am still trying to figure out how to make entries into this blog. I will try to add more photos a little later. I don't have too many. And yes I will change the emblem on the front, I know, it's not my number. That photo was taken the day after it was parked. I will take the emblem off, and it will go up on the wall inside the barn somewhere.
I know my grammar and spelling are bad, but bare with me on that. No rules, just go.
When I was in school, I would get D's on my report card for English and spelling, as you can probably tell. I didn't pay attention to the rules for proper use of a comma, or a set of parenthesis,(I had to look that one up). If my writing mistakes make you laugh, then good. I hope we all can laugh.
I once had a writing teacher that told me something one time. She said, she would never mark a mistake on a paper for spelling or grammar. She said, she only wanted to read the story. It didn't matter what we wrote about, just write it. The story will follow. -No rules, just go.-
It was cold out, and I wanted to waste the day on my computer doing nothing. But I needed to get started working on the motor home. That brand new generator was sitting in the back of my pick up truck. I opened the side compartment and looked at the old brackets that were on the frame of the motor home. They were small and kind of wimpy, and they were too close together to fit the new gen set. I needed to cut off the the old brackets and make a complete new set to hold the 300 lb. gen set.
I went to the welding shop in town and bought a 16 ft. piece of 3"x3"x3/16" angle steel for $50. I used some 7018-1/8" welding rod and the old put-put welder that we have here at the ranch.
To cut the steel, I used a 4-1/2" grinder and a few cut-off blades. For small jobs these cut-off wheels will work. And use a face shield and ear plugs. I wish I had a dollar for every time I had a piece of metal fly into my eyes over the years, I could go buy a steak dinner. I'm lucky I am not blind. Trust me on this one. Protect your eyes, and your ears. If you want to hear the dog fart, when you get older, you better wear ear plugs.
I tried to make the brackets as strong as possible, without making it too heavy. I guess that when a 300 lb. load hits a bump, it could weigh a 1000 lbs. I don't want to be driving along, and hear a loud bang, look in the mirror and see my generator fall out on some mountain road. That wouldn't be good.
Before I made any sparks, I drained the gas from the tank, into some gas cans, and placed them far away, out of danger.
I went inside to disconnect the hoses and wires for the fuel pump. Most motor homes the pump can be changed from the inside. Usually the bedroom I would think. I found mine under the carpet. it had an ugly hole chopped in the floor, with a flimsy cover with a few small screws that were barely holding it on. If I stepped on it just right, it would of broke. I made a new piece of strong wood that fit the hole better. It could be screwed on tight so it would not break, but could still be unscrewed for access to change the fuel pump.
I started to dig out the foam that was covering the heater duct. I wanted the foam out of the way for when I weld. That foam can catch fire very easily and puts out some very toxic smoke.
-It's easier to keep a fire from starting, then to put one out that has already started.- And gas tanks don't just burn, they blow up.-
Take the extra time, and take the gas tank out, if you are going to do any welding or cutting close to the gas tank. For that one time, it could be the safest thing you never knew about, because nothing happened.
I looked at the tank and supported it with some jack stands and my floor jack. I sprayed some oil on the dirty bolts to make them come off easier,took them off with a wrench and dropped the tank.
And now that the tank is out of the motor home it is a very easy time to change the fuel pump and the fuel filter. Change it now and carry a new spare. I would think almost anybody could change their fuel pump and filter. It's about as hard as changing your oil, well sort of. It's really kind of easy. Just keep the windows open, and no smoking. Turn all the power off, extinguish all pilot lights, and turn off the propane tank. Use a flash light if you need some light to see. It's pretty much just take out the bolts and wires and change them out. The pump might cost $100. or so and the fuel filter can be about $10. Usually they can be found at most auto parts stores. It might be easier to take the old pump in with you to match the new pump. There can be a few different ones for the various gas engines. For diesel engines, that's a whole different story that I am not going to get into right now.
If you are not sure of yourself on how to change it safely, or you have too much money, or you don't want to get your tuxedo dirty, you can pay the man to do it for $1000... Or you could do it yourself in a couple of hours.
With the generator frame/bracket finished it was time to check my measurements and see if the generator was going to fit. This thing weighs almost 300 lbs. so I can't just pick it up. I don't have a cool little fork lift or anything. I made a card board template the size of the base of the gen set. I tried to see how that would fit, but it didn't. I missed the opening by about an inch when I slid the card board in at an angle. It wouldn't fit through the side door.
I decided to take my angle grinder and the cut off wheel and slice the opening bigger. With a 4'x18" piece cut off, the unit will slide in straight and easy, plenty of room. I could just pop rivet the flap back onto a piece of stainless steel piano hinge, and it would look perfect with the trim. A small bracket for that, and it would be fine.
I backed my truck up as close to the opening as I could. Then I stacked up a bunch of heavy blocks and boards to make a ramp, with a piece of plywood nailed on it that held everything together. I just slid the generator right into place with almost no effort. Wow, I love it when the plan comes together.
Now I need to buy some brass fittings to hook up the fuel line for the gen set, and also some flex conduit to run wires that go to the automatic transfer switch.
It looks good sitting on the frame. If you want it done right, then sometimes you have to do it yourself.--And I saved a lot of money too.
I know my grammar and spelling are bad, but bare with me on that. No rules, just go.
When I was in school, I would get D's on my report card for English and spelling, as you can probably tell. I didn't pay attention to the rules for proper use of a comma, or a set of parenthesis,(I had to look that one up). If my writing mistakes make you laugh, then good. I hope we all can laugh.
I once had a writing teacher that told me something one time. She said, she would never mark a mistake on a paper for spelling or grammar. She said, she only wanted to read the story. It didn't matter what we wrote about, just write it. The story will follow. -No rules, just go.-
It was cold out, and I wanted to waste the day on my computer doing nothing. But I needed to get started working on the motor home. That brand new generator was sitting in the back of my pick up truck. I opened the side compartment and looked at the old brackets that were on the frame of the motor home. They were small and kind of wimpy, and they were too close together to fit the new gen set. I needed to cut off the the old brackets and make a complete new set to hold the 300 lb. gen set.
I went to the welding shop in town and bought a 16 ft. piece of 3"x3"x3/16" angle steel for $50. I used some 7018-1/8" welding rod and the old put-put welder that we have here at the ranch.
To cut the steel, I used a 4-1/2" grinder and a few cut-off blades. For small jobs these cut-off wheels will work. And use a face shield and ear plugs. I wish I had a dollar for every time I had a piece of metal fly into my eyes over the years, I could go buy a steak dinner. I'm lucky I am not blind. Trust me on this one. Protect your eyes, and your ears. If you want to hear the dog fart, when you get older, you better wear ear plugs.
I tried to make the brackets as strong as possible, without making it too heavy. I guess that when a 300 lb. load hits a bump, it could weigh a 1000 lbs. I don't want to be driving along, and hear a loud bang, look in the mirror and see my generator fall out on some mountain road. That wouldn't be good.
Before I made any sparks, I drained the gas from the tank, into some gas cans, and placed them far away, out of danger.
I went inside to disconnect the hoses and wires for the fuel pump. Most motor homes the pump can be changed from the inside. Usually the bedroom I would think. I found mine under the carpet. it had an ugly hole chopped in the floor, with a flimsy cover with a few small screws that were barely holding it on. If I stepped on it just right, it would of broke. I made a new piece of strong wood that fit the hole better. It could be screwed on tight so it would not break, but could still be unscrewed for access to change the fuel pump.
I started to dig out the foam that was covering the heater duct. I wanted the foam out of the way for when I weld. That foam can catch fire very easily and puts out some very toxic smoke.
-It's easier to keep a fire from starting, then to put one out that has already started.- And gas tanks don't just burn, they blow up.-
Take the extra time, and take the gas tank out, if you are going to do any welding or cutting close to the gas tank. For that one time, it could be the safest thing you never knew about, because nothing happened.
I looked at the tank and supported it with some jack stands and my floor jack. I sprayed some oil on the dirty bolts to make them come off easier,took them off with a wrench and dropped the tank.
And now that the tank is out of the motor home it is a very easy time to change the fuel pump and the fuel filter. Change it now and carry a new spare. I would think almost anybody could change their fuel pump and filter. It's about as hard as changing your oil, well sort of. It's really kind of easy. Just keep the windows open, and no smoking. Turn all the power off, extinguish all pilot lights, and turn off the propane tank. Use a flash light if you need some light to see. It's pretty much just take out the bolts and wires and change them out. The pump might cost $100. or so and the fuel filter can be about $10. Usually they can be found at most auto parts stores. It might be easier to take the old pump in with you to match the new pump. There can be a few different ones for the various gas engines. For diesel engines, that's a whole different story that I am not going to get into right now.
If you are not sure of yourself on how to change it safely, or you have too much money, or you don't want to get your tuxedo dirty, you can pay the man to do it for $1000... Or you could do it yourself in a couple of hours.
With the generator frame/bracket finished it was time to check my measurements and see if the generator was going to fit. This thing weighs almost 300 lbs. so I can't just pick it up. I don't have a cool little fork lift or anything. I made a card board template the size of the base of the gen set. I tried to see how that would fit, but it didn't. I missed the opening by about an inch when I slid the card board in at an angle. It wouldn't fit through the side door.
I decided to take my angle grinder and the cut off wheel and slice the opening bigger. With a 4'x18" piece cut off, the unit will slide in straight and easy, plenty of room. I could just pop rivet the flap back onto a piece of stainless steel piano hinge, and it would look perfect with the trim. A small bracket for that, and it would be fine.
I backed my truck up as close to the opening as I could. Then I stacked up a bunch of heavy blocks and boards to make a ramp, with a piece of plywood nailed on it that held everything together. I just slid the generator right into place with almost no effort. Wow, I love it when the plan comes together.
Now I need to buy some brass fittings to hook up the fuel line for the gen set, and also some flex conduit to run wires that go to the automatic transfer switch.
It looks good sitting on the frame. If you want it done right, then sometimes you have to do it yourself.--And I saved a lot of money too.
You get what you pay for...Well, sometimes
Aloha chapter 5- After looking at all the things missing in the motor home that I just bought, I need to first make a shopping list of the parts that I need to buy. The biggest thing is going to be a generator. I am also going to need a new inverter, converter, coach batteries, and a automatic transfer switch. Thinking that would be enough to make a good start, I went to the R/V store in town.
I talked to the salesman and told him what I was thinking of buying. They gave me the usual answer of, "we don't have any, but we can order one for you, and it can be here in a few days". I asked what kind of price he could give me for the generator that I was looking at in his catalog. I was saying wow, to myself, trying not to look surprised when he told me his price. I could buy a cheap motor home for that price, keep the generator, and through away the motor home. The price was a bit too much, I said I wanted to look around first.
I asked about getting some new water tanks and I got the same answer, we can order you some if we know what size you want. I didn't know what size I really needed and could only guess what size, so I said I will measure the bed box first. I thought they would have at least one in stock of some common size. I ended up buying a water pump, primary filter, and an accumulator to smooth out the water flow. I also picked up a water hose and a sewer hose. It seemed the R/V store might not be of much help to me on certain things.
I don't feel like giving them over $100. bucks an hour, to screw up my motor home, when I can do that myself for free.
I went online to look for parts. With just a little research, I was able to find cheaper prices then the R/V store. And with a little more research I was able to find some pretty good prices on a few items. I found a 3000w inverter for $700, the R/V store wanted over $1500. I found a color rear view camera with a 7in. LCD screen for $200, they were trying to sell me one that cost $1100. They look exactly the same with a different name. I can understand the stores need to make a profit, but don't ask me to bend over. I am not as stupid as you think I am. (But that could be debated, I think.)
I ended up later finding a deal on a 7000w Onan generator that was still new on the crate. Someone else had bought, and returned it. The guy that had bought it said it was too big, and did not fit his motor home. I got it for $2K less then the asking price. The dealer told me they make most of their profit on installation.
Being a welder for many years, it will be easy for me to make some custom frame brackets to hold the generator. I also needed to fix the slide out drawer that holds the coach batteries. I will start with 3 group 27 R/V deep cycle batteries and maybe add some more later when I get some new solar panels.
So now I have ordered a bunch of parts from across the US. The parts will be coming in the UPS truck. I hope the driver can find my house. It is pretty hard to find and can not be seen from the road.
I am doing 5 projects at once. When I get to a stand still on one job, I move over to another. I think of what to do next when I am half asleep. I really can think out simple problems when my mind is relaxed. It makes the next days job easier with less problem solving to do. I am starting to make some progress, but I know there will be more things to fix that I have not even found yet. I hope I can get this motor home ready to use before spring.
I talked to the salesman and told him what I was thinking of buying. They gave me the usual answer of, "we don't have any, but we can order one for you, and it can be here in a few days". I asked what kind of price he could give me for the generator that I was looking at in his catalog. I was saying wow, to myself, trying not to look surprised when he told me his price. I could buy a cheap motor home for that price, keep the generator, and through away the motor home. The price was a bit too much, I said I wanted to look around first.
I asked about getting some new water tanks and I got the same answer, we can order you some if we know what size you want. I didn't know what size I really needed and could only guess what size, so I said I will measure the bed box first. I thought they would have at least one in stock of some common size. I ended up buying a water pump, primary filter, and an accumulator to smooth out the water flow. I also picked up a water hose and a sewer hose. It seemed the R/V store might not be of much help to me on certain things.
I don't feel like giving them over $100. bucks an hour, to screw up my motor home, when I can do that myself for free.
I went online to look for parts. With just a little research, I was able to find cheaper prices then the R/V store. And with a little more research I was able to find some pretty good prices on a few items. I found a 3000w inverter for $700, the R/V store wanted over $1500. I found a color rear view camera with a 7in. LCD screen for $200, they were trying to sell me one that cost $1100. They look exactly the same with a different name. I can understand the stores need to make a profit, but don't ask me to bend over. I am not as stupid as you think I am. (But that could be debated, I think.)
I ended up later finding a deal on a 7000w Onan generator that was still new on the crate. Someone else had bought, and returned it. The guy that had bought it said it was too big, and did not fit his motor home. I got it for $2K less then the asking price. The dealer told me they make most of their profit on installation.
Being a welder for many years, it will be easy for me to make some custom frame brackets to hold the generator. I also needed to fix the slide out drawer that holds the coach batteries. I will start with 3 group 27 R/V deep cycle batteries and maybe add some more later when I get some new solar panels.
So now I have ordered a bunch of parts from across the US. The parts will be coming in the UPS truck. I hope the driver can find my house. It is pretty hard to find and can not be seen from the road.
I am doing 5 projects at once. When I get to a stand still on one job, I move over to another. I think of what to do next when I am half asleep. I really can think out simple problems when my mind is relaxed. It makes the next days job easier with less problem solving to do. I am starting to make some progress, but I know there will be more things to fix that I have not even found yet. I hope I can get this motor home ready to use before spring.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
What The Heck Did I Buy
Aloha,chapter 4- I got up the next day and slowly had a cup of coffee and thought about what I had just bought. A 1992 Safari, Ivory 34 ft. gas with a 460 Ford, Gear Vendor over/under drive class A motor home. I payed 13K and I was wondering if it was worth it. Probably not, but it did not matter now because it was parked outside and the credit card was paid, so it was my problem now. I will just deal with it, no matter what. What ever it takes. I guess I am going through some kind of life change or something. Change can be good sometimes.
-My history, I have lived in Hawaii for the past 35 years and I am now 52 years old/young. I have worked as a welder in the shipyards and at Pearl Harbor for over 25 years, and have had to fix everything known to man at one time or another. And being that I did not always have the best equipment to use at all times, I learned how to improvise and make things for myself. I try to learn from the other trade workers that I work with. I have learned not to be afraid to try to fix something when I have never worked on it before. When I was a kid and my bike had a flat tire, If I didn't fix it, it didn't get fixed. So if I wanted to ride my bike, I had to learn how to fix a flat tire. Nobody taught me how to correctly do that task until later. I had to find out the hard way how to fix it. -Wow, that could be a whole page with just that story.- Like I say, a nut is a nut, and a bolt is a bolt. It is the same bolt on an engine of a oil tanker as it is on a missile launch radar tracking platform. Just don't mix up the parts. I have built a few boats from scratch, and have helped build tugboats and a 70 passenger aluminum power catamaran. I figured a motor home couldn't be that hard for me. The only problem was that I know nothing about them. But I am learning fast. If this is the easy way to learn, I will find out later, and let you know.
I went outside to look at it. Wow, it sure was big looking there in the yard. I am sure glad I don't live in the city. I moved here to my sister's 100 acres of ranch land in eastern Washington last year. I went inside the coach and the first thing I noticed was that the roof had leaked over the dash. So I put a plastic tarp over the top to keep it dry till I could fix it. It's too cold to do it now. The cabinets inside the galley are made of solid wood, and not that cheap particle board that falls apart if it gets wet. I like the colors of the wood and the floor has some kind of wood flooring. Tiles in the bathroom with a large shower with a glass door. A good layout and some nice leather seats, clean and not torn up. Most everything looks in very good condition. I went to the rear bedroom, lifted the bed to look inside the bed box. It was empty with no water tanks, water pump, or anything else. Just cut wires. I let down the bed and went to look outside. The biggest problem was there was no generator. I needed to price one out. I knew they might be expensive, but they couldn't be that much could they? The rest of the bad news was there was no inverter, no converter, no transfer switch, no house batteries, no water system, old tires, a hole in the muffler, a melted tail light lens, no mike for the CB, no rear view camera or monitor, the jack alarm buzzer would not stop, the TV should be in the trash, the water heater needs a new zinc and I don't even know if it works. I have not tried the furnace. Not until I fix all the electrical first. I guess I have a few projects to finish.---To finish first; first you must finish.
-My history, I have lived in Hawaii for the past 35 years and I am now 52 years old/young. I have worked as a welder in the shipyards and at Pearl Harbor for over 25 years, and have had to fix everything known to man at one time or another. And being that I did not always have the best equipment to use at all times, I learned how to improvise and make things for myself. I try to learn from the other trade workers that I work with. I have learned not to be afraid to try to fix something when I have never worked on it before. When I was a kid and my bike had a flat tire, If I didn't fix it, it didn't get fixed. So if I wanted to ride my bike, I had to learn how to fix a flat tire. Nobody taught me how to correctly do that task until later. I had to find out the hard way how to fix it. -Wow, that could be a whole page with just that story.- Like I say, a nut is a nut, and a bolt is a bolt. It is the same bolt on an engine of a oil tanker as it is on a missile launch radar tracking platform. Just don't mix up the parts. I have built a few boats from scratch, and have helped build tugboats and a 70 passenger aluminum power catamaran. I figured a motor home couldn't be that hard for me. The only problem was that I know nothing about them. But I am learning fast. If this is the easy way to learn, I will find out later, and let you know.
I went outside to look at it. Wow, it sure was big looking there in the yard. I am sure glad I don't live in the city. I moved here to my sister's 100 acres of ranch land in eastern Washington last year. I went inside the coach and the first thing I noticed was that the roof had leaked over the dash. So I put a plastic tarp over the top to keep it dry till I could fix it. It's too cold to do it now. The cabinets inside the galley are made of solid wood, and not that cheap particle board that falls apart if it gets wet. I like the colors of the wood and the floor has some kind of wood flooring. Tiles in the bathroom with a large shower with a glass door. A good layout and some nice leather seats, clean and not torn up. Most everything looks in very good condition. I went to the rear bedroom, lifted the bed to look inside the bed box. It was empty with no water tanks, water pump, or anything else. Just cut wires. I let down the bed and went to look outside. The biggest problem was there was no generator. I needed to price one out. I knew they might be expensive, but they couldn't be that much could they? The rest of the bad news was there was no inverter, no converter, no transfer switch, no house batteries, no water system, old tires, a hole in the muffler, a melted tail light lens, no mike for the CB, no rear view camera or monitor, the jack alarm buzzer would not stop, the TV should be in the trash, the water heater needs a new zinc and I don't even know if it works. I have not tried the furnace. Not until I fix all the electrical first. I guess I have a few projects to finish.---To finish first; first you must finish.
Long Drive Home
Aloha, chapter 3- We started off for the closest gas station to fill up the tank, it was empty. I bet the previous owner even siphoned the gas out. I had some two way walkie talkies that were brand new and only one could transmit so that didn't work out too good. I went ahead to check the clearance and parking at the gas station and radioed back and said to come right in, there was plenty of room. We filled up the tank and found a leak. I didn't get excited, no big deal, I just looked underneath and seen that it was the fuel line for the generator that was not there. The hose was just hanging down. I pushed the hose up high so it would not fall. That should be good enough to get home, and I will fix it later.
I filled up with $200 bucks in gas, and we pulled right out onto the freeway. We drove through Portland at about noon. The freeway was packed with cars ripping on the road like there is no tomorrow. Nobody would give us room to cut in and change lanes. Cars were honking at my friend in the motor home when he almost missed the turn off for the correct bridge over the river. He just turned in at the last moment when he was going to run out of room because the other car would not give him space. My friend just turned into the guy and made him hit his brakes. And when there was a space, my friend just moved over slowly with plenty of room. All under control. I was a few car lengths behind and saw the whole thing, it looked smooth. The guy in the car looked panicked. All he had to do was slow down and give some room.
We headed up river on a very cold but almost sunny day. I radioed that I was getting hungry for lunch so we pulled over at some small town and made a pit stop. I parked the car, we noticed the parking brake did not work on the motor home. Oh well, brakes only slow you down anyway. I think they are over rated, who need them? Just keep going. I grabbed a couple of rocks to chock the wheel with. It didn't surprise me. Put it on the list.
A couple of sub sandwiches and some coffee and it was back up to 60 mph. I followed behind to watch if something fell out like the engine or something, but nothing did. 70 miles from home I needed to fill up the Nissan again, pulled into a gas station and my friend just kept on going down the freeway. I thought that I would catch up to him quickly, but I didn't. I started to wonder if he was way up ahead or did he turn off someplace. I could not see the motor home. He was hiding behind some old grain elevators. I pulled over, he said everything was fine. It was dark by now and the winding road to the ranch is very hard to see. we pulled the rig into a neighbors place. My friend honked the horn loudly and flashed the lights. The neighbor came out wondering what the heck is going on. We all laughed. He let us park the rig there for the night. Our house is only 4 miles away but the one lane dirt road to the house was more then we wanted to try for the night. We made it back to the ranch and parked the car. I went inside and went to sleep early. I will look at it tomorrow. At least it is here, I beat the snow and I can relax.
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