June 25, 2013 – “Houston, we have lift off”

The inverter arrived yesterday afternoon, and after a brief rainstorm here, we were able to re-install it. Between the two of us, we “got ur done” around 7:30 pm. CC’s smaller hands were invaluable and her contortionist abilities were challenged, as anyone who has worked on an RV can attest. All that is left to do is button everything up, double check the connectors and clamps, and replace the safety cover panel.

Happy hour was indeed happy last night!

June 16, 2013 "Murphy Returns - Georgetown, KY"

Mere minutes had passed since our last post on June 2, when at the door a knock was heard. Not a strange one, but one we knew all too well; Murphy was back! Why he has to show up and rain on our parade when we have plans is frustrating, to say the least. CC was in the process of preparing a gourmet meal of frozen pizza, when the lights went out….BAM! I’m thinking either power outage of blown main circuit breaker. The neighbors had power and our breaker was not tripped. Hmmmm……………

We also had no DC power, and the voltmeter indicated 10.5V, which had shut down the inverter due to low voltage. Hmmmm……….A check of all circuit breakers on the rig showed no signs of tripping. Hmmmm……….All I’m trying to do now is to quickly find the problem, get it solved, so CC can continue baking our dinner, as it is now approaching 7 pm. Ah…..start the generator and that will power the oven…..NOT! Double Hmmmm……….No power, AC or DC anyplace in the rig. AH!!! Start the engine and let the alternator quickly charge the batteries, but there was barely enough juice left in the chassis battery to turn over the diesel. Finally it started, but running the inverter to power the oven wasn’t going to happen. I’m getting hungry, and I tend to not think very straight when my blood sugar drops. GET THE PIZZA COOKED!!!!!!

So, I grab an extension cord from the basement; plug it into the 110V 20A outlet on the shore power pole and the other end directly into the oven cord, thus by passing the outlet. HALLEUIJAH!!!! Now we look like the Beverly Hillbillies with an extension cord running out the front door. At this point who cares? CC finally is able to finish baking the pizza, which by this time doesn’t look very good, but at this point I am hungry enough to eat a shoe.

Now that my blood sugar levels have returned to normal, I can think more logically. But what the hell is going on; I am definitely perplexed. It is now close to 8:30 pm on Sunday night, so calling ANYONE, anywhere in customer service is not an option. I am quickly running out of options. AHH!........Get on the internet you idiot! Right, I’m on it. Now close to 10:30 pm, and I’m no where closer to finding the problem than I was when Murphy first reared his ugly red head; he has really outdone himself this time.

Luckily for us the weather is cool enough that we don’t need the air conditioners to sleep, and my thinking, at this point, is maybe if I sleep on it, a solution to the problem will present itself. Hell, I’d be grateful to just isolate the problem, and then work on a solution to resolve it. CC reminded me of one of my favorite sayings, “Problems don’t exist, but situations that need to be corrected do.” OK Houston, we have a situation.

The following morning, I was up early, again searching the internet for troubleshooting the situation. I sent an e-mail to the engineers at Winnebago, and upon sending it immediately got a reply e-mail notifying me that they would respond within 48 hours. Well isn’t that just great. So I try calling them, and get some rookie in customer service that spends the first 20 minutes telling me to check what I have already checked, as she is obviously just reading off a checklist. I once again tried to explain my problem, but she was more interested in completing her checklist. OK, we’ll do it her way. By now 45 minutes into our call, we have completed her checklist, she informs me she will pass along my information to their engineering department, as she hasn’t a clue what might be causing me to have a “situation”.

One thing I’m sure of, the four 12V coach batteries are drained. They are the originals, and they are four years old, so I make the decision to replace them. I called a local NAPA and ordered replacement Group 31 AGM’s with a capacity of 200 amp hours each, as the originals were wet cells with 150ah. The local NAPA didn’t have them in stock, so they will have them shipped down from their Indianapolis warehouse. So far Murphy’s visit has cost me ten Benjamins, and I still haven’t isolated the “situation”.

OK, the microwave oven worked when plugged into an extension cord, would that possibly “fix” the refrigerator as well? Only one way to find out. VOILA!!! Houston we may have come one step closer to a solution.

What we have so far, no AC power coming to the AC outlets in the rig from our 50 amp shore power cord. The only way the microwave/oven will operate is though the inverter, thus draining our coach batteries, AND the charger on the inverter is not charging the batteries. When the Winnebago engineers designed this rig, they put a 120VAC sub-panel in the breaker box, and there are three breakers; (1) Receptacles, (2) Microwave, (3) Refrigerator. Hold on Houston, we’re getting close!

Next verify from the Dimensions Inverter Manual what might be happening. By cracky, I think we may have isolated the “situation”. I send an e-mail to Dimensions, outlining my predicament, and within two hours they reaffirm my evaluation; the external AC relay/switch on the inverter has malfunctioned. Their only solution, return the inverter to them in St. Paul, and they will repair and return it within two weeks. Gee, thanks Murphy, another six Benjamins.

Oh, what about that return call or e-mail from the Winnebago engineers you asked? E-mail actually, and I did get one, with a .pdf attachment. Of what you asked? The wiring diagram of our rig. And yes, I did have a few expletives to describe what I thought of them. Other owners of Class A’s tell me Winnebago is one of the best. I must admit, they are; at passing the buck!!!

So, here in Georgetown, KY, just north of Lexington we live, at Whispering Hills RV Park; waiting for our inverter to be returned, hopefully by week’s end, but most likely the next. While we wait, CC and I will once again, be on our quest to conquer “The Bourbon Trail”. 

Until next time, take care and stay well.......................

August 2, 2011 "More Murphy"

Over stimulated with sensory and memory overload; that is the way I would describe our last two weeks. After our bout with Murphy, things improved, albeit marginally.

CC and I are thinking about going back to work so we can get some rest, and return to a “normal” life; On second thought, maybe not. It takes real intestinal fortitude to live this lifestyle, and we are not quitters, so we must carry on. I cannot begin to write about everything we have experienced since our last posting, but it has been educational, in a good sort of way.

The Rally was hot and humid, with seminars held in large tents. Heat indexes were triple digits every day.  We attended classes presented by Cummins, Michelin, A&E awnings, HWH Leveling Systems, Winnebago Electrical Systems, Fulltiming 101, WIT Tours, and others I cannot recall due to cranial heating and overload. CC participated in the WOW (Women on Wheels) Driving School, and was invited to teach at next years Rally. Double WOW.

Winnebago offered a “Sign and Drive”, so CC and I signed up to test drive a 2012 Tour 42AD  with the 450hp Cummins. We were both impressed with the drivability and the smooth comfortable ride, not to mention the floor plan. Over the next few days we discussed moving up to a new diesel pusher, and decided to price one out, just the way we wanted, including options, interior and exterior colors, fabrics and counter material. Very nice, and the price? Triple WOW!!!!! We are still trying to justify a purchase of this magnitude, given our experience with the Winnebago Service Center. Had our experience there been less painful, the decision to purchase a new one would have definitely been easier. We’re still on the fence. (Click on image to enlarge.)

Evenings were also hot and humid, but we managed to attend a few “Happy Hours’, hosted by the 365 Club, Florida WIT, and row parties. Evening entertainment was provided every night from 7 pm until 9 pm. We did attend 3 evening performances, but usually we were so hot and sticky, all we wanted to do was hit the shower, and cool off in the rig.

While all of this was going on, we had the rig back into the Winnebago Service twice. So, on the days of service, it was up early, tear down, and move the rig from the Rally grounds to service. Waiting and more waiting for them to complete the work in this oppressive heat. What is that I hear? Sounds like Murphy. Wrong part? Oh, come back in 3 days, you say. Back to the Rally and set up. Three days later, repeat the process. Check.

Duncan Industries was at the Rally, repairing windows. Since we had two with broken seals, we signed up. Long, long story short; didn’t happen, and our options are to drive back to Elkhart, IN, or meet them in Madison, WI in two weeks, where they will be attending the Family Motor Coach Association Rally. 

We will take a break from all the stimuli, and just recoup and recharge at a sleepy little campground in Eastern Iowa; Lake Shores RV Resort. Not too bad, as the Passport America rate is $18 per day with no restrictions. From here, we're Madison bound; Murphy-less if at all possible.

Until next time, take care and stay well……………………….

July 8 - 16, 2011 "Murphy"

No one likes to start their trip with aggravation, but with Murphy, anything is possible. We got ready to roll and during our pre-departure light check, CC noticed a damaged wheel on her bike. I looked at it, and the only thing I could imagine was one of the too many golf carts in the campground had run into the rear wheel, so it was off to the office to file a report. After filling out the paperwork, CC got this astonished look on her face, and said to the campground ranger, “Can we take your golf cart over to our campsite?” When they returned, I got the rest of the story. It seems that while backing the Jeep out of the campsite, she backed into a lamp post. We definitely had egg on our face and offered to pay for any damages. The owner inspected the post and said, “Your bike got the worst of it. It’s no problem; we’ll just tighten the screws, and thanks for being honest.” (Click on any image to enlarge)

We departed Wauseon, Ohio for La Porte, Indiana, and decided to stop at the RV Museum and Hall of Fame located just outside of Elkhart, IN, and we’re glad we did. We’re on a tight schedule, but we decided this was one stop we just had to see, considering our chosen lifestyle. It seems ironic, that one of the largest Amish settlements is located in this part of Indiana, considering they still ride in horse drawn buggies. The irony is many of them work at the numerous RV factories located here.

We finally departed for our trip to the Amana Colonies just outside of Amana, Iowa, and also the birthplace of the Amana Corporation. This is one of those places, about 10 miles north of I-80, many people just pass up, and keep driving. We found the place fascinating. Take the time to click on the link above, and if you’re ever in the area stop by; the people are VERY friendly.

Once inside, I was in heaven. My grandfather was not only a butcher, but a German one at that. It was like being a kid again, going to work with him. Let’s see what we need. Double smoked bacon, smoked sausages (6), smoked pepper jack cheese, smoked pork chops, pickled garlic, pickled asparagus spears, horseradish jelly; yea that should just about do it.

While staying at the Amana Colonies campground, we heard the sound of barking dogs, from 7 am to about 7 pm. CC and I were out walking, and we asked if there was a dog show at the pavilion in the park. “No”, they replied, “It’s a Flyball meet”. OK, I’ll bite, what the hell is Flyball. Watch the video below to find out, but only if you need a good laugh. The owners of the dogs are sometimes funnier than the dogs themselves.

When CC and I embarked on this adventure, we were both cognizant of the fact that most likely Murphy’s Law would be a small part of our travels; whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.  Picture this, a 30,000 pound house on wheels rolling along for miles and miles, in the midst of a magnitude 3.5 earthquake.  Something’s gotta give.

Over the last 14 months of driving on America’s roads, the only real information I have is the economic stimulus plan, to fund “shovel ready” projects, has not been used on the highways, as PROMISED. (Imagine that?)……. A logical person would assume that the Interstate System would have better roads than local, state or US highways. Let me assure you, this is NOT the case. OK, I feel better now that I have that off my chest. Back to shake rattle and roll.

We are finally in Forest City, Iowa; the home of Winnebago Industries and builder of our Itasca Suncruiser. A few weeks ago, I called and tried to set up and appointment to get our list of issues/repairs taken care of. I was told no appointments were available for July due to the Winnebago-Itasca Grand National Rally, which we are attending, and the first available appointment was August 15. OK then, August 15 it is.

We arrived in Forest City on Monday, July 11, and after talking to other attendees, were informed we could get into the service center simply by going and setting up an appointment, as during July, they operate on a walk in basis, first come, first served, but limit you to just 7 items to be repaired or replaced. Not an easy task, since Monday afternoon when we pulled in the campground, and were setting up, we had an accident when extending one of the living room slides and broke the vertical trim that encases the slide. (Gotta remember to check for clearances before extending or retacting those slides.)  Add another one to the list. Remember Murphy? Hmmmm, now to go through our list of 14 and prioritize the top 7. 

We hustled over to the service center at 7 am Tuesday, and were told we could most likely get in Wednesday. Great! That was easy enough. Winnebago has a staggered service schedule. You are either assigned a 6 am or 6:30 am time slot to have your rig at the service center, and the technicians begin work at 7 am. They also have a 9:30 am and 11:30 am  “Stand By” which means they MIGHT get to your rig. Every day at 3 pm, they post the list of times for appointments for the next day. We were assigned 9:30 am. Oh well, at least we can sleep in.

Wednesday 11:00 am. Finally met with Larry our service advisor and went over our list of 7 items, and were told to be close just in case they needed to speak with us, so just hung out the day at the service center with the 30 or 40 other people in for work. At 3 pm they brought the rig around, and we went over the items they had completed. 1) Replaced weather-strip on one of the slides. 2) Remove and install window retainer ring that was improperly installed when the rig was originally built. 3) Replace electrical relay on hot water tank so it would operate on 110V. (We had been using the LP to heat water.) “What about the slide needing adjustment”, I asked Larry. To which he replied, “It’s already been adjusted to the max, so the slide may need to be replaced.” I said, “Oh yea, why is that?” He said, “I’ll have more information tomorrow.” OK, 3 out of 7 in a half a day, I thought to myself. We were told to be back at 6 am the following morning, and told we could overnight in the adjacent lot where 30 amp services were available.

Remember Murphy? Around 7 am Thursday morning Larry informed me the slide would need to be replaced with a new improved forged steel slide to replace the extruded aluminum one, to the tune of $3,500 - $4,000. When I asked him who was going to cover that cost, he told me he would check with his boss, Bernie. About 30 minutes later, Larry came out and said we were responsible for the cost of the repair since it was out of warranty. I asked to speak to Bernie, and waited patiently until 1:30 PM when Bernie emerged from his well fortified office. I proceeded to explain that I thought it was a design – engineering – manufacturing defect and that we should, at the very least, split the cost 50-50. Furthermore Winnebago must have realized there was a flaw, otherwise they wouldn’t have made the replacement stronger than the original. Again Bernie repeated, it is out of warranty. I told him he was really making it easy on us to make a positive buying decision on a new Winnebago if this was the attitude of customer service, to which he replied, “You gotta do what you gotta do”, and turned on his heels to return to his office. To say I was not happy, would be an understatement.

Around 3 pm they brought the rig out, and Larry went over the repairs of the day, less the slide. 1) Repair duct work on basement air that was partially blocked by broken/dislodged insulation.  2) Met with the Norcold  rep to determine why our refrigerator was not cooling properly. (I thought it was an intake problem, that the intake was too small for a 4 door refrigerator.) Remember Murphy? I was told it was the correct vent size and the unit was cooling “within specifications”. 3) The dash A/C needed recharging but a leak in the dryer was noticed, so it will be tomorrow when they can get the part. OK, the end of day 2, and only 3 items have been repaired. Back to the adjacent lot for the night where I replaced the 2 high rear tail lights on the back of the rig, and two door hinges damaged in the slide incident on Monday.

Friday, 6 am day 3. Larry told us the new part was to be delivered by 10 am, so I’m thinking we’ll be outta here by noon. Murphy, where are you? 11:30 am, Bernie called on my cell phone, as I don’t think he wanted another face to face with me, only to inform me the part they received, was the wrong one, and a new one won’t be available until next Wednesday. Oh, there you are Murphy. With that bit o’information, we moved back to our spot on the rally campgrounds. Can you see us in the photo below?

While here at the Rally Campground, I have arranged with Duncan Industries to repair/replace 2 windows in the rig with broken seals. (One actually has about 2” of water between the dual panes.) The replacement trim for the slide incident should be ready next week. After the rally we will be going to HWH for them to correct some leveling issues we have had with the automatic hydraulic leveling system. At this point, there is no way I want Winnebago to work on a vendored item. The wind sensor in the awning still doesn’t appear to be working properly, but I will address that with Carefree when we get to Colorado, as it is also a vendored part.

CC and I are looking forward to the rally this week and absorbing as much technical information as we can possibly soak up. We have already met some wonderful, friendly campers, and have been to several “happy hours” without Murphy. So…………………….

Until next time, take care and stay well……………………………………………

August 1 - 7, 2010 - "Cooler in Colorado"

We departed Bonny Lake in route to Denver via US 36; what a ride! It was like a roller coaster with the ups and downs of the terrain. Not so good on the fuel economy, gaining almost 2,000 feet in elevation while as we were also bucking a head wind, has me seriously thinking about a diesel pusher.

Arrived at Cherry Creek State Park and after set up decided to pay homage to a local culinary landmark, AND a absolute favorite of our old neighbor, Patrick. So, west bound it was to The Piper Inn for the best damn wings there are. Move over Buffalo, you aren't even close.The secret to their crispiness, while not being greasy, is the cooking process in a red hot wok with very little oil added to the process. The chicken wings actually cook/fry in their own oils from the skin.

Later in the week CC made an appointment with her friend (Harley rider and hair stylist) Wendy, to have her ears lowered. Guess this RV lifestyle is just not as user friendly to maintaining long hair as it is in the stix and brix. It looked to me that she left about 6 inches on the floor. (Please, no comments about the 6 inches)

Fester completed his employment with one last "unpaid" meeting in Denver. Following that, we had the rig scheduled into see the Doctor, as we had been experiencing refrigerator and air conditioning problems. We pulled into Steve Casey's service department bright and early on Wednesday, while we excused ourselves to run errands.

About an hour later, Steve Jr. from the service department called with some not so good news. The problem with the refrigerator was two-fold. One, it appears some insulation had come loose and was restricting the cooling fans air flow. Two, they claim the intake cooling vents on the side of the rig are designed for a 2-door refrigerator, and NOT for the 4-door unit we have. Their suggestion on that was "contact Winnebago directly as it appears it is a manufacturing mistake". Fix one required removing the refrigerator from it's location, and re-attaching the foil insulation, cleaning the vent and coils, all to the tune of about $500 for parts and labor.

A few hours later, Steve again called to inform me that the Intellitec Smart Energy Management System had a bad IC board. It is actually a mini-computer that manages the 3 energy systems we utilize and "remembers" the priority of that device, and manages all the other devices in use. Bottom line, if there is not sufficient electricity to run the microwave, it will turn the refrigerator from AC to LP gas for as long as the microwave is running. OK? That, they claim, is why our air conditioner is not performing at optimal levels. The cost, you asked, 'bout another 5 Benjamin's.

With that surgery completed, we made the Jefferson County Fairgrounds RV Park our home for the weekend. Definitely not a resort location, but it was close (and cheap)and we wanted to stay in the area for a few days to catch up with friends, see Dr. Odekirk about Fester's SI joint, and make our change of address with the bank and insurance company.

This was definitely a short week.