Up On The Roof – Day 2

The motorhome is parked in Mary’s yard at her home at Murphys, California. I expect to be here until shortly after Thanksgiving cleaning and doing minor work on both the motorhome and Bronco. After our 682 day journey, they are both ready for some attention.

For most of 2013, I’ve complained about the weather…too hot and humid or too cold. Now that I’m back in Murphys the weather is finally nice….although they had a hotter than usual summer here. Extended forecast is really nice for the next several days, so it’s time to get my outdoor work done on the motorhome and Bronco.

Yesterday’s chore was to finish the installation of the create-a-breeze fan started the day before. First thing was to install the vent holding pads and then thoroughly seal the  fan unit from leaks…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

Then I installed the vent hood which allows the vent to be in the open position and the fan to operate during the rain…

Then moving inside, I completed the wiring hookup and trimmed the garnish plate to fit…

Installation is now complete and the fan works fine. Total installation time was about eight hours. I’m slow…but I do good work!  🙂

You can read all about this fan by clicking this link… http://www.amazon.com/Fan-Tastic-Vent-8000-ABS-LID/dp/B0027XAN78/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381928530&sr=8-1&keywords=fan+tastic+vent

Mary wanted me to tell you that both the fan assembly and the vent hood are made in the USA!

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of California. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Up On The Roof – Day 1

The motorhome is parked in Mary’s yard at her home at Murphys, California. I expect to be here until shortly after Thanksgiving cleaning and doing minor work on both the motorhome and Bronco. After our 682 day journey, they are both ready for some attention.

For most of 2013, I’ve complained about the weather…too hot and humid or too cold. Now that I’m back in Murphys the weather is finally nice….although they had a hotter than usual summer here. Extended forecast is really nice for the next several days, so it’s time to get my outdoor work done on the motorhome and Bronco.

Last Saturday I super-cleaned the motorhome and Bronco exterior glass.Using superfine steel wool to remove dead bug body residues and Invisible Glass got them really clean once again…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

Now it’s time to get my roof work done. Most medium-sized motorhomes, like ours,  come with two dinky, about worthless, exhaust fans, one in the kitchen and one in the bathroom areas. They are very noisy and seem to have no effect…

Motorhomes have a tendency to be about 10 degrees hotter on the interior during sunny days. Unless you want to run the air conditioner all day long, you  have to live with these higher temperatures.

During the many days of hot and humid weather we’ve endured in 2013, I struggled with the options. Then I heard about a create-a-breeze fan which is supposedly quiet and really creates a breeze. So we bought one and it was waiting for me on my arrival…

Now for the installation…hence up on the roof of the motorhome I went yesterday. First step in the process was to remove the old and really hardened putty from the old fan assembly…

With all the screw holes exposed and then screws removed, finally with lots of prying the old unit broke loose…

Next step was to remove the remaining putty. What a job…my neck, arms and back were really sore last night…

Finally the base area is reasonably clean and ready for the new unit…

After careful measuring and trying the electrical hook up to make sure the fan actually works, after five hours bending over on my knees, the unit is finally in place…

I’ll complete the installation today. Hopefully it will work as advertised.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of California. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

The Techie’s Two Tips…

Five days ago I published a Blog entry entitled A Techie And His Lady. Click the link to see that posting…
http://wp.me/pDCku-3bg

In that entry I indicated that the Techie had offered me a couple of tips that we could incorporate in our motorhome. The tips have been accomplished and here they are…

We have a catalytic heater mounted on the wall below the dinette table. It was the only place available to put  this device which we use for heat when not plugged into shore power. It runs on propane, but does not heat by a flame. Rather, it glows on a platinum pad and produces radiant heat. It had a tendency to somewhat roast our bodies on the side facing the heater and leave the side away from the heater feeling cold. The Techie advised mounting a 4″ computer fan above the heater. Since heat rises, the fan now blows the heat towards the middle of the motorhome and substantially reduces to roasting of the facing side effect. A small toggle switch mounted on the side of my dinette seat turns the fan off and on. It works really well.

Here’s what the installation looks like…

The second tip involved helping control the clutter on our dinette table. Pens, glasses, pads, books, etc, had a tendency to fall off and under the table. It seemed like we could never locate a pen and paper when we needed them. In the below photos you will see the installation of two 9×9″ metal baking pans mounted on two runs of J-Channel. They too work well…

Mary has a tendency to have more “clutter” than myself and should have a bushel basket on her side. Unfortunately there just is not room to install one. 🙂

While small in nature, these two tips will make our lives somewhat more convenient. It’s really nice to be able to find a pen when you need one.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust

Mary Abhors Waste…

My sweet Mary is many things. One of the things she is…is a true environmentalist and she really hates to waste anything. Essentially not wanting to discard an item until it is totally used up.

I on the other hand…being an ex-engineer which means I’m logical…believe when something is nearing the end of its life…you replace it when it’s practical and convenient. For instance…I would much rather replace a coming-to-its-end-of-life item in the convenience of Mary’s yard instead of waiting for it to die when out on the open road with the RV.

So it was the case with the matter of replacing the TV in our motorhome. Even though our motorhome is a 2006…the TV was manufactured in 2004 which makes it seven years old. It’s showing signs of giving up the ghost with about a six-inch round spot of incorrect colors. My sweet Mary was resistant to the change indicating…”But it still works.”

Since our current plans have it structured that once I leave with the motorhome shortly after Thanksgiving…it…the motorhome is not expected to return to Mary’s yard once again until October, 2013. In other words…it will be out in the world for the next two years. Confident that if not changed now…the TV would quit within the next two years…out on the open road. Because changing TV’s will require some degree of modification to the TV’s holding cabinet…and since Mary’s youngest son just happens to be a carpenter…I indicated that it makes sense to change it now rather than out on the open road.

I finally won her over with the comment…”Do you drive on your cars tires until they blow-out before replacing them?” With that behind us…she finally agreed to the change while the motorhome is here. In addition…we’ve got a delightful six-channel surround-sound audio system and the current TV has that crummy picture. True we do not watch a lot of TV…but when we do…why not have a good picture and sound?

So…in my true ex-engineer way…I got on the Internet and spent several days researching new TV’s. I finally found the right one. An LG Led-Lcd 26″ flat panel set. We bought it at Best Buy in Stockton, California….about 60 miles from Mary’s home. Since her youngest son…the carpenter…lives only a couple of miles from Best Buy…he picked it up for us and delivered it to Mary’s home yesterday. Here’s a photo of the box…

Mary’s son…the carpenter…has obligations for the next few days and will return next Monday to help us with the install.

In other news…

I continue working on the motorhome. Up on the roof for the last time yesterday…I applied a covering of Protect-All to all the plastic items on the roof. It protects these items for the sun’s UV rays which in time causes them to disintegrate. Protect-all slows the process.

Also I received this strange-looking device in the mail…

“What’s that?”…you ask. Why it’s an RV Refrigerator Cooling Fan.

RV Refrigerators are not the normal refrigerators with which you might be familiar. They sometime struggle to maintain the recommended 33-40 degree temperature. Usually two things cause this struggle. First is when the outside temperature gets over 80 degrees and secondly when too full. Unfortunately…my Sweet Mary has a tendency to put ten pounds of stuff into a five-pound package. Remember thou shall not waste? Wouldn’t want to waste any of that storage space!  🙂

When an RV refrigerator is too full…the air cannot circulate and here comes the struggle. This silent fan rests directly upon the cooling fins in our refrigerator which is supposed to help circulate the air in the RV refrigerator and hence help maintain the recommended temperatures. At least that’s the theory. For a measly $15…it’s worth the effort to install it to see if it will work. Here’s a photo of it in the refrigerator…

Hooked to the hot wire of the refrigerator light…it draws very little power and runs even when the door is closed. Will it help? Only time will tell.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust