JRs RV Repair in Gettysburg, PA

I had my appointment with JRs RV Repair in Gettysburg, PA yesterday. I am very pleased with him. A very nice, professional, and competent RV tech. He nicely answered all my questions and I learned from him and he showed no disdain when one problem was revealed as self-inflicted. Because I was not in an emergency situation, I got a 10am appointment at his shop just west of Gettysburg, PA, about an hour's drive from my house in MD about 2 weeks from when I called him. He said he normally does work in the shop in the morning and does his drive to fix in the afternoon.

My AC died last summer on Greeley's hottest day over 100F and I was told it had to be replaced because it is 11 years old but no one could deal with it for a month. JRs listened to it and knew the compressor was ok so it was probably the solenoid. The compressor kept trying to start, then stopped, then tried, then stopped. He explained that it had two solenoids. One does the AC startup and the second does the AC running. Up onto the roof, removed the cover, then the metal cover containing the solenoids. The start up solenoid was melted so that was the culprit. It took a bit of time and a phone call to find the right replacement because the lettering was unreadable but after some searching, he found the right one and replaced it. He also sprayed a little WD-40 to ensure good operation. We tested it and eh voila, it worked. We ran it long enough to ensure it worked and lowered the inside temperature a degree. So that saved me several hundred dollars. He said lots of ACs from the 1990s are still working so there's no need to insist on replacement just because of age.

He said poor power supply could have been why it melted and recommended using a 10 gauge power cord all the way from outlet to the van even when moochdocking at a house with a 15amp circuit. The excessive heat could well have compromised the city power and done the deed. So, I'll get another 30amp cord to make it all the way to my sister's house. I had been using a 12 gauge cord but he said that was marginal.

My second problem was my LP would not turn on. This happened about 3 years ago when I started on a trip. I just did without since I wasn't going to boondock. I suspected electrical because I thought when I turned the switch for the LP on (wired to a solenoid on the tank) and remembered it made a noise when turn on. It was silent. He couldn't find any power to the switch so that looked like the culprit. Next came much searching for where the wire went. The documentation I have failed to show anything at all about what the switch went to. He knew it had to be to a fuse. My electrical cavity is tight and the wire went behind stuff. I finally remembered the cabinetry is all put together with screws and the closet floor over half the cavity. We removed that and he saw where it went.

He found that a wire was cut into fuse #5 with a new wire put in its place. I had trouble with fuse #5 and fuse #6 and had rewired it a few years ago. What I didn't know, in large part because while the fuse block was mapped out in the manual, they only marked fuse #5 with monitor and not the LP switch. So, having failed to understand the link, I did the LP failure to myself. From the time I rewired to the time I next tried the LP was a few months, so I didn't connect the two. He quickly spliced the switch wire back in and the LP worked. Duh! So that was a self inflicted wound. But shout out to JR.

If I had known enough, I could have fixed both problems but I did not. It was well worth 2 hours of his time to get these fixed and if anyone needs a good RV tech near Gettysburg, PA, he's your guy.

That Dang Sprinter Sliding Door and Updates

It has been years since I posted here because I've been busy remodeling my house.

Sliding Door
I just got a bunch of maintenance done on my Sprinter Van. In addition to getting all the fluids changed and filters replaced, I asked them to fix my aggravating sliding door. Way back in this post, I did some surgery on my door handle. It worked for awhile, then not. Lots of spraying lube into the locks helped but I've been exiting through the driver's door most of the time. Lately, I've had to open the passenger door and reach around to push the inside slider handle to get it to open from the outside. It was just hopeless from the inside.

The technician at Sun Motors in Mechanicsburg, PA (great shop who really knows Sprinters!!) said the whole lock mechanisms were shot and needed replacing. $600 later and it opens easily. I was really tired of it. Here's what he wrote:

Removed door panel
Manually opened inside, latch not moving enough to open door
Also has cable bad and removed from retaining clip
Rear door roller has failed, dropping the door, therefore misaligned
Cleaned contact points between door and body. 
Took extra time due to cabinets in the way (2 hours)
Replaced front latch, cable and rear latch, got assistance and replaced rear door roller in track, Adjusted and checked. Opens and closes and locks ok

Labor for this was $348. All the parts were $60 for the front door latch/lock, $72 for the rear latch, and $24 for the cable. The new door roller was $99.

So hopefully the door will again be good to use and not a constant aggravation. Not sure I'm up to doing all this repair and I really don't have the time right now to try it, so I bit the bullet and paid for the experts to do it. It was in a lot worse shape than I thought. I don't think I could have fixed the door roller.

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Van Maintenance
When I went to the Sprinterfests at Sun (who no longer hosts them 😢) we got great seminars on the Sprinters from their mechanics. They said that the best thing we can do for the longevity of at least my vintage Sprinter (2005) is change the fluids. With the exception of the slider door, this vehicle hasn't given me any problems at all.  I want to keep it like that. It is now just under 70,000 miles so I thought it was time to get that done. I had the serpentine belt replaced in 2014 which is another thing I just don't want to ever break on me. I have been changing the oil and filter every year myself but I didn't want to tackle changing brake fluid, coolant, or transmission myself. That cost me about $513. I also had them change the filters: fuel, air, AC cabin for $287.

They thought the tires needed rotating so I had them do that, a bit surprised that they said they were ok. They are now 8 years old. But when the tech started putting in air, cracks showed all around the sidewall. So a call and I agreed to new tires. I asked for the same Michelin Defenders I had had on them, tho they are more expensive. They make the van handle nicely and they lasted 8 years before. I was expecting to get new tires soon. So for another $1000, it has new feet. As I drove it out of the lot, it felt really good. I think that good tires are very important as really, they are the only thing between me and the road.

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House Problems: Propane, AC
A couple years ago, my propane would not turn on. Some questions and people say I probably need a new regulator. The last couple of years on my trips, I just did without. I've been camping in campgrounds with electric anyway because it is so hot, I need the AC on. That allows me to use the electric to heat water instead of propane. Not too bad since I was just driving to Colorado and not doing touristy things. I have an old butane burner that I used to heat water for coffee. It worked ok.

Last summer while in Colorado, on the hottest week, over 100F, my AC quit. That was a big problem because the dog and cat needed the cooling on such hot days. The dry air allowed the night temperature to drop nicely so I was still comfortable to sleep. I called all around the area and the soonest I could get any installer was a month out and soonest I could get a unit shipped was a week out. I was headed back before the week was up so I was really stuck. My sister let me put the animals in her basement bath. She is terribly allergic to them but that contained the dander for her and kept them safe. When I headed back home, I lucked out and the humidity and temperature dropped enough to camp comfortably without the AC. Everyone I talked to said that a unit that old would need replacing.

So those are 2 things that I need to get fixed. I think I have found a reliable tech to do it. I could replace the AC myself except they are really heavy. At least I'm not in an emergency situation now.

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Refrigerator
The Isotherm refrigerator that kept dying on me does make a very good cooler. After the warranty running out and the 2nd compressor dying, I gave up on it. I got a small Dometic compressor fridge to get me by and it has worked well enough. It is small but it stays cold. I put a bag of ice in the bottom of the Isotherm and used it for fruit and veggies that don't need reliably cold conditions on our trips.

This year, I bought a replacement Truckfridge that is really the exact same box but with a simple thermostat and no fancy electronic controls. It gets good reviews and I'm hopeful that a simple setup will be reliable like the little Dometic chest is. I'm also going to replace the wires for it in case there are hidden issues with it.

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That should fix all the issues and get the van back in good shape.

Update and Plans
I've nearly finished all the sprucing up and remodeling of my house and it is so much nicer now. I've spent the winter cleaning out the stuff and getting rid of the majority of stuff that has accumulated. Once I get it purged and all cleaned up, I intend to put it up for sale. There are a few things that I'll put into a storage unit but most things are not worth the fees or the cost to move. I'm not sure where I'll end up but I intend to move into the van full time and wander for an undertermined amount of time. I think this will finally be the year I do that.

That is the big push for me to get the van in good shape to last me for a while. It recently became my daily driver because my car needs a head gasket and that costs more than it is worth. I always intended to get rid of the car when I sold the house so that just comes sooner.

The van is lined with cardboard and tarps and I've taken many, many trips to the dump or recycling center, or Habitat for Humanity Restore to clear out the house. With my focus being getting the remodeling done, I've just chucked stuff into the garage or basement to get it out of the way instead of taking the time and energy to clean it out as I go. The nice thing about my van's design, is I can do that and use it to haul stuff.

Thermistor Replaced

The new thermistor came for my Isotherm refrigerator.  They sent a 6' phone cord and they had already wired it to a new thermistor, only this time with a nice flat connection protected by a heat shrink tube.  A much better connection that should be able to withstand some knocking about if it should fall again.  My contact said to use a pencil to poke a hole thru the silicon where the coolant tube and wire goes thru and poke it thru.  It was easy enough to get a hole thru but pushing the thermistor thru was not easy.  I ended up using a 1/4" wide piece of vinyl flashing to use as a fish wire poked thru the hole, then taped the thermistor to it to pull it thru.  

Isotherm Refrigerator Saga

I replaced my original 3-way refrigerator last spring with an Isotherm CR130 marine refrigerator.  The old one never worked for more than a few hours and mostly not at all.  I tried everything but to no avail.  After much research, I settled on the Isotherm because of it's excellent reputation for ruggedness, efficiency, and the company standing behind it's products.  It was expensive but I really wanted one that would be reliable and very miserly on the battery usage.

Sprinter Sliding Door Handle Fix

See here for an update on the door: that-dang-sprinter-sliding-door I've had a lot of subsequent trouble with it.

My sliding door handle broke and wouldn't open the door at all while I was on my trip last summer.  I ended up using the driver's door instead, which the dog adapted to quickly.  With research, mostly on Sprinter-source.com, I found it is a fairly common problem.  The plastic inside handle is prone to breakage at the crucial lever point.  I did this fix last fall but didn't document it then.  I haven't yet looked for a replacement part, but I should ...

Test Fit the Refrigerator and Getting ready for the Install

Test fit the new refrigerator

I took the doors off the refrigerator to check the fit.  Even with the door off, it just barely slid by the narrow part of the van aisle.  It just barely gets into the cavity due to the cabinet face trim.  I can recess it a bit over a half inch and still have room for the lock to swivel and the compressor just clears the rear inner wall.  So, the cavity is ready for the actual installation.  

Vents Installed

Last night, I installed the new vents.  I pressed the butyl tape against the flange, removed the paper, then pressed the vent cowl into the vent hole.  I had some difficulty with the aluminum backers because I missed the pre-drilled holes, but got them in in the end.  I used a plastic putty knife to cut away the excess butyl tape.  It is kind of gooey and stringy.  The vent flange doesn't fit exactly against the van skin because of the curvature of the wall.  The butyl tape fills the gap so I hope it will work properly.

And More Painting ...

The gray primer is definitely a better base for white paint than the brown primer is.  On a whim, I decided to go over the outside edges with the same Rustoleum Gloss White paint as I'm using on the interior metal.  Wouldn't you know it?  It matches the original white paint better than the GM Arctic White touch up paint.  Granted, the original paint is a bit drab after 8 years in the weather, but it isn't anything that a good washing wouldn't improve.

More painting

Gray primer

I found a couple of little jars of auto paint I had gotten to fix chips - primer and top paint.  The GM Arctic White is supposed to match the Sprinter white but it is more yellow than the existing paint.  Oh well.  I put the white on the upper panel first since most of it will be under the vent flange anyway.  From that, I decided it would be worthwhile to cover the brown (anti-rust) primer with the gray auto primer using the little brush.  I also went around to the chips and put a bit in those too.  It dries a lot faster than the Rustoleum.  If I was being really fussy, I should be masking off and spray painting but this will have to do.  Most of this will be hidden anyway after everything is installed.

Painting

Bondo applied to side of vent

Today, I applied the Bondo on the sides of the lower vent hole where so much of the rust was.  It is very easy to do, but you have to be quick.  I just put some of the main stuff in the cup that is the cap with a wood stick, then a line of the hardener, stir until it is all pink and swipe it on.  I put maybe an eighth of an inch on it and spread it smooth with the spatula.  My flat ice cream stick worked better than the spatula they supplied  but that might work better on a bigger area.  By the time I started on the other side, it had already started hardening so I had to junk that and mix up a bit more.  The hardened stuff came out of the cup easily as it doesn't adhere to plastic.  20 minutes later and it was ready to sand.  The metal feels substantially stronger.

De-Rusting

Inside of upper vent - not much rust.

The clean-up of the refrigerator cavity took a lot longer than I thought it would.  Pulling that much caulk off is not easy.  The caulk softener only worked on small amounts so I had to cut it with a razor knife, scrape it, pull it off in chunks and pull it out of crevices with  needle-nose pliers.  The more I pulled off, the more rust I found under it.  When I got it down to a light coating, then I sprayed and smeared the caulk softener over it and waited for at least a half hour.  Then more scraping to get it off.

The Fridge Cavity and Vents - Problems!

Fridge cavity - original

The picture shows how the fridge cavity looked for the propane fridge with the exception that I slapped some paint on the raw plywood floor after pulling the fridge last year and capped the propane supply.  The plywood floor is simply 1/2" plywood.  There's a 110V outlet on the left.  The propane and 12V wires are on the right. A yellow romex cable supplies 110V to an outlet on the other side from the inverter.  I added the inverter on/off switch above it.

Refrigerator - Delivered

IsoTherm CR130 as delivered

My new refrigerator was delivered before noon today.  That is quite good service, especially considering that I had to specify features requiring it be sent from the distributor in FL instead of the company I bought it from.  In hand less than 1 week from placing the order.  They didn't file the credit card charge until Tuesday.  Defender.com gets a good recommendation from me.

Refrigerator Ordered!

After a busy Fall and Winter working on my house (driveway finished and painting), April is almost here and I remembered that I need to solve my dead refrigerator problem.  To recap, my Dometic 3-way refrigerator never worked properly and pretty much died.  After using the van for 2 substantial trips, I find the requirement to park level to be a lot of trouble.  I'm this van's 3rd owner so I really don't know how it was used before.  The more I thought about it and researched options, the less I wanted to have it run on propane and the heat absorption method.  I've heard it said that when they work, they work well but but when they don't, they are nothing but trouble.  I had the latter.

My First Rally Experience

Last weekend, I went to my first RV rally.  It was the local chapter for my brand of RV - Leisure Travel Vans.  It was at a campground about 70 miles south of my house - Creekside Campground in Edinburg, VA because it had a nice meeting room.  Expensive campground at $35+ a night with electric, water, cable, wireless internet.  Sites were fairly level with a plastic picnic table and gravel and all in a line with little space between sites.  There was a nice creek behind our sites.

49 days on the road. Lessons Learned

This post is a recap of what worked well and what didn't work on my nearly 2 month trip in the van.    I put key words in bold to make it easier to find a topic in this rather long post.

New Converter

I completed the WFCO Ultra III WF-9855 converter kit installation last weekend.  It was a fairly involved procedure so I am late in documenting it.  This replacement started when I blew fuses and discovered the source was 3 melted wires to the NEG post on the DC fuse board.  That was a simple enough fix (wrap the melted insulation with electrical tape) but that left the question of why was the post so hot that it melted the insulation?  Anything getting that hot is not a good sign and could well be an electrical fire hazard.  Rather than just patch it up and forget it, I looked into correcting the why and making it work properly in the future.

It appeared that the wire sizes were too small for the loads.  They had used 8 AWG wires to get the battery power to the fuse board.  It was especially bad when I ran the water pump and the POS post got very hot.  From my research on the web, this seems to be a fairly common problem and other people had serious charing in places near the converter.  I also wanted to have a good 3 stage battery charger to take better care of my batteries.  This led me to replace my Parallax 7355 converter/charger with the Ultra III 9800 series kit that included a new and better fuse board.

Wires and Water

I got an email from Randy at Bestconverters.com today.  He recommends these to solve my problems:
http://www.bestconverter.com/Trimetric-2025-RV_p_314.html
http://www.bestconverter.com/Prowatt-SW1000-Sine-Wave-Inverter_p_374.html
http://www.bestconverter.com/55-Amp-Converter-Replacement-Kit_p_47.html


I'm going to add a trickle charger for my van engine battery too so it will charge automatically  when I have shore power:  http://www.bestconverter.com/Galaxy-Trik-L-Start_p_275.html

Wiring Woes, Update

I found 2 positive cables that are in contact with one of the rear shocks.  It is hard to tell, but I'm pretty sure that there is some rubbing on the insulation of the wires.  At any rate, I need to re-route the positive cables on the inside of the shocks so they cannot come into contact with the shocks.  The positive cables echo the configuration of the negative - they go from the battery to a junction box under the van where they are connected to 2 other wires, one of which goes to the inverter.  

Wiring Woes

3 Wires Fused to Converter NEG Lug

After much effort, trouble, and a few bruises, I have learned some things about my wiring in the van house.  This all started with a blown fuse that blew and sparked every time I replaced it.  The van had blown both the converter and inverter before I bought it.  The dealer had replaced both and spliced a fried wire to the inverter neg.  It worked fine last summer after I bought it but for some reason, it blew fuses during the fall.