A Different Life II

[Lily&Me]

Hi, Carol.

We wound our way thru Louisiana yesterday morning and into southern Mississippi to visit my cousin’s widow.

Crossed the Big River at St. Francisville, and went by the 200+ year old home place, just to take a look at it…doesn’t look like anyone is living there, nor that a thing has been done to it since the new owners took it over 4 years or so ago.

I hope it isn’t left to just fall down, that it is going to be restored at some point to it’s former Antebellum beauty.

I don’t have enough signal to get the picture I took to load.

We’ve had a great visit, picking up right where we left off, talking like we just saw each other last week, and have plans to attend a reunion together in the Spring.

Their little dog has died since we were here last, and Lily clearly remembered him and was looking for him.

Heading out later this morning, need to find a lab for blood draws.

Maggie

[tallytwo1994]

Originally Posted by Lily&Me

Crossed the Big River at St. Francisville, and went by the 200+ year old home place, just to take a look at it…doesn’t look like anyone is living there, nor that a thing has been done to it since the new owners took it over 4 years or so ago.

I hope it isn’t left to just fall down, that it is going to be restored at some point to it’s former Antebellum beauty.

I don’t have enough signal to get the picture I took to load.

We’ve had a great visit, picking up right where we left off, talking like we just saw each other last week, and have plans to attend a reunion together in the Spring.

Their little dog has died since we were here last, and Lily clearly remembered him and was looking for him.

Maggie,

It sounds like a good trip so far, visiting with people you are fond of and close to. I’m at my mother’s house packing up my stuff and cleaning out some of the junk. She passed away in June, and a week after her funeral so did her younger sister who had been living here for two years. There will not be any full time residents in this house for a while and it may be rented to pay taxes and the outrageous insurance costs. This Florida Cracker house sits on Sarasota bay in a small fishing village and has been on family property since my great grandfather and his brothers left North Carolina in the early 1880’s. My cousin came by the other day, to pick up canned goods that she will take to donate, and brought her dog. She would bring Harry with her to visit the two old ladies. He searched high and low several times for them both. He was happy to see me but not as happy as he would be to get that extra attention and treats he would would get from them. Dogs, and cats too, remember as much as we do.

Carol

[Lily&Me]

My sympathies for the loss of your mother and aunt, Carol.

Lily looked for Doug for months after his death…every time we returned home from anywhere she would circle the house, check the back bedroom, etc., clearly hoping he had returned.


We spent last night in a lovely, quiet little WMA campground, with no hookups, but under live oaks on the Pearl River, and free.

Slept like the dead, Lily had a good romp this morning and we were on the road.

So I have this brand new coach battery, and discovered last week the wrong fuse issue with the converter…now resolved…but I wonder if I have permanently damaged this battery, during the first week on the road and while the converter was compromised with the wrong fuse, and/or there are drains on it I don’t know to turn off.

Not using anything but running the little frig, which is propane, and briefly running the water pump occasionally, my battery was down from 12.8 when we stopped yesterday mid day to 11.99 this morning when I checked it as I got up.

So I headed for an inland NF campground this morning, so I could plug into 30 amp, get a shower, dump my tanks, etc., and turned on the vent fan.

Plugged into the 30 amp, according to the inserted monitor my battery continued to drain with the vent fan on, but started to increase in charge as soon as I turned the vent fan off.

It seems odd to me that the vent fan would draw more off the coach battery than the 30 amp electricity can charge…doesn’t it???

I’m so frustrated with these electrical issues.

Using my HotLogic to heat up leftovers, going to clean inside a bit…always a little cathartic …and hope my battery charges properly while we are parked til morning.

Sigh.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

The 30 amp fuse for the converter was blown again, which I examined my own self and replaced, and battery charge is now moving upward steadily.



Maggie

[mimiandrews]

If the correct sized fuse keeps blowing, there's a problem with that converter. That the converter won't produce enough to charge the battery and run the vent fan is another bad sign. I got my converter from bestconverters.com a few years ago, and it's been a very good one. If I remember correctly, the brand name is Boondocker. You'd need to find someone to install it.

[Lily&Me]

Thank you, Mimi…I thought about texting you, but know you are dealing with other things besides my electrical issues.

It’s a puzzle, with a 15 amp fuse improperly in there last week, and now the 30 amp blowing.

The man who troubleshot this last week did determine my converter is still made, I’m also told asking around here that sometimes fuses are bad, and these are at least many years old.

I have decided I am going to pitch all these fuses, and buy new ones, just on general principle…and I may have destroyed my new coach battery.

Thanks for taking the time to respond, Mimi.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

Like magic, once the fuse was replaced…

[Lily&Me]

You know, when Jerry put the 30 amp in there last week, he used a little gadget to check the converter output and it was where it should be.

Maggie

[mimiandrews]

There is such a thing as a badly manufactured fuse, so I agree with giving it one more try. If this continues to happen, there is a short in the circuit somewhere that must be fixed. The age of the fuses should not matter, as they are made of metal and freshness is just not an issue.

The voltage reading in the picture you posted is just about perfect for charging a 12 volt battery. If the converter can do that consistently, it's good.

The battery may or may not have been damaged by being deeply discharged. Give it some time and see how it does. Sometimes they recover, sometimes they don't.

[Lily&Me]

Thank you, Mimi, and I won’t throw out the fuses.

I gritted my teeth and turned the vent fan on awhile ago, letting it run at top speed an hour or so, and there was no decrease in the charge showing, but I still feel very uneasy about it and will watch this closely.

I have someone at home, recommended by my mechanic, who has serviced my generator reliably and I’m thinking I should probably just have him replace the converter when I get home…if I can keep everything running until then.

The converter would be 18 years or so old, at this point, so it’s failure may be inevitable.

Thanks for your wisdom, Mimi, you are amazing.

Maggie

[mimiandrews]

The fault might be in the wiring, not the converter. Have that checked, because it will blow the fuse with a new converter also. If that fuse keeps blowing, have it checked sooner rather than later--fuses are there to prevent fires.

[Lily&Me]

I will, Mimi, and thank you.

All is still good this morning, with the vent fan currently running tho I have not plugged anything into the 12 volt outlet in the rear of this coach.

I have wondered if the MaxxAir Fan was added on, then that is aiding in converter overload, but I don’t know.

This one has a TV that plugs not into electricity but the 12 volt outlet, and I’m just leaving that alone at this point.

Several have suggested wires may be touching someplace, and I’m this morning going to trace those cables thru the storage areas they run thru and be sure I haven’t compromised them somewhere with my stuffing of things in here and there.

Some things I only learn when I am drug thru a keyhole sideways, as Doug would say.

And, he would be right.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

For any who may be interested, I removed everything and looked at the wires from my coach battery to the converter, which look more like cables to me as they are covered in a thick, foam-like tubing, and in doing so remembered that Jerry had examined the wires last week when he was trouble-shooting the fuse issue.

He traced them to the converter, then removed the converter itself to look at it…at which time I vacuumed out the mass of dust and dog hair in that compartment.

So, the wires seem intact…but the converter may still be failing and if I don’t have to replace it this trip I am going to do so when I get home, as it is at least 16 years old, so probably just a matter of time.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

I mixed my first batch of bread dough yesterday, as one must first have room in the frig for what is not baked on day 2 and my frig is always stuffed to the gills when I first leave home.

So, my first “pan bread” this trip, made in this little cast iron baker I believe I picked up at an HEB store in Texas last time I was down here…and with orange juice and a couple of eggs will be “dinner” today.

It’s a balanced meal, right?

[Hittenstiehl]

Yes, if there's bread it's balanced[emoji1643]!

[Lily&Me]

I finished “The Next Girl”, by Carla Kova last evening, and it was very good…a crime mystery.

And started this one, which was gripping from the get-go, and is going to be a difficult but very important read.

It never hurts to be reminded where this country has come from, so that we never allow ourselves to go back there, but the first few chapters were so traumatic I couldn’t sleep last night.

[Lily&Me]

I finished “The Last Thing You Surrender” yesterday, and tho it was excellent, the entire read was difficult.

If you read it, you will know why.


The converter seems to be holding as long as I don’t turn on the vent fan, and I did remember that before this spate of blown fuses we sat thru a torrential downpour…after which I woke up to a small wet spot on the floor that seemed to have come from the vent fan.

I wonder if the wiring got wet.


We have been making our way slowly east into the Florida panhandle, stopping to do labs in Panama City.

Have found some beautiful public campgrounds, ranging from rustic and inexpensive to this lovely spot at St. Andrews SP, where I don’t believe we have ever been.

Beautiful location, and an absolutely immaculate campground.

[mimiandrews]

I wonder if the wiring got wet.

That might explain the blown fuses, but only if the problem stopped after the wiring had time to dry out.

[Lily&Me]

Thank you, Mimi, and I don’t know whether the wiring is dried out or what, just that the fuse doesn’t seem to blow unless I turn the vent fan on.

I spoke about it yesterday with the guy at home who has done my RV electric work, trying to determine if I need to try to find someone on the road to replace the converter or if it can wait til I get home.

He couldn’t offer much, diagnostically, but did tell me to use my solar panel to charge the coach battery if the converter goes out completely…which I had not thought about, but then electrical things are not my forte and nothing runs logically in those areas for me.

But, that would presume I had sunshine, and I guess along that line there is also always the generator…but, I’m hoping that now I’ve bought more 30 amp fuses if I leave the vent fan off we can limp on home.

I am learning lots about my rig’s electrical system.

Maggie

[mimiandrews]

Learning is good. And, electricity is not rocket science. You can do this.