We finally were able to deploy the main awning today, in what looks like the first time in a decade. It was green with mildew, one of the seams has rotted through, and it has more holes than a piece of swiss cheese. One of the hold-down wheels was siezed in place from non-use, and I tore the retaining pin out of the housing trying to get it to release.
A couple of hours of joy with a bottle of Howes oil and a butane torch, with vise grips and a pipe wrench, finally yielded the desired results. I got the wheel freed up, and ran a tap and a die through the wheel and over the rod that goes onto the retainer for the awning. We also found out, to our chagrin, that the fabric has contracted slightly over the time it has not been used, and installing the braces was a real struggle. We prevailed at last, and I took these photos of the awning out. It looks a lot better than it is...
If you look at the shadow of the awning, you will see the sunlight line. That is where I will be taking a C needle and heavy duty thread and attempting to sew the seam. What we really need to do is go to Bob's in Ocala and purchase new awning fabric. We are making a list and will be going there as soon as we can.
We are talking about getting a new cooktop with 3 burners and different counter top like a light faux granite. We still need several tambors and a few little items and will be adding to the list after our outing next week.
We are going out to teach elderly Canadian friends of ours how to use thier new SOB motor home they purchased from the friend we are staying with. Planning to have fun!! We are going to Franklin Locks in Fort Myers on the Caloosahatchee (?) River. Thought I would die laughing when Zelda said "what is a black tank and why do we have to empty it". When we told her, she yelled at Ron that they would have to use the campground bathroom!!!
She then decided maybe it would be a good thing to learn how to empty it. Then we told her about the grey tank!
Have a good evening.
Marie
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Take a chance, you just never know!
Just catching up. With a little luck and your needlework skills, you'll have the awning repaired. Bertha's makeover looks to be a success. She's lovely.
At least you won't have to worry about it filling with water and bending an arm.
It can happen, ask me....
If you notice in the photos, force of habit still has me angling the awning so it won't fill with water. Even though there's not a snowball's chance in Miami that water could stay anywhere in the awning...
I had a surplus auto stereo with cd player that came from one of our fleet that we retired over the last couple of years. I spent the time Marie took sewing up the awning installing the cd player. It was an adventure, as, of course, none of the wires coming from the trailer matched what they were supposed to be, and the wiring diagram had disappeared from the case of the cd player. I took apart all the speakers, and verified wire color at the speakers, discovered a broken connector on one speaker that I repaired, and followed the wires up to the strereo mount location. I then found where the wires were spliced, and followed the replacement wires up to the new stereo. We had a "newsed" cd player for about 10 minutes, before one of the fuses blew. Now I have to find out why that happened, but it will have to wait for another day, since our daily severe thunderstorm rolled through, and I had to stop work.
It gets hot and stuffy in the trailer when all the windows are closed.
Temporary awning repair is complete. I bought heavy upholstery thread from Joann's (ladies, all of there thread is 1/2 off) and finished it in under 3 hours. Have the sore fingers to prove it!
Marie
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Take a chance, you just never know!
I still marvel each time I read this thread. It's nearly unbelievable what you have been able to accomplish in such a short time - never mind the fact Terry is healing from very severe injuries. Bertha is a butterfly emerging from it's cocoon - she's going to be sooo cozy. Good Job!!
sue
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sue and ike
'75 Tradewind - 25'
"Cupcake" air-912
2004 GMC Yukon XL 2500
Michigan - "middle of the mitt"
We were slated to take Bertha to W.P. Franklin COE Campground Thursday-Saturday, both to run through its paces, and to help guide some new-to-RVing friends through their first few days of RV ownership. Unfortunately, things did not go exactly as planned...
Disaster #1- Our friends decided that owning an RV was beyond their abilities, as they are rather elderly, and didn't think they could adequately care for the RV. Since we had already reserved a spot, and it was too late to cancel and get a refund, we decided to go ahead with our plans for exercising Bertha.
We loaded up Bertha, and I headed out to the campground Thursday morning, arriving a few minutes after check-in time. After checking in, I hauled Bertha over to site #13 (should have been my first clue of a potential problem). The campsites are being updated with newer power and water hookups, and larger concrete parking pads for the RV's. They are also replacing the railroad tie borders arounf the sites at each site as they go. The updated sites look good, but the downside is while they are performing this work, there is more than a little noise and dust involved, and some sites are unavailable.
Disaster #2
After hooking up to electric and water, I turned on the air conditioner, and water, and unfurled the awnings. I happened to go into the bathroom, and stepped on a (very) wet carpet. I looked around, didn't see anything leaking, then opened the access door for the back of the water heater. I promptly discovered the source of the leak, as a fountain of water sprayed across the room, ending up in the bathtub. Terrific. No shutoff valve for that feed line. Of course. It's going to be a dry weekend. I called Marie, and asked her to bring a couple of gallons of drinking water, as I had to turn off water to the whole coach. Sigh...
We had a great dinner with friends Thursday evening, everything but the water system worked well. Our friends went home, we cleaned up after dinner, and got ready for bed.
Disaster #3
About 3 am Friday, I awoke to the sound of the air conditioner compressor laboring, and shutting down with a loud BANG!. Grrr.... Opened windows, and turned on fans. Friday after dawn, I grabbed a ladder, and climbed up to take a look. Turns out the condensor fan motor had failed, and the unit had shut down from high head pressure. Repeated attempts to breath life into the motor were fruitless. After a hasty consultation with Marie, I asked the campground host if we could at least move to one of the two shaded sites, and why. A few minutes later, Bertha was moved to a shady spot, less sunlight equates to less baking.
Friday went pretty uneventfully, other than the fact we did a slow roast. It cooled off inside enough to try to sleep about midnight. Marie left about 7 am, and I buttoned everything up, dumped the tanks, and departed about 9 am.
So, we are in the market for an air conditioner, and I have to repair the leaking water pipes so we no longer have an indoor fountain.
Here are some photos of Bertha, the campground, and an accidental shot that proves I was riding a bicycle while there:
ooo. bummer about items #1 and 2. nice pics, tho. as for item #3, i might be able to help.
shortly after we got our trailer, one of the many random people that just seemed to apear out of nowhere because we had a "cool trailer" sold us a bunch of trailer appliances out of a wrecked but unused trailer... one of those items was an AC unit. it appears to be in resonably good shape... its got a spot or two of rust on the metal parts that would be unseen under the plastic cover, and it was obviously removed from a previous installation, so its not in pristine condition.
ya might even manage to get my hubby to help ya install it... i dunno, tho. the whole reason its not installed on ours already was because he wasn't too keen on the idea of crawling around on that curved roof in the first place!
I could just rip the compressor and the motor out of the A/C unit I have.. and then it is just an issue of replacing a small part (or parts) as opposed to the whole Unit.. if the lines and fins and all that is still good.. no point in doing all the labor of a full change.. unless there is an issue with the gas that used.. but I believe you can buy that at an autoparts store... let me know if you would consider that plan.
It only needs the condensor fan motor. On this unit, it is a separate motor. Since it is exposed, it needs to be outdoor rated, which I am having trouble finding.. I can find one, but not outdoor rated, or I can find one outdoor rated, but 240 volts. I had as one of my contacts, a man that worked for Armstrong. Unfortunately, he has passed away, and he no longer has access to his stockpile of old Armstrong parts.
If the unit you have is one of the old Armstrongs from around 1969-1975, the condensor fan/motor is all we need to get this one going.
Until you have to repair something with absolutely zero resources.
I climed the ladder onto the roof of Bertha this morning, and spent a little over an hour removing the offending motor. I took the motor over to a friend's shop, where i dismantled the motor. After taking it apart, everything worked as it should. Scratching head... Put it back together, and the motor wouldn't turn.
Took it back apart, checked everything. Both bearings worked fine, no rust, no binding. Checked the rotor in the motor, no problem. Checked the windings, they ohmed out good. Put it back together, it spun freely. Cool! picked it up off the bench, and spun it again. It wouldn't turn. Again. $%^$%%$^&^%$%%
Took the piece of crap apart again, everything worked fine. Put it back together, and noticed there seemed to be a bit of end play in the motor shaft. I looked closely at the bottom bearing. Looks like there used to be a fiber thrust washer between the base of the motor and the bottom bearing. When assembled, and put upright, the rotor would drop down and bind. Naturally, there were dozens of fiber washers just falling out of drawers everywhere in the shop. I asked my friend if he had anything that would work. He mumbled something about having thrown away a bunch of hardware last week. You're kidding, right?
I then got creative, and we started looking in the cabinets for aluminum carbeureter washers. He happened to have ONE that fit the shaft, and seemed about the correct thickness. Yay! Put it in, and the motor spun just like it was supposed to. Now, all I need is 4 #8 bolts, 4 inches long, to clamp the three large pieces of the motor back together. My friend reminded me he had thrown out a bunch or hardware last week. You tell me that again, Jack, and you're going to be wearing this motor.
So, off to the hardware store I went, with one of the bolts as a sample. No one has #8 bolts 4 inches long, the longest they have is 3 inches. Sigh. Just shoot me now. As I was leaving the last place, I noticed a rack of allthread sitting there. Gee, there's a chunk of #8 allthread, about 4 feet long. I'll take it!
I arrived home with the motor, thrust washer, allthread, washers, and nuts to reassemble this demon-infested fan motor from hell. I stepped out of the truck, walked to the back, and the heavens opened on me. A mad dash to the house, I guess I'll bolt the motor together in the morning. We have been very dry this month, with only an inch or so of rain so far. Until this afternoon. I'll post pictures of the reinstall tomorrow, if nothing else bad happens.
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I called Marie, and asked her to bring a couple of gallons of drinking water, as I had to turn off water to the whole coach. Sigh...
. I asked my friend if he had anything that would work. He mumbled something about having thrown away a bunch of hardware last week. You're kidding, right?
I'll post pictures of the reinstall tomorrow, if nothing else bad happens.
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