Visit to Ely…

Posted on July 14, 2019 by Jim@HiTek

Had a great time and accomplished much during my stay in Pahrump, but by the 2nd week of June it was becoming unbearably hot! Even with the shade from the trees I had at my new site in row D much of the day, being cooped up in the RV was getting old fast. The heat pump A/C dual compressors did well but the front of the RV was difficult to keep cool, even with the window shades in place.

If I wanted to enjoy halfway decent working conditions, had to complete by noon everything needed that required leaving the RV. Did get my cardboard box of wires, cords, adapter cables, and clip leads all untangled, the wire holders mounted inside my bedroom closet and all those wires stored. Took from 8 am to 11 am over two days to get that all done. It only took me 15 years to get ’round2it. Not bad. Also did several other small jobs that I haven’t found time for over the last few years of having fun on the road. Like straightening out the living room slide basement compartments. Even hand washed all my shop rags.

Well, anyway, it was time to head north to avoid the heat and my destination was to be Hagerman, Idaho because I wanted to be close to the auto shop where I wanted to have my A/C filled so I could get that working again. Remember that a few weeks ago the RV’s A/C compressor on the engine seized up the idler pulley and broke the serpentine belt. Here’s the story: Engine Work… 

The travel plan was to head east over to Las Vegas, turn north and take US 93 north to Ely. Stick around Ely for a week or so and then continue on up to Twin Falls, turning west to continue on to Hagerman.

In the hills southeast of Pahrump, before reaching Las Vegas…they’ve been working on this road blocking traffic for several years now.

Over there is Las Vegas… Continue reading →

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Hanging around Pahrump…

Posted on July 6, 2019 by Jim@HiTek

After leaving Parker, and arriving in Pahrump, I took a short break from doing any RV work after having to deal with the engine issue, but in the back of my mind I was well aware of the heat pump (hp) issue and when I arrived at the park, asked for and got a site with plenty of shade. And oh, was the weather nice. Balmy. Light breeze most of the day, temps in the 70’s and mostly sunny. Just perfect for working on the RV outside. Weather predictions suggested it was going to stay that way for several more weeks. And for the first week I was back at Preferred RV Resort I just researched things I’d likely need for the hp work. I did take a break from resting and opened the grill in front of the hp. This allowed for the removal of the hp’s electrical box cover so I could record the values of the motor capacitors and get them ordered. The caps are those silver things at the bottom of the wiring cabinet shown here. Those two white caps behind the oval silver cap were also replaced. Those are the ‘Motor Start’ capacitors and have a special small circuit that helps start a motor. You can tell the motors might need new if they make grunting noises as they’re trying to start:

There is another cap inside the case for the ‘Outdoor’ blower but I’ll get to that after I pull the hp out of the basement compartment. I also got a plastic squirrel cage fan on order because my noises indicated that would be needed, as based on other owner’s experiences. Turned out that wasn’t true, but I was trying to be prepared. Then I ordered 4 pillow block ball bearings because it was recommended that they be replaced while in there. Turned out I only needed 2 not 4.

Here’s where I got most of the information I needed to work on the hp: Basement A-C

Note that if you click on that link, it will start preparing the document for printing. Just click cancel. Also note that my hp setup is a bit different then the one in that article requiring a slightly different procedure, specified here: Coleman 6535a-871 Heat Pump

Didn’t take long to do the maintenance as it turned out that was all that was needed…just a leisurely week of work. Had a helpful neighbor that was available to help remove and replace the hp when the time came.

Continue reading →

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Engine work and other stuff…

Posted on June 22, 2019 by Jim@HiTek

Last time, I had driven from Yuma to Parker Arizona and while searching for a place to spend 2-3 nights, had my serpentine belt break which caused the engine to dangerously overheat. Lucky that Cat engines have a 2nd belt that just runs the water pump so if the serpentine belt breaks you still have water coursing through the engine. That allowed for moving the RV from Emerald Cove just 1/4 mile or so to a nearby BLM park without damaging anything by overheating. Or even stressing it much because after I’d shut it down and allowed the engine to cool, I used that old trick of turning on the cab heat full blast. And with such long hoses from the back of the RV up to the dash area, I was able to drive with the engine temp staying in the normal range.

And after moving, I expected to be able to fix the problem myself but when I discovered that the A/C compressor idler pulley was seized up, and I’m not well versed on A/C repair, decided to let a shop handle this problem. I did actively consider limping up the road to Pahrump where I knew of a shop with pretty good reputation. I figured that if I only traveled at night when it was cool I could make it those couple hundred miles. And I could get around the broken belt by running the generator to keep the batteries charged since the alternator would be non-functional. Caution prevailed though and I decided to be smart and get it fixed here in the Parker area.

Meanwhile, I didn’t have Wifi and needed that for research so paid Tracfone $40 for 2 months worth of 1 Gb data/month. Outrageous I know, but didn’t have much of a choice and didn’t want to have to trouble with trying to change phone plans. As you can see, I did have lots of space around the RV to work if I decided to do it myself. I was also considering using my Coachnet roadside assistance (RSA) to have the RV towed to whatever shop I decided on. When I checked, found out the RSA had expired so called them up and renewed. Not a problem with Coachnet.

Here’s a shot of the housing across the river. Just a half mile from here is Michel Jordan’s Colorado River house boat. Nice looking floating house.
 Continue reading →

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Paint job, leaving Yuma…

Posted on June 3, 2019 by Jim@HiTek

I visited Los Algodones several times during the week. And I’d dropped the basement door off at the body shop for repainting, (see last article here: Hanging around Yuma…). When Saturday rolled around, I knew the door was finished and I was excited to see it. So to me it was time to pick up the door. It was not very bright of me to head over the border after having been warned a couple times about traffic on weekends but I was excited to see the basement door all freshly painted. I should have waited until the following Monday. But…on with the story.

As I mentioned last time, while I was there dropping off the basement door, I asked the mechanic to reattach my right front quarter panel and bumper to the frame. I’d pulled them away from their mounts on the car’s frame by parking over a low curb over in Yuma. When I backed up to leave, the bottom edge of the bumper caught the curb and tore my body panels away from their attachments in a couple places. The plastic bumper section mainly. The mounting plasticware was broken so the quarter panel was loose too. Not enough for any pieces to fall off but it was loose enough that I wanted it reattached. Check the picture. Took him around an hour to fix, and cost me $30.

Continue reading →

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Hanging around Yuma…

Posted on May 21, 2019 by Jim@HiTek

I’d arrived in Yuma just in time to enjoy balmy weather…if you can characterize any weather in a desert area to be ‘balmy’. It was nice though. Even so, I did need to run my electric space heaters overnight and in the morning for a while to take the chill off. The snow I’d passed on my way down was enough to prove that I’d made the right choice in coming.

And I paid for 30 nights so as the month passed, it got warmer and warmer. Eventually, I was turning on my heat pump basement A/C for a couple hours per day. Which brought up a problem. It was making much more noise then I was use too. And the neighbors behind me started to complain, I told them there wasn’t much I could do. Eventually they complained to the RV park owner and she came out to complain to me. And that’s when it occurred to me that I could switch to 30 amp service so only one A/C compressor out of the two that run on 50 amp service would turn on. Which meant it would be a tad quieter. So I did that and spent the rest of my stay in Yuma on 30 amp service. Not really a big deal, expect I had to be careful and not run the MW and toaster or coffee pot at the same time for fear of popping the breaker.

But aside from that, there was some stuff to do while I was here in Yuma, one of them was to head downtown and enjoy the flea market they set up here on a regular basis. It’s intended to get people to come downtown and it works, mostly.

I’ve tried a couple of their brews in the past but they’re not very good. But the food is great.

Continue reading →

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Hello 2019…

Posted on May 8, 2019 by Jim@HiTek

It was shaping up to be a great upcoming year, as in late 2018 I’d brought home a rescue cat and we were getting along fine, I’d had a hernia repaired and that seemed to go well, my RV was running well, and I was enjoying my membership in the Preferred RV Resort in Pahrump, Nevada. With all that going on or accomplished, it seemed the year would be great. And here’s a shot of my 4 yo tabby I’m calling Kwnn (short for Kat With No Name) and pronounced as Kwan. She had the name Blackie when I got her but it doesn’t suit her.

And here’s the new weather station I installed. The picture doesn’t do it justice as IRL it’s brightly colored. I can see what the temp is outside from the wireless remote which is what I got it for.

And I’ve taken up making my own fries lately. Yum.

Continue reading →

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Visits to Historical Places around Pahrump…

Posted on April 22, 2019 by Jim@HiTek

If you’ve looked at a map of the area around Pahrump, you know that Pahrump is very near the historical Goldfield (covered last time on this blog), near Armagosa Valley (where that Opera house is), near the ghost town of Rhyolite, near Beatty, and Death Valley. And of course near Las Vegas.

My brother had taken geology classes in college many years ago and the geology is so interesting in this area that I invited him to bring any books he had on the geology of the area or in general and come on over to visit. He lives 90 miles north of Los Angeles so it’s only a 3 hour drive for him, heh.

It’s very interesting to me to drive through these ancient valleys and see all the exposed strata layered along the hillsides, the uplifts, and the escarpments here and there. All very interesting. And so we planned an excursion around the area for a day. Everything we visited is within a day’s travel of Pahrump.

First stop was a visit to Rhyolite. A famous ghost town that only existed for a few years after a mineral strike. It blossomed and died.

First a couple shots of the road as we head to Rhyolite. And then the glass bottle home of one of the early miners in the town. It’s being restored. There are caretakers here in Rhyolite who stay here year round I guess, but in the 3 visits I’ve made here, I’ve never seen one of them. Guess they aren’t very sociable.

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More RV Repair articles…

Posted on April 16, 2019 by Jim@HiTek

After many hours of work I’ve finished writing a couple more articles for the RV repair section of the blog.

My Coleman heat pump system started to make noises a few months ago and it had gotten so loud neighbors complained. That called for either repair or maintenance so I removed it from it’s basement compartment and performed maintenance on it, and then back in August ’18 I had a road accident, the side of the RV got scratched and one of the basement doors bent so the complexity of getting the damaged door changed prompted an article. So, here they are…enjoy!

  1. Coleman Mach 6535a heat pump maintenance…
  2. Body Work…Replacing damaged battery compartment door…

And thanks for visiting.

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Visiting Goldfield and beyond…

Posted on April 10, 2019 by Jim@HiTek

I’d paid for 3 nights here in Goldfield and that’s plenty. A longer stay wouldn’t be very interesting at this time because the town is a work in progress. There are several historical buildings that aren’t open to the public yet so all you get to see are the exteriors. I’m disappointed that the old hotel is still not open to tourists as that promises to be spectacular. What I read about it is that the woodwork: staircases, counters, bookcases, tables, etc., and nearly all the furniture in the hotel is the original stuff! Once it’s all polished, reupholstered and what not, it should be spectacular.

And here’s some shots as I drove around town. This is pretty much a destitute looking area but the few residents left in the area are trying to make it a tourist destination. I don’t think I saw a new house anywhere so it’s looking like it’ll be difficult to keep the place from eventually becoming a ghost town.

I did find this saloon at the edge of downtown where my random rambling in the car had taken me. Had a cherry coke while I watched the ancient dog try to keep himself in the shaft of sunlight coming through the dusty and distorted window pane. Meanwhile, whenever he got comfortable, he’d drool and wet himself, leaving a couple small puddles for the bartender to clean up each time.

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New RV repair post…

Posted on March 31, 2019 by Jim@HiTek

Those who follow my blog for the RV repair advice can find my newest repair at this link: https://chaos.goblinbox.com/rv-repair-section-2/rv-repair-section-2004-winnebago-journey-dl/c-engine-2/broken-serpentine-belt/

Thanks for reading!

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