cold again

Well I know you are probably as tired of hearing about my furnace problem as we are having to deal with it. We came home Monday and the furnace started acting up again, same old story, same old codes. I called the mobile RV repair guy first thing Tuesday morning and left him a message. I called again in the afternoon when I didn't hear from him and left him another message. Meanwhile I was able to get the furnace going using the reset/tap on the side technique and we were able to stay reasonably comfortable.

The furnace worked on it's own several times Tuesday night which is a good thing because the outside temperature dropped into the teens. The rv technician only works 1/2 day on Wednesday so I waited until after his 12:30 start time to begin calling again. I never did get through to him and just had to leave messages. We went to the Goldwing meeting Wednesday evening and the temperature inside the 5th wheel was down to 64* when we got home. I got the furnace started up and we quickly warmed up. The furnace came on a few more times during the night but still was not working properly.

I did some research on the internet and talked with a couple of technicians and I came to the conclusion that the sail switch was causing the problem. The way our RV furnaces work is the thermostat sends an electrical signal to the furnace to come on. The blower starts and the air blowing from the fan closes the sail switch which then allows the power to continue to flow through the system so the gas opens and ignites. The sail switch is located inside on the wall of the blower housing which is what I tap on that causes it to start up. The sail switch is just a simple switch with a long "paddle". When the blower starts the wind blows against the paddle closing the switch. When the mobile tech was here a couple of weeks ago he found the paddle was rubbing on the housing causing to drag and maybe stick. Unfortunately he did not replace the switch, just bent the paddle and proclaimed it fixed. I decided to try changing the entire switch as I was convinced this was the problem.

While out doing inspections for work on Thursday I found an RV dealership and they had a replacement sail switch in stock. When I got home I told Rudee I was going to work on the furnace, she gave me a look of terror and pity all wrapped up into one :-).

I already had the outer panel off so I could do my reset/tap maneuver and only had to remove 4 screws to take the blower casing apart. I got to the sail switch fairly easily although they could have made these things with a little more space to work. I removed the old switch and lo and behold one of the contacts was burned. I installed the new switch and plugged the wires back in and put it all together. I had some trouble getting everything aligned in the tiny space but eventually it all went back together. So far it seems to be working. I guess time will tell if all we needed was a $7.00 switch all this time :-(. Here are a couple of photos of the old sail switch.

I have written before about our friends Gail and Gordon Pike who we met in Florida last year. Here is a link to a you tube video of them on stage. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx_bgzySpF8 I can't get over how she can sing so "Southern" and talk so "Northern"!! :-)

We are looking forward to watching the Colts play tonight. I doubt if I will be able to stay awake for the whole game but hopefully we will stay warm!! I'll keep you posted.

working away

We spent the day Saturday visiting with my Mom and sister before dropping her off at the airport for her long flight back to Seattle. We had a nice day and the weather even warmed up some.

Sunday we went to help build a float with our Goldwing buddies. Each year the state organization holds two rallies, one in summer and the other in winter. This year's winter gathering will be in Indianapolis. There will be several events, games, seminars and even some vendors. We usually take Friday off from work and make a 3 day week end out of it so we wont miss anything. Saturday night they have the "grand parade" and the individual chapters are encouraged to enter a float. The week end has a different theme each year and this years is "Island Paradise". I see grass skirts and coconut bra's in our future :-). With all that has been going on in our lives we haven't had the chance to help on the project until this weekend. I have to say it's coming along great! The rally is January 22nd and 23rd so we should have no problem finishing it up. I can't post any pictures yet, it's all a big secret since we will be getting judged so I don't want to let the cat out of bag just yet :-).

I'm a little bummed out that I have not been able to watch an entire Colts game yet this season. We have always had something going on. I have gotten to see bits and pieces of the games and keep an ear tuned to the radio when they are playing but I need to have a day where I get to sit in my sweat pants and dirty t-shirt and just watch my team!!

Monday after work we drove to Sheridan to visit the funeral home there. One of our riding buddies lost her brother and we went to pay our respects and offer our support. We picked up Niles and Deb on our way and got a chance to visit with them for awhile. Niles is a truck driver hauling grain and has been running 12 hour days 7 days a week for the past several weeks since it's harvest season. He is relieved it's almost through and they are leaving for a well deserved 2 weeks in Florida resting and recuperating. They leave Saturday morning and are really looking forward to their trip.

I ordered our new skirting material yesterday and it was shipped today. We are hoping it gets here before the week end so we can install it. I'll keep you posted.

The frost is on the pumpkin!

This week the weather has been brutal. The temperature dropped into the single digits, the wind howled and we had some snow. I finished up the home made skirting Tuesday evening and we both think it helped keep things warmed up by blocking the wind from under our RV. Wednesday the snow arrived and then the winds hit with a vengeance. 30 mph winds with gusts 50+ mph!! Needless to say several of my pieces of skirting didn't survive :-(

I was worried that we would have some freezing problems but I'm happy to report that all our utilities are working like they should. Here is what I have done so far.

1. Pirit heated hose for water supply. http://www.pirithose.com/

2. PVC sewer pipe ran at a good angle for proper flow instead of the slinky type plastic sewer hose.

3. portable heater plugged into a thermostat controlled plug in and placed in the basement to guard against freezing in case the furnace goes out. http://www.thermocube.com/

4. Vinyl skirting for the 5th wheel overhang (car port for the bike).

Inside the 5er besides the on board furnace we have a Infrared heater and 2 ceramic cube style heaters that we use to help maintain a comfortable temperature. https://www.iheaters.com/

We have been staying comfortable and the furnace is hanging in there (keeping my fingers crossed).

Our king size bed really takes up a lot of room and after reading on the Montana Owners forum that several had reverted back to queen beds we decided to make the change as well. We went to the local furniture store that advertised Tempurpedic beds and looked them over. We had decided on buying a memory foam bed. We had thought about an air bed but there are no outlets convenient to the bed. We tried out several foam mattress' and finally decided on one and arranged for delivery. I borrowed a saw from Mike Kadinger and cut the bed platform down to size. The delivery truck showed up right on time and the guys carried the old mattress out and brought the new one in and set it up. Wow what a difference. Not only do we have more room to walk around the bed but it is a lot more comfortable as well.

I have some different ideas on replacing the blown away skirting so stay tuned. We take my sister to the airport tomorrow evening for her flight back to Seattle. Not sure what other mischief we'll get into. I'll keep you posted.