A real head scratcher and a 260 mile detour

On our way out to Lubbock, the temps kept getting warmer and warmer climbing into the 90's.  Now on most motorhomes with the substantially larger interior size as compared to a car, the dash air will only keep up if the temps outside are moderate, and you start cooling early so as to stay ahead of it.  It's no big deal because as it gets warmer, we merely start our generator and run our 3 roof air conditioners that will easily cool the interior at most any temperature.  Now some folks don't like to run their generator unless absolutely necessary, I guess to save the 3/4 gal/hour they burn at full load:)  We try to stay ahead of the cooling as much as we can, but in these temps, and as the day goes on, and the dash air can't keep up, we just start it up and remain comfortable.

The first wrench in the plan happened about a week ago.  We had stopped into a Flying J truck stop for fuel, and to eat lunch, and since we were sitting there with the engine off, we started the genny up to keep cool and run the toaster oven, well, it wouldn't come on line, it ran fine but our meter showed good voltage on one leg and about half voltage on the other leg.  We have a 10KW diesel generator that produces 2 legs of 120V AC power capable of almost 45 amps on each leg.  We had one leg showing a normal 120V, but the other leg showed 65V, so the generator would not come on line, that is power up the motorhome, so no roof AC's.  We didn't have time to worry about it then, so off we went to our campground for the night.  I figured it was our transfer switch, that is a device that incorporates surge and power protection with a transfer switch to either connect shore or generator power to the coach.  I figured the generator wires had become loose and weren't conducting the full 120V to the coach.  I pulled the cover off, checked the connections, all good, then went in with my meter to see what was reading there, sure enough, the same thing Leg 1-120V, Leg 2-65V.  So I buttoned that back up and went to the generator, pulled off an access panel where the power comes out so I could get to the output terminal block and read the power coming directly from the generator, I figured maybe the wiring had a problem back to the transfer switch, not the case as the power directly from the genny was the same, Leg 1-120V, Leg 2-65V.  Well the next thing I thought about was the 2 pole circuit breaker that the power goes through on the way out of the genny.  

I was able to pull off a panel and get to the back of the breaker and check for continuity, and found that one side or pole was good and the other was bad.  Problem solved or so I thought.  Now of course this was Friday afternoon.  So I went on the internet after getting all the info I could off the breaker and had trouble finding the generic breaker, so I started trying to find the Onan part number, and found 2 different numbers that it might be?  Too late to call Onan to confirm.

So we had a warm ride on to Llano and San Angelo, so first thing Monday morning I call Onan to confirm the part number, tried to find one locally in Lubbock with no luck so ordered a new circuit breaker to meet us in Lubbock.  By this time we were reading Leg 1-120V, and Leg 2-0V, so I was sure it was the breaker.

It came and yesterday morning I went out and installed the new one.

On the way into the generator

The offending circuit breaker

All done!  I started it up and WHAT, the same bad reading!!  Now what?  I went in and called the Onan generator repair place here in Lubbock, and though they were very nice, they told me they couldn't get us in until Tuesday, no good, we'll be in Albuquerque by then.  She did ask if we happened to be going by Amarillo as she knew a good shop there, I said no, but thanks.  Well, now what do we do?  We need this generator for more than the AC's, we plan to boondock this summer, we use it to cook lunch now and then, etc, we need this generator.  The only Onan dealer in Albuquerque is the Cummins dealer and we don't care for them.  Well Jan and I brainstorm and say why don't we call Amarillo and see what they say.  We call the Lubbock shop back and get the info for the shop in Amarillo, Cummins Southern Plains.  I called them and they could not have been nicer, I asked about getting it worked on today, and she said that's fine, but if you need parts, that will keep you over the holiday weekend, can't you come today?  We looked at each other and said, Let's GO!

So we drove 130 miles up to Amarillo, got there at 12:45, were told they were at lunch until 1, but someone would be with us after that.  At 1:15, a nice tech came out and directed us into a bay.  I explained the whole situation to him, and he tore into it.  He tested it every which way from Sunday, had wires and meters all over the place and said, "I can't find anything wrong with it".  What??  He says let's run it, load it up, and see what it does.  So we do and it is perfect.  We let it run for 20 minutes or so, shut it down and restart it about 10 times, and it's fine?!?!?!?  He had worked on it for 1 hour and 15 minutes, to say we are puzzled is an understatement.  

Well, it's working, so I go in to pay the bill, and what do they say, but No Charge.  Wow, incredible, nobody does stuff like that anymore.  We were really impressed.  So if you need a Cummins, Onan, or other service or repair, we would highly recommend Cummins Southern Plains in Amarillo, very friendly, and well run shop.

So we drove back the 130 miles to Lubbock in cool, cool, comfortable temps with the genny just purring along, but are we fixed, was it just a fluke, or is Murphy just waiting until the absolute "right" time to strike?  We'll see.

Lubbock, TX; with a comparison of private vs public campgrounds

We decided to take our time coming out to Lubbock.  In fact we made 5 stops, and the longest day was 282 miles.  It's really nice to take your time and enjoy the trip rather than scream from one place to another in as short a time as possible, but we have the distinct advantage of being retired and not on a time schedule.  I have discussed previously that Jan and I have been trying to incorporate more public, state or national park camping in our travels.  So on this trip we used 3 public parks and 2 private parks.  

To generally compare, public are usually less expensive, in this case we averaged $22/night for the public, and $36.55/night for the private.  We only had electric and water at the public parks, although we found out that full hookups were available, but not seen on the online reservation system, and the private were full hookup.  The sites themselves, what you actually park on are maybe a bit bigger in the private, in fact many of the public parks cannot accommodate big rigs like us, but the site area, what you perceive as yours, are much bigger and usually more private in public vs private.  Most all private parks provide wifi, but some of the public ones are also including that service.  Usually the public parks have integral hiking, walking trails, and other outdoor  activities available, although a few private parks may offer something similar.  Public parks are usually dark, after all, you are out camping in nature where it is dark, private parks think they have to light up the night for "security", I guess.  We love dark!  Public parks have time limits on how long you can stay, 14 days for example, where with private parks, it's all up to the owners.  And it seems lately there are more and more working folks living in campgrounds, so some of the private parks that cater to that seem more like trailer parks than campgrounds.  The public parks are usually more remote to towns and cities, so depending on what you are looking for, private parks could make more sense getting you closer.  There is a lot of give and take on these generalities, so it really pays to take a good look at each to determine what you'd prefer for the moment.

Public-Foscue COE Park in Demopolis, AL
Lots of room, although the site was challenging

Public-Foscue COE Park in AL

No one else in sight here, and nice walking and boating available right there.

Public-Poverty Point SP in Delhi, LA
Huge site in this case, far from neighbors

Public-Poverty Point SP in LA

This park is near a large lake, wide open walking and numerous trails, and nice and dark and private.

Private-KOA in Rusk, TX
Looks pretty good from this angle, we are right on an end site

Private-KOA in TX
Here you can see lots of sites, doesn't look too bad as there are
few people here

KOA's are usually not our first choice for campgrounds, but sometimes they are necessary,  they are fairly consistent, somewhat expensive, pretty close together sites, and lit up at night.  But they do through their membership program offer a 10% discount.

Private-Riverway in Llano, TX
As you can see, very narrow sites, not very long, we don't fit
with the truck connected, lots of other sites close by

Private-Riverway in TX
You can see how crowded it is from this angle

This as a fairly nice campground along the river in Llano, TX, but normal for most private campgrounds, tight sites close together.

Public-San Angelo SP in TX
Nice and remote, huge site, lots of room and completely dark

Public-San Angelo SP in TX
From the other side

This is a huge park, tons of trails, lots of quiet roads, great walking, hiking, and boating on the lake.

I wanted to give a quick and dirty comparison between public and private campgrounds, and this part of our trip fit the bill.  It is all a personal preference for what is important to you, do you want lots of amenities, pools, water parks, mini golf, playgrounds, etc, if so, maybe a private park would fit the bill.  If you want stars at night and hiking or boating, or exploring, and maybe a campfire, a bit of space to call your own, then maybe a public park is more up your alley.  We use RV Park Reviews and our bible, the Good Sam RV Travel Guide and Campground Directory for our picks.  As we continue our travels I will try to include more info on where we stay and why, and whether they are public or private.

Chattahoochee Bend State Park is a winner!

Our detour has really paid off.  Chattahoochee Bend State Park is great.  There are 24 RV campsites of which at least 14 are big enough for our size, and even would be satellite friendly.  They have a 40' limit for some unknown reason, even the rangers in the office don't know why, but welcome anyone who fits.  You can't reserve specific sites, but the chances of getting one big enough is very good.  The site we are in right now, #123 is at least 80' long with an additional parking area for the truck.

Plenty of room

Really nice!

Each site has privacy, room, stone sitting area, fire pit, and a cool metal light hook where you can hang up a lantern if you wish.  It only has water and electric, 50 amp, but the dump station is conveniently located on the way out.  It is dead quiet and dark, one of the most important things to us.  It is a bit remote, which we like, 20 miles from Newnan, GA on decent two lane roads.  We highly recommend the park.  In fact we had planned on 2 nights and extended to 3.  We will definitely utilize this park more on our return trips to Atlanta. 

There are 12 miles of trails here, of which Jan and I explored about 4 miles.  It is a new park so the trails are nicely done, wide, easy walking, in deep woods for the most part, about 5 miles or so go right along the Chattahoochee River.  It was quiet, shady, and very peaceful, we even saw 5-6 deer.

An example of one of the trails

A small beaver pond complete with turtles

A lot of rain is going to be moving into the central south part of the country exactly where  we are headed over the next few days, so we sat down and redid our routing out to Lubbock.  We plan to arrive there on the 23rd.

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On our way with a little detour

Our time here has come to an end and our traveling time of the year will begin, with one small detour.  As I mentioned before our son Jason lives on the southwest side of Atlanta and our campground and old stomping grounds are on the northwest side.  Doesn't sound like much, but it's a little over 70 miles each way for us to visit.  He's been great and made many trips up here, but we've been looking for years to try to find a campground a little closer to him.  We found one of Georgia's newest state parks, Chattahoochee Bend State Park, and it's only 20 miles from Jason all on back roads.  Oh yeah did I mention the traffic in the Atlanta area??  That 70 miles can take anywhere from 1 hour to 2 hours each way...  So we went down to visit Jason at his work and went over to check it out.  It looks really nice, the online info said there was a max size of 40' allowed in their campground, but they assured us that if we fit we were welcome.  We went to see for ourselves, and I don't know how they measure down here, but we can easily fit on virtually every one of their sites, they are huge!  So we figured the best way to check it out was to spend a couple nights there and see, so our first leg of our summer trip is the 90 miles to the state park.

Also I believe our wiper problem is solved.  I picked up the special lock and flat washers on Monday and Jan and I remounted and reinforced the wiper system.  First we took it all apart.

Here you can see the slight gap around the stem

I wanted to fill that small gap with silicone, reinforce the metal backing plate, then reinstall and torque the stems in place using our new washers.  The metal backing plate goes between and is in back of the stems inside the front cap and we wanted to make sure it was securely fastened to the fiberglass, so I mixed up a couple balls of JB Weld epoxy and pulled the plate away from the fiberglass, slipped the wad in underneath between the plate and front cap, then pushed the plate down into the epoxy, and tightened the nuts compressing the epoxy.  We tried to use enough to secure it, but not so much that we'd have to destroy the front cap to get it out:)

One end with the epoxy in place

And the other

The new set of washers with one of the nuts
There is also a flat washer, lock washer, and a nut on the inside
behind the backing plate

I made the rubber washer to protect the newly painted front cap when we torqued it down.  I tried after we got the stems in place to push in as much silicone as I could around the stems, then we torqued them down.  And it worked beautifully, very secure now.  We waited 24 hours before we mounted the wipers to be sure.

With the washers and nuts on

Then the boot

And the wipers

Final product!

Also I did a service on our generator, an oil and filter change, an air filter and fuel filter change.  I like to do it every 250 hours.  It's an easy job, takes about an hour, and saves a lot of money and I know it's been done right.

Our generator

We like to put a placard on to keep track 

So after several more lunches, dinners, and into the night discussions and visits we're off tomorrow.

Our Atlanta pit stop

We have been here in Atlanta one week so far, with one to go.  We always cram in a lot of stuff while here.  It was home for almost 12 years, but other than knowing where things are, other places feel more homey to us.  Each time we come back, the growth in traffic is overwhelming, but of course it is offset by good friends and seeing our son Jason.  We still have our dentist here and probably will for some time, we really like him, and we also see our dermatologist, which we really should replace with one in Florida.  We'll see.

Jason took a few days off from work to spend some time with us, so he joined us in going to one of the places we look forward to, an exceptional Japanese restaurant, Nori Nori that specializes in sushi.  Also Jason helped me with a couple of little projects on the motorhome.  He's an hour away, but has been a great sport in driving back and forth.  Also we have seen several good friends, enjoying meals and visits, although they sure keep us early risers and early go to bedders awake into the night:)  

We are still struggling with our wiper system, even after all the new body work.  The shafts where they come through the fiberglass front cap are still moving around a bit, and we are very gun shy about using them fearing they will crack the brand new repair.  I called the wiper manufacturer and discussed at length with them how to address the problem.  Seems the washers that were provided with the kit were in error, and do not allow you to torque the mounting bolts enough for a secure fit.  We didn't realize that until now, so I have been on a quest to find the proper washers and lock nuts to fix the problem permanently.  I pick up the ordered items on Monday and will remount them.

So a few more visits, meals, restaurants, doctor appointments, and our time here will be done.

A pretty view from our campground in Atlanta