Our RV Adventures

After coffee this morning, I drove down to the Thousand Trail’s office to settle up. We’ve used up our 50 free days and now have to pay $5 a day, still a great deal for 30 amp full hookups. While I was there I dropped off the last of the Gypsy Journal copies that Nick gave me when we split up in Bremerton, WA.

After lunch I started working on another chore on my list. First up today was fixing a problem with my AC intakes.

I’ve found that the open areas on the AC intakes would allow the thin foam filters to be sucked up into the opening, causing the filter to stretch and tear.

So I purchased a couple of pieces of chicken wire, and using Guerilla Tape, taped them over the intake without obstructing the air flow.

I also found a thicker foam filter, 1/4” instead of 1/8”. After cutting it to the right size, I placed it on the grill and screwed it back on the ceiling.

Another job checked off the list.

Nick Russell called a little before 1 to check in and find out when we’ll be heading over to Elkhart. As it stands now, probably on the 31st.

Next I started trying to unbolt the computer desk from the floor so I can remove the carpet under it before I start laying the new laminate flooring. They definitely didn’t want this thing to move, as it is really fastened down. This will be a multi-day job.

Our daughter Brandi called a little before 6 to talk about Landon’s 1st birthday party tomorrow. She’s having the party at a friend’s house up in Katy, TX and plans on Skyping it so we can watch some of it too.

For dinner, Jan thawed out and heated up some of Miss Terry’s delicious lasagna. Along with cheese sticks and fresh hot garlic bread, it was a great meal. And we still have enough for another night.

Then to top it off a great day, our son Chris called a little before 9. We really missed them at the reunion last week, and are really looking forward to seeing them in November when we get back to Houston.

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Thought for the Day;

You can’t get out of a hole by digging it deeper, you can’t tax a nation into prosperity, and you can’t spend your way out of debt.

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It was really nice to be able to sleep until after 10 this morning. Even Jan didn’t get up until almost 9:30. We just sat around with our coffee and enjoyed the view out the front windows, and life in general.

Later in the morning I called the Blanford Post Office to confirm that I could get General Delivery there, and then called Terri at My Dakota Address to send our mail out.

Later in the afternoon I helped Jan go through some old magazines. She ended up throwing out over 30 pounds. Less weight, better fuel mileage.

For dinner Jan fixed a great tuna noodle casserole, one of our favorites.

Hey. What can I say? We’re simple folk.

Speaking of fuel mileage, I had a couple of readers ask me how I could figure it so accurately in a previous blog.

The reason is the Silverleaf VMSpc Engine Display.

The Silverleaf VMSpc plugs into the diagnostic port underneath the dashboard and connects to my laptop that sits on the center console when we travel.

In my case I run two programs on the laptop: In the bottom section I’m running Delorme Street Atlas w/GPS. The top section is the Silverleaf display.

The really nice thing about the Silverleaf is you get to design your own panel. You can choose the instruments you want to display, where you want them on the screen, what color they are, and what they say. You can also set alarms so that if, for example, your battery voltage drops below 12 volts, an audible/visible alarm goes off on the screen.

Across the top, left to right, I first have the transmission gear indicator. The left ‘6’ shows what gear is selected on the console. The right one shows what gear the transmission is actually in.

Next, in order, are the tachometer, the turbocharger boost pressure, the instantaneous MPG, and the clock. Down the left side, the first four gauges are alarms for voltage, transmission temperature, water temperature, and oil pressure. Next are numerical gauges for the oil pressure, transmission temp, engine temp, and the total hours on the engine.

Starting from the top of the second column, CSPD shows the Cruise Control Set Speed,  next is the total miles on the coach (it had 62511 miles when we bought it), the miles we’ve put on the coach, and the fuel minder. It shows the miles left on this tank, the remaining fuel in the tank, and the recent MPG.

The next column starts with a speedometer. The neat thing about this is that the Silverleaf program allows me to set a modifier on the speedometer.

The tires (295’s) presently on my coach are bigger than the original 285’s. This means my dashboard speedometer is not correct. It reads 51 mph when I’m doing 55, for instance. But by adding a modifier to the gauge, it displays the correct speed.

Next are the generator hours. This lets me track the generator fuel usage at about 1 gallon of diesel per hour.

Underneath that, the green ball means the Cruise Control is set and engaged. If the ball was yellow, it means it’s not engaged, and a red ball means it’s turned off. Just to the right is the miles since my last oil change/filter etc., service.

Next is a vertical bar graph that gives me a instant picture of my engine performance, and below is the miles we’ve traveled so far this year. We’ll probably do another 2-3000 before we get back to Houston right before Thanksgiving.

The right hand column below the clock shows the battery voltage, the fuel rate, the engine torque, the Max Intake Manifold Temp, and the distance to the next rest area.

Lastly, across the bottom is the miles we’ve traveled so far today, and the miles we’ve traveled so far on this tank of diesel.

This last reading, coupled with the fuel used from the Fuel Minder gauge, gives me a very accurate reading on the MPG on this tank. In this case, we’ve gone 488.2 miles and used 52.5 gallons (150 – 97.5) of diesel. This gives me a average of 9.3 mph.

Driving 55 does save gas. From testing, I know that if I drive 65, my mpg drops to between 7.5 and 8 mpg. This difference in miles per gallon saves me about $1000 a year.

Just a note, the fuel usage is very accurate on the Silverleaf because the program actually counts the pulses in the fuel injectors, You can’t get any better than that.

Another neat feature of the Silverleaf is that if you ever get a Check Engine light, just use the Diagnostic drop-down menu at the top of the screen and it tells you the code AND what the code means.

It may seem like a lot of information, some of it not too useful, but it gives me an ongoing picture of my engine’s performance and let’s me quickly see any changes.

I hope this all makes sense. If you have any questions or comments be sure and let me know.

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Thought for the Day:

"Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else." — Frédéric Bastiat

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