Our RV Adventures

After a relaxing morning of coffee and muffins, Jan and I just enjoyed the brief burst of sunny weather we woke up to today, because tomorrow we’re back to rain and more wind. Wheeee!

After lunch I headed back over to the RV/MH Hall of Fame to work on their computer system some more. And by the time I left about 4:30 I was finally starting to get a handle on the things that still need to be done..

After getting home we all headed over to El Maguey for a great Mexican meal and a lot of good conversation, getting back to the rig in time for our favorite Monday night TV programs.

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And now for another installment of . . .

Things Every RV’er should have:

As a follow-up to yesterday’s post about testing your power connections using an AC Receptacle Tester, todays post will tell you how to not only test your power, but protect your rig at the same time.

To do that you need one of these. a Progressive EMS (Electrical Management System).

They have permanently mounted units like this one,

and portable, hang-on-the-pedestal models like this one.

Available in both 30 and 50 amp models, these units monitor your incoming shore power three different ways.

First, after you plug into the pedestal and flip the breaker on, the unit cycles through a number of tests on the incoming power, including voltage, frequency, and all possible mis-connections, i.e. open ground, open neutral, etc., before it applies power to the coach.

Second, it monitors the power all the time to be sure that the voltage levels stay over 104 volts, and under 132 volts. Voltage levels outside this range can damage your rig and your appliances.

Third, it acts as a surge suppressor to protect your rig from voltage surges and nearby lightning strikes, just the surge suppressor power strips you plug your computers and other electronics into.

I bought my Progressive EMS from Daryl Lawrence of Lawrence RV Accessories at Nick Russell’s Gypsy Journal Rally in Casa Grande, AZ, a month after we started our full-timing life. And in the last four years I’ve lost track of the times that the unit alerted me to problems with the power at the pedestal.

Once, on Cape Cod in 2009 the EMS gave its life in a shower of sparks to protect our rig from over 400 volts. And even though it was a weekend, Progressive overnighted me a new board to get my EMS going again. Now that’s service!

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Thought for the Day:

Pournelle’s Iron Law of Bureaucracy is that in any bureaucracy, the people devoted to the benefit of the bureaucracy itself always get in control, so that those dedicated to the goals the bureaucracy is supposed to accomplish have less and less influence, and sometimes are eliminated entirely.

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Well, we’re now in our 4th day of rain and wind, and we finally got a small leak coming in under the slide. I suspect all the high wind has blown some water past the slide seals. Not enough to worry about though.

The RV/MH Hall of Fame is closed on Sunday, so since I couldn’t work there, I mostly goofed off on the Internet. Then Nick came over for a while around lunch time, I think to just get away from working on the next issue of the Gypsy Journal for a few minutes.

Today was a Landon-Skyping Sunday, but since he had a late nap, we didn’t get started until almost 5:30, but of course, better late than never in Landon-Skyping.

Our son-in-law Lowell got a new iPhone4S with the front and back cameras and is now using it to Skype. And the difference in picture quality is amazing.

One thing we can really see better is how much hair he actually has now, but it’s so blond it’s hard to see. Hopefully he inherited his father’s hair, and not his grandpa’s.

The other thing we noticed is how he never stops. He just runs everywhere. And this looks like something he did inherit from his grandpa.

When I was just a little older than Landon is now, my parents owned a motel on the beach at Gulf Shores, AL. One day my mother asked Annie May, one of the maids who helped her clean the cottages if she had seen me.

Annie May replied, “No, Mam, but where ever he be’s, he be’s busy!”

And so is Landon.

A little while after we finished Skyping, we all headed over to the North China Buffet to meet Al Hesselbart for dinner. With the addition of King Wha, we now have two favorite Chinese places here in Elkhart.

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And now for another installment of . . .

Things Every RV’er should have:

You’ve probably all seen one of these, but may not have know what it’s for. It’s a AC Receptacle Tester, and should be used any time you plug your rig into a 20 or 30 amp AC receptacle.

Of course if you plug it into 30 amp, you’ll need to use a 30 to 20 amp adapter like one of these.

But however you plug it in, it will tell you if your outlet is wired correctly and safe to use. Depending on the age of your rig, and how the outlet is wired or mis-wired, it can be dangerous to plug into an outlet that has the hot and neutral wires reversed. There can also be a similar problem if your outlet has a open ground.

Either of these conditions can possibly cause the metal in your rig to become hot and give you a shock if you touch it while grounded.

The tester is very simple to use. Just plug it in and check the 3 lights on the end.. If you have 2 yellow lights, you’re good to go. Any other pattern of lights indicates a problem. And the light code is printed on the side of the tester so It’s easy to know what’s going on.

If no lights are visible, then the outlet is dead. Used this way inside your rig, it makes it easy to find the popped GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) or circuit breaker controlling the dead outlet,

While parking people at the Gypsy Journal Rally  in Celina, OH last month, I used one to check the outlets as I parked people. I found 3 outlets that were wired incorrectly and reported them to the fairgrounds.

You can get a tester from Amazon for less than $8.  AC Receptacle Tester

And you can also find them at your local hardware store.

If you don’ t have 30 to 20 Amp Adapter, you can get one from Amazon also.

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Thought for the Day:

If you can’t take the heat, don’t tickle the dragon. ~ Caroline Schoeder

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