Daily Archives: November 11, 2012
B. D. I. F. D.
After coffee for breakfast, and our leftover Sonny’s BBQ for lunch, Jan and I just enjoyed the day. Good coffee, good BBQ.
After lunch I started looking at my Battery Control Center problem again. I printed out some schematics of the box, and with my voltmeter, I went outside and started tracing out the circuits. It took an hour or so, but I finally got it mapped out on paper, and was starting to get a picture in my head, too.
Now for some studying and thinking about it.
About 1:30 I emailed our friend’s Jeannie and Eldy to see if they wanted to get together for dinner tonight. Thought we might go to DeSoto’s. We’ll see.
One thing I noticed while I was outside is that the wind is really picking up. We’ve got another front moving through, a cold one this time. Tonight’s low is supposed to be 63 and tomorrow’s is supposed to 41, with a 70% chance of rain, and maybe even some flooding.
About 3:30 after some more time looking over the schematics I suddenly had a B. D. I. F. D. moment.
Could it really be that simple? And if that is the cause of my BCC problem, then there’s something else I don’t understand about the system. Of course that wouldn’t be the first time.
At the entrance to the coach, on the left hand side, there is a control panel for inside/outside lights, the manual step control, and the chassis and coach master disconnect switches. The disconnect switches are right at floor level and the indicators are hard to see without moving some stuff.
But when I checked, the indicator lights were not lit on either the chassis battery or the coach battery. Pressing the buttons turned the lights on, but did it fix the problem? My first check was to toggle the step switch and close the door.
Eureka! The step retracted!
Next I went back to the BCC and checked for the missing voltages. And they were all there. I’m going to assume that the engine will now crank normally too. So the BCC problem is fixed.
But now I have two new questions. How did both disconnect buttons get pushed? And more importantly, I thought that with both batteries disconnected, everything electrical on the coach would be shut down. Why did only the step and the ignition crank signal not work?
And a third question just occurred to me. Could this chassis battery disconnect have anything to do with my fuel problem up in Athens last week? Did something happen to the power feeding the fuel pumps or injection system?
Well, I guess it’s back on the phone with American Coach tomorrow. At least I’ll have a whole new set of questions.
BTW B. D. I. F. D. stands for Boy, Do I Feel Dumb.
About 4 I checked back in with Jeannie and Eldy to find out that they were out running around, so they haven’t seen my email, and had already grabbed a bite to eat. So we’ll have to get together another time.
About 4:45 Jan and I headed into Gulf Shores proper to have dinner at DeSoto’s Seafood Kitchen, another of our favorite must-eat-at-while-we’re-here restaurants.
Jan had the Fried Seafood Platter, and I had the Shrimp and Grits, with Fried Green Tomatoes and their wonderful Sweet Potato Casserole.
It’s all good every time we come here.
Before we set down I went to the restroom to wash my hands and found this sign over the lavatory where the mirror would normally be.
Glad they think so.
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Thought for the Day:
Remember you can only have a new experience once, so make it worthwhile.
asdfsd
