Monthly Archives: July 2014
The Big Move Is On . . .
I’ve started the process of moving everything over to the new blog site.
If the URL you’re using to access the blog is www.ourrvadventures.com, you will be taken to the new site automagically.
If you use the http://ourrvadventures.wordpress.com/ URL it will take you to the old site, but I will have a link there to take you to the new one. Be sure you save that one for use from now on.
Unfortunately there is no way to transfer the Email subscription database from the old blog to the new one, so you will have to re-subscribe at the new site. Sorry ‘bout that.
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About 1:15 Jan and I headed out for a Wal-Mart run, but getting out to the truck we found this waiting for us. Or rather me, since I had to change it.
I had the jack out, the tire off, and the spare dropped down in about 15 minutes. Then I spent the next 15 minutes trying to get the spare mounted on the front hub. On this truck the hub doesn’t stick out any further than the lug bolts, so you’ve got nothing to hang the wheel on so you can rotate it into position. And when I tried to use a crowbar to lift it into position, the crowbar kept sinking into the ground instead of lifting the wheel.
But finally I had the wheel in place and tighten down, and we were really to go in about 30 minutes. I didn’t rehang the flat tire because I’ve got a plug kit and I’m going to see if I can fix it myself. I didn’t see any obvious punctures, but I’ll air it up and see where the problem it.
After we got back from Wal-Mart, I completed the install of my LED fluorescent upgrade by finishing up the wiring.
The 3 additional sets I ordered should be in on Tuesday, so I’ll do the other lights then.
Around 8:30 Nick and Terry came over to check out how the new bulbs looked at night. Nick’s thinking about changing over some of his fluorescents too.
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Thought for the Day:
Ignorance can be cured by education, but stupid is forever.
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We Didn’t Cheat Off Each Others Blog . . .
Readers of both this blog and Nick Russell’s Gypsy Journal Blog may have noticed that we both had the same blog title yesterday.
Nick and I just chalked it up to ‘Great Minds Think Alike.” Or at least that’s our story and we’re sticking with it.
Thanks to my friend Ed Hurlburt of the RV Tips section of Facebook, I found out about these really neat LED lights. Ed has had good luck using them to replace the small T8 fluorescents in his RV, so I thought I’d give them a try.
They are actually 12v LED Running Lights for autos and trucks. Ed originally found them on eBay starting here:
So if you want to buy a set for your RV, you can get them for a little over $21.00.
But if you want to buy them to use as running lights for your vehicle, you can get them here for a little under $10.00. Wink, wink.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/291161780706?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
But I decided to check out Amazon and found them here.
Super Bright COB White Auto 12v LED Running Light 
When I ordered a set on Tuesday, they had 6 left. When I went to order more today, they had 3 left. So I ordered all 3 since that’s how many more sets I needed.
When I ordered the set on Tuesday, they were $7.99 with Prime Free Shipping. But when I went to order today, they had jumped to $8.99. But now the Amazon ad says they’re out of stock from this supplier.
But I found a bunch of other Amazon sources, some slightly more expensive, and some with Prime Shipping.
More Amazon Sources for LED Running lights
Using the set I got in yesterday, I thought I’d just do a trial installation to see how they worked. I started by removing the diffuser cover and the two F15T8 bulbs.
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Next, to get to the 12v wiring, I squeezed the center metal cover together until it was released from the clips.
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The circuit board is the ballast that takes the 12v and steps it up to the voltage needed for the F15T8 bulb. The black and white wires are the 12 volts coming in to the fixture. Be careful though fooling around with these lights. Although there is only 12v coming to the fixture, the ballast puts out several hundred volts when you first turn it on, and then settles down to about 100 volts while the light is on.
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I clipped the 12v wires so I could feed it into the new LED strips
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The LED lights have a peel-off adhesive strip on the back so I stuck them to the top of the fixture.
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I next put the center ballast cover back in place to protect the ballast, and also to help reflect the light out.
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Here’s what the bathroom looks like without the light.
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And here’s what it looks like turned on.
Compared to the F15T8 bulbs I’m replacing, the LED light put pit anywhere from 50% more light to more than double, at about 1/2 the wattage.
For example, a Cool White F15T8 bulb puts about 825 lumens, consuming about 15 watts And a Daylight F15T8 bulb puts out about 700 lumens for the same 15 watts.
Although the specs on the LED lights call them Cool White, they’re not. Cool White bulbs have a color temperature of about 4000K. The LED’s have a color temperature of 6000K, making it a Daylight light source.
Also the LED lights put out anywhere from 1000 lumens to 1500 lumens, depending on the voltage range. ( i.e. 12.6 volts to 13.6) using about 6 – 10 watts.
And they’re waterproof, for that additional light in the shower.
I’ll probably go in tomorrow and finish up the wiring. I’ll let you know how they work out.
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A little before 5pm we all headed out for one more try to have dinner at the Sherman House Restaurant. And this time we were successful.
But a little disappointed.
One of things we’ve enjoyed so much in the past was their excellent German dishes. But now, no Sauerbraten, no Jaeger Schnitzel, and no Red Cabbage. Bummer.
But we all ended up enjoying our meals anyway. So it was all good.
Jan had the Fried Chicken, I had the Apple Roasted Pork Tenderloin, Nick had the Shrimp Alfredo, and Terry had the Chicken Robere, a sautéed chicken breast on a bed of spinach, and covered with a mushroom burgundy sauce and melted provolone cheese.
Everyone really enjoyed what they had, and the service was very good too. We’ll go back.
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Thought for the Day:
Political Correctness is Tyranny .. with manners! – Charlton Heston
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