Monthly Archives: April 2017

The Magic Elixir . . .

Due to not having our front Fantastic Vent fan working this morning we finally had to turn on the front AC to keep things cool in the coach.




We closed the door to the bathroom and left the back of the coach with the windows open and the fan running.

About 1pm I got the ladder our of the back of the truck and got ready to climb up on the roof. to take a look at my vent fan problem. Whenever I’m on the roof Jan sits outside with her phone to keep an eye on me. When I asked if she’s going to try and catch me if I fall off, she says no, but she will call the EMT’s on her phone.

What a sweetheart!

Climbing up the ladder, I had a cloth bag with my voltmeter, screwdrivers, pliers, and a can of magic elixir with me. First off I had to get the cover off by removing the four nuts and washers,

Fantastic Vent Fan Cover

With the cover off I could finally get to my first suspect that might be causing the problem, the plunger switch that keeps the fan from starting until the lid is open. Since the fan motor quit  while it was running, I wasn’t expecting this to be the problem. The switch normally sticks when the lid is closed and then the fan won’t start when the lid opens.

But one of the rules of troubleshooting is to always start checking the easiest things first, and that’s the switch. I had left the fan turned on low before I came up on the roof so I reached under the lid and pressed down on the plunger.

Fantastic Vent Fan Plunger

It was too bright on the roof for me to take photos so I got this one from the Net.

It took only a few pushes on the plunger before the fan started running. So strangely enough, it was the switch. Glad I checked it first. So now I got out my spray can of magic elixir, Strike Hold and sprayed several squirts into the plunger switch, pushing it down a few times to work it in.

Strike-Hold

My friend Nick Russell and I discovered Strike Hold at an FMCA rally in Goshen, IN in 2014 and we’ve both used ever since. I’ve used it to resurrect Kindles, phones, and a number of other devices. In fact Nick just used it a couple of days ago to revive the depth/fish finder on his boat.

The first time I bought Strike Hold I got the pump spray bottle, but I found that it seemed to evaporate pretty quickly, so the next time I got the spray can, which has been great.




Nick Did Good

About 4pm Jan and I headed out to try a Chinese place down in Paradise Valley that Nick had recommended. Talking to him on the phone yesterday, I mentioned that the good Chinese buffet next door to the Buffalo Wild Wings where we ate yesterday was out of business. So that’s when Nick told us about Golden Flower Chinese Restaurant. And getting there we found a bright and cheery place located at one corner of a strip mall, staffed by very friendly people.

We started off with our usual Hot & Soup, something that we use to grade every new Chinese place. And Golden Flower got a ‘A’.

Golden Flower Hot & Sour

Jan got an order of Sesame Chicken,

Golden Flower Sesame Chicken

while I got the Spicy Kung Pao Chicken.

Golden Flower Kung Pao Chicken

We also got an plate of their House Special Fried Rice, with Chicken, Beef, Shrimp, and Pork.

Golden Flower Special Fried Rice

Jan said the Fried Rice was the best she’s ever had, and the Sesame Chicken was fantastic. My Kung Pao was great, but not very spicy to me, but as Nick said, that’s just me.



All we can say is, Nick was right! It was all delicious, probably in the top 3 or 4 of our favorite Chinese places in the country. We will definitely go back before we leave.

Well recommended!

Coming home we stopped at the nearby Sam’s Club to drop off a prescription and get gas. At $2.46/gal it was the cheapest place around, with most other places at $2.60 to $2.80.

Passport America, Save 50% on Campsites

Then we made a PO stop to finally get my Arizona CCW application in the mail. They say 6 to 8 weeks, but some people say they got theirs quicker.

Here’s Hoping.


Thought for the Day:

Dilbert Robot News

Up On The Roof, Again . . .

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About 2pm Jan and I drove to the Buffalo Wild Wings down south on Sunset. We’ve eaten here a couple time before and it’s always been good.

Buffalo Wild Wings Remains

Didn’t get any pics of the ‘Before’, but this is the ‘After’, the remains of 20 wings, (10 each), mine with Mango Habanero Sauce (Their 3rd Hottest) and a side of ‘Blazin’ (Their Hottest). and Jan got hers with Bourbon Honey Mustard and a side of Hot (The 4th Hottest).



Even better than the great wings, it was 1/2 price Wing Day.

On the way home we made a stop at an O’Reilly Auto Parts to get an air filter for our Dodge Dakota truck and then it was back to the rig.

We left the windows open and our Fantastic Vent Fans running when we headed out for lunch at BBW,  but when we got back around 4pm the kitchen fan was no longer running. The lid was still open and would close when I hit the button so I knew it had power.

My first thought was the plunger switch that keeps the fan from running until the lid is open, but normally it acts up by sticking close and not letting the fan start up went you open the lid, not while the fan is running.

I did try using a stick to hit the switch from inside, a ploy that’s worked in the past, but no luck this time.So it looks like tomorrow I’m up on the roof, again,

The last time we were in Las Vegas, in 2015, we discover an abandoned RV park just south of the Vegas Thousand Trails. You can check out our visit at the link above.

Abandoned RV Park OV

It looked like it had been a real nice park in its prime, but the only thing it housed now was a bunch of vagrants living in lean-to and piles of boards.



Blog reader Reg commented this:

We tried to stay at that park about 10 years ago but they only accepted class A less than 10 years old. It soon closed after that. The cost was too high for TTN at that time and the bull dozers leveled it. The car wash next door also went with it, and it had a bay to wash motor homes.

Looks like they got too uppity and too picky.

Now it looks like it’s going to be either high-end apartments or houses. I’ll try to get some photos tomorrow.

I was finally able to park across the road this afternoon when we got back from BWW.

Las Vegas TT Site 214 Parking

The dolly just to the left of  red trailer was gone so I fit in there. The guy in the rig next to us was hoping we could move tomorrow, in the morning at least, since he has a crew coming in to wash his rig.

Passport America, Save 50% on Campsites

So it all worked out.


Thought for the Day:

“I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him.” – Mark Twain

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