Our RV Adventures

After a nice, quiet morning it was time to get back on the dryer repair that I had started on Thursday.

Since all the prep work had been done, all I had to do was to put my dolly in place, grab the pull straps I had install and start dragging it out of the cabinet.

I built up this dolly a few years ago, making it the perfect height to pull the washer out, keep it level, and be able to roll it out into the kitchen if necessary.

The straps are something else I came up with a few years ago.

There is so little clearance between the dryer and the cabinet edges that it’s very difficult to get a grip on it. So I installed these straps that are fastened to the rear of the cabinet and extend out to the front from underneath.

It only took me about 20 minutes to have the Splendide out of the cabinet and the top off. And a few seconds with my meter confirmed that the the over-temp thermostat was bad.

After I replaced it I cleaned and sprayed Strike Hold on a couple of other connections that looked like they might have been running a little warm.The last step before I buttoned it up was to turn it on and be sure that it was heating up.

Then came the hard part – getting the unit back in the cabinet. This is always a problem since the cabinet edge is only about a 1/16 inch larger than the dryer. I don’t know why they didn’t leave more clearance. In fact it’s so tight that it’s hard to slide a 2 x 5 file card in between.

So after I struggled with it for over an hour, I finally did what I’ve been threatening to do for a good while. I pulled the Splendide all the way out, dug out my jigsaw and cut off a 3/8” strip from the top and both sides of the opening. And I wish I had done this a long time ago.

It now only took me about 15 minutes to have the unit sliding into place. Then with everything hooked up, I ran a load of laundry to check the repair and it worked fine.

I’ve still got to install the retaining board and the doors to finish up, but I’ll do that later.

Later in the evening I did finish up my most recent project that I’ll save until tomorrow. But it started out like this.

Tomorrow evening we’re getting together with Chris, Linda, Piper, and Connor for dinner at East Star Buffet once again. Looking forward to it.

Thought for the Day: 

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Our park shore power went off about 8:15 last night and didn’t come back on until about 11:30.

Luckily it was nice and cool so we stayed comfortable and just read our Kindles. It’s really nice to have books that light up. Yeah I know I could have just cranked up the generator, but the quiet was kind of nice.

I did get started on pulling out the dryer to replace the thermal fuse yesterday morning. I got the doors off and outside vent cover removed and the vent hose loosened, and I was already to go. But then my get-up-and-go never even showed up.

I woke up with a headache and was just downhill from there. Jan said she didn’t need to do laundry and even if she did, the park laundry is only about 50 feet away. So it will wait until Saturday.

Finally about 2pm we head out for an early supper at the East Star Chinese Buffet up in Webster, one of our new favorites. So favorite in fact that we’re already scheduled to have dinner there on Sunday with Chris, Linda, and Miss Piper.

As we were going inside I did see this really neat VW Beetle restoration.

Very nicely done. Inside, the owner came over and said he saw me checking it out. He said it was a ‘68 (I thought it was a little earlier) and he drives it every day. Very nice.

I did quickly discovered a problem with getting there so early. They don’t put out the cold boiled shrimp and the hot pepper shrimp until 4pm. Note to self for next time.

Looks like I’m getting deeper in the machine repair business at work. Found out my client has bought 30 of these low-end, Polish-made, epilators.

The problem? None of them work. All were apparently returned under warranty. And it’s going to be my job to get them working again.

We’ve only got one unit in so far, and I’m still waiting on the schematic, but getting the case open I was struck by déjà vu all over again.

Rather than using a crystal oscillator and a digital voltage step-up circuit to get the high voltage needed, they went old-school.

That transformer and the big coil make up a Tesla coil. you know, one of those big dome things that give off bolts of lightning.

I recognized it instantly as a smaller version of all the ones I built in high school. Nothing really wrong with this design I guess, EXCEPT it probably blanks out every radio, TV, and cell phone within 100 feet.

And the workmanship is all that great, either.

But at least so far, all the parts I’ve checked are still readily available. In fact, I already found a bad transistor and ordered a package of them from eBay, 20 for $7.

Hopefully all of them will be this easy to repair. We’ll see.

Getting home about 4:15 this afternoon, Jan and I headed right back out to have dinner at Pho 20 right down FM646. Jan had her new favorite Spicy Chili Garlic Chicken, along a House Crunch Salad, while I got my usual While Chicken Meat Pho with Veggies. Delicious, and why we keep coming back.

Then after dinner, and a quick stop at the Victory Lake Lowe’s, it was home for the night.

Tomorrow I’ll try to get the dryer out, repaired, and back in. Hopefully. But we’ll see how it goes.

The Headline of the Day: 

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