Almost on the Road... and SUCCESSFUL fixes!

Tomorrow Waddles and I head north to British Columbia.   Our final destination is Prince George, to attend a weaving conference.   We will be camping with friends who  have a tiny home-made teardrop, so it will be fun to compare our experiences.    We will be traveling for just about 2 weeks, although 6 days in the middle will be stationed in Prince George at an RV park.




















In preparation, my mechanic/all-around handyman has been working with me to see if we could solve the mystery of why the Norcold refrigerator/freezer does not always work.   We have tested every scenario, and I've been reading a lot of the on-line T@G forums to see what others have experienced and discovered.    It runs fine when hooked up to shore power, and when the trailer battery is being charged (while plugged into the car, with the car running, or hooked up to the solar panel with lots of sunshine).   When it is running strictly off the trailer battery, with no other charging source, it fails.   It will not hold a cold temperature, and the error light comes on, indicating not enough voltage, even when the voltage meter says there should be enough.

The on-line forums indicate that the only successful fix is to rewire the refrigerator directly to the battery.  Evidently the original wiring is only 16 gauge wire, and should be 10 gauge, and it is routed through the kitchen outlets, so there is not enough juice getting through the wire when it is only powered by the batteries.

So we bought a new cord for the battery which plugs directly into a cigarette lighter to see if we could by-pass the issue.    We only tested this by running the cord through the trailer cigarette lighter, which didn't solve the issue.  We then cut the cigarette plug off the cord, and hooked it directly to a battery and BEHOLD, the refrigerator works; holds a cold temperature, doesn't error out, and has a much smaller drain on the batteries.    This is a puzzling thing, but it works.  So.....

Mechanic-man went to work.... (there is a parts list at the end of this post for anyone who might want to know)

First he ran the 10 gauge wire through a 1/2 conduit, just like what the factory wiring runs through (although mine is white and heavier because that is what we had on hand).  He says 7' of conduit is more than enough (mine is not a T@G max, just the little one). In this photo the black conduit is factory, the white is what he added

Then he drilled a small hole in the back of the refrigerator area (carefully).  See the white dot in the back right corner?    We ran the 10 gauge wires up through that hole.

We were not able to find just the PLUG to put on the end of the new wire, so we spliced the new wire into the cigarette lighter cord we had purchased.

Securely spliced together

We left the old wire, but secured the new wire to the trailer in place of the old wire.  See the old black wire coiled up and hanging now.

With all that in place it was time to move to the front of the trailer.   Remember, we have already replaced the old 12 volt battery with 2 deep cycle 6 volt batteries so that is what we needed to attach the new wire too.

There is now a nice rubber washer holding the wires in place where they come through to the front of the trailer.

All wires outside the conduit were wrapped in this spiral covering to protect them.

We could not find a 10 gauge in-line fuse so we went with 20.  Overkill, and we will likely replace this if/when we find a 10.

The in-line fuse is outside the battery cover so I can easily pull the fuse when I'm not running the refrigerator, which I also do with the regular fuse because of the phantom drain that occurs.

I am so very excited to have a refrigerator that works!   The first 4 nights of my trip I will not have shore power, so I was worried about food going bad, and was prepared with jugs of frozen water to help hold the temperature in the fridge.

With this issue solved, I believe that Waddles and I just may live happily ever after.

Oh, one other 'fix' I've done since the last trip.   If you recall, I use a small-ish propane Heater Buddy for a quick warm up in Waddles when it's cold outside.  

Others have recommended using a little electric heater when plugged in to shore power, but the way my trailer is configured I could not plug it into the wall plug without it touching something flammable.   SO, I purchased a long, flexible extension cord, now I can hang it up where it is safe.     I am looking forward to trying this out during the time I'll be on shore power (about 6 nights on this trip).   The electric heater has a thermostat and a timer, so it will turn itself off, although I'm pretty sure I will never go to sleep with it on, nor leave it on in the trailer if I'm not there.  The inside space is so small it doesn't take much to heat it up, and it stays pretty cozy.

I think we are all ready to leave in the morning.... let the adventure begin!

For those who want to know, here is a materials list for the rewiring project:

• 7' of 1/2" conduit
• 2 1/2" u-clamps to clamp it to the frame.  You can see how the factory conduit was installed, same thing.
• 12' of 10 gauge wire, one red, one black
• New plug for the Norcold if you don't want to use the factory one.  We used the cigarette lighter cord plug because we could not find just the plug anywhere.
• In-line fuse - 10 gauge if you can find it, we used 20
• Electrical splicing pieces for putting the plug on one end, and for putting the in-line fuse on the other end
• Battery terminal rings for connecting to the battery.

As my mechanic said when we put this list together, "It sounds so simple when you list the parts".   This project took all day, and he didn't take many breaks.

Season Shake-down

The first trip of the season is under our belts!   Waddles and I went to La Grande Oregon for the Ladd Marsh Bird Festival.   This is an annual event that I try to get to most years.

Ladd Marsh is a very special place, and this year it was very very wet; so wet that the water was running over the road in a number of places, and some of the standard staffed stations were under water.   AND that didn't stop the fun.

Waddles and I left home on Friday and drove the 200 miles to La Grande in cool, but ok weather.  We arrived in the early afternoon and got set up at the Grande Hot Springs RV Resort.    I tend to not like RV parks, but this one is very close to Ladd Marsh, and I had some early mornings planned, so this seemed like the best place to stay.   The weekend was predicted to be quite rainy so I was prepared for the worst.

Friday night the Festival kicks off with a speaker.  This year it was Dr. Rob Taylor  who talked about his time on Midway Island helping with a project transforming the military base into a refuge for birds and other wildlife.   It was VERY interesting and I learned a lot.   Did you know that mice will eat away at live birds?  I didn't.

At the RV Park the first night we didn't have any close neighbors and I got to listen to the Sandhill Cranes all night long, which was delightful.

Waddles with some space around her

On Saturday morning I was up early to get onto the marsh by 6am.   I took a long walk  into the marsh  on a road which is closed to the public except during the festival.   There is water on both sides of the road, with lots of reeds for birds to hide in, and many open water areas as well. Click on the photos to embiggen them.

Sunrise over the Marsh

White Pelican on the fishing pond

White Pelicans at Dawn

I heard lots and lots of Bittern, Sora and Virginia Rails, but didn't see any.   I did see Marsh Wrens, Common Yellow-Throat Warblers, many different kinds of ducks, Sandhill Cranes, White Pelicans, Wilson's Phalaropes, Cliff, Barn and Tree Swallows, and lots more.    During the Festival there are staffed stations, where spotting scopes are set up and bird experts are available to assist in spotting and identifying birds.    My first walk, described above, went to station 4.  I then went to station 3 and saw a Sora. This is a very shy wading bird that can be heard all the time, but they rarely show themselves; they hide in dense reeds.  This one came boldly out in to view and walked along the edge of the reeds for quite a while, so I got a good look.   I did not, unfortunately, get a picture of it.  This is only the second time in my life I've seen one.

Then I went to station 5, which was staffed by friends.   As the day turned out to be LOVELY, I decided to just hang out with them for most of the morning.   The water was so high that this station was moved from its normal location so we had a different perspective.    We were treated to Ruddy Ducks, White Ibis, Northern Harriers, Coots, Yellow-Headed Black Birds and more.   We also got to see, up close and personal, a Great-Tailed Grackle, which is not a common bird in Oregon.  I also didn't get a picture of this one. Darn.

Reflections at Station 5

After lunch there was a speaker from the Blue Mountain Wildlife Rehab Center with raptors that had been injured and are not able to be released into the wild.  They have become ambassadors.

Raptor Talk

Barn Owl

Red-Tailed Hawk

After the festival activities a friend and I drove around the valley to find more birds and had a lovely afternoon.  When I got back to the RV Park I had two new LARGE neighbors.  Waddles is still by far the cutest.

Feeling a bit small...

Sunday morning I was signed up for a field trip called 'Dawn Chorus'.  This trip started at 4:30 a.m. and was a walk through the marsh as the sun was coming up.   The rain held off and the morning was spectacular.    It was a great exercise in identifying birds by ear, as many were hidden in the reeds, and we didn't have a lot of light at first.   We saw yet another Sora, and a Virginia Rail; another shy bird that hides in the reeds.   We heard many Bittern, but I didn't see one until I was back in my car and one flew across the road in front of me.

Dawn over Ladd Marsh

Great color and reflections at dawn

More lovely reflections

Not a great picture, but this is a Virginia Rail

Then I went, with 3 friends, on a second trip to a place called Growiser, on a shield volcano at the north end of the Grande Ronde Valley.   You can read about it on the linked web page, but I will tell you it's a pretty special place.  The north side of the area has heavy soils, dropped as Mount Mazama Ash, and is covered with dense forest.  The Southern side has thin soils, and is open meadows.    The whole area is being restored to native habitat and we walked all over the area looking at plants and birds.    If you ever get a chance to go there, do.   The web page tells you how to arrange a visit.

Field Trip across Growiser meadow, looking south over the Grande Ronde Valley.  It was spectacular.

Camas

Looking South

Lupin, not quite blooming yet

Calypso bulbosa Fairyslipper

Peach colored Paint Brush

Sierra Pea

Don't know what this is called

Mountain Goldenbanner

Ponderosa Pine Male Cones

After that field trip I spent the afternoon going to some of the stations I missed on Saturday and found  Bullock's Orioles, House Wrens, a Flycatcher I couldn't identify, and a Downy Woodpecker.    And then it started to rain.    I found evidence of a hawk that had been killed by something.  It had LOVELY feathers.

Red-Tailed Hawk Feather

Tree Swallow

Wild Iris

Red-Tailed Hawk and Stormy skys

And then it started to thunder and lightening, and then it rained some more!   So I retreated to Waddles after having dinner with friends.

And now it is Pouring Rain

I spent one last cozy night in Waddles, dry and warm.    Monday morning I got up to the promise of some sunshine.    I packed up and pulled out by 7am.   I made a short stop in Pendleton to visit friends, and then home.  

It was a fun and successful trip.   I didn't really get to test the new batteries, since I had shore power at the RV park, but everything seems to be working just fine.

In less than 4 weeks I will be heading north to Prince George British Columbia to attend the Association of Northwest Weaving Guilds (ANWG) Conference.   Waddles and I will be joined by friends who also have a little homemade Teardrop Trailer.   This trip will be a couple weeks!   I am so looking forward to it.

Wandering Season Begins!

Well, I think it is high time to kick off the summer Wandering Season!   Yesterday Waddles came out of the garage and had a very thorough spring cleaning.  She now has all clean linens, all the cupboards have been vacuumed and scrubbed.  Everything was taken out, gone through and re-stored.   Tire pressure checked, bearing grease checked.

So today we went for a short drive around the area, just to shake out anything that might have gone awry over the winter.    All seems to be in good order.

I love this view in my rear view mirror..  Waddles AND 'The Mountain'

Next week will be our first official outing.   We are heading to Eastern Oregon to the Annual Ladd Marsh Bird Festival.     We have reservations at an RV park near the Marsh, which will make it easy to get up VERY VERY early for the 'Dawn Patrol' field trip on Sunday (4am-ish).     I love this festival and it also is giving me a chance to visit with friends in the area that I don't always get to see.

RV parks are not normally my first choice, but it will make this trip easier, since I won't have a lot of time in the mornings or evenings.

This will also be the first trip since installing the new batteries, and although I'll have shore power at the RV park, I plan to try just using the batteries for at least part of the time to see how they work.   It is also the first time using the smaller propane tank, and I WILL be using that for cooking.   I'm still struggling with the Norcold cooler.  That is the next thing on the list to get the kinks out of.

So, between now and the end of next week, I'll be packing up food and clothing for the trip.   I can hardly wait!

Last time I posted I was unable to reply to the comments left on the post, and I'm not sure why that happened, but I'll also see if I can figure that out!  It's always something!

Happy Happy Spring!  I love this time of year.

Looooong Overdue!

Well, I'm sitting here watching the snow fall, adding to the already accumulated 24", and dreaming about summertime travels.    It occurs to me that I never finished posting information about the battery upgrade I did last fall, so what better time then while I'm housebound in February??

If you recall, I replaced the one 12-volt battery with 2 6-volt deep cycle batteries.  In order to do this we had to rearrange the entire contents of the tongue bin.    The new batteries are not only bigger, but heavier than the 12-volt battery.  My handy-dandy helper has some rockin' welding skills, so he took apart the existing structure of the bin, and reworked it to hold the two batteries and a new, smaller, propane tank.

Waddles stripped naked!

Reworked internal structure.

One of the two new batteries

The new 10-lb Propane tank

What the internal configuration looks like now before it's all secured down

Both new battery boxes are securely bolted down.

The propane tank fits perfectly

I haven't yet taken Waddles out for a test run with this new set up, but I love it.   Along the way we kept a close watch on the tongue weight and we came in under the max my Subaru Outback can handle.

I hope to take a couple short runs with Waddles when this snow finally goes away, and then there is a big trip planned for June up into British Columbia for a couple weeks.   I miss hanging out in Waddles, and she is safe and secure in my garage next to the car (and the snow blower!).

Stay tunes for more adventures.

Adding Power

Well, Waddles and I have been pretty house-bound, looking after a now, hopefully, recovering kitty, so we have been working on upgrades.

I've heard that using 2 6-volt batteries will hold a charge longer than the 1 12-volt battery that comes with the trailer.   So, my resident mechanic and I did a lot of research and measuring, and bought 2 deep-cycle 6-volt batteries.    In order for them to fit into the tongue bin, I needed to downsize the 20-lb propane tank to an 11-lb tank.   More research, more measuring, and I ordered the new tank.

The 20-lb propane tank is out, but this is what the bin looks like before the modifications.

One big consideration in doing all this is the tongue weight.  I pull Waddles with a Subaru Outback, which has a tongue weight limit of 200lbs.   The old 12-volt battery weighs 43.2 lbs.   The deep cycle 6-volt batteries weigh 63.4lbs each.   The 20lb propane tank weighs 35 lbs (and it was not full). The 11-lb propane tank weighs 26.5lbs full.

We pulled everything out of the front bin. including the metal framework inside the plastic bin.   We fit the boxes for the 2 new batteries in and loosely secured them to the steel framing on the tongue of the trailer (to test things out).   The new propane bottle fits PERFECTLY in the leftover space.     It will take some reconfiguring of the metal framework inside the bin to fit the batteries and smaller tank, and fortunately for me, my resident mechanic is also a pretty handy welder (he's working on it as we speak).

So, back to the issue of tongue weight.    We put both batteries in their boxes, added the smaller propane tank and weighed the tongue.   We had taken the spare tire out from under the tongue to be able to maneuver under there, and because it adds more weight.    Without the tire we came in at just over 160lbs tongue weight.   With the tire, 186 lbs!!!   I'm very happy about this.    The batteries are set as far back as they can go on the tongue, which helps distribute the weight off the tongue.

So now we have to secure everything, and we will be ready to roll.    I may not take another trip with Waddles this summer (but I might).    I'm looking forward to trying out this new set up.