2 days and counting

Sorry for the big delay, as we arrived and setup, at the Enchanted Trails and Rv Resort. Our Slide motor went ratcheting. Up Oh, we looked at each other.

Slide went out 8 inches and only came back 4. That's all she wrote. So, since Sunday we have been living in a 100 sq. ft. house. Having to crawl over the bed, to get into the shower and sink. No way to get into our draws and put away the laundry, you name it and all of a sudden you realize what you are missing.

So, I went in search of locating a new slide motor, good thing, LCW is an hour later, so after calling at 7:30 their time on Monday, ordering one and requesting over-night shipping it arrived by 11 am, Tuesday.

Once I looked the motor over, I notice that the shear bolt in the parallel gear shaft was a ¼ inch dia. So a call was placed to LCW, after a good 15 minute phone call, I was still confused as to what size the shear pin should be and where. In the gear shaft of the rail support arm.

Well as it turns out, the original factory drilled out the 1/4 inch to a 3/8 inch. Now I know why the gearbox is destroyed and not the shear pin. Instead of engineering the correct motor/gearbox to the weight of the slide and gears on the rail. The MFG, just drilled out and put in a bigger shear Pin.

So, I spent the day, drilling and working on our slide, finally getting it done by 7:30 – 8pm, and during the day, installing a Winegard Traveler (Automatic) and a WiFi antenna on his Rv roof for Tom. Needless to say, it was a busy one for me and a little stressful.

But I kept my wits about me, Susan keeping me fueled and hydrated, and we were done in time to have company over. 

Sometime in the future i will do a complete write-up on the slide. In the meantime onto AIBF and friends. 

In the meantime be watching for our AIBF photos

Link Press Here 


Dale
DaGirls Rv Travels
Aka Dakota & Tilly
Safe Travels and Journeys
http://dagirlsrv.blogspot.com/
You Tube Video - Roadrunner Song

On DaRoad to AIBF_Final Countdown

Monday, Sept. 4th, our final day here at the Derr Family farm. Dwight & Sharon went back to the State Fair to see Lady Bre model her dress. We elected to stay and prep the Rv for early departure on Tuesday.  Like is our schedule, when we wake up, we make our final adjustments and get on the road, usually between 7 and 8 am.

So, we today we have prepped inside and outside, moved the Rv, dumped and backed into a spot where we can just start up, slide in, antenna down, raise levelers and head straight out.

Like last year, we will say our goodbyes tonight as everyone will be up and gone or sleeping in when we leave.  One last beer-30, sitting around and talking about what we accomplished.  (note from Susan) And we enjoyed a wonderful dinner with the Derr's/Tisdale's on our last evening.

So, what have we done?

Worked with Dwight and helped get the coach painted. All that is left is painting brackets, awning rails and re-installing everything.  Hummm, wonder how be the pile of leftovers will be?  Ha, Ha

Along the way, we went to the Nebraska State Fair to see Lady Bre show her chickens, eggs and ducks in the poultry barn. All in all she did very well.  Showing poultry is a crap shoot game, it is all up to the judge, he/she will say something based on there opinion. You win or lose at that point, too big, not big enough, etc.

Along with feathered fowl, there are the rabbits, sheep, goats, cows, all different varieties, floating around and being shown.

But you know me, I can only sit for so long on a metal bench, so after an hour, I decided to head out and see the fair.

So, all in all this is a very large and well attended fair. And so much dryer than when we were there last year.

Dale
DaGirls Travels
Aka Dakota & Tilly
Safe Travels and Journeys
http://dagirlsrv.blogspot.com/
You Tube Video - Roadrunner Song

On the Road to AIBF - Tisdale's Coach

Ok, so, we have been very busy getting the Tisdale's coach ready for paint. We have completed and painted the driver's side, front and rear caps. The last 2 twos days we have completed the passenger's side prep work.

Today Friday) is paint day.

We decided to stay an extra week to help Dwight accomplish this task and enjoy more time with friends. With this done, Dwight can start working on the smaller things. The coach is looking very good, he has just about taken it all apart, sealed, cleaned and reassembled.

As for us:
Rewired my solar panels to produce 80Vdc instead of 40Vdc. Higher voltage lower current coming down the wire to my MPPT controller.

Susan has made major changes to the bathrooms. She has added back splashes and using the same material made a photo collage wall. I installed a Talavia sink for her that we bought in Rocky Point on last trip. Also added new faucet.

Removed the sink in the toilet room, polished it, and added water cut-off valves. 

I also redid the sewer compartment, never liked the sewer outlet never exit angle. So a little cutting and shaping. My sewer hose now goes straight down. This project took less than a hour. 

And of course many beer 30's, after working, of course, the Brisket Sunday. Andy, Dwight's son-in-law is a very good smoker. Dwight always say's the Traeger was the best birthday present he purchased for is son-in-law. 

And of Course a Photo of Dakota, showing us a new thing she taught herself:

Dale

DaGirls Travels

Aka Dakota & Tilly

Safe Travels and Journeys

http://dagirlsrv.blogspot.com/

You Tube Video - Roadrunner Song

Changes Completed - Battery Frame

You read where we/I started our new battery box configuration changes. Changes you ask? Why? Didn't the Alfa come with Qty. 6, 6Vdc batteries? Yes, but since we dry-camp alot, we really need the extra storage capacity. So, with this change, we can use the following size/type of batteries:
T-105, T-125, T-145 and even the L16 size batteries.

Battery frame on the passenger side:

Battery Frame on the Driver's side:

Here is an excellent example of the different capacity of the battery sizes:

	Length		Width		height		Lbs	$$$
T-105	10.3		7.11	28.44	11.07	447	62	133
T-125	10.3		7.11	28.44	11.07	448	66	165
T-145	10.3		7.11	28.44	11.9	530	72	193
J305H-AC	11.6		7	28	14.5	781	98	210
J305E-AC	12.1		7	28	14.5	645	83	239
L16P-AC	11.6		7		16.7	850	114	319

Time will tell, when we upgrade our batteries, for now we will add 2, bringing up our system to Qty., 8, 6Vdc batteries.

So, I will leave you with a few more photos:

Safe Travels and Journeys 

from DaGirls, Dakota & Tilly

More Changes coming

So, what drove us to Friend, Ne, besides friends? Changes to the Rv. Where else can you go and have a shop of tools to use. The main thing? Battery box configuration changes.

First remove some batteries and setup outside the coach.

Next remove the frame, clean up the area and change the location of the grounding studs.

And before you know it the right side is cleaned and ready for the build process.

Since you did the right side, you now do the left side faster and wow. All done and cleaned. Next, you begin laying out the template for the frame.

More for later, as I continue to redo the battery box

Safe Travels from
DaGirls Dakota and Tilly

May 27 Memorial Weekend

So we are going on our 3rd week up here. It has been wonderful except for when the 2 weather fronts come together. This results in strong winds. But today they are gone and it is wonderful.

Since this is a holiday weekend, the Apache - Sitgreaves forest has filled up, more than we were here few years ago. 

We were hoping friends would make it up, but people, just can't seem to decide on anything or anytime. And surely we, meaning me, will not wait for people to decide if they are coming or when they are coming. Oh well, such is life. 

Early on we explained to friends that we would be up roaming around, then head up to Utah for month of June, well we decided to include Colorado in the roaming bit.  

DaGirls Rv - Safe Travels and Journeys

Dakota, Tilly, Susan and me

Dry Camping, Boon Docking, Solar Oh My.

Here we are, week 2 of camping up in the Tall pines. So far we have gone from cool to cold at night, to snow and now to the real weather for this time of year.
40’s at night with 70’s in the day time. Beautiful. Gorgeous weather, especially for hiking and for Solar.

Since we have been here we have been busy, doing small and large jobs getting everything back to normal. Susan has been busy mending my jeans, shorts, making covers for the mirrors. Cleaning and rearranging the kitchen and pantry.

Me I have finally finished up my Midnite (Solar Controller / Magnum (Inverter / Charger) project. What does this mean? Well cleaning up the area, fitting the cable correctly, installing a new on/off switch for the inverter batteries, to name a few.

I also wanted to re-install my shunt (Wizbang) for the Midnite solar control. The part I was having trouble is both the Magnum and Wizbang are about 4 inches long and need to be in series. This kept giving me location problems.

So, it was time to see what was so different between these 2 shunts. Nothing is different, so I was able to use the BMK (Magnum) shunt for both units, this made it real easy to install and hook up. So now I have real time current readout for both systems.

I also relocated the Midnite display, I just did not like having it out of sight nor did I want to buy a remote display. Some being a "prichard", I moved it.

 
So, what else has been going on? well our friends B & D, will not make it up here while we are here. So we have decided to head out to Utah, to see the canyons and parks up in that area. From there maybe head to Colorado for a change in elevation and places.

Another interesting experience was / is watching Dakota: she just loves going after lizards, and other small flying inserts near the ground. We watched her on Sunday, she must have seen a lizard or maybe she smelled a mole. She spent over 30 minutes digging a trench the length of her body, trying to locate it.

This is her normal position in the morning, waiting for Susan and I to come out and play. She's that small dot in the center

 This is Dakota, she saw or smelled something, and away she went after it, or should I say duged after it. Now if you look closely, she will move away from the tree to the left.

  As you see she is getting very tired digging. 

 DaGirls Rv, safe and happy journeys 

Round Up of the last few days in the tall pines

Ok, so let's get this show / post on the road. Where exactly is DaGirls at? 

GPS:   34.3968394, -110.721005

Google Map Link to Location

​The temperature last 2 (5/15 -5/16) days, with 1 more day left:

​

While we are keeping warm inside with our Procom Vent-Free Propane heater.

And yes we have been traveling around the areas seeing the many places we have boon-docked in the past. 

​​

​So, what does our day look like ?

Up, make coffee, let Dakota out

​​​Who is waiting outside for Susan and I to come out?

The many hikes with Dakota and Tilly in the area, with Dakota running back and forth checking everything out and hunting for lizards:

One of the nice thing that Dakota does is walk Tilly.

Or the Can Spinners I am making.

Made a few changes to our Solar Controller Display: many of you remember when I ungraded to the Midnite Classic 150 controller. This unit allow's you to add a remote display. Now in the back of my mind, I said, why can't I remove the display and bring it inside.

Well that is exactly what I did. 

Item needed, 6 pin RJ11 connector and 6 wire phone cable. I found a 15 footer pre-made at Fry's Electronics

Removed the cover from the controller, remove the display cover, where I located and removed the 4 mounting screws​. Then remove the display unit. I do need to point out, that the display is a unit by itself. 

Next I installed the cable connector to the controller, replace the cover, routed the cable to the inside of the Rv. At this point I connected the cable to the display and boom. I now have a remote display/controller inside the Rv.

How is our solar system working:

DaGirls Equipment:

Midnite Classic 150, Wizbang Shunt (Getting ready to re-install) Kit

Magnum MS2812 with BMK (Shunt) kit.

Interstate batteries, all controllers have been specifically setup for these batteries. I am not using the standard default setting.

1600 Watts panels, unfortunately panels are a mixed lot:

2, 180w purchase 2012

1, 300w purchase 2013

1, 300w purchase 2014

2, 300w purchased 2016

As you can see purchased over a 4 year period, this means different panels.

Panels shaded in the morning with full sun after 12 noon.

6am, battery voltage 12.4. 74% SOC(BMK)

2pm Reach 100 % SOC.

Here is an excellent example:

Full Sun, 798 watts, started the vacuum cleaner, watts jump to over 1200 watts, voltage was in the 14 - 14. 5 Volt range (Absorption mode). pretty impressive I might say. 

One thing made a big difference in my battery storage/voltage, is the custom charge setup per manufacture specifications. Prior to this, normally (Oct 2016), battery voltage would be in the 12.0 – 12.1 Vdc range.

Another is the addition of the BMK kit to the Magnum. The BMK, once setup, will calculate the charge/discharge current of the batteries. It will take into consideration all charge methods; i.e. Charger, Alternator and Solar, this is why I like this system.

I will be re-installing my Midnite Wiz-bang very soon; it will be fun to see how it calculates and displays current.

I also noted that my system has some deficiencies, which I attribute to the old Vs. new style panels.

A few weeks ago Mike Lynch came to me and asked for help in designing and installing a system. We installed 4, 300 watts panels at a VOC of 40 Vdc, with a current short of 34Vdc. Using a Midnite classic combining box, 2 bulk head mounted re-settable circuit breakers and misc stuff. My guess the total cost less installation was less than $1500. $120, each panel, $650 controller, $110 circuit breakers, another $200 misc's items. And some stuff I had on hand; aluminum angle (brackets), 3 rolls of dicor, cable combiners, and wire.

I was really happy when we turned system on for the first time. The system jump to 800 Watts then dropped down to around 700, before settling down to 500. 

Da​Girls Rv, Traveling Companions Dakota and Tilly