We Have the Technology

OK, our next campout is approaching so I need to get some key repairs done. You saw the damage to the skylights and I will get to that later in the blog. First things first. You may remember I have had some random issues with the lights on the rear half of Fandango. The lights are all DC and they are run through two cut-off switches. The cut off for the front lights is a traditional looking light switch right at the steps when you enter the cabin. Those are the front bunk reading lights and all of the kitchen lights. The rear (bathroom and rear bedroom/bunk area) lights are all routed through a cut off switch in the rear access panel behind the spare tire. When you open that panel you have the service access to the water tanks, pump and the rear fuses, the power converter, etc. There is a small terminal block and the DC power runs through that. The line that drives the rear lights was a bit loose and I did field repairs but that fuse connector was just too loose. The wire that runs to it from the cut off switch was starting to overheat too. Lucky for me, there was an unused post so I just needed to make a new wire with new crimps and long enough to run to the other end of the terminal.

I know you all were concerned about my safety in creating the electrical line and properly installing them. Well, fret not, I had a trained professional help me.

That work went well and I have had Fandango's rear lights running for a few hours. Time will tell but I think I have rid us of that problem. But just in case, I went ahead and worked on this post while sitting in Fandango after completing the work so I could stare at lights.

OK so the rear lights appear to work (knock on wood) so we are pretty much camp ready. I have pondered whether or not I wanted to deal with installing the new skylights right before I go on a trip. To be honest, the drive from where I keep Fandango to my house is twice as far as the drive to campsite. It has also survived three major rainstorms with the broken skylights wrapped in plastic. Experience tells me that I may be biting off somthing which will consume way too much of my time when I should be burping a one month old, or playing with a three year old or, god forbid, getting my boat ready for the campout too. Bah, who am I kidding...let's rip perfectly sealed metal frames off the top of my roof and try to shove in new ones without destroying my RV!

(Yes, I will wait...go ahead, think of all of your ways to call me an idiot...no really, I can wait...OK, you're done)

Oh, I almost forgot. Why am I putting in completely new skylight assemblies instead of buying just new lids? Because my lids are riveted to the hinge and they are not designed to be removed. Yes, I could drill out the rivets and and put in a new lid...if one with that proper curvature and length was readily availablee. The RV supply store I use has some very experienced parts folks and they were pretty confused when I showed them the pictures. They finally asked me what kind of RV it was. They knew I was pretty much hosed when I told them a 1972 Winnebago. They went through their catalogs too. Stuff this old is just not what folks want to supply a lot of parts for when you can just move to newer "universal" parts. OK, again, I could have fought it but I live in an area where Fandango will get hailed on every 9-14 months. I want to deal with one pile of pain and then have my future replacements be easier.

Marcus and Frank, thanks for the tips on the Fantastic Fans but I am going to pass on them for now. I do not have DC power running to two of the three vents so that will be a task for when I eventually have to completely remodel the interior.

OK, so here we go.

Before:

I must say, I was stunned on how easy it was to remove the vent. The bottom screen inside the cabin was compressing the top and the top was only held by sealant. All I had to do was remove the bottom screen and then run my razor along the seam and it came right out.

This is where I got excited and then nervous. If it was that easy, then the bad stuff was just building up and hiding from me. Well, it won't hurt to do a dry fit. I grabbed the new vent and it almost fit. Yes, almost. Sigh. Actually, it was not too bad. As you see above, the existing hole has radius corners but the new vent wants square corners. The roof is really just plywood, foam, then plywood so that is not hard at all to cut.

Wait, did I just say I am going to cut the roof of my RV? The bad news is that I really like using my Sawzall so there was no stopping me. I was just upset that the Sawzall was able to handle that task was too easily. The picture below shows the marks on the corners I needed to cut out.

Pretty easy cut and it popped in no problem.

I added the putty tape and then put the vent in place.

I was pondering how many screws to put in. My original vents did not have any but the way it is shaped it looks like it really wants a lot of screws (There were ~10 screw holes on each side!). I did not use all of the holes because you just face the laws of diminishing returns. That is just too many holes to put on a roof of an RV! What I did realize is the genious of the parts guy at my RV spot (RV Outlet Mall-OK, they get a plug). He sold me one full tube of roof sealant for each skylight. I thought that was much but hey, why not. So I put an entire tube of sealant on the trim.

After:

OK, so overall, it actually, went pretty well! OK, you caught me, I didn't mention the inside trim piece. That put a good scare in me. I went inside to dry fit that...of course, after I cut holes in the roof of my RV. The trim piece bottomed out with a 3/8" gap before it would sit flush against the ceiling. Whoa! I started to wonder if I really did have such an old oddball RV that universal skylights do not work. I then realized that if my buddy Marcus could fit a brand new A/C and a brand new Fantastic Fan in his Airstream (Which is older than Fandango), then this is just a puzzle that needed some thought. So I cleaned up, etc. and I have it figured out. That inside trim piece can be, well trimmed to fit. I have not bothered to do that yet since I had to finish cleaning, checking on the family and well, cooling off inside Fandango while updating the blog, feeling the A/C and watching the rear lights.

I will take pictures of the inside trim piece when I put that in...probably tomorrow but not a rush. I am not sure if I will bother with the other two skylights before I go camping.

Hail's Bells

That's a really bad title for this post but from watching the posts from my fellow RV bloggers, I am supposed to make a reference to a rock song.

So what has Fandango been doing this year? I have stopped by every couple of weeks or so to check on her. My various house work has led me to have some random load of stuff that I needed to store in Fandango or my boat shed. That allowed me to drive her around the block and think through any work. I did find that it became harder for it to start if I went too long without trying to fire up the engine. More to come on that.

More important, Fandango got hit by a hail storm. It was relatively unscathed but it definitely got whacked pretty good. All three skylights were shattered and there are a a good number of dings on the roof and a bit on the front, driver side.

There are no leaks found and I have the skylights wrapped in plastic. I am replacing them soon but I need to drag Fandango to the RV shop so they can match the specific version of hinge. The dents are just something I will live with for awhile. I am sure Fandango will have to suffer through more hail storms so as long as they are just dents, they will have to suffice for now. Fandango will get a paint job in the years to come so that may be when I bother to knock them out.

So what's next? Time to get her ready to camp. Spring is here so hopefully the next post will be measured in days from now and it will be talking about our next campout!

What in the Wide Wide World of Sports is Goin' on Here?

OK, so I am just a few days short of four months since my last post. Pathetic, huh? OK, here is my "excuses post" and then we should be able to get back to business and obsess about Fandango!

I will have to stray from chronological order but my first excuse is this little guy:

As I mentioned in my first post, the reason I purchased Fandango was the realization I needed to get my growing family camping again. No, it is not the normal backpacking I have grown to love but this is the right step for now. Anyway, my family just grew by one key addition.

A son! Austin Anton Dvorak was brought into the world one month ago (April 8th, 2009). As you have seen, our daughter Danielle is very excited about camping with Fandango and she is even more excited to be a big sister.

OK, so my pregnant wife was not exactly up for taking Fandango out in recent months but we did have some ideas which fell through. Some were tailgate parties which did not have ideal weather and we were hoping to go camping during spring break. Well, excuse #2 was all of the prep work to get our house ready before Austin was born. The biggest part was not really getting ready for him, but rather finishing my 2 year old kitchen remodeling project. All of my pictures of the kitchen are either bad ones from my cell phone or on my wife's camera which I cannot find. I may put a picture or two of that work in here someday.

Oh and I still have to entertain the family so a few weekends were spent at Disch-Falk field watching the UT Longhorn Baseball team as well as a tailgate or two.

Danielle and Bevo

Just hanging out with Coach Royal:

(If you do not know who that is, well, try Google and do not admit that in public)

OK, so I spent January - May tending to the family and it is getting close to our next trip. I will add another post right away on what has been going on with Fandango. It has been hanging out but it has had an adventure too.

Happy New Year

Fandango made it through trip #2 by ringing in the New Year. Elway and his family were well into their week-long camping trip at Bastrop State Park and I was hoping to camp over New Years Eve. The camp had been sold out for New Year's Eve but Elway swung by the office right when a cancellation came in and we were set for three nights. I find myself, yet again, saying thanks to Elway for his help.

It was great to spend New Years Eve by having the kids watch another movie projected on the side of Fandango. Of course we did put the kids to bed and the adults watched "Blazing Saddles" as midnight truly approached. Happy New Year everyone!

OK, my wonderful, loving wife made me take this picture and said I had to put it on the blog.

No, it is not as bad as it looks but when you drag your wife and 3-year old out to pick up the RV and the RV will not start right away...well, you better start doing something. It had been around 3 weeks since I had last tried to start Fandango and like any 1972 engine, it takes some time for a true cold start. The voltmeter did show both batteries to be just a shade below 12V so I figured it wouldn't hurt. I am not sure if it helped but it started when I had the jumper cables hooked up and my wife and kid did not have to keep staring at Dad trying to get the vacation started. It started just fine ever since so I am just writing it off to an old, cold engine which is best off if I swing by and start it at least every two weeks or so.

The first fun part of the trip was that the first day was just Daddy and daughter. Mommy came out the next day so I got to have a lot of quality time with Danielle. Danielle also got to break out her new sleeping bag and Xmas PJ's.

Bastrop State Park is great and there was plenty of things the kids can enjoy. Danielle got to play with friends and perfect her tricycle riding skills.

Yes, kitchen stadium made a second appearance. Marcus was busy replacing the floor of his Airstream over the holidays but Dave got a Xmas present that kept kitchen stadium in good shape. We will just have to look forward to when all of the RV's are back together and Kitchen Stadium can reach even new levels.

Elway also taught me how to set up my canopy to get a wider clearance.

For those keeping track, the brakes are working great. I had no problems during the trip and the fluid level in the master cylinder is holding. I also found the drive to and from Bastrop to be very smooth. It was really windy on the drive out there but even then it held its speed well and everything just worked really well.

I did not take any pictures regarding this but the really fun part, from a new RV user's standpoint was that this was the first time I had an RV spot with full hookups. Having the sewer connection allowed me to really use the sinks and toilet more. This was also the first time I could use my hot water heater which worked great. That set up was a good test for all of the connections. The kitchen sink drain does have a small leak but it leaks into one of the drawers below and I contained it with a towel. That is pretty simple work. I just wished the Pasarrella's could have found a spot with sewer for their week-long stay. I bet that family of six put some stress on their tanks!

The one issue that resurfaced is the breaker for the electrical systems for the rear half of Fandango. I found a loose connection during our first trip which caused the rear lights to come on and off. I tightened it but that lug likely needed to be recrimped. Well the fuse blew this time and I never bothered to throw a few extra fuses in my glove box. It didn't happen until the last full day of camping so it was not that big of a deal. That connection on the terminal block is not mechanically sound anymore but there are unused terminals. It is a pretty quick job where I can just make a new wire, with new lugs crimped and put it on an unused terminal with a new fuse (Which I had lying in my junk drawer at home). I will take some pictures of it when I fix it sometime in the next month or so.

Other than that, things went really well (knock on wood). We invested in a simple electric heater that we set on our kitchen counter top during the cold nights and it oscillates so the front and back beds were comfortable. The whole family had a lot of fun and it made me make sure to start looking early for our future camping spots.

And thanks again to the entire Passarella family. Danielle, of course, loved playing with all of the kids, Denise loved talking with Sharon about the fact they both married camping geeks and I had a blast playing with all of the kids and cooking up a storm with Dave in Kitchen Stadium. We missed not having the Moyers out but we know we will get more folks out soon.