There's a whole bunch of songs that have been written and performed with that title or something similar - if you named anyone from Defender to Freddy Fender, give yourself 10 bonus points. Didn't make a guess? Give yourself 15 bonus points - everybody wins!
We had an issue with power yesterday afternoon: no matter where we plugged the coach, it blew a circuit in the house. It was hotter than the Gate of Hell and we had the a/c running and the fridge on electric in the motorhome. We switched the fridge to propane - it couldn't hold temperature because of the heat... and it quickly rose to over 100º inside the coach.
Firing up the generator, it can run everything, but it is too hot to keep the generator running for any length of time with no breeze going over it in this heat. Checking the automatic transfer switch in the coach, it was doing its job. I thought that the length of extension cords we were using was letting power drop off. I got the 30 amp RV extension (that we haven't had to use in years) out... then, it started blowing the circuit immediately when plugging it in. There were a couple of prongs on that extension cord that looked "suspect," so I ordered a new 30 amp RV extension cord from Amazon, with same day delivery. In the meantime, it kept getting hotter in the coach.
No, this isn't the fun part of RVing that they show you in all the ads. Combine the potential for problems with a house and a car, and the result is potential RV issues to deal with.
When the new extension cord arrived, I added it to "the chain" so we'd have 30 amp (10 gauge) cords all the way to the wall socket. Yep, it blew again. I took the old RV extension cord out of the run and put the heaviest household outdoor extension in there (we needed the length, about 70' from the motorhome to a wall socket in the garage). The power stayed on.
By now, it was 8:00 pm... and still 106º. And more stuff to load, since we lost a good portion of the day pissing around with the electrical system. I went out every hour to check the coach and make sure the power was staying on. Yep. An RV air conditioner can generally manage to lower the temp inside by 20 to 25 degrees - that's just the way they are; combined with the fact that RVs aren't insulated like a house. I got up at 2:30 am to check on it... the inside temp was down to 88º, the fridge was still struggling, running on propane.
This morning, the plan was: get the bikes loaded. I was up at 6:30; went out to the coach (down to 83º, power still running), got Murphy fed, did the rest of my morning routine (pills, vitamins, check blood pressure, get myself a cup of hot cocoa, get Joan's coffee ready to be started), then went out to the cargo trailer to get the bikes loaded.
This is "all new," since we have a new bike (my Burgman) that means shuffling things around to see what fits best, where. We generally put the biggest bike to the port side of the trailer (that's driver's side to you landlubbers), to make access in the side door a bit easier. I tried both bikes there, before deciding that the Xmax is the better fit.
While I did those "test fits," Joan was outside in the courtyard, getting everything put away or covered. When she came out, we got the bikes strapped down and other stuff loaded into the trailer. The inside of the motorhome was now down to 82º. I'm considering that a victory, and we switched the fridge back to automatic (between electricity and propane) to get it to cool down. I was ready to close up the cargo trailer...
With that task done, we are back to loading more stuff into the motorhome... and waiting to see if the fridge cools down enough on electric to put foot in it. I was concerned that, because of this heat, we'd have to put the coach in an RV park (and there aren't any reasonably close) to get enough power to keep the a/c going and the fridge... the household circuits in our garage are 15 amp, and that is just barely enough to power the a/c.
The issues are not the RV, but a combination of this heat (it got down to 92º for an overnight low) and the 15 amp circuits. Joan said, "When we get back, I want to put a 30 amp RV power connection in the house..." My solution was different: "Let's get out of here before the heat settles in next time." If there is a next time.
The loading continues, amid doing things in the house for our absence. Unlike in Texas, where we had the house closed up and "hurricane prepped," Steph and Dan will be keeping an eye on things for us with the house.
Speaking of hurricanes, Hurricane Beryl is heading for the Caribbean, predicted to make landfall in the Yucatan on July 5th. Too far out to predict beyond that, but it is not unusual for hurricanes to cross the Yucatan and ramp back up in the Gulf of Mexico. I know I've said I don't check tropical weather every morning, but this one is early in the season, is moving faster than typical, and has ramped up to 130 mph ahead of expectations (it went from tropical storm to a Cat 1 and is now a Cat3 in 24 hours). It has all the signs of becoming a major hurricane. Just a heads up.
3 comments:
I thought of Freddie Fender too. "Let's get out of here before the heat settles in next time." That is how I might go too, and my in-laws rolled once they settled into Sun City. But there is validity in having a 30 amp circuit for the RV from your garage, or at least from somewhere that can reach the street parking.
Current electrical code requires using GFCI outlets in garages. That is something we discovered when adding an exterior outlet box for front porch lights and Christmas lights a few years back. A new box was a more elegant solution than running extension cords under the garage door.
Considering we have been RVing for about 35 years, there are still new considerations. Go figure? Had we done a short trip or two in the last couple months, we would have had these things worked out. But, we're rolling with it. It was pretty frazzling to try to contend with it in the hottest part of the day, and then try to play catch-up with cooling everything down.
These homes have a circuit and outlet up by the roofline just for Christmas lights - they kinda thought of everything. And some of their floorplans have an RV garage, but none that we felt fit the rest of our needs. We really like our home, the floorplan, the location, and the view. We'll get a 30 amp outlet installed after we get home from this trip. Never thought it was going to be an issue - we've done fine with 20 amp outlets at previous houses, but this turned out to be more than the 15 or 20 amp circuit. I am an old dog, but I can still learn a new trick or two.
I have written about the heat previously; Steph had told us what to expect with monsoon season: yep, it certainly feels more humid. But temps above 110º are a big ol' bucket of suck. Not as bad as -35º in the frozen northland... I can still catch my breath in this heat.
We are (mostly) enjoying life here in the desert, but it has more to do with having Steph and Dan so close... good shopping/entertainment... and those fun South Mountain roads nice and close. The heat can be brutal, but we don't *have to* be out in it most afternoons. We've sat out in our courtyard most mornings the last few months, until we started closing things down.
Oh, and my music buddies - that is a big part of life here in the desert for me!
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