Last Minute Scurrying...

 

Stella and Murphy know something is up: Mom and Dad are up early and carrying stuff out the door.  The Stowaway2 cargo carrier is loaded on the back of the van - and stuff is in that pod...

 I had backed the van in to get the pod mounted into the receiver hitch and then filled with all the stuff that was "test fit" over the last two days.  Then, rotated the van again so we had close access to the slider door for the rest of the interior loading.

We are close. 

Pop!

 

Ummm... soda or goes the weasel?

That was a sound I heard way too many times today.  As we get the RoadTrek loaded, we needed some air conditioning going.  I plugged in to the 20 amp breaker in the garage.  Yes, 30 amp would be nice, but all I was intending to run was the a/c.

The air conditioner was doing an adequate job in the triple digit heat today.  "Adequate" is the best you can hope for in this kind of heat.  After a couple hours of that, I pulled up the home screen on the FireFly system - the lithium batteries were down to 13.2 amps.  That is the wrong direction.  I checked the plug-in... the breaker was popped.  I reset the breaker and went back to the van to check - the voltage was increasing.

I went on about my business.  Then Joan came to get me and said, "There is some kind of alarm going off in the van."

Well, that isn't what I wanted to hear.  The voltage was down - the alarm was from the inverter.  Yep, the breaker was popped again.  I repeated this scenario a bunch of times.  This is more than just the heat.  When I checked the 30 amp to 15 amp adapter, it was warmer than it should have been.  I unplugged it and saw that the prongs were looking a bit corroded.  Hopefully, replacing that will put an end to the "popping."  I ran to Walmart and picked up an adapter with an indicator light - if the circuit pops, I will be able to see that right away.

 

I reset the inverter and plugged in again.  While waiting to see if the voltage would increase, I emptied the fresh water tank once more and refilled it...

 

Yes, the fresh water fill is in the door frame.  Water is good to go.  The a/c worked hard in the heat, but it didn't pop the breaker.  That's a positive sign.

While I was doing that, Joan was busy getting food and clothes loaded in.

Tomorrow, we'll get the Stowaway2 mounted up and loaded.  Toiletries, prescriptions, and vitamins.  Devices (laptop, iPad, cameras).  Two cats and their stuff.  If all goes as planned, we'll hit the road.