An Odyssey of Epic Proportions

I hesitated to tell this tale because of its length-but it let me blow off steam and, perhaps, it can provide solace to those of you who have struggled to get things repaired.
In the summer of 2010 our rear heat pump started blowing hot air in the A/C mode. (Much of what is written here is written in hindsight.) Repairman number one checked the unit out and added freon, missing the fact that years of vibration had worn a hole in the tubing. It didn't blow cold long! Lack of money prevented further repair till the summer of 2011. Repairman number two, a very knowledgeable tech, one of the few we encountered, found the leak and soldered it closed. The unit blew cold for a couple of hours then started blowing the circuit breakers. Diagnosis was that the compressor had gone bad. Now Missy was getting a bit perturbed about the expense and the lack of progress. We then put a window shaker  in the rear bedroom to help cool the coach which helped some. This unit is not manufactured anymore, so I began searching for parts. I succeeded in finding a reasonably priced compressor, but couldn't get it installed until we got on a gate in late 2011. Repairman number three flushed the unit and did a good job of installing the compressor and a service tap on the low side. As soon as we fired it up the fan started making a racket. After finding a fan-no easy deal-we had it installed by repairman number three. The unit would not cool properly and a pressure check revealed that it was overcharged. Repairman number three used the wire from a coat hangar to hang a portable scale from the freon bottle while adjusting the charge. We were assured it was accurate. Remember hindsight here ( -: After adjusting the charge confused repairman number three said the units reversing valve was going bad. I ordered a solenoid for the reversing valve and still had warm air. I called repairman number three, who said I must have screwed up something while installing the solenoid. Or that there was wiring problems with the coach. I found a technician on Craigslist, who asked that we remove the unit and bring it to him to save money  Some weeks later; he was involved in an accident which slowed things up, he brought the unit to us. This was repairman number four and he couldn't figure out how to wire the unit up. Insisting there were missing wires, he jumped the control board and left. He charged us an arm and a leg, saying that he had to replace the solenoid I had just installed because it was the wrong part. Really frustrated, I had repairman number five look the unit over while he was repairing something else on the coach. He patiently checked it out and discovered that the accumulator was freezing up which caused the unit to not cool. He had not come prepared to work on the heat pump, so he said he would return. In the meantime, to cover all the bases, I ordered and installed a replacement board. (BTW Missy had no problem hooking up the wires to the board...HMMM?) Repairman number six really knew his business. After thoroughly checking out the unit, he announced that its freon charge was incorrect. He evacuated the unit and found little or no freon! He installed a tap on the high pressure side and added freon. Voila! We had a functioning heat pump. Had repairman number three realized his mistake, we would have saved over a thousand dollars in parts and labor. 

A Matter of Perspective

I believe we truly found the middle of nowhere. Our last gate was just outside of Fowlerton, TX-basically a wide spot on highway 97 (no offense meant to any Fowlerton residents or fans). Our Virgin phones and Internet were useless and we were forced to buy an AT&T phone to communicate. Missy was muy upset about the loss of phone and Internet service so that was a no brainer. We are taking a short break after being in the oil patch since September with just a day or two off here and there between rig moves. Now, my dear readers know that I don't cotton to all this new fangled technology. In a previous post I alluded to how I can get by with little or no phone service. I'm not big on texting, video games or Twitter either. After a day or two I was resigned to the loss of the Internet. My biggest fret was the inability to publish my blog and to e mail my family. God bless satellite TV! Man that made life a little more bearable, for sure. Being connected to city water and electric is a big change. Not having to ration water and depend on a generator will do that to you. I still find myself conserving water, a pavlonian response from having done it so long. Anyway, the isolation, lack of Internet, health issues, et al. took its toll. My dear friend and companion decided to head home for a while. Missy is gone and it is a different home now. There are so many things that are easier to do with a second set of hands in a motorhome! I still hold out hope of finding a solo gate or work here or in the oil patch somewhere. 

Vagabonds

Well it looks like we are pulling up stakes again and moving this carnival down the road. It looks like we will be even more remotely located. Internet and phone may be sporadic, if available at all. So we'll see how it goes with this blog. Hopefully I'll be back on the air in a day or two. Rattlesnake country here we come!

Shuffling on the pad

Recently we couldn't turn down an offer from facilities to improve our pad. The ramifications from that kept us busy for over half a day. Disconnecting the "umbilical cord" that keeps us powered up, water flowing and poop exiting is a labor intensive and involved process. Throw in re-positioning the Dish satellite dish and it gets even better. Plus the night worker (ME) loses sleep time whilst assisting. I am grateful (again) that we have an on board generator. Once we vacated the pad and found a temporary place to roost I was able to nap in air-conditioned comfort. Then there was the reconnecting process... When we first moved here our service person decided to leave the support trailers as is till we got settled in. Unfortunately that left the trailer with the generator right outside our living room. That had to go and yesterday we set about helping move the offending trailer. Again water had to be disconnected along with the power cords. Reconnecting and re-positioning the cords and adding a water hose added to the fun. BTW, it is sure quieter in the living room. At least we didn't have to move Jezabel again ( -; Nothing is ever easy in this business, but I guess if you had to move your stick built home, it wouldn't be easy either.