FredNewell
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Posts posted by FredNewell
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Once again, we're taking the Dolphin from Humboldt County CA to Nashville and back. This makes the 4th or 5th - we've lost count. We leave on Sat morning.
This trip will be through Reno on I-80 going - and returning on I-40.
We've had the Dolphin for 4 years now. No regrets.
All sytems check out except the propane furnace and oven, but that's ok.
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Dog walking/pet sitting.
Birddogging (keeping a eye on someone's stuff while they're away - pick up mail - keep things in order).
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Another story -
A neighbor works as a handyman. He used to be an aerospace engineer, but found at age 50 the job market had dried up for him.
He took a part time job helping a handyman, and paid attention.
Now he has work wherever he goes.
We live part time in another RV park M-F. In our town there is a Del Webb senior community. He works there and gets all the work he wants - self employed as a handyman.
The houses there are all similar to each other. Once you repair one problem, the neighbor's house will need the same.
This is kind of like work camping, but not directly for the RV park.
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My wife and I lived in a fifth wheel rv while working a job away from our house. In other words, we commuted home only on the weekends. My son, after a year of college, came home to re-think what he wanted to do in terms of college/work. He stayed with us for a year.
Here's how he stumbled upon a handyman business and didn't even know he was that handy.
1) Little old neighbor lady and her mom had a bag of fertilizer in the trunk of their car. They asked us if our son would work for them. He went over to find out that all they needed was to move the bag to the back yard. (He obliged, and did it for free.)
2) Next, an elderly man heard about this and hired our son to wax his motorhome.
3) Another neighbor needed a pipe repaired (plastic irrigation pipe 3" below the lawn). He figured it out, learning that the guy at ACE hardware has "how-to" advice.
The jobs began to pile up and he found himself working 4-5 hours per day for cash and tips.
I told my barber about this (same town). Turns out he lived in a mobile home park a mile away. We learned from him that someone was needed to clean gutters, wash windows, do light yard work...
Before our son returned to college, he had a pretty good low-overhead business going. I think if he had struck around, it would still be going. I think his rate was about twice what local jobs paid.
He's a good worker, and not too proud to do any honest work. Since then, he's always been able to find work as needed.
He teaches at a trade school in Laos now. It's amazing where life can take you. And how it can surprise you.
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Lemme just add this as a precautionary note... I'm bolder than most when it comes to plumbing with propane, because I work with gas servicemen (gas utility) and am buddied up with a propane service manager. I always have them inspect my work, or at least discuss things with them. Also, I have a friend or two that work in RV repair shops.
The Navy trained and used me as a nuclear mechanic doing valve repair for 6 years... a long time ago.
It doesn't mean I am an expert. It just means I should know better. I probably shouldn't advise others except for entertainment value.
The SAFEST way is to let a "certified" professional do it for you. Don't do anything you do not understand with propane. It can go BOOM. Propane is more dangerous than natural gas, in my opinion, to mess around with. More dangerous in that the range of explosive mixture in air is greater.
Just sayin...
On the other hand, as I am reaching retirement years, I find myself really enjoying fixing things with my own hands rather than hiring it out.
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www.rverscorner.com/manometer.html
You can also google youtube for diy rv propane manometer.
If you want to have a tap for grill use outside of the rv, then install it inline just downstream of the regulator. It's pretty straightfoward. Try Youtube. It's been done before... probably by someone on this board.
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I tarped mine with the blue poly tarp and bungee cords. It worked for me. Mine's a Dolphin with aluminum skin.
Weather is North CA Coast 50" plus annual rainfall and some wind.
I'll probably put it on again for this winter after returning from our October trip.
I think two winters is the limit for a blue poly tarp.
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Ours is a fairl new valve that came with the bottle. Not much we can do about stem packing leaks. I think it came that way.
Here's an attachment/sketch of the propane valve. There are o-rings for packing, and there is a note stating to backseat the valve.
The main reason I started this thread was to pass on a lesson. In our case, if the valve is not backseated, then there is an odor. The solution to a propane odor is treat it like a leak, and solve the problem for safety. Even though the "leak" is outside in a sealed and vented compartment, we could still smell it.
We had a neighbor blow up their fifth wheel prowler back in the day, while they were sleeping. I have a photo somewere if anyone wants to see it. It looks like a bomb went off - sticks and aluminum structure everywhere.
Jim, does your propane valve leak past the packing when not backseated?
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Hi John, I was a Navy steam plant operator and mechanic way long ago - we were taught to back off a quarter turn as stated. There were some types of valves that were to be opened firmly against their backseat in order to preclude leakage at the valve stem. It has been so long now that I don't recall all of the specifics, but generally you are correct.
If a valve is to be opened firm against it's backseat, it should only be 2-finger tight, not hand tight. It went bad for anyone who opened and backseated with force because the next operator couldn't "check" the valve open or closed when performing operational line-ups.
For sure, most of the valves we operate on a day to day basis, like the hose-bib water valve we take on domestic water (where the garden hose is fed), should be backed off a quarter turn.
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I replaced the tank - I don't recall how the old valve worked, but this one seems to leak if it is not all the way open or all the way shut.
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Recently installed a new propane tank and regulator - three years ago, actually.
I finally made a manometer of plastic tubing to check the regulator outlet pressure. It seemed the propane flame on the ranage was a little wimpy. Regulators have a plastic cap that removes to expose a calibration screw. Right turn (clockwise) to increase pressure - with a screw driver.
I found our pressure to be low and increased it.
There's lots of info about this online.
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Recently we took a trip. Before the trip we filled the propane bottle. We turned the propane on to light the water heater. My wife smelled propane in the coach. We turned the propane off (at the tank).
Then, for several days, I turned the propane on only for the time it took to heat the hot water tank, then shut it back off.
After returning home, I realized that I was only opening the tank valve a full turn or two. The valve must be fully opened against it's backseat in order to not have propane odors.
Fully open - no odors. Fully shut - no odors. Parially open - yes odor.
I'm just writting this down in case it helps someone else.
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Just a thought - but you asked for ideas.
Can you load the tractor inside of the 26' truck and pack around it?
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Other products were good too. I have old Seiko watches and wall clocks that continue to run. The watches have the radioctive dial.
I have several old "Matsumoku" guitars. All were good quality. They were discount priced in the day, but were fine instruments. They were sold under brand names like Aria, Aria Pro 2, Univox, Vantage, and some others.
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I did a plug & wires replacement and all the adjustments that go with an old fashioned tune-up. The difference was impressive.
The ground connection from the engine battery (screw into the fender well 18" from the battery) was bad - correcting this was easy and avoided big trouble.
Battery cable connections needed cleaning.
I had all the fluids changed at a Jiffy Lu** that I like in Carson City. They flushed the radiatior as it was gunky as described by the original poster. We completed a trip to and from Nashville, then brought it in again for another flush. They did it at no additional cost.
The point is... do the maintenance.
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Slightly off topic, but related...
Whatsa used roof air worth on CList??? Any experience?
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A recurring topic is "what to look for" when purchasing a Toyota MH.
Here's something I found on mine, that I could easily have seen, but didn't inspect before the purchase.
In my rig, both the engine and the coach battery are located under the hood.
The coach battery was installed on the driver side behind the headlight. I sat directly onto the fender well structure - not having a "rack" for support like the other battery.
I finally got around to removing the battery for replacement. The metal under the battery is corroded/rusted. It requires some repair work. It equates to body cancer. Now I get to learn how to repair this... welding I suppose... this is a common repair for vintage vehicles.
When I buy another, this will be on my checklist.
Later...
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Ah the ten cent pay phone, fond memories of standing at one with a hand full of change waiting to be told "Deposit________ for the next ten minutes please"
Or budgeting a weeky roll of quarters so you can call your fiance once per week from a navy base. Got a busy signal so had to call back later, but left the roll at the payphone... when I go back it was,,, still there!!!
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So, what's the best route to Nashville Fred?
We always take I-40 because we travel during the colder months. We're coastal people who melt if it gets too warm.
Other routes have been used by us. I-70 heading east into the Rockies is beautiful. The northern routes - like if you were to see Mount Rushmore on the way - is another one.
Go for it!
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Like many ideas I have, once I commit, I question "whatever was I thinking"?! Example: 1984 Toyota Escaper. I have some lofty trips in mind - Chico, Ca to Seattle - Chico to Mesa, AZ, Chico to Geneva, NY, etc, etc. But is it really a good idea to push my old Escaper like that? It has 87,000 miles on a 4 cyl 22RE engine with automatic transmission, good tires, new battery, radiator hoses, valve adjustment, all appliances and generator work, the bed is comfy, I figured about 14 mpg last time I checked, but is this more of a 200 mile triper, rather than 2000 mile triper? I'm sure that this is a difficult question to answer given that it's impossible for anyone out there to really know what condition it's in, but.......what do ya'all think? One concern - maybe my biggest, is that when I climb hills, it bogs way down - 10-20 mph - requiring that I put it in 2nd or low gear. Is this normal? Some of the posts that I have read on this forum indicate that some of you are flying up the hills?
thanks! Ann
Ann,
I'll chime in here.
Glenda and I figure 200 miles per tank. A pleasant day up the coast is one tank per day max.
If you went from Chico to the coast via route 36, you'd be in that range.
We go uphill at maybe 40 mph. We would cruze at 55. This is for route 36. We go as slow as 35 crossing the Rockies, but throw it into neutral and coast down the hills at 65 (interstate). Ours is a 4 speed manual tranny.
We push to 70 mph at times. Like on I-5 thru California.
I-5 in OR or WA I'd do 65.
Long trips??? Every year we drive from Fortuna to Nashville, which is about 5000 miles round trip. We do three tanks per day and just enjoy the journey. We stop at KOA campgrounds for the nights. We hit shopping malls so Glenda can shop while I take naps or cook hamburgers, and walk the dog.
If I was retired and had more time, I'd do coast to coast one tank per day.
We come home tired, but later are ready to go again.
I'd say your rig sounds like it could do all of what you want. But, it is an old vehicle... if something breaks... it's a toyota and you can get it fixed.
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Labor day weekend for us. Just a night or two - probably Gold Beach.
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What you need to do is start the truck. The voltage should start to rise on both sides of the isolator. If it does not rise on both sides there is an issue with either the isolator or the wiring. Meter the ground on the isolator, Place one lead on the battery + the other lead on the isolator case it should read battery voltage .A digital multimeter draws almost no current this can be deceiving because it will read perfect voltage but carry no load. The cause is poor/dirty connections this is one reason I use a test light to check basic voltage it will draw enough current to load the poor connection and drop the voltage enough to either not light or light dimly. The system is straight forward it is nothing more than an electronic light switch it's either on or off the big terminals are the two screws on a light switch the little terminal turns the switch on and off. Usually the isolator circuits have breakers (little silver boxes with small terminals ) they can go bad but are more prone to rusty connections this is where you will often find bad connections they should be somewhere in series with the #8 battery wires.
Maineah, this is a genius job of explaining. I'm messing with mine today. This really helped. I get it too complicated and confuse myself.
Again, Thanks!
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Curious... how is the perfomance on flat and hills?
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Don't know what rig you have, but I'm thinking there's a good chance there's wiring from the factory. Did you install the ac in the same hole the factory would have? Any chance the wires were capped and tucked away?
Just thinking.
Another 5000 Mile Trip
in Trip Reports
Posted
Completed the trip. The Dolphin did just fine. The route taken was I-80 both ways. Six days going and four days returning.
Heavy rain and high warm 90+% humidity in Nashville over the extended weekend, but we had a rental car and spent the days away from the RV park.
From time to time others ask how fast the 4 cyl manual transmission MH will go on the highways. Some of the routes we took had 80 mph portions. We went as fast as 72 mph. Speed was not a problem - we seemed to average 60 - 67 mph most of the time unless there was a 6% grade at 55 mph.
I'm not sure as to why, but it seems to run better at high altitude with 85 octane gasoline than at sea level. Much of the trip is 5000 to 6500 elevation.
BTY we saw no NO other toyota MHs on the road.
We found good Thai food in Rock Springs WY.
We heard trains at night at most RV parks. Ok by me.
One thing we did which was different was spend $45 on Passport America before leaving. We found decent parks for 12.50 to $20 for all but 2 nights of travel. The destination park for 5 nights didn't count.
When I did a recent tune-up I replaced the spark plug wires with some brand that has silicone-rubber like parts. They don't seem to fit well on the distributor. One floated off causing a miss. When a 4 banger misses, a 65 mile per hour hill becomes a 45. This has happened only once, so I guess I'll just live with it rather than swapping out the wires again.
We put the dolphin to bed for the winter.