From: John De Armond Subject: Be Prepared Date: Fri, 07 Jan 2000 02:15:58 EST Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.rv-travel This is a followup on a post I made a month or so ago in which I provided a list of the tools and spare parts I carry in the motor home, something another member described as overkill. On Christmas Eve we headed out with no particular destination in mind in what turned out to be an almost 2000 mile big loop up to Roanoke Va and then down the length of the Outer Banks of NC. Hit the mountains of NC on I-40 near Asheville about 2 in the AM when it started snowing. We decided to stop at the rest area and cook (hmm, what meal would it be at 2 am?) and enjoy our little white Christmas - a rarity here in the South. When I started back out, I noted the dash voltmeter hovering right at 12 volts. Not good. A check with the DVM confirmed 11.8 volts with the headlights on and 12.5 with 'em off - a pretty good indication of a popped diode in the alternator. It was pretty cold out so I didn't want to fool with the repair right then. I flipped the switch to parallel the house and start batteries and cranked the generator. My old ferroresonant converter supplied all the current necessary to keep running and keep the batteries charged. Found a Wal-mart a few hours later and slept it off :-) Including my wife's 12 volt electric blanket. Christmas day it was warm enough so I reached into my spare parts box, pulled out the spare alternator and changed it there in the parking lot. Next day, I stopped at the first Autozone I found and got a free new alternator on their lifetime warranty. Needless to say, had I not had the part and the necessary tools, my pooch would have been screwed, roadside assistance or not. Absolutely NOTHING was open over there on Christmas day. Anyway, made the big loop, spent New Year's Eve sitting under the Cape Hattaras light house watching cable TV at the trailer park, and waiting for the world to blow up. :-) Packed up New Years day and got ready to head out for the ferry back to the mainland. Found a nice puddle of antifreeze in the floorboard of the passenger side. Heater core had decided to go on vacation - hey, it's an 82, it got tired :-) Went back to the stash, got some heater hose and bypassed the heater. Ran a cord up to the front of the MH and placed our little ceramic heater between our seats. Whenever we got cold, we just fired up the generator. Point of this article is to reiterate my advice to carry an adequate set of spares for your MH. Even if you have roadside service, parts may very well not be available for hours or days at a time. Even if you don't do any mechanical work, it sure is nice to hand the replacement part to the mechanic and say "put it in". It is also to point out the advantage of an "old fashioned" "across the battery" type ferroresonant converter in an electrical emergency. A modern converter with separate battery charging and house power outputs would not have helped us. Oh yeah, the Outer Banks were wonderful. Gorgeous views and almost no people. And the seafood, ohhh lala! John From: John De Armond Subject: Re: Be Prepared Date: Fri, 07 Jan 2000 17:13:49 EST Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.rv-travel Dick Lucas wrote: > > Neon John wrote in message <387593FD.18C69DDC@bellsouth.net>... > >This is a followup on a post I made a month or so ago in which I > >provided a list of the tools and spare parts I carry in the motor > >home, something another member described as overkill. > > > Might your real last name be McGuyver? ;-) Awww, you found out :-) > > I too, carry a fairly extensive set of tools and spares in my motorhome. I > have changed alternators and starters on the road, but I haven't even > thought of carrying a spare alternator. I guess I'm really weird cuz I carry a spare alternator in all my vehicles. I've had a lot of trouble with alternators over the years so I just consider that part of the necessary gear. My only quandary is whether to carry a water pump or not. I think I probably will on the RV. > By the way, my experience with the "lifetime guarantee" on starters and > alternators is that they usually fail far away from a store which will honor > the guarantee. I have replaced starters with a guarantee from a west coast > source while I am on the east coast, and vise-versa. Same thing with spark > plug wires. (454s are notorious for burning them up.) I finally bit the > bullet and bought the "lifetime guaranteed" wires from NAPA. I have > replaced ones bought in Kansas with ones from California stores. They cost > a lot more, but at least I can find replacements on the road. You know, it pains me no end to give business to the chains that are skimming of the gravy business without supporting the less profitable parts but the ability to get Autozone or the other chains to honor a warranty anywhere in the country is the deciding factor. This guy took my phone number, called up the record over the sat link and instantly processed the claim. I had the receipt but it was never necessary. I keep an envelope in my important papers folder labeled "warranty receipts". Anything that has a warranty gets its receipt stashed there. John |