2022-01-11Sanicon Maserater Fix

Today was a great day. I had an appointment with Texas RV Supply in San Antonio to take a look at my Sanicon Maserater pump. It worked great at a trip out in November but didn't even make a sound when I turned it on at the end of a trip in December. My RV also has a regular dump set up so I was not up a creek without a paddle. I drained all the water for winterizing but held off on adding the link stuff until I could get the pump checked out. 

My regular RV repair place (Texas Hill Country Coach Repair) told me that they didn't currently have someone really knowledgeable in that area. I really appreciated Terry's honesty right up front. He said he thought that Camping World and another place in Seguin had experts in that. I was equally honest right upfront......Camping World will never touch my rig. The other place said they didn't have someone. I thought about it and decided to call Texas RV Repair as they have helped me out before. I explained the winterizing situation and they told me to bring it in a few days later. I thought (and hoped) it might be an electrical issue since it worked and then it didn't with no bad noises in between. They put their best electrical guy on it and one hour later I was ready to roll. Just as I hoped, it was a switch fuse but I would never have found it because the tech had to unscrew the top of one of the twin beds on the opposite side of where the pump is located. It was a $5 fuse switch that could have cost me many hours of labor time had the tech not been really knowledgeable.

Good to go and prepared if it ever happens again. Thank you Texas RV Supply for fixing it and Texas Hill Country Coach Repair for being honest right up front.

Is It Time for Lunch? Or Is It Another Birthday?

Birdie let me know she would be heading up from the RGV and arriving on Thursday afternoon on her way west. With only a couple of days in town plus the need to fit in some RV repair, some work on her car, and a computer fix, it was a squeeze to pull everything together for lunch with RV friends in the area. Thursday morning I gave the group a heads up that it would be Friday or Saturday depending on appointments for work to be done and everyone said "just let me know".  Women who RV are generally pretty flexible....you know, all those "jello" plans.

We settled on Friday at 12:30 at Cheddars in Selma. Diana drove down from Austin, Georgia came from the west side of San Antonio, Margareta came from the east side of San Antonio, and MaryJane, Vicki, Birdie, and I were close by.

Birdie showed up for her appointment at Texas RV Supply first thing in the morning with her list of items to be worked on. They got her all fixed up and on her way about 11:00. Of course, some of the speed was because several items on the list decided to work all on their own when the technician gave them a try. Isn't that always the way?

Cheddars gave us a great table in the back, lunch was wonderful, and conversation was even better.

We talked about Mary Jane's month in Florida...she got held up on her return when the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge in southern Louisiana was shut down for several days for ice. Diana just returned from a trip to her other home in Cali. Birdie spent several months in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) and I just got back from RGV and Corpus Christi.

Georgia and Margareta are nearly recovered from knee replacement surgery in December. And Vicki is still recovering from surgery on her shoulder.

Then we moved on to what's up next. Birdie is heading west for a sweep through the southwest, west, and northwest that will last for most of the summer. Diana, Mary Jane, and I will be heading to Galveston for a Pink FlaminGoes Get Together the beginning of April. Margareta will be heading to Cali in June and Vicki is having a new RV built this summer.  Georgia has some summer trips planned too. And that is just what we know about right now!

Several hours later we all headed out our separate ways. Saturday Birdie had her car at the repair place at an early hour. She picked me up at 11:00 and we headed to west San Antonio to have a friend of a friend work on her back-up computer. Her battery was wedged in wrong and wouldn't hold a charge. Luckily he was able to get it out and it is back to working fine.

After hugs goodbye and see you soon, I waved Birdie on her way.

The Grandkids arrived to spend the evening with us. It was great to see them again. I missed their last visit because I was down in the RGV. We watched some movies, had spaghetti and meatballs, and caught up with each other. It was really nice.

Sunday was my "second" birthday. The kids like to celebrate everyone's birthdays so sometimes we have to work around visiting schedules. This party was a surprise for me. Morgan made me a fantastic birthday card that she thought of and did all on her own without any help at all. Cameron made me one of the very popular rubber band bracelets. He and his Dad found the pattern for this one on a u-tube video and followed the directions to make it.  Pretty neat.

We had a Mardi Gras cake and, as long as you don't have to add any extra years, you can't have too many birthdays. Thanks kids!

Refrigerator Woes

First a strange sign I saw recently.

Didn't you find that a little strange?  It's in a business store.  My friend and I were commenting on it when the cashier came over.  Unbelievable....they had to post it a couple of weeks ago because they noticed several couples come out of the restroom over a period of days.  This is a small to medium size retail and service store.

On to my adventure with the refrigerator.  I picked up the RV yesterday afternoon and headed down to Texas RV Supply to have the doors adjusted.  It's a Norcold.   Well, the technician had to take the doors off to adjust them and found that the corners of the doors, both of them, were separated.  No way to put them back together.  Once they slide those wooden panels out, the doors weigh very little but those panels are heavy.  

I have a service contract with Jayplus.  The manager called them.  It took some time to get the next available representative but once we did, he had a couple of questions for the manager and approved the replacement of both doors and labor.  I just had to pay my deductible.  Texas RV Supply had the doors in stock in their warehouse so they sent someone to get them.  I asked if the panels caused the problem because they are real wood.  He said it was possible but felt that I probably had just gotten some bad doors.  I sure hope he is right.

I wasn't happy with the initial fit because the latch opened way too easily.  I've never had my fridge come open and I'd like to stay with that record.  The manager came out and adjusted it himself and it was much better.  I still had a concern about how easily a dollar bill slips out from the seal so the manager called Norcold to see if there was any other adjustment possible.  We waited on Norcold who is now owned by Thetford for about 15 minutes and then the phone hung up.  So he called again and we waited another 10 minutes before we got a "technician".  He asked her about adjustments and she said she would check.  Then he asked her another question and she had to "check" again.  Translation, she was a receptionist or phone person and not a real technician.  She came back and told us that the seal just needs time to settle in to the new door.  She recommended waiting about three weeks and then, if there was any problem with frost in the freezer or condensation in the fridge, to let them know and they would send a spacer kit.  Three weeks, hmmm, that might work for a full-timer but not for a part-timer.  He asked her about the spacer kit--it's some washers you put behind the seal.

So the manager and I agreed that I would use the fridge while I am out in the RV for the next week.  If there are any problems, I will bring it back in and he will be back on the phone with Norcold.  Okay, I can live with that.

Overall, I was pleased with the service I received at Texas RV Supply.  Oh, and let me tell you what else I found there.  I scored a 50 amp to 30 amp reducer.  Now you say, you can find those anywhere.  Ah, but this 50 amp plug fits the socket in the RV not the one at the end of the 50 amp cord.  Nice.  I know a few people who have gotten them but they had to order them through the dealer.  That was definitely a find and I snapped it up as there was only one.

I'm already benefiting from it by using it plus my 30 amp to 15 amp reducer so I can have the fridge running to cool off overnight in my driveway.  It will be great not having to coil up that really heavy 50 amp cord before I take off in the morning.  Thanks Texas RV Supply.

I'm headed out in the morning to a Pink FlaminGoes Flocking with a large group of other women RVers.  Everything is loaded except the fridge and freezer items.  Can't wait.  See you later.