Southern Ohio, 2014

[ClydesdaleKevin]

We are here and safe and sound...and a new chapter begins!

And until tomorrow morning, we have no idea where this chapter is going.

Apparently, there are NO RV parking sites left, which we weren't informed of.  We can park it at a friends place 12 miles away, which makes it difficult with the pups.  Or camp at one of the 2 local campgrounds, at around 170 bucks a week.  OR, and this is what we are hoping...they will let us stay where we are, out of the way, and let us boondock it!

So it might be another boondocking adventure!  On site, no problems, pups are close...so we have to use solar and the genny and cart in water.  Big deal for our rig.  Cross your fingers folks!  Lets hope they let us stay where we are, and we can just boondock it.  It'll save us money, and put our systems through the paces some more so we can tell you all how they work, and where they are lacking.

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

And the verdict is...we are going to be boondocking for the next 4 weeks or so!

Its full sun and summer is coming on, so the genny is going to be running a LOT during the day.  So far its running great, although it shuts down unexpectedly at times, which is probably due to how wonky the engineers of this rig tied it into the return line for fuel.  I can fix that though...temporarily by just clamping off the front line to the engine.  Although I might get creative and add a fuel shut off line in the genny compartment, so when parked and on genny power I can just close off the line to the engine fuel pump.  We'll see.  Seems to be pretty efficient at this point though.  I'm running the fridge on propane, and the converter is unplugged.  I'm using the solar array to charge the 12 volt system.  Then at night when it cools down, we turn off the genny and the AC, plug our shore power cord into the inverter outlet, and run off the inverter and battery power.  It still gets a bit humid at night for me to sleep well without a fan blowing right on me, so I think I might take Andy Baird's advice from his Eureka website and buy a 12 volt camping fan...the kind that takes 8 D cell batteries, and rewiring it to plug into my 12 volt system in the bedroom so it can blow air on me while I sleep while drawing very little battery amps by itself.  They have 10 inch fans at Walmart in the camping section for 14 bucks, so I think I'll pick one up tomorrow, as well as another 9 volt battery for my CO detector.  Can't be too careful running the genny!

Booth is all cleaned out and ready to hang our canvas tent sides to quadron off what we are actually going to be using.  I'll be working on that tomorrow morning and finishing off setting up camp while its still cool outside.

And then I'll have to figure out how to hang our signs...gotta get creative!

Lots of stock for the 3 day opening weekend though!  We are looking forward to making some money!

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Opening day at the Ohio Renaissance Festival!  Woohoo!!!  Booth is all set up and we are ready to rock and roll!  I'll be bringing my mountain bike so I can take frequent quick trips back to the RV to make sure the genny is still running.  It was being really finicky until I pinched off the return line going to the engine's mechanical fuel pump (the genny fuel line is teed into it) with a pair of vice grips with the jaws padded with cardboard.  It seems to have done the trick!  I'll just have to remember to remove it before we head to North Carolina in 4 weeks...lol!

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

GREAT opening day at the Ohio Renaissance Faire!  Great times were had, money was made...and the genny ran just fine.  Checked on the pups every few hours with the mountain bike, and all was well.  2 more days of opening weekend, since we are open Monday with the holiday.  Paladin was a VERY bad puppy and ate the passenger seat...or at least tore it up, since the pieces were still there.  BAD dog!  It's a good thing I love that little shite! 

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Rained like heck this morning, so Patti stayed home with the pups.  But we got BUSY!  I didn't have any breaks, but we had a great day overall and it was of course a lot of fun!  The folks in Ohio are a nice bunch of folks!  Even not being there, Patti made the biggest sale of the day!  A couple she talked to yesterday came in and laid down around 200 bucks right at the end of the day for some catapults and a trebuchet...lol!  Patti rocks!

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Outstanding overall opening weekend at the Ohio Renaissance Faire in Waynesville, Ohio!  I was not expecting it to be this busy, especially today!  I have to build a LOT of catapults this week!

Kev

[joanfenn]

and that is a bad thing??

[RedneckExpress]

Sounds like the T-job is pulling air from somewhere up the line going to the engine for the motorhome, perhaps a check valve in the line so that fuel can only go one way would fix the problem? 

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

erhaps a check valve in the line so that fuel can only go one way would fix the problem?

I was thinking the same thing then thought the suction would be pulling in the same direction as the fuel flow.  Not sure it would work.

Dave

[Elandan2]

Maybe a 12 volt fuel tank selector valve hooked up so that it is closed when the ignition is off but allows fuel to flow to the generator and opens when the ignition is on to allow gas to flow to the engine.  You would simply have to block the port to the "main" tank and use the "auxiliary" side of the valve.  Never have to remember to change anything.  Rick

[RedneckExpress]

I was thinking the same thing then thought the suction would be pulling in the same direction as the fuel flow.  Not sure it would work.

Dave

If you put the check valve after the T so that it only allows fuel to go towards the engine's mechanical fuel pump, the draw at the T from the generator's fuel pump would simply pull the check valve closed if there was no draw from the engine. 

Personally, I'd also want to enlarge the fuel line and pickup coming from the tank to accommodate the fuel needs of both engines that splits down to the two stock size fuel lines. 

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

If you put the check valve after the T so that it only allows fuel to go towards the engine's mechanical fuel pump, the draw at the T from the generator's fuel pump would simply pull the check valve closed if there was no draw from the engine.

Unfortunately his tap point is in the fuel return line, not the fuel supply line.  Thats why I am not sure a check valve will work.

Dave

[ClydesdaleKevin]

I'm thinking an electronic fuel selector solenoid type switch, like what folks use to select between fuel tanks.  Otherwise, I have to shuffle under there like I recently did and either pinch it off, or throw a mechanical switch.  I suppose I could extend the fuel line to the genny bay though for a mechanical switch.  I just don't want to add so much extra line that it will disrupt the return fuel flow on its way back to the fuel tank.

BAD design by Holiday Rambler, and about the only thing I can say about the engineering that is bad.  But its a whopper!

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Was almost done with the catapults, and the drive belt for the sander pooped the bed.  Crap!  Ah well.  Good thing we have plenty of other catapults!  Should be a great weekend!

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Exciting news!  After a crazy high bill from Verizon, Patti contacted Hughes Network to find out what they are now charging for internet access.  About 60 bucks a month, and 300 for your choice of equipment...installed!  All the equipment is self tracking, and for RV applications you get your choice of a roof mount dome, or a setup similar to the Tailgater, which is what we are opting for.  WAY faster than 4G, unlimited internet access, and even using a Vonage type phone, the bill will be about 60 bucks a month.  Plus whatever pay as you go smart phone we get for taking credit cards...probably Verizon, so figure another 30 bucks a month.  90 bucks a month instead of our last Verizon bill of 500!!!  Hughes Network has come WAY down in price!  They are installing and setting everything up for us on Monday, so I'll let you all know how it works and all the details!.  I'm creating another thread for this as well.

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Another great weekend at the Ohio Renaissance Festival down, and 2 more to go before we have to scramble our butts off to get to the Carolina Renaissance Faire.  We have a LOT of catapults to build in the next 2 weeks, so we hired Crystal again for the workshop.  Today I have to run out and get more wood and another sander and a router table, then get back to the workshop.  I have to get all my parts tablesawed, planed, and cut out today so that Crystal can get to work on them tomorrow.  I'll be taking tomorrow off with Patti...its our 12 year anniversary!  Busy busy busy!  Winter vacation is getting here, but Thanksgiving seems so far away!

Kev

[DonD]

[pvoth1111]

Ditto

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Salesman lied to us and is probably going to get fired, since this is his third infraction trying to get a commission.  Tech came out to install a HUGE stationary dish, yadayadayada...and I'm sure you can guess the rest of the story.  Bottom line is it didn't cost us a thing, and NO, there are still no self tracking internet satellite dishes, not even for the Military.  Ah well.

So we bumped our plan up on Verizon to 10 gigs a month.  The bill will be around 190 a month, but that includes 2 phones and the tablet, and enough gigs that we won't have any overages.

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

SCORE!!!  While running errands yesterday, I stopped in a junkyard and they had a crashed late model conversion van that just came in.  The captains chairs in the back, made by Atwood I believe, were in remarkable condition, and real plush tan leather!!!  100 bucks for the pair!  They look like they'll bolt right on our pedestals, but I'll check it out with a tape measure here shortly. 

Paladin ate Patti's chair...the passenger side...the other day, so we really needed to replace it.  And these seats are WAY nicer than the shabby ones that were in the rig.

SWEET!!!

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Okay.  So the bolt spacing on the new captains chairs isn't the same.  On the ones in the RV, they are 8 wide by 11 deep.  On the new chairs they are 11 deep, but 14 wide.  Since the depth is the same, it'll be easy!  I'll just have to fabricate 2 crossbars per chair that are 14 wide!  Easy peasy lemon squeezy! 

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

And more good news.  For some reason I thought we had to scramble after the 4th weekend here to get in North Carolina, because I didn't think we had any time in between shows aside from the 5 days between weekends.  Thankfully, I was wrong in my calculations!  There is actually a weekend in between.  SWEET!!!

Kev

[M & J]

Get overwhelmed sometimes Kev? Lol

[pvoth1111]

Don't tell me those chairs are power chairs.....that would be too much.....good score

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Well, the one I bolt to the driver's side will end up being power.  Its built into the pedestal, not the chair...lol!

Kev