North Carolina, 2019

ClydesdaleKevin · September 30, 2019, 07:17 AM

Now begins a new chapter!

Our camp is all set up at the Carolina Renaissance Festival, and we open next weekend.

We have all the stock we need for opening weekend, so over the course of this VERY hot week (temperatures are supposed to be in the 90s), I have to set up our pavilion tent and get everything ready. I'll do most of the work in the mornings when it is cooler.

But on the bright side, the weather this weekend is supposed to be in the low 70s, which is perfect!

Kev

circleD · October 02, 2019, 05:49 PM

Welcome back to NC! We want be there this year due to so many prior engagements. There's suppose to be decent weather next week. But just a heads up. We are so dry here that IF it rains prepare for a mess and humidity. Enjoy your time here.

ClydesdaleKevin · October 03, 2019, 08:09 AM

Quote from: circleD on October 02, 2019, 05:49 PM
Welcome back to NC! We want be there this year due to so many prior engagements. There's suppose to be decent weather next week. But just a heads up. We are so dry here that IF it rains prepare for a mess and humidity. Enjoy your time here.

Thanks! I'm just hoping we get some cool weather toward the end of the show. It has been years since we had frozen hoses and dustings of snow in November here in Huntersville.

Kev

ClydesdaleKevin · October 04, 2019, 09:06 AM

The booth is all set up, and all we have to do today is get some potted flowers for the front of the booth...and then pick up some marshmallows and snack bags (and a bank) for the weekend.

It is supposed to be a LOT cooler tomorrow and Sunday, thank God!

Kev

ClydesdaleKevin · October 06, 2019, 08:13 AM

We had the best and busiest opening day at the Carolina Renaissance Festival we ever had since we started doing this show! Lets hope today is nearly as good!

Kev

ClydesdaleKevin · October 13, 2019, 07:06 PM

This weekend wasn't as good as last weekend...but we did great on Saturday. It rained all day today though, so Patti stayed home with the pups, and I worked the booth. We didn't make a lot of money, but we had fun!

This coming week is "hell week." Three student days in a row. I spent all this week building catapults and prepping parts for more catapults...so in between student days and Monday and Friday, I'll get all the catapults done that I need to get done for next weekend.

Kev

ClydesdaleKevin · October 15, 2019, 04:50 PM

Student Day 1 is done! 2 more to go!

Kev

ClydesdaleKevin · October 23, 2019, 05:20 PM

All student days are done, and we did pretty well this past weekend. The coming weekend is Halloween Weekend, the kids get in free, and the faire provides us all with bags and bags of candy to pass out to the kids. We typically do very well this weekend, so YAY!!!

Kev

ClydesdaleKevin · October 23, 2019, 05:24 PM

YES!!!

We've been members of Good Sam for many years, and recently they signed us up for a Good Sam Rewards Card (a credit card that can only be used at Camping World, Gander, and Good Sam). We don't intend to use it much, and will pay it off whenever we use it.

The GOOD news is that our Good Sam Club membership was up for renewal...so when I used the new Rewards Card to pay for another three years, they gave us a SWEET deal on their Platinum Roadside Assistance! So now if anything happens, our butts will be covered when it comes to towing and tires. SWEET!!!

Kev

Rickf1985 · October 23, 2019, 06:51 PM

Be VERY careful with that card! They are going to send you a bill charging you something like 35.00 just for signing up if you don't use it right away and as far as roadside assistance? They left me stranded, TWICE!!!!!!!!! Try to get hold of Mr. Lemonis to complain, Yea right. They can kiss my lily white A**. The last time I was wedged between a guard rail and traffic moving at 85 MPH at night on 295 in Md. and ended up having to hire my own towing company. I was lucky to get the best tow truck operator on earth! he asked if it would be cash and I said yes and he gave me the price of a lifetime and got me to a Walmart next to the casinos. AND he stopped by the next morning to see if I needed anything. I do not patronize Camping World and I warn everybody I know about their deceitful business practices. You do know that the towing will only tow you to one of THEIR service centers don't you?

Froggy1936 · October 23, 2019, 09:15 PM

I have to disagree, When my Transmission went, They towed me to Where i park in Pittsburgh . But i also found out They cannot tow off the Turnpike ( Pa Turnpike policy) As of now i have no complaints with Good Sam ! Frank

ClydesdaleKevin · October 24, 2019, 08:47 AM

Thanks Rick and Frank. I read the policy thoroughly before paying for the roadside assistance, and it seems legit. Maybe they have changed since you used them last, Rick. As far as the card goes, there was no sign up fee, although the interest rate is high...which is why I will keep it paid off any time I use it. And I sure do like the fuel, propane, and dump savings I get with my Good Sam Club membership at Flying Js...they now exceed the savings with a Flying J/Pilot rewards card. And of course savings at RV parks.

Kev

HandyDan · October 28, 2019, 02:31 AM

As you can tell from my avatar I have been towed. In fact every year for five years I have had to be towed from our Labor Day annual get together to a mechanic. I have Good Sam Roadside Assistance and they have always taken care of me. I have had to argue with them about which tow service to use because I knew a good tow service was closer than the one they selected. However, in the end it didn't cost me a thing for any of the years. If you renew at Camping World you get a good discount. They will only tow to the nearest repair station that can fix your problem for free. If you want to go further than that, it's on your dime.

ClydesdaleKevin · November 03, 2019, 06:16 PM

We just had the best weekend we ever had at the Carolina Renaissance Festival. Gotta love this economy!

Kev

ClydesdaleKevin · November 11, 2019, 08:17 AM

Holy crap! We just beat last week's numbers, so another record breaker for us! We are once again going to have to build a LOT of catapults this week!

Kev

HandyDan · November 11, 2019, 02:01 PM

Congratulations!! Hope it keeps up.
Dan

ClydesdaleKevin · November 11, 2019, 06:22 PM

Quote from: HandyDan on November 11, 2019, 02:01 PM
Congratulations!! Hope it keeps up.
Dan

Thanks Dan! 2 more weekends to go, and this coming weekend is Time Traveler/Steam Punk weekend with great weather predicted. We should do very well once again!

Kev

ClydesdaleKevin · November 19, 2019, 04:51 PM

We have had an AMAZING run so far this year in North Carolina, with one more weekend to go! Not only did we manage to pay off all of our emergency credit cards, we also managed to purchase a brand new Honda EU2200i generator for boondocking (we got a pretty sweet deal on it)...and we will be going into our winter vacation with well over twice what we had last year.

I prepped the Honda generator today (they don't come with any oil in the crankcase for shipping), and topped it off with Mobile One oil. Runs incredibly well and is super quiet! It should be more that adequate to run our converter to charge the batteries when the solar can't keep up...and won't suck down all of our propane in no time like our onboard generator does. (Which I also need to repair, but there is no hurry on that one...it just needs a new control board).

I also installed a battery watering system today and it works great!

I have another small run of catapults to build over the next few days for closing weekend...so I'm going to try to get in touch with Winnebago tomorrow and see if they can point me in the right direction as to where to find the grid heater relay on our Itasca.

Kev

ClydesdaleKevin · November 22, 2019, 05:46 PM

The last run of catapults of the season is built and on the stain rack! Last weekend coming right up!

Accuweather is predicting rain for most of the day tomorrow, but really nice weather on Sunday.

Kev

ClydesdaleKevin · November 26, 2019, 06:22 PM

What an outstanding season at the Carolina Renaissance Festival! Definitely our best to date. Gotta love this economy!

The booth is all packed down and in the Jeep, the workshop is all cleaned up with most of our stuff we leave here stowed in it for the off season, and everything else that gets stowed either in our RV compartments or in the Jeep is staged on the porch, covered in a tarp (since it is supposed to rain tomorrow morning).

So tomorrow we'll be stocking up on dog and cat food for the off season, and I have to pick up some new wiper blades for the RV and install them. And then work on inside stuff for most of the day.

When looking for the grid heater relay, I noticed that a purple wire coming out of the steering column had been spliced once...and was now broken. According to the Oshkosh wiring diagram, if I am reading it right, that purple wire goes to the in-tank fuel pump, which pushes diesel to a fuel pump on the Cummins engine. Could it really be that simple? I seriously doubt it, since NOTHING I attempt repair-wise ends up being simple...but we'll see! Keep your fingers crossed for us! Before we leave here on Saturday morning I really need to figure out why this beastie takes so long to start, since starters for this thing are STUPID expensive! Cummins sure is proud of their parts!

And then Thursday is Thanksgiving, and we won't be doing much besides celebrating.

And then Friday will be the final pack down, and well be hitting the road to St Mary's, Georgia first thing Saturday morning.

Kev

Rickf1985 · November 26, 2019, 09:24 PM

After a hard start and when it finally starts is there a lot of light blue smoke? If there is then you need the grid heater, if not then it is probably the fuel issue. The fact that it only started doing it as it got cooler leads me to believe it is the heater issue.

ClydesdaleKevin · November 27, 2019, 08:44 AM

Quote from: Rickf1985 on November 26, 2019, 09:24 PM
After a hard start and when it finally starts is there a lot of light blue smoke? If there is then you need the grid heater, if not then it is probably the fuel issue. The fact that it only started doing it as it got cooler leads me to believe it is the heater issue.

It actually started doing it right before we arrived at the Sterling Renaissance Faire in upstate NY, which was summertime and still pretty hot. I thought it was a clogged fuel filter and changed out the filter (after filling the new filter with diesel) and it didn't make a difference. Then I found the purple wire the day before yesterday poking around looking for relays. Someone used a crimp connector to fix the wire at some point, and it is now pulled out of the crimp connector. Our cat sleeps under the dash right under the steering column, so I'm guessing that he was either playing with the wire or chasing a mouse and managed to yank the wire out. I don't now if this is the cause of the hard/long start issue, but if it is? I'm gonna buy a lottery ticket...LOL!

Kev

Rickf1985 · November 27, 2019, 03:21 PM

Put a meter on that wire and turn the key on and see if it goes hot. It may go hot for about 3-5 seconds and shut off until you turn the starter and it starts. It depends on which side of the pump relay it is on. Once you hook it up and even before to verify ir you do or don't have pumping have your wife put her ear right at the open fuel cap and listen as you turn on the key. If the pump comes on she should hear it. I would check it before you do the repair so you know for sure that there is no pump now and there is after.

ClydesdaleKevin · November 29, 2019, 05:49 PM

So before connecting that wire, I did what Rick suggested, and I can hear the fuel pump humming in the tank. I got it started yesterday and it took a while, but it started...although it was turning slowly.

I'm not sure what that wire goes to...maybe the horn which isn't working. I'll figure that out at my sister's house.

I also discovered, by crawling up under the rig and contorting myself in the engine compartment to look at the intake, that there doesn't appear to be a grid heater of any kind.

So I decided to change the starting battery. The battery that was in here was a 6 year old Walmart special Everstart battery with only 650 CCA. I measured the space I had for a replacement battery, and went down to a battery store and bought the biggest Interstate starting battery that would fit. It fits so tight I had to remove one of my coach batteries to coax it in at an angle, and then put the coach battery back in. I got everything hooked back up, and by then it was dark.

So THIS battery is a light commercial grade battery. 950 CCA with 1150 cranking amps. Since most engines like this use two batteries to start, and this RV only has room for one starting battery, I figured the bigger the better!

I'll let you all know tomorrow if it makes any difference in how fast the rig starts.

Kev

p.s. The battery store is near the local mall...and I forgot it was Black Friday. And had to go there twice. It was NOT fun! It reminded me of exactly WHY we don't usually leave our camp on Black Friday.

Rickf1985 · November 29, 2019, 08:37 PM

To find that grid heater go to the top of the engine and find the intake manifold. Now find the air hose coming into it. The heaters should be somewhere right at the beginning of the metal part of the manifold after the rubber hose connection. You will be looking for some 4-6 gauge wires going to the manifold. The heaters are in the intake manifold somewhere and I have never seen them anywhere else but at the beginning. Like I said before, if it is blowing out a lot of white smoke right after it starts that is a sign that it needs intake heat or glow plugs and the Cummins do not use glows.