Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Always something, long story

This morning we were watching television and having breakfast when our CO alarm started it's beep warning that tells us the house batteries are low or down to about 50%.  This happened last year and we found that our 112 to 12 volt converter was on a GFI outlet that had sprung so it wasn't charging the batteries as it should.  Our television is on an inverter getting its power from the batteries so definitely a drain.

My first thought was to check the fuses on the converter which requires the basement storage to be emptied so I can crawl in.  There are two 30 amp fuses so I pulled both and couldn't see a break in the connector but they still could have been bad.  I went to town to find an auto parts store for some new fuses to insert and while there also stopped at a nice super market for a few grocery items.

On my return I found all windows and door of the camper open and Jo inside trying to cook up a batch of soup for lunch.  The smoke alarm had gone off while the stove was lit so she had opened the door and windows and turned on both ceiling fans.

I had already turned off the TV so that wasn't a drain but the ceiling fans are on the battery so now the CO alarm was going off again causing a lot of frustration in the house.  I pulled the battery from the smoke alarm and turned off the fans and eventually the alarms were silent and Jo was able to finish her soup.

I put the new fuses in the converter and they blew immediately both of them.  This isn't good, I thought.  My internet hotspot was also plugged into the TV outlet so I had no internet to do any googling for any information.  Then it was take out the ol' smart phone and use browser app to search for an RV repair shop nearby.  Rather than call them I decided to go and talk in person.  Ms Navi in the truck didn't know where this business was so I used Google Navigation App on the cell and it guided me right to the front door.

They will order a new converter for us and bring it out in the morning to install.  They  said it was an easy install that anyone could do, but I decided to pay them for the house call so they can check out the remainder of that system to perhaps find out why the converter went bad.

Long story but it has seemed like a long day.  And it's only 3:00 pm.

PS: Oh, Jo's soup was very good for lunch.  And I was able by using an extension cord to plug the TV into a different circuit along with my internet hotspot so we are back in business a little inconvenienced.

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