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Friday, March 21, 2014

MECHANICAL PROBLEMS SOLVED AND SOLAR!

It has been a lazy day here in Quartzsite. Again, John worked on the inverter, fixed our lunch and hard boiled some eggs.                                                                      I used The Solution to remove the bugs from the front of our Tiffin Allegro Bus and walked the dogs.                                                                                           That is the extent of our day. 

This morning, we called the Tiffin service department in Red Bay, Alabama.  John talked to our go-to service advisor, Stanley, and received some helpful advice.  

First, Stanley suggested old batteries.  Our response was that the batteries were new when we purchased our Allegro Bus almost two years ago.  

Second, he had two more things for John to check out.  Nada, zip, nuttin Honey.  Now what?  

Susan Thompson, a snowbird from Minnesota suggested we get in touch with Brian Boone and that is just what we did.  He came out to our part of the desert and voila...."your batteries are the problem!"  

"What? Those batteries were new when we purchased our new to us Tiffin Allegro Bus!"  At lease we assumed they were new since they were so clean when we looked in the battery bay.  And someone tested them as we were sitting in Red Bay awaiting completion of work on the coach.  The someone was not a representative of Tiffin Service.  His gauge must be wrong.  

Lesson?  .....  Never assume anything when purchasing a previously owned motorhome, car, boat...anything.  We looked at the dates on the tires.  Why didn't we think to look at the date on the batteries?  

The batteries were about ten years old!  Brian could not believe that they had lasted this long!  Off to Discount Solar here in Quartzsite.  

Ahhh, four new Interstate Batteries.  Now we will be in tip top shape.  And here we thought it was the inverter.  

Wait, there's more!  The batteries were not the only problem. After Brian installed the new batteries, the solution was not there.  Brian declared the inverter was dead, very dead.  

So now, we have a new inverter in our home on wheels. NOW, everything is working as it should. 

But, there is still more!  We have made the decision to have Brian fit us with solar power.  We have spent days researching and gathering prices and Monday, we will have our first installment of of two solar panels with two more in the plan for next year.  

We are pleased with our decision.  The solar panels make up for the disappointment of not having our booth dining area removed and replaced with table and chair.  This too will happen, just not this year.  

If you are in Quartzsite in winter months and need work performed on your trailer, 5th wheel, class C, B, or A motorhome, Brian is the man to call.  His fees are extremely reasonable.  

Brian is a very  honest young man that has for the last eleven years migrated in the winter from Montana to Quartzsite to work on our rigs.  Previously, he worked for another solar dealership, but has now started his own business.  We wish Brian God speed in his new business.  

Thank you for coming to our blog today and a double thanks for clicking on our Amazon link at the top right of this page.  I know, it's not the end of the year, but I am having a difficult time changing the link.  Can anyone help?  

Tonight, I close with sunset photos.                                                                                                                                                                                                There is nothing like an Arizona desert sunset!  



 Until next time, God Bless!  






                                                                     



















19 comments:

  1. It always feels so good when everything is finally working again. Congrats on the solar. As much as you guys boondock, I think it is a good investment for you.

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    1. Thanks Sandie. It really is a good investment for us. Even when we stay in a RV resort in Calif, where the cost of electricity is outrageous, we will use our solar rather than plug in to their power.

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  2. Nan I am so glad to hear that you have solved your problems and AMAZED that your batteries gave the coach 10 years of service. That is AMAZING. I'd really like to talk to you about your solar purchase and have sent you an email.

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  3. It's nice to know someone you trust when you need something fixed. I wasted money on a fool who said he was a mobile RV mechanic. I think I knew more than he did. And, that's next to nothing. Solar sounds good--will make your boondocking much easier.

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  4. It seems we're always replacing something. We've replaced our inver and we added solar about a year and a half ago. We bought the panels in Mesa and Terry did the installation in their lot. After they were installed, their tech came out and double checked everything. We were good to go. Then, we replaced all our batteries a few months ago. They were getting pretty weak and it was very noticeable.

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  5. Good for you guys in going the solar route. We saved sooooo much money in our first 6 years by staying out of RV Parks, Our first solar installation in late 07 paid for itself in no time once we figured out what we would have paid in Parks. But of course the greatest thing about solar is the freedom to go where you want when you want. Have heard good things about that fellow in Quartzsite too. We may very well consider him for our next installation.....& yes there just may be one more solar installation coming up in our future:))

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  6. We got out Solar panel installed by Discount Solar March 2007 and sure works great for us.

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  7. Have read great things about Brian and certainly your experience supports those. We plan to have solar installed on new rig next year and certainly have Discount Solar on our list of possible companies. Seems like if makes good sense to find a place you will return to periodically. Look forward to hearing about your experience!

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  8. Eek! That's a lot to have to replace at one time, but I'm glad you solved the problems.

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  9. Love the header photo!
    We will be at the Q next winter. Thanks for the recommendation. Nice to know someone reliable but hopefully won't need him.

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  10. You should be very happy with the solar, I know I am.....I have 500 watts on my roof and over 900 amps stored in my basement.....I run my satellite reciever 24/7 so it can record my shows.....tv or radio......chargers......fan when it get above 70 and have NEVER run below 50%, NEVER ran my generator.

    10 years out of a set of batteries must be some kind of record....I got 12 years use out of a battery in my BMW Z-3.......things are not like they were 50 years ago.

    I've been boondocked at Stewarts Point, Lake Mead for afew days now. It's my first time here and I love it........highly recommend it.....free for 15 days......not many others around......views galore and it very close to Valley of Fire......awonderful place worth checking out.

    Papa
    www.papas-travels.blogspot.com

    Papa
    www.papas-travels.blogspot.com

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  11. Surely you made the right decision. Don't know if we would boondock enough for solar panels to be worth it. Something to think about.

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  12. Thank goodness you've gotten the problem solved, now you can relax and have peace of mind. I guess you could say you can't judge a battery by its cover... ;c)

    We are on the fence about going solar. I thought we'd need it when we hit the road, but so far, we've boondocked very little. Most often the rare times we're without hookups, our generator suffices. Maybe that will change in the future as we get rolling more often.

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  13. Wow! You're really juiced up now (electrically speaking)!

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  14. Glad to hear you got the problems solved. When we bought our new to us MH, Al checked the batteries and although they tested good, they were several years old. He kept after Lazy Days until they gave us all brand new batteries. I hope ours last 10 years too!

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  15. Hi Nan, thanks for stopping by. I must make sure I find your blog a bit more often. All kinds of stuff happens when one travels,doesn't it. I love desert sunsets, we are blessed with them here too.

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    1. Thanks Inger. Come by any time. You are right about the desert sunsets. Each a blessing of the day.

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  16. Awesome ! i really found very informative article here and bookmarked this blog. Thank you

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