The Snowbird Trip That Almost Wasn’t

We are officially, finally, off on our annual snowbird pilgrimage to the warm south. I’m writing this post from our RV park from Savannah, Georgia, an overnight stop on the way. I did have a few unexpected snags with the RV this year. Just to make things interesting, I guess.

A little background first before the most recent kerfuffle. Our RV is a 2018 fifth wheel trailer that was made in early 2017, putting it at about 6.5 years old. I expect some amount of things need to be repaired or replaced each year. This year I had the annual maintenance done in the spring. Wheel bearings repacked and a brake checkup.

I’ve added photos of our travel so far and the stop in Savannah. Photos unrelated to these issues.

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Then, just last month had a couple of slide seals replaced and a slide topper replaced. A slide topper is a little fabric tent to keep debris off the slide roof to prevent damage when they retract. Owning an RV is not a cheap proposition. Of course neither is a second home in a warm environment.

On to the current situation

The Plan was to pick up the RV on Wednesday before the storage lot closed for the four-day Thanksgiving Holiday. That would give us four days to load it in front of our home and a no stress launch after the holiday. I got there at 3pm and discovered there was no 12 volts from the batteries to power the hydraulic legs. If the legs do not retract, then you cannot tow the unit or else they would drag. It was strange that I could not get a voltage reading at all. Not 11.5 volts or anything.

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At this point I need to confess something. I am very good at having our vehicles oil changed, tires rotated and replaced, etc. etc. Except batteries. I change when one is slow to start. Jump it and go to the shop for a new one. The RV has two deep cycle batteries and they are about five years old. Should have bought new ones at four years old.

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On to Plan B. The storage facility promptly opened at 9am on Monday and I was prepared with my generator and battery charger. Let it charge for an hour and it was still no juice. One battery must have a bad shorted cell.

On to Plan C. I jumped a battery to the RV and got the hydraulics to work, albeit very slowly. So, that proved it was a bad battery and not something within the RV. I was able to take it to a Interstate battery place that installed two fresh ones. That cost me $500 and a seven hour delay. We now had an operational RV and one day to load her up before we needed to leave to get to reservations at an RV park.

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The Next Issue

It seems whenever we have one thing break it is followed by another one or two. At our first stop, Pat said the refrigerator was not working. I opened the outside access panel and it was still plugged in, the circuit breaker was still set. Could the fridge have just died?

It was at that time that I noticed the microwave was also not working. And then I checked and found no 110 volt working at all. All lights and the furnace fan runs off 12 volts and they were all fine.

I then found the main breaker was flipped off. What the heck? So I reset it and all was good. Except, why did the main blow? Well, I soon found out as I brought in the main slides. Just as the slideout came fully in the main breaker kicked out again. Upon closer inspection, so did the breaker for the 110v outlets in the slides. This is when I pulled the slides back out and crawled underneath so see what’s what.

Found it! There is a wiring bundle that is loosely attached to the inside of the outer slide wall that has been obviously smashed into the frame as the slide seats. And there was a shiny philips screw head right at the interference point. The outer shield was worn away and shredded copper wire was visible. This has been underway for six years and just got to the short circuit stage.

When we get to our destination south of Tampa I will repair this wire and figure out where to re-route this bundle to avoid the crushing.

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Surprise Meeting in Savannah, GA

This has happened a few times to us. In a place miles from home and you see someone from back home or some other place. We selected a new to us restaurant, the Boar’s Head Tavern along the riverfront. And had a great meal! Pat had a glazed salmon and I had the shrimp and grits. The food and service was top notch. We will be back. I love my good food.

On the way out, I saw someone I thought I recognized from the back of his head. Sure enough, a work colleague from Virginia that I had not seen for about three years. Steve and his wife Karen were in Savannah for a four-day holiday to celebrate Steve’s birthday. Since I retired he moved to Chattanooga and they are now enjoying this exciting area.

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Wrap Up

This winter we will stay the month of December at Cortez, next to the beach, and then January – March will be back to New Port Richey. We are blessed to be able to travel and experience this great country. And now we have an almost fully functioning RV again! Take care and God Bless.