On the Road with Bob

O.E.M. replacement fuel filter

Reading the post “Repairs 101 Sect. 1 “, who would ever have guessed that my stalling problems were actually caused by a fuel filter that was supposed to be the proper replacement part ?

Somewhere along in the history of this vehicle, something was changed. Probably the type and design of the original carburetor, because the tube sticking out from the photo is a return-to-the-gas tank connection. I had it routed to the steel return line attached to the chassis, and it was just as I remembered it had been on my earlier Dodge Ram van. The carburetor on my RV is not one that has a return feature.

Problem solved!   I realized that the engine was calling for way more fuel than was entering the carburetor, since a good volume of gas was going BACKWARDS to the gas tank  -  in situations such as climbing hills; accelerating to join merging traffic; passing vehicles to quickly get back in line and climbing slow but sustained rises (like the Continental Divide!).

The minute I blocked this return line, and  provided the engine with all the petrol it needed to function the way it wanted, my difficulties vanished. I’ve never been bothered since.

You get “T” for trying.

I have been utilizing a Kyocera photovoltaic panel, with a Blue Sky (solar boost) regulator, and golf cart batteries wired in series. It has supplied all my needs, except for the heavy loads that I use most days. The coffee maker, the microwave oven and the toaster oven get a workout that is too much for my set-up. That is when I start the Honda 2000E generator. It is small and QUIET, and has an economy fuel setting for when it is not running heavy loads.

I have a 1400 watt inverter, which is fine for supplying power for the television, tools and other low-draw use. I don’t want to add more batteries and a larger inverter. I try to be frugal with the lights, water pump and other 12v DC equipment. My refrigerator is on propane, as a rule.  If I am low on gas, or in the process of changing bottles, I can run the fridge through the inverter….for a short time.

The one change I have been working on this week, is to get more charging from my solar panel. I have only one, presently. It is 2 feet by 5 feet. I have made provisions for its twin on the other side of the roof, and I could add a small third panel as well. To get more out of what I have requires TILTING TOWARD THE SUN!  I have now hinged the outer legs, and rigged a raising lever through to my kitchen, so that the panel can be moved to any angle up to 60 degrees, or so.

Ideally, I would have the panel on a rotating base, but the return, vis a vis the difficulty of building and securing that application, are not worth the trouble.

So now, when I park, I need to take into account that the panel is no longer flat on the roof when parked in the daylight.  I will choose the optimum sun exposure direction, and raise the panel to get the best rays. My batteries will be so happy!

For a guy who has spent so much time traversing America the beautiful from behind the wheel, I have been in jet planes a lot lately!

My latest venture into the clouds was for a quick trip to Boston. A  consultation with a surgeon at N.E.Baptist Hospital.

I parked my RV near a bus stop in Orlando. I jumped on the first bus to MCO (Orlando Int. Airport) to grab the 7:30 A flight. Since I have two (count’em) titanium knees, I knew TSA operatives would be putting me into the isolation booth for TOTAL  screening. And I don’t mind a bit. A single man, traveling alone with no baggage..hmmm.  Prevention in any and all forms is called for as a deterrent to the idiots who have placed a “no value” sign on life, and on their absurd religious views.

The view East from my window seat, just after sunrise was its own religious experience. The rias and estuaries of the offshore barrier islands and the low country looked like the squiggly trails of earthworms after a rainstorm. As the flight coursed northward,  the morning rays would catch the water below and turn it to shimmering gold! Anyone who questions the genesis of abstract painting should have had my aspect. Pure form; seemingly senseless and non-objective.

We arrived at Washington National at 9:30, and the shuttle for Beantown left at 10:30. Andrea was waiting for me at Logan, and we followed the Charles River to the Riverway at Huntington Avenue. The vista from the hospital grounds is spectacular, by the way….way up there on Parker Hill.

After concluding business with the medicos, we turned back toward the airport. Andrea and I had but 25 minutes to grab a quick bite at the ’99 in Revere. I boarded my next flight for Philadelphia at about 6:00 P.   Not much time with my pretty girl. And I left her in the worst of Boston traffic, to boot.

My flight from Philadelphia to Orlando left terra firma at 8:30 P, and I arrived at MCO in time to get the LAST Lynx bus up Orange Avenue to my RV.

It was dark when I started this quickee,  and dark at the conclusion. But today, it was fun to look down and to try to identify the territory and roads of which I am so familiar,  in a VERTICAL way.

Thankfully, the majority in Congress has prevailed, and the President’s dream of universal health care for all may yet be realized. This past two months, I have felt vulnerable to the vagaries of coverage, simply because I am “on the road”. Imagine having a serious illness or medical emergency, and having NO coverage, or any hope of getting any! It is beyond comprehension that so many Americans can be so short-sighted, and unable to see the travail of so many others, that they would deny peace- of-mind , which IS  A RIGHT….remember, PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS? It’s right there in the founding document, McConnell and cronies!

The process toward universal health care for all in this country has now begun, and no one, even those so very opposed to sharing, will give up what has now been given them in the new law’s provisos! This IS a BIG F____ing deal, Joe!

Tomorrow is New Years Eve day, and it will usher in my 35th year of  full-timing in some sort of RV. My first editions were converted buses; a 37 foot International pusher-type, then a 38 foot GMAC with stainless steel side panels. Then followed the conversion of more buses for others, and I began travelling in a Class B Coachman . At one point I had nine vehicles praked in a bus yard…..some were friend’s vehicles that I was working on, and the rest were my bus, a construction materials bus, my Coachman, a Saab and a Subaru. My lady friend had left her RV with me while she did a stint for the State department in Guatemala.

I am SO HAPPY to have just my current Dodge RV, the second Dodge that I have converted (Class C’s), and just the perfect size for my travels in this new decade. I can park it with ease in most places. It has a good energy set-up, with solar on the roof, a small Honda 204e generator, lots of battery power with a sizeable inverter. I would like more water capacity for boondocking, but you can’t have everything (can you?).