Failures, mostly small

This trip has been characterized more than any other by a collection of problems ranging from moderate to trivial.  I will detail them here for my own record and for my amusement as well.  Most of these were not caused by anything either of us did.

DVD player – would not work when we sat down to watch a movie.  Tried all the available alternatives and could not get it to play through the TV as it had the day before and we had not moved or anything.  Walked across the street to Frys Electronics and bought a cable to connect the computer to the TV and while there picked up a Blue Ray Disk player, works great.  Oh plugged the “broken” DVD Player into the rear TV directly and it worked there.  Maybe my problem lies elsewhere in the distribution circuit that came with the coach, but it passes though Cable and Antenna and Satellite – see next.

Satellite – bought a DVR to replace the simple receiver we had so I could skip commercials and record ahead.  Although it seems to work fine I have not been able to line up on a satellite since connecting it.  I did rebuild the antenna base but I could not get a satellite before I did that either.

Carol’s six year old Lumix Camera – the screen went black and the camera would only take pictures of black.  Tried everything to no avail and the camera is due to be replaced anyhow.  Ordered a Canon G 12 for delivery on Friday, the Lumix resumed working!

Reading Light Paul’s Chair – the switch broke, they do that.  Found and installed a replacement

Reading Light Carol’s bedside – the screws that secure it to the wall jiggled loose.  Inserted wooden toothpicks for filler and reinstalled

CPAP Machine – a show stopper! When I went to set it up after moving from Burbank to Dockweiler it would not work.  Asked Kathy to go into our house and pack up the house CPAP and ship it to me at great expense – next day Fed EX.

Tail lights on Car in tow mode – endless problem getting them to work after we connect the car to the coach.  Much fussing results in making it happen each time.  I have tried many approaches, but jiggling wires seems to resolve it.

Broken windshield – took a stone in the car windshield while driving on US 95 north of Yuma, it extended in to a crack that I have not called in yet.  It is not in the drivers line of sight.

Slow leak left front tire car – I kept adding air to the tire from Big Bend to Yuma, finally pulled into a BigO tire place where they pulled out a roofing nail and patched the tire.  They did the work gratis and the guy who did the work got a nice tip.  He saved an expensive new tire for us.

Car horn – stopped working in LA traffic one day.  Had a mechanic look at it and he reported both horns were burned out.  I began search for new horns and was about to buy at NAPA.  In frustration I leaned on the horn button one more time, it is working (was working yesterday – haven’t been in the car yet today)

Vent for Furnace (screw loose) – just nonsense and the screw was installed crooked from the factory.

Propane Detector – It is currently disconnected as it was sounding off every time we stopped to set up for camping.  Not sure what the cause, but it certainly was not propane leaking.  I thought it might be engine gasses, but it is not supposed to be a CO detector and I have one of those that it not in alarm status. 

Latch on drawer rear vanity – trivial issue.  Had to remove the part on the drawer and turn it over.  Works fine now.

All of this says that if you want the pleasure of RVing you had best be a bit of a mechanic and be prepared to either fix things yourself or  wait to find someone who will do it and be prepared to pay.

Please be aware I am not complaining.  I suspect that if I added up all the trivial and not so trivial things I fix while in our house in Rochester the list would not be any shorter, just different.