Generator roars to life!

I decided since it had warmed up to about 75 here in Dallas today I would give starting the generator another shot. I had about 1/2 tank of diesel in the tank and tried to start. She fired right up as before, ran for about 10 seconds and died... tried again, same result... Not being insane I decided that maybe WOG was right (as if I ever doubted them) and it was a fuel issue.
A quick trip to the local NAPA to buy a fuel filter (which they did not have) and some engine degreaser I was able to get the coach generator running.
The guy at NAPA suggested draining the fuel from the existing filter thinking maybe it had water or something in it. I got home and dawned my best Nitrile gloves and a new Lone Star Birds hat from the rally in Fredericksburg a last weekend...
Did a little cleanup on the old engine and waited for it all to dry.
I held the fuel filter bottom water separator (I guess that's what that thing is...) using a huge set of vice-grips while I unscrewed the bolt at the bottom of the fuel filter thingy... I decided not much fuel was coming out so I hit the start button and watched the fuel pour out (into a great bucket for mortar mixing from Home Depot). I screwed everything back together.
While I was waiting for the fuel to dry I started cleaning up the genset. This required half a roll of blue shop towels (but I didn't get any on me!). I noticed all the foam sound insulation on the front of the genset was just coming off and disintegrating from age. I decided to get as much of it out as I could, this took a while longer than I had anticipated. Very dusty stuff and about the time I was just about finished I was thinking 'maybe I should be wearing a mask'... ask me in a few years if it affected my health... My uncle died from Arsenic poisoning resulting from breathing fumes while cutting landscape timbers so you never know...
Finally it was time to try out the genset again.
Turned off both the breakers on the rear of the genset and pushed the start button. She roared to life again only this time SHE STAYED STARTED!!!
I did a happy dance in the yard (no one saw and I didn't take pictures!) and left her running for a few minutes to check the temperatures.
The highest temp I saw with my handy dandy thermo-gun was about 150 degrees. I don't have any idea what temp this genset should run at and need to research it some.



Engine: 147.5 at the back - I did notice that the rear cylinders and the air inlet all get hotter as they go toward the back of the coach... not sure why they didn't run dual air inlets to cool things down on both ends...



Exhaust output on rear of genset 252 degrees



Squirrel cage fan came on after we put a load (2 a/c units) on it. This was the right side water inlet/outlet - reading: 108 degrees




The left side water inlet/outlet (whatever) showed 130 degrees at the squirrel cage fan.

We put a load with two A/C units and some lighting inside and watched the guages inside (my wife thought they were very exciting to watch...)







Everything looked 'normal' but I will confirm with WOG to make sure!

Location:dallas, tx

Celia gets a bath

Karen gave Celia (our 8 month old Maltese) a good bath and brushing out this afternoon. She is spectacular...

Location:Dallas, TX

New LEDs in the Kitchen

Under the cabinets in the kitchen where the sink resides was woefully dark especially since one of the Thinlight 18inch fixtures was not working. Rather than replace the ballast for $40 I decided to upgrade the light to LED.
I ripped all the wiring, Ballast and end pieces for the fluorescent tubes out, cleaned the fixture with alcohol and replaced the bulbs with all LED strip lighting from LEDWholesalers. The white LEDs for the kitchen, living room and bedroom are number 2026wh on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Flexible-Strip-LED-Ribbon-Ledwholesalers/dp/B002QQ1YOM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365872619&sr=8-1&keywords=2026wh




For the living room (or maybe the bedroom) I chose the following RGB (multi-colored) LED set and a remote controller that will change brightness, color and the main unit will actually change to the music! All we need is a Disco Ball and some KC and the Sunshine band!
Ordered from Amazon also and plan to install today...




Pictures of kitchen and table area after new LEDs

Pictures

Some pictures from recent adventures




New LED lights in the kitchen!




Celia first day...




Celia now...




after a bath... recent pic - she loves playing in the shower but not necessarily having water involved...




Karen with Yogi at the Jellystone park in Fredericksburg, TX 2013 for the Lonestar Birds Rally!




I love this coach... It is a classic PT. Nice couple that are selling her.




Karen with my dream rig - 2006 43Lxi Wanderlodge along with a Jeep Wrangler 4-door Rubicon!




Our Dallas Vegetable Garden!!!
I used Home Depot buckets to build a self watering container... so far they have worked great because it has rained just about every day!!!
We will see how they travel in the car... the long buckets are the types you put clothes in to store under the bed. They work great to start seed or plant shallow plants like herbs. I planted a ton of carrot seeds in one of them and now have 1 inch tall plants... can't wait to eat them!!! Fresh carrots from the garden are the best! I need to make some kind of mesh covering to keep bugs out if we end up staying in TX for a while...

Location:Wilemon Dr,Dallas,United States

Looking forward to moving again

Looking forward to moving possibly to Delaware for the summer or longer. Over 2000 miles to get up there from Dallas. Hopefully will hear today if I got the job but it may be next week.
I have to get 6 new tires for the rear drives and tags as the existing tires are over 12 years old. I found some places near here but they are not offering much of a discount on them. Some of the Wanderlodge owners at http://www.wanderlodgeownersgroup.com have suggested I could get Khumo or Hankook (in Lewisville) for under $3000.
Here is the run down of tire prices I have found so far:
- COWERS TIRE DALLAS - BFG - 6@$4837.35 mounted; Hankook(Korean) 6@$4462 mounted; Hankook off-on road $3916 6 in stock
- Herman Power Tire in Nacogdoches, TX was $1,383.46 for two Michelins with the Advantage plan including FET, mount/bal: $113 For 6 that would be: $4545.30
-Randy has 6 tires: 5 years old Michelin: $0 could ship for ???
I need to have the Compressor Coolant hoses changed out also.
I found a mobile mechanic that can come by and check things out. He said he charges $75 per hour but I saw on the web he charged $50 per hour before so we will be negotiating on price some.
I need to get some heavy jack stands and jacks along with the lines.



Karen and I at my sister Kathy's house a few weeks ago.

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Location:Dallas West Mobile Home RV Park

Oncor done in 2 weeks

Found out yesterday that IBM is letting me go from the Oncor project.
I really liked this project although writing functional specs is not really too much fun. I need to get way better functionally with Maximo. Too many clients want only functional people it seems. IBM outsources all their tech people overseas. Maybe there is a niche there to fill: companies that want to hire someone that shows up onsite...
The RV still needs work, I am contacting a guy about some used tires today, hopefully he will sell them cheap. I need 6 new tires for the rear of the coach.
Celia is sleeping peacefully on the couch.



I was up all last night worried about the job. I will find another job and probably a better one. I should know better than to work for IBM but the pay is always pretty good. Crap projects but good pay...

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Location:dallas, tx