Day 501: Battery Charger Rewire

Posted on December 21, 2014 by Ben

We had a nice Day 500 Shabbos in Las Vegas! Last night we had a Chanukah party with our parents, which was nice.

Today I tried to salvage the staircase the was damaged in Alaska by cutting off the bottom-most stair. This allowed me to at least get the staircase to unfold, but after 30 minutes of sledgehammer lovin’, I still couldn’t get the staircase back to a shape that would allow me to mount it back on the RV, so I gave up on it.

The RV’s battery charger, which is powered by our generator on those rare occasions when we strike out with solar, is wired with 6 gauge wire, and is about 20 feet from the battery, which I believe adds enough of a voltage drop (1.19 volts according to the math) to dramatically reduce the ability of the charger to actually charge the battery. I moved the battery charger about 2 feet by wire away from the battery, and used much thicker 2 gauge wire. Voltage drop should now be 0.047 volts. The charger is the silver box in the photo:

Tomorrow I’ll break out the A/C plug for the charger so it pops out near the propane quick release for the generator. This will save me from having to run an extension cord from the generator all the way to the chassis A/C input on the rear of the RV, like I’ve been doing so far.

This had been on the todo list for months, so I’m happy to finally get to it.

While I was rewiring the RV, Trish went boot shopping with Grandma DiAnn. Sounds like they had a lot of fun!

Tonight we’re overnighting at Camping World, as we have to do a couple more errands in town tomorrow before we can head out to Jean Lake.

Day 499: Winter in Las Vegas

Posted on December 19, 2014 by Ben

We woke up to sub-freezig temperatures on Jean Lake this morning:

Before heading back into town, I had to massage and shake out the hose for the water bag in the bed of the truck so I could fill the RV:

We plan to come back to Jean Lake after spending Shabbos Chanukah in Las Vegas:

Good Shabbos from Las Vegas!

Day 498: Art and Wheels

Posted on December 18, 2014 by Ben

Today in Geography Through Art, the kids learned about Sumi-e, the art of Japanese ink wash painting:

Somehow M got some ink on his face:

The kids painted both Chanukah objects as well as traditional Japanese objects:

I rotated the truck wheels to get more even tire wear:

At dusk, the kids rode bikes while Trish and I walked to Micha’s trailer and back:

We aren’t big Chanukah gift givers, but we did give each kid a giant Hershey’s Kiss:

Happy third night of Chanukah!

Day 497: RV Fixin’ with Tattie

Posted on December 17, 2014 by Ben

Today, part of home school was RV Fixin’ With Tattie. B and I removed the ladder from the RV, as most of the screws had vibrated loose. We applied Locktite and put it back together and reattached it to the RV, adding fresh caulk in the process:

I told M how to install into the wall an outlet that had lost its old mount position when I split the bunkhouse into two rooms. He did all the work:

It has been cold and cloudy for the past few days, something we’re told is quite rare in these parts. We are looking forward to warmer days ahead.

Day 496: A Chilly (for Las Vegas) Chanukah

Posted on December 16, 2014 by Ben

After home school, M started to replace the transfer case on his motorcycle. The original was replaced under warranty, and we picked it up yesterday when we went into town. In the process, we discovered that the clutch is worn out, so I called to order a new one. Since they don’t yet have it available for sale, the company is shipping one to us for free: