Replaced SeeLeveL II panel

In the wet bay of our coach is a SeeLeveL II tank monitor panel, that shows the battery, fresh tank, grey tank, and black tank levels:

SeeLeveL II panel

The panel stopped working, and I had it replaced less than a year ago, but it got wet and stopped working again when doing recent wet bay mods, so I needed to replace it again. Rather than paying the inflated price the service place charged me, I ordered the panel from RVupgrades.com, and replaced it myself. I also ordered the correct panel for my coach — notice that the above picture has a button for LPG level too, but my coach doesn’t have any propane.

Here’s the back of the old panel, showing the connectors; power and tank level on the left, and the RVC network port on the right:

Connectors

The replacement panel, model 709RVC-NLP (RVC for that port, and NLP for no-LP):

SeeLeveL II panel

I also got a gasket to hopefully protect it from water intrusion a bit:

SeeLeveL II panel

The new panel installed:

SeeLeveL II panel

Easy.

Easy reach awning opener

A nice tweak: I found this easy reach awning opener at the Tiffin parts store, and bought two of them. Our coach came with a long pole to reach the window awnings, but it’s a bit of a pain to pull it out of the basement bay, and possibly go around to the other side to get it. With two of these compact extendable tools, we can more easily open the awnings. Handy!

Here’s an Amazon link for the product (probably way cheaper than whatever I paid at Tiffin).

Easy reach awning opener

Tiffin parts store

While at 1st Class Glass I wandered across the road to the Bob Tiffin Service Center, where new owners of Tiffin motorhomes can get servicing done. (We are not eligible, since our coach is a 2017 model; we use third-party vendors instead.)

Bob Tiffin Service Center

I wanted to visit the parts store to pick up some items. It’s a huge area; I wasn’t sure where to go (and they don’t have great signage). I stopped by the Tiffin Allegro Club office, and they pointed me in the right direction:

Bob Tiffin Service Center

The service center customer entrance is hidden halfway down this building:

Bob Tiffin Service Center

Inside, they directed me to the customer parts area, though I had to ask again to find it. It’s a small caged area with a few parts on display, and a counter where one can ask for other parts:

Parts shop

Apparently it used to be much nicer, where people could browse the shelves for parts; now you have to request them. I could find all sorts of goodies if I could explore, but alas, this area beyond the gate is off limits:

Parts shop

Just a few items available within the cage:

Parts shop

Stay tuned for one bonus find, though, coming on tomorrow’s Tweak Thursday.

Windshield leak repair

Today would normally be a travel post, but we’re almost real-time, and it’s my birthday week, so I thought I’d do a week of modification posts instead, as my gift to you. Enjoy!

Another repair item. Our windshield started to leak a little in one spot when it rained, dripping down inside:

Leak

Obviously not ideal. While in Red Bay, we had an appointment with 1st Class Glass to fix that:

1st Class Glass

They also have an adjacent full-hookup campground for customers, though we didn’t use it:

Campground

They hooked up the power, and encouraged us to put out our slides and relax in our coach, which was nice:

1st Class Glass

They have a nifty platform that can be raised or lowered to let them conveniently work on the windshield without needing ladders:

1st Class Glass

A glimpse in the background of a windshield being re-attached to a motorhome:

1st Class Glass

They replaced the seal all across the top of our windshield, which does seem to have fixed the leak (it was possible the leak was actually coming from the marker light, but they found moisture inside the windshield seal, so were fairly confident that the problem was the windshield seal):

Re-sealed windshield

Yay for not leaking!

Window awning repair

Back in December we were enjoying Ho-Hum RV Park in the panhandle of Florida. On a sunny day, we pulled out the awnings over our windows to provide some shade… but instead of extending normally, with a springy force trying to pull it back closed, the big one on the passenger side suddenly slammed open, and would no longer retract. That isn’t ideal.

Window awning

The retraction uses some coiled springs inside the tube on the outer edge (“FRTA” stands for Fabric Roller Tube Assembly):

Window awning

I was able to manually roll it up:

Window awning

To keep it from unfurling when driving down the road, I restrained it with zip ties, which of course meant we couldn’t use it:

Window awning

(Not a critical feature, since we could extend our big awning for much the same effect, but still annoying.)

I looked around for parts, since I thought I could repair it myself, but couldn’t find any supplier. But we planned to be in Red Bay, Alabama for some servicing in March, so I asked Happy Host RV Concierge to find someone who could do this repair. They found Vina RV Service Center, and made an appointment for us:

Vina RV Service Center

Their waiting room:

Vina RV Service Center

Apparently the torsion springs were fine, but they’d come disconnected from the tube, so they had to machine a part to fix that. Good thing I got professionals to do this for us, as I wouldn’t have been able to do that repair myself!

Vina RV Service Center

Back at our campsite in Red Bay Acres, the repaired awning:

Window awning

All better! We don’t use the window awnings often, as we are frequently in places too windy for them, but they are nice to have when it’s sunny and not windy.

Congaree National Park

We visited Congaree National Park in South Carolina, one of the least-visited parks.

There isn’t a huge amount there; it’s basically one visitor center, a couple of primitive campgrounds, a boardwalk trail, some back country trails, and a bunch of wilderness.

Here’s a map; click or tap to interact with it on the NPS site:

An interactive Google map:

Nearing the park, a tortoise crossing the road:

Turtle on the road

Entrance sign:

Entrance sign

Visitor center:

Visitor center

Mosquito meter; we didn’t put on bug spray (but had it), and didn’t get bitten:

Visitor center

Trail info:

Visitor center

We did the 2.6 mile boardwalk:

Boardwalk

A self-guided boardwalk tour:

Boardwalk

Loblolly pine:

Boardwalk

Lake, with a couple of alligators and turtles:

Lake

Boardwalk

Snakes:

Snakes

Lizard:

Lizard

Boardwalk

Self-guided tour marker:

Marker

Caterpillars:

Caterpillars

Boardwalk

Millipede:

Centipede

Boardwalk

Sewer hose closure

As you may know, I post about RV modification topics every Monday (“Modification Mondays”). I have a long list of potential topics, some smaller than others, so I thought I’d post some of the shorter ones on Thursdays when we don’t have a lot of exploring topics — Thursday for “Tweak Thursdays” (I do enjoy alliteration!). Here’s the first one, about a nice little tweak.

In the wet bay of our motorhome, there is a large hole in the bottom through which one feeds the sewer hose, so the wet bay door can be closed with the hose connected. That is convenient, but it leaves a sizable gap around the hose, through which rodents and such could enter. I previously used some steel wool to close this gap, which worked well, though tended to rust when it got damp, and was a bit of a hassle.

I recently saw a suggestion on Facebook where someone posted about a custom 3D-printed panel that fitted around the sewer hose, and someone else commented that they used one of these flashings instead:

Pipe flashing

That seemed like a great idea, so I bought one (Amazon link) and installed it by cutting a hole and fitting it around the sewer hose:

Sewer hose enclosure

Wet bay

I had it around a 2-foot-long hose, so I could disconnect that and pull it up out of the hole for travel days, leaving the flashing around the hose. But that was a bit of a hassle, so I came up with another approach: I got a clear 10” extension pipe, and put the flashing around that:

Sewer pipes

Plus a 45° adapter:

Sewer pipes

That will let me leave the pipe and flashing in place, and just remove the 45° adapter for travel days. I just installed this yesterday, so we’ll see how well it works!

Sesquicentennial State Park

We stayed at Sesquicentennial State Park in Columbia, South Carolina. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A nice state park in the capital city of South Carolina.

Dates:

Check in: 2024-04-28
Check out: 2024-05-05
7 nights

Weather:

Partly cloudy
High temps 78-89°F, lows 56-67°F
Negligible wind, gusts to 18 MPH

Noise:

No road noise
Distant train horn noise
Some neighbor noise, especially around weekends

Site:

#6, pull-through, gravel
Didn’t need to disconnect toad, parked behind coach
Mostly level; used hydraulic leveling
Gravel driveway about 130 feet long
No neighbor on passenger side; trees
Road on driver side; about 15 feet wide
Picnic table on gravel area
Fire pit
Mostly clean site

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
70 PSI water, conveniently located
Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 30-60 Mbps down, 2-5 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
AT&T: 400-450 Mbps down, 6 Mbps up, 40-80 ms ping
Verizon: 10 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

Garbage dumpster by entrance
Dump station
Walking paths
Lake

Our review on Campground Reviews:

An oasis in the heart of Columbia

This park is smack dab in the middle of Columbia, but you’d never know that while you’re there since it’s so peaceful, with a nice lake and walking paths. A lot of the sites are unlevel without full hookups, but we had site 6 which was good in both regards. It was plenty long enough for our 40′ motorhome and tow vehicle, with a spacious living area next to the woods. The road leading into the campground has some large concrete bollards surrounding a narrow curving choke point, which made it a little interesting getting in and out. The roads are single-lane and one-way, with the dump station at that choke point, which meant a slight wait to get out when everyone else was also leaving and needed to dump their tanks. But that’s a minor thing to deal with when the rest of the stay was very pleasant. We camped at Sesquicentennial State Park in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Adding the South Carolina sticker:

Adding South Carolina sticker

We also added the Congaree National Park sticker, after visiting that:

Congaree National Park sticker

Park entrance:

Entrance

Campground entrance:

Campground entrance

Campground sign:

Campground sign

Fire pit, little library, pay phone:

Fire pit, little library, pay phone

Group fire pit

Little library

Pay phone

Campground host:

Campground host

Truck towing a fiver towing a trailer with a golf cart:

Truck towing fiver towing trailer with golf cart

Other sites:

Other sites

Bathrooms

Other sites

Dump station:

Dump station

Splash pad, popular with kids during the day:

Splash pad

Playground:

Playground

A nice lake:

Lake

Rental boats

Lake

Path

Cascades:

Waterfall

Stream

Bridge

Nice picnic shelter:

Nice picnic shelter

Ranger station and gift store:

Ranger station

Gift store:

Gift store

Some park-branded jams; we got Two Notch Traffic Jam (the park is off the busy Two Notch Road) and Sunday Picnic Sweet Tea Jelly (Jenn’s been enjoying Southern sweet tea):

Jams

(Though I had to go back a different day, as we went there on a walk without our wallets, and they don’t take ApplePay.)

Eastern box turtle:

Turtle

Stuffed birds:

Stuffed birds

Video

Video: Rutledge, Georgia to Columbia, South Carolina motorhome travel timelapse

A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 187 miles from Rutledge, Georgia to Columbia, South Carolina.

Travel from Rutledge, Georgia to Columbia, South Carolina

We drove our coach 187 miles, about three hours of driving, from Rutledge, Georgia to Columbia, South Carolina. The first of a series of new states for us.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading east:

Route map

An interactive map:

I was a bit concerned about leaving our site, as it was kinda steep:

Leaving site

But we managed without too much difficulty:

Leaving site

We left the park via Knox Chapel Road, to avoid a bad railroad crossing in downtown Rutledge:

Knox Chapel Road

We still had to go over an unlevel railroad crossing, but this was the best of the three options:

Railroad crossing

Nice new road surface:

Nice new road surface

Joining I-20 East, with an Eisenhower Interstate System sign:

Eisenhower Interstate System

Roadworks:

Roadworks

Fun with zoom:

Fun with zoom

A Southern swooper; we’ve noticed that Southern drivers tend to swoop in front of us, way too close for safety. Give some space before moving over, people!

Southern swooper