Replacing fridge drawer cover

It’s said that an RV is a rolling earthquake, as things bounce around while driving down the road. Every time we open the fridge for the first time after (or during) a drive, we are careful to do so slowly, in case anything fell, like this occasion:

Fallen items in fridge

Heavy stuff like that OJ and wine landing on the cover of the bottom drawer in the fridge cracked it down the middle:

Cracked fridge drawer cover

I temporarily patched it with glue:

Cracked fridge drawer cover

But that obviously wasn’t a very satisfactory solution. Fortunately, I was able to find the replacement part on Amazon:

Replacement part

Which was trivial to swap out:

Replaced fridge drawer cover

Much better!

Replacing fuse for solar controller

Our coach came with one solar panel on the roof, and we had a couple more 190W panels added shortly after purchasing it.

Early last year I noticed that the solar controller was not receiving a charge, showing the moon icon during the day, and no amps coming in. I got NIRVC to look into that at my next service appointment, and they fixed it by replacing the fuse.

Recently, when the campground we were at had a power cut, I noticed that the problem had recurred:

Solar controller not receiving charge

I removed the panel and found the fuse:

Fuse

The fuse had indeed blown again:

Fuse

I didn’t have any mini fuses, so I bought an assortment from Amazon:

Fuses

Since it had blown twice, I figured that the increased capacity of the two extra panels was the cause, and decided to upgrade the fuse from 25 amps to 30 amps, since that is what the controller is rated at. I have no idea if that was the appropriate choice; if anyone has any guidance, let me know:

Fuse

The solar controller is now working, with the sun icon and showing 11.6 amps coming in (on a somewhat cloudy day):

Working solar controller

The controller re-mounted:

Working solar controller

Good to have that working, especially with a week without hookups at the Balloon Fiesta coming up.

360 camera mount on truck

I have an Insta360 X3 action camera, that you may have seen footage from in previous posts. When capturing video or a timelapse of a drive, I’ve previously held the invisible selfie stick out the window, which is a bit awkward.

So I thought I’d get a mount to attach it to the roof of the truck.

I opted for a magnetic mount, since our truck is often a bit dirty after being dragged behind our motorhome, or driving on dirt roads, so I thought a suction cup mount may not work well.

To avoid risking losing the camera if the magnets fail, I secured it with three safety tether cords; I initially only used one, but added a couple more when I wanted to use the camera on a travel day, since I would be in the coach and wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on it. (I removed the camera during a lunch stop, both so nobody steals it, and to recharge it for the remainder of the trip.)

Here’s the camera mount and tethers on our dusty truck:

Camera mount

One of the tethers was secured to the side mirror:

Secured to mirror

And the other two were secured to back seat ceiling grab handles:

Secured to grab handle

Another angle:

Camera mount

The 360 camera on the mount, oriented sideways for reduced wind resistance:

360 camera on mount

I don’t leave the mount and tethers there all the time, though they’re pretty unobtrusive, and fun for recording scenic drives and coach travel days. I might try variations on this placement in the future.

Stay tuned for a travel day video tomorrow, with a picture-in-picture of the back of the coach from this camera!

Wall Drug

Near Badlands National Park is the town of Wall, South Dakota, and a famous roadside tourist attraction called Wall Drug Store, or simply Wall Drug. (Wikipedia.)

Billboards along I-90:

Billboards along I-90

Wall

Map:

Wall Drug

We had lunch in the cafe:

Wall Drug

A special gravy-smothered sandwich:

Wall Drug

The “backyard”:

Wall Drug

Their first attraction, free ice water:

Wall Drug

Cheesetastic.

Fixing bathroom vent lid motor

The lift motor housing broke on the vent in our rear bathroom, so I replaced it.

Here’s the vent, with the decorative wooden cover open:

Vent

The broken housing:

Broken housing

I ordered a new motor from Amazon (cheaper than from the Tiffin parts store, though availability may be spotty):

New motor

Removing the old motor:

Removing old motor

Above that, the lift mechanism, which had become detached (causing the breakage):

Lift mechanism

The motor just plugs in to a couple of connectors:

Wires

The new motor and housing in place, after re-mounting the lift mechanism:

New motor

All better:

Vent

An easy fix, and as a bonus, it’s quieter now when opening and closing the vent.

Fixing black tank flush

The black tank flush on my coach stopped working. Apparently this is a common problem, if the flush nozzles get gummed up with crud or water calcification.

One of the members of my Tiffin Allegro Bus 2016-2018 Owners group on Facebook did a post about fixing theirs, which was very helpful. So I embarked on this adventure too.

The hardest thing is getting to it. I needed to remove this panel from the side of the coach:

Panel

The right side is easy enough, with a couple of brackets and screws easily accessed with the adjacent basement door open:

Bracket and screws

But the left side was tricker, with no door there, so I needed to insert a screwdriver between two panels. To protect the paint, I wrapped the screwdriver shaft with painters tape:

Screwdriver with painters tape

Then inserted the screwdriver to reach the four screws:

Screwdriver

That done, I was able to remove the panel:

Removed panel

The fresh water fill hose limited how much I could move the panel:

Fresh water fill

So I disconnected that too:

Disconnected

My little folding work stool was very helpful for this operation:

Stool and tools

Let’s have a look around, since I don’t get to see this stuff often. Here’s the black tank; the green circuit board is the See-Level tank sensor, and the yellow rectangle is one of the two sensors for the rear toilet (the other is above that, obscured by wires):

Black tank

To the left of the black tank is the gray water tank:

Gray tank

Below both waste tanks is the fresh water tank; the pipe in the foreground is the overflow and vent:

Fresh water tank and overflow

Pipes and wires from the bedroom and rear bathroom:

Pipes and wires

The horizontal-ish pipes are for the central vacuum system:

Vacuum

On the other side of that wall, a vacuum inlet and hatch in the adjacent compartment (we don’t use this vacuum; preferring to use a cordless stick vac):

Vacuum

Anyway, to business. Here’s the culprit, the “No-Fuss” Flush:

No-Fuss Flush

I removed it from the black tank; a bit gunky:

Removed

Cleaned up somewhat:

Cleaned

I tested it, but it still didn’t work very well, so I drilled out the holes a bit more (on the bottom and sides):

Drilled

That solved it; the holes sprayed nicely.

To re-mount, I used plumbers putty to seal it:

Plumbers putty

And re-mounted it (the water is from testing it):

Re-attached

Then just a matter of re-attaching the fresh water fill hose and re-mounting the coach panel.

All better now. Hopefully I won’t have to do that again any time soon, but it wasn’t particularly difficult, other than removing and re-attaching the coach panel.

Devils Tower / Black Hills KOA Journey

We stayed at Devils Tower / Black Hills KOA Journey in Devils Tower, Wyoming. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A partial view of Devils Tower, from just outside the monument.

Dates:

Check in: 2023-08-16
Check out: 2023-08-19
3 nights

Weather:

Sunny
High temps ranging between 87-95°F, lows around 56-73°F
Wind gusts up to 33 MPH gusts

Noise:

Negligible road noise
No train noise
Negligible neighbor noise

Site:

#38, pull-through, gravel
Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
Level front-to-back, a little unlevel side-to-side
Gravel driveway about 75 feet long by about 10 feet wide
Grass between sites about 20 feet wide
No tree on this site, big trees elsewhere
Picnic table on grass
Next to the group fire pit
Partial front view of Devils Tower

Utilities:

50 amp power, very conveniently located
80 PSI water, conveniently located
Good sewer connection, inconveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 16 Mbps down,16 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
Verizon: 13-25 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
AT&T: 82 Mbps down, 2-6 Mbps up, 120 ms ping
Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Starlink: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters
Closed swimming pool
Mini-golf (free due to closed pool)
Package delivery to office
Onsite cafe
Right outside Devils Tower entrance

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Not all “premium” sites have a good view

The only way to get closer to Devils Tower National Monument would be to stay inside the monument at the rustic first-come-first-serve campground. We booked a premium site online, assuming it would have a view of the tower from our site. Not so much. There were big trees in the way, so we only got a slight peep of the lower edge of the tower. For $100/night (with our KOA discount), I was expecting a front-row seat. From our scouting, the best sites for a good view are 100, 86-89. We were in site 38. Site 37 probably had a better view. The other downside of site 38 was that so many people walked through our site, thinking it was the pathway to the bathhouse. Hint: It’s not. The picnic table and the lack of a pathway are clues, people. The onsite diner was a nice perk, but I’m wary of any place with that many flies in the eating area. We camped at Devils Tower / Black Hills KOA Journey in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: You could get up early to get to the tower to beat the crowds, but going in the late afternoon/evening is just as good. Definitely go up the dirt road to Joiner Ridge trailhead and get a fantastic view of the tower at sunset lit up with alpenglow.

The campground map:

Map

Interactive map:

Our site, with a partial view of the tower:

Our site

A group fire pit was next to our site, which they lit each night, though nobody used it:

Group fire pit next to our site

Sun setting behind Devils Tower:

Sun setting behind Devils Tower

Gift store:

Gift store

Onsite cafe, always a nice option, though it was rather inundated with flies:

Cafe

They offered “hayrides”, hay not included:

Hayride

Across the road is the Devils Tower Trading Post:

Trading Post

We went there for dinner another night, and grabbed some questionable hot dogs (that we think gave us some mild food poisoning):

Trading Post

Post office:

Post office

Mini golf:

Mini golf

The mini golf was free, as the boot-shaped swimming pool was unavailable:

Swimming pool

Carts:

Carts

Other sites:

Other sites

Site 100 would be an excellent choice for a side view of the tower:

Other sites

Sites 86-89 would have a decent front view, too:

Other sites

Dog park:

Other sites

Playground:

Playground

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Cabins:

Cabins

Lots of tent sites:

Lots of tent sites

Teepees:

Teepees

A badly angled peek inside a teepee:

Teepee

Interesting rocks and stream:

Interesting rocks and stream

Meadow and tower:

Meadow and tower

Replacing wiper blades

An easy and necessary maintenance item for our coach is to replace the windshield wiper blades on occasion.

Our 2017 Tiffin Allegro Bus 40SP motorhome takes a pair of 40-inch frame- or saddle-style blades. I previously ordered some from etrailer.com, but most recently got some from Amazon.

New and old blades:

New and old blades

They are each attached to their arm via a bolt; I have the bolt inserted from the top, so even if the nut comes off, the bolt won’t fall out:

Mounting bolt

Mounting nut:

Mounting nut

The new blades installed (with one obscured by a Magne-Shade cover):

Installed

Easy!

SnapPads

When we park our coach on an unlevel site, typically high in the back, our front hydraulic jacks sometimes can’t cope, so we need to add extra blocks between the jacks and jack pad:

Jacks, blocks, jack pad

To help with that, I purchased a couple of SnapPads, just for the front jacks. We can’t get them for the back jacks, as the jacks are too close to the rear wheels. SnapPads are permanently-attached pads that expand the footprint of the jack a little, and add an extra inch of height, so I hoped that’d help with unlevel sites.

(If you’re in the market for them, you can save 10% off SnapPads with the discount code: DAVID08638.)

Here’s a SnapPad before installation:

SnapPad

It’s simple to install a SnapPad; just squirt a little dish soap around the inner rim, to make it easier to get it on, then line it up below the jack, and lower the jack into place (it helps to have two people, one to control the jack, one to tweak the alignment. Here’s a SnapPad after attaching and lifting up a bit:

SnapPad