Broken Blog
Apologies, this blog is pretty broken right now. I will be fixing it soon. In the meantime, check out http://bryantrv.com to find info and manuals.
On update- it *might* be fixed- time will tell 🙂
LP Appliances- flame safety
My main troubleshooting philosophy has always been that in order to figure out what is wrong with an appliance or system, you need to understand how it works.
LP Appliances in RVs all- with the exception of the stove top burners- have some sort of flame detection and safety circuit, which senses whether a flame is burning, and shuts off the flow of gas if it isn’t. Through the years, there have been 4 major types of systems- all of which are still in use.
Tune up Your TV Antenna
Another of my old RV.net blog posts which was lost- Winegard has a new Razar antenna which has good performance, but it will be some time before any model catches up to the venerable Sensar, in both ultimate performance and installed customer base.
Tune Up Your Rooftop A/C
This is a post I wrote in 2008 for the RV.net blog- they have removed all old posts, and while it was written a while ago, it’s still relevant, so I am reprinting it here.
Tune up your Rooftop Air Conditioner
In some parts of the country, the heat is already here- in other parts, it’s well on its way, so I thought it might be good to talk about giving your rooftop air conditioner a basic tuneup.
A couple of things to remember about roof top RV air conditioners- all air conditioners work by removing heat (actually, all refrigeration works that way- as do heat pumps), and RV air conditioner- as they come from the factory- are hermetically sealed, and they only hold about 1 pound of refrigerant (at this time, R-22 is the refrigerant used when I first wrote this, now R-410A is the refrigerant of choice). The point of this is that with less than 1 pound of refrigerant and a sealed system, 99% of the time, “not enough cooling” complaints are due to air flow issues, and not lack of “Freon®”
Luckily, the average fix for this is easy- clean the coils! Let’s take a look at how to do this…. Read more
Freshening Website
I just updated bryantrv.com to an html5 “responsive” design- might make it easier to read on small screens, and should make it easier for me to add some features to make finding manuals and advice easier.
Kwikee repair, part 2
In my last post about Kwikee steps,I told about a repair kit for Kwikee step motors, that has since been discontinued. But… all is not lost- a quick trip to the local auto parts store let me fix a set of steps for a fraction of the cost of replacing the motor.
In fact, the parts cost a bit under $9, and saved having to buy an over $100 (if you buy a Kwikee brand motor), or around $60 (if you buy one from an auto parts store).
Help brand plugs
If your Kwikee steps simply get jammed, and you are getting power to them (you can hear the box click when you open or close the door, and the under step light is going on and off), quite often it is just these small plastic parts that are bad- not the whole motor. The symptoms of failure for these parts are that the step will get stuck in the extended or retracted position, yet the step is still getting power.
Let’s take a look at how to replace them…
Back in the saddle
I’ve been very bad about keeping up this blog- I have moved everything to a new host (I hope the last move for quite a while), and the “Brick and Mortar” business has been busy.
The move lost a bunch of my links to other blogs- I believe I can resurrect them, and some of internal links have changed.
But… stay tuned-
Blatant Plug
OK, a bit of a blatant plug for a book my father wrote- his first fiction (though not his first) book. I think it is a great book, as does Kirkus Discoveries:
An eclectic collection of short fiction and poetry explores the challenges faced by men as they age.
The author, now in his 80s, begins with a prologue reminding readers that “old age is neither a crime nor a sin,” but merely another stage of life with challenges and potential triumphs. Reflecting on the fact that more and more people are living to advanced ages, Bryant offers his work as a report on the road conditions from one who has traveled it, to those coming up behind him.
Old Men the book website.
I like it!
–Chris
More Dometic stuff…(good news for a change)
Some good news from Dometic- in a story from RV eNews.com, I see that Dometic is moving its refrigerator production from Sweden to the US- Elkhart, In.
This will create 180 new jobs right away, with over 200 jobs in the long run. They are closing an 80 year old plant in Sweden, and chose Elkhart over opening a plant in China or Mexico.
Props to Dometic!
–Chris
Website stuff
A quick note- I’ve moved my websites to a beta (experimental) server. It gives me much more control, but until it gets out of beta, there might be times when it acts odd.
So far so good, but I switch back and forth between the old and new servers. I promise not to loose any comments, though 🙂
To add to the fun- I had eye surgery which didn’t go as well as hoped, and then fell off a ladder, resulting in a hematoma in my chest…. argh!
–Chris
