Out with the old.

In spite of the fact that I am so tired I can hardly see straight, I  took down the ugly, dirty, out dated valances in the living area of the 5er. Until I can find some cloth valances, this will do. At least it looks and feels cleaner in here.

Next thing to do is cover the old gaudy wallpaper borders throughout.  I don't want to wreck the walls with the removal so I will have to cover them with something else. Oh what fun that will not be.

A "heated" discussion.

Todays chat is about RV Hot Water Heaters.  More specifically RV hot water heater maintenance. 

Most RV’s have one of two types of water heaters that both operate the same. The difference being one has an aluminum tank while the other has a steel tank. They also come in standard size of 6 gal. or and upgraded 10 gal. tank. The fuel source which they run on is electric and or propane. Now not to be confusing but there are some other options out there as well but for this decision we are going to limit the scope of our coverage to the two most common units.

First you might say, what maintenance, I have a water heater in the house and never have even looked at it? Good question but that unit has been setting in the same place since it has been installed and usually has between a 40 and 69 gallon tank. Where an rv water heater again has a much smaller tank and the thing has been bumping down the road it’s whole life. 

The aluminum water heater tank, which is more expensive to purchase and is considered  an upgrade, is lighter and needs little more than a rinsing out to clean. More and more of these aluminum tank water heaters are being used today but the steel tank water heater is still the more common one you will find in an rv.

As our 5er has a 10 gal. steel tanked water heater this will be the one I am describing the on maintenance today. 

Ok so we have been getting some odd smells in the sink when running the hot water. After talking to an RV repairman here in Yuma, he suggested that by servicing the Hot Water Heater (under full time use should be done several times a year) it would more than likely resolve the issue. After reviewing on line how to rinse and inspect the tank, as well as the replacement of the Anode Rod (a magnesium sacrificial rod that erodes rather than the steel tank), I ran across the site that went into more detail about the oder issue. After reading about and watching the video this process made the most sense to me.

As some of you may have gathered I not only like doing my own service work on our RV but I also would rather do all of it at once rather than short sheet the job over a few extra bucks.

Our RV is in very nice shape but it is not new nore had I ever done this before so it did take a 1 1/16 6 point socket purchase to remove the anode rod. The tank had not been thoroughly cleaned out for many years and even though the anode rod had been replaced it was already down to 1/2 life because of the hardness of the water in the parks we have been staying at. 

First task to do was turn off the fuel supply to the hot water heater, in our case that meant shutting down both the propane and electrical supply specifically directed to the heater. Then run the hot water faucet until the water cools down, shut down the water supply while leaving the hot water faucet open to bleed down the pressure from the tank into the sink.

Next was to pull the pressure relief valve’s handle to drain off any residual pressure that may still have built up. After these steps have been taken you can now remove the anode rod to drain the tank. In our case, as we were going to cook out the tank with distilled vinegar, we also need to remove the pressure relief valve mounted at the top of the tank to give access to fill the tank. This valve had never been removed and to say it took a little persuasion might seem be an understatement but it did finally come loose. 

After thoroughly rinsing out the loose deposits in the tank, with a RV hot water heater rinse wand using fresh water, the old anode rode was replaced and 5 gallons of distilled vinegar was added and to make a 50/50 mixture in the tank. Then turning back on the water and propane we let the tank reheat and set over night making sure as to not use any hot water to keep from contaminating the lines. The following morning the cleaning process was repeated yielding the anticipated result. A nice clean tank with almost all the calcium deposits removed was the end result.

Both a new anode rod and pressure relief valve were installed and the tank refilled with fresh water. The propane was then turned back on and the heater restarted using propane to speed the process.  With the water heated back up, in about a 15 minutes, we turned on the hot water faucets and our odd smell was gone.

As a side note, the water now heats faster both on propane and or electricity as well.

Chrome and more chrome

Yesterday we went to a car, truck and bike show at the Yuma fairgrounds with another couple. There was so much chrome on some of the cars that sunglasses were needed. All the time and work involved in restoring and taking care of these beautiful pieces of history boggles my mind. Some vehicles were not oldies but well loved by their owners just the same. I fell in love with a red motorcyle that was bright red and so much chrome that I would bet the motor was not meant to be run.

There were cars of all ages, colors and makes. Mark and I were loving every minute of seeing them. Again chrome was in abundance on the cars as well.

All in all it was a day well spent.

Just me this time.

It's been awhile since either of us has posted, and it looks as though you are stuck with me for now. My days are quite mundane, shopping, laundry and cleaning. Mark is always with me so the chores are a lot more fun than mundane. Oh and not to mention eating. We do love to eat out and my waisteline is showing just that. :( But we are enjoying our new way of life.

After much deliberation we decided that the first water softener we got in September was not going to work for us. The water here in Yuma is so hard it's like taking a shower in a rock storm. So we ordered the larger unit. As is true with many things the smaller unit started working better for us by the time the new  one came. So we waited a couple days before installing the larger unit.

After installation, which went smoothly, we were quite anxious to take a shower. Oh my gracious, it was the softest water imaginable. The difference between the two softeners was unbelievable. Nothing feels as good as taking a shower and having the soap lather and rinse off cleaning, and feeling clean when you are done.

The portable softeners take just a container of table salt to recharge.  So it is not costly to use and it makes the water easier on the water heater, tanks, skin and leaves dishes cleaner looking. The water in Yuma is so hard that you would think that you can walk on it. And I swear that is where half of my bruises are coming from. hehe  We don't have room or a need for two softeners so Mark sold our smaller one to a neighbor whose wife is not happy with the hard water here. The water is not only hard, it smells. You can not cook with it or drink it. Not that the water is bad for you but it tastes terrible. Sure ruins a cup of coffee or a whiskey water. ;) Which is why we buy bottled water. There are also water stations everywhere you look, that are only 25¢ a gallon.

Mark's sister called to tell us they are now in Mesa for the winter. Mesa and Phoenix are about 183 miles and more from here. Which also means we are warmer. We look forward to meeting up with them at a place of interest somewhere in between. They have been our greatest supporters on our lifestyle change. Can't thank them enough for all their help too.

Sunday after church here in the resort, we went to lunch with a fun couple from here. He is so full of one liners that it's like being in  sitcom, and the wife, is just the sweetest gal and so fun too. After lunch we went for a tour of how the Yumaninte's live. hehe My goodness what a modge podge of homesites. One house is just  so beautiful and a "regular" house, and the neighbor could be a mobile home, RV or a shed, and well kept or a real mess. We are beginning to believe that there is no city ordinance what so ever around here. Some neighborhoods are so beautiful and across the street is what they call county. County would be like welfare to us in MN. But the homes and lots are a real disaster to put it nicely. It looks more like a ghetto.  You never know  what your new neighbor will do with their lot. All lots are also walled all the way around with a fancy gate entrance for both people, car and RV, with bricks, and nicely done. I'm sure it is to keep the blowing sand down.

This morning we were a coolish 51º, which is pretty normal for this time of year. It is after all winter in Arizona. The days ahead are said to be heading to the mid 60 after today. This sure beats the Minnesota winters we left behind.  Yep, we are still liking it here in Yuma.

That's it for now, time to open windows and let the sun shine in.

New Years in Yuma

Usually we go out for supper with close friends on New Year's Eve, but for some reason they decided not to go out with us this year. LOL Well, I guess Yuma, AZ is a bit far to go just for supper. So we had a quiet night, just the two of us, or should I say 3 or us; Lola was here too.

Mark enjoyed his meal of lobster tails. I enjoyed crab legs. Just to let you know how sweet my hubby can be.... my hands don't work the way they used to due to arthritis setting in, so Mark helped open the last few clusters of crab legs for me. How sweet is that? Of course for all his efforts I shared some of the crab meat with him.

One of the neighbors here is an avid shooter and told of us a free shooting range. So on Tuesday, Jan. 3 we headed out to send some lead flying.  The range was really out in the boonies, but was set up quite nice for being free to use. There were concrete tables and seats  and multiple areas to shoot depending on what firearm you were using. We thought we had packed more ammo than we did so our shooting time wasn't as long as it normally would've been.  What we didn't bring with us would've added too much weight to the 5er. The air started to get quite cool so I was happy to call it quits when we did anyway.

The targets were my friend at first and Marks enemy. But after a few rounds thing evened out. hehe As you can see by the picture we didn't do too badly. It was fun none the less.

In the afternoon Mark took me to Urgent care to seek treatment for severely swollen glands. After 4 hours of sitting in the waiting room I finally I got into the doctor's little room. But there I still had to wait another hour. He told me I had what I already knew and how to treat it, which I also knew how to do. The one thing I needed was an antibiotic. So off to Walgreens for the medication. And there I had to wait an hour and half. Well me, not being a patient person to begin with, had used up all the patience I had and we headed home for something to eat. By that time we both were starving.

When we were told that everyone in the south has one speed, slow, I didn't think it was really that bad. Boy did we learn how true that statement was today.

What a way to start the new year. It could have been worse though. Hopefully the rest of the year goes more smoothly.

An electrical end to 2016

Ok so whats new in Yuma Az.

Happy New Year! I just had my coffee out on the High Plains desert which is something I do almost every morning as I watch traffic traveling down the frontage road and I8 that runs past our RV site. It is breeze this morning, 55 deg. and the sky is overcast. I must admit it feels good to have it a little on the cool side, not cold, but cool is good.

I have been doing a little more work on the RV in my spare retirement time…..hehehe

I installed a new outside lite. Its a motion censored led lite that tied right into where the old analog lite was so it still works off the same switch. Flip it once and it is on motion flip it on twice and it is on like a regular outside door lite. Works great, takes less juice from the battery’s and is a lot brighter.

Cindy wanted more light above the stove so I put a new light in the fan above the stove. That took a little revamping of the mount but also being an extra bright led does a great job as well. While at it I replaced the cabinet light on the kitchen side with a new led too. This one can be dimmed so she can set the brightness as needed.

As we replaced the kitchen faucet before leaving on this adventure now seemed like a great time, because of age, to replace both the bathroom sink faucet and the tub faucet including shower head and hose. All work went surprisingly well considering plumbing is my least liked job. It probably helped that I spilled water on myself before I even started so I was already wet. 

As we have had days of it being overcast were back on shore power instead of the solar. If we were boondocking we would be running off the generator but the park does not allow their use because of noise so I just tied back into the parks power supply. On a side note the manual transfer switch I built is working well and can now run the a/c if needed off the generator which is why the auto switch was replaced. Win!

All is well here in Yuma and I am looking forward to another beautiful day spent with my lovely bride.

Here is hoping the New Year leads you on as wonderful an Adventure as Mine!