Northern Texas, that is...
That's where we ended up last night after our generator went on strike.
We haven't been dry camping much since we first bought JohnnyDisco back in February 2010, although we have run the generator once a month for an hour, to keep it in shape. But we've never really put a heavy load on it (turned on a lot of electric powered things at once).
And when we hit Moab a few days ago, the stubborn thing wouldn't even start. We'd press the button to fire it up, the genny would choke out a few weak glub, glub glubs and then die out. So we tried boondocking without it when we were in Albuquerque, but after only one night of that nonsense we knew it had to be fixed ASAP. (Neither of us are mentally equipped to handle 5:30 am without coffee.)
Instead of staying in NW New Mexico, our little RV family packed up and hit the eastbound highway to Amarillo, Texas - home of the nearest Onan generator dealer on our route.
We didn't have an appointment and ended up dropping into the dealer early Monday afternoon.
Josh, the mechanic, took a quick peek at it and told us it wouldn't start cause we were only firing on one cylinder.
Good thing we're already heading to the Tiffin mothership in Alabama cause apparently the whole thing needs to be ripped out and repaired or replaced. Arrrrrrrrrrrrrgh.
Josh from Cummins/Onan showed us how to start it until we could get it repaired. He was a super nice guy and refused to charge us for his time so My Fella slipped him $10 for lunch or a beer after work. If he was even old enough to buy beer. The guy had the knowledge of a seasoned forty year old, but looked about fifteen. Damn. Isn't that what old people say?
Question for anyone who has ever been to Texas: Is it always so windy in Amarillo? Gusty winds tossed JohnnyDisco around like a feather on the interstate and My big strong Fella had a major struggle staying on course. My Guy put up a good fight but the wind zapped us in the end when My Fella opened his driver side door and it was blown out of his hands. The door stabilizer strap ripped off at the screws and our aluminum coffee cup blew thru the cupholder and all the way down to the fenceline. Is this a seasonal thing or is Amarillo just a really windy place?
Edited later to add: Thanks Bev & Vic W for the info about the Texas wind. Have a wonderful winter in Lo de Marcos with the Pa and Ma Outlaw - and I hope you don't mind that I posted some of your email below...
"I saw on your blog about the wind in Texas. From our experience and that of our friends who winter in the Lower Rio Grande every winter, it is always windy in Texas. If you put out your awning, only do so when you are there to tend to it. Otherwise, you'll come from a nice excursion to find a torn awning. We hit strong winds on highway 20 last spring on our way to Fort Worth TX. Our mirrors lost most of their paint from being sandblasted by the wind!"
Our last 2 motorhomes had Onan gas generators and neither one of them started easily. We used more gasoline running them once a month for exercise then we did actually using them. Often a fouled sparkplug will give problems, so I always have a wrench to take it out and clean it. To make coffee in the morning we boil water on the gas stove and pour it thru a Melitta coffee filter manual drip cone. It is very fast and we don't have to run the generator.
Posted by: Don | October 27, 2011 at 09:13 PM
We had a cold front blow in on our way to Lake Havasu. By evening it was rocking the boat uh motorhome. We put in the slides and slept comfortably that way. Next day it was deemed too windy to drive on so we spent an extra day in Havasu. Today we braved the winds (not nearly so bad) and are in Quartzsite at the good old Kofa Mountain RV park (p.a.)This is our third time here. Not sure where we are going tomorrow. Will keep in touch.
Ma and Pa Outlaw (lol)
Posted by: Mave | October 27, 2011 at 09:53 PM
Oh man! So sorry to hear about the generator! We have ours serviced every year or two in Yuma and was told by them to run it under load for an hour and a half every three weeks. I know this is difficult when you are parked long term but somehow it has to be done. This is going to be expensive!
On the positive side, the markets skyrocketed today (Thursday) so you will have money to pay for it!
Posted by: Croft | October 27, 2011 at 10:54 PM
Mr P - I'm hoping this is something as simple as a spark plug but the Onan mechanic seemed to think it was a bigger problem.
Will your leg heal in time for a short RV getaway this winter?
Posted by: kelsi | October 28, 2011 at 05:53 AM
Ma 'n Pa Outlaw - Bev and Vic emailed and are excited to hook up with you guys in Tucson. Have fun at the zoo!
Still have all your credit cards and envelope of cash or did you leave it somewhere? :)
Posted by: kelsi | October 28, 2011 at 05:58 AM
Mexi-Croft - yup, that was a sweet market bounce. I'm tempted to sell a few things an take some profits, then buy back in on the next dip. There will always be another dip.
Our genny has been pretty weak since day one and the coach is still a 2010 model so we're pushing the manufacturer to cover it. To be honest, for all the research we did before buying our rig and all the fantastic things we heard about Tiffin quality, we sure feel like we got a lemon with this coach. We're definitely planning on having a quick sit down with Bob Tiffin to express our disappointment.
Posted by: kelsi | October 28, 2011 at 06:06 AM
Hi Kelsi, it is unlikely that we will go anywhere this winter, I need 2 more operations on my leg and that being a pre existing condition it would not be covered if I had problems in the USA. (The only real warm place to travel to with our RV anyway).
Does anyone have any ideas on what tricks to use when starting an Onan genset so it starts right away without cranking and cranking?
Posted by: Don | October 28, 2011 at 06:51 AM