Benign Neglect December 11, 2018, 10:30:52 pm Okay, I should have known better, but sometimes life gets in the way of good intentions.Rather than incur the wrath of my dear Daughter I decided I needed to check out "The Bones" (2004 30'IB) before she (the Daughter and my RV) departs for Joshua Tree the day after Christmas.Since the rig had not been started for an extended period it came as no big surprise when the engine refused to crank, sounding out a few feeble clicks instead. Of course I knew that my next step would have to be a jump start but it was late in the day and dinner was more important.Bright and early (10:30am, 36°) I got the cables attached and turned the key... nada! Oops, guess that initial reading of 9.33 volts was more serious than I thought! So, cooling my heels I let the Honda CRV have some time to provide a trickle charge. Took more time and a couple of tries but I finally got the Big Girl to crank and run. At 14.1 volts I'm a happy camper.With spare time on my hands I took note of the instruments on the dash. What's this? "Low Fuel", I'd never before seen that message and in light of the fact that the last thing I did before shutting her down, some time back, was to fill the tank. Even the fuel gauge was on zero. But wait, my Ultra Gauge was on top of the situation and it's telling me the tank is full. ? Finally, after a prolonged time period the two gauges agreed with one another. Whew!One final trial... when I went to retract the levelers that system was out to lunch. Remembering an old trick, learned long ago, I disconnected the power cable to the control pad and was gratified to see the system come to life when it was reconnected. Dodged another bullet!Worst thing about the entire day was that I missed my afternoon nap. 2 Likes
Re: Benign Neglect Reply #1 – December 11, 2018, 10:35:19 pm Quote from: Lazy Bones - December 11, 2018, 10:30:52 pmOkay, I should have known better, but sometimes life gets in the way of good intentions.Rather than incur the wrath of my dear Daughter I decided I needed to check out "The Bones" (2004 30'IB) before she (the Daughter and my RV) departs for Joshua Tree the day after Christmas.Since the rig had not been started for an extended period it came as no big surprise when the engine refused to crank, sounding out a few feeble clicks instead. Of course I knew that my next step would have to be a jump start but it was late in the day and dinner was more important.Bright and early (10:30am, 36°) I got the cables attached and turned the key... nada! Oops, guess that initial reading of 9.33 volts was more serious than I thought! So, cooling my heels I let the Honda CRV have some time to provide a trickle charge. Took more time and a couple of tries but I finally got the Big Girl to crank and run. At 14.1 volts I'm a happy camper.With spare time on my hands I took note of the instruments on the dash. What's this? "Low Fuel", I'd never before seen that message and in light of the fact that the last thing I did before shutting her down, some time back, was to fill the tank. Even the fuel gauge was on zero. But wait, my Ultra Gauge was on top of the situation and it's telling me the tank is full. ? Finally, after a prolonged time period the two gauges agreed with one another. Whew!One final trial... when I went to retract the levelers that system was out to lunch. Remembering an old trick, learned long ago, I disconnected the power cable to the control pad and was gratified to see the system come to life when it was reconnected. Dodged another bullet!Worst thing about the entire day was that I missed my afternoon nap. Time for you to buy a lottery ticket, Steve. 1 Likes
Re: Benign Neglect Reply #2 – December 12, 2018, 12:30:37 am The vampires got you. I want to add a charge line from the house batteries, but that doesn't help when it's undercover - they both trickle down.When the battery is dead enough, it forgets a lot of things.Good you caught it and she didn't.Joel 2 Likes
Re: Benign Neglect Reply #3 – December 12, 2018, 08:04:21 am I put a trickle charger in mine for the winter to avoid this situation. Pretty simple and cheap remedy really. Letting a battery go dead severely reduces it's life span especially a battery that's not deep cycle.
Re: Benign Neglect Reply #4 – December 12, 2018, 10:36:40 am "Letting a battery go dead severely reduces it's life span especially a battery that's not deep cycle." Well, don't want to beat myself too much... the battery had a good life. Next month would have been the beginning of it's sixth year of service. 1 Likes
Re: Benign Neglect Reply #5 – December 12, 2018, 10:51:24 am Quote from: Lazy Bones - December 12, 2018, 10:36:40 am"Letting a battery go dead severely reduces it's life span especially a battery that's not deep cycle." Well, don't want to beat myself too much... the battery had a good life. Next month would have been the beginning of it's sixth year of service. Kind of like me. Whatever happens at this point is irrelevant, I've had a good run. 2 Likes
Re: Benign Neglect Reply #6 – December 12, 2018, 12:00:08 pm Steve,Earlier this year, my Avalon dash (I may have mentioned this already) was totally “whacked”. The car was not running (it was break time and all I wanted to do was play the radio) and the Speedo showed I was going 65mph, standing still. The temp showed that the engine was overheated (after sitting off in the parking lot for six hours). Actually everything was cock-eyed even the trunk wouldn’t open with the key.For some reason (after fiddling about with things) the car did start, and I made it home. The dash still showed all the crazy readouts from earlier (it ran and behaved normally but the dash was freaking out).The following day my mechanic located the problem-a loose battery connection. Who knew that such insane behaviour could be caused by such a simple problem? Not me.Good news is that other than the worry of spending a ton on repairs my mechanic didn’t charge me a dime to tighten the battery cable. Good to have friends in high places.Just an aside here. If you don’t already have a lithium jumper in the LD, there are plenty of shopping days left before Christmas. I never leave home without mine and carry a spare in the Sequoia back at the homestead.Kent 1 Likes
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Topic: Benign Neglect (Read 259 times)
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