By golly I heard Crickets chirping Sunday night when I took Pheebs out about 8 o’clock. Now how special is that under a clear starry night sky on our last night in Congress. Except……it wasn’t our last night in Congress. We are still here!!!! Thought we had the problem with our Dometic fridge resolved but obviously not. Turned it on (gas) Sunday & when we checked Monday morning the fridge part was not working at all but the freezer was cold as ice. We were not happy campers!!!!!!!!!
MAYBE WE SHOULD BE LOADING THESE HORSESHOES ONBOARD FOR GOOD LUCK >>>
When Renee from North Ranch was here a few days ago she in passing mentioned there was an RV techy guy she knew living at North Ranch who was available to help folks with various RV problems & projects. Kelly emailed Renee for the fellow’s phone number & we gave him call. Vern said he was familiar with Dometic refrigerators & came over to our place first thing Monday morning. Checked this, checked that, checked the other thing but could not really find anything wrong anywhere. Repositioned the cold sensing device & we thought it seemed to start cooling. But as it turns out we only seemed to think that. Vern told us to check the fridge in a couple hours which we did……fridge was still warm:(( I moved the rig back to it’s normal parking spot with the fridge side in the shade & plugged into electricity to see if at least that still worked. Nope that didn’t cool the fridge down either. Needless to say we were again hugely disappointed. On our trip down it was the inverter problem & now we could be looking at what could be a major fridge repair. And the fridge is less than 2 years old.
THIS IS QUITE A JEEP VERN TRAVELS IN
VERN CHECKS OUT OUR DOMETIC PROBLEM
GOT A LOT OF TOOLS IN THAT THERE JEEP
AND GUESS WHAT THAT 1990 JEEP HAS UNDER THE HOOD
THAT’S A CORVETTE ENGINE WITH LESS THAN 20,000 MILES ON IT
Warm enough Sunday night that I slept with my window open & my overhead fan going. We were both up shortly after 5 & actually had our morning coffee on the front porch. Brought my computer out & how nice to sit there in the darkness watching a slow ever lightning sunrise. Roosters crowing, early birds chirping, nice Moon, & Crickets. What a nice way to start a day. If only our day could have stayed that way.
AL CHECKS SOME TIRE PRESSURES
Most of our time on this weather perfect Monday was spent sitting quietly on our front porch reading, stressing out over the fridge problem, & considering our options. We knew there was an RV repair place south of Wickenburg but after reading reviews about the place we decided it was definitely not one of our options.
LES CAME BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON TO SPRAY OUR WEEDS
Double checked our fridge on electric later in the afternoon & the fridge was still warm. Time to call in the big guys. After checking & finding favorable reviews for Camping World between Williams & Flagstaff Arizona Kelly phoned & we have an appointment there for Wednesday morning. It’s on our proposed route anyway so it just made good sense to go there. We will put our fridge stuff in coolers & hope Camping World can fix us up. Sooooooooo looks like we will leave here sometime Tuesday & probably head for the KOA Campground right on I-40 at Williams whereupon we’ll spend the night. We’ve been there before. From there it’s just a short drive in the morning to Camping World.
And ‘Oh Oh’ here’s another ‘Oh Oh’!! Checking the weather forecast it looks like rain is moving into the whole area in a couple days. Saw some overnight lows around the freezing mark at higher elevations like Flagstaff & the Grand Canyon. If it’s cold & wet we will skip the Grand Canyon area & head for Valley Of The Gods Utah in search of warm sunny days. It’s the nice part of traveling without reservations. Go where you want when you want. Can’t imagine doing it any other way………….
In a comment on my Friday post the Furry Gnome from Seasons In The Valley asked, ‘But isn't there a lot to do to leave the house safely for six months? The simple answer to this question is ‘yes’ but we do have some positives on our side. We are fortunate in Bayfield to live in a relative crime free area. We have watch-full neighbors & we have a fellow who comes in to check on things regularly. If our house was located in the country it would definitely be a big worry & concern for us. As much as we would prefer to live in the countryside somewhere there are definite advantages to living in a community & security is one of the biggest factors. Before leaving in the Fall we have to turn off the outside water. We set our furnace to 45F & & leave the heat vents open to the bathroom & kitchen where water pipes & faucets are located. We also learned through experience to replace the batteries in our thermostat as well. We put our cable TV & Internet service on hold until we return & our neighbor picks up our mail at the mailroom. If he thinks there is something in the mail we should know about he emails us. Anyway that is sort of how we do it……sort of:))
Routine for leaving our Congress house is much the same except for a few differences. We notify the water company we are leaving & they come & shut our water off after we leave. Notify post office to forward any mail to Canada. We turn off the main electricity breaker. A set of keys over to our neighbors & they check our house for us when we’re away. Also put our Canadian Shaw Direct TV on hold until we return. We close & lock all windows then pull the curtains & that’s kind of just about it until we return sometime in the Fall.
CHATTING IT UP WITH LES WHILE HE SPRAYS THE WEEDS
Okay, hopefully tomorrow night at this time my post will be coming to you from somewhere other than here where I am at right now…………………….:))
GROANER’S CORNER:(( Comparison of Philosophical Theories in the Late 20th Century:::
Capitalism - He who dies with the most toys, wins.
Hari Krishna - He who plays with the most toys, wins.
Catholicism - He who denies himself the most toys, wins.
Anglican - They were our toys first.
Greek Orthodox - No, they were OURS first.
Atheism - There is no toy maker.
Polytheism - There are many toy makers.
Evolutionism - The toys made themselves.
Church of Christ Scientist - We are the toys.
Communism - Everyone gets the same number of toys, and you are in big trouble if we catch you selling yours.
B'Hai - All toys are just fine with us.
Amish - Toys with batteries are surely a sin.
Taoism - The doll is as important as the dumptruck.
Mormonism - Every boy can have as many toys as he wants.
Voodoo - Let me borrow that doll for a second.
Hinduism - He who plays with bags of plastic farm animals, loses.
7th Day Adventist - He who plays with his toys on Saturday, loses.
Southern Baptist - If your toy is a Disney product, you have a one-way ticket to Hell.
Jehovah's Witnesses - He who sells the most toys door-to-door, wins.
Pentecostalism - He whose toys can talk, wins.
Existentialism - Toys are a figment of your imagination.
Confucianism - Once a toy is dipped in the water, it is no longer dry.
Non-denominationalism - We don't care where the toys came from, let's just play with them.
Agnosticism - It is not possible to know whether toys make a bit of difference.
Unitarian Universalism - We still haven't decided if the toys exist.
Bummer big guy. Wish I knew a simple answer, but I do not. ( I would suspect a blocked by bird nest condenser or at worst a loss of most ammonia ). Good luck on an easy fix. ( any yellow stains around the pipes is very bad news ).
ReplyDeleteThe condenser is on top of your RV. The long plastic cover held in place by 4 screws, covers it. Perhaps you could get a phillips #2 screwdriver and flash light and make sure you see clean fins inside the top of the fridge, not a animal nest blocking airflow.
DeleteThat's a bummer. Hope they can fix your fridge so your can be on your way. Thanks for letting me know about Canyon de Chelly. I'm there now.
ReplyDeleteHey Al, We have a Dometic Sidewise refrigerator in our motorhome. Our freezer would get frosty cold and the refrigerator was in "Hi" mode as in temp to high. Our problem was the fan inside the refrigerator. I replaced the fan, freezer 3 degrees, refrigerator upper 30's/low 40's. Hope yours is a simple repair.
ReplyDeleteStay Safe
John
Al, have you considered talking/emailing Kevin of Kevin and Ruth? They have had frig problems and Kevin figured it out. Maybe he can help you......
ReplyDeleteSometimes, God has other plans for our movements. Trust Him. He may be saving you from a far larger problem.
Dang if it ain't always something. I had work done at that Camping World and they were very efficient, and pricey. Glad mine was a quickly solved problem as I hope yours is as well.
ReplyDeleteToo bad about the fridge but it seems that it happens to all of us at one time or another. Hang in there, it might just be a very simple fix.
ReplyDeleteOh crap, that isn't a good start. Sure hope the folks at Camping World can get it working for you and hopefully without it hitting the pocketbook too hard.
ReplyDeleteYep, we had the same problem with the Grand Canyon, our first attempt sent us running back to warmer and drier weather in Mesa for three days. We were going to try again but just decided at that point that we weren't going to have enough time to see it properly so just decided to put it off until the next time we are in the area. Hope things work out for you if not, I think you backup plan sounds great too.
www.travelwithkevinandruth.com
Total bummer! Sure hope you get it sorted out soon!
ReplyDeleteNina
Seems like I remember hearing about one (dometic fridge) with the same issue. Can't remember details or where it was I read about it (looking) what I do remember is that it was not a huge or costly issue. The Freezer working but not the fridge, they are not totally independent and it should be an easy fix. If I find the answer, I can email it to you.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you've got it all worked out well.
ReplyDeleteAt least you can get on the road, good luck with your fridge repair.
ReplyDeleteSorry about your delay... hope you get fixed up soon. Two years seems like a very short time to already be having problems.... maybe it's still under warranty?
ReplyDeleteDang it!!! Hope it's an easy fix, the cowboy says it doesn't make sense for the freezer to work and the refrigerator not--you can't control them separately???
ReplyDeleteHope all works out for you quickly and cheaply! At least you were home and could enjoy yet another beautiful day in the desert:) Safe travels:)
ReplyDeleteSo frustrating. I am hoping you are writing your next blog from somewhere else with a fridge that actually works again.
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed that the fix will be an easy one. We have had both good and bad experiences with Camping Worl repair. Lets hope you have a good experience to post about.
ReplyDeleteWe've used our fridge like a cooler by adding dry ice before. Found that the outside insulation had fallen down and blocked the air flow. The outside temps were 106 degrees.
ReplyDeleteWELL CRRRRRRRRRAP! Got my eyes, fingers, toes, arms and legs crossed for the refrig fix....Keep us informed!
ReplyDeleteI was so sorry to hear about your refrigerator problems. I hope you get on the road soon, have wonderful weather and take lots of pictures of the canyon. Safe and happy travels.
ReplyDeleteReally glad it did this before heading out with a frig full of food, no cooler, and no appointment for repair! It will get fixed, no matter what it is, and you'll be on your way to new adventures. A beautiful morning on the porch ain't so bad after all :-))))
ReplyDeleteRV Sue had a similar problem recently. http://rvsueandcrew.net/refrigerator-service-and-a-new-camp/
ReplyDeleteLet's see if I can get this straight it's a JEEP thinge it's got a c- vet CHEVY engine in it and a hood by VOLVO
ReplyDeleteI didn't look but I'm betting it's got Chinese tires on it
Sorry Al, but Trust me I'm not going to tell you how to fix damn refrigerator
But I will tell you as soon as you cross the Arizona State line going north temperatures going to drop down to 30 below so you want need the refrigerator anyways
If you get service work done at that campers world they usually have a spot for there customers
I also believe that it's a tax free zone
I know you're not a fan of truckstops but there is one right there at that exit. At the same exit a lot of open space as well to dry camp
Joy your day an safe driving
Hope it's an easy fix.. usually if the freezer is working cold enough, then it's something minor in the fridge. We regularly blow out any cobwebs in the draft tube, clean the "gunk" off the tip of the burner and make sure there isn't any rust or junk in the compartment.
ReplyDeleteRaining over here in New Mexico while we wait for the Tracker... will be going up thru panhandles of Tx and OK, and then across KS and MS. Maybe we can meet up on the road!
KarenInTheWoods and Steveio
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(Blog) RVing: The USA Is Our Big Backyard
http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com
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Sure hope Camping World can fix the fridge quickly and without a lot of dollars changing hands. RV Sue had to get hers fixed recently, I am not looking forward to the day ours goes on the fritz - sure sounds like it will at some point.
ReplyDeleteThat seems to be the time anything that is going to go wrong does - just as you get ready to leave. You've had lots of good suggestions. Hope it's one of the easy ones. Also hope the weather will cooperate for a Grand Canyon visit. I'd love to see your pictures from there.
ReplyDelete