How Running Out of Propane Became a Bonus! 

Gauges became very important when I moved into my Class B! Keeps you from not being able to make coffee!! Hahaha! Priorities!

The Full gauge is propane, 3/4 Full is fresh water, the next two are grey water, then black water. This is a nice sight. Although the fresh water could be full too! Lol! But we will get to that.

Last fall I was having issues starting my fridge on propane. We changed a couple of lines, cleaned up the working parts but could not get it to work. Finding people to work on these things is difficult. Not just mechanically as she has to be able to fit and rise on the hoist but also with the house section. No calling the Maytag man! Lol! My friend Tom has been a huge help in me understanding the inner workings of the house. How things are connected. John showed me how to work it, Tom teaches me how it works! Never under appreciate your support system!

While I was in Timmins I ran out of propane. Sometimes finding places to get vehicle propane is difficult. One of the guys at work told me to go to Nasco Propane. What a bonus!!! Went to fill my tank, nice people, went inside to pay and look up and it says Fridge Repair $98.00/hr. Do you repair propane fridges on RV’s? Yes we do! Woohoo! I will make an appointment. Thinking it would be another $1000 repair, seems to be the norm with my house I made an appointment for the following Tuesday. (It was the Friday of the long weekend).

Trying to keep things cold as the temperatures rise outside was getting difficult. The only way to run my fridge was shore power and house battery. This was not working! It’s a pain when you go to make a coffee and your milk is sour in the fridge! Priorities! 😊 I work 8 hours a day. Running outside to run my van for 15 min every 2 hours was just not possible! This was the solution. No matter what the cost I need to be able to keep the fridge cold when off grid.

Tuesday came and he said let’s go out and take a look. He took the panel off unscrewed a couple of screws and said your igniter is too close to the propane source. He moved it an 1/8th of an inch. Can I try he said? Sure…. and with one press of the button the fridge started! Ohhh woohoo! I almost hugged him! Hahahaha! I am a huggy kind of girl but I try to keep it in check. Lol! 15 min and $25 and my fridge is back to working 3 ways! Woohoo!

Sooo glad I ran out of propane in Timmins! 😊

Now the second gauge! 3/4 fresh water! Just after I was able to have running water again which is sooo nice my exterior tank developed a leak. I could keep about an 1/8th of a tank of fresh water which meant I was constantly running out of water! What a pain!! Now it’s easy enough to find but still! Grrrrr! My tanks are gravity fed with one fill hole by the back door. The interior tank fills and then the exterior tank. I decided to try the seen on TV flex tape that can seal anything as they say! You know who they are eh! Ya them! How hard could it be??

Working under the van is a challenge. The basement gives you no headroom to see under. The exterior water tank is located just behind the drivers door. I put water in the tank laid on the ground with a mirror and looked to see where the leak is coming from. My girlfriend Lynn gave me this great blanket. She called it a picnic blanket, I called it a backpack! Hahaha! One of you will get that! Laying on the ground mirror in hand I seen where the leak was.

Reaching under I cleaned the area and sanded it down. Where the leak was at the bottom of the tank it looks like maybe something came up under and punctured it. I took the ever amazing tape and with great difficulty, holding the mirror, and trying to get the tape flat on the spot, I taped up the bottom of the tank! The 1st picture is after I refilled the tank. It seemed to be holding! Woohoo!!! Then yup you guessed it, when I checked a couple of hours later it was empty! Dam! Did not work.

Stopped in at Kim and Tom’s and chatting with him I realized there has got to be a way to run the water off just the interior tank. He said I thought it said something about winterizing and isolating the interior tank in the manual. Out comes the manual and sure enough there is a valve you can close. Woohoo! I have running water where I am not running out of water constantly! Lol! It’s the little things!

Next week brings the Van Nationals in Greenfield Massachusetts. I am so excited to take a roadtrip in my 69 and see and play with all my friends! I have a week off after that! Let’s see where that will take me! 😊

Thanks for coming along! See you all on my next Chipmunk Adventure!

🐿️

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: