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Post by jbone on Dec 20, 2019 14:04:28 GMT -5
So surprisingly, the weather got pretty cold Tuesday overnight. 22 degrees, pretty chilly for South Texas! And of course, wouldn't you know it, middle of the night the furnace fan comes apart! So I got a fixit guy out Wednesday and he got a look. Of course it needed a part he did not have, even at the shop, so he told us he'd get it ordered and see if he could get to us Friday- today. The next few nights were also forecast to drop below freezing, which with a travel trailer means your plumbing can freeze and burst. So off to get a space heater. Which did keep it fairly warm here but we opted to get a room at a local lodge for 2 nights. Though it was only maybe 8 minutes away we ended up shuttling all kinds of stuff from here to there and getting some groceries in that we could kind of subsist on. I took several trips to the rig to make sure things were ok, not frozen but not burning down.
So we couldn't afford any more nights at $100 a pop and we checked out today. When Jo called the shop this morning the gall told her it may be Monday before they could get us fixed up. Not good news. A bit ago the gal called back and told me they can get us done today but we need to just stay put until the guy can make it here, 2 calls before us. So good thoughts our way please! If we can't get the furnace going today we have a backup plan. This resort has a park model unit I'm hoping we can maybe stay in for the next few nights.
This whole thing is going to set us back some. It's survivable but our goal has always been to keep a reserve. Which this will cut into for at least a few hundred. Living on a fixed income is sometimes a real hassle.
So in case you ever wondered, Murphy's legacy live on.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2019 15:54:16 GMT -5
Good luck with it.
I once lived in my travel trailers (4 of them) anyways in my last one, one cold night in a below freezing Carson City winter, my heater gave out. Something called the sail switch. It worked OK if I opened the screen door where the heater was installed, and pointed a space heater in on it and that seemed to cure it. However a few days later I had an RV tech come out and install a new HydroFlame heater to replace the Coleman that the rig came with. Once that was done, it worked like a charm for the rest of the time I owned that rig. But I always kept 2 space heaters in the rig for emergencies like running out of propane or heater failure even before the heater failure above.
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Post by jbone on Dec 20, 2019 17:21:32 GMT -5
This was definitely the squirrel cage fan blade assy. This rig is 5 years old and I have no idea how much the previous owner used the heat or air. We've used the furnace a lot especially early this year. So it was maybe somewhat predictable that something would go out. Example here as well is, the a/c went out on this unit after 2 months, which is also understandable. These things are really intended for weekend use and not full time living. I will schedule a maintenance visit and make sure everything is ship shape before next winter.
When else would the furnace break down except when it's cold out? It's like having a roof leak and you forget to fix it when it's not raining.
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Post by jbone on Dec 20, 2019 21:53:42 GMT -5
Okay, well sometimes things work out. Of course it was not cheap especially with 2 nights at a hotel, but we have heat again. It was a lot less than the a/c we replaced last February.
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Post by whitefang on Dec 21, 2019 10:47:04 GMT -5
MURPHY'S LAW? Well, that makes me a "law abiding citizen"! And you'd think living in a house would make one exempt from those mobile home/travel trailer heating problems but that would be wrong. Now that I've taken over ownership of this house( which really means after the bank, I'm next in line ) I was able to get rid of the wonky thermostat the landlord seemed to never have time to fix. There would be times that I had to turn off the device and turn it back on to "kickstart" the furnace into working. Next up? A humidifier that actually humidifies. THEN central air. I'm also considering one of those Generac or Kohler generators, mostly in the hope I'll never have to rely on them. And to adress another point you brought up..... My brother in law does all his own auto repair. He can't afford for anyone else to do it. So naturally, his vehicles always need repair when both the temp is below freezing, and there's six or more inches of snow on the ground. He once joked, "One of these days those cars are gonna break down in the summer and I won't know how to go about fixing them." Whitefang
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Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2019 17:26:29 GMT -5
Okay, well sometimes things work out. Of course it was not cheap especially with 2 nights at a hotel, but we have heat again. It was a lot less than the a/c we replaced last February. Excellent news about the fix. Glad to hear it is fixed and not too bad on the bank account.
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Post by jbone on Dec 21, 2019 22:21:27 GMT -5
With the motel at $100 a night x2, we got out at about $600. If you saw the furnace and the squirrel cage fan blade that failed you might have flipped. BUT. Those service guys get paid for coming out, knowing what they're looking at, and fixing it right. This guy had to wait for a part but he got it yesterday and we were #9 of 10 calls he did. He could have begged off and we'd have had to do something different to stay warm. Jo does not trust space heaters so we would still have been displaced even if I'd been able to wangle a place here, park model or bunk house.
So we're tightening the belt as much as we can and trying to hold onto as much of our small reserve as we can. We're still looking for gigs and have a couple possibilities. That helps with this kind of mess. Last February we spent hard earned gig$$ to replace the a/c unit. 3 months ago we put new high end tires on the travel trailer thanks mostly to gig $$.
I am grateful that we can somehow afford to do these repairs.
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Post by whitefang on Dec 22, 2019 10:17:15 GMT -5
$100 a night for a MOTEL? Whatsamotta! Never hear of TRIVAGO? For 25 bucks more you can spend a night at either the Greektown casino HOTEL, or the one at the MGM Detroit. Y'alls beginning to sound like LUCY and DESI in THE LONG, LONG TRAILER movie. (if you never saw it, check it out. Very funny flick) Whitefang
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Post by jbone on Dec 22, 2019 11:46:54 GMT -5
This was about convenience. The lodge is 10 minutes from here and I wanted to keep an eye on things, make sure the space heater was working good but not TOO good. Let's see, how much for a plane fare to Detroit?
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Post by whitefang on Dec 23, 2019 10:56:23 GMT -5
Ha! I wouldn't know about plane fares to the "D", or anywhere for that matter. Last time I flew anywhere it was to Las Vegas back in 2002. And that was some kind of "package deal" at a cost I can't recall. Whitefang
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Post by jbone on Dec 23, 2019 20:44:28 GMT -5
I plan to never fly again unless I hit the Lotto and we can charter a private plane.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2019 17:41:52 GMT -5
I plan to never fly again unless I hit the Lotto and we can charter a private plane. We just went out and got our Real ID's, so we can fly without bringing our passports.
If I ever hit to lotto, I am buying a nice travel trailer and pickup truck or an extra long and stand up van like The Mercedes or that extra long and extra headroom Ford Van, or a Toyota 4Runner to pull the travel trailer with, then I would not fly domestic again.
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Post by jbone on Dec 26, 2019 16:20:04 GMT -5
We have passports for when we hit the Lotto and want to go the England. Via private jet or small cruise liner.
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