What A Difference a Shade Makes

We recently ordered new blinds to replace the greenish colored blinds that came with the motorhome 18 years ago.

You can see the color is a bit outdated.
DH came home to see me smiling like a Cheshire Cat that brought home a mouse because I had removed the blinds and valances from the slide sides.

We ordered two blinds from NorthWest RV Supply to replace the two small windows on each end of the slide. Joe and his crew have always been wonderful to work with - and they did not disappoint this time either.
We were lucky enough that they actually found some blinds that are the black-out and sheer combination. the difference in the heat coming in through the window is a noticible difference from the previous blind.

Here are a couple of photos of one of the new blinds.  This one was put up because of the heat  coming through the south facing window. We still have to rebuild the valances -but this will do for now!

Just FYI- You should stop by NorthWest RV Supply and browse if you are a tinkerer on your RV and in the Eugene Oregon area. They are right off the freeway at Exit 189 and I-5.  

Please call them if you don't see what you are looking for on their website.  You can reach them on their toll-free phone number which is 866-678-7467 ...Thank You again Joe and the gang from NorthWest RV Supply!

Parts Used to Give Us Cool

We purchased  the Coleman Mach 8 15,000 BTU Heat Pump White Part #47004A876

We also purchased the Coleman Mach 8 Deluxe Chillegrille ceiling assembly for lateral ducting Part# 8430A6321.

We had to upgrade our thermostat to one that would control the heat pump so we went with the ColemanMach Digital Single stage heat pump thermostat Part # 8530A3451.

I do have our old thermostats that work fine if someone can use them.

Ahhhhh -Let the Cool Begin!

We found that the front AC unit wasn't working very well on our last trip out in the "Diamond" so DH decided it was time to replace the air conditioner units.

He took off the inside screen to find this -

It is in better condition than the front one...it disintegrated when we tried to clean it our last time out.

He is removing the top cover here so he can remove the old unit.

Here is a photo of the interior AC with components removed and electrical disconnected.

Here is the new unit placed on top of the rig.

This photo is of the interior view..

You can see the interior ceiling assembly in this photo.
I will do a separate post of the parts we purchased within 12 hours.

Chutes And Ladders - RV Version

Here is our version of "Chutes and Ladders" -

Yep- we used our ladders to creat a chute to lower the old air conditioner unit along wih bringing up the new AC's...

I was a little too busy concentrating on bringing the new units up to get any photos but I didn't worry about the old unit - which is why you have a couple of photos of the old one.

Ladder Magic

We have 2 Mega-Max ladders we bought from Costco. These ladders can fold into many different shapes.

I don't thinkthey thought they would ever be used like this...

...Any guesses what we are doing?

Front Springs Install

We had the front springs replaced by Brazel's RV as many of you know.
Here is a pictorial of it being done -

I was a bit disturbed when I took this picture. (I had never seen the lower control arm in this position.) You can see the new blue spring ready to be installed.

Here you can see Terry geting ready to have someone  jack up the arm. (Notice the bump-stop just past his left arm.)

Here is a pic of Terry making sure he has the spring perfectly aligned.

This is Terry when he knows he has the spring perfectly placed!

You can see Terry finishing up the job in this photo.

Bumpdity Bump No More!

We changed out the original springs that had the airbag in the middle of the spring with different springs without the airbags.

Here are a few of photos showing what was happening -

This is a photo showing a wear spot where the bump-stop had been hitting the frame. (You can make out an "L" shape on the dark bar in the background just to the right of the blue spring.)  That is where the bump stop was hitting the frame with the old airbag springs.

Here is a photo showing the bump-stop and the frame. There is a 2" clearance with the new springs. The picture below has the parts pointed out.

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Front Spring Replacement

There are things which may not get done when "Mama" says 'we are going come Hell or High Water'. That was the case when we took off for this last trip.

DH started airing up the front airbags that are part of the original airbag/spring combination which was standard on this motorhome. I guess 18 years plus takes it's toll on airbags. They would not hold air. 

We decided that it was time to replace the springs.  A phone call was made while we were on the road. Alan at Brazel's RV Performance was gracious enough to make room for us on their schedule.
Wednesday morning our technician Terry showed up at our doorstep letting us know he was ready to start work on our Diamond.
Here is a photo of the new spring -

And you can see a little difference with the old and new springs side by side here-

The new spring is thicker and stronger...besides being blue!

When Strapless is Unbecoming

We try to buy quality items when we make large purchases - which is why we bought our window awnings from Carefree of Colorado with the "Unigard" cover. Our understanding  was that it help would protect the awning from sun rot.

Many of you know that we have used the RV  for only a handful of times, so imagine our surprise  when we try to pull the large window awning out and this happpens -

What you don't see is the third piece that is about 6 inches long that  also broke off.

This happened over the 4th of July weekend so we ordered straps from Amazon. We had them delivered to us the next business day.  (Thank you Brazel's for allowing us to have them shipped to you.)

Dirty Water?

This is some of the brake fluid that we drained out before we had the lines flushed at Brazel's RV Performance Center.  

It may be a Kirkland water bottle but I promise you it definitely isn't water- although we are quite sure the reason this is the color it is was because it did have water mixed in with it.

The brake fluid is hygroscopic, which means it attracts moisture. Over time brake fluid will accumulate a certain amount of moisture; a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that 20 percent of the cars they tested had brake fluid with 5-percent moisture content. A 3-percent moisture content in DOT 3 brake fluid reduces the boiling point of the fluid by more than 100 degrees...The other thing to watch out for is dirty fluid. Brake fluid can get very dirty if left unchanged year after year. I have seen some master cylinders that look as if they were filled with mud. Most likely if the fluid is really dirty looking, it is going to have a high moisture content as well, so either way it will need to be changed.* 

*Information taken from Doug McAllister of the Daily Herald

RGS-Rotten Green Switch

Some of you with the Workhorse/Chevy P30 chassis have heard of the RGS failures which can leave you stranded when they fail. The Rotten Green Switch is probably known as the pressure switch by most mechanics. 
Here is what it can look like:

You can see the green switch in the right side in the background.
Here is a photo of the parts that are being replaced:

...and here is a photo of the new parts installed:

You can read some info of what is included in the kit that was put on ours in the photo below:

Thank you Alan, Barbara and Terry at Brazel's RV Performance for some great customer service!

Meeting Up

I am excited to meet up with an old acquaintance this next week.  I first met some of this company in the summer of 2008. They have a great reputation of being meticulous about their workmanship.

DH and I are looking forward to meet up with Jon Brazel of Brazel's RV Performance again to have a few things done this next week.

Thank you to Alan for accommodating us as we pass through Washington!

Showing Off The New Look

We were getting new "shoes" the last time I posted ... and every guy knows that we women love new shoes! :-)

Here are a couple of photos of them.

You can see the rear set here-

...and here is a photo of the front shoes...

(Please excuse the mud and dirt on the mud flaps but we are traveling and they don't want us to bathe our Diamond.)

Alive and Well

Yes...we do still exist.

There have been some major adjustments that we were dealing with.My mom-in-law has been living with us since early 2009 when it was determined that she had Alzheimer's. 

She became much worse the last couple of years so much of my free time kept me away from my beloved Damon.

It also kept DH from being able to spend much time working on the Daybreak.

Our circumstances have now changed to the extent that we are actually out and on the road!

Keep your eyes open for new posts this coming week!