This is another memoir of Houdini-like contortionism in the old
Burro; otherwise the repairs are the minor challenges that we all face but are the sort of thing that require decision and judgment about what to do, what needs to be on hand to avoid doing the job more than once, and of course getting a round tuit.
I had a Rhino window lock on the rear slider. It's red and all the others are black and probably OE. The replacement Rhino had a striker which was entirely too thick to seat in the gap between the slider and the fixed glazing so I took it off and, having a bit of time at work yesterday (the occasion of getting a round tuit) milled the plastic strike down from about 3/16" to 3/32" thickness by attaching to a block of wood and running thru the table saw. I lost one of the retract springs but not a problem as that staple of McGiverism the ballpoint pen spring was at hand and a good match for the remaining spring. Screwed it on to the sliding sash this morning and now the slider is locked and won't vibrate open on a rainy road. Of course the gap is so narrow that the springs won't automatically seat the strike but I've had other things in my life that demanded a tiny bit of effort so a manual lock is superior to none at all imo. My neck didn't hurt a bit at that point.
I also had a tiny two-element control wire under the sink which had parted company with the juice. One element was broken and the other stripped but adrift from its junction. I suspected it went to the CO sniffer on the aft bulkhead which also not functioned since I acquired the trailer. I've got butt connectors and taps in every wire size known to man but do I have the backbone of a reptile and the arms of an Orangutang to do the repair? And where does the stripped lead go? So I find a white wire about 12 or 14 gauge with the black lead from the
propane sniffer alongside and held by a giant knuckle of
electrical tape. Underneath of course is the "farmer tap" (stripped for about 3/4" and the sniffer lead coiled around it with no solder. My Apple-like intuitions about wiring whisper "like with like" so I touch the bare element from the CO to the bare white and get a reassuring signal from the sniffer.
Propane sniffer still blinking so I get a "guillotine" tap from the house but everything is too short and of course wrapped around plumbing hose (Can you magnetize water?) so attacking with a pair of luggers or pliers is out of the question. So I get a chunk of #18 off an old computer or flashlight transformer that's moldering away in the basement and extend the lead to the tap with a buttconn and then put the official tap on the white for both sniffers and Viola! another incredibly-awkward remedial correction in the
Burro "control room" (under the sink). Now my neck does indeed hurt.
This afternoon I'm going to install the ledgers that will allow my
solar panel to slide in and store on the underside of the aft dinette table top. We don't convert from bed to breakfast so the cast leg cups will come off and go in storage with the chrome legs. That can be done outside the trailer so no more dislocating my neck for today. Tomorrow the Fan Tastic Fan weather permitting. That too may involve some painful Yoga moves around the converter/elect. service so I don't really took forward to it. Actually I'll probably set up the scafford again to bed the Fan to the roof and save the hookup to the 12volt box for another day.
Isn't this fun? Well maybe less fun than say lifting the shell and replacing the floor or slopping around with fabmat and polester resin. At my age I can only take so much FUN.
jack