Jan 9
This just in . . .
This Monday morning was Take-Flirt-to-the-Groomer day. And at about 7:30 am we did. Our dog groomer lives up Highway 49 about 8 miles from us in Bootjack.
What a mistake.
Meanwhile Back Home at Idlewheels . . .
Dec 31
As of about 10 PM PT this evening, Mariposa has received over 4″ of rain today . . . over 10″ this week . . . 18″ this month . . . with a grand total of almost 28″ of rain this year.
December has been wet. Very wet.
Mariposa averages 32″ of rainfall a year, but during the drought (since we’ve been here), rain has been scarce. So these December rains have been a godsend.
Happy New Year!
Christmas and New Year’s Eve Rain Effects on Mariposa Creek
In the video below . . .
Seconds 0 through 27 – Christmas Day
Seconds 28 to the end – New Year’s Eve
Dec 11
When it rains it pours? Yep.
Our last two Decembers have been wet months and this December looks no different.
Currently, it’s rained about 8 inches so far which is nearly half the total rainfall for this year.
In other news . . .
Oct 22
It’s taken almost a year to finish, but today we added the final touches to our RV rooftop 1095W solar system.
System Design Schematic
System Remote Control
Control and monitoring our Victron-based system is worth highlighting. For example, we can use the Victron Touch 50 Monitor which is mounted inside our RV or our iPhones or iPads to check on our RV array and to make changes, such as turning our inverter on or off.
NOTE: Remote monitoring only works if our Victron Touch 50 Display is connected to a WiFi network. However, the Touch 50 display can also be accessed via BlueTooth for short-range communication.
Final System Installation
This part of the process involved mounting and connecting our three REC 365W solar panels.
These panels were huge – 41 x 69 inches! However, all things considered, they were fairly light at 44 pounds each.
Solar Panel Install
The single solar panel that was installed across the RV’s roof presented an unexpected issue . . .
Since our RV’s roof is crowned (higher in the middle, lower on each side), the brackets on the panel’s short sides could not be directly attached to the roof. Doing so would have caused the solar panel to bend in the middle and probably would have broken the glass. Bad mojo. So shims had to be used under some of the mounting brackets to level the panel.
Solar Panel Wiring
The solar panels were installed using series wiring. For the most part, we were able to route the wiring under the panels. After drilling a hole in the RV roof, the positive and negative wires entered the RV via a closet.
The solar panel wires went under our fridge, on the back of our entry steps, and into our electronics bay . . .
We purchased the optional display for our SmartSolar Charge Controller so we could see at a glance how the solar system was working (or not).
Previous Solar Posts
Our 3rd RV Solar Installation (January 2022)
Solar, Batwing, and the Vent (February 2022)
Solar Project Update – 2/3 Done! (June 2022)
Sep 24
This July we had some pretty substantial damage to the rear cap of our RV:
For the full story see https://rvseniormoments.com/2022/08/05/how-should-we-fix-our-rvs-rear-cap/
We had some ideas back in July of how to proceed, but fixing the ladder was the first step. So here’s what we did . . .
Remove the Ladder from Our RV
Remove the Damaged Steps
This was the most difficult step. Each step was held in place by two pins that defied removal.
We had to resort to cutting out each pin which also damaged the ladder itself.
Strengthening the Ladder with Pipes
Adding the New Steps
The new steps were a different (and much better) design than the old steps. The new steps used side screws, not pins, to fasten them to the ladder rails.
Before and After
rvSeniorMoments 