We broke camp in Fort Stockton for Lajitas (Lah-hee-tas), TX and Big Bend National and State Parks. The drive took us through the town of Alpine where we picked up 118 S. The road was well maintained and full of curves. There were also many hills to traverse which allowed me to practice utilizing the engine break. I’ll need to brush up on driving techniques for climbing steep hills in the RV as there were times when I had the pedal on the floor and we were doing a whopping 20mph ascent.
We arrived at Maverick RV Park around 3pm. The campground was sparsely populated with only a handful of rigs on our side of the park, the no cable TV side. We checked in for our month long stay and proceeded to our assigned spot. We drove around the park as I knew I would be backing in to our spot and wanted to make sure I had a good angle. On the way, there was a familiar looking RV that we had seen in Junction (2 spots down) and Fort Stockton (right next to us). It seems we were stalking another couple (Don and Mary) who on a whim had also decided to make the trip to Lajitas. They were very nice people and we had a few conversations with them the first week of our stay before they headed out (or tried to get a head start on us).
Upon arrival at our camp site, I unhooked the car and tow dolly and moved them off to the side. I was now ready for my first back in experience. Being my first back in with the RV, let’s just say it took me a few tries to get properly spaced and straight (and I use the terms loosely). We went through all the steps to get level, hook up the water, sewer, and electricity, and extend the slides. When I re-entered the coach the air conditioners weren’t running. Not a good thing in the desert. This happens sometimes when switching from generator to shore power so we took all the steps to shut down and reactivate the shore power (3 times). Still no luck. I checked the console and it looked to me that we were still running off the batteries and not shore power (batteries can’t handle the A/C load). Oh, and it was still 90F+ outside which heats up the inside of the RV very quickly (think TV dinner).
I naturally assumed there must be an issue with the pedestal providing the power from the park. Couldn’t be us as everything worked fine in the morning before we left Fort Stockton. So I strolled over to the office and asked them to send somebody over to check the pedestal. Apparently I didn’t ask correctly as Catharine had to go over and ask again at which time they sent somebody immediately. This was 2 hours after my original request. Anyway, the maintenance man hooked up his “thingamajig” (technical RV/electrical term) and showed that there was proper current from the pedestal and it must be an issue with the RV. Great!!!! Our first trip and I’ve already broken the RV. Good thing we bought the extended warranty with the onsite repair option.
Made the call to report our issue and start the process of getting a repair person sent our way. It took some time for them to figure out where exactly Lajitas, TX is and even longer to find a nearby repair shop. Being out in the middle of nowhere will do that. Only found one viable shop close by so the plan was for us to call them, arrange for the work, and the repair shop would then bill the warranty company. Called the repair shop and left a message with our information (it was close to 6pm by this time). We then started to search on our own for other possible repair shops. The closest we found was 90 miles away and we would have to drive there as they would not send somebody. It was during this search that I found that the original repair shop we called was seasonal and their season didn’t start until November. Nobody was coming to help. What to do, what to do. Keep in mind that temperatures are still in the low 90’s and will be until the sun sets.
The thought of driving back 90 miles and possibly having to wait several days for a repair was not appealing. I decided to see if there was anything obvious that I might be able to fix, you know with my extensive background in electrical work (ok, I’ll pause while you regain your composure from laughing). Anyhow, I noticed that when the plug was in the pedestal, the green light on the plug indicated it was getting power. I then looked at the Autoformer (something I installed to protect against surges and low amperage) and saw the lights indicated there was no issue. The issue must be where the power then feeds in to the RV.
I grabbed my tools and ducked into the electric bay. Had to remove the power cord spool so that I could then check the connections (and yes, I disconnected the power before doing this). Didn’t see anything obvious so I thought I’d remove and reseat the 3 wire connections (4 if you count the ground wire but that was pretty securely connected). Black wire first, seemed fine. Next was the red wire. Noticed that when I pulled it out that some of the copper hadn’t made it in to the connector and was bent over. Smoothed it all out and made sure it was all in this time. Finally, the white wire. Looked OK. I figured with the panel open now, I’d switch the power on and see if there were any additional clues that might help troubleshoot. Flipped the breaker on the pedestal and low and behold the RV now had power.
I ducked in to the coach and the A/C was now running. I told Catharine don’t get excited yet, I still have to put everything back the way it was and make sure everything still worked. Killed power once again, put everything back, flipped it back on and all was good. Must have been something to that copper from the red wire not being seated properly. In any event, saved us from having to make the drive to the repair shop and missing days at Big Bend.
Yes, I was the one who installed the Autoformer and didn’t properly seat the wiring in the first place. I prefer to stay focused on the fact that I saved the day and appeared handy 😉 We are back in A/C comfort. I love camping!!! Think I need a nap.
