Another Exciting Day
Another exciting day on the Freedom Express. After weeks of procrastinating today was "sensor" day, replacing a faulty temperature sensor on the inverter/electrical system. Thankfully, this is not my job assignment. My role is observer, helper and questioner.
The motorhome is like your house with a rat's nest of wiring and pipes sandwiched between the inner wall and outer skin. Drawers are shortened to allow space for utilities behind them. This little job required that all the drawers and doors in the hallway be removed to allow Jim to lie on the hallway floor, reach in between all the framing and work on the wiring. After 3 hours of pretty strenuous work (Jim, not me. Remember I'm the observer) and overcoming a few problems we thought the task was done. Then we noticed that none of the outlets worked. Damn.
Your house has one power source...from your electrical provider. Our house has a complex power system involving chassis batteries, house batteries, solar panels, inverters, a generator and plug in power at the site that Jim understands pretty well and I have a minute understanding of. We plug into the campground power and everything usually works. Our problem this afternoon...we plugged in after the repairs and the appliances worked, the lights worked but no power at the outlets. After half an hour of retracing steps, testing fuses, looking at possibilities and alternatives we were stumped. I had visions of trying to find a repair man to come rescue us, but even worse...missing the Angels/ White Sox first game playoff!
Then I asked if there was a switch or reset button somewhere that needed to be pushed. Voila! We have a GFI plug (Ground Fault Interrupter) that had been triggered sometime during the repairs. Pressed the red reset button and power returned. Whew! Sometimes my "dumb" questions trigger the answer for Jim.
In our early years a day like this would have resulted in shouts, curses, tears, anger and no talking. I would have blamed Jim for doing something wrong and taking on a project he couldn't handle. He would have blamed me for dumb questions and being in the way. Over the years Jim has learned that I can be helpful and am a pretty logical, smart thinker. I've learned that Jim can fix anything!!! ....and he never gives up!
