Wednesday, January 19, 2022

Solar work and visiting friends in Quartzsite

 I was up at 9 this morning and the weather was perfect.  Sunny with a little breeze and temperature already in the 50s with a high of 70 today.

Had a quick breakfast and at 11 o'clock I headed into Quartzsite to visit Solar Bill.  Not really him but the store.  

I brought two 10 watt panels with me from home to use for supplemental power and recently when I tried using them neither of them seemed to work.  I wanted a 20 amp controller and another 100 watt solar panel and they had them.  Quickly picked them up and I also dropped off the 2000 watt inverter for them to check and see if it could be fixed.

On the way home I pulled into La Posa South to find where Patsy, Bill, Tom, Deb and Nancy were parked.  That place is huge.  I wandered around looking for Tom and Deb's distinctive black and yellow Stinger "B" and could not find it.  Finally, I texted them hoping they were home.  Sure enough, they were and guided me in for a perfect landing.

We all got together at Bill and Patsy's place and chatted for a good hour.  Yuma and Gibbs got along great!



I'm staying about 20 minutes south of them.  Got home at 2:30.

I moved the White Lion so the door side is facing the south so we get sunshine all day while laying outside in the sun.

While it was running I took a look under it because after our little run-in with the ditch yesterday, the rear of my rig is not rising up with the airbags as they should.  The front does but not the rear.  

It appears that I tore an air pressure line and not getting the lift I need.  Nancy, at the visit today, gave me the name of a big rig repair shop right here in Quartzsite that may be able to replace the torn line.  Sure hope so!  I'll call in the morning.

Then I got out my new solar toys and hooked my old panel to the new controller and still didn't get any amps coming from the panel to the batteries.  Then I tried the new panel and I did get amps coming in.

Confused, I called my son Jim who is fast becoming a solar wizard and chatted with him to find out what could go wrong with a perfectly good solar panel.

There are a two wires coming from a box on the panel, one negative and one positive.  Jim said maybe one of the wires got pulled too hard and is disconnected inside the box.  Sounded logical to me.

I had Nick help me to disconnect the latches to the back of the box and what do I see.  One of the wires is disconnected from the screw holding it in place.  That will be an easy fix tomorrow.  By this time the sun was almost gone and time to fix dinner.  Got a call from Solar Bill on the inverter and he told me it is toast.  Bummer 😩

We had pulled two 1 lb Rib Eyes out of the freezer this morning.  Last time I let Nick buy the steaks on my credit card.  These babies are $11.50 a piece 😨  With fried potatoes and French Beans it was delicious.  I ate the whole thing!


We have had enough for one day.  We have no local channels so will have to find a friend watching the games this weekend and be invited over.  Yuma stays home.  Hint hint 😀  There's always a bar.

Thanks for stopping by.

14 comments:

  1. Well rats on the inverter. Glad you got the panel working though. I doubt my solar will run the TV for the games, meaning the generator will be roaring, but you are welcome to come visit. Bring a mask ... I think I have a cold!!! Or we could turn the TV and you could watch it from outside my door!!

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    1. Thanks for the offer. Hope your cold goes away quickly.

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  2. Hopefully you can get things in order so you're not Doug the repairman day after day😀. Looks like you should send Nick to the store more often. You might go broke but at least you'll rest good😃

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    1. Nick has expensive tastes. Must have got that from you 😉 I think I'm getting near the end of fixing things. I hope.

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  3. Oh too bad about the inverter! Nice that you found the gang at La Posa South and had a nice visit. All that solar stuff, nice to have someone to call. That dinner looks so yummy! I'd say it was worth a hit in the wallet for that food!

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    1. Thanks Shirley. I get my son interested in things and then he quickly leaves me behind. That Rib Eye was worth it and didnt have to leave a tip 😊

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  4. Sorry about the inverter. What a bummer!
    Sorry, sports is not our thing - um, I doubt our SMART tv would even get it. haha. We love you but...........
    Now, that rib eye steak looks absolutely yummy!

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    1. Thanks Patsy. Those Smart TVs are particular as to what they present. The rib eye was worth it.

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  5. Too bad that the inverter is done. I thought they lasted longer. I'm glad Jim figured out your solar panel problems. Please do send Nick to the store! You boys need to eat good. That Gibbs is such a cutie and a friend for Yuma. Glad all the folks made it to Quartzsite safely.

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    1. Thanks Dolly. Are you saying I'm too stingy to spend money on good food? 😋 us and the rest of the RV world is safely in Quartzsite.

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  6. Wow. You have a wonderful wife. She gave you permission to buy rib eyes. I haven't been able to give myself permission to buy them. If things don't work out to find "a friend" to watch the games with, don't forget about the Yahoo Sports app. Elva

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    1. Thanks Elva. Just not sure the internet here will be fast enough but will try. Dolly is sweet😍

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  7. Glad you are enjoying your time visiting with Bill and Patsy.
    We visited Silly Al's at least Twice every year we went to Quartzsite. Made the mistake of ordering their Giant Pizza the first time. We ate Pizza for a week.
    Good luck getting the Air Lines fixed on the White Lion.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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    1. Thanks Rick. I saw a giant box going out the door. It would take a dozen people to eat one. First time ever visited the place. The pizza is yummy.

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