We Love our Mobile Rv Medic

Zephyrhills, Florida

About a month ago the rear air conditioner quit working.  Al tried a few things, but  couldn’t get it working again.  He thought the capacitor was probably the problem.  Since the weather hasn’t been quite as hot,  we managed just fine with only one a/c unit. 

There are two capacitors in each a/c unit and Al wasn’t sure exactly which one was bad, or even for sure if that was the problem. Then when I read that you can get zapped if you do something wrong, I decided I really wasn’t too comfortable with Al working on this thing!

Last winter we stumbled on a very good mobile rv mechanic, so we decided to call him.

Dale  has all the certifications and licenses necessary to work on rv’s.  He explained to us that he has the Florida LP license, that many tech’s don’t have.  I certainly want someone qualified to work on my propane system, and we feel very comfortable with Dale, and he’s a Navy veteran, so that is another plus. 

He only works on appliances and air conditioners though.  He’s good, he’s reasonable, and he is honest.  If you need a good mobile rv medic in this area, call Dale  at (352) 567-6303.

We bought our Progressive Industries Surge protector  from him.  This is the only brand he recommends,  them because they offer a good product and stand behind their product.  We can vouch for their good service, since they already replaced one for us.

Anyway, another reason we like Dale is that when he comes out, he is constantly educating you.  He’s never in a big hurry and takes a lot of time explaining things.  It may not be what he’s working on.  For instance yesterday, he gave us a crash course on more efficiently using our a/c’s,  Eternabond,  and invertors.  Last winter, we got educated on our propane system and furnace.    

We always learn a lot from him.  While we got the invertor lessons yesterday, most of it was   way over my head, but I nodded and pretended to know what he was talking about! 

Al went up on the roof with Dale and he took the time to show Al how to diagnose and replace the capacitors in the event it happened again.  Our problem turned out to be the starting capacitor, and Dale actually got a little zap!  (and that is why I didn’t want Al to do it himself) 

The capacitors are not  expensive, (less than $100 for both of them) but ours was an unusual model, and Dale didn’t have it on hand.  He said 99% of them are the other model.  If we had been on the road, the part may have been difficult to find. I remember Margie and Roger had that same issue and had a bit of trouble finding the part while on their trip out west…in the summer! 

We decided to get another set of capacitors for the front a/c to have on hand, in the event of another failure.  It’s a pretty common problem with rv air conditioners.   Dale picked up an extra set for us when he got the part.  I’m guessing we got them cheaper than if we had bought it on our own.  Plus, we know we have the correct parts. 

Dale taught Al how to replace the capicitor and now we have the part when it happens again.  This is a common problem, and we’re sure it’s only a matter of time until the other one goes. 

We intended on using our extended warranty.  I thought it would be a good time to check them out and see how well they handled the claim.  However, Dale told us it probably wouldn’t be much  over our $100 deductible, and it wasn’t.

In then end, we didn’t bother with the extended warranty.  We just wanted to get it fixed and not inconvenience Dale any more than necessary. 

So, the a/c is fixed and it’s a good thing because it was 86 degrees yesterday.  Our bill was under $200 and that included two new spare parts.

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Baxter is at the vet today, getting neutered.  He was not happy this morning that he couldn’t have his breakfast.  I felt so sorry for him.  Poor Baxter. 

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Al is on his way to Georgia to bring some more things here from our storage shed.  We’re trying to get it cleaned out and it seems the easiest way is for him to just run up and grab a big load. 

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We made a decision on the gps.  We went with the Garmin 560 LMT.  It was more expensive than the Rand McNally, but we have had experience with Garmin.  I had heard of some issues with the RM locking up and taking a long time to recalculate if you miss your turn.   We’ll keep the other gps in the truck and the new one will stay in the motor home.

With the 560, you can program in the length, height and width of your rv, so hopefully it will keep us out of trouble.  I like the fact that the gps knows we’re a big rig!  I’ll let you know how I like it.  We should get it Wednesday. 

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We have decided to keep the Xoom and sell the iPad.  The operating system on the Xoom is so much better, in our opinion.  I’ll do another post soon with the the pros and cons of both tablets.  The iPad did have some advantages, but that operating system was just too aggravating….and slow!