Monday, February 16, 2015

Doesn’t it Figure? A Visit From Murphy

 

Wesley Chapel, Florida (high 68, low 45)

We awoke the other  morning to an outside temperature of 34 degrees.  We didn’t get the freeze that had been predicted, but it was plenty cold for us.  The heat pumps on our motor home quit around 40 degrees, so they were no help overnight.   We ran our Quartz heater, instead of the furnace because we hate the noisy propane furnace.  Unfortunately, we left the other heater in Georgia not thinking we would need it, but it sure would have felt good both yesterday and today. 

Another cold front is expected this week with expected temperatures going down to 28 degrees.  Glad we’re heading south.  (hopefully)

We’ve been busy finishing up all of our chores here, and trying to be ready to leave for the Keys on Tuesday.  I guess Paul Dahl is right when he talks about Murphy following you around, because our water pump suddenly quit working.   Al replaced it about a year ago, so it’s still fairly new, and should not have failed yet.  We were hoping it was a loose wire or something easy.  The water pump is located in an area which is impossible for Al to work on with his bad shoulder.  Either I will have to fix it, or our Rv tech will.   We’re hoping this is the worst/only issue we have before out scheduled departure.

 

So yesterday, we had a chance to check the water pump. It has power, so we think the pump is fine.  Al told me how to check for power and I checked it.  I was pretty proud of myself.  :)    I am doing a lot of things I normally don’t do, and I guess that’s a good thing. 

There is a little relay near the water pump that we think is related to it.  It clicks when you press the switch for the water pump.  It’s like it’s trying to make the water pump work, but can’t.   Al thinks the switch may have failed.  We just happened to have another relay switch that we think is the same thing.  We tried to remove the old relay and compare it to the spare we have, but unfortunately we couldn’t pry it loose no matter what we did. We didn’t want to exert too much pressure on it, so we gave up that idea.

I did some online research this morning and I’m more convinced this is our problem.  Isn’t the internet wonderful?

The relay switch is used in rv’s that have more than one switch to operate the water pump.  We have 5 separate switches.  I guess it ties them all together somehow.

The little square black box with the lines on it is the relay switch.  Apparently, they are prone to failure.  If any of you have one of these, it might be a good idea to pick up a spare. 

We checked all the fuses as well. There is an inline one, and these two you see here.  The one on the inside panel is also ok.

IMG_0393

Fortunately, Tim, our Rv tech is coming this morning, so we should be good to go.   We usually only use the water pump when we’re on the road, but we have reservations at Midway Campground in the Everglades and they have electric only…no water.  I believe we’ll be needing our water pump!

With any luck we’ll be leaving Tampa tomorrow!   It doesn’t look like we’ll be escaping the cold however.  It’s supposed to be down to 38 tomorrow night in the Everglades, and 50 in Key West!   Burrrr.  I was hoping to leave our electric heater and winter coat here, but maybe not???

I believe the record low for Key West is 46 degrees.  It’s getting close!

IMG_3029

7 comments:

  1. Yep its cold there, but still much warmer than here, Yuma is the heatwave right now. Good luck with your water pump.

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  2. It's always something- good luck getting the pump fixed.

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  3. Hopefully Tim will have the replacement part that will solve your problems. Then you can say get lost to Murphy.
    See you soon in the Keys.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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  4. Boy are you lucky to have a tech you trust near by. I'm sure he will fix you up. Can't believe 38 in the Everglades. But then it is going to be a low of -6 in Virginia. No one has ever heard of such temperatures. Looks like we should all have gone to Arizona or California for the winter this year.

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  5. Hope it's an easy and cheap fix for your water pump. We hope to roll out to FL for 10 days the end of this week. Can't wait to see what Murphy has in store for us (Not!).

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  6. Just remember houses have lots of little problems too. That's why plumbers and fix it men are richer than most. Soon you will be in the sunshine again and this will be a fleeting memory.

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  7. Good luck on the repair. I'm in Orange County California and it's been around fifty most nights. Heading for the beach on Wednesday, highs are supposed to be in the mid to high sixties. Inland it's been in the eighties most of the week.

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