October 15, 2022 - Winterizing and a Small Improvement-Fix to Homer

The temperature is going to be down to 25 degrees on Monday and each morning for a few days thereafter. We had hoped to get another campout in before winter, but our calendar had not cooperated. Thus, Homer needs to be winterized. My process is to winterize the water system and then remove the batteries and put them on a trickle charger in the garage for the winter. 

We purchased Homer for a long trip to Alaska upon my retirement. We anticipated that many nights in the RV we would not have electrical hookups and thus would be consuming a lot of battery power. To address this issue, I removed the 12-volt battery and installed two 6-volt golf cart batteries for more battery storage. They have worked well. 

While Homer's battery box is wide enough for two 6-volt batteries, they are taller than 12-volt batteries. It has been a problem from day one getting them in and out and for checking them. There is literally only about a 1/4-inch clearance between the battery posts and the top of the metal battery box. To make matters worse, the bottom of the outside compartment door that hides everything inside, is higher than the battery box. To get the batteries out they have to come up on angle. In pulling the batteries out this way the terminals are prone to touching the top of the metal battery cabinet, causing an arc. 

To solve the arcing problem, I cut plastic insulators out of milk jugs and wire-tied them in place over the terminals. This worked fine up until this year.  Upon removing the batteries this year, I found that at some point over the season the batteries must have bounced up while going over a rough road. This movement was enough to cause the insulators to touch the top of the battery box a time or two.  The thin plastic was not robust enough and the batteries arced, melting the thin plastic insulators. Here is a picture of what I found on the insulators.

On the first picture you can see that the current burned through the top of the insulator. On the second picture you can see that it not only burned the top of the insulator but also on the bottom.  I clearly need a better insulator. I made some new insulators out of heavy plastic tubing. They are three times as thick but may be too thick to slide the batteries back in next spring. I won't know until I reinstall the batteries. Here is a picture of one of the new insulators. 

If the thickness of these insulators makes it impossible to install the batteries I will have to come up with plan "B". Plan "B", as of today, is to slide a piece of plexiglass over the top of the batteries once installed. I had thought of this before, but this fix will only help once the batteries are installed not with any arcing upon installation. Stay tuned for reinstallation next spring.

The second problem with the batteries being so tall is that I cannot put a meter on them to check their voltage. I have a digital meter inside the coach but checking the voltage at the batteries once in a while is more accurate. Last year I attached an 18-inch-long wire from the positive and negative terminals to an area in the battery compartment where I could access them for a voltage check. I could also use these wires to attach an external battery charger if needed. I needed to do this one time when the battery relay malfunctioned. When this happened the internal converter/charger was not charging the batteries as needed. Trying to hold the meter probes on each wire to get a reading was also a pain.

These wires just hung loose in the battery box with wire nuts on the end of each.  I didn't like this system because at times the wires would fall out while going down the road and hang in the breeze. I temporarily solved this problem by securing them to other wires in the battery box. While this worked, it still did not address the problem I had when connecting the wires to spring clips on an external battery charger.  For whatever reason the wires would want to seek each other out and arc if I wasn't careful. This weekend I solved this problem permanently by attaching insulated connecting blocks for the positive and negative terminals on the side wall of the metal box. The wires are now bolted in place. I can easily attach battery charger spring clips to the blocks without worrying about any arcing. Since the wires are locked in place it is also much easier to get a reading with a voltmeter. Here is a picture. The arrows point to the new insulated blocks.

A side note: I think it is a terrible design to have all the electrical components and connections you see in the picture in the battery box where they are open to the elements. Batteries have to be vented and on Homer the entire front of the battery box is open to the elements as you go down the road. The compartment door is several inches away so lots of dirt and moisture gets in there.

 

Homer will go into the storage shed the end of the month and Marge will come home to get ready for a winter in Florida. It is crazy how quickly that time is approaching.

 
  

September 16-18, 2022 - Weekend at the Lake

For whatever reason we do not use the lake lot at Lake Perry as much as we would like. We go out on a regular basis to cut the grass but our schedule seldom allows us to just hang out there for a few days. The weather forecast for the weekend was great, and we had nothing planned, so we headed out on Friday morning after I graduated from Physical Therapy that morning.

It was really quiet at the lake on Friday, and actually all weekend. After we got Homer all set up we got out the golf cart and took a ride around checking out new construction and other improvements being made.

We were almost back from our rounds when we stopped to look at something. When we then went to leave the golf cart would not start. I've known about this problem since I bought it. Once the motor gets hot and it will not start back up until it cools down. I've been told this is caused by a faulty ignition coil.  It is easy to replace it but it takes a couple of hours work getting stuff taken off the engine to get to it. A project before winter will be to replace it. After waiting ten minutes it started right up and back to the campsite we went.

Friday we had a campfire and Kelly put this branch on. It did eventually burn in half and then burn up totally. As you can see it is daylight when we start our fires. We have to start our campfires early in teh day because by 8:30 we are both usually ready for bed. LOL. We are real party animals, even at the lake.

Saturday morning I was sitting by the fire pit drinking my coffee when I noticed a heron on the roof of the docks across from us. I walked up closer to take a picture and he could care less about me being there.

It was a great weekend with hardly anybody around. It was also nice that we came home with nothing on Homer needing to be fixed or improved! Our September and October months are quite busy so I don't know if we will get another weekend, or couple of days during the week, out at the lake before Homer has to be winterized. I hope so. It is relaxing.

 

 

September 2022 - Getting Ready for Florida - Tabletop Ice Maker Repair

Before we left for the Springfield campout in August, I got out the tabletop ice maker we use in Florida and set it up to make ice for the trip. (The icemaker in our expensive home refrigerator doesn't work.)  The unit made lots of ice over a two-week period. We came home from Springfield and upon trying to use the icemaker it was clear that the cube tray where the ice forms was not holding water. The ice cubes were half their normal size, and the tray would not dump into the bin. This same thing happened two years ago in Florida. I found then that the cube tray had cracked. I took the unit apart and found that the tray was cracked around the gear key area and halfway down the tray. I used epoxy made just for plastic to make a repair inside and out. The fix worked and we had ice until recently. I now looked over the unit and it was clear that the plastic epoxy repair inside the cube tray had cracked.

Thinking just the lower ice tray was cracked, I cleaned the area and spread JB Weld over the entire tray area in an attempted repair. The tray filled with water and the unit made nice ice cubes. Unfortunately, after dumping the ice, it would not complete the cycle of pushing the ice into the bin and then move back into position to make another batch. Something else was clearly wrong. I took the unit apart to get the cube tray out. Here are pictures of the cube tray taken out and the disassembled unit with the ice tray out. 

Upon removing the cube tray I could clearly see the problem. The plastic epoxy did not hold due to the torque from the motor. Here is a picture of the cracked cube tray. It is rusty from the pin on the motor that fits in there. The crack allowed the flat side to spread out and then the motor would turn but the tray didn't.

The cube tray should not be made out of plastic, or at least there should be a metal ring around the gear area to keep it from cracking and spreading apart. Poor engineering or else the bean counters wanted to keep costs down.

It is about $110.00 for a new icemaker. Obviously this is a common problem because a new cube tray is available from the manufacturer for $24.00 with shipping. Since everything else on the unit worked properly, I opted to order a new cube tray. (I hate throwing things away that can be fixed for a reasonable amount.)

The new tray arrived in a few days and I installed it. The new tray worked well but I then had a new issue. The tray did not come all the way back up into position to refill. While there was plenty of water in the tray it did not then cycle up high enough to dump the ice. I don't know why that is now an issue. Maybe the keyway in the new tray is molded a little different. I don't know. I contacted the service department at Newair but they never responded even though they acknowledged receiving my inquiry. (Surprise.)

Despite not dumping, the unit was making ice when all of a sudden it quit halfway through the cycle. I opened the unit back up and found that the metal lever on one of the micro switches had broken off. I never did find the broken piece. I unscrewed the switch to get the part number off of it in order to order another. Here is a picture. The arrow shows the metal lever on one switch and the missing lever on the other. 

These micro switches are used in lots of electrical appliances, so they are readily available online. The only problem is I had to order ten for $10.00. I am into it for $24.00, what is another $10.00?

I ordered the switches and they arrived on Wednesday. I soldered the wires to the new switch and screwed it into place.

After I unplugged the unit and let it reset, the unit then went through its entire cycle of making ice. 

I still had the problem of the ice not being pushed into the bin. I adjusted the position of the motor, which helped a little, but not enough. I noted that the dump shovel didn't have to move much higher in order to push the ice into the bin. I decided to try and solve the problem by gluing a shim on each side of the dump shovel where it attaches to the cube tray. I cut small pieces of a mouse pad and superglued them into place. Here is a picture of the cube tray and dump shovel with arrows pointing to where I glued the shims.

I then needed to clean out the bin before adding new water to make ice. It looked pretty nasty in there. While some of this is from my working on the unit, I have always been amazed at how much grit there is in tap water. Here is a picture of bin before I cleaned it out.

I poured in water and fired up the unit. I no time it was making ice and dumping it in the bin. SUCCESS!

Time will tell if it was smart to spend $34.00 repairing this unit when I could buy a new one for $110.00. I hate throwing away things that can be fixed and I enjoy figuring out how things work. Hopefully this unit will at least get us through another Florida winter. The new park we are going to does not allow outside appliances, so I sold our minifridge in which I kept cold beverages. That being the case the ice maker will get used more than in past years. It will fit in the side compartment for easy access and in compliance with the rules.

 

August 22nd - 26th - Club Campout in Chatham, Illinois, and Homer Repairs

Our RV club campout for August was hosted by Don and Ruth Ann at the Double J Campground in Chatham, Illinois, just South of Springfield. We had been to this campground before for camp outs. It was superb in every way except there was no Wi-Fi signal in the row we were assigned to for the week. Seven rigs made the trip, which is a great turnout considering our dwindling number of club members. 

Monday evening supper was “Sloppy Joes” provided by the hosts with other members being assigned to bring buns, chips, dessert, etc. We had a great meal. As the sun went down Don started a campfire. Often in August it is far too hot for a fire, but we were fortunate to have cool weather all week.

Tuesday we all traveled for lunch to “Cozy Dog Restaurant” in Springfield for original corn dogs or other delectable items of your choice. This restaurant was a throwback to the old Route 66 days. It was a fun place for lunch. We then headed back to the campground where the men played “Giant Jenga” and the women played “Pegs n Jokers”. Here are a couple of pictures.

I believe Ruth Ann won “Pegs n Jokers” but I KNOW Mike won “Giant Jenna”, beating out Lawrence, Wayne, Bill, and Don, for the prize of a bottle of wine.

For supper we went to “Mario’s Restaurant” in Chatham. The food was great. Everyone needed a take home box except me.  I ate all my salad and Lasagna. Winning made me hungry!

Wednesday morning the hosts provided fresh-baked donuts for all. The donuts were great and thankfully not fattening! We then had a short club meeting. Our only business nowadays is getting volunteers to host upcoming camp outs. We have hosts for June, August, and September of 2023. We skip July because of the heat, and no one has volunteered for May.

We like to eat, so for lunch we headed to “Motorheads Bar & Grill - Museum”.

After a really filling lunch, we toured the museum next door. It was quite an eclectic collection of automotive objects. Here Iam in front of a VW bus in the outside bar area.

As I said, we like to eat so we then headed to “Scoop Du Jour Ice Cream Shop” in Chatham for dessert. To walk off the ice cream we browsed around the Goodwill Store down the mall. I got a good deal on a brand-new insulated mug for a dollar. For $2.00 Kelly got a nice seat cushion to sit on when at the picnic table playing cards. Supper was on our own. We were both so stuffed we skipped supper. Pam provided a homemade dessert later in the evening. Everyone enjoyed it.

We invited past club members for a lunch on Thursday of fried chicken, potato salad, baked beans, chips, slaw, and dessert. As I said, we like to eat. During and after lunch we all had a nice visit with former campers - Margi, Irv, Myrl, and Linda. It was good seeing them again. Supper was on our own. Due to the huge lunch no one was really hungry, so we just had a cheese and sausage plate and leftover desserts.

We always say our goodbyes on Thursday evening because people pull out at different times on Friday morning. Some of the folks we will see this winter in Florida, some go to Texas for the winter, and some we will not see until next summer. It was a great week.

Repairs:

As usual, we cannot have an RV trip without an issue or two. Wednesday morning I jumped in the shower early while Kelly was still in bed. I turned on the water, then, as I usually do, I turned the showerhead off while I lathered up all over. I pushed the button on the showerhead to rinse off and nothing. No water. The shutoff button had broken. No amount of pushing one way or the other allowed any water to come out. Here is a picture of the offending showerhead with the shutoff button just below the swivel head. This unit was only a year old and it malfunctioned!

I was soaped up all over and had soap running into my eyes. Kelly was sound asleep up in the cab over at the other end of Homer so she could not be of any help. With soap burning my eyes I tried to get the showerhead off the hose so I could use the hose to rinse off. With soapy hands I couldn’t get a grip. Luckily, I was able to reach a towel and after wrapping it around the connecting nut to the hose I was able to unscrew the showerhead and rinse myself off - garden hose style. I dried off and got dressed. 

I knew Kelly would not be happy if she would have to use the hose for her shower. It then struck me that I may have left the old showerhead in the cabinet when I put this one on a few months ago. I opened the cabinet under the sink and there laid the old shower head with a shutoff valve attached. Here is a picture of the old head reinstalled just in time for Kelly’s shower.

The old showerhead has a separate, heavy-duty shutoff valve so this problem will ever happen again! I hope. I wouldn’t normally carry around an old showerhead but for whatever reason I did this time and it saved the day.

The trip home was a nice drive on a sunny day. We arrived home at twelve noon and unloaded everything. I was cleaning the refrigerator when I noticed a repair I had made to one of the door shelves in the past had broken. These old refrigerator parts aren’t readily available so I fix them if I can. Here is a picture of the door shelve and the broken piece of plastic that I found on the floor. I had used JB Weld for the last repair but it didn’t hold. I don’t think I used enough.

I took the shelf to my shop, scraped off the old Superglue which was used to hold the broken piece in place on the last repair. I also broke off all the loose JB Weld. I then Superglued the broken piece back on again. A small corner piece was missing. I had to mold that area. To do this I wadded up a piece of wax paper, stuffed it in the corner, taped it in place, and then added a thick layer of JB Weld over the entire area. Here is a picture of the JB Weld curing.

After the JB Weld cured overnight, I shaped it up a little with a file and tested it for fit on the refrigerator door. It fit fine so I spray painted it white to have it match the door a little better.

Here is a picture of the door shelf reinstalled. I think this repair will last much longer because the JB Weld is much thicker and wider. The line isn't a crack, it is just an area where the JB Weld begins and the paint did not stick.

I put this shelf on the top of the door which gets less weight and stress on the repair. 

Improvement:

Did you ever finally fix something that was so simple, but you just never got around to doing it for some reason? That is the case with the shelf height for the small cabinet on the end of Homer’s kitchen base cabinet. In the picture below the shelves above the freezer bags were too close together. This made it difficult to wiggle canned goods in and out. Here is a "before" picture. 

The shelves are all adjustable so there was no reason not to make them fit what we normally store there. I adjusted the brackets and shelves and moved the freezer bags down low since they aren’t often accessed. Here is an "after" picture. I don’t know why I didn’t do this years ago.

With this improvement Homer is ready for his next adventure, which is unknown at this time.

August 12th - 19th, 2022 - Work on Homer’s Broken Sewer Fitting and New Ignition Switch

Here are two pictures of the broken gray water tank drainpipe. At the top of the picture you can see the break in the pipe.

A close-up view.

How did this happen? Upon inspecting the sewer drain area I found fresh grass and mud between the metal strap holding the sewer pipe and the sewer pipe itself.  Here is a picture after I pulled the grass out.

The sewer drainpipes hang low behind the back wheels. Clearly someone backed into a grassy area and the drainpipe dug into the dirt. This contact put pressure on the smaller pipe, which connects the gray water tank to the outlet pipe, causing the smaller pipe to break. Luckily this small pipe broke and not the fittings to either tank. 

I know that I did not cause this damage because the last time we used Homer was on our campout in Canton, Missouri, in June. The RV site there was on concrete. I dumped there on concrete, no issue. We drove home and parked Homer on our concrete driveway for a couple of days until he went into the shop for speedometer and parking brake repairs. The shop had possession of Homer for over three weeks waiting on parts. He was parked behind the shop throughout this time. Most of the area behind the shop is gravel but there is a grassy hill in the back. I believe that at some point someone backed Homer into the grass to turn him around and that is how this happened. I picked him up and we headed North up the Interstate headed to a campground in Michigan. When I arrived I dumped at their concrete dump station and that is when I discovered the broken pipe as water came gushing out at me when I pulled the valve. At least it was gray water and not black tank (commode) water. Homer had never been near grass while in my possession this entire summer.

I'm not upset with the shop. Stuff happens. I did tell the owner about it to make sure they are more careful in the future with Homer and other motorhomes with low-hanging sewer outlets. If the main line to the black tank had broken at the tank, or the fitting had broken at the gray tank, it could have cost thousands of dollars to fix and many months of getting a new tank made, etc. We were lucky.

New Pipe and Fittings:

I repaired the broken pipe myself. The only issue was that RVs use ABS plastic pipe, not PVC plastic pipe like that used in homes. No one carries this type of pipe in Perryville. On our trip to pick up the lawn mower from the repair shop in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, which is a big town, we searched around for ABS pipe and fittings. Menards had the pipe. I picked up a piece of pipe but it struck me as extremely thin and cheap. I took a piece of it to the fittings bins. The pipe just flopped on a fitting, not a tight fit for gluing. No amount of glue would fill this gap.  We left Menards and tried to find better pipe at Lowes and at a plumbing supply house. Neither had the pipe. In desperation we went back to Menards and purchased a piece of the cheap pipe and glue hoping I would think of something to make it work. 

When I got home I was convinced that the Menards pipe was not going to work. I got online and purchased a one-foot piece of inch and a half ABS pipe from Amazon. (One foot cost as much as the four-foot-long piece I got from Menards.) The Amazon pipe arrived Wednesday and it it fit perfectly in the fitting. Here is a picture of the two pipes side by side. You can see the different in the thickness of the pipes. You can also see that the thicker pipe on the left is taller than the Menards pipe on the right.

Here are pictures with a tape measure showing the difference in outside circumference. The Menards junk pipe is a full one-eighth less in diameter.

I had made my mind up not to use the Menards pipe no matter what. If the Amazon pipe had not measured up I would have used a piece of PVC pipe even though that does not meet residential code.

Fixing the pipe:

Last Friday was a cool day so at 8:00 a.m. I started working on removing the piece of pipe inside the elbow. This was the hardest part of the project. When ABS pipes are glued together the pieces are actually melted to each other. This makes for a seal that won’t break loose. This was proven by the fact that the pipe broke below the fitting rather than the joint coming apart. The remaining broken gray water pipe was right in the way where I needed to work to get the broken piece out of the fitting. I didn’t want to cut the drainpipe back until I had the new pipe ready to install. 

I started getting the piece of pipe out of the fitting by using a hack saw blade to cut grooves into the broken pipe which was still in the fitting. I had to be careful not to cut into the fitting itself. I cut the pipe in about six places as best I could. Because of the curve of the fitting I could not get the blade in far enough to cut all the way through the pipe.  In an attempt to break a small piece of pipe off at a time, I held a small screwdriver in place between the pipe and the fitting. I gently tapped it with a hammer and gently pried between the pipe and fitting.  Small pieces chipped off from the outer half of the pipe where I had cut the grooves. 

After getting what pieces I could off with this method, I then got my Dremel tool out to grind off the rest with a grinding stone. Fortunately, I have a flexible shaft for the Demel tool. This was absolutely necessary for this project because I could not get the tool in place due to the broken drainpipe hanging in the way. I used a small stone wheel in the flex shaft and slowly ground away at the broken pipe inside the fitting. I constantly checked my work to be sure I was not cutting into the fitting itself. I could see progress on one half of the fitting but had to rely on my finger feeling the inside of the fitting for any ridge from the old pipe on the blind side. As I was getting close to getting the old pipe fragments ground out, I cut an inch long piece of PVC pipe to insert into the fitting to check for fit. After more careful grinding, it slid into the elbow. Mission accomplished. 

The new pipe from Amazon arrived on Wednesday. Today I cut off the pipe to remove the broken piece. to have a straight edge to attach to a coupler. I then cut a piece of the new pipe to span between the elbow and the new coupler to the old pipe. Here is a picture of the repair. I was able to pry the pipes apart to make this new connection but it was tricky to get things lined up and in place because the glue dries very quickly. Here is a picture of the repaired pipe.

As the glue was setting up I worked on refastening the drainpipe to its support. Here is a picture of the area of the pipe that connects to the 2 x 4 support above with pipe strap.

A 2 x 4 screwed in from the floor above drops down to support the sewage pipe. The 2 x 4 had been loose and sometime in the past I had added an "L" bracket to support it. With the recent damage the 2 x 4 was once again loose. Here is the area where the 2 x 4 attaches to the floor above. You can see the previous bracket I installed.

I wanted to somehow brace the 2 x 4 but I was afraid to screw into the floor not knowing what is above. I think this area is under the bathtub or the kitchen sink, but I'm not sure. I decided to use contact cement to glue an additional block to the floor to support the 2 x 4 coming down. I also used a bracket to attach the block to the 2 x 4 for more strength. Here is a picture of what I did.

This block with the new bracket did add some stability to the 2 x 4 brace hanging down. Lastly, I reattached the black tank rinse hose. Here is a picture of everything completed.

Hopefully I will never have to deal with this problem again.

Ignition Switch:

There have been some issues with the ignition switch not operating properly. It had been getting worse for a couple of years and was really bad on our last trip. I had it replaced this week. The shop said the switch was totally shot.  The old switch was black and the new switch is silver. Pretty snazzy. 

The only bad part about this repair is that the ignition key and door lock key are different. We now have to carry two keys. This isn't that big of a deal because I normally just use the fob to lock and unlock the doors.

Homer is now ready for another adventure next week - a club campout in Springfield, Illinois. He will get packed up tomorrow.

  

 

August 11, 2022 - RV Trips Mean RV Repairs in My Experience

In my experience in over twenty years of traveling by RV, after just about every trip there are items that need to be fixed or improvements to be made. This trip was no exception. The first item discovered on this trip was that the vanity cabinet door was very loose. I tightened the screw in place but noticed that the two doors then rubbed each other. I took all screws out, except one in the bottom, put toothpicks in the holes, held the door so it didn't touch the other door, then reinserted the screws. Problem solved. Here is a picture. I wish all repairs were this easy.

The next item was that the converter access panel came loose several times. This panel is located just as you enter so being loose or falling off can be a hazard. Here is a picture of the door in place. 

From the factory this panel was one half this size. It consisted of only the black screen portion, which is now on the bottom. The original panel was nailed in place. Soon after purchasing Homer I decided to replace the converter because the old one buzzed so loud it could keep us awake. Upon prying the panel off I could not get the converter out. It was too large for the opening. Additionally, there was very little room to work in to install a new one. The panel was strictly for air flow. I took a saw and doubled the size of the access panel. I could then get the old converter out and the new one installed. I used the wood I cut out in a new frame I made to cover the opening. I didn't want to nail the new panel back on so that I would have future access. This was a good move because last year I had to replace the converter because it went out. The molding is only an inch and a quarter wide and less than a half inch deep. I could have screwed the panel on to the wall, but I liked the clean look of the original with no visible means of attachment. I attached a spring-friction cabinet catch on each side of the wall. I used short screws in the frame to engage the spring catches. It worked fine but sometimes the door would shift a little in the opening, the screw would slide out of the friction latch, allowing it to come loose. Today I solved that problem by adding a second screw to each side. By doing this, even if the door moves left or right in transit, it stays in place. In the picture I have placed arrows showing the double screws and arrows showing the spring cabinet catches. It is tight as can be now. (I should have done a better job the first time, but these little projects keep me out of the bars.

The next issue was the 12-volt power hub I installed several years ago on the dash. On the road we use a Garmin GPS that needs a twelve-volt cigarette lighter outlet for power. We both have cell phones to charge as well as a wireless speaker we use to listen to audio books as we travel.  All of these gadgets need power. I bought a 12-volt power hub and attached it to the dash so that everything could be powered. It has three 12-volt cigarette outlets and one USB port. I purchased adapters for USB ports in the 12-volt outlets.  Here is a picture.

It has worked but the USB adapters and the Garmin cigarette plug often vibrate loose while traveling. Homer is a truck chassis, not a car, so we feel the many bumps in the road. Periodically we would have to push the plugs back in. This trip they just wouldn't stay in tight enough to make a connection most of the time. To get us home I duct taped the adapters in place but even that didn't hold for the entire trip. I decided I was going to glue the two USB adapters in place. Upon rethinking that idea I decided it was a bad one. When we tow the HHR we need to have a 12-volt cigarette outlet available for the brake control alert system.  What to do? A light bulb went off. All I need is friction to hold the adapters in place. I am a big fan of Velcro and always keep some on hand. I hit on the idea of putting a strip of the fuzzy Velcro on each plug and pushing it into the sockets. It worked like a champ. Very tight yet removable. Here is a picture of the Garmin plug with and without the Velcro.

All that is left for me to repair is the gray water sewer line which was broken at some point when Homer was in the shop. It is clear that they backed it into a grassy area and broke the connection because fresh grass and mud were in the strap on the lowest part of the drain. Thank goodness it did not break the tank connections. 

Lastly, Homer goes into the shop Monday for a new ignition switch.