August 15th-17th - Finished Waxing Homer with Help of Scaffold Board

I finished waxing the sides of Homer and moved to "rewaxing" the front cap. I waxed it several weeks ago and have not been happy with it. To apply product I had to lean way over the hood with a ladder on the corner to get as close as I could. This was awkward and did not allow for the best application and removal of wax with my polisher. I needed a scaffold that was wider than the cab so I could get closer to the work surface. I put a ladder on each side of Homer and measured. I needed a twelve foot long board to span the distance. John has a shed being torn down that had a lot of wood in it. I went out and found a 12 foot long 2 x 10 and a 13 foot 2 x 4. I hauled them both home. I placed the 2 x 10 between the two ladders and tried it. It worked but was a little "springy" when I walked on it in the middle. I decided to add a 2 x 4 to each side to stiffen it up. Here are a couple of pictures of what I built.

The platform works great but it is so heavy I just about can't handle it. Lifting it onto one ladder and then sliding into the other is very difficult for this old man. I decided that one side needed a roller so it would slide more easily once in place. On the blue ladder in the first picture you can see the PVC pipe I cut to lay on the rung under the scaffold. It helped but it is still a lot of weight to get up there. Luckily I will only need to use it about one time per year.  I am really happy with the result using the scaffold. Here are a couple of pictures of the shine. Pretty good for a 27 year old rig.

The scaffold will help with the back cap next time as well. A wider board is also easier on the feet than the step ladder rung.

The igniter for the gas stove in Homer isn't working consistently. It is a 27 year old Piezo lighter. I am replacing it with a battery operated one like the ones used in outdoor grills. I ordered one off eBay yesterday and then was notified it would be her by OCTOBER 13TH. Almost a month? Crazy. Good thing I'm not in a hurry for it. Should be an easy install if I measured the available space correctly.

August 11-12, 2020 - Waxing Homer and Fridge Drain Replacement

Yesterday I started early in the morning waxing the driver side of Homer while it was shady. I use a foam applicator on my Porter-Cable Polisher to apply the wax. I then buff it off by hand. I finished about a third of the side when my form applicator exploded. Here is a picture.

A new foam applicator like this one is about $19.00. I figured no one in town would have one and I was correct. I got online and ordered a pack of five foam pads for $15.00. These pads Velcro to a plate I have that is screwed into the polisher. Thanks to Amazon the new ones will arrive today so the waxing project has been delayed because of that plus it is raining a little this morning.

While I was waxing yesterday I heard a noise and looked over and saw a major portion of a dead tree on the Conservation property fell down onto our brick pile about fifty feet away from me. Here is a picture. 

 

I am glad that didn't happen while I was mowing there the other day. I have another project now to cut it up and get it out of the way. Half of it is on my neighbor's side so I won't mess with that.

A while back I noticed that the drain tube for the refrigerator was brittle and breaking off. I assumed it was still good at the top where it came out of the refrigerator. Without the drain tube when the refrigerator defrosts water would just run down all over the electrical wires.  Not good. I cut the tubing to a non-brittle spot and used a connector to add a piece of tubing for it to drain properly.  Here is a picture of that repair with an arrow.

The repair worked but unfortunately I soon learned that the tubing was broken up higher where it connected to the refrigerator. This meant the fridge had to be pulled out to replace the tubing. In disconnecting everything to move the fridge out I noticed that the 120 volt ac plug was in a bind behind a metal guard. Here is what it looked like. The red arrow shows how the plug was behind the metal housing. It worked but I didn't like it. The green arrow shows how the outlet mounting plate was connected to the wall. 

There were two other holes in the plate to the right. By using one of those holes to mount the plate I could get the plug out from behind the metal housing.  Here is a picture of the plate remounted in a different hole and the plug clear.

I couldn't move the refrigerator out and work on it by myself so I got John to help me. In most cases the tube from the inside drain sticks out through the insulation so it is a simple matter of pulling the refrigerator out about half way to be able to remove the spring clip then put on the new tubing and spring clip. I wasn't so lucky. On this refrigerator the connection to the drain was actually inside the insulation. Here is a picture of the tubing broken off inside the insulation. You can see how far inside the smaller inside drain was. 

I used a needle nose pliers to get the old tubing off. The only way to put the new tubing on was to pull the drain out inside the refrigerator, feed the new tubing through the insulation from the back, and connect it to the inside drain before pushing it all back in place. The new tubing was a little larger in diameter than the old one. It would not stay on with the spring clip so we used a wire tie to fasten it on before pushing it back through the insulation. We then fed the tubing down through the refrigerator coils and moved the refrigerator back into place. Here is a picture of the new tubing before putting the access cover back on. We water checked it to make sure water came out the end and not from above. Mission accomplished.

Here is a picture of the finished project with the access door back on and drain tube sticking out for drainage. 

It was a little more involved than I expected but still only took and hour because I had everything disconnected before we started.  Good for another 15 years.

 

 

August 9, 2020 - Headlight Renew on Homer

A problem we all face as our vehicles get older is the plastic headlight lenses turning yellow and fogging up. There are all kinds of products sold to make them look like new. Most involve cleaning, sanding, spraying, etc. Today I was browsing an RV website when someone asked what was the best product for getting the yellow off of headlights. The first answers given were to get "OFF" bug spray with Deet in it. Spray it on and wipe it off. I had some 'OFF' in Homer so I decided to try it. Here is the result.

I was astounded. It took all of 30 seconds to do two applications to the headlight on the left. I am really impressed. I don't know how long it will last but it is so cheap and fast to do that having to do it every few months would be no big deal.  Maybe it will keep bugs away so they don't splatter on the headlights as well. (LOL) Cool tip I'm sharing.

August 5th-7th - Anniversary Campout at Lake Perry

With Covid-19 we could not go out to eat for our 49th anniversary so we decided to camp at the lake. The weather had cooled off after a long heat wave. Tuesday morning we set up camp in no time. We aren't used to making such a short trip to camp. Here is a picture of Homer all settled in on our lot. You can see all the weeds in the gravel. Before I backed him in I sprayed the whole area with weed killer. It is hard to keep the weeds down because of all the debris that falls from the trees all year long. 

We have great shade on our lot. Here is a picture from a different perspective.

The cedar tree in the foreground is going to get cut down as well as another. Both are mostly dead and need to be removed. Removing them will not decrease our shade.

Sitting around enjoying the day we decided we would like to get a little dirt work done and have more gravel spread on the driveway and parking area. A future project.

  

I was up early on Wednesday and while sitting in the quiet drinking my coffee I took this shot of the lake behind us with the fog lifting. The lake was like glass. 

Alexa and her friend, Aaron, came down for the day Wednesday so we had a nice visit topped off with grilled brats for supper.

I almost always make breakfast when we are camping. Thursday for our anniversary breakfast Kelly requested Corned Beef Hash and eggs. Here is a picture. I think Corned Beef Hash looks like dog food but it tastes good.

We had a nice leisurely day for our anniversary. For dessert after supper I had tapioca which Kelly made before we left home. It is rare to have tapioca because Kelly does not like it and I don't think to make it. It was nice of her to make me some. I enjoyed it sitting around the fire.

Early Friday morning we packed up for home which was only about a thirty minute drive. This had been the first time we camped on our lot in about five years. We enjoyed it and definitely need to use it more often.

Everybody needs a fire poker to keep the fire going at a campout. Years ago I made my first poker out of a piece of rebar and a hand-whittled handle. After using it the last couple of days I decided I needed to "upgrade" it with a better handle so I brought it home to work on it. Here is a picture of it with the original handle.

Here is a close up of the handle. It was pretty crude but it served the purpose for years. I paint the pokers I make so you can see them in the dark. (I learned that the hard way.) This one has been painted red for many years and will stay that color.

Last year Alexa bought me a small lathe so I got busy after we got home and made a new handle for my poker. I say "my" poker because Kelly has her own which I made her some years back and has her named carved in it.  (Some things we don't share well.) Kelly's poker is stored in Marge right now. Here is a picture of the new handle on the poker. It is made of oak and will last a long time.

Everything worked flawlessly in Homer so nothing to repair when we got home. Ready for the next outing.

August 4, 2020 - Homer Hubcap Fix and Headed to the Lake

I noticed when they mounted the new tires on Homer they did not reinstall the front hubcaps correctly. There is a cutout for the valve stem. Instead of lining the valve stem up with the opening made for that they just stuck the valve stem out a hole.  Here is a picture with arrows showing you what I am talking about.

I took both hubcaps off yesterday and positioned them correctly. Here is a picture. How hard could it have been to do it right?

In an hour or two we will be off to the lake in Homer for a few days. It is supposed to be cool and no rain. Yippee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

July 31 - August 1, 2020 - New LP Detector for Homer

The LP detector in Homer was not working properly and the best I can tell it was the original one, making it 27 years old. (They are supposed to be changed out every five years.)  Here is a picture of it after I took it out this morning. Of course they don't make this model anymore.

On May 4th I ordered a new one and it finally arrived yesterday. The company said the long delay was because of limited shipments from China due to the Coronavirus. 

The old detector was a flush mount, meaning they cut out a section of the cabinet to install it. The new one I ordered is a flush mount as well. Of course the new detector is not the same size as the old one. It is smaller, which means I had to make something to cover up the larger hole and at the same time provide something for the new detector to mount to.  I cut a piece of thin plywood for this purpose. Here is a picture of it in the vise. The reason it is in the vise is that I cut off one end so I could cut out the opening on the band saw. It is hard to cut a small piece like this with a jig saw. I then had to glue the two pieces back together.

Below is a picture of the new LP detector. I placed it in the mount to make sure it fits before I stain and varnish the mount to match the cabinets in Homer. 

The old LP detector was hardwired with a plug. I cut the plug and wire off it and crimped it on to the wires on the new one. Here is a picture.

 

I installed the new detector this morning.  Here is a picture of it installed under the dining table.

It tests out fine so we should be safe for at least five more years.  One more upgrade to Homer.