May 23rd - 30th, 2022 - Homer Generator Problem and Memorial Day Weekend at Lake Perry

Last week we got Homer out of storage and put Marge in until we head back to Florida the end of November. 

HOMER GENERATOR PROBLEM:

I got Homer de-winterized in no time and everything worked perfectly except the generator would not run. It started right up for a couple of seconds, then died and would not restart. The first thing to always check is the level of fuel in the RV fuel tank. I did that and had 3/8 of a tank, plenty to run the generator. 

I suspected the bad effects of Ethanol, even with Sta-Bil in the tank over the winter. I pulled the air cleaner off and shot it multiple times with carburetor cleaner (actually two cans of the stuff) in an effort to get it to run. It would run great on the carb cleaner but immediately die. I decided to check to see if the carburetor was getting gas and disconnected the gas line from the bottom of the carburetor. As I expected, no gas came out when I tried to start the generator. I disconnected the fuel line from the RV gas tank and connected the fuel pump to a hose I stuck into a five-gallon tank of gasoline. If fired right up and ran until I killed it. I tried to start it again, but it would not start. I disconnected the fuel line at the carburetor again and no gas, even from the five gallon tank.  I took a small fuel pump I had and connected it to the RV fuel line to draw fuel out of the main tank. Apparently, the pump was too small because it barely spit any gas out. 

Since it wouldn't restart on the five-gallon tank of gas I suspected the fuel pump was bad and decided to pull it off to bench check it. To get to the bottom screw attaching the pump to the generator I had to cut a hole in the side of the metal generator slide out drawer. I took the pump off and tested it with a battery. It ran fine. I then suspected that the pump was not getting voltage from the generator. I visually checked the wiring and it all looked good. Clearly no critters had gotten in there. At this point I decided the pump was good but it wasn't getting voltage from the generator to start pumping. I called the Onan generator repair place in St. Louis that worked on it about five years ago. They said they could probably get me in next week and would call me this week with a date when to bring it up. They warned me that their repair rate is now $168.50 per hour, with a minimum of one hour diagnostic time. I would await their call because I was at a dead end.

I went to bed that night and the "no fuel issue" kept me up all night. I thought that, while I had checked the pump to see if it ran, I had not tested it off the generator to see if it was actually pumping fuel when running. The next morning I hooked the pump up to a five gallon gas tank and it would not pump. I decided that the pump was bad and I ordered a new one for $42.50 (a Chinese knockoff because Onan had none available at $99.00). The pump came two days later and I put it in. Here is a picture of the new pump installed. To get out the old pump and to install a new pump I had to cut a hole in the metal side of the slide out tray the generator is mounted on. The arrow points to the access hole I cut.

The new pump immediately pumped out of the five gallon can and the generator ran like a top. I hooked it back up to the RV gas tank line - no gas. I decided I had a fuel line problem from the RV fuel tank. I would need to take it to my local mechanic for that, not Onan. (A lot closer and a lot less expensive.)

Before heading to the lake for the Memorial Day weekend  I filled up the RV fuel tank. I got home and tried the generator again and it fired right up off the main RV tank and ran until I killed it. I started it back up several times and it popped right over. PROBLEM SOLVED? IF SO, HOW? 3/8 OF A TANK OF GAS HAS ALWAYS BEEN PLENTY. 

Side note:

RV generator lines into the main fuel tank are intentionally set to quit drawing out of the RV fuel tank when it gets down to a 1/4 of a tank. This is so the generator doesn't run you out of fuel while camping. When I first got Homer the fuel line for the generator was rotten and they had to drop the fuel tank and replace it all the way into the tank. My mechanic told me he did me a favor and ran the line all the way to the bottom of the tank. He didn't know any better and I wasn't about to pay him to correct it. I know about it, that's good enough.

Saturday morning we got to the lake and set up. We could smell gasoline at the entrance door. I looked everywhere and could not see any gasoline leaking. I couldn't smell it anywhere but by the entrance door, which is on the opposite side of Homer from the fuel tank filler and the generator. I started the generator and there were no leaks anywhere around it. Homer obviously needs to go to the shop to see what is going on with this smell. 

THE MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND:

It was a beautiful weekend at the lake. The weather was perfect. Here is a picture from our lot looking at the new docks they put in across from us. There is a small beach there for kids to play in which was quite busy this weekend.

One of our first chores when we go to our lot is to pick up sticks before mowing. We have lots of trees and they lose lots of small limbs regularly. Here are a couple of weeks' worth of sticks piled up for burning. The pile outside the fire ring was this weekend's pile.

Sunday morning, while Kelly was still sleeping, I sat outside and drank my coffee. I then looked to see if there was a fishing pole in the shed. There was one pole with one lure on it so I thought I would try my luck. Within a few minutes I caught this guy just two lots down.

He was about ten inches long so I threw him back. About fifteen minutes later I caught another. He may have been the same fish. LOL

No more bites so after a while I quit. I definitely need to bring some fishing tackle and rods back out to the lake.

On Sunday daughter, Alexa, and her friend, Aaron, came down from St. Louis for the day.  Here is a picture of Kelly and Alexa enjoying the campfire.

Here is a picture of Aaron bring everyone cupcakes for dessert after a meal of grilled brats, corn on cob, and pork and beans.

We had brought out the golf cart a couple of days earlier because on Saturday we had to register it with the lake association and provide proof of insurance so that we can use it at the lake. The cart had to be physically there so they could put a sticker on it showing we were registered. The golf cart fits in the shed but I have to revise the ramp I built to get it in and out. Another project, another blog.

Monday morning we packed up Homer, dumped our tanks, and headed home. Upon getting home I backed into the driveway to unload. We could immediately smell gas at the entrance door and it was strong! I looked around and upon crawling down to look underneath, I saw gasoline almost running out of the top of the tank. Whoa! I found the problem. I took the gas cap off to release the pressure in the tank and the leak immediately stopped. Here is a picture of the front side of the tank where the gas was running out. The arrows point to the dark, wet streaks where the gas was running down the tank from the top. 

I'll call tomorrow and get Homer a repair appointment. Of course, he has a full tank of gas, which has to be emptied before they can drop the tank to see what is going on. Also since coming out of storage, the "Rear ABS BRAKE" warning light is on. I'll have that checked out as well. That warning light came on one time a couple of years ago after sitting for the winter and it was low fluid. Hopefully that is it again. A third item for repair is the emergency brake. I had this worked on in the fall but it is not fixed right. Sometimes it catches, sometimes it does not. I'll get that worked on as well.

I'll keep you posted on the repairs. The squirrels had eaten one of the gas lines up front last year, maybe they got up on top of the tank, who knows.

May 22, 2022 - Update on the Golf Cart We Acquired For Use at the Lake

In a post on May 6th, I showed the condition of the golf cart when we bought it.  I worked a number of days cleaning it, re-blacking the black plastic areas, ordering and installing a new windshield (it didn't have one before), and fixing the cracks in the roof at the back supports.  Here are a couple of pictures of the cart then and now. First the seats.

The dash and floor boards then and now.

The rear of the cart then and now.

And finally, a picture as she sits today, ready to be taken to the lake for a summer of fun.  

We thought about repainting it but we decided it wasn't worth the cost or the effort. We are happy how she turned out. Now I have to get insurance and a registration sticker before using it at the lake.

 

May 9th-11th, 2022 - Carri-Yals May 2022 Campout

For about fifteen years Kelly and I have been members of the Illinois Carri-Yals Chapter of the Carriage RV Travel Club. This is a group of Missouri and Illinois campers who get together for four-day, weekday campouts each summer at various places around Missouri and Illinois. We all take turns hosting and May 2022 was our turn to host once again. This year we chose Fort Kaskaskia State Historic Site campground on the Illinois river bluff just South of Ellis Grove, Illinois. We chose this campground because of the view and because there was a pavilion we could use for free in case of rain. The campground has electric to each site, water spigots at various locations, and a dump station for sewage when you leave. The dump station is old and really poorly laid out for larger rigs like ours. I conveyed this fact to our members, telling them that we may not be able to get our large rigs into the area to dump, and thus they may have to go somewhere else to dump. This, coupled with the fact that water wasn't available on each site, scared off a number of members. We ended up with seven people coming so we made plans for tours, etc. throughout the week.

Kelly and I arrived on Sunday, a day early, to get set up. We found the campground to be in a terrible condition and virtually no one there. Here are a couple of pictures.

We had a campfire Sunday night because it was quite pleasant out and we enjoyed the solitude. 

The Fort Kaskaskia Historic Site is where a fort was built in the 1700s on the bluff of the Mississippi for strategic military purposes and to protect the Village of Kaskaskia below, which was located on the Kaskaskia River. Here is a picture of what the area looked like in the 1700s.

The fort is high on the bluff overlooking the Kaskaskia River and the Mississippi River. The fort was an earthen fort, most of which is gone today. In 1811 the New Madrid Earthquake caused the Mississippi to run backwards in this area. When it did the Mississippi River changed course and cut a channel where the Kaskaskia River had been. The Village of Kaskaskia then became an island on the Missouri side of the river. Here is a picture. The red arrow shows the course of the Mississippi River today.

Because of the regular flooding of the Village of Kaskaskia over the years it was decided in 1881 to move all the bodies from three cemeteries on the island to high ground on the fort property. It is known as Garrison Cemetery. They moved 3,800 graves to this new cemetery. This had to be a monumental project back then when everything was hand dug and caskets were not in concrete vaults. Here are a couple of pictures of the cemetery today. Clearly most grave sites have no head stones. Hopefully a new ranger will mow the grass in respect of the dead.

Monday morning the other two rigs that had been in the park pulled out. We were all by ourselves. By saying the campground was in poor condition I mean that the grass had not been cut for quite a while, tree branches were laying around, the roads were not cleaned off of pine needles and sweet gum balls, etc. A fellow drove by and said the reason the park was in such poor condition was that the Ranger retired and they hadn't hired anyone yet to replace him. If I had known this I would have brought my push mower to mow our site. When we scoped out the place last summer for a campout site it was all well cared for.

Celina arrived in the early afternoon. Club member Jim called to say that his truck was still in the shop getting a warranty repair. He hoped to have it back Tuesday morning so they could attend. Their rig was packed and ready to go. When Pam and Lawrence, who are farmers, didn't arrive by early Monday evening we called. Pam told Celina that they were not coming and had cancelled two weeks ago because their planting season had been delayed. She said they sent me an email two weeks ago that they were cancelling, but I never got it. 

Tuesday morning the three of us carried on. We had a tour scheduled of the Faherty House in Perryville. It is the oldest house in Perryville dating back to the early 1800s. Kelly and I have lived in this town for forty-five years and never toured the house. Here is a picture. It is only two blocks from the town square.

The stone portion was the original house, which had a kitchen in the basement and a bedroom above. You had to go outside in the back to get from one room to the other. I don't think that would be a lot of fun in the winter plus there was no fireplace upstairs. The only heat in the bedroom was what rose up through the floor.

Here are a couple of pictures of the basement kitchen-family room.

There is now a sump pump and dehumidifier in the basement kitchen to deal with all the water intrusion through the stone foundation.

The brick portion of the house, which was added on later, consists of a living room and a bedroom. Members of the Faherty family occupied this house until 1971 when the Historical Society bought it. Over the years a kitchen and bathroom had been added on the back of the house. This portion has since been torn off to put the house back close to its original condition. Here are some pictures of the living room. It had a large piano, which was quite a luxury in those days. The family was quite musically inclined.

The added bedroom and living room had fireplaces, the original bedroom did not.

Interestingly each room had a door to the outside at the rear. I guess for quick access to the outhouse as needed.

By our standards today this is a very modest home on a small, town lot. But it was quite the home back then. The early Fahretys had slaves who lived in a slave quarters in the back of the lot. When the property was purchased the slave quarters was just a pile of stones and it has been rebuilt. Here is a picture.

After the tour of the Fahrety House we went to the Perry County Military Museum and were given a tour by John Rauh, a good friend of mine. His wife is the curator and John is the head docent and handyman. He did a great job pointing out many of the unique artifacts and military memorabilia from local veterans, including himself. Kelly and I have been to the museum several times but each time I learn new things.

We then had lunch at Ewald's BBQ to give Celina a true Perryville experience. The place hasn't changed in 70 years. (Except the prices). As usual it was busy at lunch time. After lunch we had scheduled a tour of the Missouri National Veterans Memorial, which includes a complete duplicate of the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. I had to call and cancel the tour because Kelly began feeling very ill. We drove to the hospital in Ste. Genevieve where her heart doctor practices. She was admitted to the ER and after about an hour the doctor said her blood work showed that her potassium level was extremely low. They gave her some potassium pills and started her on a four-hour IV drip. Celina and I drove back to the campground and whipped up a little supper. We then drove back to the hospital. Kelly was released feeling much better and with orders to see her heart doctor next week.

Monday evening Jim had messaged me that his truck wasn't ready but hopefully by Tuesday morning he would have it and they could come down. Tuesday his truck was finally ready but when he went to pick it up the A/C didn't work so he took it back. Their camping with us was cancelled. We did talk them in to driving down for the day and visit on Wednesday. 

Wednesday began with a drive to the Chester Visitor Center on the Mississippi River and a picture with Popeye. Here is the picture of the group.

We drove around the area along the river and then went to lunch at Reid's Harvest House, a Chester restaurant well known in the area for its large smorgasbord.  It did not disappoint. We then headed back to the campsite and visited until about three when Jim and Bev headed home. Wednesday it turned really hot with a record temperature in St. Louis of 92 degrees and 60% humidity. We had a heat index of 100 degrees because there wasn't a breeze anywhere. It was way too hot for a campfire so the three of us went inside in the air-conditioning and played "Pegs and Jokers" after supper. We then decided that with the heat continuing the next day to just leave a day early.

Thursday morning Celina headed home about 8:00 a.m. and we headed home about 9:00 a.m.  In studying the dump station layout the day before I saw where somebody had pulled in, dumped, backed up, and then pulled out across the grass rather than staying on the road to get out. I decided to try this. I pulled in and began to dump. To top off the "curse" of this campout, when I inserted the sewage hose and opened my valve, the sewage backed up on to the ground around me. I quickly shut the valve. Slowly the sewage went down so I continued to let out a little at a time. Their septic system apparently was filled up from no one being on the job to take care of it. A fitting end for this trip! I was able to back up and get out of the dump station area with no problem and we headed home.  Hopefully a better campout in June in Northern Missouri. LOL

May 6, 2022 - Golf Cart Project

Last fall we purchased a 1994 Club Car gas golf cart from a friend. After getting home from Florida we pulled it out of the shed at the lake and hauled it home for a good cleaning. Prior to our purchase it had been sitting outside and was really a mess. The biggest concern for Kelly was the great amount of mold on and in the seat cushion material. She said if I couldn't get it off she was buying seat covers for it. I didn't like that idea because the seat covers I've seen usually don't fit right and a friend pointed out that they get wet and stay wet. Here is a picture of one of the seat backs and the seat cushion when I started working on them.

The first thing I tried to clean them with was a mold and mildew remover spray we had in the closet from a local store. It worked some on the surface mold but did not touch what was stained into the material. I got on YouTube and tried several methods guys suggested to remove the mold. One was a homemade concoction of vinegar, fabric softener, and hydrogen peroxide. I learned you should never use bleach on vinyl because it dries out the material which causes it to crack.  The concoction worked a little better than the store bought stuff. It was sprayed on, kept wet, and then let sit on there until it evaporated. Not satisfactory results at all.

Much of the staining was actually down in the vinyl material and the concoction didn't getting any of that out. I went back online looking for something that would work. I found a guy who, after using all the sprays I had used, tried "Marine 31 Mildew Stain Remover". He said it worked when nothing else did and even without any scrubbing. His seats looked like mine when he started and they came out great in his pictures. I ordered a spray bottle for $21.00. It arrived yesterday and I sprayed the cushions and let them sit for half hour. After a half hour I was blown away at how good the seats looked. There were still some stains so I sprayed the seats again and let them sit for a couple of hours. They came out GREAT. Here are the pictures.

There are just the faintest brown spots on the seat bottom cushion but overall we are thrilled with the results. The $21.00 bottle of "Marine 31" worked wonders and was cheaper than seat covers. I will coat the seats with 303 Protectant to cut down on future UV damage and hopefully slow down any mold growth. 

The next project with the cart will be to wash it and clean it top to bottom. Here are a couple of pictures of what it looks like today.

It is a 1994 model so it is not a peach by any means. It has a lot of scrapes on it in various places. I may get ambitious and sand those all out and spray paint it later on. I'll wait and see how much we actually use it before I do all that work. It starts fine and runs but it is definitely cold-natured. It reminds me of the old cars in the 50s with the manual chokes that you had to finesse to get to run right until the engine warmed up. More pictures to follow once back together and cleaned up.