Thursday, September 14, 2017

Two Major RV Repairs, 8/31-9/08/2017

After an uneventful drive from southern New Jersey to the Delaware Seashore State Park in Dewey Beach, DE, we went through the normal settling-in process. When John first plugged in our power cord to the tower at our site, everything was fine. 
  • Then suddenly, our electricity inside the motor coach clicked off. We could "hear" that power was flowing through the electric cord to the motor coach, but only a few outlets in the motor coach were working. And the LED display on our electrical panel was blank. What the heck? 
  • Of course, our refrigerator and stove were working (on propane). But no hot water because the switch to turn it on requires AC power (even when using propane to heat the water. And no air conditioning!
  • The 5th mobile RV repair place we called, advised us that he would come to diagnose and hopefully repair it the next day. We were very happy to fine anyone even willing to look at it!
  • Due to his workload and the terrible traffic through Rehoboth Beach on a Friday afternoon before Labor Day Weekend, he did not arrive until 5:30 pm. Ugh. But he kept his word which we very much appreciated.
  • Problem 1fault in the 50 AMP Smart Energy Management System. Resolution: order and install a new one
  • Ordering the part on line from the vendor, Leisure Time Distributing (for about $300) on 9/01, we requested next day delivery. The company called me around 6:30 pm (kudos for their excellent customer service) and advised that FedEx was closed until Tuesday 9/05. But they would ship next day delivery via USPS and it would arrive Tuesday (and saved us the exorbitant price of FedEx). 
  • The part arrived Tuesday morning, and the RV technician came to install lit. But after it was installed, it still was not working properly. Finally, he checked the power source from the campground and it was not working! Wait, what??? I contacted campground management and was told that maintenance left at 3 pm and no one could check out the problem until the next morning. I was not happy. Because almost all sites were reserved, we moved to a nearby site that had power. 
  • While the AC was working in the RV with the generator on, it was registering 30 amp when plugged in. Eventually, it was diagnosed that the problem was with our surge protector that was apparently in conflict with the new 50 AMP energy management system. Since we have stopped using the surge protector, we have had no problems and everything is working fine (knock on wood).
  • Problem 2: When we moved the RV to another site, suddenly our rear slide motor stopped working. OMG. We could not push it in or out, but did figure out how to crank it out (or in). 
  • The next day we researched the part number and where to get it (called both the manufacturer and Monaco). Good news is that we figured where to order the slide motor assembly (Lippert Components, Inc.); the bad news, they did not have in stock and it would take 5-7 business days to ship. Well, that screwed up our plans. I placed the order (about $500) and requested next day delivery, again. Meanwhile, I scrambled to cancel our reservations in Chincoteague, VA. 
  • We had to move to another campground because there were no sites available at Delaware Seashore State Park. Based on a suggestion by the repair technician, we went to G&R Campground about 40 miles away (and close to the repair guy). 
  • Miraculously, the part shipped the next day and arrived 9/07 at 8 pm via UPS. The RV technician came out the next morning (9/08) and repaired it (although it was very UIKeyInputUpArrowdifficult to get to). Yay!!
When major repairs are required on the RV, it is very stressful for me! John is much calmer about these things. And he put it all in perspective when he said, "Just think about those poor people in Houston and South Florida.." Yep! So true.

An area of concern for us though is that our Monaco Monarch is a 2011 model with less than 30,000 miles on it! Nonetheless, we are very, very happy to be back to our normal, happy, carefree lifestyle

John Sizemore, owner of Certified Honest RV Repair (www.icanfixyourrv.com), was fantastic and went above and beyond the call of duty on both of these repair jobs for a very fair price. If you are ever in mid- to southernDelaware and need any repairs, give him a call at 410-913-6833

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