maintenance

Washing Toto and TinMan

June 3, 2015 By drpaddle Leave a Comment

This will get your tail waggin’. I washed Toto and TinMan on Saturday, using a new AUTOSPA SUDSnWASH <TM> Wash & Rinse Cleaning Set from Costco. You will want to run out and get one of these right away if you have something to wash. Exception: these are not good for washing dogs. But they work great on trailers and pickup trucks.

Here’s a general idea of what went on around here on Saturday. Just look how clean Toto is!

See that aluminum-looking pole with the blue handle on one end and the brush on the other? That’s most of the SUDSnWASH. There’s a shut-off valve where the pole attaches to the hose, so you don’t waste water, which is expensive in our town. Water, I mean. It costs a lot.

At the other end, the brush head features a smallish reservoir into which you can pour liquid car-washing soap of some kind.

See, here’s the reservoir. You fill it up with soap.

Years ago, when my parents thought I had the energy for such things, they gave me a Car Washing Kit. I used it for a while, but I can’t find it now. I did have this left over, though:

Gallon container of car wash gel, about 1/4 full.

I have no idea how long this has been in the garage (and the other garage in the house before this one. Or the one before that).

At first I thought Tyler was going to be helpful.

Tyler sitting expectantly in the driveway.

Or at least watchful.

But no.

I think he likes the feeling of warm concrete on his chest.

So, here’s the thing about he Suds n Go. You start out with the blue control dial set to Rinse, and you get all the big dirt chunks off. The brush is really soft, and you can hold it off the surface and get a pretty strong stream of water without otherwise touching the vehicle, so there’s no worry about scratching the gel coat or clear coat.

While you’re doing this, you notice that you have not been spending time with weights like the doctor suggested. Your arms are going to be sore later. Heck, they’re sore now. Why is this? The Suds n Go isn’t heavy — but the water is, and our garden hose is pretty heavy-duty and therefore heavy, too. So it feels like you’re moving a bowling ball around as you work, and this gets a little tiring. I may try a lighter-weight hose next time.

After the rinsing there is cleaning. Twist the dial on the brush head and presto, soapy water instead of clear. This is good for about 10 minutes. The Suds n Go may not be a precision-engineered device, because somehow, gradually, the soap in the reservoir gets diluted with water, and after a while there’s just water in there.

It’s not a problem. The soap seems to last a reasonable amount of time. The reservoir doesn’t hold much and I only had to fill it four times, total, for washing all of Toto. And while you might think Toto isn’t a very large trailer, he sure seems large when you’re washing the whole thing.

After soapy brushing, more rinsing. Toto gets really clean. And the Suds n Go kit from Costco even includes a nice, easy-to-grip squeegee. If you use a light touch, the squeegee works fine and gets most of the water off, so no need to get all the garage towels wet.

Toto, gleaming in the sun on the driveway.

It gleams.

I give the Suds n Go 8 stars out of 10. It doesn’t seem durable. The dial, which doubles as the cap for the soap-filling hole, is a little fussy, and I had to loosen a screw under the cap to make it work right. But I’d have to say the gadget did help me get the job done more quickly and with a little less effort.

I was tired, though. I stopped for lunch, then gave TinMan the same treatment.

Note: there were a few stubborn bug carcasses on the front of Toto and TinMan after the wash job. I used to have something called Bug and Tar Remover — in fact I still did have it on the day in question, but it had Gone Bad. So I used Goof Off II and a soft cloth to take the bugs off.

Also note: see how sunny it was? That has been happening a lot around here, in western Washington, and we’re not used to it. When I started the job — cleaning Toto’s astoundingly white roof — I didn’t have sunglasses on, and I needed something from inside, but when I got to the kitchen I noticed everything had turned dark red. Snow blindness! Yikes. When I went back out I took sunglasses and saved myself from a life of listening to audio books.

If I ever have energy again I’ll clean the awning. But first… more camping, please.

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What’s inside Toto? More stuff.

March 24, 2015 By drpaddle 2 Comments

The good news is, it’s a blog. I could be showing you these pictures on my smartphone, or a (remember these?) slide projector. You’d have to put with a narrative and everything.

We left off at the TotoLounge, with is just a bunch of seating and windows and light fixtures and pillows. Underneath the seating, there is some storage, and also some gadgets — batteries, something called a Converter, and some wires — which means you have to be careful what you might store there. But also there are these Bully Tables.

Bully Table, or fold-up table. Also folds down.

This is a bully table in the Up position. Just above it there’s a 12-volt power outlet. We have found this handy for charging cellphones and tablets. It is said that we can use these tables for dining, as well, although so far only beverages have made it onto these surfaces.

In the down position, a bully table looks less threatening. Also, there’s more space on the cushions for terriers.

No one knows why these are called Bully Tables — this in an ostensibly anti-bully era. (Why weren’t people anti-bully when I was a small, bespectacled junior high school student?) Actually, someone knows, but I haven’t asked her yet. Onward.

TotoLounge with teasing glimpse of refrigerator, microwave oven, and air conditioner.

One last, wistful look at the TotoLounge, and we move on. Note, on your right (which is Toto’s left): a refrigerator, and a microwave oven. Up-top there’s a rather glaring air conditioner Let us explore them.

The refrigerator is preposterously large for the size of the trailer. I suppose one can work up quite the appetite hiking in the wilderness; we’ll find out. Air conditioning? Only works when Toto is plugged in to a current bush, and only needs to be on long enough for Team Toto to pack up and get the heck out of there. If we want to bake, we’ll go home and stick our heads in the oven.

Refrigerator interior. Highly impressive.

Just look at this cavernous thing. That’s a freezer up-top. Wouldn’t want to go to the wilderness without Otter Pops, or possibly frozen Margarita mix.

This LED light in the fridge is just plain eerie. Did you read Stephen King’s Tommyknockers? In that book it was green. This is the blue version. I keep expecting to open the door and see a poor little doggie hooked up to some kind of horrible tricycle device.

There has been a lot of loose talk about these refrigerators not being quite chilly enough in warm climates like you might find in Texas or Florida or even Whistler, BC during the Most Hideous Heat Wave We’ve Ever Experienced (don’t ask). We are hoping that, here in the drippy northwest, the cool factor will be adequate. Wow this is taking a long time. If this were a slide show we already would have taken potty breaks. All right. The microwave.

Wait, up there above the fridge, what’s that? Gadgets. On the left, the display portion of our Electrical Management System or something like that. It has a big, built-in surge protector so Toto’s wires and gadgets don’t get fried when the behemoth motorhome next door turns on its 90,000-volt air conditioner. On the right there are gauges. Push a button and find out how soon we’ll be out of water, or out of space to store used water, or out of space to store really stinky water. Also there’s a button to turn on a water pump, which is sometimes needed, don’t bother me about it now. Oh and you can get a vague idea of the battery’s mood here, too.

This is the most exhausting tour ever. Do you know that my mother once gave Disneyland tours? It’s true. In the 1050s. Every time she tells the story it gets a little more grand. Well. The microwave.

No, wait, let’s cool it for today. Microwave tomorrow! Also: air conditioner, bathroom, and possibly The Bed! Personally I can’t wait.

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Adjusting the brakes, or What’s Wrong with this Picture?

February 12, 2015 By drpaddle 1 Comment

Too many times a day, I peruse the Escape Forum. This is where Escape Trailer owners or owner-wannabes or former owners or people with a lot of time on their hands hang out to discuss, well, you know, Escape trailer stuff.

Maintenance is a favorite topic, because when you buy an RV, you’re buying a lifestyle, and that lifestyle is Doing Maintenance. There may also be some camping.

I was looking at the forum the other day and was reminded that one is supposed to adjust the trailer’s electric brakes after the first 300 miles. Apparently once these 300 miles have passed under the wheels, the brake shoes have settled into the drums. Onto the drums? Or is it the drums settling into (or onto) the shoes? I’m not sure, but the brakes must be adjusted. We are up over 400 miles already I think.

Did you know that the brake pads (shoes?) rest right on the drums all the time, even when the brakes aren’t being applied? I didn’t. But the do. They drag just a bit, if they’re adjusted correctly. I think this means that you could never engage the brakes and the pads could still wear out, at some point. I may be wrong about that. In any case, every time the brakes ARE engaged, the pads (shoes?) wear down a little. After a bunch of driving and breaking, these pads aren’t as thick as they used to be, and they’re no longer riding gently on the drum. Which seems fine to me… now the brakes won’t wear out so fast! But according my online, Google-directed studies, the problem here is that one must press farther down (harder?) on the brake pedal now, to get the pads down (up? over?) onto the drum for some stopping action. So if the brakes aren’t adjusted now and then, eventually you can stop as hard as you want on the pedal and things will not get slower.

And that would be bad. So I gotta adjust the brakes, okay. Two options here: learn how, and do it, or find some Trailer Service Emporium that will do it for money.

I’ve been looking into this. The nearest place to me involves driving through a perpetually congested area filled with drivers who, in my opinion, haven’t really got the knack of things behind the wheel. The next nearest place is 30 miles away. It’s a pretty drive, but… I’m betting it’s a whole day shot just to get these brakes adjusted.

So I am also looking into how it’s done… and it doesn’t sound all that difficult. I will require a jack for the trailer, which is something I need to have anyway, and some jack stands, which I don’t have and didn’t really want, but. And then I can choose between a specialized Brake Adjustment Tool (~$10) or a flat-bladed screwdriver to do the actual adjusting. Or instead of the jack I could get one of these ramp-looking gadgets made for tandem-axle trailers like mine–with these, you drive one axle up onto the ramp and it lifts the neighboring axle/wheel off the ground. It costs more than the jack, but it’s lighter and therefore easier to bring along on trips.

Jack stands. Who needs ’em? If you’re just changing a tire, you could probably get away without one, right? If the jack or jack-substitute fails, you’re not under the falling trailer, so you probably won’t get killed, though some maimage could occur.

But if you have to crawl under the trailer, seems like you better have jack stands, on account of the trailer weighing 4,000 pounds and all, and that might be uncomfortable if it fell on you.

While pondering all of this, Sooz has pointed out that she’s not anxious to cash in on my life insurance (and besides, she’d have to get up early with Wally to make his breakfast). Her helpful input on this task is You Are Not Crawling Under a Trailer, Ever.

The only thing I could think to do was go crawl under it (not jacked up, of course, so there’s not much risk). I wanted to see if I could locate the brake adjustment gadgets on the wheels, to help me decide if I can do it myself. The adjustment gadget is accessible through an oval-shaped hole in the inside cover of the brake, and the hole is supposed to have a rubber plug in it to protect it from, oh I don’t know, road grime.

But no plug. Not on any of the four wheels. A manufacturing flaw! A total of 8 missing plugs. I just sent a note off to Escape Trailer Industries to see if they can help (they are usually very good about these things). In the meantime, I will price jack stands and other tools and decide what to do.

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