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Nobadays
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# Posted: 27 Oct 2019 09:58am
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Not entirely a bad thing! We shut the cabin down and winterized it early yesterday - Saturday morning.... one snow had just passed leaving little accumulation... but another storm arrives tonight and supposed to be snowing off and on until Wednesday. We kind of wanted to beat the storm and move back to our primary home in AZ (Payson, in the mountains but way warmer than here!)
On the way out my wife was driving the pickup and I the Campervan towing our Tracker. A few miles from the cabin the alternator guage started dropping. I checked under the hood as I thought I had smelled just a hint of that acrid smell when smoke is let out of wires. Nothing obvious, thought maybe a rodent might have nested, chewed on wiring. We run a deep cycle marine starting battery so just kept going and got into the nearest town (an hours drive) but no auto repair shops open on the weekend. So sent the wife with "the boys," our cats on back to AZ and I headed for Alamosa, a bigger town. I got within 3 miles.... by now none of the gauges were working, but the charging guage had come up a bit, wierd.... turned on the heater fan as it was cold and the rig died right there. We have Good Sam so called them for a tow and they tried to find a garage to work on it...yep, no auto repair places there open on the weekends either. So, they towed me to Walmart and we backed it into a space by another "camper" to make it look like it was occupied. I got some groceries and jumped in the Tracker and here I sit back at the cabin. In the mean time through a couple of friends I think I may have found a good mechanic to look at it Monday.... I hope. If not Monday I guess I'm here until it is repaired. I do a lot if my own auto work but being one armed, I already know putting on an alternator in a van is not something I can do alone... or I would try. Oh well.... nice up here for now!
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paulz
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# Posted: 27 Oct 2019 10:58am - Edited by: paulz
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We share a couple things at the moment. We're 'stuck' at the cabin too, our house in the city is under forced power outage due to fires. And my wife has one arm. I normally rest on Sunday but since I'm here might as well get some work in on my never ending carport project. Here's me a few days ago, got those joists in now.
Also have a similar camper van breakdown story while crossing Nevada I'll save for another time. Good luck on the trek.
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Nobadays
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# Posted: 27 Oct 2019 11:57am
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Assuming your in CA then.... hope your places are in the clear.
I look up to your wife as a one armed woman! So many home tasks I find more difficult than working around the cabin and home.... heck I can build an outbuilding pretty much alone, my wife holds things here and there... but I have a heck of a time keeping a fry pan on the burner, unless it's cast iron. Putting ia pillow in a pillowcase, forget it! Im sure she has figured all the household stuff out...Kudos!
Not horribly upset over being stuck at the cabin but all my tools, etc went back to AZ in the pickup with my wife.... at least I have the internet and some books to keep me occupied today... really hoping I can get a mechanic to get me back on the road tomorrow.
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paulz
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# Posted: 27 Oct 2019 03:54pm
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Yes we're on the coast north of San Fran. Power out, roads jammed with evacuees, windy and smokey, it's a mess but my place is not in the evac zone..yet.
Sounds like you've identified the problem but just in case, belt is tight? In lieu of a volt meter you can hold a screwdriver to the back of the alternator, should be a magnetic pull if it's working.
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Aklogcabin
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2019 10:37am
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To test an alternator. You can disconnect the negative battery cable. If you’re rig continues to run with the battery disconnected, your alternator is ok.
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hueyjazz
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2019 11:37am
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My dream is to be stuck at my cabin.
Yet every Monday I find myself stuck at work just wishing it was Friday at 4:30 when we leave for cabin. Go figure
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NorthRick
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2019 04:19pm - Edited by: NorthRick
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I've been unintentionally stuck at the cabin twice now. Several years ago a wildfire blew up south of us over the weekend. They ended up shutting down the highway preventing us from getting back to town. Fortunately, we heard about this before we left.
Second time was when the voltage regulator on the ATV went out. I didn't realize it until the battery died to the point the starter would not work. No problem, I'll just use the pull starter. First pull and the pawl inside the guts of the thing broke. No electric start, no pull start.
It's several miles by ATV trail from the cabin to the truck. While I could have hiked out there were things I wouldn't easily be able to carry that I didn't want to leave. Took longer than it should have to get the thing running again.
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Sprinkler Guy
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2019 05:44pm - Edited by: Sprinkler Guy
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Haven’t been stuck at the cabin yet, fingers are crossed in hopes it happens lol. I did get stuck on Martha’s Vineyard once. I enjoyed that very much. Stay safe.
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mj1angier
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2019 05:48pm - Edited by: mj1angier
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First time they call for a blizzard (which in North Carolina is 3-6 inches, lol) I am buying my bread and milk and heading to the cabin. "Sorry, can't get out. Just cancel my day..."
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Nobadays
Member
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2019 10:17pm
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Thanks for the stories and advice! Made it back to AZ this evening after a harrowing morning... an easy alternator fix and a 9 hour drive.
Got up at 3am, partly because I couldn't sleep and partly because I knew it was to start snowing this morning. Really light snow at 3am so made coffee and enjoyed it. Started loading stuff about 5:30AM, hardly any snow at all. Ate breakfast and looked out about 6AM and it was beginning to snow. Finished loading and winterized the plumbing. By now it's 6:15 and it is getting serious! Shut down the solar and hit the road.... all 22 miles of narrow, rough gravel, in the dark and a snowstorm just to get to pavement, then 12 more miles into the nearest town... another 17 to where my van was parked. Wow it was snowing!! 15-20 mph where I could tell where the edges of the road were....slower then speed up. Took over an hour to drive the 22 miles. At least it lightened up...both daylight and the snow before hitting the pavement.
Then on to Alamosa to try to get the rig looked at. First mechanic said he would try to work me in.... then found out it was an RV and said he doesn't work on RVs.... it's a camper van not a class a for crying out loud! He did point me to a guy who does work on RVs.... he also has a towing company. He sent his crew over and they put a power jumper box on the battery and we were able to drive it to the shop.
So, the problem.... the first thing the mechanic did was start checking out the wires (which I had done already) , he tugs on the main red wire to the alternator and it comes loose. It hadn't with me poking around. What happened was the wire was corroded and had come loose in the crimp, then the arc melted it onto the plastic sleeve of the terminal end. So when he really tugged on it, it broke loose! Embarrassing really! I could have fixed it in 30 minutes at Walmart.... except all my tools were in the pickup that was headed to AZ. Anyway, quick fix, $40 and on the road by 9:30AM, back at our primary home by 630PM.
Second time stuck at the cabin... last February it was a snow storm and only 3 days before we could get out, after the main road was plowed. Good to be home I guess.... saw some aspens up on the rim above Payson, still changing color, ours in Colorado were bare.... made me miss the cabin though...
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ICC
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2019 10:53pm
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$40 for him to do it was reasonable. Gotta love smallish towns for stuff like that. Big city mechanic wouldn't even look at you for that let alone do any work.
Our aspens on mostly changed and past prime colors.
I'm ready for snow, just not really wanting it yet.
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Brettny
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# Posted: 29 Oct 2019 07:19am
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Quoting: Aklogcabin To test an alternator. You can disconnect the negative battery cable. If you’re rig continues to run with the battery disconnected, your alternator is ok.
Thats not how you test an alternator. It could damage it by doing that.
Get a volt meter and check the running volts. But at this point from what your saying about how it died the alternator or alternator fuse blew and you ran on the battery until it was also dead. Fues is easy to check. If you do need an alternator ezpect to also put a battery in the vehicle also. They kind of go hand and hand replacing.
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Brettny
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# Posted: 29 Oct 2019 07:23am
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Sorry i read the updated post now.
I would check and clean all the connections now that you had one bad. Do the grounds too. Its a simple task and as you have seen can leave you stranded. Do you keep a test light in your bag of tools?
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offgrididaho
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# Posted: 29 Oct 2019 10:41am
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Quoting: Nobadays So, the problem.... the first thing the mechanic did was start checking out the wires (which I had done already) , he tugs on the main red wire to the alternator and it comes loose.
Don't feel bad, it happens to most of us at one time or another. This summer trying to leave the cabin couldn't get the diesel on the sailboat to start... no solenoid click, no crank, no voltage drop, nothing. Went inch by inch over the wire from the key to the solenoid, checked the inline fuse (wasn't blown), couldn't figure it out. Had to be towed back to marina (had insurance luckily).
Next day when time rush (dropping someone off at airport... never be in a rush on the water) was past I started to try to figure it out, this time I actually yanked on the wire where it went through the inline fuse holder and whadda you know, wire came out in my hand. Connection had broken inside fuse holder, was still held enough by the holder that wire didn't fall out when I checked the fuse. DOH!
-- Bass
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Nobadays
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# Posted: 29 Oct 2019 11:15am
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Offgrid.... yep sometimes hard to diagnose. I should have went back to the van Sunday to examine it more closely in the daylight but with 22 miles of rough road both ways, we keep our trips to town a minimum, this was no different. I was just convinced it was the alternator.
Brettny... no fuse in the alternator line. This is an RV. The alternator line runs directly to a battery isolator then the fuses are after that device both to the house batteries and the chassis battery. As far as replacing the battery, it is one year old... I use a marine deep cycle starting battery for the chassis battery. Likely having this deep cycle battery is what got us, literally out of the woods!
Yep, this witer going over all three of our rigs - RV, pickup and the Tracker. Our roads are so tough up there that we have rattles that rattle! Tighten things, check wiring connections (the rear window heater indicator on the Tracker was coming off and on yesterday morning, something amiss there) and get realignments done on all of them. I'll be busy in the garage this winter!
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