Author: Rick The RoVing Tech

I arrived back to Fort Myers November 11th and ready to get to the list of folks who called ahead. Unlike past years where my Fiance’ Lisa travelled with me, this year she was not able to do so because of health issues. She landed in the hospital about 3 weeks before my arrival, had abdominal surgery preventing her from travelling for some time to come.

Aside from that I am back in my usual fashion ready to get out and help friends and friends I don’t know yet get their RV woes behind them so they can enjoy another great season in Southwest Florida.

As in the past I intend to be here thru early May of 2026. Look for other posts and updates soon. I’ve gotten into the Shelly brand projects recently that would allow older RV’s the opportunity to have lighting and other devices controlled from their phone. I’ve also recently invested in a new US Based Cyber Coin that I believe is a great investment and a peak into the future of currency in the US.

I wish all my friends a great day and happy glamping season ahead..

All My Best to all of you..

Rick

I arrived back in Petoskey Memorial Day weekend, ready to serve the folks in this area for the 8th year.

As with many summers before I love returning back to Petoskey, seeing people I know at all the many RV parks. Places like #Hearthside Grove Motorcoach Resort , #Jellystone Park Petoskey, #sun Communities Petoskey RV resort Bay Harbor, #Mackinaw City KOA, #Mill Creek Campground and many other great places to stay in Northern Michigan. As with previous years I am also still representing and installing #Boogey Lights. I will be here serving the area until Early October, when I will point my wheels south and head back to Fort Myers Florida.

I started this business back in May of 2016 and I have enjoyed helping and making so many friends along the way, and for the foreseeable future I hope to continue to help me friends and make new friends. I just wanted to drop a note to let people know I’m here and hope that all of your are doing well and will continue to do so for a long time to come.

Thanks for reading, and have a great summer!

Along with the new truck is my new ads for #BoogeyLights and #WholesaleWarranties, please visit them if you have interests in RV lighting, or warranty needs. You can also contact me directly for help with Boogey Lights.

I decided to go a bit more green, I purchased the Hot Chili Pepper Red Metallic 2024 Ford Maverick Lariat Hybrid as my new service vehicle. My van was great, but it did not average in excess of 35MPG, which the New Maverick Hybrid is doing thus far. It is a much more comfortable ride, and handles all the tools and parts I normally carry. So if you were used to my Silver or White Transit Connect vans, they are now a distant but good memory. I am as always hoping that when you see me arrive to help, that I meet your needs and leave you as a happy camper when I am done.

Even if you dont know exactly what you are looking for most people are able to recognize something that doesn’t look right compared to similar items in the same space.

Right now I’m referring in particular to electrical connections, where wires are terminated by a screw or clamp of one type or another. By looking at the attached photo it is very evident where the problem is. The sad part is that this type of failure is preventable.

With no electrical power connected to your RV you can open up the transfer switch cover and look for discolored connections, if you suspect one is showing signs of getting hot but not yet overheated you could either try torquing the loose connector or call a qualified tech to come check it out.

Even if you pay the tech a couple hundred dollars to check and tighten the connectors, it could save you between $400.00 to $1000.00 for a replacement transfer switch plus the labor to replace the unit.

In the above picture you see red, black and white wires. On the right hand contactor you see the wire in the center that has over heated and nearly burned to a crisp for several inches of wire. In this picture that is the generator input wires to the transfer switch.

The reason this happened is because the screw that makes the connection to the connector here was not tightened properly when the unit was installed in the RV. This particular unit has a retail cost of $750.00 and it is a well built unit. Dispite the cost or quality if its not installed properly it can fail leaving you without power and with a hefty repair bill.

Other similar sources of power failure are the power cord reels, they are very nice to have, but moving contacts can fail typically with the same results like the above picture with an overheated wire or connection.

Power reels are a little more time consuming to inspect but it is likely worthwhile especially if its been in use for a couple of years or more.

PS. The price of your RV is not a guarantee that the parts put in it are the same quality and reliability of the RV company.

I enjoyed working with NRVIA for a couple of years and thought it was a good fit for my business, but over time I found that they did not have the online training CEU’s directly related to inspections. I thought that over time they would build a library of inspection related CEU’s, and field related information which never seemed to materialize.  I found that they wanted inspectors to take an additional RV repair course at one of thier training locations in order to be given a designation as a level 2 inspector.  It appears as if they are focused more on RV repair training than focused training on what an inspection is truly about.

So in short due to many different reason’s  I have opted to leave the  organization and wish them all the best.

You need to check out the Spacecraft RV manufacturer if you budget allows and you  want all the room you can get in an RV. Click the link here to see what I’m talking about.

Spacecraft 57 ft custom 5th wheel

So far its been a busy summer here in Petoskey, I’ve met a lot of great people and worked in places like St Ignace and East Jordan, not to mention Hearthside Grove and the Petoskey Holiday KOA.

I will likely be here until early October, then start the trip back to Fort Myers with a stop in West Virginia and possibly North Eastern Indiana to visit some RV manufacturers.

That’s it for now… just a quick update

Happy Camping

Rick

Recently I had a client say that their fridge wouldn’t run very long on the inverter and several other things weren’t working for long on 12 volts / Coach batteries alone. They also said that they were getting unusual voltage readings on the charging meter, like 0 amps when plugged in.  When I arrived to look things over we looked at the Magnum charging controls inside, which usually show some amperage reading despite the battery charging state.  We eventually walked outside to look over the batteries, mostly due to the odd readings and the customers complaint that they were not getting much life from the batteries. All I can say is that it was a Very good thing that the previous owner had put in sealed Glass Mat batteries. the picture below shows the reason why things weren’t just right. Normally battery terminals do not melt or Glow Red Hot!

Thankfully in part due to the type of batteries and the grace of God, these people didn’t end up being a statistic due to fire or explosion.  This was one of two overheated battery terminals that due to loose connections eventually started to heat up and the battery posts and never got hot enough to cause a fire or explosion of the battery.  Simple periodic maintenance and checking of batteries could have prevented this.