Had my normal breakfast then worked up a blog entry. J and I left at 8:50 to ...

Walk around the campground while it was still cool. We also took the path out to the main road and back.

We returned to the RV around 9:35, and we had a Broadband Access signal with our Verizon USB sticks — fast internet! :) The good signal only lasted a few minutes then reverted to the slower National Access. :(

I went outside at 10:15 to look at the slide problem. Our Bigfoot 29SL has a slide on the driver's side for the kitchen and livingroom, and the electrical system that extends and retracts it had stopped working on September 20, 2009. We used hand cranks to extend the slide yesterday. There's an access panel around each arm that supports the slide and contains the drive screw. I opened up the panel for the front motor because the error code that was reported on the control head inside the RV indicated there was low voltage (less than 8VDC instead of 12VDC) on the front motor. (The error we were getting when the slide stopped working on September 20, 2009 indicated that there was no current through the front motor.) The front access panel didn't provide enough access to the motor, so I opened up the access panel that's between the arms, and that also gave me access to the slide controller. I ran some diagnostics, and couldn't find anything wrong. The motor appeared to be OK, and there was 13-some-odd VDC at the input to the slide controller. I didn't test the voltage when under load because the connectors had crimped-on insulators. For kicks, I opened up all of the Molex connectors and sprayed DeoxIT contact cleaner on the contacts. As I was doing so, some potential new neighbors pulled into the site next to ours.

I went inside around 11:00, and tried the slide — the DeoxIt didn't fix the problem. I called the Power Gear support line to get some assistance with diagnosing the slide problem. They had a flowchart online and described how to trouble-shoot the 8VDC problem, but I didn't understand the wording. The guy first explained that the number I called was only for dealers, but he would help me just this one time. Then he explained where they wanted to voltage to be measured.

I went back outside to try measuring that voltage. There was no plug on the controller that had the pin layout like the diagram described, and it would be hard to get access to what I thought would be the right pins. :( So, I took down the model number of the slide controller, then buttoned up the access panels with the idea of purchasing a new controller if it was cheap.

I went back inside around 12:25, and had my normal lunch. Our new neighbors were definitely staying. :( They have a barking dog, and they started playing music outside and we could hear it inside our RV. I googled the slide controller part number, and was surprised that the only pages that had it were for wiring diagrams for a Winnebago! Instead of opening up the access panel to make sure that I got the model number correct, I emailed Mark Holmes who used to be the warranty manager at Bigfoot before they closed down, and now provides technical support to Bigfoot owners. A big Class A RV pulled into the site on the other side of us, so now we have neighbors on both sides — there goes the neighborhood! :( I processed images in Capture One (C1).

Had dinner of frozen leftover beef stew that J had made. The stew was tasty, but the Pillsbury Crusty French Loaf bread leftover from yesterday wasn't nearly as good as it was when it was fresh. Had dessert of heated brownies with vanilla ice cream — mmm.

I did the dishes, then had some Asbach Uralt. I heard back from Mark Holmes, and he: 1) doesn't have the part number for the slide controller, 2) couldn't recommend a place to get the slide serviced in Albuquerque or Tucson. :( I did some computer work. My mother called and we talked with her for a while. She had some questions about the Sony DPF-D70 7-inch digital photo frame we gave her and my stepfather for Christmas. We had recently sent her a secure-digital card with new images by J and me. I've been going through my favorite images over the years to send to her, and this latest installment included images from my trip to Churchill in November 2004 to photograph the polar bears (below left) and my trip to Parque Nacional Torres del Paine, Chile, in December 2004 (below right).


I did some more computer work before going to bed.