The Aqua-Hot came on a couple times last night for a few minutes and it was nice to hear that old familiar roar and know that it was working the way it is supposed to. I need to see if I can put a new clamp on the hose that comes out of the middle zone pump. I also need to shorten and re-route the tube to the expansion tank, but the burner/combustion process is finally working correctly for the first time in 3-1/2 months. At some point Butch and I will try to figure out what is wrong with the other burner and fix it if we can. I also need to make the same wiring/connector modifications to the second burner so it is plug-n-play interchangeable with the installed one.
Butch and Fonda decided to make a run to Yuma today. He needed parts from Home Depot, Lowe’s, or Tractor Supply Company that he figured he could not get in Quartzsite, Blythe, or Parker, although Blythe has a good sized NAPA Auto Parts store. We chose not to go this time for various reasons, not the least of which was that Linda’s sister is arriving on Thursday and Yuma, along with Los Algodones, Mexico is one of the places we want to take her. But more immediately we wanted to meet up with Gary Hatt from Bus Conversion Magazine today and attend a get-together that Technomadia scheduled at Beer Belly’s for 1 PM. I also received an e-mail yesterday that Lou and Val Petkus had arrived in Quartzsite so we are trying to arrange to meet up with them. Lou is the head staff photographer for the SKPs Escapade in March and I am the assistant staff photographer.
Our out-and-about day, however, did not start until late morning so that left the morning open to get other things done. As usual, Linda went for a walk while I started writing an article for BCM on the work we did yesterday on our Aqua-Hot. Linda and I took lots of pictures and I think it will be a solid technical article when I am done.
We left at 11:15 AM and drove to the Quartzsite Market Place dry-camping area. The entrance is on the north side of Kuehn Street east of Central Avenue (US-95) but is not easy to spot. We stopped at the Too Crazy Ladies trailer and picked up our engraved SKP Ham BOF call sign tags and Rescue Our Cats sign. We then took the back entrance into the RV parking area, which is just to the left of the TCL trailer. It did not take us long to find Gary Hatt back with the Eagles International Bus Rally group.
Gary Hatt, publisher of Bs Conversion Magazine, recently acquired this Eagle bus conversion. We met him for the first time at this Eagles International Bus Conversion Rally in Quartzsite, AZ. Linda is talking to Aqua-Hot service technician Lloyd DeGerald (left).
When we arrived Lloyd DeGerald was there with his assistant working on the Aqua-Hot in Gary’s recently purchased Eagle bus conversion. Gary’s friend John was working on other projects on both the Eagle and the MC-9 Moose Creek Motor Cabin. Lloyd determined that the Webasto controller was not functional and needed to be replaced. He had a new one for $800 and a used one for $400. Gary went with the used one and had Lloyd do a full service on the unit as well. While the technicians were working on the Aqua-Hot Gary gave us a tour of both coaches. By the time he was done with the tours Lloyd had the Aqua-Hot running very nicely. Before he left I chatted with him about the photocell flame detector and he said he had one for me at a discounted price.
We walked around the market area visiting the vendor booths by the street to kill a little time and found a particular vendor open who had been closed the last few times Linda checked. They had organic dried apple slices as well as organic dried veggie chips. We bought a bag of the cinnamon apple chips and a bag of the veggie chips and had a few of each while we strolled. We worked our way back to Gary’s buses by 12:45 PM, gathered him up, and walked over to Beer Belly’s “Adult Day Care” (outdoor bar) for the Technomadia RVillage get-together at 1 PM. It took us a few minutes to spot Chris Dunphy’s signature black hat, as Beer Belly’s was crowded, but we finally did and joined the group that was gathered there. They have also written articles for BCM but like us had never met Gary in person so I made the necessary introductions.
Beer Belly’s had Amber Bock on tap so Linda and I each had one. We don’t normally drink at 1 in the afternoon, and beer is not normally my first choice if I am going to drink, but the sun was warm and the beer was cold and it was all good. We stayed about an hour, chatted with some of the other folks that showed up, and then walked back to Gary’s buses. We agreed to come back and pick him up at 5:30 PM and drive him to our campsite so he could see our bus and get away from the crowd for a little while.
L-to-R: Gary Hatt’s Eagle, his MC-9 Moose Creek Motorcabin, and some of the other Eagle bus conversions at the Eagles International rally.
Given the timing of our social encounters we decided to have an early dinner. I was using my iPad when the FedEx truck pulled in. I went out to meet the truck but Barb beat me to it. There was one package addressed to Butch so I figured it was the gauges from PartDeal.com but we left the box on a chair by the front door of their bus. Barb indicated that someone named Jim was supposed to come work on something on Butch and Fonda’s bus and was going to park his motorhome onsite for a few days. The generator bay door was open so I wondered if Butch was having a problem with the genset. If so, he had not mentioned it to me.
For dinner Linda made white rice with greens and things and heated up some mock orange chicken she has had in the freezer for a while. It was a relatively quick and easy meal to prepare but very tasty. We were just starting to eat when a familiar looking SUV pulled in with two kayaks on top. It was Chris and Jim Guld of Geeks On Tour. I knew Jim wasn’t here to fix a generator but was pleased to find out that they were checking out of the Scenic Road RV Park tomorrow and moving in with us for the next week. We have known them for a few years but never really had a chance to just socialize in a relaxed setting so we are looking forward to a little quiet social time with them.
I left a little after 5 PM to fetch Gary and John and drove by the DeGerald’s motorhome first to buy the photocell flame detector but they were not there. We were back at the coach before it got dark and I had just enough time to give them a tour of the bays. It was chilly so we went inside and gave them a tour of the interior. We had a little wine or beer, as suited individual tastes, and just sat and visited. All too soon I had to drive them back.
Butch and Fonda pulled in around 8 PM. We were getting concerned about their dogs only to discover that the dogs had traveled to Yuma with them. I chatted briefly with Butch and a little while later he brought over our turbo boost gauge. We turned in early as we are headed to Lake Havasu City very early tomorrow morning.