Tag Archives: Vanner battery equalizer

2015/09/08 (T) Polyurethane

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I was awakened at 6:30 AM by heavy rain.  I was not sleeping comfortably and had to get up anyway, so I put on my lightweight robe and slippers and took my iPad to the living room.  Naturally the cats wanted to be fed so I took care of that and then settled in to put the finishing touches on yesterday’s blog post.  The rain lasted for about 20 minutes.  I e-mailed the post to myself at 7:15.  Linda got up at 7:30 AM so I made coffee but we deferred breakfast until later.

I was thinking about the house battery voltage issues Butch was having and the role of the Vanner battery equalizer in his (and our) house battery system.  I did another Google search on “battery equalizer …”, and selected “batter equalizer circuit” from the list.  One of the listings was for the original patent application by James D. Sullivan as assigned to Vanner, Inc. ( http://www.google.com/patents/US4479083 ).  (I found it interesting that Google has a special directory for patents.)  As I expected, it is a DC-to-DC converter and in its most common configuration it is designed to take charge from the upper portion of a series battery pack and supply it to the lower part of such a pack or to any loads connected across just the lower bank.

One of its features is that it looks at the voltage across the entire battery pack and uses a voltage divider network (two resistors in series) to generate a reference voltage that is compared to the voltage across the lower bank.  Differences as small as 0.01 volts result in the transfer of charge from the upper to the lower bank when the lower bank has the lower voltage.  As implemented for use with buses and other vehicles that have 24/12 dual voltage DC electrical systems the divider network consists of two equal resistors and the reference voltage is 1/2 the overall battery pack voltage.  The design can “balance” other configurations, in which the “upper” and “lower” banks do not have the same voltage, by changing the divider resistors to have the correct ratio.  I will call Butch again this evening to report what I found and see how things stand with them in general.

When we had consumed a sufficient amount of coffee to be alert enough to work intelligently and safely we went to the garage to finish assembling the left plenum/support box for the built-in sofa.  I forced mating pieces into alignment while Linda drove in the screws.  These parts dry fit perfectly so this should not have been a problem.  I blame the slight misalignment on the corner clamps that I used.  I was reminded, once again, that cheap tools are almost never a bargain.

We had breakfast at 8:30 AM; homemade granola with leftover mixed berries.  We also spilt a banana that was getting past ripe.  As we were finishing our meal I got a call from Steven Weber at Martin Spring with another question on the Webasto system in the Prevost Bus Conversion he is servicing.  He had isolated a cracked fuel pipe and needed to order a replacement.  I suggested Sure Marine Service but also mentioned Lloyd DeGerald and Darin Hathaway.

Linda needed to spend some time at her desk preparing for a 1 PM meeting with the I.T. department at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor so I took a shower and got dressed to work.  I gathered up the laundry, started a load, and then spent some time in the garage sanding pieces of the built-in sofa while Linda showered and got dressed for her meeting.  She planned to leave at 11:45 AM.  I left at 11:30 and went to Lowe’s to buy tack cloth.

Tack cloth is like sticky cheesecloth and is probably called that because it is “tacky” to the touch.  It is used to remove sawdust, drywall dust, and other little tiny particles from surfaces such as sanded wood just prior to the application of finishes.  While I was there I looked at inline water separators and inline oilers for use with air compressors supplying air to pneumatic tools.  I also looked at copper fittings to see if they had 90 degree elbows that I could use to modify the Aqua-Hot coolant lines that feed the two front fan-coil hear-exchangers.

Linda left before I got home.  I moved the laundry to the dryer and went back to the garage to work.  I was contemplating what I wanted to do next when Keith pulled up in his truck and trailer.  I chose to skip having the lawn mowed this week which will help Keith get the rest of his clients taken care of in his shortened 4-day workweek.  The grass has grown since last Monday but not that much and is still short and brown in places.  With rain in the forecast today, tomorrow, and Thursday giving it another week should be good for it.  I showed him the floor in the bus before he left.

I returned to the bus project and realized that I needed to stain the underside of the built-in sofa shelf as part of it might be visible through the notch in the vertical front panel at the floor.  As long as I was staining that I also stained the tops of the plenum/support boxes so they would blend with the two stationary pieces at either end of the seat.

With the staining done I came inside to make a few phone calls.  The first one was to Josh Leach at Coach Supply Direct to check on the details of the Corian countertop for the custom desk.  Josh said the Corian normally comes bonded to plywood which protects it from cracking in shipment.  I want to go ahead and cut the 3/4″ plywood top that will join the two pedestals together.  I also wanted to know if his Corian vendor could come out on the afternoon of the 14th to measure and possibly install the countertop by the end of the week.  His vendor turns out to be an Amish craftsman who does not “come out and measure” or “come back and install.”  Josh said he would check with the vendor to see if he would use my plywood base and also see if he had the Sandstone product in stock.

My next call was to Pat Lintner to check on dinner plans for the upcoming GLCC Surplus and Salvage rally.  I need to coordinate with Crimp Supply to have them provide catalogs for the attendees and perhaps speak to the group before dinner.  I got his answering machine and left a message.

My third call was to Jim Miteff (N8KUE) returning his call/message from earlier.  We had a long chat about RVing and Prevost bus conversions.  It’s a big topic and I sometimes forget that I have spent the last 10 years learning about it.  When I think back to the beginning of this adventure, however, I recall how exciting yet overwhelming it was initially.  I see Jim in the same place, but he is a very quick study and professional researcher so he will get past the overwhelming part fairly quickly.

While I was talking to Jim I heard a loud bang and then another one.  They sounded like it had come from within the house.  After the second one I got up to investigate.  As I peeked out the front door a Consumer’s Energy truck was backing out of the driveway.  I flagged the driver down and asked what was up.  He said they had detected a leak and that he had just fixed it.  I presumed it was at our meter but he wasn’t any more specific than that.  I thought it was odd that he did not knock on the door first to let me know he was on site, but I guess they have the right to service their infrastructure.  I have smelled gas on that side of the house occasionally ever since they installed it but dismissed it as a “purge valve” doing its thing.  We had the same issue at the old house and they kept telling me it was a “vent” mechanism on the meter.  I never belief that, but whatever.

I wrapped up my call with Jim, put in another load of laundry, and returned to the garage to apply polyurethane to as much of the built-in sofa pieces as I could.  Each piece has to be done in two steps and requires two coats, so that’s four applications that will have to spread out over a couple of days.

There wasn’t much else I could do, and I did not feel like working at my desk, so I hung up the dry laundry and then worked on my iPad in the living room.  Linda had made an appointment with Renee to have her hair cut at 4:30 PM.  She stopped at Meijer’s on the way home and finally arrived at 5:45 PM.  I went back to the garage at 6 PM and applied another coat of polyurethane.

Linda bought an Amy’s Roasted Vegetable pizza for dinner and made a nice salad to go with it.  I had some more of the Leelanau Cellars Apricot wine and we had the last two vegan cupcakes for dessert.  I tried calling Butch twice but his phone was either off or out of range.  I called Pat Lintner again and this time he was home.  Saturday dinner will be at a restaurant so that will not be a good time for Crimp Supply to talk to the rally attendees and pass out catalogs.  I will call them tomorrow and see what I can arrange.

I headed back to the garage yet again, applied polyurethane to all the surfaces that had not yet been coated, put the brush in the soapy water, sealed up the can, and closed up the garage.  I think I have just enough polyurethane left to put one more coat on the top surface of the shelf.  I plan to do that in the morning before I start anything else.

On the drive home Linda heard a weather forecast that thunderstorms were headed our way this evening with up to 1″ of rain, strong wind, and possibly small hail.  Linda headed off to bed at 8 PM to watch NCIS and I caught the last half of the show.  I turned the channel to Create on Detroit PBS and watched A Chef’s Life, a series about a wife and husband who run the Chef & The Farmer restaurant in eastern North Carolina, and then turned the TV off.

I checked the weather with my iPad and it appeared that system had fallen apart although there was still a reduced chance of scattered thunderstorms at 11 PM and again from 2 to 4 AM.  I turned the light out at 10:30 PM.

 

2015/09/07 (M) Grouted

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Linda got up at 6:45 AM to get a shower before Madeline woke up.  She peeked in the bedroom at 7:30 and there was no Madeline to be seen!  She pushed the door open a little farther and felt some resistance.  She looked behind the door and there was Ms. M, playing hide and seek with Grandma Linda.  🙂  Madeline was not fully awake, however, and sat with Linda on the living room sofa and read stories for a while.

All of this was retold to me as I was up late last night working on yesterday’s blog post and did not get up this morning until 8 AM, just in time for breakfast.  Breakfast was gluten-free toaster waffles with real maple syrup and mixed berries on the side (blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries); simple but delicious.

After breakfast Linda took Madeline to the Brighton Mill Pond Imagination Station Playscape.  They needed to return a book to the lending library and Linda wanted to make sure Ms. M had an active morning so she would be tired enough to lie down for her nap at 1 PM.

Bruce grouting the tiles in the hallway by the new bus refrigerator.

Bruce grouting the tiles in the hallway by the new bus refrigerator.

I got back to work on the grout immediately after breakfast.  My goal was to be done by noon as it needed to cure, undisturbed, for 24 hours before we could clean it and resume working inside the bus.  I picked up where I left off last night with the area in front of the refrigerator where the kitchen blends into the hallway.  I was now out into the front half of the bus which is much more open than the hallway, bathroom, and bedroom.  Also, most of the tiles in this area are full 16 inch squares so I thought I might be able to work faster.  That was optimistic to say the least.

It was forecast to be hot today with a high near 90 degrees F and elevated relative humidity.  I turned on the front and middle air-conditioners initially but eventually had to turn off the middle unit when I got to the point where I would no longer be able to reach it.  I was a bit surprised that the front A-C alone kept the coach comfortable but we are approaching the autumnal Equinox so the transit of the sun is enough lower in the southern sky that the coach is in shade for most of the day.

It felt like I was moving right along but by noon it was obvious that this was going to be an all-day task so I stopped to have lunch.  Linda served vegan hotdogs with pickle relish and onions and set out a large bunch of grapes.  After lunch I resumed the grouting while Linda and Madeline watched a video.  Madeline laid down for her nap right on schedule.  Linda then took a few minutes to help me move the Aqua-Hot fan-coil heat exchangers so I could grout the area where they had been sitting on the floor.  Linda cleaned up the kitchen and then had some well-deserved and needed quiet time.

I had a call from Butch around 1:30 PM.  I was in the middle of applying grout and said I would call him back later.  They left on Saturday for the southwest U.S. and were planning to spend this evening at a Walmart near Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  By 5:25 PM I had one small set of inter tile spaces to grout when Linda and Madeline came out to tell me that dinner was ready.  I had just finished a section so I had already cleaned my tools.  I put the lid back on the grout container and went inside to eat.

Dinner was mock chicken tenders (vegan), green beans, kale chips, sliced plums, and grapes.  There was a little left over “gravy” (vegan) from last night so I had that on my chicken.  Madeline helped make the kale chips and really liked them.  As soon as I was done eating I excused myself from the table and went back to the bus.

I finished grouting the last four grout spaces and then cleaned up the tools and put them away.  I also cleaned up the cockpit area of the bus which is where everything ended up as I worked my way out of the living area.  I turned off the front A-C and locked the bus.  While I did that Linda cleaned up the kitchen and then gathered up all of Madeline’s things.

When I was done with my chores I cleaned up and changed clothes.  The three of us then loaded all of Madeline’s things into Linda’s car which has had the car seat in it all weekend.  We closed up the house and headed for Ann Arbor.  Linda drove so that I could return Butch’s phone call.

Butch had a possible issue with his house battery bank and wanted to discuss it.  He bought eight AGM batteries last winter in Quartzsite, Arizona and finally installed them over the summer.  They are 12V DC batteries and he has them in a series-parallel configuration to make a 24V DC battery pack with a 12V DC center tap.  A 24V Magnum 4024 inverter/charger is connected to the +24V and DC ground and a Vanner Equalizer is connected to those same points and to the 12V center tap, which is where 12V DC loads, like the water pump, draw their power.  In addition, Butch wired three LED display voltmeters to the battery pack; one for the lower 12V bank, one for the upper 12V bank, and one for the overall 24V bank.

His issue/concern was that the upper and lower 12V banks were not reading the same voltage.  They were different by one volt, which is a lot, and the upper bank had the lower voltage, which I agreed was an odd situation.  Without the Vanner Equalizer 12V loads would draw their energy from the lower 12 V bank and as the charge in that bank got depleted the voltage would drop.  The Vanner Equalizer’s purpose in the system is to draw charge from the upper battery bank to make up for this depletion and keep the voltage the same, or equalized, on both banks.  I presumed that all three voltmeters were accurate and that the Vanner was connected correctly, all of which would be easy enough to check.

After talking about all of this his plan was to temporarily disable the Vanner by removing its connection to battery ground and see what affect that had.  He also thought the Vanner might have a circuit breaker and would check to see if it had tripped.  I could not confirm or deny whether this would work.  I have looked for information on how the Vanner does what it does and not found much although I have found circuit diagrams for other battery equalizers.  My presumption is that it is a small inverter/charger, taking DC power from the upper 12V bank, creating some sort of AC waveform, and applying it to one side of a 1:1 transformer.  The other side of the transformer sees the same AC waveform, converts it back to 12V DC, and applies it to the lower battery.  The transformer is the key as it isolates the two banks relative to ground.  I wrapped up the call a few minutes before we got to our destination.

We arrived at Brendan and Shawna’s house at 7:45 PM. They had pulled up just minutes before us and were unloading their car.  They had not dropped Jorge at his home yet so we got to visit with him too.  Madeline had me read her a book about what happens if you give a cat a cupcake.  We stayed until 8:15 PM and offered to drive Jorge home as Brendan and Shawna had to get Madeline to bed and then eat something for dinner.  Madeline got out the cupcakes she helped make and offered those for their evening meal.  Tomorrow is a work day for her parents and she has to go to her new school.  Jorge is also starting a new job as the wine department manager at the new Plum Market on the northeast side of Ann Arbor, so everyone needed their rest this evening.

We were going to stop at Meijer’s supermarket on the way home but encountered rain before we got to the Brighton exit.  We stopped at the Shell station instead, filled up the gas tank, and bought two large decaf coffees at the Dunkin Donuts co-located with the station.  Back at the house we each had a vegan cupcake and then sat quietly in the living room working on our iPads while enjoying our brew and the company of our cats.  By 10 PM Linda was sleepy and went to bed.  I was also tired but stayed up longer to finish this post.  Scattered thunderstorms were forecast over a several hour period starting at 11:30 PM.  That is when I turned off the light but they had not yet started.  We could use a good soaking rain so I hope we get one overnight.

 

2013_07_27 (Sat) Where We Go From Here

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We have had an intense but wonderful week in northwest Wyoming and the Green Creek Inn and RV Park has been just the right spot for us to base camp.  The RV park is away from the hustle and bustle of Cody, yet close enough to be convenient for shopping and entertainment, and is close enough to Yellowstone N. P. and Grand Teton N. P. to make them accessible as day trips.  And although it’s a small RV park with only nine sites, we had excellent full hookups, laundry facilities, a WiFi connection to the Internet, and free popcorn.  Our 50 Amp site allowed us to run all three house air-conditioners all day while we were away to keep our cats safe and comfortable.  We needed to do this because of daytime highs in the mid-80’s with bright sunshine and constant wind that prevented us from using our awnings to shade the passenger side of the coach.

Although $45 per night is more than we generally pay to stay in an RV park, it was a fair price given the location and facilities.  The WiFi/Internet bandwidth was limited, but we were glad to have what we had as there was no useable Verizon 4G/LTE signal here, and even 3G EVDO was marginal for making phone calls.  The WiFi connection was generally very strong thanks in part to or WiFi Ranger Mobile Titanium, which has been working very well for us since we bought it at the FMCA rally in Gillette, WY last month.  Interestingly, the only OTA television signal we could pick up was Wyoming PBS from the general direction of Cody.  (Smile)

This was a quieter day for us, but by no means an idle one, as we needed to prepare for our departure tomorrow morning.  We noticed this morning that it was overcast, the first time since we arrived here a week ago.  We did have clouds today, and a few drops of rain, but Jeff informed us that the haze we were seeing was from the various forest fires burning in the west.

Linda drove to Cody in the morning to do our shopping.  The main attraction was the local Farmers Market, located, conveniently enough, in the parking lot of the Whole Foods Trading Company.  She came back with quite a few bags of stuff!

While she was gone I drained the waste tanks, stowed the hose, and added our Pine Sol / water / Calgon solution to the tanks.  I also drained the little bit of fresh water that was still in the tank, flushed it with a bit more, and then refilled it.  I left the fresh water shore line connected so we could use if until we depart, conserving our onboard water for use on down the road.  I also worked on getting our blog postings up-to-date.

When Linda got back she did the laundry.  At our house in Michigan this is usually my chore, but for some reason she seems to take care of it on the road.  Although we are trying to learn not to over-plan, we are not full-timers, and we have a house and family to which we have to return from time-to-time.  We knew the route we wanted to take back to S. E. Michigan, but the timing and overnight waypoints were still undecided.  We want to see the Theodore Roosevelt N. P. in western North Dakota, but the campgrounds there do not have any hookups and do not appear to be big rig friendly.  Medora, ND is the closest town, but it is 410 miles driving distance from Wapiti.  That is more than we care to do in one day, especially given our planned stop at Interstate Power Systems in Billings, MT to visit with Cherie and Chris of Technomadia.  (http://www.technomadia.com).

Using the online Good Sam campground finder we located the Meadows RV Park in Miles City, MT, 280 miles away, and made a reservation for tomorrow night.  That should give us a 5.5 -6.0 hour drive, leaving plenty of time to stop and visit in Billings.

I continued to work on our blog while Linda paid our bills and continued to research overnight stops.  We decided we would try to stay two nights at an RV park in Medora if we could find an opening.  And we did!  We made a reservation at the Red Trail RV Park just off I-94.  It is walking distance to downtown Medora and convenient to the Theodore Roosevelt N. P., which we will now have a day-and-a-half to explore.

Linda took time out to make wheat berry risotto with mushroom /garlic/onion /asparagus.  She used some of the Argentinean Malbec wine we had on board, and served the rest with the meal.  This was a fragrant, earthy dish with great “chew” that somehow fit the wildness of this past week.  When she has the time to cook we eat very well indeed.

While the risotto was cooking we pulled the tray on the passenger side of the bus that houses the chassis battery disconnect switches and the Vanner equalizers (we have two as it turns out).  We located the circuit breakers, and pushed them in to (possibly) reset them.  (This refers back to the BAL light that came on while traveling from Sheridan to Wapiti on the 21st of this month.)

Beyond Medora we hope to stay at a winery in Buffalo, ND about 30 miles west of Fargo.  It was personally recommended to us by Harvest Host founders Don and Kim Greene.  If they can accommodate us on the 31st, it will be our first use of our Harvest Hosts membership.

Along the same lines, we hope to stay the next night at the Forest Edge Winery in Laporte, Minnesota.  Forest Edge is owned/operated by members of the FMCA Freethinkers Associate Chapter.  Being a kind of “virtual” chapter in FMCA’s International Area (INTO) our members are spread out all over the United States, Canada, and Mexico.  Rallies are difficult to organize and most of our interactions are by e-mail.  We even hold our annul business meeting electronically.  Thus any opportunity to meet in person is a treat.  The fact that Forest Edge is also a Harvest Host business makes it easier and that much more special.

From Laporte we plan to head to Hibbing, MN to visit the Greyhound Bus Museum.  Beyond that, we will make our way across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to St. Ignace.  From there we cross the Straits of Mackinaw (Mackinac) on the Mackinaw Bridge and head straight south on I-75 where we vector off on US-23 southbound to M-59, and home.  Depending on when we get there we will have been gone almost exactly two months.

 

2013_07_21 (Sun) On The Road Again

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We slept in this morning.  We needed the extra rest before heading out.  Linda got the interior of the coach ready to travel while I prepped the exterior/systems.  I dumped the black and gray waste tanks and added fresh water to bring us up to 2/3 from 1/2 tank.  We try not to haul around the weight of waste water, but like to have enough fresh water on board that we could boondock unexpectedly for at least a few days if we the need arose.

Most of our Habitat For Humanity team planned to leave this morning, but none of them pulled out at sunrise (as many RVers are want to do).  Folks were out and about and wanted to have one last conversation, and one more chance to say “see you down the road”, before leaving.  There was talk of a reunion build next year, and I suggested that we all e-mail Steven and ask him to arrange that.  Peter D stopped by and thanked us for staying with him while working with HFH.  No matter how long the farewells, eventually there is nothing left to say or do except turn the key and drive away.  We pulled out of our spot at Peter D’s just before 10 AM MDT.

I had scoped out the Exxon station at I-90 exit 25 yesterday in case we needed to add diesel fuel.  They had just what we needed: convenient to the highway exit, a truck lane with easy access, dual large-nozzle pumps, and no overhead obstructions.  We had somewhere between 5/8 and 3/4 of a tank of diesel fuel.  I don’t like to get below 1/4 tank, so conservatively we had 3/8ths to 1/2 of a tank of useable fuel.  We have a 235 gallon tank, but I treat it as a 200 gallon one, so I figure 25 gallons per 1/8th tank.

Past calculations have indicated that we get about 6 mpg, so I figure on 5 mpg, again being conservative, and especially today as we have never driven the bus through high mountains before.  That works out to approximately 125 to 150 miles per 1/8th tank of fuel, or 375 to 450 miles based on what we currently had on board.  Our trip from Sheridan to Wapiti was calculated at 240 miles, so we had enough fuel on board to make that distance and still have sufficient reserves for an emergency detour or layover.  As we would be crossing the Bighorn Mountains, we did not want to carry unnecessary weight, so we decided we did not need to top off.

Perhaps it’s a holdover habit or frame of mind from when I used to fly airplanes 35 to 40 years ago, but I think such calculations are necessary when traveling in a vehicle that cannot just pull into the next filling station or convenience mart, assuming there even is one along the route, and fill up the fuel tank.  Generally speaking, the bus likes to stop here the big trucks do.  Not only is access good, but truck stops turn over their diesel fuel frequently, so it is generally fresh.

We got on I-90 at exit 23 and headed south to Buffalo where we picked up US-16 headed west over the Bighorn Mountains.  As previously posted, we had been advised not to take US-14 from Sheridan to Lovell as the grades are a little steeper and there are more switchbacks and hairpin turns, and fewer turnouts, than on US-16.  Having driven US-14 and US-14A in our car, we accepted the recommendation.

Going uphill into the Bighorns on US-16 west.

Going uphill into the Bighorns on US-16 west.

US-16 was a dramatically beautiful drive, but it was no walk in the park.  The road was good pavement with wide lanes, good signage, and lots of pullouts, albeit not always exactly where I needed or wanted them.  I had not driven the coach in mountains prior to this leg and US-16 started climbing as soon as we left Buffalo headed west.  It took me a while to figure out what gear to put the Allison 755CR (ATEC) transmission in, what RPM to try to hold, and what exhaust manifold temperatures, engine coolant temperatures, and vehicle speed to expect from that combination.  The engine got up to 210 degrees on this initial climb but I was able to find a pullout soon after and let it cool off.  That is the upper temperature limit for the heads, and I did not let it get that hot again.  The engine continued to run well all the way to our destination, so “no harm, no foul” (I hope).

Yes, that is snow on them thar hills.

Yes, that is snow on them thar hills.

With no prior mountain experience in this coach we really did not know what to expect from the Detroit Diesel 8V92TA engine.  Now we do, and I admit I was disappointed, which is to say, I was hoping for more performance.  It is, after all, a turbo-charged 450 HP 2-cycle diesel.  That sounds like a lot of engine, and it runs well on flatter ground, but in all fairness it was pushing a 40,000+ pound bus that was pulling a 4,000 pound car from 3,600 ft. ASL to 9,600 ft. ASL in a relatively short distance on a somewhat warm day.  On the plus side, it got us to Granite Pass at 9,630 ft. ASL, although I was in first gear turning 2,000 RPM and going about 20 MPH at that point.  Still, it got us there.

The altimeter app on Linda’s Samsung Galaxy S III; very cool, and so was the outside temperature.

The altimeter app on Linda’s Samsung Galaxy S III; very cool, and so was the outside temperature.

Going down the western side of the Bighorn Mountains on US-16, real slow

Going down the western side of the Bighorn Mountains on US-16, real slow.

What goes up must come down.  I have attended enough seminars at RV rallies to know that “whatever gear you use to climb the hill is the gear you use to descend the hill.”  I also knew the rule about braking on downgrades; “apply them hard to get your speed down quickly and then get off them to let them cool; do not ride your brakes or they will overheat and fail.”  I followed both rules coming down the western side of the Bighorns.  This stretch of US-16 has an 18 mile long section of frequent (perhaps continuous?) 6% grade.

Our engine has a two-stage transmission retarder instead of a Jacobs (Jake) Brake.  I have never driven a vehicle equipped with a Jake Brake, so I don’t know well they perform, but I rate the transmission retarder on our Allison transmission marginally effective.  At best it was not able to hold our downhill speed in check without the frequent application of the brakes.  At one point we started to get a slight bunt smell and I pulled into the next turnout to let the brakes cool.  I checked the passenger side front brake rotor with an infrared remote sensing temperature gun and got 750 degrees.  The passenger side tag axle brake rotor was about 600 degrees.  I couldn’t check the drive axle brakes because of the physical configuration of the dual wheels.  At another turnout I was slightly nose down and the emergency/parking brakes would not quite hold the coach, so I had to sit with my foot on the brakes while they cooled.

As on the climb up, I was often in 3rd or 2nd gear going down, and on the steepest descents I was in 1st gear going 16 to 20 MPH.  What I finally figured out was that I could let the RPMs get up to about 2,200, apply the brakes until the RPMs dropped to about 1,700, then let off the bakes and let the MPH and RPM creep back up, and then do it all over again, and again, and again.  The DD 8V92TA redlines at about 2,350 RPM, so that is a figure not to be exceeded, and is generally best avoided.

I have to admit that this was a stressful drive, not made any easier by the fact that it was past noon with bright sunshine heating up the front of the coach and no ability to use the OTR bus AC as we already lacked power for the climb.  Add to the mix that the chassis battery BAL (balance) light would flash on occasionally, indicating a possible problem the Vanner equalizer, and well…it was work.  But it was still beautiful.

We made it over the Bighorn’s and rolled through Tensleep headed for Worland.  We rolled through Worland too, but noticed what appeared to be a very nice museum.  It had a large statue of a Mastodon out front, so we presume the museum was dedicated to the natural wonders of the Bighorn Valley.  Apparently the Bighorn Valley has produced some world class dinosaur fossils.  Alas, we were anxious to make time and get to our destination, so we Nick Russell’d the museum and said we would have to return some day to see it.

The Bighorn Valley looks like the desert southwest in places.

The Bighorn Valley looks like the desert southwest in places.

US-16 joins up with US-20 at Worland whence they head north to Greybull.  This part of the drive was similar to the drive we did from Lovell to Greybull over a week ago.  The landscape is desolate but stunning and the road goes up and down long, rolling hills.  US-16/20 joins US-14 at Greybull and turns west towards Cody.  This part of the drive was relatively flat and visually less interesting than what we had seen up to that point.  It didn’t help that it was hot and I was tired, so I finally turned on the OTR bus AC.

We could see the Absaroka Range ahead of us, but it became more distinct as we neared Cody.  US-14/16/20 goes right through the heart of Cody, so we got a good look at the town as we drove through at 25 MPH, one of many RVs passing through.  Cody appeared to be a historic town with a modern vibe.  We decided we would take one of our days and drive to town and check it out.

US-14/16/20 continues west out of Cody and follows the Shoshone (Shoshoni) River through the Shoshone Canyon/Valley 50 miles to the East Entrance of Yellowstone N. P., where all three highways reach their western terminus.  Our destination, however, was the Green Creek Inn and RV Park in Wapiti, about 18 miles up the road from Cody.  Cody sits at 5,000 ft. ASL and Wapiti is at 5,700 ft. ASL, so we were climbing gently the whole way.

The three tunnels of Buffalo Bill Dam (middle tunnel not visible).

The three tunnels of Buffalo Bill Dam (middle tunnel not visible).

Not far out of Cody we drove through three tunnels in quick succession and reached the Buffalo Bill Dam and Reservoir.  We made a note to stop at the Visitor Center on a trip back to Cody (in the car).  The reservoir is large, with lovely water, surrounded by rock cliffs and dry, brown hillsides.  The contrast was striking.  There is a Wyoming state park along most of the north shore of the reservoir with two campgrounds, both of which were mostly empty.

Green Creek Inn & RV Park with Smith Mansion in the background.

Green Creek Inn & RV Park with Smith Mansion on the hill in the background.

Wapiti is more a dot on a map than an actual, distinct town, but it has a post office and one of the oldest continuously operating schools (currently K-5) in the nation. The Green Creek Inn and RV Park is on the far western edge of what is considered Wapiti, just past what claims to be the last filling station before reaching Yellowstone N. P.  It also sits in the shadow of the Smith Mansion, a very recognizable landmark on this route.

Parked in our site. The Smith Mansion is right there!

Parked in our site. The Smith Mansion is right there!

We and another RV had to wait a short while to get into our sites while someone else finished unhooking and pulling out, but Jeff (the owner) got us both parked.  We then went about our usual arrival/encampment routine.  The Green Creek Inn and RV Park is a basic but nice place in a dramatic setting, and we have a 50A full-hookup site (one of two).  Our rig won’t fit in the campgrounds at Yellowstone N. P., so we will be driving there in our car.  Green Creek was the closest RV park to the East Entrance we could find.

The view to the north from our site.

The view to the north from our site.

The Smith Mansion was built by Lee Smith starting in 1973, and he worked on it until he fell to his death in 1992.  It is a log structure, more imagined than designed, and presents a striking image up on its hilltop setting.  Some of the timbers were harvested from nearby forests devastated by wild fires and it appears from a distance that other materials were probably salvaged.  It has fallen into serious disrepair over the last 21 years, made worse by vandals.  It is posted “private property” and is not open to the public at this time.  There is a trailer parked on the property with a caretaker/guard.  There is a foundation trying to raise funds to preserve, restore, and complete the house, as explained on their website.  The foundation was started by Smith’s daughter and her husband, but there is no indication of who actually owns the house/property, or who else is involved in the foundation.