RV Charging while Driving Function Restored

Wednesday, July 1

As part of the house battery short-circuit debacle, the RV had lost the ability to be charging its house battery while the engine was running on the chassis. 

I tried for several hours on and off and could not figure out what was the deal. 

I suspected it was the battery isolation manager solenoid but lacked the expertise to troubleshoot much beyond the point of accidentally smoking the replacement put in by the Ford dealership.

Martha found me a local Mobile RV Repair guy, Pat Serrant of PEM RV services   Pat showed up today and two hours later he'd replaced the smoked Battery Isolation Manager (BIM), found a couple of fuses that needed replacement and which fixed the ignition override function on the RV's steps as well!

He patiently walked me through the diagnosis steps so that I've gained a better understanding of the charging system.  

New Solenoid 

Fuse for ignition trigger wire

Fuse was busted here too at

The house battery disconnect 

I really must remember to disconnect the battery involved with items I'm troubleshooting!  The above tool, which Pat used to great effect, has made my purchase list.  A bit pricey but beats having to find a good ground with a multimeter while in tight spaces or ackward positions!

You can also use it to provide power to a device when you have the chassis battery disconnected.  Handy.

Thursday, July 2

Spent the morning redoing everything inside the house battery storage compartment on the RV.

After I removed the battery and disconnected the chassis battery as well, I removed and painted the wooden board placed there by the Ford mechanic back in Ohio.  

While that was trying, I secured two metal plates as base support, using self-dapping screws to secure the plates to the seal frame of the box compartment. 

I redid the routing of all the cables so that there's no way they can touch each other, especially the positive terminal by the shunt device onto which all ground/negative cables connect.  It was the contact by the shunt device onto the battery positive terminal which cost the short circuit last month. 

I also lined the walls with plastic cutting board material, thin stuff, to help keep the dust out along with water spray when driving in the rain. White gorilla tape was used to see all the seams and openings remaining. 

By then used a ratchet strap and blocking pieces of wood to firmly secure the battery in place! 

Here's other compartment looks now: 

A more top down view showing separations.

Theoretically, I could go camping now.  But with the Fourth of July weekend coming up (amateur hours), I'll take her to storage instead.  Besides, I've scheduled her for the shop in Parker, CO for diagnosis of recurring OBD codes.

Spring Fling 2026: The Fling is Flung - Home Again

June 29

The last day of this last trip by us via motorhome to the eastern half of the country!

We left the Sylvan Park COE campground at 0645 CDT and arrived home at 1247 MDT.

We're very glad Uma, the VRRV gave us no further issues since the small scare involving the air filter in Wentzville, MO. 

We unloaded Uma and started in on the post-camping trip chores 

Some of the lessons learned:

Anything east of the Rockies is hot and humid in late Spring/Summer.  Sure, it's hot here in Colorado but way lower in humidity!

When you buy cheap parts, you may come to regret it.

You can get oversaturated with history and museums.  16 museums (including battlefield parks and attractions).

You can never go back to the friendships you remember.  

Just because it's grass covered, doesn't mean you shouldn't walk it before driving onto a spot in wetter climates.

Good family will always come through for you.

Don't trust a dealership to buy the right house battery for an RV, provide it to them yourself.  To be fair, they trusted the AutoZone guy.

Getting medical care at a non-VA facility but paid for by the VA is doable, getting prescriptions paid for by the VA can be problematical, self pay if possible.

Last but not least, a saying from Martha's dad: There's always a tuition for life's education.

Here's a compilation of stats, then and now both for record and consideration

I'd mentioned before we'd made a somewhat similar trip to the East Coast back in the summer of 2021.  

2021

74 days trip, 11 as guests of friends 

4887 miles driven by the VRRV.

Assuming $3/gal gas spent almost $2100

$630 camping fees

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2026

62 day trip, 19 as guests of friends 

4866 miles driven by VRRV 

Gas avg cost $4.05/gal.  $2635.25 spent on gas by VRRV.  $429.77 in gas for the Honda CR-V and Yagi, the TW200.

$665.63 in camping fees

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Back in 2021 I hadn't started using a gas/mileage tracking app to log such costs.

For the Spring Fling the app reports: (just for VRRV)

May 2026: 

Fuel price avg: $4.12/gal. Low: $3.89 High:$4.39

Fuel Purchased 222.948 gallons

Fuel Cost $918.40. Miles driven 1606 ($0.572 per mile)

June 2026

Fuel Price (avg) $3.92 per gallon.  Low: $3.35  High:$4.53

Fuel Purchased 368.442 gallons

Fuel Cost $1,444.88.  Miles driven 2587 ($0.559 per mile)

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Overall costs:

Counting fuel, lodging, food, entertainment and misc: $96.61/day.

The above overall costs don't include the repairs to the VRRV due to the short-circuiting incident.

Spring Fling 2026 - Day 61: Sylvan Grove COE

We got an early start to the day today, leaving the Missouri Conservation Dept's Boat Ramp/campsite at Roberts Bluff, Missouri at 0615 hours.

Driving was very tiring as it was a very windy day, and we were fighting winds from the West and Southwest all morning!

By 1300 we were almost done setting up camp at the Sylvan Park campground near Wilson Lake. It is a Corps of Engineers campground, and I realized as I drove into it that I had been here before! Yep, August of 2021 as I was headed home from a previous trip to the Eastern half of the country, the really humid half as I had selectively forgotten it seems.

Today was damn hot, sunny though only with a relative humidity of 39%, which beats me almost 95% humidity we experienced in Missouri yesterday!  The RV thermometer was showing an outside temperature of 100° F.

We plugged into shore power, a major factor in picking a COE site for today, and spent the rest of the afternoon in AC comfort inside the RV.  It did take quite a while to cool down the inside of the RV though, as it had been showing a temperature of 85°F when we started setting up camp.

While we waited for the RV to cool down, we both took cooling outdoor showers beside the RV after I had hooked up the campsite water faucet.

Tomorrow, Colorado and home!

Spring Fling 2026 - A Small Scare and now in Missouri

Due to foggy conditions we weren't able to leave the Richards farm HH until almost 8:00 a.m..  Traffic on I-70 was heavy at times and there was many construction zones and two spots where we experience delays due to crashes that happened before we got there. 

In other words quite the slog, and then we had our little scare near the town of Wentzville.

We were cruising along and all of a sudden the engine lost power and shutdown!  Cursing, I coasted to a stop at a somewhat safe spot on the side of the highway.  The gauges were still operating so it wasn't the same problem as before I thought. After a bit I turned the engine back on, things seem to be fine, and we decided to drive to the next exit which we could see down the road. 

Getting off the highway, there happened to be a Camping World franchise right there! 

We drove into their parking lot and  parked the RV to check things out.  Nothing immediately or obviously wrong. She was a little low on oil so I added some.  I had noticed that she had thrown the usual P0152 OBD code and I mentioned it to Martha.

She immediately started using her Google-Fu and one of the items to be checked was the status of the air filter and also the MAF sensor. 

I opened up the air filter housing and discovered that the air cap on the air filter had separated from the filter element and had apparently blocked the air inlet enough to cause the engine to shut off on the highway.  At least that is the theory.

The black cap is supposed to be glued on...

We disconnected the Honda CRV and drove a couple of miles to the nearby NAPA auto parts store and got a replacement filter.  This time I bought the expensive version versus the cheaper one, hoping that the more expensive one have better glue to hold on to that stupid cap!

We hooked the Honda CRV back up and once again rejoin the slogging traffic on I-70. By 14:30 hours we had arrived at the Harriman Hill access camping spot just off of the I-70 highway. 

We secured a nice spot but we found that the site was next to the highway and there was quite a large amount of highway noise. 

Leaving the RV there, we took the Honda CRV and checked out the nearby Roberts Bluff camping area and boat ramp.

The site was quieter and empty of other camping rigs.  I left Martha with a lounge chair to hold down our spot while I raced back in the Honda CRV to the first site.  

I returned with the RV, towing the Honda CRV and setup camera. 

It was a hot and humid day under the sun and we both took cooling showers after setting up the RV for the night.  I even took a dip in the nearby river, using the boat ramp to get to the water.

There was a noticeable current in the river so I didn't go too far from that shoreline. 

The RV seem to run fine after I replaced the air filter. So I am hoping my theory was correct.

Spring Fling 2026 - Day 59: World's Largest Pitchfork

We didn't leave the Blueberry Patch Harvest Host until almost 9:00 a.m. this morning, the rest of the day was spent driving towards and then on Interstate 70 and it's many instances of construction delays.

It rained on us several times and the skies remained solidly overcast. 

Now near the town of Casey, IL at a different Harvest Host, though this one is also a farm.  It's main draw however is a restaurant where we had dinner. 

This farm is also host to the world's largest pitchfork, verified by the Guinness book of World records.   There are other world largest type objects in town but we were too tired and weary to disconnect the Honda CRV and go check them out.

This picturesque pond is part of the farm as one walks toward the animal enclosures where Martha found a hairy cow, goats and chickens. 

The restaurant's decor and food were very good.  A tad pricey perhaps, the food, but definitely tasty.

Brisket Mac & Cheese 

Pork Chop and Fries

The RV is running good I am happy to report. There seems to be some glitch now with it charging the house battery while the engine is running, but no problem. I just simply run the small generator for an hour or so to top off the house battery when we get to the new location. I will look into it further once I am home.  This is more impetus for the DC to DC charger option that I am thinking about. 

Tomorrow, Missouri!

Spring Fling - Day 58: No Longer Homeless in Ohio

We drove down to Mansfield, OH to the Ford dealership from Martha's sister's home in Brownstown, MI.  Our thanks to Laura and Andy for allowing us to stay with them since Thursday of last week!  

Along the way we had a couple of issues to resolve.

First, the starboard strap holding Yagi onto the rack in back of the CRV broke. Luckily the other straps held it in place but seriously leaning outboard. I hurriedly exited the highway and we put a new strap on. Close call! 

The second thing was Martha's iPhone started acting weird again. The screen blanked out and she could not use the phone so we decided to find the Verizon store in Mansfield.  The phone started behaving again as we waited for customer service but we decided to go ahead and upgrade her phone since it had been due since before the trip. 

As this was going on and her data was being transferred to the new phone, we drove over to the dealership and I chatted with the mechanic, Randy.  

Basically, the solenoid that is related to the house battery had to be replaced along with the fusible link connected to the chassis battery. It had burned and melted quite badly but the way it was installed it was not easily visible. Randy did not believe that the charging circuit to the house battery was compromised and we tested it with a clamp-on amp meter and it seemed to be charging when the engine was running! 

The bill was paid and I drove off following Martha to the Harvest host where we are staying at tonight.  It's called the Blueberry Patch Farm and this located between Mansfield and Lexington Ohio a long highway 42. 

Nice Harvest Host location, two RVs parking spots and we are the only rig here tonight.

The dealership mechanic also replace the failed wooden board that supports the house battery inside the battery box.  The house battery was also replaced by the dealer as the fear was the previous battery had been "cooked".  Unfortunately AutoZone gave them the wrong battery I think, it's a starting battery not a deep cycle battery. 

However, after a couple of calls with RichardM, it should be fine to keep this battery for now just do some calculations as I use it to figure out how many amp hours it really has. The fact that my electrical needs are not very high made RichardM State that it really didn't matter in that we should be fine.   I am guessing it only has, the new battery, between 42 to 70 amp hours, we'll see.

The plan for now is to install a DC to DC charger system once I get home to go with a LiPO4 battery since they have become less expensive on Amazon.

Otherwise, everything seems to be working on Uma and we will start the drive back to Colorado again tomorrow morning.  

Spring Fling 2026 - Days 52 - 57: Hanging Out in Michigan + Touring Belle Isle/Downtown Detroit

 June 18-24

We would hang out at Martha's sister's home in Brownstown, MI.

Lots of waiting for the Ford dealership in Mansfield, OH to call us with updates.  A couple of calls from me to them when I couldn't wait any longer.  Very frustrating.

Lots of binging TV series such as Marshals and Dutton Ranch.

Lots of trying not to fixate on the RV-relared woes, such a first world problem after all eh?

Managed to hurt my back shoveling dirt, helping my brother-in-law: Andy B. put new soil on patchy portions of his lawn.  A quick trip to Urgent Care the next day and I got some anti-inflammatory steroids and a muscle relaxant and I began to feel better.

We finally got a plan and quote from the Ford mechanic/dealership today.  They'll bypass the charging circuit that charges the house battery while the RV engine is running.  The mechanic just didn't know the intricacies involved 

He's going to install the bypass wiring and repair the house battery box along with replacing the house battery.  Must make sure tomorrow to remind them it has to be a deep cycle battery!

Wednesday, June 24

We saw a rather more picturesque view of Detroit today.  We drove to Belle Isle State Park which used to be under the management of Detroit until it declared bankruptcy a few years ago. 

I never realized how close Detroit is to Canada's Windsor city.  The Detroit River forms that border and you can look into Canada quite easily from the shores of Belle Isle,  the island in the middle Detroit River next to Detroit itself. 

In the next three pictures, Windsor is on the left and across the river is Detroit.

After walking around for a bit, we toured the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory:

A small but pretty good display of flora and it's free!

Next was a short walk to the Dossin Great Lakes Museum:

As you walk into the museum, the lobby is the restored lobby from the Detroit City III riverboat from the 1960s:

Here's some of the stuff that got my eye in the rest of the museum: 

The actual periscope from the USS Tambor from World War II: 

This is what you see when peering through the eyepiece: 

This is the bridge/pilot house of the William Clay Ford Longship.

The sisters try their hand at steering: 

I'm sure you've heard the ballad of the F Scott Fitzgerald cargo ship that sank in Lake Erie and for which a song was made.  Here's the timeline for the disaster: 

Outside the museum looking towards the conservancy: 

Then we drove into the downtown of Detroit around the Detroit River Walk and the Renaissance Center.

The Renaissance Center or Ren Cen

Windsor, Canada

At riverside base of Ren Cen

To save a whole bunch of walking around the downtown area, we found our way to the people mover train system and rode the loop.  I must say, the downtown area is actually not bad at all, cleanee than Denver for sure!

One last look at the Renaissance Center from the Riverwalk area, at a small carousel: 

Barring unforeseen complications, we'll be driving into Ohio tomorrow to pick up the RV in the afternoon.