I drove into Suffolk today to see if the NAPA store might have the right fuses for the battery monitor. They are tiny 250V 5A fuses. Nope. The salesman pondered the situation for a bit and gave me instructions to get to an RV parts place outside of town. I was doubtful they would have the fuses, but I made a note of the driving instructions just in case. Then, he gave me the name of a bigger auto parts store in Portsmouth. And then, the light bulb came on over his head!

Radio Shack.

As soon as those words came out of his mouth, I knew that would be the answer. I asked where the nearest one was, and it turned out to be right next to the big Dollar Tree! Why I never noticed that is beyond me.

I spent some time going through the well organized fuse drawers at Radio Shack and found one bag containing four of the fuses. Yes! I also picked up a 50% off set of two 12V outlets for the bedroom.

I got in and installed two new fuses, but the monitor did not turn on. 🙁

It’s been bitter cold today (just a couple of degrees below freezing and overcast), but the weather should be nice tomorrow. So the plan is to remove the battery monitor connections, make sure that all the lugs are properly attached to the wires, and then reassemble the whole thing. If that doesn’t work, I guess the next step is to contact Xantrex and ask them how I can verify that I irreparably screwed up a very expensive piece of equipment. 🙁

I am also going to run some tests as suggested by Croft in a comment made on my last post.

Even though my system is not running at 100%, I feel comfortable leaving on Sunday. Worse case scenario, I can attach the little inverter directly to the battery and run an extension cord from it to the computer. Otherwise, everything else is running nicely. The kinks will work themselves out, I am confident of it!

This morning, battery monitor working or not, it was time to get off the grid and make sure that my new electrical system works off of the new batteries.

I started by shutting off the computer UPS, the electric heater, then I threw off the necessary breakers. I am aware that breakers aren’t meant to be used like light switches and be turned on and off a lot, but I’m not going to be spending that much time going back and forth, so I’ll take my chances.

Next, I turned off the water and switched the fridge to propane. I went outside, unplugged from the house, plugged the shore power cord into extension cord leading to the inverter, and then plugged that extension cord into the new inverter.

Moment of truth. I haven’t so far been able to so much as charge my iPad with the new inverter.

The inverter switched on with nary a beep of protest. I then turned on the UPS for the computer system. All still good. I just wish I wasn’t blind and could use the battery monitor to determine my draw to know if I can still run the heater or not.

As for my printer, turning off the converter turned off the printer’s outlet! So I am going to have to snake an extension cord around the room and get the printer plugged into the UPS, too, which is something I should have done eons ago anyhow.

I located the fuses for the battery monitor, so I will change them next time I am out. If changing them does not help, I will get a professional to look at my set up and get it working 100%. I’ve done the heavy lifting, so I’m not convinced getting in a pro for and hour or two will kill my budget.

What a difference new batteries make!

I’m getting pretty excited about heading out on Sunday. I think I’ve located propane and I know where I’m spending the night. The best months of my RVing life lie ahead of me, I am sure of it!

I haven’t been very mindful lately and ran my on board propane tank to just about empty. I always like to leave a buffer in case I can’t easily find a place to fill it when I get under way again. I hopefully have just enough to run the fridge until I can find a place to fill.

Since I’ll be here a few more days and want hot water, use of the stove, and possibly even use of the furnace, I asked my friend if she’d perchance know a place to have my little 30lb cylinder filled.

She gave me the website for Amerigas. I was able to put in our zip code and get all the propane dealers in a 20 mile radius. Most were bottle exchange places, but there were a few refillers, too. This company seems to be USA-wide.

I located a couple of refillers in Smithfield since I was going there anyway today. They wound up still being closed for the holidays or looked too sketchy to approach, so I called the nearest place in Suffolk, Suffolk Automotive, on Main Street, and they told me I could get propane until 6:00 p.m.

This location wound up being a tiny little garage with almost zero manoeuvring room, so it wouldn’t be a place to take an RV, but it’s convenient to get cylinders refilled since it’s just a couple of blocks from the Walmart and the staff is super friendly!

I’ve made a note of the refillers on my route south and I will call each one until I find one who says that they have lots of room for RVs. Perhaps finding propane on this section of my great adventure won’t be as much of a challenge as it was going north in the spring.