Places We Have Called Home In 2020
Home Is Where We Park It – Escapees North Ranch, Congress, Arizona
April 1, 2020
Temperature 71 Degrees
Engine Bay Fire Suppression
Battery Maintenance
Finished the Lockers
No electric heaters last night. The temperatures are finally beginning to warm up. It can stay right where it is as far as I’m concerned. Which is, mid 50’s at night and mid 70’s during the day. Perfect sleeping weather and with the breeze during the day no need to run the A/C.
Major project today would be the installation of the Proteng Automatic Fire Suppression System. Per their web site: It is completely self-contained and is heat-activated. It minimizes fire damage by effectively extinguishing fire at its initial stage by eliminating heat. There is no button to press, no pin to pull, no human action required. There are no batteries, no nozzles, no connections necessary–it all starts with this small tube.
The system consists of a thick walled Polyamide tube filled with extinguishing agent FM-200® which is a non-toxic, non-carcinogenic, environmentally friendly, non-corrosive gas. When the tube is exposed to direct heat or any temperature exceeding 194 degrees the tube ruptures releasing the FM-200.
That’s Bobby under the rig, the local agent for this company who is doing the install. The tube is installed in such a way that it circles around the engine bay.
This is Marsha his wife who is feeding the tube to him from the back. It took the two of them just about two hours to install the tube. Suffice to say this is one product I hope I never have to use. The real value to us is the peace of mind it offers. If there is an engine fire we believe it will at least give us time to get off the road and get out.
They brought their four legged friend with them. As is obvious he loves to sit on the top of a picnic table!
I didn’t exactly sit around today. I began by checking my batteries. On the coach side I have four Duracell Ultra Golf Cart Pro 230, each rated at 230 amp hours.
I cleaned all the connections and then sprayed everything with corrosion protection. I also checked the condition of each cell in each battery and all is well. At some point in the future I’m going to pull all the batteries and clean and repaint the battery tray.
On the chassis or starting side the news is not so good. One of the batteries has a bad cell. In addition each battery is only rated for 600 Cold Cranking Amps (CCA). Cummins recommends a Type 31 battery with a CCA of at least 1000. One doesn’t need a crystal ball to see that new batteries are in our future before we leave here.
I also finished reorganizing the driver’s side lockers. Like the other side, I also lubricated all the locks and treated the locker seals with 303. We’re now ready for our order of food from Walmart and Amazon, whenever they decide to get here.
Have no fear I’m far from out of projects. I have enough to keep me going for at least the rest of this month. After that I’ll have to get creative!
Barbara decided to take a walk over to the Cactus Garden. She took a picture of the Easter Cactus which is now in full bloom. It is so beautiful and stunning.
Our day has come to an end on The Road of Retirement. Another major project has been completed and crossed off the list. As of now, no more major projects are planned. Going forward it will be preventative maintenance, and correcting issues that have been overlooked in the past.
We’re still where we were a week or so ago. It just feels so unnatural to be sitting still with no plans to go anywhere. It almost feels like we are in suspended animation or trapped in a time warp. But we’re healthy and that is worth all the gold in the world.
On the lighter side.
Thanks for checking in with us today. We always appreciate your company and your comments. Catch you tomorrow.
These are the voyages of Elvira and it’s two intrepid travelers. Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before.
See you on down the road!
"On The Road of Retirement" 
You are ALWAYS busy. Thanks for sharing that beautiful cactus. Isn’t it amazing how God placed such a beautiful flower on the end of a prickly plant? You are right about the sit and stay. Hoag and I were easily trained and only go away when absolutely necessary.
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