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February 3, 2004
ShurFlo Extreme series 5.7 Water Pump installation details
The new pump with it's strainer was large enough to require installation at an angle 20 degrees from horizontal on the RV wall to give water line access yet clear all obstructions. There are no restrictions on mounting the pump, so that is OK. The required new flexible hose on the output line helped make the installation easier.
All hoses were supported by long ty-raps to prevent pipes from rubbing on anything or putting tension on the pump pipe fittings. The water pump wiring in the Seabreeze was installed number 12 from the factory, fused 15 amps, and documented thus in the owners manual. I double checked the fuse;it was as documented. The pump came with an in line 15 amp fuse right at the pump as well; at some point I may want to replace it with a larger 25 amp fuse so the easy to reach one on the 12v DC power panel always blows first, but here I did not have one. I believe this pump with electronic controls could be a fire hazard under certain failure modes if not properly fused, so do not blame the manufacturer for making sure it is never installed unfused. The new pump came online with no problems after it's prime was established; no leaks, quiet but still audible operation (a necessary thing in an RV where undetected water leaks can do much damage), and the sink sprayer works GREAT....continuous flow of water with barely perceptible very rapid pulsations in the pressure. I used the sprayer to clean the dirty strainer from the old pump, and it was quite efficient and powerful with it's spray. I see now why a strainer is necessary; there was considerable sediment and junk in the strainer when we removed it. Lack of one in the original installation is probably why the pump valves started leaking pressure after several years in service, and required replacement.
February 5, 2004
Venice Avenue on street parking
Venice Beach looking southwest
Feeding Gulls on thew beach
Looking north toward the jetty
Now to the jetty's end
Sailboat heading out
Jetty looking east from the gulf end
Pelican wings along
North jetty fish camp
Jetty public boat launching dock
February 6, 2004
Garmin Etrex serial/12v power cable problem/repair
When I tried to find the GPS location of Ralph & Reni's house this morning, the cigarette lighter on the dashboard seemed dead, and the map light too; dead engine battery? A quick check with the ignition key said no. Blown fuse, probably, but WHY? I moved the GPS plug to the house battery lighter socket, and noticed a hot spark when I plugged it in, but it worked. I finally got the GPS location after placing the unit out the window; rain last night had wetted the tree, blocking reception; or is it interference from the nearby computer??? I do not have reason to use the GPS from this position often except when loading map data, and then it need not acquire satellites. I finished pin pointing our location and pulled the GPS adapter out of the lighter socket; it came out hard, and one negative spring contact broke off; this thing has a BIG problem! I inspected it and found signs of melted plastic at the broken contact. Disassembly revealed that the unused contact had shorted to the positive fuse sleeve, providing a direct short to the battery.
Note the lower outside contact burned off where it leaves the housing, and the missing tab, which should be identical to the top one. The cause is the inadequate strength plastic molded tab, which is the only thing providing insulation between the fuse and negative spring contacts. The fuse slides toward the left against the spring when the positive contact tip hits the bottom of the cigar lighter socket, increasing stress on the weak tab. The adapter can operate with the one remaining negative contact, as that is the only one wired to anything, and the insertion force always seemed excessive for this adapter anyway. Tests with the broken contact removed show adequate insertion force to make contact, and the unit works fine. To reinforce the inadequate plastic tab support/insulator we can fill around it with a bit of epoxy, and the repair should be better than new We start by washing the area well with 99% isopropyl alcohol. Then the adapter is positioned in a vice grip so the epoxy will not run into wrong places as it turns thin during cure. 24 hour curing epoxy is placed carefully with a fine toothpick into places where it can hold the tab and contact, yet not interfere with reassembly of the housing.
Note the tiny bit of epoxy placed at the 4 red lines drawn in along the left end of the lower contact in the above photo, and into the groove behind the contact. It will be stronger than new (it needs to be; my friend Jed reported his identical Garmin combination serial/12 volt power cable for the Garmin Etrex GPS units had an identical failure a few months ago; this adapter has a serious design problem that could cause a fire hazard with the 20 or 30 amp fuse in many car cigar lighter sockets. The heavy contact was burned off [melted] by the energy of the arc created by the short, and did not blow the 30 amp fuse in my house battery cigar lighter. The plastic melted, and could well have ignited). The repaired unit worked fine after a bit of filing to remove a little epoxy interfering with reassembly of the housing on the left end, and the yielding of the insulating piece of molded plastic in the housing with contact flexure has been stopped by the added stiffness caused by epoxy bonding the contact to both sides of the housing in the front, and along the bottom where the housing and inner portion of the contact run back to the connecting wire. The unit tested perfect upon reassembly.