HELP! My coach's electrical outlet isn't working.

I returned home from my trip and put off cleaning out the coach for a couple of days.  Didn't feel like vacuuming all that sand out of there.  A couple of days later when I decided to clean, I turned the generator on and waited a few minutes then turned the AC on.  Nothing happened.  I plugged in the vacuum cleaner and nothing happened - yet all lights worked.

I checked the breaker box and all was fine.  Went out to the electrical plug where I am plugged in to myself and it was unplugged.  Must have shaken loose on the way home which explains why the lights were working but not the outlets.  I plugged it in and went back inside the coach.  Started the generator again and the AC came on and I started to vacuum.  A  few minutes later everything shut off.  Went outside to check the electrical cord of the coach and it was still plugged into itself.  Did I burn up something?

I turned each circuit breaker completely OFF and then back ON.  Nothing helped.

I got out my extension cord and plugged the coach into my house outlet which made the electrical outlets work.  I turned on the AC (which I know you are not supposed to do on a regular house outlet) just to see if it would come on.  It did.  I turned it off.

I let the coach stay plugged into my house outlet overnight.  This morning I unplugged the extention to the house and plugged my cord back into the coach itself.  Turned on the generator and tried the AC and still no power.  The overhead lights all work but no outlet is working.  What in the hell does that mean? 

This is so frustrating.  I fear that I will have to take it to Camping World for repair which will cost an arm and a leg for something that may be really simple that I am not doing correctly.

Can anyone help me?  Please?

Read a post on RV Doctor which suggested I check the GFCI and the generator breaker.  I tried to push the reset button on the GFCI outlet to reset it but it will not engage.  I looked for a breaker button on the generator but did not see one.

OK... so now I have to get the Onan Generator book out and read it  :-(

Be right back....

Well... do I feel foolish about now.  There is a clearly marked diagram of the breaker switch on the generator in the booklet.  I flipped it, went back in the coach and turned on the generator and all outlets are now working.  I tried to push the GCFI button in to see if it would now engage and it still did not but a red light did come on when I pressed it in.  So, I guess all is well once again.

My thanks go out to all those websites who answer questions on their forums.  They had my question asked all over the Internet which shows that I'm not the only one who has had to ask for help on this problem.   

FINE ART PRINTS

When I purchased my summer home on Grand Isle 5 years ago, I began a business called Art Of The Lens.  I purhased a professional camera and equipment as well as a poster size printer, mats, clear mat covers, and fine art paper.  I took many photos of the old historical buildings on the island and also wrote a guide book for tourists to use in their walks throughout the island.  I really enjoyed this hobby but no longer am interested in it.  I had posted many of my prints on Flickr.com but don't keep up with that site any longer.

Here are some of my prints of the island I lived on for 5 years.



Sunset Rail To The Beach (across from my street)

 

My Path

 

Beach Cabana

 

Vine Covered Beach Bridge

I hit the saturation button a little hard on this one but I like it.

 

 

Grand Isle Palm Trees

 

 

Afternoon Walk To The Beach

 

 

Terra Cotta Cottage

 

I couldn't have posed them better... alpha and omega.

 

 

Chickadee House - Circa 1880

 

 

Pirate Tomb - Digital Painting

 

 

Gale's By The Sea -  My Camp

 

 

Vine Covered Outhouse

 

 

Sunset Over Bayou Rigaud - Grand Isle, LA

 

 

Grand Isle Tombs In Moon Glow

Actual cemetery but I manipulated the moon.

 

 

Cajun House - Circa 1890

This is my favorite historic building on the island because it looks just like my great grandmother's house.

 

 

Hope you enjoyed my art work.

 

 

 

WINSTON CHURCHILL QUOTE

It is a delusion to think that being able to move rapidly about from place to place makes people happier or wiser.   As for the advantages of travel, they may be greatly exaggerated.  In order to know anything about a country you must walk through it.  You must sleep on its soil, pluck its foliage with your fingers. You must light your fires by its fiords and streams, and watch the dawn break beyond strange mountains.

Winston Churchill
November 1939

DROUGHT CONDITIONS

Well it finally rained today.  It was great.  Cooled down the high temperature. 

 Conditions in southeast Louisiana have been deteriorating since October.  In fact, the first five months of the year have been the second-driest on record in Louisiana -- after 1963 -- in the 121 years of record-keeping by the state climatological office.

The lack of significant rainfall combined with the intense heat during the past two weeks has pushed some parts of southeast Louisiana into severe drought status and others into extreme drought (my area).


They are giving a chance of rain again tomorrow.  I sure hope so.

LITTLE BASTARDS STOLE MY BIKE

Left the beach around noon and am now back home.  Drove into the driveway and first thing I noticed is that my trike was stolen.  The $600 trike that I have been looking for a carrier for.  Called the police and filed a report.  However, I might as well just forget about it.  They are never going to find it.  My home owner's insurance has a very high deductible so I can't file a claim with them.  I'm just out that money.

There are a bunch of little thugs from across town that come in our neighborhood and scope out the place for what they can steal.  I've seen them before and know what neighborhood they live in.  It's not a section of town I would go into.  Last week it was a neighbor's motorbike.  They jumped over his locked fence in his back yard and unlocked the gate then took the motor bike and started it up and rode it away. 

I think that they took note of my coach being gone and figured no one was home so ripped me off.  The bike was wedged against my house by my van.  They had to bend the wheel and lift the bike over the hood of the van to get it out.  Little bastards!

I know I should have put the bike in the house but that's not the point.  I've lived here 26 years and never had anything stolen.  Puts me in a very bad mood. 

Now it seems clear to me that I will have to get a folding bike and store it in the coach for safety.  I wouldn't put it past them to pry open the bay doors if they ever figure out that there is a bike inside, they will certainly do that.

DOGGIE BOAT

I've been trying to find an inflatable boat for my Shih Tzu to enjoy the ocean and not get wet.  Sometimes I'm just not up to having to bathe and groom her everytime we go to the beach.  So I found an infant pool that even has a top for shade that can be used as a float as well.   Today we tried it out and she seemed to like it.  I put her into it while on the beach and then I carried her and the pool into the water. 

At first she wanted to jump out of it but I sat down in the water and comforted her and she eventually relaxed and put her head on the rim and watched the waves roll in.  There was no way I could leave her and get my camera to capture that shot but it would have been a good one.

(Is it obvious now that I don't have any grandchildren???)



After an hour of playing on the beach she was so dirty that I had to rinse her off anyway and blow dry her as well. 

She wanted to catch that bird.

While I was drying her I noticed her injury and it seems to be healing well.

Supper tonight was Cajun Chicken Fricassée and rice.  I cooked this at home and froze some to take camping.   We usually serve this dish with potato salad but tonight I was just too tired to cook so I defrosted some and ate without the salad.  Our Fricassée is made with a roux (flour, oil, onions, celery, bell pepper) and the gravy turns out very dark.  I add the cut up chicken and let it cook for about an hour then serve over rice.   Not everyone makes this dish the same way but this is the way my mom's ancestors (all great French cooks) handed down the recipe.   Sorry... no photos.

GRAND ISLE STATE PARK IN JUNE

Left Pat's house this afternoon and picked up a few groceries then drove to the State Park.

He is a most gracious host and I enjoyed our time together.  I can stay on his electricity for free if I print up his brochures for his B&B.  What a deal.

He took us for a ride in his new 4X4 and Xi Shi really liked it.  She is such a little trooper.

Made a Cajun shrimp spaghetti with French bread.  A very seasoned, spicy dish.  Turned out great.

On one of our many daily walks around Pat's property.

My new windshield cover works great.

Pat's Bed & Breakfast in the background.

Our host and best friend waving goodbye to us in front of his house.

Arrived at the Park around 2:00pm.  Hooked up and then took Xi Shi Quan for a walk on the beach.   She loves the beach and seemed excited to see the Gulf once again.  I was pleased to see that they had put out wooden picnic tables, some with roofs for shade. 

This beach is usually very clean but today there is black sticky mud about 10 feet wide all along the shore where it appears that the Mississippi has left its mark.  Not very enticing to go for a swim.  I walked into a few inches of water and it was very dark and dirty.  If you walked in the mud you sank a few inches.  YUK!  So I don't think we'll go swimming this trip.  It seems that there is always something preventing me from fully enjoying this island lately.  Last year it was the oil spill and the repercussions of that are still being felt with many beach closings ever since.   I am really surprised that they have not closed the beach this week due to this mud but I guess they figure it's not as toxic as the oil was and so... why not keep it open.

I'll only be here for 2 days and then return home for awhile to wait for the realtor to notify me of the closing date on my property. I have an art project I'm working on so I'll have something to look forward to when I get home.

These short trips in the coach have been a real learning experience for me.  I'm feeling more and more confident in my ability to handle the driving as well as the workings of the equipment inside.  I'm feeling comfortable here and so are my pets.

I'm trying to teach them not to come out of the coach even with the door open.

Caiche likes to sleep under the swivel chair and has a good view of the outside from there.

Only staying a couple of days so not putting a lot of stuff outside.

Nice RVs here today.  I'm the second one.

Think I'll try to catch a TV station.  I've never been able to get anything on this TV and am beginning to think that I need a new one.  Other campers are able to catch channels on their exterior antennae.   Not to worry... I can always watch a movie.

SUNDAY EVENING

Pat came by to show me how to use my Propane stove.  I have a fear of Propane and he has been trying to get me to overcome that.  So we had a Rum and Coke and got to work.  He walked me through it and I felt a little more comfortable with it and put the electric stove away.  So now I will make breakfast tomorrow on my really clean looking stove.

I put some aluminium foil on the top in order to keep it clean.  I asked Pat to unscrew the top metal cover as I could not open it and keep my toaster and can opener on the counter if I did.   So off it came and now I can just set it on top when I'm not cooking and use it for my bread basket and fruit tray.

Put up my new kitchen curtain.  Couldn't attach the rod to the wall as there was no room so I used 3 tacks to secure the material to the wall.  Looks good to me :-)

All in all, I've had a pretty good day.