Summerland again!

Summerland, BC

(motorhome repair and just relaxing)

September 19 - September 26, 2016

When we returned to Summerland we had a hard time finding a campground that was still open and had space!  Our third attempt proved fruitful when we followed a sign on the highway and found a new RV campground located on top of a bluff with a 360 degree view of the entire area.  It ended up being just perfect!

The view from our campsite.  We practically had the place to ourselves.
Although it looks pretty wierd, that cloud is not from a fire or a volcano.

Some late blooming plants near our campground.

Another view from the campground.  You can see that the weather was very nicel

Once back in Summerland we had our solar charging system repaired - or at least we moved one step in the right direction.  They replaced our solar charging regulator and we hoped that would make it all function correctly.  At least the regulator's digital screen now displayed the charging rate and the battery voltage.  That was an improvement.  I'd done a lot of research on solar systems and found out they are often installed incorrectly in motorhomes.  That information does not exactly build confidence and there are quite a few variables involved, one of which is how dirty the panel is.  I decided it would be a good idea to clean the solar panel itself since we've been all kinds of weather. Laura went up on the roof to do the job and found that the panel itself wasn't terribly dirty.  She cleaned it anyway then asked me "what about the other panel?".  "What other panel?" I asked.  The small one she replied.  I drew a blank so I gave her my phone so she could take a picture.

The roof of our motorhome showing the two solar panels.

The good solar panel - all cleaned up.

The "other" solar panel!  You can see the reflection of Laura taking a picture!

Closeup of the damaged area.

Needless to say - a solar panel shouldn't look like this.  I began to wonder if it might be shorting out, possibly stealing amperage that was supposed to charge the battery. We went back to the RV place to show them this picture.  They agreed it was possible it could be causing problems but they couldn't remove the panel until the following week and suggested we could do it ourselves. I also wondered if our batteries might be compromised by being insufficiently charged for the 16 months we've been living in the motorhome. They were non-committal on that point but from what I'd read I knew it was a distinct possibility.

Instead of removing the small damaged solar panel we cut the wire from it, then capped off and taped both ends.  Since then the charging amperage has been much higher so I feel the damaged solar panel was robbing us of some of the amperage intended to charge the battery.  So...another step in the right direction.  At this point I now believe that our batteries have been compromised by insufficient charging because they drain excessively with very light use and take too long to recharge.  Our next step is to install 6 volt golf cart batteries which are designed for extended battery use.

Enough about batteries and solar panels.  Our next issue was the post office.  If you are traveling in Canada, my advice is to NEVER have anything mailed to you while you are there.  Laura needed a prescription refilled and it seemed like having it sent to Summerland would be easy and fairly quick. When it didn't arrive in the time frame we expected, she had the pharmacy track the package.  It had gone from Burlington, WA to Seattle to Kent to Los Angeles (where all western mail headed out of the country goes) to Toronto, Ontario (where all foreign mail headed into Canada goes). All we could do was to wait for the package to arrive. Once it did, we headed back to the States via the border crossing at Osoyoos, BC.