Step Repair and a Small Modification…

One of the best things about having an extended stay this winter is it gives us time to fix some things that we have been ignoring as well as take care of some larger repairs. The most pressing large repair was that we needed to fix our steps. You may remember I penned a blog about replacing the step motor in California. Last year I rebuilt the steps by changing out all the loose bolts.

Well now our problem was the steps had broken. One of the steel slats on the outside edge of the top step cracked and resulted in our steps becoming very bouncy, and I mean VERY BOUNCY. This much needed repair required me to remove the steps first by disconnecting the cables/wires to the motor and ground, then next by removing the four bolts which hold the steps to the RV. Sounds easy right? Well, not so fast, as it was really hard to get to two of these bolts which required me to blindly explore to find the nut on the top of the steps to remove them.

Anyhow, once the stairs were off I took them over to a welding shop to have the crack repaired. The welder not only repaired the crack but added a side brace to strengthen the area around it. He also recommended I do the same bracing on the other side to prevent the same crack occurring on that side. Forty dollars later (a very fair price I thought) I spent the next two hours trying to get that one nearly impossible bolt back on the steps. I am not sure I would have ever gotten it on if I hadn’t basically taped the nut head to the crescent wrench to get the bolt started.

Another minor upgrade I needed to make was to add a fan on the cabinet wall in between the TV and our stereo receiver. This became necessary as our TV had been sometimes overheated and recently our stereo receiver posted a “Thermal Error” which shut it down due to excessive heat.

I bought a nifty fan on Amazon which is powered via USB cable. By plugging it into either the TV or the stereo receiver the fan will come on anytime the unit is turned on allowing for air movement around the device to keep it cooler. But first I had to cut a hole in the 5/8” wall where I wanted to place the fan. I cut the hole by initially using a power drill to drill holes on each corner of the square I planned to cut out. Next I used a jig saw with a wood blade and slowly cut out the square.

This, of course, made quite a mess so all the sawdust had to be cleaned up before continuing. Since I didn’t want to attached the fan to the wood as it would not provided efficient airflow I cut the hole larger than the fan. I then had to get creative by using one of our old license plates from the RV to make a plate upon which to attach the fan on so I could then secure the plate to the wall. I cut the hole in the license plate the same way I cut the the one in the wall but used a metal cutting blade in the jig saw. If I do say so myself it was a perfect solution as the fan is in and doing its job.

With those items repaired I took two things off of our TO DO list for our winter stay. Don’t worry about us being bored here as the TO DO list has plenty more on it…

NOTE: We are now at our winter site for the season in Bonita Springs, Florida…