Another fuse

I found another blown fuse today.  After getting on the road today and getting up to speed I hit the Cruise Control and… Nothing.  I tried several times during the trip with a no go.  After arriving in Atascadero, CA I checked out a few things with no luck so I figured I will have to do the rest of the trip with no cruise.  I went about cleaning the motorhome, what a mess it was, all the time thinking about the cruise problem.  After getting the motorhome sparkly clean again I decided to check the brake light switch.  I depressed the brake pedal and it would not budge.  I mean it wouldn’t move an inch.  This is not good at all, I thought.  I started the engine and at least had brakes with the engine running.  Well at least I can still drive it.  See, my motorhome has an electric assist that operates the power brakes even if the engine is shut off (for safety).  With the engine off I can depress the brake pedal and hear a motor run which electrically gives me power brakes.  So I though, another blown fuse.  Sure enough I found it and all was well again.  But Why?  After looking through the schematics and giving it some though I realized both the brake problem and hydraulic leveler/slides problem had something to do with lights.  The hydraulic levelers/slides shares the same circuit as the turn signals, in case you were wondering (don't understand why).  Must be the car I am towing.  Before tearing the car apart I decided to check out the electric cable between the motorhome and the car.  Well that was it.  I found all the wires loose in the connectors and some of the clamping screws even fell out and were rattling around inside the connector (shorting wires as they did).  I even found a burnt spot on one of the wires as evidence.  The problems could have been a lot worse.  Glad that’s over!

 

The trip here was otherwise a good one.  I got a good idea of what towing an additional 800 lbs can do.  I climbed a 7% grade and was down to 40 mph in 3^rd gear.  I have never been reduced to less that 55 mph with my other car.  I still had acceleration but didn’t want to rev the engine too far.  The motorhome didn’t seem to mind the pull though.

 

We have full hookups at this Elks Lodge.  Tonight we are going to enjoy nice long showers since we have sewer hookups and don’t have to conserve.  We will have full hookups again in 2 days when we reach Petaluma, Ca.