Under Pressure

Before the Sparano's move in day, Kevin's cousin Will and his family were visiting for a week in NC.

In conjunction with a trip to show them the NC beaches, the Smitanic would be retrieved from it's storage location near Holden Beach, NC. After a nice lunch at a beachside burger place, Kevin and Theresa left their visitors to explore Carolina Beach on their own and planned to meet them back at the Tasman homestead with the RV.

Theresa had emailed the cul de sac neighbors warning them of the impending Smitanic dockage for Thursday and unfortunate obstruction to any pickleball play. She did assure the group that the Smitanic would indeed depart the next Tuesday AM.

The Smitanic was unlocked and protective wheel and AC covers being removed. Kevin awoke the sleeping beast with a turn of the key and she fired up with out hesitation. Theresa removed the aluminum foil that had been placed on the inside of all exposed windows to help reduce affects of long term sun exposure. Kevin brought up the leveling jacks and continued his inspection of all systems to ensure the craft was road worthy.

In his inspection, he noticed that the rear air pressure would make it to the recommended 120 psi but then would drop slowly again below 90. Once at 90 the compressor would engage to bring it back to 120. This cycle was observed several times in hopes that it would finally stabilize at the desired 120 and hold. It did not.

Kevin was fearful that the pressure would fall below 60 while driving. This would cause the breaking system to lock up an the RV to come to an immediate stop. Not good. Several repair places were called with no availability for weeks. Finally, Triple T Frieghtliner in Wilmington (about 40 miles away) said they would be able to look at it after the weekend and that it could be dropped off after hours tonight. Great News!

The team pulled up anchor and headed towards Triple T in Wilmington. The Smitanic pulled in just minutes past the closing time of 5:30 pm. Theresa was greeted by an exiting employee that stopped to inquire about the nature of the problem. He did not work on those components. He did suggest “you might be able to catch the service folks I think the door may be open”. Kevin rushed in and was able to discuss the pressure issue and time frame needed for full repairs with the surprisingly friendly service manager. The Smitanic was now in good hands as Kevin and Theresa headed back to Cary in the Toad to finish visiting with Will and family. Friday hopefully will bring a diagnosis and remedy for low pressure issue.

Kevin made a morning call to Triple T to get the status. The analysis indicated that a plastic washer had decayed and should be replaced to fix the issue. This was currently in process. The service manager went on to explain that they also provided at no extra cost a 26 point inspection. They had noted two issues that need consideration. One – there was a small hydraulic leak with the cooling fan, Kevin had noticed a leak but he and other repair shops could never locate the source. Two- the serpentine belt was frayed and needed to be replaced. After discussion it was determined that the Serpentine belt could be replaced and should be completed before 4pm. Great News! The Hydraulic leak will need to be dealt with later.

Kevin and Theresa drove the Toad back on that next day, Friday, to Wilmington to pay the surprizingly low service bill and finally bring the Smitanic back to the Tasman Ct loading zone.