Over the course of the last several months our Atwood hot water heater had ceased to function on the electric cycle and the propane is noisy in close quarters. Howard called Atwood and they had a couple of repair facilities in Yuma. After checking out a few reviews, we scheduled with Hilco RV Service & Supplies. Now this is a funky little shop but don't let looks deceive you. They have been in business since 1979 and know their stuff, especially refrigerators and hot water heaters. Jerry was not pleased that the unit was buried in my closet floor but with the aid of a flash light checked all he could. We had already tried the reset as suggested by Atwood.
He gave us rather dismal options; live with it, or he would have to disconnect all the electrical, gas and water lines, drain, and possibly remove the tank to replace the heating element, if needed. He couldn't say how long this would take, but we would be without water and propane. BTW....it is very cold in Yuma! Let's do it..
Long story short, after all was drained and disconnected, and he could get a better look inside (from the outside), Jerry came in soaking wet and mumbling something about it can't be this easy. Poking his head and flash light back inside the closet floor muttered, come here and look at this mess! I told him that if there was a rat's nest involved, no way, but he assured me all was clean. There had been a meltdown of a wire and switch that manually lets you disconnect the electric. Howard did not even know it was there much less ever used it. So just like that, Jerry removed the mess and bypassed the switch, checked out the circuits, replaced all the paraphernalia, filled the tank, and we were done. But not before he completely checked out the refrigerator and used the air compressor to clean out the dust and cobwebs! We were then connected to their power and invited to spend the night. Highly recommend!
The other service appointments were far less dramatic and pretty routine We returned to
Yuma Diesel, as they are Cummins engine specialists, for lube, oil change, air filter, etc. The fan belts had been replaced in Duluth at the Cummins dealer. No problems found, engine steam-cleaned, and we were done in a couple of hours. This should hold us for another 15,000 miles or so, and we will return!
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| On the lift at Team Ramco |
Next we're off to Team Ramco to spend the night for our Allison transmission service scheduled the next morning. Howard was very impressed when he called and talked to Flash, the manager, and we continued to be throughout the entire service process. Our overnight parking was on their lift, plugged in to the electric, with just enough room for our slide. All the paper work was completed that night and we were given a key to the gate and the office where rest rooms and showers were available. They drained and refilled our TranSynd synthetic fluid, expensive as all get out, replaced the filters and said we're good for another 50,000 miles!
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| We all fit nicely in the Pany's driveway |
Now for the fun part! Our friends, Beth and Chris, have a winter home in Yuma and not only invited us over to park in their drive-way for the night, but prepared us a fine dinner as well. Chris is the master of duck a la rotisserie and Beth provided sous chef duty fixing all the tasty sides. Photographing food ranks high on my list, next to the actual eating, but an evening spent with good friends and good food, priceless!
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| Chris wore his special "Duck Call of Duty" T-shirt for the occasion |
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| Almost done |
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| Beth provides all the tasty side dishes |
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| Delicious bean salad, colorful and healthy |
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| Baked acorn squash with butter & cinnamon could be dessert |
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| Putting it all together with bread from Julian Bakery |
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