Sunday, April 24, 2016

Last Full Day In The US

We are in Port Angeles and will catch the 2:00 PM Black Ball Ferry to Victoria tomorrow. Tonight we will remember everything we bought in the USA and check out the booze supply. As usual, we are over but not outrageously, depending on your (and Canada Customs) definition of outrageous.

We planned on driving to Tacoma Sams Club for new 6 volt RV batteries but then we remembered there was a Costco in Tumwater. I called them and they had 6 volt Interstate batteries on for $83, same price as Sams Club. We parked in their lot, bought the batteries and I asked the muscular young guy if he would lift the old ones out for me once I had them disconnected and he said he would be happy to. Our Costco card is from Mexico and we thought it had expired but no, they said, it was good for three more months, She must have bought a multi-year membership.

So anyway, I proceeded back to the motorhome, turned off everything electrical and proceeded to undo all the nuts and bolts on the batteries, keeping track of where everything came from. Just when I finished the battery guy brought the new batteries over on a cart, pulled the old batteries out and dropped the new ones in. I thanked him, re-attached all the wires, tightened everything down and tested it. It works.

The voltage is a little low (12.2 V at rest) so we will use the generator for a while tonight to top up the charge and then plug it in at Brooks' tomorrow night.

The tight battery compartment under the stairs. Note the 4/12 date stamp on the old batteries. Exactly four years old. The thing on the wooden block is the 200 amp circuit breaker for the 1500 watt inverter.


5 comments:

  1. Surprised about the batteries not being closer to fully charged when you bought them. Great price though! I would check the electrolyte level, even though they're brand new.

    Our Trojan T-105's are six years old this month, and still going strong.

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  2. The batteries were down a total of 800 ml. They read 12.3 before I put them in and then 12.1 to 12.2 after they were installed with just the house systems load on them.

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  3. Pretty decent price for your batteries, ours are Trojans the same as Kevin's and 5 years old, last ones over 6 years.

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  4. So maybe paying the extra for Trojans is worth it if they deliver 50% or more service. Not sure what they cost but I know it is lots.

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  5. That's a busy little compartment!

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