The couple managing the Sacramento River RV Park at 6596 Riverland Drive have done a good job in renovating an RV park which had some problems when they took over its management. (It's located on a frontage road to I-5 about 5 miles south of Redding.)
Now the park is well-maintained with some of the less-desirable elements having been evicted. There are a considerable number of trees, many of which are natural old-growth trees rather than out-of-place palm trees imported by a landscaping firm, many plots of grass, and most important of all, clean restrooms with showers.
Since I'm a newbie at RV-ing, I especialy want to thank Bob, the husband of the woman who handles the "bean-counting" portion of the park management, for helping me solve my power problems. My 30-amp cable had likely been repaired by a previous owner, but he trimmed the heavy cable casing too far back from the socket. Bob, who had previously worked in marine electronics, quickly removed the floppy socket, cut off the overly-long 3 wires, stipped the heavy cable jacket off, stripped the wires, and reconnected the socket. [Incidentally, when I mentioned that I and my ex-fishing buddy had made house-boats trips from Helen & Herman'a Marina on 8-Mile Rd north of Stockton he said that he and his wife almost took the job of managing that marina.]
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Now the socket doesn't look like it may be the cause of electrical problems such as a short or an open circuit. And when he finished the repair he used what I need to add to my Load List, a VOM (Volt Ohm Meter).
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When we got back to my rig there was still no power inside after connecting it up. Bob made a quick check of circuit breakers and found that they were all off. Once on, I had "shore power."
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If one still lacks power at an RV park after connecting to a sockets in the junction box at a site, there are several things one should double-check.
- Is the circuit breaker in the junction box on?
- Is the socket connected to your camper or RV firmly seated?
- Are the circuit breakers in your control panel on?
RV Repairs
One place where you'll find knowledgeable help is at RV Service Centers. Since I had used the one in Santa Cruz to make repairs before hitting the road, I looked up the RV Service Center of Redding, aka Redding RV Center on-line while at the Redding Library.
I told Mark, the manager of the RV Service Center of Redding, that I had no power from my house battery; it had been out since I stopped for lunch at Weot two days previously. And since it only operated for 2.5 hours on one light and the radio the first night I used it in Castroville before the low-voltage alarm on the LP gas detector sounded (meaning the house battery voltage has dropped to <= 8.5 volts), I told him I thought I might need a new house battery.
He had one of his technicians check out my house battery, which is under one of the seats of the dinette; turns out the in-line fuse at one of the battery's terminals was blown.
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While Mark could have easily sold me a new battery, the technician replaced the fuse, checked the battery under load, and told me it didn't act like a battery which was about to fail; he also confirmed that there was sufficient water in each cell.
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Though I can't yet conclude that all RV Service Centers are totally reputable, the two I've used so far in both Santa Cruz and Redding are.
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While the Old Orchard RV Park just to the west of Orland and I-5 at 4490 Country Road HH does not have WiFi, one can use the Orland Library, which is open every day except Sunday, to do some searching, check e-mail, or post one's blog. (The wife of the fellow who checked in me showed me an AT&T router, which should provide those in or near the office WiFi.)
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The rates vary from $15 to $24; I paid the former and I suspect the owner of the large 1991 Class A RV towing a vintage 1971 VW likely paid the latter.
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I discovered this RV Park in the "Sacremento & Gold County" section of Tom Stienstra's West Coast Camping, published in 2010. It covers RV parks as well as US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Corps of Engineers, PG&E, state, county, and city camp sites. Of course, some sites have no hookups, but may be near places or things you wish to visit. And that's why one needs a well-charged house battery
An Obituary
Once I check my e-mail using the Orland Library's WiFi, will include today's route below.
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Orland - Colusa - Yuba City - Grass Valley - Auburn - Placerville - Sutter Creek.
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