Arizona Snowbirds, 2014-2015: Part 2

The Samples prepared dinner for us the evening we arrived at Quartzite. There must be thousands of RVs parked in the Arizona desert.

Nothing is more beautiful than a starlit Arizona sky, unless it’s a desert campfire with good friends!

The combined Quartzite shows, RV, mineral, car, etc., expects over 150,000 visitors.

All types of unusual things can be found at the Quartzite shows . . .

Many Arizona OHV trails require flags flown for safety, but take a closer look at this fella’s flag:

Many people visit the “Naked Bookseller” each year.

We hear he’s quite the musician! And, he’s indeed naked, but I spared the embarrassment to some of our viewers by cropping his photo . . . .

We’re learning a great deal about self-maintenance of our coach. The Monaco has so far been a good RV, probably the best we’ve ever owned. But, like any other piece of machinery, it requires regular maintenance and repair.

At this point in our winter adventure, we’ve encountered two problems, both pertaining to the electrical system of the coach. First, the variable speed switch for the Fantastic Fan in the galley quit working properly. It comes on/off, but instead of regulating the fan speed, it remains on high at all times.  And second, the remote monitor for the Magnum inverter stopped working. 

I found a wonderful RV forum, irv2.com, which I’ve subscribed to and registered with the “Monaco Owners’ Club.” Here, I can ask questions specific to a technical problem with the coach, or simply monitor previous posts regarding numerous topics.

Checking for posts related to Fantastic Fans and variable speed switch operation, I discovered that another subscriber experienced the identical problem. Upon contacting the fan manufacturer, they sent him a new switch free of charge! So, I emailed Fantastic Fan, who requested the fan model number and manufacture date. Because of the inconvenient access to the fan motor, which is situated at the top of the vent and under the rooftop dome, I used what is likely one of my handiest tools, my iPhone, and snapped a picture of the manufacturer’s label on the side of the motor.

I emailed the information to Fantastic Fan, and within a few days received a new switch in the mail – at no cost!

I then consulted the Monaco forum on irv2 regarding the faulty inverter monitor, where I found an older thread regarding the problem.  Several posts suggested to simply “unplug the RJ11 telephone wire from the back of the monitor, go have a cup of coffee, then plug it back in, and it should work.”  The delay in reconnecting the monitor allows the capacitor in the monitor to discharge and reset itself. 

It worked!  Prior to finding the information on irv2, I was checking eBay and Amazon for replacement monitors at about $200.00.  Unless you have unlimited resources, I strongly suggest to find resources such as irv2. 

Another excellent source of information regarding RVs is “Big Rig RV” on Facebook.  In making our decision to purchase Red Fred, Susan and I were concerned about triple towing (Coach – Equinox – RZR on utility trailer).  I inquired whether any other followers of the site had experience with triple towing and I received numerous responses.  Not all were helpful, but many were.  The consensus was that we would not likely encounter any trouble from law enforcement, and many that had pulled similarly configured rigs had no mechanical or drivability issues.