Dorcas and I are on the move again, heading north and west, eventually landing in Ely MN for our traditional wilderness canoe trip into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The temperatures in the upper Midwest have been brutally hot much of the summer, but the forecasts I have seen show cooler temps in August. Let's hope so.
We have owned our Newmar Dutch Star for about 19 months now and are still enjoying it. Faithful readers will remember that our 2004 Country Coach, in which we had been traveling for about 13 years, had been crushed and totaled by a fallen oak tree in November 2019. You can read about the demise of the Country Coach and the quest that led to the purchase of the Dutch Star HERE. Since buying the Dutch Star in December 2019, we have been continuing to make modifications and improvements to make it our own. Not that it needed much; it already had most of the bells and whistles and gee whiz gadgets and electronics to be expected in a newer coach. One thing lacking in the Dutch Star was a comprehensive energy management system (EMS) that monitors the power entering the coach and takes protective action if it detects harmful conditions. I had installed the Progressive Industries EMS-HW50C in the Country Coach, and it had served us well, particularly protecting coach appliances and devices from the low voltage conditions we have encountered at avarioud campground pedestals. In the few days before this trip I installed a very similar device, the Progressive Industries EMS-LCHW50 Hardwired RV Surge & Electrical Protector in the Dutch Star.
The EMS has the following features:
- Over/Under Voltage Protection
- Open Ground, Open Neutral & Reverse Polarity Detection
- Accidental 240V Protection
- Miswired Pedestal Indication
- Surge Failure Indicator
- Amperage Meter Display
- Previous Error Code
- A/C Frequency Protection
- Adjustable Time Delay
- Thermally Protected
- Built-in Scrolling Digital Display
- Field Serviceable
- UL Certified and Canadian Approved
- Lifetime Warranty
Whenever the device detects a fault condition it will cut power to the coach, then continue to monitor the condition and restore power when the fault ends, With the lifetime warranty, if the LED goes out or even if a lightning strike takes out the the unit, it's covered. The manufacturer will send a new circuit board, and the user can replace the part himself. I really love a well-engineered and supported product.
Anyway, I digress; back to our trip. We left home Tuesday afternoon August 3 following an 11:00 doctor appointment. We got off to an auspicious start; when we tried to start the Pilot to hitch it up to the coach, its battery was dead, and it wouldn't start. I think the issue relates to a bad reading light switch. The switch works intermittently, and you can't tell if the light is switched on or off. If the switch is on, the light may come on later unbeknownst to us, and run the battery down. But we were able to get it jumped, and we were off. We departed town prior to the afternoon rush hour, then pumped 84 gallons of diesel and 3.8 gallons of DEF at the TA TravelCenter in Wytheville VA. We spent our first night at the Walmart SuperCenter in Ripley WV after driving 249 miles.
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| Camp Wally World Ripley WV |
Shortly after leaving Ripley we crossed the Ohio River and entered Ohio.
Normally Wayne and Lynda join us in the Boundary Waters, and sometimes we travel together. This year Wayne and Lynda had different plans, and Dorcas and I will be entering the Boundary Waters on our own. Wayne and Lynda travel in a white truck and pull an Airstream travel trailer. Notwithstanding the fact they are not coming, we can't seem to escape them.
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| A Wayne and Lynda sighting at a rest area in Ohio |
Wayne is pretty old, and he must have been here before and made an impression. They named the Wayne National Forest after him.
One other device I have purchased for the Dutch Star is the BlueFire 9-Pin J1939/J1708 Bluetooth Data Adapter for Heavy Duty Trucks, Motorhomes. The BlueFire device attaches the vehicle Engine Control Module and transits digital data via bluetooth to an app on my iPad. It provides much more data and in a more graphic manner than the OEM data displays. It's really cool for a techno gear head like me. Following is a screen shot from the custom dashboard I designed for our coach. Data fields and gauges can be added, deleted, edited, resized and moved as desired.
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| Screen shot from the BlueFire app on my iPad |
You can see from this screen shot we have traveled 461.5 miles and were getting 7.7 MPG for the trip. The compass function is not working correctly, showing us head south when we were actually headed in a generally north direction. Also, there are several values that the ECM does not report, namely, the cooling fan speed and the exhaust temperature. I need to correct these errors.
We passed through Findlay Ohio, which is not particularly noteworthy except that it is considered the Flag Capitol of the USA, and they want everyone to know it.
We also passed through Toledo OH, just before entering Michigan. This reminds me of the Toledo War, which I have written about before. You can read about the Toledo War HERE.
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| Our home at Camp Lord Willing |
We will be at Camp Lord Willing for 2 nights. Tomorrow we will spend the day at The Henry Ford museum, then head north through Michigan towards its Upper Peninsula.
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