Let There Be Light, Motion Detector That Is

Slowly but surly we have been converting any incandescent lights to LED lights so that they do not have to be changed so often, to save energy, and save money over time.

One day we came across Motion Activated Security lights for sale at the PPL's RV Parts Super Store  that are 12 volts and since they had LED bulbs, decided to purchase a couple of them to replace the original porch lights on the RV.

You can also order them directly from StarLights Inc. who are the manufacture, but we saved over $10.00 ordering from PPL.  The name of the lights are the Smart Light 1000 and as advertised, they fit perfectly where our original porch lights were mounted.

Smart Light 1000 RV Motion Sensor Light

We really liked how they came with the LED bulbs.  They are much brighter, do not get hot, and last much longer than the old style of incandescent bulb.  We also like that they can either be used like regular porch lights or put into "motion sensing" mode and only come one when there is movement and it is dark.

Smart Light 1000 200 lumens LED bulb

The installation was pretty easy once we got the original porch lights off the RV with the hardest part being the cutting of the caulk which had the lights glued in place.  Below are the tools that were used.  We always use an impact driver for a screw gun, but a Phillips screwdriver is all that is really needed.  We get lazy hand turning the screws.  You may also need a pocket knife or some type of cutting utensil for the caulk.

Tools used to install the Smart Light 1000

First thing, after looking at the Installation Instructions, we turned off the porch lights at the switch in the RV.  The instructions said to unhook the batteries, but I did not feel like going to such extremes.  You can make that decision if you install the lights.

Turning off the power to the porch lights

Next thing was to read the instructions on how to install the lights.  We did not do that in the beginning and so had to take the first light down to switch the wires due to having the positive (+) and negative (-) backwards. 

We wired the first light with its black wire to the RV's black wire and then the light's white wire to the RV's white wire.  But the RV's white wire was the positive and the black wire was negative.

Installation and Operation Instructions

Come to find out if you wire the lights backwards, they still work, but only as a regular light that comes on when you turn on the switch and goes off when your turn off the switch.

If they are wired properly then the computer chip inside the light will toggle between motion sensing and normal operation each time the power is turned on.

So make sure you perform the Functionality check as described in the Installation Instructions so the light works properly.  

If you do wire the light properly then while in motion sensing mode a blue LED will blink.  If the light just turns on every time you turn on the power, then you have it wired wrong.  

The light also has a day/night sensor, so during the day, while in motion sensing mode, the light says off and only the blue LED flashes, but at night time the actual porch light will turn on when there is motion detected.  The LED can also warn you when your batteries voltage is low by flashing red.

Smart Light 1000 in motion sensing mode

As mentioned before we replace both the front and rear porch lights which were pretty easy to remove.

Rear porch light on RV

After removing the lens cover we unscrewed the four screws securing the light housing to the RV.

Original porch light with the lens cover removed exposing the four screws attaching it to the RV

After the screws were removed we had to cut the caulk away to get the light housing off.

Porch light with caulk cut so the light housing can be removed.

Next we cut the wires so we could remove the original light housing.  Make sure you hold onto the wires coming out of the RV so that they do not snap back into the chassis and disappear.  If that happened then you would have to hope there is a cabinet or some way to get to the wires inside the RV so you could push them back to the outside.

Cutting the wires to the original porch light housing.

Once the old light fixture was removed and the wires exposed we had to perform the Functionality test as mentioned previously.  Once we knew for sure which wire was positive and which one was negative, we were ready to wire up the new motion light.

We used the crimp type wire connectors for our installation just because that is what we had on hand.  You can use whatever type of connectors you like.

Connecting the new light to the wires out of the RV

After getting both wires connected we pushed them back onto the RV so that we could mount the new light fixture making sure that we did not screw through the wires.

New light installed using the original four screws

You may notice that we still have the old bulb in this fixture due to the LED bulb that came with it, being defective.  No big deal, we contacted StarLight Inc. and they are sending us a new one since the bulb has a three year warranty.

We then replaced the lens cover on the new light fixtures.  You will notice that there is a oval area on the lens where the LED indicator and light sensor are located.  There is an oval O ring that seals this area from the weather.   You need to ensure that you do not lose this O ring and that it is present when you attach the lens cover.  

O ring gasket that you do not want to lose

We apologize for the blurred picture, but it is hard to hold an impact driver while standing on the top of a 4' ladder and take a picture with an iPhone.  This was not a good example of the "use common sense" comment that is made at the end of this blog.

Attaching Lens Cover

Once the lens cover was put back on we caulked around the top and sides of the new porch lights to keep the weather out.  We just used plain old clear silicon caulk.

Caulking the newly installed motion detection porch light

Once they were caulked with a good bead of sealant we though we were done and stood back to admire our work.  Don't pay too much attention to our wonderful caulk job.  Remember we were standing on the top of a 4' ladder.  Also when we say we, we really mean I.

Newly installed Smart Light 1000

But, we soon discovered that they were out of sync on what mode they were in when the power was turned on.  

The front porch light would be in motion sensing mode while the back porch light was in manual mode so when you turned off the power and then turned it back on the modes would switch for each light.

To fix this we had to unplug one of the lights while powering up the other one so that it would toggle to the same mode as the unplugged light.  We really did not want to have to take one of the lights down so came up with the idea of getting to the wires inside the coach behind the cabinet that was on the inside of the front porch light.

Luckily the speakers lined up perfectly with the front porch light.  We gently removed the speaker cover to expose the speakers so that we could remove it.

Removing speaker panel

Now we removed the screws holding in the speaker and took it out of its cavity and let it hank gently so that we did not pull its wires loose.

Removing speaker

We then identified which wires ran to the outside porch light and marked the connector with an 'L' so that if in the future the lights get out of sync again, we know exactly which one to unplug.

Outside porch light wires exposed

We then unplugged the front porch light, turned on the power to the back porch light and then back off and then plugged the front porch light back in.  Now both lights are on the same cycle so when we power them up they are in manual mode and then the second time they toggle to motion sensing mode.

Now we have two new motion sensing porch lights that can either be on all the time in manual mode or be in motion sensing mode if we are away and do not want to advertise that we do not expect to be back until after dark.

Our new motion sensing porch lights in manual mode

Another nice feature of this particular brand of motion sensing light is that you can run other lights or anything 12V that does not draw more than 4 amps by adding the Revolution 2000 FB Fused Relay Box.  There is a yellow wire that comes off of the Smart Light 1000 that is used to connect to the fused relay box. 

Yellow wire to connect an additional fuse relay box for triggering other items

We hope you find our experience helpful.  We are by no means experts and may not have performed the above steps in a perfect manner, but it works for us.  Please do not take our experience as the way it should be done or the only way to tackle such a project.  Always be safe when working on your RV and use common sense.

We just wanted to show you how we did it and that it works.  If you need more information then please contact us.  If you like our blog then please sign up as a follower.  If you have FaceBook then please like our page and become our friends.

Also if you are not already registered on RVillage, you may want to.  It looks like it is going to be a really neat community to belong to, especially when you are in an RV park or area where there are other members.  If you do join, please send us a friend request on it too.

Just about everyday we meet someone new and share our lifestyle with them.  Some may thing we are crazy, but we love living like this and know God is leading us.

God bless and may He always shine light into your lives!

Thanks!
Don, Misty, and Kids...

Just Sitting Around

Sorry for not posting for a while, but we have been sitting around waiting for certain events to happen so that we can once again get back on the road and see America.

Many of you know that when we came in for Christmas this year there was a sudden death in the family and so our stay was extended. 

One thing led to another and before you knew it, it was time for Jered, our 18 year old who lives with his mother, to graduate from high school.  So it just made sense to stick around rather than heading West and having to turn around to come back for it.

We are very proud of Jered for his accomplishment of receiving the Top Senior Award at his career center for IT Networking.  We are sure that is a skill that will serve him well in the future.

Jered's award for Top Senior for IT Networking.

Other things that have happened since our last post is that we discovered that we had a hole in one of our tires which was now flat and off the rim.  Luckily we have Coach-Net which provides roadside assistance and they had a local wrecker service come out and replaced the tire on site. 

Even though we had to pay for a tire, Coach-Net paid for the roadside assistance service which saved us $275.00 and made the yearly membership cost of $149.00 well worth it.  We have had Coach-Net from the very beginning of owning the RV and they have proven very helpful, especially when we had or have questions about anything on the RV.

Getting the tire changed on the RV.

Since we had hardly any miles on the tires and RV, there was plenty of tread left on the old tires and so the technician said we were safe with running the new tire against the old one and that it would not put too much stress on the new tire.

I'm sure there are plenty of thoughts on this and many opinions on whether or not we need to change both tires and then if we do that we need to change the tires on the other side so then I might just as well get all the tires changed on the RV.  

I'm going with changing the one tire and hopefully it is not a mistake.  If you know for a fact, and not just that you have heard the proper thing to do when changing tires on an RV, please let us know.

Another repair that had to to be made on the RV is our water softener which is used to remove any iron out of the water.  We moved sites here at the RV park and now are hooked up to a well that has more iron in the water than normal.

I have to recharge the softener with salt about every three days which means I have to take the water filter casing off, remove the filter, fill it with salt, and then run that through the softener which recharges it so that it will pull the iron out of the water.

The original water filter case must have frozen at one time since the top cover had a crack in it, so I bought a new one and replaced it.  The new filter's casing was so hard to unscrew that I ended busting the PVC water valve and pipe that feed into the filter.  So I decided to replace it with brass so that hopefully it would withstand the force better that it takes to get the filter canister off.  So far after recharging it six or seven times since replacing the PVC with brass, nothing has broken like before.  

Misty says that since I man-handle everything, that is why it broke, but I think too many things are made either cheaply or out of junk, just like the PVC valve.

Old PVC pipe replaced with brass.

Water softener with new filter casing and brass fittings to include new brass valve.

Yet still another repair or modification I had to make was buy a Tailgater satellite antenna for our Dish System so we could watch TV once again.

With us moving to a different lot in the park and with the leaves coming on the trees, we could not get a signal with our satellite antenna mounted on top of the RV, so we bought a Tailgater antenna.

It works great and now we can watch TV again.  The only issue now is that we do not get local channels, which is confusing since we received them fine when using the top mounted satellite antenna.  I called Dish Network to get help, but they were not able to resolve the problem.  I guess my next move is to contact the manufacture of the Tailgater which is King Controls. 

There are only a few of the Dish Network receivers that will work with the Tailgater and luckily we had the VIP 211 receiver which does.  The other receivers that will work are the VIP 211k 211z and 411 receivers.

Tailgater satellite dish antenna.

To get the cable into the RV I bought a flat coaxial cable to pass it through the bedroom window.  One day I will run the cable into the RV in a permanent fashion, but this works for now.

Running the satellite dish antenna cable into the RV.

I than ran the cable through the trees up off the ground so that when the grass is cut it would not be ran over by the mower.   I was thinking about burying it across the road, but since there is not that much traffic, I just ran it across the top of the road.

I did stack a few pile of rocks on the little bit that does run across the grass so anyone mowing would hopefully see the rocks and not mow over that part of the cable.

Stringing the satellite antenna cable through the trees so the grass can be mowed without cutting the cable.

Also while staying here a stray dog came around and has decided to adopt us, just like Angel did in Texas.  He is probably not even a year old and is a very friendly dog, but way too big for us.

He is also used to running free and I'm sure the RV life would not be for him.  We put up Found posters all over with his picture and put a post on Facebook along with a couple of other Lost Dog sites for our area but have had no luck finding his owner.  He was probably dumped and so now, has no owner.

He had a red collar when he first found us, but now that is gone.  Not sure if he got it off somehow or someone took it off of him.  Sort of strange.

The kids would love for us to keep him and so have named him Cookie.  I'm going to hate to burst their bubbles, but he will not come with us and unfortunately when we do leave I will take him to the Kanawha Charleston Humane Association or animal shelter.  The good news is that they are trying to become a "No Kill" shelter, which makes me feel better about dropping him off there.

Of course if you are in our area and want a good dog, just drop us a line and let us know.  He is looking for a good home.

The dog that adopted us who will be know as Cookie.

So that is what we have been up to the past month or so.  For the most part there has been more good than bad, which is always good.

We are blessed that God has enabled us to have such a wonderful lifestyle and we pray that others can experience all the good we have experienced so far.

God bless you all and may He keep you safe!

If you like our blog please follow us and/or go to our Facebook pages and like them or send us a friend's request.

Thanks!
Don, Misty, and Kids...

What You Don't Know May Hurt You.

We have owned our 2011 Fleetwood Discovery 40G since Jul 2011 and there are still things I do not know about it.  Today's RVs are very advanced especially when it comes to its systems, such as the electrical.

I remember asking whether or not it had a solar panel when we were given our walk through of the unit when we bought it and was told no.  But the first time I climbed on the roof, I saw a single solar panel which trickle charges the house batteries.

Solar panel on the RV.

The first time we stayed in it, the air conditioner would not work, due to a faulty thermostat, while it was close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  Of course I did not know what was wrong and figured I messed it up when I hooked up the RV to shore power the first time.  When we did our walk through earlier that day, the AC was working fine.  After a miserable night of not sleeping, a service rep came out and installed a new thermostat and it started working again.

The second time we took it camping the automatic leveling jacks would not work and so we had to sleep backwards in the bed so our heads were not down hill.

After putting it in the shop to have the jacks fixed, which is a story all of its own, we picked it up in the following winter and decided to stay the weekend at a local RV park before we took it home in order to make sure it was fully fixed.  I joked with Misty and said, "Watch us freeze our butts off this time."  

We parked the RV, hooked it up, turned on the heat, which smoked since it was the first time it was ever really used, and went to get something to eat.  It was around 30 degrees Fahrenheit so pretty cold.  When we got back from eating the heat was not running and no matter what I did, I could not get it to kick back on.  I made sure the propane tank was full and that the thermostat had power.

Needless to say we froze our butts off the entire night and probably should have gone to a hotel, but stuck it out.

Long story short, the thermostat was never reprogrammed for the heat when it was replaced when we first bought the RV and the instructions we had was for a different model, so was not too much help to me for troubleshooting the problem.

Also the user manual that comes with your RV is so generic, it is of no real help at all.  It will say something like, "If your RV came with a heat pump, then it will be mounted on top of the RV."  Well it may not be that generic, but pretty close.

I called the shop and got them to send a service rep out to the RV park where we were staying, which took a little bit of demanding on my part, and he soon figured out the problem.

After the thermostat was programmed for heat I asked if we had any heat pumps on board since we have 3 air conditioners on top and was told no.  I was told that our RV just came with three air conditioners and no heat pumps.  I asked that question a number of times like when we bought the RV and times when we had the RV serviced and the answer was always no.

So last week I noticed a musty smell coming out of the AC vents and so bought some AC Safe evaporator coil cleaner to clean the coils and get the musty smell out.

A/C Safe air conditioning coil cleaner.

So I start taking the AC covers off so I can get to the coil covers to remove them and then spray the coils with the foam cleaner.  I start with the first AC unit and sure enough it is just an AC compressor.

Air conditioner compressor and no heat pump.

But when I get to the middle unit I notice that it looks a little different and figure out that it is a heat pump after all.  So all this time we did have a heat pump on the RV.

Air conditioner unit that is also a heat pump.

I climb down off of the roof and go set the thermostat's Zone 2 to use electric heat rather than gas heat and it works like a charm.  Needless to say, I felt pretty stupid for not investigating it earlier to determine whether or not we had a heat pump on board.

I also figured out that since there must not be a heat strip on the unit for when it gets too cold outside, once the temperature drops more than 3 degrees of what you have the thermostat set for, the propane heater kicks on to supplement the heat pump.  This means you can set it for electric heat and the propane heater will kick on if the heat pump can not do the job.

So for over two years we could have been enjoying the benefits of a heat pump which would have saved us a good bit in propane costs if we would have just known one was installed.

This is just another example of what you don't know may hurt you or at least your pocketbook.  After living in the RV full time for almost two years, I'm sure there is still plenty for me to discover.  So do not be afraid to investigate what's on your RV, because you may find out you have more than what you thought.

On another note, now that it is getting pretty out, we have been trying to do some walking in the great outdoors.

Courtney, Chloe(behind Courtney), Tia, Misty, Angel, Ethan, Avery, and Ian sitting on a log.

We were walking from the RV park down to the Elk River and on the railroad tracks that run from Blue Creek into Elkview and Pinch.  

When I was researching which railroad company the tracks belonged to, I was surprised to find out that it was the New York Central Railroad (NYC).  If you will remember, about a year ago, I did a post on the National  New York Central Railroad Museum located in Elkhart, Indiana.

I guess it only makes sense because they were the second largest railroad in United States that they would cover parts of West Virginia.  Actually I think the rail lines that ran through Charleston, West Virginia were actually owned by the Ohio Central Lines which was part of the NYC.  The Coal & Coke Railway also had something to do with these tracks too.  

Searching it on the internet I found conflicting stories about how the Coal & Coke Railway built the tracks back in the early 1900's from Charleston to Elkins, West Virginia for moving coal and later passengers.  Maybe someone who knows the history better than me can post a comment about it.

Railroad tracks heading towards Elkview from Bluecreek, West Virginia.

These tracks are no longer used, so no worry about getting hit by a train while walking on them.  In many places the culverts have been removed along with the tracks, so it is pretty much a guarantee a train will not mistakenly come rolling down these tracks anytime soon.

There are also physical obstacles on the tracks such as fallen trees that the kids enjoyed getting into.  One day we are going to walk from the RV park down to the Dairy Queen and get some ice cream.  We figure the one mile walk back will work off any extra calories we take in.

Fallen tree blocking the train tracks.

Needless to say there is a lot of history with these old railroad tracks, and it is always fun to walk the rails and see how far you can keep your balance and not fall off.

If the tracks could talk, I bet you could hear all types of stories, some good and some bad.  I wonder what this mile marker could tell us?

Mile marker for mile 102.

We are just happy that the weather is warming up so that the cold and snow are gone.  It has been a bad few months for us ever since the end of December and we are hoping the nice spring weather will lift our spirits.

We need to remember to thank God for everyday and be happy that we are all together, healthy, and safe and that we have the ability to travel this great land of ours.

We also pray that all of our family and friends are watched over and kept safe in all that they do.  We have met so many great people over the past two years and hope to meet many more as we travel to new places to explore.

God bless and safe travels to all!

Thanks!
Don, Misty, and Kids...

Sirianni's Cafe

Today we want to tell you about where to get some of the best pasta and pizza anywhere, especially in West Virginia.  We have been eating here for many years and will make a six hour round trip from Charleston, WV to Davis, WV just for a taste.

Sirianni's Cafe is our favorite restaurant to get a Peperoni Pizza or Parmesan Wedge.  Don't just take our word for it though, in 2010 USA Today listed Sirianni's Cafe in their Great American Bites among the Favorite Pizza in 51 Slices.

USA Today Article

You may think that I am bias since I have known the owners most of my life, but the food is great along with the atmosphere.  The kids do not complain too much either when we decide to take a day trip to Davis, WV just for the food at Sirianni's Cafe.

We have even sent Food Network an email for Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives to do a show on it, but I guess not enough people have notified them.  We have eaten at a few places listed by the show and were not always impressed.  I'm sure Guy would fine this place fits right in with his show and that the food is more than worthy of his attention.

Below is a copy of their menu:

Sirianni's Cafe Menu Cover.

Appetizers.

Pasta.

Pizza.

Hoagies, Grinders, & Subs.

All of the food is great, but we also have our favorites.  Our standard order for the eight of us is a large Parmesan Wedge with marinara sauce, a large Pepperoni Pizza, a Lemon Linguine, and an O Mike Goss.  

I apologize now for not having a picture of the Pepperoni Pizza, but believe it or not, every time one comes out to the table, we eat it up so fast, I forget to get a picture.

Parmesan Wedge with marinara sauce.

Parmesan Wedge.

Lemon Linguine.

O Mike Goss.

We also order either a Lemon Linguine or O Mike Goss to-go so that we can enjoy it the next day for lunch.  The pizza and wedge is also good left over, but not as good as when it is fresh out of the oven, but sometimes we will take one of them home too for later.

Sirianni's Cafe is the standard we compare all other pasta and pizza to while in our travels and we can honestly say that we have not found any place else that has as good of food.  There was a pizza shop on the boardwalk at Virginia Beach that has some of the best pizza Misty and I have ever had, but we think Sirianni's is better.  We may have to drive to it just to compare.

They have two locations with the original in Davis, WV and another one in Canaan Valley, WV.  The food is just a good at either, but the decor in the Davis location is a lot more unique.  One other thing is that they do not accept any credit cards, so bring either cash or have your checkbook handy. 

Entrance.

Check Out Counter.

Front kitchen.

Left side of dining room.

Additional dining room.

Right side of dining room.

Avery, Tia, Courtney, and Ian sitting at our normal table.

Ian and Ethan ready for some good food.

Glen Plake has even eaten here and left his mark.

Glen Plake autographed photo.

So if you are ever near Davis, West Virginia and want some of the best pasta and pizza you have ever eaten, then please give Sirianni's Cafe a try.  We promise you will not be dissatisfied.

A while back Steve and Mona Liza of Lowe's RV Adventures traveled through Davis, WV, but I do not think ate at Sirranni's Cafe.  I really wish they would have so that they could have enjoyed the great food too.  This is another reason we decided to do a blog on it, so that maybe others traveling through the area will know about it.  In our humble opinions, it is the best place to eat in Davis, WV.

We really do hope you get a chance to visit Sirianni's Cafe one day and hope you love the food as much as we do.  It really is worth the trip.  Just about anyone we have taken there to eat agrees with us that the food is great.  The ones that do not, are full of it anyway, so their opinion does not count.  It is a very small population that do not agree that the food is great.

Also if you like this blog please follow it along with liking us on Facebook.  All the links are located on the right side of this page.

Last month we had 20 followers, but then I guess one dropped off to put the number at 19.  I was heart broken, but will survive, I guess.  Maybe one day we will break the 20 mark again.  That is pretty pitiful if you really think about it.  I'm glad we do not rely on our blog to make a living for us, because we would surly starve.

Also pray for us as we are still recovering from a loss in our family. 

May God keep you safe and secure.

Thanks!
Don, Misty, and Kids...