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Here is a dilemma, my hurricane heating boiler runs a while and then hits the high limit and shuts down. The coach is stationary and sitting dead level. All relate to boiler hitting high limit and shutting down. If the coach is sitting face heading down hill, not just out of level but greater like parked on an incline Hurricane will run until shut off. If we are driving down the highway at 65 miles an hour it will run all day. I have checked the supplied voltage at the time of shut down while stationary. It was 12.3. It has shut down at 12.8 with genset running. It should be noted that the alternator supplies power only to the chassis batteries and is not hooked to the isolator. House batteries are charged via solar or the genset and have been between 12.3 and 12.8 at a shutdown. Coolant is full and roiling/moving hard in the reservoir. I have burped the system and after that it ran until i shut it down. The next time I started it it ran for a bit over an hour and shut down. I have attempted to burp it more than once. System heat is good and all fans and registers dispensing heat. Second problem or question. Should boiler run continuously when thermostats do not call for heat, it does run continuously.. When unit shuts down at high limit, the register fans go off as well and then after a few minutes come back on. Thermostats do not shut off the boiler or put another way does not put it to sleep. I realize that there is a shut off/on switch for the entire system and that there are zone on and off switches which work appropriately. How are valves placed to have engine coolant heat the house heating system which is not the same as the dash heat? Does the Hurricane pump have to be running? I had a new control board installed at ITR International Thermal Research in Vancouver Washington not knowing this issue existed. The original board and flame sensor worked just fine and with no known issues and they ran the unit there just not long enough on an 80 degree day to expose this problem. The original flame sensor is no longer supported and I had both board and sensor changed to current to avoid the potential of being out in the boonies and being serviceable. If any one needs these good components to maintain an older system They are available . The new replacement board was $600 and the sensor $80 and a half hour labor. B
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As the news of Harvey begins to fade from the news, the next major disaster looms just off the southeast coast of the US. A hurricane that looks like a buzz saw in the satellite movie clips is making its way toward Florida. There are other states that may be the location of landfall, Georgia, South and North Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi are all in the cone of uncertainty. So as I write I'm using Florida but this applies to many other states as well. The damage this hurricane causes could easily surpass Harvey, Andrew, Katrina and all previous hurricanes in recorded history. Each storm was different, none was good. If you own an RV, you are ideally prepared to evacuate. I can't imagine not doing so. There is nothing you can do to save your sticks and bricks house. If you are in it when it floods or is destroyed by wind, you are risking your life for no good reason. You are risking not only your life, those who may have to come rescue you are at risk as well. If you live in Florida, you likely have a good understanding of hurricanes. If you don't live there, you should be gone by now. For those not familiar with hurricanes, Irma is a monster. Wind speeds of over 180 MPH have been registered by the Hurricane Hunters. Wind gusts over 200 MPH have also been measured. Those are unencumbered wind speeds, taken over the open ocean, there is nothing to slow the wind. As Irma approaches land, wind speeds at the surface will be less, but not much less. But the wind speed isn't just wind. The wind carries debris. We're not talking about lawn chairs, we're talking about pieces of houses, 2x4's, roof shingles, broken glass, street signs, entire roofs of buildings, sheets of metal stripped off metal buildings and so much more. The faster the wind speeds, the more debris and the larger the pieces. When any of these objects impact your home at 100 MPH, it will cause damage. Buildings that are sturdy buildings sustain horrible damage during hurricanes. You don't want to be in the building when that happens. Flooding due to rain, storm surge and runoff in ditches and streams will be severe over a wide area. This storm covers a huge area, states other than Florida will almost certainly experience heavy rain and flooding. If your home is flooded and you stayed in it, now you are living in misery. The water is not pristine, it carries bacteria, chemicals, mud, insects, and more. There is no normal once water enters you home. The rainfall almost certainly will not be what Harvey brought. Unlike Harvey, Irma is in a hurry. It will be hit and run. Like any hit and run, you won't believe how much damage can happen in a short period of time. Following the storm, even if your home sustains no damage, life will be very difficult. There will be no electric service for many days, weeks or perhaps even months. There will be no air conditioning or fans. Supplies like water, groceries, fuel, batteries, toilet paper will all be in limited supply. Mosquitoes and other insects will swarm over the debris. An alligator was removed from one of the homes in Houston, Florida will likely see the same. If you are able to leave, do so. Do so now. You can return following the storm and be a helpful volunteer resource instead of being a victim. Don't wait for officials to order evacuation. Get ahead of the game, hit the road. Public officials have to balance many factors before ordering evacuation. You as an individual have only your own personal safety and your life to consider. Maybe Irma won't hit where you live. Why take a chance? Waiting will only make evacuation slower and more difficult. If the storm misses, you will have had a trip to remember. We are all rooting for a miss but everyone is planning on being hit. Hope for the best, plan for the worst. Good luck to those in Florida and along the East Coast.
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Harvey was a Rabbit when I was in High School
tbutler posted a blog entry in Tom and Louise on Tour in North America
The Junior Play when I was in high school was Harvey. My best friend played the lead role, Elwood P. Dowd. Elwood, a grown man, had an imaginary friend, Harvey. Harvey was a rabbit, a six foot tall rabbit, according to Elwood. I had a minor part, acting was never my thing. Anyway, these days there is another Harvey and it isn't a rabbit. Harvey is dumping a huge quantity of rain on the upper Gulf Coast of Texas and now Louisiana. A stalled storm can unload a huge amount of water on any given spot. Think of it as a conveyor belt, picking up water from the warm water in the Gulf of Mexico and carrying it to the coast of Texas where it deposits it, continuously, in huge quantities. Several years ago we had a single thunderstorm that sat right on top of our RV Park in Texas, Sandpipers Resort. I can say that the thunderstorm sat there for one hour because I looked at the radar record as and after the storm was over. In one hour this thunderstorm dropped 5+ inches of rain on our park. The low spot in the park became a lake, we dubbed it Lake Sandpiper. Our mobile home was on the northern edge of Lake Sandpiper. Fortunately for us, 5 inches wasn't enough to do any damage but a few other homes sustained some minor damage. Lake Sandpiper, having no drainage outlet other than a 2" pump, persisted for a week. That was but a single thunderstorm. I used to live in a rural area in Missouri. We had a thunderstorm that dropped 11 inches of rain in one hour. It was an amazing to watch the water come down in such a torrent. Immediately, the local river became a rolling current, filling it's banks and then spilling over into adjacent agricultural fields. Tiny creeks became impassible, low areas flooded and became stagnant for weeks. Crops died from excess water, people were delayed on their way home but no one died and the area recovered almost without any concern or help being necessary. Harvey is a different matter. Harvey is a succession of such storms. And the storms aren't falling on an agricultural area, not even a hilly area, Houston and many of the other towns along the Gulf Coast are on the coastal plain, a wide flat area along the coast of Texas that extends from Louisiana all the way to Mexico. Drainage is slow in flat areas particularly when they are only a few feet above sea level. Add to that the fact that much of the Houston area is covered with pavement which doesn't absorb water but sheds it into nearby ditches. Pavement isn't the only impermeable area, homes themselves have roofs which are by design impermeable. Who would buy a leaky roof? So lawns and parks are the primary areas that absorb water when it rains. Urban areas are particularly prone to flooding. I can recall a visit to Houston many years ago, on our way from Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio to Fort Bragg, NC. We were visiting some relatives that lived there. During our visit a short thunderstorm passed over the area. Upon leaving, we saw significant street flooding. Nothing that prevented our travel but we drove through six inches of water in places. So Houston and it's surroundings are prone to flooding and Harvey is the perfect storm for the area. I'm not ignoring other towns, many towns further south along the shore took the brunt of the winds of Harvey. There have been many clips on the news showing the destroyed buildings. Some towns are nearly completely leveled. Fortunately the death toll in those towns is amazing low. Within Houston, the disaster is multiplied by millions of lives. A city has problems that no other area has. The density of population multiplies the inconvenience, loss of life, financial loss by millions. Ability to move the population, evacuate the area, is highly limited by the sheer numbers that are involved. The after-effects of this storm are going to be sobering. Katrina and now Harvey have inflicted huge losses and pain on populations in large cities. Anyone involved in disaster planning for large population areas should be alarmed and should be working to re-evaluate their disaster plans. Metropolitan planning needs to account for population density and evacuation routes and plans need to be studied and improved. We can do better if we will learn from the past and present. Our home in Edinburg, Texas was spared. Harvey hit land far enough north that people staying in our park sent messages via Facebook and other communication letting us know through pictures of sunrises and sunsets and words advising us of no wind, no rain, that all was well in Sandpipers. In fact, announcements about RV Parks recently have focused on a very few that are taking storm refugees. I can't imagine a park that wouldn't take refugees from Harvey if space were available. In the RGV there are about 80 parks that will accommodate thousands of RV's during the winter. Those parks are largely empty right now and could provide a place for RV refugees to stay. If you are looking for a place to go with your RV to get out of the way of the clean-up, call any of the parks in the RGV. With luck you may even get a site that might last through the winter. There is no doubt that complete recovery will take years. Tonight I sit in a safe and secure place but I can imagine the intense concern and dread of those in the Houston area. It's called empathy, a normal human emotion. Don't fight it, consider your life and what you would feel if you lived in the Houston or central coastal area of Texas or Louisiana tonight. Our thoughts are with those in the grip of the storm tonight and into the future. "Lake Sandpiper" April 10, 2015 -
TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF CAMPGROUND OWNERS IDENTIFIES PARKS THAT CAN ACCOMMODATE HURRICANE HARVEY EVACUEES The Texas Association of Campground Owners has identified campgrounds and RV parks with space available for Hurricane Harvey evacuees. “Many Texas parks are privately owned and operated by folks who would like to help their fellow Texans and visitors find a safe place to wait out this hurricane,” said Brian Schaeffer, executive director and CEO of the Texas Association of Campground Owners (TACO), adding, "Texas park owners have opened their hearts and their parks. They are receiving countless evacuees and helping them while the storm passes and the cleanup begins. It will be a long process but together we will get through it." Schaeffer encourages hurricane evacuees to check TexasCampgrounds.com and TexasCabinRentals.net to locate Texas parks that are far enough away from the coast to escape the brunt of the storm. After checking the list, people should call the parks in advance to reserve a site. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has issued a proclamation temporarily suspending ALL state and local hotel occupancy taxes in Texas for evacuees from designated disaster prone areas as well as documented relief workers. This proclamation also applies to occupancy taxes normally charged by campgrounds, RV parks and resorts. This temporary tax relief is effective from Aug. 23 to Sept. 6. Counties affected by the disaster declaration include: Aransas, Austin, Bee, Brazoria, Calhoun, Chambers, Colorado, DeWitt, Fayette, Fort Bend, Galveston, Goliad, Gonzales, Harris, Jackson, Jefferson, Jim Wells, Karnes, Kleberg, Lavaca, Liberty, Live Oak, Matagorda, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio, Victoria, Waller, Wharton, and Wilson.