sea trial of isolde

With so many recent updates I took Isolde on a sea trial to make sure she is shipshape. Sea trial is also called shakedown cruise in which the purpose is to prove out the performance of various systems.

I like making nautical references with Isolde and Brunnhilde because when you are out at sea, you want everything to be in tiptop conditions, and leaves nothing to chance. You also plan well and prepare for contingency while packing cleverly.

Isolde received many updates recently, and many of these systems need to be checked out on a long cruise. These includes the new dual deep cycle house batteries and power meter, sound system, dc refrigerator, Koni dampers, new tires, complete set of new kitchen cookware and services.

We headed up north towards Seattle in late afternoon. The traffic towards the Oregon and Washington border was terrible so we dropped by West Marine to kill some time for the bad traffic to pass.

it was the beginning of a few dry days in the Pacific North West

I like to go browsing at marine supply stores from time to time

an easy to make soup noodle with razor clams - i brought along a few cooked ones

the night was chilly at around 38 degrees; the cab curtain made a huge difference in reducing the furnace's run time (duty cycles)

it is important to scale down the kitchenware for something as compact as Isolde

the next morning we stopped into the Chinatown; we scored a free 2-hour parking spot

I never miss a chance to visit ethnic area when I go to a big city

seeing this place is packed with customers for dim sum I decided to give it a try

they have big servings so three items are more than I could handle

the dim sum here is better than what I can find in Portland though not exceptional

there were a few groups of school kids touring Chinatown as a class offsite

I found this noodle manufacturer who's noodles I have been buying for years - it is the Rose Brand; it is here they make all their products

there are a number of Chinese benevolent associations - benevolent associations are setup by early immigrants to help each other, especially the newly arrived; generally you will find different ones for folks from different region of China; some are specific to even down to a home city where they come from

here is another benevolent association on the top floor of the building

this is a museum of an early grocery store

yet another benevolent association on the top floor

there is this Chinese roast meat store which by the appearance of their meat I was quite confident they are good; I was not disappointed with their roasted pig; very delicious

I got a chuckle with O'DEA because the dog is going crazy with the scents; it turned out the lady police hid a scent ball to train the sniffing K9

we took the ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island

the cab divider curtain significantly reduce the furnace duty cycle; i made in 1999 when first installed the Carver furnace

the gap near the floor has a purpose - it is designed to be catgonomic; hard to believe it was made with a German down throw found a Costco at the time

she literally grew up and liter-box trained in Isolde - an "i'll mess U up" priceless photo

these are old photos

she loved the upper berth

As just about all the kitchen utensils are new or newly repurposed to be use in Isolde, the trip help to shake out what pack well in the cabinet and drawer. With major changes like this it usually take a few camp out and meal preparation to sort out the best arrangements and things to keep or change. I usually compile a punch list as I come across actions that need to be taken, or ideas that comes to mind.

the new LED light fixture I made works really well and I love using it as mood light at night

the newly placed Radio dual thermometer also work well at this location; coincidentally the two AAA batteries died shortly into the trip and the display blanked out; bummer as I wanted to verify the meter's monitoring of the refrigerator internal temperature and Isolde's cabin temperature being warmed by the Carver furnace

no loss - I happened to brought along the 12Vdc plug and I just plug it into the newly installed power utility panel nearby

new power utility panel

I stuffed the freezer of the new DC fridge full of frozen seafood before the trip. The seafood stay frozen as they would in a home freezer. This is the first time ever Isolde's refrigerator can do this. As the trip was so short and there were no long stays the dual house battery bank was hardly taxed.

I did ran out of propane just before the trip. I stop by a gasoline station to refill the empty tank and it would not take refilling. Evidently the oneway valve is stuck, which is rather surprising as I would think the pressure from the propane filling pump should be able to push it open. Fortunately Isolde has two tanks so the trip was unaffected. I jogged this down as a to-do punch list item.

The ride quality during the entire trip was less than stellar. There was quite a lot of seat back shake as well as too much telegraphing of road roughness due to the new set of Koni dampers I installed. I was not so surprised as my short trip test after the installation gave some hints.

The Carver P4 furnace is not something new. It worked fabulously stealth camping in the commercial outskirt of Seattle. The night temperature was 46-degree F, and I set it to run at the low 1100W BTU setting. It kept us toasty warm while being murmur quiet.

The form-fit cradle for the iPhone 6S Plus had not arrived from Amazon so it was the lowlight of the trip, not having been able to use the phone as a GPS map. I relied on voice turn-by-turn direction of the Google map using the Alpine head unit's blue tooth function.

The trip fuel economy average very close to 20 MPG. I only re-fueled once during the circa 500 miles trip loop. The weather was gorgeous for a March weekend.

Update 16.03.24:
Over the years I have encounter different problems with RV propane systems, including right from the start when I bought Isolde new. The original tank with the Auto Stop RV fill valve will not fill. Totally clueless about propane system at the time, I watched as the nice man at Suburban Propane empty the tank, and disassembled the valve to un-seize it. It is really quite simple, I thought. I watched him smeared lithium grease to lubricate the moving parts after cleaning off the original and reassembled it. The tank filled.

That didn't last at all. Next time at refilling, the valve seized again. I was not going to return to him but decided I knew better. I make sure the tank is empty, and disassembled the valve. I cleaned off the lithium grease that he smeared all over the piston bore and the o-ring and replace it with SAE30 motor oil. I reason it would be less prone to seize at low temperature. The fill valve has been trouble free ever since.

the original tank with the Auto Stop RV fill valve - note that the normal 80% outage valve port up high is brought down to the fill valve via thin copper line

The tank that will not fill is a newer second tank that I install onto the starboard side. It is a newer design came with a cheaper Marshall fill valve. The new 3-gallon tank has also been gave me many troubles. There are now two things I learnt now with this new tank. The first trouble is one that I could not find the answer but I eventually figured out and have a workaround for - without opening the tank and replacing the offending service valve.

The symptom of the first problem is no propane comes out when I can swear that the tank is not empty - as proven by opening the outage valve slightly to release some vapor propane. Each time I open the service valve I can hear a faint click. I would find I have propane at the appliances such as the stove hobs. I can even make a cup of coffee but no the propane will run out. Initially I didn't give it much thought and just use the other tank. Finally I decided to get to the bottom of the matter. I begin to suspect the service has some sort of valve mechanism because of the faint click when I open it if the low pressure side of the regulator is empty. Then I realize the possibility there is a flow rate prevention valve built in, and that it is hair trigger sensitive. I suspect by the act of opening the service valve the initial rush of the high propane vapor to fill the two stage regulator can trigger it shut. What to do? I didn't like the idea of having to dump a tank of propane into the atmosphere just to be able to remove the service for examination.

I thought I can possible work around the problem, at least for this tank full. Instead of opening the service valve as I would normally do, I open it very slowly from the complete shut off position. Doing this avoid the initial rush and trigger the flow rate restrictor mechanism. Sure enough the technique worked. I have since done many tests to confirm this technique work repeatedly, and until it cease to work, I am not going to bother to go through the trouble of replacing the service valve. I have read countless articles about service valve, and not one mention this flow rate prevention mechanism built into the valve.

This lead to my new finding on the Marshall fill valve on the newer tank. Unlike the Auto Stop valve on the original tank, it is a simpler design. It relies on the placement of the outage valve at the 80% fill level of the tank to prevent one from overfilling the tank. All it suppose to have is just a one way valve to prevent the liquid from leaking out once the filling is done. So it is a puzzle that the gasoline station attendant cannot fill the tank when I know it is truly empty.

this tank must had been proudly built on a friday afternoon in USA - note the inverted "FILL" label

the Marshall fill valve

Today I decide to ponder as to the reason this seemingly simple valve refuse to fill. To be sure, I verify the tank is empty by opening the outage valve (also called overfill valve). I open it and listen the hiss sound diminishes as the residual remnant of the propane vapor escaped into the atmosphere. I was hoping that by completely remove any pressure inside the tank somehow this mysterious valve behind the Marshell fill valve will change its position. Without doing anything else, I drove to my nearby gas station to refill the tank. I have been to this station the third time now trying to fill this empty tank unsuccessfully. I was not going to mention the fill valve has some issue for the fear that the attendant might refuse to fill it being too cautious.

I cross my fingers as he prepare to pull open the fill lever. I watch the fill meter as he open it. I was relief when I saw the meter begin to move. The tank only took 2.3 gallons. I thought the attendant prematurely stop the fill before witnessing the discharge of liquid from the (open) outage valve and ask him. He replied that the fill valve stop automatically. I thought that is odd, as this Marshall valve is not supposed to have any auto stop function but to rely on the outage valve being located at the 80% fill level of the tank.

Evidently my what looks to be a simple Marshall fill valve must have a float type auto shut off mechanism. Further, from the events it is prone to get stuck. I have been doing more reading of other people's similar problem with other tanks (mostly backyard BBQ tanks). Next time when the valve acts up again I will try giving it a good whack with a rubber mallet. For now both tank are full. As long I use the ping pong approach of keeping track of which tank needs refill, I am very happy with the two tank setup and not to rely on the very unreliable propane level indicator of any design.

I also have no plan to tear into this tank to replace the fill valve or the service valve. I infer that are design to err on the safe side and these symptoms are quite normal if you are unlucky.