For want of a nail…

Remember my old series called, “What Broke This Week”?  Ah, those were the days.  But that was a different MotorHome.  I’m happy to say this new MH is built much better and more solid than our previous MH, and therefore less need for episodes of WBTW.  I’ve also learned how not to drive with the awning open and smart stuff like that, too! However, this rig is not without it’s quirks and problems… none are.

If you remember the little saying/poem, “For want of a nail, a kingdom was lost” (what? then google it…phew), then you’ll see the similarities to my version, “If not for a mouse, the world would not have Where’s Wardlaw!”.

A couple of nights ago Tina was up at 2am eating (like usual) and she heard a mouse under the kitchen sink in the MH.  Fortunately for me she didn’t freak out and wake me up, she just waited until morning to tell me about it.  That morning we were planning on driving to town to fuel the beast (we’ve been parked here for one whole month.  We have no hookups so all our electricity, water heater and air heater run off of diesel powered generators – which are all fed by the main fuel tank, it was getting low).  First things first, though. We had to get up and dig everything out of the cabinets and search for the little devil, but he appeared to be gone.

Once at the gas station we decided to open all the bay doors, poke around with a stick, slide out all the slides, anything to shake the little mouse loose if he was trying to hide below.  But we saw no sign of him.  However, here is where my little poem comes in:

• If not for a mouse I wouldn’t have opened all my bay doors.
• If I wouldn’t have opened all my bay doors I wouldn’t have looked inside all my bays.
• If I wouldn’t have looked inside all my bays I wouldn’t have noticed all the corrosion on my house batteries!!
• If I wouldn’t have noticed all the corrosion on my batteries I wouldn’t have spent hours removing, checking, cleaning and replacing all my batteries!
• If I wouldn’t have spent hours cleaning my batteries they may have exploded while driving down the road.
• If they would have exploded while driving down the road I wouldn’t be writing another awesome update to “Wheres Wardlaw”.

Therefore, if not for a mouse the world couldn’t enjoy “Where’s Wardlaw”! (Try not to let that thought distress you.)

OK, they probably wouldn’t have exploded, but I found loose connections and the corrosion, both of which lead to inefficient charging and early battery death…

Thanks little mouse… maybe I should give you a cookie!

Surprisingly, everything worked after hooking it all back up and flipping the master switch… go figure!

Before, during and after pics of my battery work: