Idle

We all know what it means to be idle. To basically sit around doing not much of anything. Which is mostly what I do when parked out in the desert. I make an occasional trip into town but otherwise spend a lot of hours just sitting around doing computer stuff or napping or chatting with neighbors.

Another definition of idle relates to machines. One definition says, “to operate at a lowspeed, disengaged from the load.” That what my vehicle’s engine does when I just turn it on but don’t go anywhere.

I wanted to use my engine to recharge my batteries. But I was told if I did that while the engine was idling it would damage the engine. Not worth the risk. So every couple of days I drive for an hour or so, usually to Parker and back, to recharge my batteries. Driving puts the engine under load so the fuel burns cleanly thus not damaging my system.

But my dash has a high idle button on it. When you press that button it is supposed to increase the rpms which puts your engine under load so you can recharge your batteries without having to drive. My high idle button didn’t work.

I finally decided the thing to do was contact my conversion company and ask about that high idle. Now I’m feeling dumb again. That button only works if you engage the emergency brake first.

So I put on the brakes and hit the button, which upped my rpms from 900 to 1500, and charged my batteries. So, now I don’t have to drive to Parker tomorrow just to charge my batteries.

Instead I have to drive to Parker because Dave sent me a package via General Delivery that’s due to arrive at the post office there tomorrow. It’s always something, isn’t it?

TTYL,

Linda