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A plug for Penner’s Mobile RV Repair in Polson, MT
Another long and boring story from me.
So here we are at the Polson Motorcoach Resort, trying to locate a leak in the Aqua-Hot heating system. The leak did actually start earlier while we were in West Yellowstone but it was not that bad at the time and searching for the leak proved to be a lot more difficult than I imagined.
I did actually find an Aqua-Hot guy near to Yellowstone. He took $700 of Gabi’s hard earned money to come out to the coach and to tell me after a few minutes that I needed a new Aqua-Hot since ours was rusted through. He would gladly have ordered one for us. That there was an active leak just a couple of feet away did not seem to bother him. In fairness, I want to say that he had to drive about 90 minutes just to get to us so I was not, initially, concerned about his fee.
Anyway, I thanked him for coming and left it at that. I did then start to make phone calls to Rudy and pestered him with many questions over several days. Rudy answered each message very quickly and even took to telephoning me to explain some things to me.
The leak remained elusive and depending on how I was levelled, it leaked in different spots.
Then I thought of calling the guys at US Luxury Coach (formerly Parliament) in Clearwater Clearwaterand my primary service tech, Joe Evans, reminded me that he had fixed a leak several years ago and suggested where to look for it.
Bingo!
It was tough getting to that spot because the leak was on top of the generator hush box. Our generator is installed between the rails in the center of the coach. To get there, we had to remove the radiator and move it aside to be able to squeeze into the middle of the coach, where there was all of 12 inches of very tight “work space”.
Getting back to Penner’s Penner’sMobile RV Repair, he came highly recommended by the Resort people and since I do have 2 left hands when it comes to mechanics, I asked him to handle the job.
When you first meet Vern, you will be unsure about whether he is the right guy for the job, any job. He looks like an old hillbilly with long hair and a bushy beard and wearing a worn-out cowboy hat. He drives a Jeep, which is choke full of parts and tools with just enough space left to squeeze-in behind the steering wheel. So I was hesitating. But he seemed to be ever-present at Polson and the office highly recommended him. I am glad I made the call.
He turned out to be on the ball, knowledgeable and did not hesitate to get his hands dirty. I was his helper for many hours over 2-1/2 days while
we removed the radiator and other stuff from the basement compartment and me making runs to the supply house to get the needed parts for the repair. The cost of parts was all of $5.70 – Yes, you read that right!A foot of heater hose and 2 couplings were needed to fix the leak.
The work was all about locating the leak, getting to it and fixing it.
We drained, refilled and drained and refilled again the Aqua-Hot system since I had put in tap water over a couple of weeks due to the constant loss of fluids.
The system has been leak-free for about a week. Just in time for the falling temperatures, which called for occasional heat at night. Not to mention hot water for showers etc.
Vern charged us for 10 hours of labor, (I think it was more hours than that) some misc parts as well as 16 gallons of boiler fluid and distilled water. His bill came to $1,520.00
I was shocked to see his bill when he handed it to me. Not because of the amount but of how little it was. I had expected more.
Anyways, before you fall asleep reading all this, Vern works in the Flathead Valley, which means up and down and around Flathead Lake.
During the winter, typically from mid-November to late March he stays in the Phoenix area.
His contact details:
Vern Penner
Penner’s Mobile RV Repair, LLC
(406) 250-8861
Cheers,
Ronald
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4 Replies
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Good to know Ronald, Polson is off the beaten path and nice to know there is competent help. Was Bernie there?
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Ron, this is a good recommendation that should be on the map.
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Done, as soon as Mr. Moderator approves of this listing.
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It’s already up, our web guy is working on the google box that pops up, but you can see the location.
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