Our "New" Argosy Squarestream 5th wheel

[Djmclean]

Pretty new here - we just purchased this camper and can't wait to hit the road. She needs a few things - mostly cosmetic. The power needs a little work. A new refrigerator may also be in order. I don't know if the washer and dryer work yet as our power won't take the load. The air blows cold, the hot water heater is new.

Look forward to gathering some knowlege about our new "baby".

[klattu]

Best 5th wheel out there

[Silver Otter]

What a palace on wheels!

[Djmclean]

We're enjoying the fix-up process. It's an adventure for sure. The compartment locks need replacing (minor), the cabinet latches (minor, too). For the most part it's pretty solid. We are in the process of fixing the ceiling. For some reason, the previous owner thought covering stuff up would be the best solution. There have been a few (and may still be) leaks that need to be tended to. Hopefully just some caulking on the roof??

We're still trying to figure out the valves to empty the tanks. Any help there? There only appears to be one valve, but there must be one for the grey and one for the black.

[Djmclean]

I thought I should move over to my original thread to post more about our "Palace on Wheels".

We are still on the quest to find what wires go where. In this quest, can anyone identify this "mystery box"? It is attached to one of the Romex cables coming from the breaker box. Could it possibly be that 12V wires somehow attached to it at one time? We have several ceiling lights that don't work and we can't seem to follow them to the power source. The wires go into the floor and we aren't willing to rip it out as there is nothing wrong with it.


We did identify that there are two pull handles for the waste tanks - appropriately labelled gray and black. The black tank just has a straight rod coming out, but the gray has the "T" handle with the two clamps on it. Is the straight rod standard or is it a replacement part? Do you just pull the handles to open the valves?

Also, does anyone have a clue where the doorbell was? There are two wires (red) at the back door, but the doorbell button is at the forward door.

I guess that's all for tonight's questions. I'm sure I'll have more tomorrow!

[fordfarmer]

Both valves should be next to each other. Check behind the mount to see if you are just missing the handle. On the Electrical wire tracks, most of mine went up the street side, but yours is a slide out so They may have gone above that. I see you have the two door unit as well. mine only has the rear door, but when I had it apart, I saw that it was all built for a door like yours. My wires go mostly bundled below the window where your slide out is located. I replaced the rear cabinet with one that is 12 inches lower than the original. That allows my recliners to be placed further aft. My destination in GA, is closer to lake Blackshear. Schley, Co. You might want to check the tires on your unit before hitting the road. If they are great tread, but older tires, they may give you trouble. I had 3 blowouts on my return from GA in May. That was my case. There are multiple opinions about tires, but I have replaced with the goodyear marathon, but a critical difference is a load range E, not the standard D. All tires are dated, and if they have not had much use, the tread can be good, but the tire faulty.

[fordfarmer]

Doorbell placed near floor to the rear of rear door. The mystery box is a waterproof connector. I have one also. mine is located behind the rear ditch upper cabinet. I can only guess that it was used in assembly for some reason. I could not find any other reason.

[Djmclean]

Another mystery solved. There are two 12 v wires (brown and white) that have no power. They are on the curbside going to the ceiling lights. They disappear into the cabinet over the table from the ceiling. We haen't found them coming out anywhere that they would connect to power. Maybe they go into the cabinet and down thru the floor?

Also, there is a switch by the slide out that we don't know what it is for.

There are two lights in the slide out, but they both have push buttons on them. The diagram in the manual says it's for a valance light, but since we have the slide out, there is no valance light on that side. Do you know if there was a light in the credenza in the rear?

Never been to Lake Blackshear. We do go to Perry a couple times a year for the Arabian Horse shows though. Looks like it isn't far from there. You should look into a stop over at Lake Lanier. We have several really nice Corps of Engineer parks there and the lake is beautiful.

[fordfarmer]

I don't have that switch, my guess is that t might be an interior switch for the slide out, or a master on off for the slide out lights. The brown and white wires over the table are curious. I have a 110 fixture over the table. There is a light in the credenza, 12v, and is accessed from the outside compartment. Perry is 50 miles to the East of my GA place.

[Djmclean]

Well, Jim is finishing up the outside repairs on the roof this weekend. Then the ceiling is going in and I'm painting the remainder of the ceiling (bathroom and bedroom. We've decided to go with a thin, finished plywood on the flat part of the ceiling and some tongue and groove on the curved part of the ceiling.

Most of the fluorescent light fixtures are toast, so we are going to replace them as well as the sconce lights in the slide out.

Jim is going to build a cabinet at the rear of the trailer. That will include a magazine/book stand, a pull out table for my computer and storage for the power supply cord. He's a pretty good carpenter, so I'm expecting great things.

We'll probably have to cap it off with a new refrigerator and an awning.

In the end, we'll have a beautiful and sound home on wheels for less than $10K. Can't wait for the first road trip!

I sent our son some photos (he's in S. Korea in the Army) and he said he's sleeping in the camper when he comes home!

[Aviator]

Should you decide to join the WBCCI, the Georgia Unit has a great campground a couple of miles north of Helen, GA up in the mountains. There are tons of hiking areas around and it is only $7 a night with full hookups and cable.

[Djmclean]

I'll have to check that out - don't know much about all this yet - we are newbies!

[Aviator]

The WBCCI Georgia Unit is having a rally at Helen on 31AUG-05SEP11. As it is a WBCCI rally and not our Spring Buddy rally, you would need to join the WBCCI, but there will be a lot of very helpful and knowledgeable Airstreamers there. It may be worth it just to get a bunch of questions answered. I know our family will be there for as much of it as we can. I don't have my September work schedule yet to know how much of the rally our family can attend.

Speaking for the Unit, it would be great to have you there.

[Djmclean]

Here is a before and after of the ceiling. It's hard to tell in the before photo tha the ceiling has a white strip down the middle hiding some water stains. It's also a bit saggy and warped, not to mention filthy! The after photo isn't quite finished, but I love it!

Before......

and After....

In the photo, it looks a little dark but it really isn't. Here's another shot.

[Djmclean]

Thought I'd give you a look at what we faced in this camper. Basically, the people we purchased it from lied about almost everything. It isn't a big deal, because we didn't believe anthing they said anyway, BUT it totally ticks me off that they think they got away with it.....

Anyway, we were told that no one had ever smoked in the camper. We found at least 20 empty tobacco cans under the bed and this is what the ceiling looked like:

Before cleaning on the left and after cleaning on the right:


This is what it looked like DURING the cleaning process:


By the way - 409 is awsome!!!

[slowmover]

By the way - 409 is awesome!!!


I'd like to recommend Castrol Super Clean as superior to 409; in the interest of a single strong cleaner aboard for the future. It can be mixed down with distilled water (to avoid varying water quality issues: predictability) in several ZEP Sprayers at differing concentrations marked on the outside. Available at ACE or the box stores. It's what I used in a 40-hour interior cleaning on my "clean" 34' Silver Streak, and the only general purpose cleaner I've used for 14-years now, from old diesel engines to auto carpet mats. Check contraindications as with any chemical cleaner.

GEL GLOSS for acrylic, fiberglass, etc in the interior. It was easy to keep the shower stall clean afterwards if one used Dr. BRONNER'S or Neutrogena soaps that rinse very well. It took quite some time to get that stall really shiny . . . looked brand new.

The changes are gratifying to see. I disliked getting inside of everything, and with only a couple of exceptions, cleaned every single surface accessible -- and some that weren't without disassembly -- as it was unlikely they'd been done since new.

A big pile of microfiber towels and two-bucket system can't be beat.

It will be of interest to see how you polish up the exterior.

The next step -- for us -- was new cabinet latches/magnets/gas lifts, and window operators. A few adjustments to some doors. The small things that really add up: clean, and functioning well.

Looking forward to more pictures. And hope you'll separately scale the 5'er with full fresh water and propane sometime. Todays SOB's sure are heavy, so it'd be informative to know what the true weight of one of these was. Thanks for your consideration.

.

[Djmclean]

Thanks for the tips. I'll have to look for that cleaner as we have an Ace close by.

It is really refreshing to get the inside all clean and fresh. The odor of other humans is all gone and I love the lack of sticky, yellow goo!

We still have to rebuild the credenza/hatch at the rear of the trailer. It is the storage for the power box and cables. Hubby will sit for hours and build things in his head. Suddenly, he has it all figured out and is building for real. It's quite a process.

Cabinet latches are next on my list. The radio had a speaker that wasn't working and that got fixed last night. We have several lights that need to be replaced.

A serviceman will be called to check out the refrigerator, furnace and gas system to make sure all is well there. I don't think the frig works, but not sure. It is original, so it wouldn't be surprising if it doesn't.

Eventually, we need to get an awning too. There is also nothing over the slideout, which I think would be good to have.

[Djmclean]

We are thinking of taking out the washer and dryer and putting in a pantry/broom closet. Any thoughts?

I read the threads on the washers and dryers and it sounds like they really don't work all that well and it just seems like wasted space and extra weight.

[slowmover]

Your opinion is mine. Too slow, heavy, takes up space, and takes away from water capacity (fresh & grey). If it ever leaked I'd have to firebomb something . . . .

[kposey]

There are some other rallies close to you that are coming up as well as the WBCCI one this weekend. Falluminim is October 21-23 in Hiawassee at the Georgia Mountain Fairground and one one November 4-6 at McKinney Campground in Cartersville, GA. Both are great places to camp and are listed in the rally section. Hope you can join us!