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rochsmama · 02-20-2004, 09:56 PM

I'm about 25 miles west of Macon - sitting in a really nice, quiet, out of the way rv campground all alone. The owners transformed several acres of their farm into an rv park but since it is in the middle of Ga, without much around, no one else seems to appreciate it the way I do. There are several stocked lakes on the property and not much else but solitude. I am loving it right now. So I am in a place that I can rip out anything I want and not bother the neighbors, just will have lots of cows watching me! LOL

Your plumber gives me hope! Right now all the flooring in the bath seems to be fine. I do have some rot under and beside the black water tank inside the rear compartment. That I will have to deal with. I am wondering tonight if I have a leaky toilet as well. You know the light bulb I leave on when its cold? Well I saw tonight that I have light inside the toilet if you flush it after dark! Seems the toilet must not be seated correctly. I assume it has been replaced because I don't have the sprayer anymore.

let me know if you get your inline pressure reg out. Mine is in the bend and seems impossible to get out from the back compartment. I did take the screw out of the top and remove the overflow pipe. With these off, I sprayed WD 40 inside it and worked the spring with a flathead screwdriver. after a few trips back and forth letting it soak, it seems to have come back to life and is working great. You might try this instead of removing it altogether - might fix yours as well.

And my fan in the bath is in the ceiling - a bathroom exhaust fan. The material that flaps closed when its not on is the same yellowish color as the walls and roof in the bath. That's why I thought it was just "where" a fan should go. Just happened to find the push switch that turned it on.

The cabinet is going to be a pain - I have an electric heater mounted in it that points towards the toilet. I've already rewired the one in the living room and was going to do that one too since its wires must be as crispy as the one that didn't work given they are the same age. Oh well, was going to swap them anyway since the one in the bath gets hotter and blows better than the other one anyway.

Anyone want these double doors from my bath? Was going to take them out anyway......

uwe · 02-21-2004, 06:44 AM

My trailer also has the exhaust fan that is mounted on the floor and has a hose going through the cabinet. I assume it is a factory item after all. The exhaust side of the fan terminates in the belly cavity. The suction side hasa long hose on it and it terminates in a scoop right next to the toilet. The switch for he whole thing is also right next to the toilet. Gee, I wonder what the design goal is?
Water heater: I removed mine to clean and repair the burner system. I had no pilot.
Once removed, I turned it on it's side to drain it. After seeing the consistency, color, quantity, and texture of the "stuff" that came out of the heater tank, it went to the dumpster immediately. Funny thing is, the hot water inside the trailer never swelled or looked bad. Just sediment over the years, I guess. Yours likely has this, too.
The flooring job is strenuous, but not particularly difficult. You will have to remove a bunch of underbelly covers, and plumbing. You will need new hardware to replace the rusted bolts that go through the flooring to hold it on the frame, and also the ones that go around the perimeter of the shell. Those go through the channel, then the wood, then the frame. The rear section of the frame is often flexible enough to bend it down and slide in teh new floor section, depending on how long of a section you will have to replace. My experience stops at 26in. That's how much I replaced.
Good Luck to you all.

rochsmama · 02-21-2004, 11:35 AM

RV pro shops? They have the 10 gal basic atwood for $290 with free shipping. This hot water heater is leaking really bad today so its got to go. I think it is my main problem. and yes it is the original Bowan 9.9 gal. I'm going to put in the heater bypass this weekend so I can get the water running again until delivery of the new heater. I'm can be leery of ordering from a company I don't know but this seems to be a fantastic price on it, especially with the free shipping. CW had free shipping but added an additional $20 + because of the weight. I believe this price is lower than theirs as well. Am doing some more shopping, but hoping someone can give me an Ok on this company.

I'm going to have to remove the bottom trim rail to get the heater out through the shell. The bottom lip is under the rail. All of the screws are really rusted so wish me luck on them. I may wait to order the HW heater until I get this one out and truly decide it needs last rites.

Thanks all

PizzaChop · 02-21-2004, 08:08 PM

Tina,

I must have passed you in one of the aisles while you were shopping today. I went to the same website and was comparing water heaters. I'm very close to settling on the Suburban because it does not have an aluminum tank (it is porcelin covered steel with a 3 year tank warranty) and my wife is pretty much against aluminum. (She's read a lot about it in nutrition books and evidently, it's not good inside of us.)

I don't really know how important that is but I have seen the corrosion coming out of mine and I know it's not really usable anymore (especially now that I've disassembled it...it is a cool looking tank but I'm not sure what I can do with it. I mean, I hate to just throw it away). They are very close to the same size (the suburban is .75" taller) and from the pic, it looks like the flue is in the same place as the Bowen. (You have to order the door separately for the Suburban so it's not as much cheaper than the Atwood as it might seem.)

I plan to go with the LP/110v and will probably spring for the ignitor as I will probably become lazier as I grow older and won't want to light the pilot light. (Of course, with 6 children, and proper training, I probably shouldn't have to light it too often anyway.)

I would really like to hear from anyone who has used a Suburban. I mean, it seems like Atwood is the official w/h of Airstream.

I'm also curious about RVPros. Haven't heard them mentioned here before either.

Good luck on you w/h adventure. I will soon post a pic or two of my mess. (And believe me, it is a mess!)

PizzaChop · 02-21-2004, 08:17 PM

Upon closer examination, I don't think the flue of the Suburban does line up with the Bowen.

rochsmama · 02-22-2004, 01:19 AM

I know what your wife means but I have always heard (may be old wives tale) not to cook with hot water from water heater anyway. Not real sure where that came from.... I think what we are seeing in the tanks comes from the crap in the water that's been run through it. JMHO. The aluminum is supposed to be a lot lighter too. Have to remember that tow weight in your decision. Especially if you have 8 peeps in the towing vehicle..... I think I read that you can buy an after market pkg later and change it to an ignition model..... I'm going to cheapest but still want the size of the 10. I know a lot of folks say the smaller is fine but the water you have to warm sure is cold in the winter time. When it was down in the mid 20s I would run out of water during a bath if I didnt watch it. That tub can get cold and cools down the water really quick.

Good Luck Buddy!

Silvertwinky · 02-22-2004, 05:02 AM

Looking at some of these postings has reminded me of our first A/S. We first had a 1968 Safari. I remember the commode was sitting through the floor when we first got it. We had the major floor rot to take care of to say the least.

What I recommend for anyone doing a repair job such as this is to take a lot of pictures. Take everything one step at a time and it should make things go pretty easy. At least if you have trouble you can go back and see how things are supposed to look and fit together. You may even consider a video tape of the project. When you get in a jam all of the pictures are pretty valuable at that point!

rochsmama · 02-22-2004, 08:19 AM

What a great idea! I am on my way to Home Depot to get the stuff for the bypass - think I will hook up the printer and just take a picture of what I've got instead of trying to draw it out. Hope I find a good plumbing guy there!

uwe · 02-22-2004, 08:23 AM

I don't know if they have the best pricing, but I have ordered a handful of times from www.rvpartsoutlet.com and it was always a good experience. And a very good price. I just purchased a Sealand toilet from them.
I also bought my Atwood water heater from them. The door came in white onl, so I painted it with silver paint from a local paint store.

minkus · 02-22-2004, 09:16 AM

I don't know if this is the right solution, but while trying to deceide what to do about my rotted A/S floor, we purchased 2 more trailers.

One is a 1940's Hays, and the other a 1950's spartan clone.

Neither have rotted floors. Do you think this will help?

PizzaChop · 02-24-2004, 10:13 AM

Well now I'm in the thick of it. Looks like a full bath floor job is in order here. I have cut a few of the bolts anchoring the wall with my reciprocating saw and didn't like it much. I got dark last night so I quit but am hoping to start again today.

On the bright side.....the pedestal that the tub sits on was in perfect condition! (ha, ha)

Seriously though, I do think I've avoided any major structural damage by catching this problem relatively early. (At least I don't believe it's been towed a bunch in this condition.) The only metal to replace is the rear black tank support crossmember.

Minkus, I'd park your Tradewind between the two new trailers with the good floors and see if it gets the hint. I wouldn't give it more than a month though.

Still smiling (but not as much)!