20-footers

[subfan1]

Hi Peter, thanks for the response. Regarding your wet insulation first. I had a similar situation and my problem was the fresh water valve was leaking when hooked up. I usually hang the water filter from the valve but no more. I think there might have been too much weight hanging there. Because we were in Lake Tahoe when this happened I removed the valve took it apart, two pieces, nothing broken reattached screwed it back in reattached the water line and it's been two years now and no more leaks. Man, I might have jinked myself now
I'll take a picture tomorrow if it isn't raining.

[OTRA15]

Thanks look forward to any photos you can get. I will get the lay of the land also later this morning. One more frost warning for tonight, then hopefully I can turn the water on and start working on various to do items instead of talking about them!

PS -- Bob, I will also look at the fridge area about routing that wire.

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by subfan1

I have noticed that after a long drive, over 100 miles or so, in the restroom on the top of the counter top against the outside wall that there is what looks like road grime on the bright trim against the outside wall. I looked at my wheel well and there appears to be a gap between the frame and the trailer. A small gap but it's there. Has anyone experienced this in your bathroom? I am looking into trying something to seal that gap, any suggestions?

I looked at the wheel well area this morning, and don't see how water going through your gap (which I don't think I have -- see photo below) could end up being visible above the bath counter, unless our bathrooms are different. I also don't think road water could have caused my insulation dampness -- see next post.

Here is a shot as I lay down on the driveway on the street side, in front of the tire, and looked up and backward over the axle. The tire is on the lower right, the shock absorber in the middle, and the silvery galvanized wheel well is at the top. The inside face of the wheel well drops down vertically, then is turned under 90 degrees from the vertical, which shows about 3/8" before it disappears over the black frame. I grant you this is hard to see in the photo, but if you look at the lowest silver where it is just above the shock, this 3/8" return flange is easier to make out IMO -- FWIW.

I don't see any gaps anywhere.

subfan1 could you take a similar photo maybe? I did not use the flash, because things were clearer without it, as long as you can get the phone/camera to set its aperture/speed for the darker ares.

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by subfan1

Hi Peter, thanks for the response. Regarding your wet insulation first. I had a similar situation and my problem was the fresh water valve was leaking when hooked up. I usually hang the water filter from the valve but no more. I think there might have been too much weight hanging there. Because we were in Lake Tahoe when this happened I removed the valve took it apart, two pieces, nothing broken reattached screwed it back in reattached the water line and it's been two years now and no more leaks. Man, I might have jinked myself now
I'll take a picture tomorrow if it isn't raining.

Thanks, but now I am curious about how you removed the city water intake valve and re-attached it. Was this work all from the outside of the trailer? I can't even see the interior part of that intake valve, let alone work on it. [see photo in the post I linked yesterday from that other thread] Maybe our bathrooms are laid out differently, as you have a 2012 and ours is 2014? I think I would have to remove the rear dinette seat to work on the valve (and on my plastic vacuum breaker, which I just may do . . . hmmmm . . . ).

Any chance of some photos here too?

Thanks,

Peter

PS -- One other possibility is that the exterior trim on the city water intake was a bit loose, and let water in? This would be exactly above my wet insulation. I did remove mine and thought the screws were not seated well. When I screwed it in by hand [only -- no screw guns -- it is just screwed into the outer aluminum skin -- no backer plate or framing -- Arrgghhh and Grrrrrr on the QC], I was careful to get it tight. No leaks since. If no leaks, I may run a light bead of caulk at/behind the top of the trim plate.

When I summerize -- soon hopefully -- I will have someone man the hose bib so it can be turned off quickly, and will check both the city water intake, and the black water flush intake, for leaks.

[subfan1]

Hi, per my previous post regarding my countertop in the bathroom, I see dust not water on top corner outside wall. The water was a separate issue we experienced last year with the fresh water intake valve that was loose. Here is a picture on our unit and where I think road grime/dust maybe coming inside behind the dinette and below the bathroom cabinet where the sink is installed. In the corner is where I notice black dust.

[OTRA15]

Your photo is the front end of the wheel well right? This is almost directly under the rear dinette window, just to orient it window-wise front-to-back, and not under the two small fixed bathroom windows, in our FC20.

You got me looking closer at mine and the following shot is also from in front of the tire, starting lower than your shot and looking up a bit more. That tan area appears to be some subfloor or spray foam insulation material exposed where the inside corner of the wheel well sheet metal was not done well at all !!! More QC issues . . .



I still don't see how road dust or debris could end up above the height of your bathroom counter from your gap. Maybe some wind-driven situation going on?

PS subfan1, would also appreciate more details on your city water intake leak, as noted earlier. Thanks.

[subfan1]

I don't really know I am trying to find an opening and this was a possibility however, thinking through this some more I would have dust everywhere and the under storage (seat) are clean. Oh well I'll continue to look. Thanks for your input though, much appreciated.
Oh exposed wood on yours can't be a good thing. How are you going to seal it?

[OTRA15]

I probably wait until I can drive both wheels up onto some raised planks (6" or more higher) and inspect all the bottoms of both wheel wells. Depending on what is exposed, I will probably paint some thickened two-part WEST epoxy on everything not steel, let it set, and then cover things with some sacrificial waterproof caulk/gunk of some kind.

I keep picturing the worker in the factory who set out wheel well sheet metal in place, without doing anything about the gap.


Oh Wally . . . what a tangled web we weave . . .

[subfan1]

I know what you mean about quality. I worked in Aerospace and while I'm not comparing that to building Airstream's there is a sense of "personal responsibility" in accomplishing our jobs and sadly I don't see that in our trailer.
I want to find a rubber spray that will adhere to steel and galvanized metal and not harden over time and spray those seams.

[OTRA15]

I enlarged the photo and it is definitely the plywood sub-floor cut-out around the wheel well sheet metal. You can actually see the plies inside the plywood. Whoever set that piece of plywood HAD to see daylight shining up through the hole. Argghhh . . .

Needless to say, this is probably NOT marine plywood. Hopefully it has an "X" rating for exterior use. If it is not exterior plywood, it is a major opening for rot to start, if it hasn't already. If I find any more chinks in the exterior armor, I may take it back to the dealer.

I would also be interested in a spray-gunk material, and will look for an thread about it. Here is the applicable sub-forum:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f456/

[CruizinDux]

Installed fan on Thursday, took a day trip to Silver Falls S.P. on Friday to hike the Trail of 10 Falls while the flows are high. Beautiful...but kicked my butt so took Sat off.



http://oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=parkPage.dsp_parkPage&parkId=151



AS’ing is great, but if there’s an opening… Take a hike, walk, stroll…whatever works for you.

Re # post 688…I did the fan install this week and all went well. Wow, the wire gauges are preeetty thin. The red wire to the fan was probably a 22 and the fan wire a 24, based on the marking on my stripping tool. Both were untwisted strands. My first pass on the strip, I cut a few strands. Finesse is key at this gauge. I twisted the two individually, then together, soldered, and used an 18-22 butt connection. I drilled out the center stop and slipped the wire in from the end so it was the complete length, crimped and covered with shrink tubing.

I opted for the SilenX IXP-76-18 120 x 38 mm. iXtrema Pro 18DBA 90CFM Fan and it’s pretty quiet. I slipped a section of 1/8th” foam from an old sanding pad behind the bracket and also used the supplied rubber screws (see image)… found it easier to wet them and pull then in place vs pushing the plug s to speak. ( Image)

I also sort of re-routed the #12 wiring as it drops down from above the fins and on my install, was resting on the fins right next to the 2” mounting screw! I screwed in small plastic clamps into the 3/4 X piece (image2) to keep it up and off the heat, then routing it down at the bulkhead…also away from the vertical thingamagig to the right that gets pretty hot.

Lastly the wiring was pretty easy. As others have posted the image, hot is the center of the three. Looking at the plug converter it was pretty easy to determine which line was to be was abandoned (third wire odd man out…RPM control?). I clipped this short for easier ID, then slipped it in the shrink tubing to keep it out of the way. I did test on the batt to confirm the + / - and also before I soldered via fan switch, but the install was a no brainer.

[subfan1]

Did you mean to post pictures of the fan install you referenced? I'd like to see them, thanks

[OTRA15]

Thanks for the new photos Bob. Glad the new fan is better. Do you have any sense of what someone else said on that other thread: is this exterior fridge space a closed one?

In other words, if we propped the top exterior door all the way up (and thus lost the screening to keep insects out), would they be confined to the small space around the fins and other fridge mechanicals? In my old 25' AS trailer (~1985), I seem to recall that the insects could have gotten into the insulation in the exterior wall. Thus keeping the fridge ventilation doors closed made sense. With awning out at a campground, maybe opening the top door is part of the solution to minimizing "fan on" status . . .

Weird, the wiring going my fan is in one of those flex sleeves for protection, and looks like it takes a different route from your Post 688. I did not get around to posting a photo of it yesterday after the hiccup with the exposed plywood floor at the wheel well. It is as if the factory workers are given free reign to install things however they feel like it, with no master specs. to keep them on the straight and narrow . . .

Or did you have one of those plastic flex sleeves protecting your wiring harness to the fan, but had already removed it?

Looks like our frost warning last night was the final one. Hoping to turn on the water next week.

Peter

PS -- Gorgeous park, reminds me of one we hiked into near Arcata CA way back when. Here is a hot link:

Silver Falls State Park

[TCwheels]

Cruizin - Thanks much for the fan install description and pics. My fan is dead, so this is a needed fix for me too.

[OTRA15]

TCwheels FYI here is another recent thread on fridge fans, and as you probably realize there have been others:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f44/...an-148383.html

Not sure if Bob got the same fan I did but I do recognize the Silenx brand. Mine are in a box awaiting installation. I got two on sale at Amazon to have a back-up, and possibly add the second inline if needed, and if the existing supply wire and fuse are adequate.

Peter

[TCwheels]

Our 20 is at audio shop getting upgraded marine stereo with blue tooth. They're adding a hard wired Weboost cell signal booster in the trailer, so I can turn on my phone's wifi hotspot and have Internet access on the road. We've now been in enough campgrounds with promised wifi that just didn't cut it. Had to find a better alternative. I need to stay connected to my ofc a couple times a week - organized around our hike/bike/kayak schedule of course! DW is retiring the end of next month 😎 and she'll want to stay connected to kids and grandkids while we're on extended trips.

[OTRA15]

Great improvements. Look forward to hearing the details and functionality.

Are you adding a new antenna or working off the OEM? There are threads in the Boondocking sub-forum which discuss cell boosting.

Come on Spring!

[CruizinDux]

Originally Posted by subfan1

Did you mean to post pictures of the fan install you referenced? I'd like to see them, thanks

Subfan1, yes, The first image is to show how I determined the neg side. I'll have to look back for the image and link that ID'd the middle hot. The second image shows how my OEM wiring drops down right on the fins. The last three are the new install to show how I attached the #12 wire above so it rest on the fins..


This is the thread that I followed with some great step by step instructions.

Bob

[subfan1]

Originally Posted by CruizinDux

Subfan1, yes, The first image is to show how I determined the neg side. I'll have to look back for the image and link that ID'd the middle hot. The second image shows how my OEM wiring drops down right on the fins. The last three are the new install to show how I attached the #12 wire above so it rest on the fins..


This is the thread that I followed with some great step by step instructions.

Bob

Thanks, for some reason I couldn't see the pictures you posted last night. I see them now however.

[CruizinDux]

Originally Posted by TCwheels

Cruizin - Thanks much for the fan install description and pics. My fan is dead, so this is a needed fix for me too.

TCWheels here is the thread I used to evaluate the fan project (# of fans and sheet metal etc). It's a lot of pages so you may want to start @ #183.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f425...-11811-14.html

Once I decided on the fan, following the lead of Rifrafult, pasted #183 and #186 into a word document for note adding as it applied to our 20. I don't think he had a fan switch on the wall. J Bean followed with some great pics @ # 199 for a great visual.

However in the end, it was clip the red (+) and blue (-) that connect from the fan, install new fan and reconnect. I left about 6" on the old fan in case I wanted to use if for something else. I left as much of the original wiring as I could that I bundled up @ the right bulkhead. I saw no reason to cut it out.

I have also found the 3 wire pic so you can confirm the hot side. It may even be in the above thread. The other as noted in my first earlier image is the odd man out. The other side is the neg leg.

Good Luck.

Bob