Fans of Airstream Interstate

[Mr. B]

(Vent is in the center of picture)
:-(

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Mr. B

Today I played with maseration pump, draining of grey and black tanks, and filling fresh water tank. All looks fine, except I wasn't able to "rinse" the black tank how they specified in the instructions, and I think I did something wrong.

In order to fill the black tank with fresh water for its subsequent drain, I put a fresh water hose to the inlet on the left of the pumpout reel (as on the attached picture). Then I opened the black tank valve, but fresh water under the pressure started to leak from under the van. When I closed black tank valve and opened the grey tank valve, and water started to leak from behind of the vent (which is in the very middle of second picture).

To flush the black tank, first drain the black tank, then with the valve open hook up the hose as you did. Turn on the hose AND turn on the macerator pump. You want water running out of the tank at the same time water is running in, in order for the flush to do the best job. And you should let the water run into the tank for only a minute or less, then shut off the water and let the macerator pump finish draining the tank.

If the flush fitting is leaking at the point where you attach the hose, there are a couple of possibilities…
1 - The hose is not screwed in tightly; or
2 - There is a hose washer missing from the flush fitting.

If the black tank vent is leaking, then you have overfilled the black tank. There are only three places for the water to go if you overfill the black tank through the flush fitting; the macerator pump if the dump valve is open and the pump is running at the time; the toilet if the toilet valve seal fails; and the vent.

Since the vent is higher than the toilet flush valve, the only way to get water to leak out the black tank vent is to overfill the tank using the black tank flush fitting.

The flow rate through a garden hose is dependent on hose diameter, hose length, and water pressure. For a 25-foot-long half-inch-diameter hose at 40 psi (for example), the flow rate into your black tank would be 24 gallons per minute. The black tank only holds 17 gallons, and your macerator pump will only pump about 12 gallons per minute at most. So you can see that it's easy to overfill the black tank if you don't watch what you're doing and leave the water on for too long.

[NOLA_russ]

Another possibility: I had this problem and found the PVC connection (accessible from beneath) was cross-threaded. Quick and easy fix.

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Amen to that! The hinged plastic cover on mine is in dire need of replacement because of exactly that— or at least the half that hasn't broken off needs to be replaced. I count myself fortunate in the extreme that only the cover was damaged, and not the fill port or bleeder valve.

I ripped off the cover and the quick disconnect fitting a few years ago while driving over a big hole at a rest stop in Arizona. The cover is about $60 from Airstream.

[73shark]

Originally Posted by Mr. B

Today I played with maseration pump, draining of grey and black tanks, and filling fresh water tank. All looks fine, except I wasn't able to "rinse" the black tank how they specified in the instructions, and I think I did something wrong.

In order to fill the black tank with fresh water for its subsequent drain, I put a fresh water hose to the inlet on the left of the pumpout reel (as on the attached picture). The black tank valve was opened, and fresh water under my garden hose pressure started to leak from under the van. When I closed black tank valve and opened the grey tank valve, water started to leak from behind of the vent (which is in the very middle of second picture).

I detached the garden hose then, and did not play with it anymore :-(

What's wrong I did ?

Thank you guys for your advices!
:-)

With the hose connected to the black tank flush connection and the water turned on, you should be able to hear it by going inside and opening the toilet flush valve. If you can't hear the water coming in the tank, the check valve may be reversed. That was what was wrong w/ mine. It's accessible on the curbside by removing the panel by the black water tank.

Not sure what vent you are referring to unless you're talking about the furnace exhaust.

[Mr. B]

Thank you gentlemen for your fast responds!
I will check all you said and reply!
:-)

[Mr. B]

Shark! I have to look where is that "check valve of the black tank", what role it plays, and how it looks? Because I did not overfill the tank as Protagonist assumed. I did not have it fill even a little - the water immediately started to go underneath of the drivers side. And yes, when I opened the grey valve - the water immediately started to leak from the vent that located between the outside shower and pot water inlet, I beleive you're right and it is furnace exhaust vent.

My both tanks are clean like a sink at my wife kitchen )), but I extra-cleaned them today by opening both facets, and by pressing the toilet pedal until the fresh water tank emptied. Then I made a regular drain via the reel hose with maseration.

Actually everything looks and work just great, except that inlet for extra cleaning, which is located in the reel hose compartment: somehow water from the connected garden hose does not go to the tanks, but leaking from other places...

I can leave it as is because it's not a vital stuff, and I have another way for extra-cleaning the tanks by filling and draining as I wrote above, but I'm anyway curious when something wrong.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by Mjgman

.....

The furnace only works off propane, however most people use a small space heater when camping with a hook up..
.....

Those things were discussed in some detail about a year ago but I can't find where. I have two follow-up comments:

1. The model I got has no thermostat. When I was initially shopping, I don't think I saw any of the portable models with built-in thermostats. This is OK during the day because I can manually adjust as needed, but it has proven to be a problem for me with leaving it on overnight - the two choices become "off" and "incinerator". I am going to try to find some kind of in-line switch that has a thermostat. If anyone has done this, please post.

2. On REALLY cold nights, I've had trouble trying to run the thing as it sits on the counter. There's a reason why the OEM furnace is installed at floor level - it's necessary for proper air circulation. With the portable running on the counter, the air at the ceiling becomes super-heated while the air around the floor feels like there's no heat on at all - the air refuses to turn over (and the bed level tends to most closely mimic the floor temperature). In the future I'm going to try placing the heater on the floor with an extension cord, but this is a safety concern and on those trips when I have either another person or my dog with me, it's just not practical and I will have to burn propane even if shore power is available. I wish there were a second small all-electric heater installed and a means of toggling between the two. If we ever build ourselves a custom Class B, I will consider this.

[Lily&Me]

I leave my little space heater on the floor in the galley area, closer to the cabinet than dead center, and facing toward the front at night rather than toward the bed.

Facing toward the front to concentrate heat there, rather than where I am sleeping. It still diffuses nicely.

There is not only noise to alert a person or animal that it is on, and to avoid it, but a small red light at the top.

I don't trip over it if I have to get up at night, nor does Lily knock it over if she goes for water or her dog food.

This seems to work.


Maggie

[xrvr]

The cube heater I use has a tip over switch, temp control, and I use a small fan on low to circulate the air.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by avionstream

The cube heater I use has a tip over switch, temp control, and I use a small fan on low to circulate the air.

LOL I recently tried to use a separate fan to blow the hot ceiling air back down into general circulation. It was a battery operated clip-on style and I put it at the top of the closet door. Failed experiment - it wasn't strong enough to move the required air volume. And then its battery died in the middle of the night.

[Mjgman]

I got this little heater at Walmart and left it on the counter and it kept the coach at a comfortable temperature .. Now I didn't sleep in there so I can't really attest to how well it worked in the dead of night..

It has the tip over shut off and the whole casing stays pretty cool to the touch.. I would think putting it on the floor would be fine and if someone ran into they wouldn't suffer any burns...

I ran it for three nights and when I went to check on it in the morning the coach was comfortable with the morning temp in the teens..

[InterBlog]

Maggie's approach sounds very effective IF a person could pull it off safely. I don't think I would trust my own hare-brained dog if my heater were situated on the floor. Especially with an electrical cord coming out of it.

And I could not find one with a tip-over switch that was also well-constructed. I wanted a metal housing, not plastic, and the one I got is very robust, metal all around, but no safety switch.

At any rate, I'm not done thinking about this issue. Skyhooks probably wouldn't hurt, but I haven't come across any that have been adapted for use in the Interstate.

[Lily&Me]

I hook the cord around a cabinet handle, which keeps it out of the way of me and her.

It works for us.

Could always try this during the day, when you can see how...and whether...the dog avoids the space heater.


Maggie

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

And I could not find one with a tip-over switch that was also well-constructed. I wanted a metal housing, not plastic, and the one I got is very robust, metal all around, but no safety switch.

Plastic doesn't automatically mean poorly-constructed— unless you plan to bash it around. My plastic-encased desktop heater works fine placed on the floor in between the front seats, aimed directly down the aisle. Since the carpeted front floor mat extends between the front seats, I put a small plastic cutting board on the floor to provide a flat surface for the tip-over switch.

And it pumps out plenty of heat. At a rally a couple of months ago, a fellow Airstreamer's furnace went out in her 19' trailer. I loaned her the portable heater, and she told me that she had to get up in the middle of the night to turn the heat down because it was getting too toasty warm in her trailer for sleeping comfort!

To avoid bashing the heater around I store it in the original packaging in an overhead locker between uses (after letting it cool down, of course) and the unit was chosen in part specifically because it was small enough to fit in a locker while still in the box.

[Mr. B]

Follow up report:

The black water tank flashing inlet was stocked because of failed check valve, replacement of which resolved the problem.

Thank you everyone for advices, especially Shark who immediately bited the problem with his sharp teeth. )))

[Mr. B]

As a new guy in our forum, I would like to open a talking about Sprinter's outside rearview mirrors that confuses me a little bit. The mirror consists of two parts - smaller bottom one, and bigger upper one. The bigger upper mirror is vibrating on the speed. Both sides. Today I was on dealership and drove couple new Sprinters - the same thing: mirrors shaking on all of them.

Does anyone have annoying feeling of this matter, and if yes - what did you do?

[UKDUDE]

Originally Posted by Mr. B

As a new guy in our forum, I would like to open a talking about Sprinter's outside rearview mirrors that confuses me a little bit. The mirror consists of two parts - smaller bottom one, and bigger upper one. The bigger upper mirror is vibrating on the speed. Both sides. Today I was on dealership and drove couple new Sprinters - the same thing: mirrors shaking on all of them.

Does anyone have annoying feeling of this matter, and if yes - what did you do?

Hello Mr. B (your last name isn't Bean is it by any chance? that's a joke from the UK!) - I find the mirrors are perfect for both distant and close vision, as long as they are correctly adjusted. The small lower mirror provides a side view of anything sneaking up outside the view of the main mirror. As to vibration, yes, mine vibrate too, but it improves as I drive faster; the wind keeps it steady.


Sent from my iPad using Airstream Forums

[73shark]

Mine don't do that. Since the upper, large mirror is controlled electrically, you might try running each mirror to the four limit stops (side to side and top to bottom) and then back to where you want them.

The bottom, smaller convex mirror is manually adjustable and used to eliminate blind spots.

[Protagonist]

The way I adjust my mirrors is this, on both sides…
Upper mirrors set so the inside edge just barely shows the side of the van o provide a point of reference, and the horizon is about halfway between top and bottom.
Lower mirrors also set so the inside edge just barely shows the side of the van, but the horizon about one-third of the way down from the top edge, so that objects close to the van and lower than my normal line of sight are clearly visible.

With the mirrors set like this, I have no blind spots at all. When a passing vehicle disappears from my rearview camera monitor, it appears in the upper mirror. When it disappears from the upper mirror, it appears in the lower mirror that has a wider field of view. When it disappears from the lower mirror, it's visible through the side window.

When I am passing someone, I know that if I stay in the passing lane until I can see the entire front end of the vehicle being passed in the upper outside mirror, I'm far enough ahead to change lanes back in front of him without cutting him off, even with my toad behind me.