Nooooo! Man that was close. Sparks and all.

[robwok]

I was putting a new elastic cord under the curtains. on my 64, it's a cord that holds the bottom of the curtains close to the sides of the trailer.

Anyway, drilled out the old one, and when I did, there was a flash and smell of smoke. I then realized the rivet was right below the kitchen outlet.

No easy way to get to anything. I thought, either I'll have to cut an access hole under the kitchen sink, or take out half the kitchen.

Fortunately afte removing a few rivets, and peering down a tiny crack, I realized it ran to the next outlet box, and there was nothing between them. I pulled the other outlet box hoping beyond hope there was a little slack in the box. Nope. However, when I pulled the box out to see if I could pull a little more to look at the damage, some guy 50 years ago did me a HUGE favor. He left a 10" loop of extra romex in the wall. I was able to pull it through the other box and cut off the damaged area.

Whew!

[10Smiles]

Wow, that would be scary!!! Nice job.

[jimmbob]

Thanks for the heads up. Took our '76 31' LY on her maiden voyage this last weekend. We want to use it a little before we start remodeling. Looking at all the forums for ideas and help with leaks. Jim Teach & Lucille

[ericpeltier]

On my SOB I was improving some of the flimsy bulkheads, and drove a screw into the floor. AAAAAAAAA! It was right over the chase with all the pex running in it. AND wiring!!!! Well.........nothing happened. No leak, no sparks. I still feel dumb when I look in that compartment. Really dumb.

[robwok]

oh yeah, I was very concerned about the chase when I was doing work. I'm almost done with the trailer, and hoping to sell her soon. I didn't want to have to take out half the kitchen just to do a proper job. This way I feel completly comfortable with it because it's unbroken and there are no junctions in the wall. Whoever saved my butt is probably worm food, but I appreciate it.

I'm goint to be extra careful with everything else going back in.

Big tip, use sharp drill bits. My mistake (besides not thinking about what could be behind that rivet) was using a dull bit. As a result I was pushing a little harder than needed to get it to ream out the rivet.

Rob

[HiJoeSilver]

I like to cut my drill bits short for these jobs, cut them so I can get them fully in the chuck with about 1/4" bit sticking out. It's long enough to get rivet heads out or drill new holes in the skin. If I don't have a shorty I'll either stack some rigid foam on the bit as a stop, or wrap some duck tape around the bit about 1/4" down to act as a stop.

[Ed K]

In a pinch, I've stacked the required number of 1/4 inch washers taped with white vinyl tape as a drill depth guard. Not the safest method, but it's managed to get me by !

[AWCHIEF]

Most jobs are easier when the correct tools are used.
http://www.amazon.com/Steelex-D2803-...rill+bit+depth

[NWRVR]

Originally Posted by Ed K

In a pinch, I've stacked the required number of 1/4 inch washers taped with white vinyl tape as a drill depth guard. Not the safest method, but it's managed to get me by !

You can also buy the depth collars for each size drill bit. Measure the depth and set the appropriate collar on the bit with the allen set screw.

[TruckerFritz]

Re slack left in the wall... my Dad was an electrician and always did that... he said some day some one will thank me... your welcome....

[hugheym]

You can get drill stops that attach to the drill bit with a set screw. Simple fix and you don't need to shorten bit that way.

[Gnorts]

Man, I hate it when that happens.

In the earlier AS, the '71 18ft Caravel, I was installing carpet and drilled a hole to mount an aluminum trim strip at the base of the fiberglass floor pan for the bathroom in the rear. I broke through the thin fg, and suddenly the water pump started and I got a squirt of water right in the middle of my chest! The copper water line to the galley was right behind the fg.

Quick! Turn the pump off! Didn't soak the new carpet too badly. I had to drill an oversize hole to get access to the hole in the copper tubing. Used a small stainless steel sheet metal screw and a home-made gasket made of neoprene, screwed the "repair" into the tubing and turned the pump on. Woohah! No leak. The trim piece just barely covered the hole.

Dodged a major bullet on that one. If my fix hadn't worked, it would have meant dropping the belly pan, tearing out insulation, a basic nightmare, to replace or patch that run of tubing. Whew!

[HiJoeSilver]

I know they make drill stops that screw to the bit. Just don't like them. Plus if I used them I wouldn't get to improvise, overcome, adapt.