What’s Your #1 MacGyver on the Road?

[John&Vicki]

I like to call this a MacGyver but it may be more of a hillbilly. Just got back from a two week trip and a water leak started up in the fresh water tank. It turns out it was coming from a circular white plastic drain installed in the bottom of the tank - very hard to get to and see. No chance to remove it.

I discovered that the lid from a Skippy peanut butter jar fit over it perfectly. So I put some Sikiflex 221 on the threads of the lid, stuck it on there, and voila!, no leak. I’m not sure where I’m going from here as there is absolutely no chance to remove it now. Siliflex is a lifelong commitment.

Cheers,
John

[RivetED]

Duck tape and tie-wraps have been some of my MacGyver tools of choice.

As I was setting up the Zip-Dee awning one time one of the angled braces cracked right at the bend. I took a used hack-saw blade, broke it in half, and then Duck-taped the 2 hack-saw pieces (one on top, one on the bottom) to the brace. For a little added strength I tie-wrapped the patch.

It worked for the rest of the trip!

[Photobum]

wonderful tricks. One of the best parts of this life is figuring out solutions to such problems...

[John&Vicki]

Great one Ed!

I really enjoy repurposing items. I currently restore headlights and turn signals for vintage Porsches and I’ve been able to use repurposed items a number of times. For example, the rubber dust covers on the rear of the early headlights are usually pretty well shot after 50 years. For one manufacturer I’m able to replace them with the rubber covers that we use on our hitch balls that I cut down. Fits perfectly and makes for a very nice professional solution.

Cheers,
John

[rmkrum]

We should all be alumni of this university...

Keep your paper clips, Duck tape, and Swiss Army Knife close at hand at all times...

[SlvrTwinkie]

This was 2 years ago. I was making repairs on our AS for the PO (Year before we bought it). A/C compressor wire repair (easy job), repair a water line that split do to freezing. Now after making these repairs for him I ended up discovering he had a FW leak he did not know about. There was about 8 1/8th inch holes in the bottom of the tank. Not knowing what to use to repair the tank and it being plastic, I took a light and an old common screwdriver to try and repair it. I heated the tip of the screwdriver with the lighter and then melted the holes shut. Filled the tank to see how well it worked and still using that tank today without any leaks from the bottom of the tank. I let the tank tank sit on saw horses for about a week with it full of water before draining it and reinstalling it

[Specsalot]

I can't find pic's (will add later if I locate) but I had the road side large square window near the front of my FC 25' RBQ shattered. The tell tail "honking car" next to me was a tip off to pull over, so I stopped at the next exit to fill up the TV.

The window was mostly gone except for a few small pieces bouncing around on the support rods. I removed the remains of the window. Went into the convenience store and bought them out of duct tape. I also convinced the manager to give me several empty cardboard boxes. I made a nice cardboard blank that slightly overlapped the window area and proceeded to duct tape it to the trailer around all edges. I had silver duct tape that was a good match for the trailer, so I kept taping layers across the cardboard to reinforce it. The job was so neatly done, that the window basically just "disappeared". I probably spent 2 hours cutting and taping the patch into place.

At the campstore where I was headed, I bought more duct tape and added a few more layers. The patch proved to be weather tight, and handled over 600 miles towing to get home. The local AS dealer already had glass with my name on it. It took more time to remove the patch (and residual glue) that it did to replace the window. I never go anywhere now without several rolls of duct tape in my repair kit.

[RivetED]

Originally Posted by Specsalot

I can't find pic's (will add later if I locate) but I had the road side large square window near the front of my FC 25' RBQ shattered. The tell tail "honking car" next to me was a tip off to pull over, so I stopped at the next exit to fill up the TV.

The window was mostly gone except for a few small pieces bouncing around on the support rods. I removed the remains of the window. Went into the convenience store and bought them out of duct tape. I also convinced the manager to give me several empty cardboard boxes. I made a nice cardboard blank that slightly overlapped the window area and proceeded to duct tape it to the trailer around all edges. I had silver duct tape that was a good match for the trailer, so I kept taping layers across the cardboard to reinforce it. The job was so neatly done, that the window basically just "disappeared". I probably spent 2 hours cutting and taping the patch into place.

At the campstore where I was headed, I bought more duct tape and added a few more layers. The patch proved to be weather tight, and handled over 600 miles towing to get home. The local AS dealer already had glass with my name on it. It took more time to remove the patch (and residual glue) that it did to replace the window. I never go anywhere now without several rolls of duct tape in my repair kit.

Oh Yeah, silver duct tape! Good job, glad to hear it worked out for you.

I've been working on getting my 'side-vented' refer to operate a bit more consistently and found out the A/S installed fuse holder had an intermittent connection in it. It wasn't the springs. I went to Amazon to order an in-line light duty fuse holder and found out the lowest priced Amazon Prime, 16 gage holder was ~$8.- USD, really.

$8.- + for a 16 gauge 5 amp fuse holder is almost robbery. So, I took the 2 left over 90 degree female spade connectors from my recent Easy-start install, tie-wrapped them together, and put a 5 amp fuse in them. Cost, one tie-wrap and a quick Youtube video. I can't take credit for the fix but it's another MacGyver fix that works for me. See photo:

[John&Vicki]

You guys are great! I’m really fascinated with clever work arounds (I’m from Vermont originally where they’re a staple of life) and I appreciate your keeping this discussion going. I feR this is skill that may be waning a bit in our culture.

Cheers,
John