2018 23CB water heater support

[Troutboy]

Agree. An I almost ordered rivnuts thinking they were the same. Now I know and I got the right kind.

[GMFL]

Oops. I ordered a Rivnut kit today. Overkill for sure. I got the P/N 70-1000 Available for $175.00 for 140.00 shipped because I called an asked.
http://www.rivetnutusa.com/rivnut-ki...-products.html

They will still work and the kit goes all the way down to 6-32 and up to 1/4-20
Who knows what I’ll find to use it for. First will be the Dinette Table with some 8-32’s

[RFP]

Originally Posted by GMFL

Looks great Rob,
Proves there more than one way to skin a cat.
I gotta get on of those Jack -nut installers.

Originally Posted by RFP

Oh, Ronnie, this is just Stage 1. I'm going to go ahead and foam under the thing, too... belt and suspenders, you know. We should change the 23D thread title to the Profound Overkill thread!

So, Ronnie... Today, I did the Loctite foam under the water heater. I suppose that I need to look for another 'project,' because, this one is certainly DONE.

You know, while I was in there, I thought that I might run up to Home Depot and get some closed-cell foam pipe insulation and put it on the hot water PEX lines under the bed area. But, I came to my senses just in time!

[RFP]

Originally Posted by GMFL

Oops. I ordered a Rivnut kit today. < snip > First will be the Dinette Table with some 8-32’s

Ronnie, may I respectfully suggest 10-32 instead of 8-32?

[GMFL]

Yes......yes you can! That’s what I’ll do 10-32 it is.

[GMFL]

Originally Posted by RFP

So, Ronnie... Today, I did the Loctite foam under the water heater. I suppose that I need to look for another 'project,' because, this one is certainly DONE.

You know, while I was in there, I thought that I might run up to Home Depot and get some closed-cell foam pipe insulation and put it on the hot water PEX lines under the bed area. But, I came to my senses just in time!

Lets work on your medicine cabinet plan.....
And I almost did the same thing with the pipe insulation, but stopped myself.
I am going to get some pipe insulation and a pool noodle and block the sides and top of my refrigerator to prevent heat soaking the whole area. (I saw that on the forum here somewhere.)

[Mattirs]

Originally Posted by eagletoo

Just discovered that the small wood support that was installed under my Atwood 6 gallon water heater stripped out. Result is aluminum skin surrounding heater is tearing.
Last pic is wood support laying next to heater - instead of under it.
Anybody have this happen to them? Any solution?

Boy am I glad you posted this.
Found that exact same piece of wood floating around in that whole last year. Wife said, "Throw it away." Having built enough things I learned if there is some extra when you are done keep them, where they belong will show up.

Now how do I reach in there and screw it down? Tried to see how to take the cabinetry off but no luck.
2016 FC 25 rear bedroom

Thanks,
Matti

[GMFL]

Ouch,

Send a few pics of the bigger picture and we can figure it out.
Great catch!

[eagletoo]

Geez! Every AS owner, regardless of year or model, needs to investigate their own hw heater for this problem.

[blacklab]

OK guys, you've stumped me: Why not insulate the piping under the bed?

My guess is that you don't want to prevent the nice heat from warming the mattress and making the bed cozy on cool mornings, is that correct?

Or, other reason?

Cheers,

Bryan

[GMFL]

My reason was you can only insulate a very short portion of the pipe and the pipe runs to the fixtures are not very long so there is not much heat loss from the heater to the outlet.

[GMFL]

Tune in to the 23D thread for what I would consider an amazing little MOD and hardening of our Airstream. Hint it involves the fridge.......
And may have been covered before but I will post for clarity.

[RFP]

Originally Posted by blacklab

OK guys, you've stumped me: Why not insulate the piping under the bed?

My guess is that you don't want to prevent the nice heat from warming the mattress and making the bed cozy on cool mornings, is that correct?

Or, other reason?

Cheers,

Bryan

Well, I surmised that there is not enough heat gained or lost through that amount of PEX to make a speck of difference.

Or, maybe just laziness

[blacklab]

Ok, that clarifies it.

Thanks.

Cheers,
Bryan

[smithcreek]

When I read this thread yesterday I thought maybe that brace was just put in there to keep the tank in position while installing it. Took a look at the Atwood installation manual today and one of the first things is says is tank must be fully supported. My brace was like most, only one screw at one end and the rest shifted so it was providing almost no support. D'oh!

I sent an 18" long 2" wide piece of wood through the planer several times until I could lift the tank just a bit and slide it under. Put a bit of wood glue on it to tack it to the plywood subfloor, slid it in lengthwise under the center of the tank, and I should be good to go. Thanks for posting this potential issue.

[upszeke]

Just more shoddy workmanship from AS concerned more about quantity than quality. Similar to most RV manufacturers these days. I thought about buying a new or newer AS, but after conversations with some that have bought new AS and problems encountered, I'm just going to keep my 1982 Excella.

[Mattirs]

Originally Posted by GMFL

Ouch,

Send a few pics of the bigger picture and we can figure it out.
Great catch!

Here are the big picture pics. I looked at it real closely today and the only screws there on the side with the hinges. Even they don't seem to be enough to hold the whole cabinetry in place.

Thanks,
Matti

[smithcreek]

Looks like you can get to it from above, which is how I got at mine. Personally I would not use the brace that came with the trailer or put it back where it was originally. The styrofoam jacket is basically a hexagon and the original brace was placed against the rear side which is angled 45 degrees. That's just a really bad spot for any number of reasons. The brace obviously breaks, moves, or tilts and if it doesn't the styrofoam jacket will move or crush.


It really should be placed on the bottom, directly under the center of the tank, and that is exactly what is shown in the Atwood installation manual. Do you have any way to thickness a piece of wood? A planer, tablesaw or a friend with woodworking tools you could borrow?

[GMFL]

You will need to remove the whole closet piece. No fear it’s really easy to take Airstream’s apart, and you might find something else to fix while in there.