Added stuff, too much for the What did you do thread...

Re: Fixing the shower

A couple of months ago a loud crash happened while driving. I didn't know what the sound was and my wife informed me that the shower wand had fallen. I was shocked to see when we stopped that the bottom arm had fallen from the bar that the shower wand is attached to. I fixed it for the last month, I drilled out a hole next to the screw and used a plastic wall mount. Worked great for a time, but on the way back home from our last trip, there was that crash again. I tried to unscrew the remnants of the screw that came out the back of the shower wall, now that I have access. No go, but I tried to hammering it out with an awl and that hole I drilled last time came in handy.



So the piece I need to hang is a tube with-in a tube. The inner one is water tight, screws to the wall, the outer one holds the bottom of the shower post. It's a strange design, not water tight at all, water than runs down the post fills the outer tube, potentially it can drain as the outside of the tube rests on the shower wall but is not sealed. There is air coming around the post so water will evaporate, also the shower wall has a hole thru it, likely for air too, hopefully not to drain behind the shower.

The old screw obviously didn't stay dry in the "sealed" inner tube as it rusted in half (above)



Shopped for some time at the hardware store looking for a way to attach the mount now that the hole is bigger than it was, cannot just screw into wood anymore. I found this:



Pushed the new 1" round head 10-24 screw thru the big hole in the wall and attached the 4-prong T-nut. The prongs keep it from turning and need to be pulled into the wood, when finished the screw can be removed but the nut will stay in the wall. I used pliers to keep the wall from getting damaged while I tightened the nut. Once it was set I could unscrew and attached the bottom piece of the shower assembly. I added a nylon washer to try to keep this screw from rusting, we'll see.



This then is what it is supposed to look like, the screw went in that hole, thru the washer, the wall, and into the T-nut on the other side. If you are doing this be sure to rotate the post until it clicks in, there is a notch taken out of the post it keep it from spinning while you shower, it's less fun when it spins. There is a cap not in the photograph to help keep water out and to complete the install.



There are lots of things missing from my shower, no skylight, like ALL OTHER RVs have, so a bit short for me, but my RV is only 9'6", I like that. The shower has a curtain, I think this is the LAST RV that has a curtain, they all have doors or retractable self-squeegeeing shields. But I like it. I am tempted to change it, but there is a window into the bedroom, the curtain blows in the hot moist air. And I am the only year that has the curtains... But I did shop for shower pans last week. Who knows what I'll buy for the RV next...

That thing on the curtain above that looks like a spider is a hair clip, we use to to clip the curtain onto the coat hooks mounted on the inner wall of the bathroom. I don't know where those of you with newer baths keep your robes and wet towels. The clip works perfectly, without it the curtain blows into my legs and grabs on. With the clip I have room to easily move around taking a shower. Got this the FIRST day we tried the shower, love it.

-Randy

Looks like you got a lot of little repairs and tweaks done. Interesting to see what the water pump diaphragm looks like and what the symptoms are when it is damaged.
What accumulator did you install and do you have picture of it? Adding one sounds like a great idea, just like the pressure system I have at the cabin. Keeps the pumps from starting up every time the tap is opened.

Re: Replaced the damaged Sherwood dash cover

[Sorry, have not installed the accumulator yet]

When I got the RV new the previous owner had been looking for places to attach their GPS and had attached the smooth circles that come in the box with GPS mounts these days to the dash under the radio. I didn't need them as I mount my iPhone in a cradle on the flat of the dash. When I removed them however it left screw holes that I hated.

Before:



I finally called the guys at Sherwood and using the manual that came with the RV I ordered the replacement piece only for about $40, not the kit, which is over $250 w/o the LTV imprinting.



Finally had some time and cleaned the dash of the old reside using the cleaning swabs that came with the piece that surrounds all the switches. The new piece dropped into place and completely hid the screw holes. It is slightly darker than the originals but who is complaining.

After:



-Randy

Ouch! - screw holes in the carbon fiber panels? The adhesive patches that come with those circles these days are more than adequate to hold the device without damage like that. I'd rather deal with the difference in the shade of the panel like what you just got than the holes.

Why on earth would you want to put your GPS that far away from your line of sight when you are driving? Your dash location is the rational choice for my thinking.

I was surprised too, but the adhesive destroyed the carbon fiber below it, or at least is extremely difficult to get off. The piece on the other side of the shifter I am still trying to clean. Whenever I am on a long drive I will use my fingernails and claw at it, trying to get the residue off. I would use something like goof off, but I used that on the other side and it MELTED the surface of the carbon fiber dash cover. Merged with the paper towel. It got ugly fast. Goof off is only for metal from now on (guess I could have read the label). So I am using elbow grease for the other side. It looks almost unnoticeable at this point.

-Randy

I am now thinking I want to be very careful about where I use the adhesives for those GPS mounts. Any chance a heat gun helps for removing that stuff?

Adhesive has not treated me well in the RV. It's a 2007, so not new, but the laminate used to make the Serenity is VERY weak. I put a sticker on the wall below a voltmeter plugged into the 12v outlet in the back, and when it started to show dirt I went to remove it and the laminate came with it. Then the velcro the previous owner mounted couldn't be removed w/o taking the laminate. I moved to all wall damage free removable adhesive for hooks and when my wife pulled on my hat that was hooked it took the hook, the sticker and the laminate. So I am done with adhesive.

The reason for the issue on my dash is the dash covers, the Mercedes dash is not squishy like the Sherwood makes it, and that product is very similar to the adhesive so despite taking the dots off in direct sun in mid-summer, it still left LOTS of residue. Perhaps if I had one more dots to remove I would have used a blow dryer, but the dash cover might have come off.

-Randy

Upgraded water pump.

I know, I tried to fix the pump. When it broke and would never stop pumping I thought "well it's just this obvious diaphram damage", replacing the broken part was much cheaper ($12?) than replacing the whole pump. When I put the repaired pump back in it would turn off, but took an AWFULLY long time to do it. Perhaps it's simply the pressure sensor is askew, but it had other symptoms. When I was at a park and on city water the toilet was fun to flush, the showers luxurious, but on the water pump pressure I couldn't get much more than a trickle from the outside shower. Seemed that something more was wrong than just taking time to shut off.

You may remember my run-in with the garbage truck. I always feared that the incident did more than body damage, so the pressure issues had me scared. Today the pump I ordered from a local shop a week ago arrived. So much for quick local shipping. Next time I am going for price, but I only paid $140 and I got the biggest, newest Shurflo going. The 4048 Hi-Flow. Advertised as not needing an accumulator, which I had yet to install, and giving city water levels of pressure. Took about an hour to install, mostly because it was bigger than the original so I could not just put in in the same holes.

Before

During

After


Got it installed with just one crimp connector on the ground wire, reused the connector LTV had on the old pump. Probably should put a board under it, as the waterlines are a bit taught reaching the pump, but after clearing the air from the lines I was shocked how well the plumbing works now. Probably could have realized that if the city pressure worked well, the pump was the problem and not the lines.

As most of the fixtures are 2.5 GPM it will source multiple outlets at once w/o slowing and it takes just a second after shutting off the water for the pump to stop. It is noisy, but I like that. My first RV had a loud pump, this one was quiet and then I noticed it was running on and so quiet it could have been broken and running on for a week and I would not have noticed. They say to turn off the pump when you are away, but I never did that on the old RV and will probably go back to that now that I have a new pump. I like not having to find the pump switch to get water.

Next week, new speakers!

-Randy

Updated my Subwoofer post: http://www.sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?p=298694#post298694 and now my RV Rocks!

Also per my post http://www.sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?p=282491#post282491 in the Best Tire Pressure Monitor System thread I have successfully started using the TireMinder TPMS. Got a replacement for the burned-out pump, and a replacement valve stem extender to mount the sender on.

After using the water pump shown above for a few weeks I think I will install the accumulator anyway, but the water pressure is unbelievable... And the pump turns off NOW when you close a valve. Sadly I lost the lovely original shower head, I guess the shower arm when it fell lost some of it's hold and now every time I turn a corner it drops the shower head on the deck. I purchased a couple of new ones cheap off Amazon as I cannot find the original shower head on the InterWebs and the Oxygenetics I tried sprays water everywhere. One of the new ones has a water-powered LED that changes color with the water temp!!!! Hopefully I can figure out the shower arm issue, as it has already dropped the new one a few times too.

-Randy

This is to Randy

I have been meaning to ask how are your solar panels working out? Are they staying in place and are you getting the power out of them that your hoped?


tuktu

So, yes...? I guess. I don't actually have ANY previous experience, so I realized that I needed to get experience so I could talk about it. I definitely spent too much, but I got EXACTLY what I wanted. It is only now getting to be the dead of summer, I am looking forward to June 21st to see exactly how much is the MOST sun I can capture. What I wanted to solve was when the RV was in for service the batteries were killed (twice) and that is really not good for the long term on the batteries. Now if I cannot get electricity for a time the trickle charge will keep the batteries from wearing out. The charge controller from Blue Sky Energy also had an equalize mode that top balances the pack every 30 days AND helps to keep the batteries for sulfating.

I think what pushed me over the threshold was the wife complaining about always having to unplug and how much energy I was burning thru leaving the RV plugged in and the refer running. Now I can drive away anytime and not think about the cord. I did stop running the fridge as the LTV has an absorption fridge and it will eat the battery pack in a day, but I have buckets of propane for when I do run the fridge, and when traveling I can run it on battery and solar, the panel is actually wired into the fridge, and any other energy goes to charge the battery via a LONG (read high voltage drop) wire to the batteries.

What I have learned or was surprised by: With solar your battery really never runs down. Sure I could leave the water pump running dry or the headlights on, but for all normal use I am never low on charge. My next purchase, the inverter for the microwave/coffee maker, may put an end to that glee. Since I use it on weekends the RV has all week to recover the charge. I am getting less that 6 amps of charging, when I plug into shore I get, hmmm... maybe 3 times that. Probably more, it's a 55 amp converter, no voltage drop as the batteries are right there. So I can charge the pack up in an evening if needed.

There is a strange interaction between the solar and the alternator. When I use up the pack and then drive it actually seems to take LONGER to charge than if I just had the charge coming from one or the other, but I don't currently have a bypass for either so I have not been able to explore the issue. I do like being able to see what current the solar provides via the display, I can see it from the driver's seat. Just like when the batteries are full it seems the current from solar drops if the voltage is showing high because the alternator is also charging. Not sure what happens to the extra current the sun is generating, perhaps it becomes heat.

The controller should go from bulk to absorb to float modes as it fills the battery, but I mostly see it in bulk, the voltage drop probably makes it see a battery that has less energy than it really has, but I also mostly track it when driving, which means it's ALL screwed up by the multiple charge sources. I am thinking of doing the trick Graphite Dave did with the alternator driving an inverter that drives the charger/converter. That would give me 3-stage charging while driving, that is a project that may never happen. I have my goal of an almost undetectable custom-sized aerodynamic solar install that can be walked on, that allows me to have an always full battery and monthly equalization.

I do wish that I had gotten the 75 watt panel that I requested, sadly they were custom made fro me in China so difficult to return. The one I was sent is a higher base-voltage than the other two I got, but it is on the leeward side of the RV so with less sun, it may generate less voltage anyway and may actually be the MOST balanced I could have come up with. Will only ever find out by buying another panel and comparing, so I may never do that... Difficult to track if I did try to evaluate as different days have different sun, different parking, different levels of charge. The day I hooked it up I saw 6.7 amps charging and NEVER saw that high again, but when the battery is near full I will get 2 amps showing on the solar controller display even in full sun. In June I will clean the panels and run the batteries down and see what the most charge I can get from the system is.

-Randy

Re: New Kitchen Faucet

Someone else posted about it, and I don't even think it was here. I think it was the Yahoo Via/Reyo group, but someone had the same sink, with the glass top that everyone has these days. They didn't wanna live with it and upgraded the sink to have a new adjustable high faucet. It can be used for filling tall containers and for being able to get OVER your dishes when washing them. I followed in their footsteps, really should have checked it out as how would I know a Via would have EXACTLY the same sink as a Serenity.

I ordered the faucet in January from Panther (http://panther-rvproducts.com/Dometic-Faucet-AC542-Chrome-AC542.htm) after scouring the web for pricing. Only one other place had the same price, much more expensive elsewhere. I am not the most motivated as you can tell it being almost July, but yesterday I finally figured out how to remove the old faucet. The original faucet was held down by a large nut and the hoses held on by barbs. The barbs were VERY strong and if my RV Repair place had jumped I would have had them do the work, but turns out you just REALLY have to pull to get the old hose off, oh, and have a towel at the ready as you are gonna get wet. Remember to open the outside shower to let the water drain down, and open the old faucet to get air in the system.





The other addition that I needed over just installing it was a rubber gasket in place of the O-Ring that comes with the faucet. I actually went a little bit smaller on the interior diameter, just took the faucet to the hardware store. The outside diameter was the same as the 4 corners, so you can see the gasket sticking out around the square base of the faucet, but it looks fine, I have to remove my pencil markings to make it actually look good.

The hose is now a little long for the space, I may get a sharp knife and cut it to length, but glad I didn't as I was installing it. Took maybe 20 remove and reinstalls to finally get it the way I like it. Would have been tough w/o the slack it has.



The new faucet is rather fancy "euro style", and VERY hard to find plumbing parts for. What I needed to install it was a 3/8" Barb x 1/2" Female Pipe, most of the adapters I found were 3/8 x 3/8 or 1/2 x 1/2, fortunately we have a REALLY old hardware store near by with LOTS of stuff. They had the right one, but when I initially hooked it up with teflon tape it still leaked. I had to get a 3/8" rubber washer to keep the water in... Now those of you with pecks piping experience, you were not here to help so I had to do it this way, I am sure there was another simple fix that I missed by not being a real plumber. Parts cost was under $5.





Worked on it until dusk yesterday and again today. Not a quick install, but very satisfying as the wife REALLY didn't like the original faucet and likes the capability to spray water anywhere in the sink that the new faucet gives us. It also allows MUCH more water thru from the city water or from my new high flow water pump.

-Randy

I personally take credit for getting LTV to substitute the Regency larger sink and standard faucet instead of that danged mini faucet under glass thing on my rig in 2011. It is an IKEA sink... nice and deep... with a usable faucet. It appears that they are using these on all the rigs now.

You're welcome. 8)

I am still in the camp that the liftable lid means easy on/easy off. The "let me put this somewhere" lid would get lost and the faucet on the counter top is in the way when I am (mostly) not using the sink. I don't make up the dining table so the kitchen counter IS the table for the RV, I also mostly don't use the stove.

I am super happy with my setup, though I do wish I had gotten the deeper sink of the 2012 Via, but only a little bit. Someday I'll find a guy that will cut the little trashcan hole out of the countertop for me...

-Randy

I bet you have the skills to cut the countertop yourself. Depending on the material of the countertop, a router, wood template and a template router bit you should be able to do it in place. I cut a piece of corian for my sink although it wasn't installed yet with a router and template. Wish I spent more time making the template but like most things I do was at the last minute.

I've never used the little trash container in my rig. And I never cover my sink. I found a small plastic dishpan (size given out in many hospitals) that fits perfectly... and it contains all kinds of important stuff that is now at my fingertips.

mumkin said:

I've never used the little trash container in my rig. And I never cover my sink. I found a small plastic dishpan (size given out in many hospitals) that fits perfectly... and it contains all kinds of important stuff that is now at my fingertips.

Click to expand...

On the other hand, we use it all the time. I like your idea of a dishpan to hold stuff in the sink so it can be easily taken out when the sink is needed.

Here's a photo of a table I made to hold the sink cover and it adds a double decked platform for the kitchen. Our son in law, who is an artist, decorated the table with leg names of each of our four daughters' families... Al

I see you have a nice rig! RE: Batteries My 24 ft DSL 2012 Tioga (Fleetwood Coach on a MB frame) came with 2 6V coach batteries in series (under the coach step) and a 12 V battery under the drivers floor.
Question... Do you know if your generator has an in-line 150 aux battery amp fuse installed ? My manual says one is there, but I can't find it...ha! Rob.

MeRob said:

I see you have a nice rig! RE: Batteries My 24 ft DSL 2012 Tioga (Fleetwood Coach on a MB frame) came with 2 6V coach batteries in series (under the coach step) and a 12 V battery under the drivers floor.
Question... Do you know if your generator has an in-line 150 aux battery amp fuse installed ? My manual says one is there, but I can't find it...ha! Rob.

Click to expand...

Yeah, no idea. Ask Fleetwood.

-R