Breathing on the camper.

"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
07/31/2020 at 11:31 • Filed to: Camperlopnik

Unsurprisingly, we identified a few issues with the camper when we took it out this past weekend. I spend the bulk of yesterday working on those.

The big issue was the right rear corner of the top, wasn’t going up as far as the other corners. The real problem this was causing, was the top of the door would catch the roof’s weatherstripping (see blue tape over the door).

After doing some research about the particular lift system these campers use, I pulled off a sheet metal cover to reveal this. This is called a wiffle tree ... for reasons.

Photo: I’m really sick of this already.

There were also some remnants of an old mouse nest ... eww.

Anyways, the one that is turned in way farther, is the cable that leads to the right rear lift arm. This is after I adjusted it. I adjusted the right front a little as well, as it was a touch low too.

Now the door clears nicely. I glued the weatherstripping back in place, and moved onto other issues. The door latch wa s rather difficult to release from the outside. Difficult enough that my little one could n’t open it, and the big one could only sometimes open it. I pulled that apart and made some adjustments. It’s still difficult, but a lot less so. The big one can open it now consistently. The little one still can’t. I may go buy a screen door latch from Ace, and see if I can make that work.

I then moved onto replacing the shock cord on the front bunk. This was broken, and the bottom on the front end tent couldn’t be properly secured. The previous owners had already purchased the supplies for this, so I installed them.

Finally I added a level bubble to the side of the trailer. Now I don’t need to travel with a level, or go with my finally tuned eyeball.

The next major issue to deal with is the water system. The pump works, but the fresh water tank is NASTY! There is also a leak somewhere between the pump and the hot water heater (possibly the water heater itself, although I don’t think it’s that) . Honestly, I would just abandon the whole thing and not use it, but the boss wants it fixed.

I’m tempted to just throw away the old tank, and put this !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! under the sink, if there is room. I haven’t measured under there yet. It’ll be close, but I think I can make it work. Or I could put it under one of the dining table seats, but that’s on the other side of the camper, and will require cutting in a new tank inlet, and getting really creative with the running of new water lines. I’d really rather not do that.

Weirdly, there is no grey water tank. The sink just drains out of the side of the camper. That doesn’t feel right to me.

DISCUSSION (31)

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > shop-teacher
07/31/2020 at 11:38

Good work! No gray water tank also feels strange. Maybe there used to be one?

This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja: > shop-teacher
07/31/2020 at 11:41

Thanks a lot, now I’m shopping for pop up trailers.

Good luck getting i t sorted. If it's just a sink let 'er flow. Only you can prevent forest fires.

RacinBob > shop-teacher
07/31/2020 at 11:43

We use those Amazon taks at our cabin. They work great. Ps always add a couple of drops of bleach when filling.

shop-teacher > RacinBob
07/31/2020 at 11:49

Thanks for the tip!

shop-teacher > This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja:
07/31/2020 at 11:51

Good luck. Covid drove the prices way up. Fortunately I bought this at the end of the season last year. I could have flipped it for a tidy profit this summer, but then I’d have sad kids ;)

It is just the sink, but I may bring a catch can of some sort. We’ll see.

shop-teacher > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
07/31/2020 at 11:52

Thanks!

I suppose that’s possible, but I don’t see any spot where a tank was removed. The camper is totally stock.

HammerheadFistpunch > shop-teacher
07/31/2020 at 12:00

So it looks like you have the same door as me, the frame is integral and while that helps with alignment it can also cause issues. if the latch is sticky it’ s usually because the door isn’t perfectly plumb, move it around a little and you will find it easier or harder.

replace the shock cord. Important. The people we share our trailer with didn’t shock cord the bunks ever and they had their 18 month old slip out and fall right onto the pavement from 4 feet one night . Thankfully no major injuries but they shock cord those bunks now!

Fix the water system...and buy spare parts as well as install as many bypass valves as you can. These systems are series plumbed and so one small leak disables the entire water system. I’ve added bypasses on the sink, water heater and showers so that if I have a leak at any of them I can bypass that feature and fix it later. I’ve had to field fix it once and while it worked I don’t want to do that again. Also, does your water heater have a low point drain installed? If not I would do that. Put a little pex with a valve that drops several inches below the rest of the system to drain out the lines completely to prevent the funk. Since those upgrades I haven’t had any problems.

As for the water system funk. Bleach. I can’t remember the dilution I use but I bleach it every spring and its always fresh as a daisy. There are water cleaning tabs you can buy but bleach works great for disinfecting (do not inject into body ). Those tabs might be a good follow up for getting rid of a taste.

This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja: > shop-teacher
07/31/2020 at 12:05

Cheapest I saw during my short search that was still in seemingly usable shape was 3 grand Canadian. 3 grand buys a fair number of air conditioned hotel room stays though.

ClassicDatsunDebate > shop-teacher
07/31/2020 at 12:07

The 2 or 3 tent trailers I’ve used over the years all had their sinks drain onto the ground. We used to have a rubbermaid tub in the sink for washing up so we could take the thing and throw the water into the bush....lest we create a puddle of soapy water in the main camp area.

XJDano > shop-teacher
07/31/2020 at 12:22

The wiffle tree on my parents pop up is a bit screwed up. You can crank it up no problem, but it won’t crank down. I had to get under neath, remove the cover like you did and start to lower it by hand(tools) and then it’ll crank the rest of the way. Laying on my back and hand starting it is worth up to the $300 it’ll cost to replace it.

PyramidHat > shop-teacher
07/31/2020 at 12:29

Can you plug in an external tank to the outlet? Then just dump when needed?

Deal Killer - Powered by Focus > shop-teacher
07/31/2020 at 12:35

My parents pop-up had a sink with no grey water tank, and I think it just drained outside as well. My dad would just connect it to a collapsible jerry can and dump as needed.

nerd_racing > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
07/31/2020 at 12:55

It is more common than you think. I usually drain into a 5 gallon bucket, then empty that in the proper disposal area when the time comes.

onlytwowheels > shop-teacher
07/31/2020 at 13:05

I would start here:

Sanitize Your RV’s Freshwater System In 5 Simple Steps

https://blog.campingworld.com/rv-basics/sanitize-your-rvs-freshwater-system-in-5-simple-steps/

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > shop-teacher
07/31/2020 at 13:10

I stripped out the tank and all of that crap from my brand new trailer right after I bought it. I take water in 5-gallon blue water jugs from the Water Store. The little baby sink is now a convenient bedside catchall. And the cabinets down the side were useless until I installed shelves and dividers, and the compartments under the galley benches I cut open on the ends and installed cabinet doors so that I wouldn’t have to raise the roof to access galley storage. I should have sent you pictures of it all while I had the trailer set up.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > shop-teacher
07/31/2020 at 13:21

Also, we pee in a bucket and empty the bucket in the restroom when we get up in the morning.

shop-teacher > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
07/31/2020 at 13:56

Ours came with a little porta-potty. Which is basically just a fancy bucket.

shop-teacher > PyramidHat
07/31/2020 at 13:56

Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking I will do.

shop-teacher > This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja:
07/31/2020 at 13:58

Yeah, that’s a lotta cheddar. I paid $1600. Which also buys a fair number of hotel rooms. But we like camping and we have no interest in sleeping on the ground, or without air conditioning (this camper has AC).

shop-teacher > Deal Killer - Powered by Focus
07/31/2020 at 13:58

Yeah, I think that’s what I’m going to do as well.

shop-teacher > HammerheadFistpunch
07/31/2020 at 14:01

The door is plumb and opens and closes quite nicely. The latch has a lot of slop in it and is hard to activate with the outside button.

Good tip on the bypass valves, will do.

The water tank has a lot of black gunk in it. I have no intention or drinking from it, ever.

shop-teacher > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
07/31/2020 at 14:02

I have been overruled on stripping out the water system parts.

shop-teacher > XJDano
07/31/2020 at 14:02

Ugh, yeah that would suck. If you’re going to keep the camper, definitely replace that.

shop-teacher > onlytwowheels
07/31/2020 at 14:03

Thanks!

shop-teacher > ClassicDatsunDebate
07/31/2020 at 14:07

I think I’ll attach the drain to an outside container.

This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja: > shop-teacher
07/31/2020 at 14:49

$1600 AND A/C? I'd be all over that.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > shop-teacher
07/31/2020 at 14:51

My philosophy is that this is a tent on wheels and tents aren’t plumbed. Hard-sided RV might get different consideration, though if it had a proper bathroom, that space would likely be given over to storage. I don’t want to have to live with poo chemicals in my living space.

shop-teacher > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
07/31/2020 at 18:04

And my philosophy is to keep my wife happy ;)

shop-teacher > This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja:
07/31/2020 at 18:08

Yeah, I'm pretty pleased with what I got, for what I paid :)

Urambo Tauro > shop-teacher
07/31/2020 at 22:42

An y chance the water leak(s) are from f reeze damage?

shop-teacher > Urambo Tauro
07/31/2020 at 23:15

Could be. I think the best course of action, whether I flush the original tank or get a new one, will be to run all new lines and valves.