Glendale Camper

July 26, 2010

Awesome! No more water seepage on the bathroom floor. The floor is dry!!

Before coming out to the trailer on Friday, I thought I would head to Home Depot to see if they had any similar plumbing junctions-connectors or whatever they are called that I  had picked up from Hughes RV.  The ones I had picked up from Hughes are made of plastic or nylon. Each end has a nipple that the water tube/hose fits over, and then a plastic nut is screwed down over the hose to provide compression so there is no leaking.

Well, Home Depot did have something similar, but for much larger diameter tubes and pipes. The tubing in the Glendale RV is 3/8″. As I was browsing to see what Home Depot might have, I came across something that apparently needed no clamps or external compression to join water pipes and tubes together.  I was quite skeptical that this thing would actually work and wondered if I needed some other parts. I found a Home Depot sales rep and asked him about it.

“This device, which allows for the pipe or tube to even rotate inside, will not leak” the guy told me. He showed me how they go together, and even though still skeptical, I decided to purchase the T-Junction and try it out. I didn’t want to try it until C. and I could make time to go to Hughes RV to get what they had in case this did not work. That meant leaving the water on – but for a few days, I figured the leak wasn’t going to make anything worse than it already was and I wanted to make sure C. could use the toilet at night when she was here.

I decided to give the thing a go. Do you believe it works? There is this little plastic thing that you put over the tube, and then all you do is insert the hose. The hose will turn (well, not very well in a T-junction, but it will move as much as physics will allow), and even at full water pressure, there is no leak!

I still find it unbelievable that this thing works. The hardest part was cutting the tube at the old connector. What made it especially hard was that the tubing was all behind the toilet and there was not much room to work with, reaching down and back there.

So now there is zero water seepage on the bathroom floor. And are we ever thankful for that!

There is still the issue with the slight drip of water coming from the water heater and tube connection, and I was provided something that is supposed to fix that up – but there is so much corrosion around the present joint, I’m afraid of damaging something permanently.  But I might give it a go tomorrow and see if I can figure something out.

July 20, 2010

As I’ve written previously, I had a leak from where I thought was from under the bathtub in the Glendale trailer. I had checked, and looked, and tried to figure out the path of the plumbing as much as I could, and after realizing it was going to be a big job to take out the tub, I finally decided, on the advice of Roger over at My RV Talk, I decided to try something different.

Instead of taking out the tub, I thought I would bypass the water leak with new plumbing tube.  So, C. and I went over to Hughes RV where I showed them a photo of the water tube and discussed my plans. The fellow there thought from the photo that the tube was 1/2″ and I bought several feet of it as well as these nifty compression fittings. When we got back to the trailer, I discovered that the tube size and fittings were too big! So, we headed back to Hughes and got the right size – 3/8″ tube and fittings.

All set! removed the bathtub faucet and that is when I discovered that there was more tubing in the back – but someone had sprayed insulation all over it so it could not be seen. Under the insulation, it was damp, and there was a T-Junction that was leaking. From the T-junction, water lines went up to the bathroom faucet (which I had already removed) and then fed the kitchen and bathroom sinks as well as toilet.

So with C. helping, I cut the water tubes (hot and cold) before they entered the T-Junction and then attached new hose, leading it through the two holes in the bathroom wall where the bathtub faucet was. We replaced the T-junction with a straight through connection as we can’t see using the bathtub or shower anytime soon. And then, two new straight through connections into the water tubes that feed the toilet and sinks.

Turned the water on and no water leak!! At least not at the new connections.  But we still had a water leak – and after further investigation, discovered that the T-Junction that split off to feed the toilet was leaking! Grrrr… that was a discouraging discovery, and we’ll have to now return to Hughes RV when we have a chance and during their hours of operation to pick up a T-Junction to fix this leak.

And we have to get it fixed. Water leaking onto the floor is going to rot the wood underneath. Quite likely with how old this leak appears to be, there is already some rot going on.

First, I want to say that I highly recommend the services of Hughes RV. They are awesome people! A few weeks ago, I wrote about how I discovered that one of the hoses from a propane tank to the regulator has a gouge in it. After turning off that tank and just running from the other tank, things had been fine until a few days ago, when I started detecting an odour of propane the odd time.

I decided that I may as well replace the regulator and the rubber hoses. They are probably original equipment and the hoses are showing signs of old age. The local hardware store did not carry this type of regulator and that’s when I discovered Hughes RV.  C. and I took a run over there and when I described what I needed, Peter Hughes helped me get the hoses and regulator I needed and even went so far as to put goop on the threads before putting it all together for me.

However, when we got back to the trailer, I realized I had described the connection to the metal pipe that feeds the stove and hot water heater incorrectly. The connection they had provided me was a compression thread, whereas I needed a pipe threaded connector. I called them up about half an hour before they closed and explained the problem. “How soon can you get here?” they asked.

“Probably about the time you close,” I told them.

“No problem. Come on over, and we’ll get you straightened up.”

C. and I headed back, and the staff at Hughes RV managed to find a part that would enable me to get the propane running again. And they did stay open late for us too. And because the part was an inexpensive used part, it was given to us at no charge.

So now we have hot water once again and are able to use the stove in the trailer. It’s amazing what you miss when you don’t have it. Although it’s not that much a chore really to fire up the Coleman stove and boil water to wash dishes in. But it is also reassuring to know that the propane leak is fixed.

While at Huges RV, we also picked up some water hose and I learned a little about Pex type hose. Along with the hose, some pex joiners – so tomorrow, I will attack the water leak that I have.

The RV plumbing leak in the Glendale trailer saga continues. I thought I would investigate how I could get access to the plumbing that comes out from under the tub.  I’m not against removing the tub all together and just making that into storage space, but I would have thought there would be an easier way to get to plumbing that could possibly leak in the future when they designed this bathroom.

But then maybe I’m missing something.

Here’s a photo of the hoses where they come out from under the tub:

That’s looking down at the floor. There was some trim that went along that wall and covered the hose.

There is no way to get at that end of the tub through the other side of the wall. I’ve checked. On the other side of the wall, where the water enters the bathroom, there is a hot and cold water hose that fits into a brass fitting that goes through the wall.  And this is in a tiny space where the bedroom drawers are. There is no way to access any secret or hidden panels even if there were any there.

So it seems that the next best way to access those pipes would be to remove the bathtub skirt. Here’s a photo of that:

If you look closely, you can see two holes along the bottom. There are actually three; one is hidden by the toilet. Those holes had screws in them which I removed. Along the top are more holes that had screws that I removed.  Someone did a lot of screwing when they installed this – there were quite a few screws along the top.

I figured if I removed the screws, I could remove that entire panel and pull it away and get access to the underside of the tub. No such luck yet.

That panel or skirt or whatever it is called seems to also have a flange or something on the left side that must be screwed into the wall.  I can put a screw driver under the panel in the centre and it moves away from the tub. But it won’t pull away from the wall. On the right side, it actually extends beyond the bathtub and along a small wall between the tub and back of the toilet.

So it looks like I really only have a couple of options:

1. Cut the bathtub skirt to make the hole larger where the hoses come out and see if I can get access to the T-junctions where it is most likely the water is leaking from.

2. Completely remove the tub to get access. Which as I wrote, I’m not against doing, but it seems like an awfully big job to get at a leak, especially for someone that did want to keep the tub there.

But I’m not sure. Maybe there is something else I am missing all together.

I did try to pull the hoses out to see if maybe there was enough length of the hose back there to pull out to get access to where they split off, but there was no play in the hoses at all. They are tight.

If I have to pull the tub out, I guess I’ll also have to get a drain strainer wrench. Which probably won’t be for a couple of days or so. Hate to have to buy one of those just to remove a bathtub in an RV. I used to have one years ago when I did some house renovations but didn’t need it again and gave it away.

Maybe I’ll go have another look and a brainwave will hit me as to how to fix this leak. After a wee nip of Black Bush.

Water heater hose and clamp over spigot that's leaking

As I’ve written earlier, there is some water leaking in the old 1983 Glendale camper trailer. There is  dripping from the inlet and outlet hoses on the MorFlo 6 gallon water heater that is causing some problems.  It’s obviously been an ongoing problem in the past – the previous owners have tried clamping the hose where it fits over a spigot many times.  There are about six clamps on the hose itself, several old clamps on the floor of the space where the water heater is, and plenty of water marks in the area.  I’m not sure if the previous owners ever did get the leak to stop; perhaps they just kept trying to throw new clamps on the hose.

But I thought I’d give it a go and tried a brand new clamp.  Tightened it up as much as possible, and it still leaks. So now I’m  thinking it’s actually the spigot that comes out of the water heater that is leaking. It appears that this spigot thing could be removed with a wrench, but I’m not sure. And even if it can be, I don’t know if I can get a replacement part for it. Or perhaps all it needs is some plumber’s tape on the threads, if indeed it can be removed.  I don’t want to mess around with it too much until I know for sure.  Hate to damage something that isn’t the problem and can’t be fixed.  The water heater itself works as far as its function: heating water.  From what I’ve found, water heaters to purchase new for RV’s and camp trailers can be expensive – $600.00+. I don’t have that kind of money to spend.

As you can see from the image, the floor under the water drip is pretty gross – and appears that this leak is old. I want to clean up the mess there, but there’s probably no point until I get the leak fixed.

The other water leak is in the bathroom. I removed a piece of trim that I figured were covering up some of the water hose, and sure enough it was. The hoses come out from the front of the bathtub. After I removed the trim, I could see that the water is leaking underneath the front of the bathtub and likely there are two 2-way connecters under there – one for hot, and one for cold water.  I’m surmising that one or both of them are leaking at the 2-way joints. The hot and cold water hoses enter the bathroom under the tub and then provide water to the bathtub/shower faucets and then carry on to provide water to the toilet and sink.

I’m not sure the best way to access this part of the RV’s plumbing. There are screws on the side panel of the bathtub which I have n0t yet tried to remove. I’m not sure that would offer enough room or access to the water hose.

My other idea is that perhaps I should remove the tub completely if that is not a big job. I doubt I’d ever want to use the tub or shower as there are showers in the park’s public washrooms just a 30 second walk away. If I remove the tub completely, perhaps I could build in some storage space with doors where the tub presently is.  But I need more information before I make that decision.

If you have any advice or suggestions, please leave a comment! I’d love to know what I’m dealing with here as far as both problems – the water heater drip and the bathroom water leak in this old trailer.

Last evening, I could see sheet lightning in the sky to the west and heard the odd distant thunder clap for about 45 minutes.  However, around midnight the sky seemed to clear up and there were stars twinkling when I looked up. I thought I was probably safe from any rain.

When I awoke however, the rains had come – and stayed. There’s a light drizzle going on and I’m glad that I got most of my gear under cover.  However, I forgot to pull the tarp over the firewood and also left our bikes out.  It looks like the rain could be with me for the entire day, which means I will probably get lots of work done without the temptation of the sunshine and the pool to call off in. The thermometer right now is reading  19.3C in the shade (all there is today is shade with no sunshine through the clouds).

Along with my regular work that goes with my business (and hoping my internet connection stays solid), I have a few other jobs today.  The water leak in the Glendale trailer is getting worse with water seeping onto the bathroom floor. I had one of the park staff guys come by to take a look hoping he’d be able to advise me where to start looking or what to suspect in regard to the water leak. He pointed to the “drip….. drip…. drip….” (once every five seconds)  from the water heater tank. But I don’t think that is the main problem. A “drip… drip… drip…” does not cause that much water to seep onto the floor and then cause a “drip drip drip drip” (about two or three drips per second) out of the corner of the trailer. The trailer park guy was not all that helpful in regards to the water leak.

He was helpful however in regard to another problem I had the other day. The toilet in the trailer had backed up which I thought was weird as it’s not used for any solid waste at all. Instead, we all use the park washrooms for that which are only a 30 second walk away. So I couldn’t understand how the toilet would be backed up or plugged. When I purchased the trailer, I had the staff tow it to the site and when I saw that they had hooked up the water, electricity and sewer, I assumed that everything was done that needed to be done.

Apparently not.

The pin or whatever it is called that opens up the holding tank to release its contents had not been opened. So the toilet back up was because the holding tank in the Glendale camp trailer was full.  The staff guy showed me how to pull the holding tank release pin and we heard the gross sound of everything in the tank being drained away into the sewer pipe. As well, there was some spillage through the connection that is clamped to the trailer pipe – the staff guy didn’t seem to care about the small amount that emptied on the ground.  I think I’ll try to tighten that up though.

Or plant some rhubarb in the vicinity of the drain.

Today, I’m going to try to fix the leak from the hot water tank. I picked up some clamps from Home Hardware the other day. I turned the water off last night so hopefully the leak will have drained the hot water tank over night and I can get at that soon.

I’m also going to try to figure out how to get the trim along the back of the bathroom wall removed and check the plumbing under it as that is where it seems the water is seeping from in the bathroom. Not sure how I’ll do it as there is not much room to work without getting my head stuck in the toilet.  Hopefully I’ll figure something out and it will be an easy repair.

The other problem that requires attention has to do with the propane. The other day, I got whiffs of propane odour but I couldn’t tell where it was coming from. I wasn’t even sure it was coming from my trailer, but about an hour later, there was no propane left in my tank that is connected. So I’m pretty sure I do have a propane leak somewhere. I checked under the trailer and the main gas line does have some surface rust on it – perhaps somewhere in the pipe there is enough rust that there is a perforation and propane is leaking.

It could also be the regulator which appears to be original equipment of the 1983 Glendale Glendette Cottager. One of the rubber hoses of the regulator unit that connects to a propane tank does have a hole in it, so I have that tank shut off.  But the other rubber hoses do appear to be old and probably the unit should be replaced to be on the safe side.  I’ll give Home Hardware a call and see if they can order me a new propane regulator unit.

If that is not the problem, I’ll replace the gas pipe under the trailer. That shouldn’t be an expensive job – it’s all standard pipe and I have a friend that is a pipe fitter who can probably make me up the correct size of pipe.  Hopefully either of those two fixes should fix any propane leaks as I don’t really want to get into replacing the smaller gas pipes to the stove, oven and hot water tank.

I do have a couple of Coleman stoves with plenty of naptha fuel so I don’t absolutely need the propane water heater and stove in the trailer. My first priority really is to try to fix the water leak to prevent any rotting of the floor. When we took the carpet out of the bedroom last week, we discovered that there was some rot in the bedroom floor and I’ll have to fix that up at some point.

Off to work I go! And hoping the Bell Mobility broadband is dependable today.

We had wanted to rip out the carpet in the bedroom and had been talking about doing it.  It was one of those things that was on the “soon to do” list – perhaps a cool day, or a day when there was not much else to do. The carpet is old and even a good vacuuming likely wouldn’t get out all the dirt that’s in it.  But it meant taking out the bed mattress and box spring, and well… just not a job that we were anxious to get at even though we knew we didn’t want that carpet in there.  “What was underneath that carpet?” we also wondered.

Yesterday we had to do it.  The carpet was soaked.

It seems that there is a leak in the joint from the hot water heater to the plastic water “pipe” that provides the hot water to the kitchen sink and bathroom.  I just discovered it after C. mentioned that the carpet seemed awfully wet.  I took a look and sure enough the carpet over by the closet where the hot water heater is underneath, is indeed soaked. We can’t leave it like that – a n invitation to mould and mildew and stink.

I pulled out my big Buck knife and went to work.  Outside, it was over 30C (over 86F) plus the humidity. In that bedroom – it was hot.  We pulled out the mattress and box spring, and the wet carpet was pretty gross to work with. But eventually we got it all out and into garbage bags.

Problem is – we discovered that parts of

We had wanted to rip out the carpet in the bedroom and had been talking about doing it.  It was one of those things that was on the “soon to do” list – perhaps a cool day, or a day when there was not much else to do. The carpet is old and even a good vacuuming likely wouldn’t get out all the dirt that’s in it.  But it meant taking out the bed mattress and box spring, and well… just not a job that we were anxious to get at even though we knew we didn’t want that carpet in there.  “What was underneath that carpet?” we also wondered.

Yesterday we had to do it.  The carpet was soaked.

It seems that there is a leak in the joint from the hot water heater to the plastic water “pipe” that provides the hot water to the kitchen sink and bathroom.  I just discovered it after C. mentioned that the carpet seemed awfully wet.  I took a look and sure enough the carpet over by the closet where the hot water heater is underneath, is indeed soaked. We can’t leave

the floor in the bedroom have already rotted. I guess this leak might have been going on for some time. There is quite the hole in the floor near the wall as well as mildew looking rot in the floor of the slide out wing.

I have no experience with fixing up camp trailers, but I’ll have to figure this out. Also, I’ll have to try to figure out the best way to stop the water leak. It appears to be a drip from the connection of the hot water tank to the plastic pipe… but it seems weird to think that a drip like that would cause such an amount of water to accumulate. By the look of it, it seems as though this has been a problem in the past with the number of hose clamps that are on the floor back there, and two clamps on that particular joint. I tried to tighten the clamps but there was no further tightening possible.

Hopefully I can find someone when I return in the next day or so  that has a bit more experience with camp trailer plumbing and hot water tanks that might be able to give me advice. Also, I need to find out what I can do to replace the floor that has rotted.  Likely it’s not as big a job as replacing a floor in a house – but it’s still not a job that I was thinking needed to be done.

Naturally, before we left, we turned the water off and hope things dry out!

Way way back in the day, about 20 or more years ago, I had a career in law enforcement. Part of our training involved how to properly use a fire extinguisher. Up until that time, I didn’t really know there was a proper way to use a fire extinguisher and fight a fire. For those of us that have camp trailers, we probably know we should have a fire extinguisher in the trailer – actually, we should have a couple of fire extinguishers in our homes too.

But if you had to use it, would you know how? Would you be comfortable getting that fire extinguisher from off the wall and fighting a small kitchen fire with it? Do you check it regularly to see if it still has its charge? A fire extinguisher will be of little use to you if it has lost its charge, or in an emergency you are unsure what to do with it.

In our training, we learned the acronym “PASS.” Let me explain.

First of course, you’ve got the fire extinguisher in your hands.  Now what?

P: Pull the Pin! There is a safety pin located in the handle, usually secured with a plastic ring. The easiest way to break the plastic ring is to give the pin a twist, and then pull it out. The pin prevents the trigger that when pulled or pressed, releases the fire extinguishing agent from being released accidentally.

A: Aim! Aim the fire extinguisher at the BASE of the fire. Don’t aim it at the flames that might be reaching up to the cupboards – that will do nothing to extinguish the fire. If the base of the fire is in a frying pan, that is where you aim the extinguisher. At it’s base, where the fuel source is.

S: Squeeze! Squeeze the trigger of the fire extinguisher which will cause it to begin releasing the extinguishing or fire suppression agent.

S: Sweep: Sweep the extinguisher from side to side to better cover the entire area of the base of the fire.

It’s too bad that fire extinguishers can be expensive as it would be handy for people to be able to practice using one before they actually ever need to use one. Using a fire extinguisher is not difficult, and if you follow the instructions above, you’ll be using it properly. But often people panic, and in such cases, it’s easier to rely on something you’ve done several times instead of doing it the first time when you are unsure.

Do you know what the very first thing is that you should do when you discover a fire? Before or as you are reaching for the fire extinguisher?

Call For Help! Don’t take a chance with fire, even small ones. You may need help to fully extinguish it.  Call 9-1-1, and get the fire department out there.

If your children are old enough to hold a fire extinguisher, you might even want to demonstrate to them how to use it.

Now, go make sure all the fire extinguishers you own are fully charged.  It’s a good idea to take one along even on camping trips and have it handy.

I was looking around at the back of the camper and noticed some dripping water from  a corner near the water heater.  It isn’t heavy dripping – perhaps one drop every two seconds. At first, I thought perhaps because of all the rain we’ve had, water had built up somewhere and was dripping down to that corner and leaving the trailer. But then I realized the water heater tank is probably right about where the drip is coming from.

Later in the evening, I noticed dripping from the other side of the trailer, from the other corner at the back.

I’m a bit concerned as to what the source of the water is – probably the water heater tank or maybe a water line back there. I’m not sure exactly the best way to determine where the leak is coming from and I didn’t have time to get under the trailer to see what I could see.  C. and I had to leave the trailer and I won’t be back to it for at least a few days. Before we left, I turned the main water and propane off.

When I get back, I’ll have to plan on trying to figure out where the water might be coming from and how to check it out. I need to remember to take some plumbing tape with me – hoping it’s just a minor leak and not something like the tank rusting out!

“I should try to get a ladder and see what that junk is on top of the trailer,” I remarked to C. after looking at what appeared to be metal pipe visible from the ground. The “pipe” seemed to be just laying on top of the trailer roof.”

“What junk are you talking about?” she asked.

“Look up there. Maybe if you stand back a bit, you’ll see it.”

“Darling,” C. poked me, “that looks like a TV antenna.” I scowled. Why would there be a TV antenna on top of a camping trailer I wondered.

“I’m sure it’s an antenna.” C. explained that many camping trailers did have antennas.  Although I have no plans to get a TV for the trailer, she wondered if it might be helpful in getting FM radio reception.  I had tried the other day to bring in some radio stations with the AM/FM/CD player I have but to no avail.

Then the thought occurred to me that I had seen a handle that turned around in the ceiling of the trailer, just inside the door. “Maybe it is an antenna and that handle thing I was wondering about winds it up?  Do ye think? Let me go try it!”

I walked into the trailer and started turning. “Well, it’s bouncing around,” C. remarked as she sat outside watching. I kept turning.  “Has it gone up at all?”

“No, it’s just bouncing on the roof.”

Darn – whatever it’s supposed to do, it’s not doing. Some threads or something must be stripped.

I walked outside and looked up. “Hey, it is a couple of inches above the roof now! It’s not just laying there.” I went back inside to do more handle turning.

I pushed harder as well as turned, thinking maybe the shaft of the handle needed some help to screw into whatever was supposed to lift the antenna up on the roof. “Seeing it get any higher?”

“Nope.”

I went and sat down beside C. “Well, I do think it went just a little bit higher. I wonder if I should keep trying.”

“At the rate you are going, you’ll have the antenna up all right. But that will be in two days, when I have to get going. But you just keep turning and turning!” she replied with a smirk.

Ah, I love her sense of humour. But maybe if I kept turning and turning the handle, C. will cook all the meals. And by the time our last dinner is ready before she needs to leave, we can have some dinner music coming through the FM radio.

One of these days, I’ll have to get up on the roof and give it a good cleaning. When that happens, I’ll take a look at the TV antenna and see if it’s broken. Maybe it’s tied down and secured to the roof and needs to be unsecured before it will go up. Although I don’t care for TV, hearing the radio once in a while would be nice.