This latest entry in the life of Lug comes to you courtesy or some really, really, I mean REALLY cheap RV manufacturers.

First up, a trailer came in with a severe water leak in both slide outs, but only when the slides were extended.  After some investigation, I found that the manufacturer hadn’t bothered to put any seals or gaskets around the slideouts in this trailer. I can only guess they thought the trailer would only leak when used, and who would use it? The manufacturer saved quite a bit of money on gasket material, probably all of a hundred dollars, and it will only take several thousand dollars of the customer’s money, and probably the better part of a week’s work to rebuild the damaged slideouts and install the gaskets it should have had in the first place.

Next, we have a trailer that had no brakes. No, really, it came with no brakes. The drums were there, and the brake wires were there, dangling in space, but there was no brake hardware on either axle. I guess it was the guy that installs the backing plates day off when that trailer went through the assembly process.

Then, I had to replumb a trailer whose bathroom sink drained into the fresh water tank. I guess they thought they were saving water as well as plumbing materials when they built that trailer.

Last, a new trailer came in with the LP detector screaming bloody murder, reeking of that LP additive smell, and a non-functional furnace. On that one, they saved the cost of some copper line from the LP manifold  to the furnace. They also saved the cost of a cap to block off said manifold as well.

All these trailers were what are called “SOB’s”, or Some Other Brand than Airstream. Next time you hear complaints about the quality of Airstream products, you can remember these rolling testimonials to quality control, and smile…

Hello, again. In today’s diatribe we take a look at what happens when you have more determination than knowledge, and a vintage Airstream with copper plumbing.

A 1975 Airstream came into the shop with some strange problems, like water running out of the stove, and a shower that issued forth some bad tasting and smelling water.  In the grand tradition of the shop, I won the lottery, and was given the work order to check it out. Initially, I didn’t really see anything obvious, and was considering replacing the LP tanks if they turned out to have water in them, and passing off the smelly shower as an olfactory hallucination of the owner. I did notice the stove didn’t leak water unless the trailer was connected to city water, and decided to dig further. I disconnected the gas line to the stove, and got an immediate bath in water. Lots of water. Like a pipe full of water, and it didn’t smell good, either. Hmm….

I crawled out from under the stove, and turned on the city water into the trailer. I was rewarded by the sound of running water, and pressurized water coming out of the gas line to the stove. I started checking other appliances, and the furnace also had running water. What the?… I then checked the water heater, and got no water from the LP line. Well, that’s good. Umm, I think that’s good. But, why does it not have water running out of the gas line when everything else in the trailer does?  Hmmm… I then checked the shower for odorous water, and sure enough, it smelled like something died in the faucet. Okay, something is screwy here (a blinding glimpse of the obvious). The water smells like the additive they put in LP to make you notice a leak. Uhh… I then started checking both the water and LP lines all through the trailer. Both systems use copper lines. An hour and a half later, I found the copper LP line had been cross-connected to the hot water outlet on the newly replaced water heater. After some intense questioning on my part, the trailer’s owner admitted to replacing the water heater himself, and that both the water line and LP line had not “fit” the way they should. So, he made things fit by using several clamps and connectors to force the two systems to join, even though the LP lines were a slightly different dimension than water lines. In order to fix his repair, I had to remove the water heater and remove the creative plumbing job he had done in combining the two systems (imagine the Three Stooges shower repair), and spend several hours replacing the piping and drying out the LP system. Now, instead of having hot and cold running gas, and trying to cook with cold water, his trailer has a chance of leading a normal life again. Until the owner fixes something else…

A few weeks ago, a customer brought in her front kitchen Airstream for a plumbing repair. It was one of those Airstreams that its owner had neglected to Winterize, and had a profuse leak under the galley sink, among other leaks. Rusty wrote up the work order, and turned it over to one of our technicians to be taken care of.

A couple of hours later, the customer returned to her Airstream to retrieve a book she had left inside. Less than 30 seconds after she entered her trailer, I heard an ear-piercing shriek, and looked up to see the customer, white as a sheet, running out of her trailer as if the Devil himself was chasing her, screaming at the top of her lungs. Rusty and Buck both took off after her in hot pursuit, and managed to head her off just before she ran across the busy highway in front of the dealership. When they finally got her calmed down enough to be coherent (barely), all she could do was tell us her trailer was haunted, and she wanted to be as far away from it as she could get. When I heard that, I wandered over and checked the calendar. Nope, not a full moon…

So, with my talent for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, I was told, “Lug, go check it out.” Terrific. Why do I always get the “volunteer” jobs? I walked out to the Airstream, which was resting quietly in front of the service department. Cautiously, I opened the door. I peered inside. I didn’t see anything bad, except for a couple of pictures of questionable taste screwed to the wall. I then stepped inside, and shut the door. I didn’t see anybody, and it was eerily quiet. then, out of the stillness, I heard “‘Hello, Lug.” I nearly jumped out of the nearest window. I looked around, and still didn’t see anything or anyone. “Hello?” I asked. “Hey”, the trailer replied. I walked up to the kitchen, and opened a cabinet door under the sink. There, curled up around the drain pipes, was Randy, the tech that had drawn this trailer to repair. “Randy, what the *&^^&%T! are you doing in there?” I asked. “You scared the lady that owns this trailer half to death!”

It turned out that Randy found it easier to crawl inside the cabinet to get to the broken fixture, rather than try getting to it from a more conventional location (like outside the cabinet). When the customer came inside to get her book, he said hello, and asked for a light because it was dark in there.

He soon had the plumbing operating properly again, though it took us longer to convince the customer there were no ghosts in her Airstream than the repair took. I guess it could have been worse, the customer could have jumped in her tow vehicle, and driven off with Randy still inside. That would have required some explaining to his wife…

This tale from a couple decades ago is offered as a humorous reminder that advice should at least be considered before being rejected out of hand. No one was seriously injured, though it could well have turned out much worse.

We had received a very used, very neglected, very old motor home as a trade in. It only had about ten thousand miles on it, but it was almost 20 years old, and had spent at least 15 of those years sitting in a back yard under some trees. I’m sure you’ve seen the motor home, or one just like it, many times as you drive around. While the appliances, carpets, drivetrain, was all like new, the body was pretty much on death’s door. I felt like I needed a tetanus shot before going into it. Our sales manager decided to put it out front as a “Cash Special”, with a strong emphasis on the fact it was a good candidate for being a parts donor.

So, I gingerly pulled the Mildew Queen onto the front line, and placed the “Today’s Special” banner across the windshield. I then went back to my office to fill out some warranty paperwork.

Late in the afternoon, a guy showed up to look at the poster child for Rot Doctor. All he saw was the odometer reading, and the good condition of all the peripherals. He whipped out a stack of hundred dollar bills sufficient to pay for Moldy Mary, and didn’t want to hear a word about the condition the rest of the motor home was in. “You’re just trying to upsell me! There’s nothing wrong with that motor home!”  At that point, the salesman opted for the better part of valor, and wrote up the deal, again emphasizing the poor condition of the rolling Rustoleum can.

The customer signed everything, went out and climbed into his new home on wheels, fired up the engine, and pulled out of the parking lot. There was a short driveway leading from the lot to the road out front, with a sidewalk and curb at the end. The customer drove down the driveway going faster than he should even if the motor home had been structurally sound, and turned the corner onto the road. As he turned, he made the typical newbie error in judging distance, and climbed the curb while turning. This would have had the dishes flying out of the cabinets of a healthy motor home, and this one was far from healthy. I happened to come out of my office in time to witness the motor home lurch to the left, then crash down to the right.Then, with a splintering groan, the entire structure just kind of slid off the frame to the left into the middle of the road, leaving the customer sitting in the driver’s seat of a pile of kindling and aluminum siding. Three hours later, the mess had been shoveled up, the frame had been towed away, the customer had his cuts from flying debris bandaged and had left for home with his wife, who was (loudly) giving him what-for the whole time. I didn’t hear any more from the guy, but I can only hope he learned to listen to people when they try to tell him something.

In this extra edition, I’ll post a few quick ideas for helping keep you and your Airstream doodling along. Now is the time to get some of this stuff, and if you see something you want, you can always point it out to your spouse or significant other.

First, a 3/4″ nut driving attachment connected to a cordless drill is a great way to save time and effort when cranking up and down  those stabilizers.

Second, you can connect both ends of your fresh water hose together to keep water from leaking al over the storage compartment.

Third, an inexpensive in line water pressure regulator connected at the spigot will help keep your fresh water hose from swelling up like a bratwurst, and blowing apart at an inopportune moment, such as when your hair is full of shampoo.

Fourth, a pair of disposable latex gloves worn while dumping will help keep the contents of your holding tanks off your hands. You can toss the used gloves in the trash can usually provided at most dump stations. If there isn’t a trash can handy, you can always gift wrap them, and leave them on the doorstep of the people in the neighboring campsite that were partying until 4 am.

Fifth, a short bungee cord wrapped around your coax cable will help keep it from getting tangled, as well as not allowing it to take over your storage area like a very long, malnourished snake.

Sixth, you can store a loaf of bread in the microwave to keep it from getting smashed in transit. This will also work for hot dog and hamburger buns.

Seventh, a pair of tennis balls, one under each wiper arm, will elevate the wiper blades off the windshield, and help keep debris like leaves and dirt from gathering on the wiper blades, and promote longer life of those parts when your motor home is in storage. You can use them for your tow vehicle as well, just remember to remove them before switching them on. Many highways sometimes resemble tennis matches, especially during bad weather, but there’s no need to encourage this behavior.

A few years ago, back when radios that could connect to external devices such as MP3 players were new, an Airstream came in with a problem.

This problem was kind of strange, the man that owned it told me the radio was not playing all his MP3 files, and could I take a look at it?

Sure, I’ll see what we can do.

I first tried the radio and CD functions, of course, and they both worked as they were supposed to. I then tried the auxiliary input, where the MP3 player connected, and, in the grand tradition of trips to the dentist, it worked fine. I tried several files, and they all worked like you would expect. Johnny Cash was crying about prisons,  Marvin Gaye wanted to know what was going on, and The Beatles were living in their submarine.  When I told the customer I couldn’t find anything wrong with his radio, he started spluttering “Here, what about This one? and this one?” The two files he chose were not music I would expect the average Airstreamer to have on his iPod, but there were Alvin and the Chipmunks belting out those great hits, Funkeytown and Macarena. Only thing was, you could hear them on a pair of headphones, but not through the radio. I checked, and they were wailing away about taking them down, and doing the Macarena. I plugged the player back into the radio, and was greeted by–silence.

I unplugged the player, and plugged in headphones again. Yup. that’s Funkeytown, all right. Hmm…

“Sir, I think I know what the problem is.”

“Oh? What’s wrong with it?”

“Nothing, sir. It’s just your Airstream has better taste in music than you do.”

After a little more research, we determined those two files had corruptions that would not allow them to be played through the radio.  The customer removed them from his iPod, reloaded them from his CD, and everything was fine. I think if it had been me, I would have tried that first, rather than admitting I owned that music. At least it was an easy fix.

Hello again. I thought as this year winds down, I’d share some questions that have been put to me, both since I’ve started this blog, and also some from years past.  Some are serious, some were funny, some, well…. Anyway, here they are, in no particular order:

Q: How do I keep wasps and mud daubers out of my furnace and water heater vents?

A: There are several products available on the market specifically made to put over the openings to keep insects from getting into your vents. If you want to do it yourself, you can make a covers out of stainless steel screen, and attach them with short lengths of wire through the original mesh.

Q: I turn the battery switch to “off”, but my batteries still go dead. What can I do about this?

A: Many RVs, especially newer ones with things like LP detectors, have what is called a parasitic draw. If you are planning to store your Airstream for an extended period, your best bet would be to disconnect the batteries from the coach, and either place them in your garage, or storage area at home. You can keep an eye on them there, and charge them if needed.

Q: I have to store my Airstream under trees, and sap gets on it. What can I use to get it off?

A: There are several products, such as Bug and Tar Remover or mineral spirits, that will do a good job of getting that sap off your aluminum. Don’t try to use  lacquer thinner, acetone, or MEK to remove the sap. You’ll also remove the clear coat. The fresher the sap, the easier to remove it. Don’t wait until it starts to look like dinosaur snot before trying to remove it.

Q: I have a problem, my name is Melvin Fishdown.

A: I’m sorry, I can’t help you with that problem.

Q: Should I remove the ball mount from my tow vehicle when I’m not towing?

A: If you have a safe spot to store it, where you’re not going to trip over it, or it won’t get scooped up for the local metal drive, yes. Your knees will thank you, your wife’s knees will thank you, and the little old lady in the parking lot’s knees will thank you.

Until next time

Lug

Sometimes it’s best to just stay in bed.  One of my customers found that out recently when he dropped his Airstream off for repairs. It was just a few things, and was repaired in a few hours. When he came in to pay his bill and pick up his trailer, however, he nearly had a coronary. It seems the computer we write repair orders and invoices on suffered a glitch, and added a pair of zeros to every number sequence entered. Instead of his bill being for 4 hours, and $200 in parts, his bill was for 400 hours, and $20,000 in parts. At an hourly rate pushing $100 an hour, he had a $60,000 bill. Oh, and the computer also adds a percentage to the bill for “shop supplies”, which generally covers the cost of shop towels, cleaners, and the occasional rivet. In this case, his bill was nearly $70,000, including tax. which is why I heard “Lug, come to the office, Now!!!” When the normally droll PA system puts that much of an emotional charge into being paged, the results are electrifying, to say the least. I headed to the office making all possible speed.

When I arrived in the office, I found most of the staff (Buck, Rusty, and Pop) all hovering over the customer, who was on the floor, and turning a peculiar shade of pasty greenish-gray. Pop turned as I came in and said, “Lug, you’ve got to do something!” I grabbed a bottle of cleaner, which is ammonia based, and waved the open bottle under the customer’s nose. The customer got a whiff, and started coughing and sputtering.  After he calmed down, I managed to pry the invoice from his hand, and took a look  at it. I saw the problem right away, but other than charging the customer the correct price, I wasn’t sure how to correct the problem. First things first, we got Mr. Featherwhistle taken care of and his truck hooked to his trailer, and saw him off safely. I made him promise to call us when he got home safely, since he’d had quite a shock.

Since I’m not a computer geek, I won’t pretend to tell you what happened, only that a guy from the computer repair place came out, and did computer things to our computer, and it seemed to be working as it should again. We found a couple of other invoices that were a bit overzealous in their pricing, and corrected them as well.

As I was heading back to the shop, I paused to talk to Pop about the computer trouble. He said “I wonder if we sent out our monthly invoices to our commercial accounts before the computer tried to make up rent money for us”. We looked at each other in dawning horror. We have dozens of commercial accounts, and none of them would think this was funny. I heard a phone ring in the office, then we both heard, “Pop, come to the office, NOW!!!”   I don’t know about Pop, but I think I’m going to hide under a trailer for a few days…

Ah, it’s that wonderful time of year again, when the leaves turn brilliant orange, yellow, and red, and the plumbing and drains in RVs also turn red. Or, at least, pink. Those of you that have had to winterize their Airstreams know the antifreeze used in RVs is generally pink in color. Antifreeze is good. It keeps copper pipes and other plumbing components from expanding and rupturing when the temperature gets too low and the water contained within them freezes. This time around, I’ll relate a couple of stories of Winterization, as well as a couple horror stories from winterizations gone horribly wrong. Since I know you all want to hear the gory details of hapless newbies imploding their plumbing, I’ll make that the last item today. Yes, I’m mean, and a tease…

Anyway, most of you know you should Winterize your Airstreams in the Fall or early Winter, depending on temperatures where your trailer is stored.  There are two methods of Winterization, the Antifreeze method and the air method. The Antifreeze method is when you pump RV antifreeze through the plumbing, making sure antifreeze is throughout the fresh water lines and drain traps. Whether you bypass your water heater or not depends on if you have a bypass valve mounted on it, and if you are handy with cash. Of course, if you’re handy with cash, you don’t need to bother Winterizing, just come see me next Spring to get all your water lines replaced. I can always use the work, it helps put my kids through college. The air method is simply opening all the faucets and applying compressed air to the fresh water intake in short bursts to remove the water from the lines, and adding antifreeze to the traps. This method is cheaper, less messy, and is preferred when you don’t have a bypass valve on your water heater. Water heaters hold from 6-10 gallons of whatever you put in them, and 10 gallons of antifreeze costs about $50 on the open market.

So, my first Winterization customer had, of course, first tried it himself. It didn’t work out so good for him as he forgot to drain the water heater and close the bypass valves to it. He bought 5 gallons of antifreeze and dumped it in his fresh water tank. He also forgot to drain his fresh water tank first. So, he had 5 gallons of antifreeze and about 35 gallons of fresh water in his water tank. That would probably protect his system all the way down to about 30 degrees or so. He knew this wouldn’t work after the watered-down antifreeze made an appearance in his sink, and he realized what he had done. They say the first loss is the best loss, so he didn’t keep trying, he just brought it in for a professional job.

My next customer is one that forgot to bring his trailer in to be de-Winterized last Spring, and simply started using it. RV antifreeze is non-toxic, but can still give you some health issues if you drink it. His trailer’s black tank got a workout on his first trip of the season… He will remember to come back next Spring.  I quickly turned valves and added antifreeze, roughly 2 gallons, and he was on his way.

Now, for my promised example: He had heard about blowing out the water lines, and decided that’s what he wanted to do. He made up a cobbled-together rig to add compressed air to the water system, hooked it up, and let ‘er rip. Unfortunately, he was using an industrial strength  compressed air system, which was putting out about 250 psi. The good news is, he blew out his lines. The bad news is, he blew out his lines. And his water heater. And his toilet. And all the faucets.  No, he did not have a water pressure regulator in his trailer, that had been broken last year when it froze. It’ll probably cost him the better part of a thousand dollars to put things right in his plumbing’s world again, but he’ll have all  Winter to save up for it.

Hi, again. This time around we’re going to share what happens when the simple things are overlooked in your Airstream.

First up, I had an older couple drop off their new-to-them B Van, with a note on the work order “Check Appliances”. There was also a note to check the dump valves. “See why water comes out when valve is opened”.  Okay, the latter is a no-brainer. That’s what it’s supposed to do. When you open the dump valve, the contents are supposed to drain. Maybe they were talking about something else. Nope. So, that was an easy fix. I then checked the appliances, they all worked as intended. I did have to turn on the LP tank, though.  When the customers came to pick up their van, they asked me what I found wrong with the appliances. “Nothing”, I replied. “Everything works fine”.  “But we’ve never been able to get anything to work,” the lady customer objected. Her husband stood next to her, nodding his head. “The fridge, stove, water heater, furnace, nothing works”.

Hmm. “Did you turn on the LP tank so they could get gas?” I asked. Long pause. Wife looks at husband. Husband looks at ground, sky, trees, the side of the van, anywhere but at the wife. “Okay, I’ll take that as a “No”. They work better when you have the gas turned on so they can run.”

“Oh.”

I don’t know if I should have told them they will also have to put LP in the tank from time to time, but they, the husband in particular, were embarrassed enough. Which brings me to my next story…

An Airstream came in with the LP appliances not working. They had worked fine the last time out, but now none of them would light. I checked the stove, and sure enough, there was no LP coming out when I turned it on.  Hmmm. I went out front of the trailer, and rapped sharply on the tanks. They both clanged hollowly. “Sir, I think I found your problem. These things work better when you keep LP in the tanks.” He mumbled something sheepishly, and I sent him and his trailer around back for Pop to fill the tanks.

Last, I had a customer in a brand-new Airstream come in with an electrical problem. The converter wasn’t charging the batteries, and the air conditioner wouldn’t work. I pulled the trailer in, rummaged around, and found the shore power cord. I plugged it in, checked the voltage to the batteries (13.5), and switched on the a/c. I was sitting in the dinette, enjoying a cold soda, when the customer came out to check on my progress. “How did you get it all working?” he asked. “I didn’t find anything wrong with it”. I replied. He got kind of testy with me, letting me know that his air hadn’t worked all weekend, he’d roasted in the trailer, and his batteries were almost dead from them not charging. He said he wasn’t going to take the trailer until I found what was wrong with it. He turned and walked around the back of the trailer, tripping over the shore power cord. “What the %$^&*&^ is this?” he asked.  “Umm, shore power cord, you plug it in to run the a/c and charge the batteries. They work better when it’s plugged in.”   I actually saw the light bulb flicker on. “Uhh, okay. I’ll take my trailer now. Thanks for pointing that out to me”….

And so it goes…

Lug