Category Archives: repairs

Replacing the Reefer — Episode 1

Our 15-year-old refrigerator died on us in Texas and we limped home tripping over coolers in the Airstream.  We also started with ice at $.99 for 20 pounds and saw the price increase to $3.75 for 10 pounds as we headed north, where banks of ice awaited us along our driveway.

Reefer1WAfter some research and reading, I decided not to screw around with repairs but instead replace the unit with a factory-new one.  And in the Mansfield tradition of never hiring someone when you can mess up the project yourself, I ordered a refrigerator and removed the old one yesterday.  It’s probably not a tough job — famous last words — but I read the manual, took some photos of wiring and fasteners, and went for it.  The unit weighs a little over 100 pounds but it fit through the door and I have a hand truck with which I could move it.  So we now have a refrigerator in our garage.

Reefer3WI am hoping that the new unit, when it arrives, will fit into the opening ok.  It should (and I should check the measurements as we prepare.)  I’ll likely need some help getting it into the Airstream and into place but then, the connections should (emphasis added) be rather easy. (I slid the old one out since it is toast.)

I have a go-to guy, my brother Barry, who has installed two refrigerators in his Airstreams so if I get into trouble, he’ll get a call.  He’s coming by today so I plan to pick his brain about finishing this task.  We’ll miss stumbling over the coolers as we move about the rig.  Stay tuned for the next, and hopefully final, installation episode.

 

Rig is Home Again

We have a large aluminum lawn ornament in front of our house after I moved it yesterday from its storage place downtown.

Hey, you're blocking the view!

Hey, you’re blocking the view!

Many thanks for our friends Shawn and Helen for loaning us some flat space beside their big rig while we waited a couple of weeks for the snowbanks to melt and the driveway to firm up.

We must have made a half-dozen trips to pick up items we’d left back at the Airstream and needed.  The worst was Saturday when I was baking bread — well, I wasn’t really baking because I had the dough through the three rises, the oven up to temp, and realized that the bread tins were eight miles away in the rig.  (Good preflight, as I love to say to others!)

I have a long list of items to fix, including the replacement of the refrigerator.  I’m starting with a leaky shower hose and a leaky faucet unit in the kitchen sink.  I picked up the parts today and will tackle the work in the morning.  Much of this can wait but it will be nice to tweak things in case we want to do some early summer camping.

Airstream2W

We’ll move the unit down to the only flat space on our property once we get completely unloaded and some of the major work finished.  Nice to have it home safely.

Less Road Trip Drama, Please!

We were booked to stay four nights in Mississippi, to see our friends and to let things melt more at home. Well, that changed when we learned that Kevin would be away at work and I got looking at weather forecasts. We had paid through Sunday night but a system was due there Saturday night into Monday so we ate two days fees and just left before sunrise on Saturday morning. In hindsight, it was a good move because we avoided tough weather and got our "let’s get home" juices flowing. Here’s how the weather looked Sunday afternoon with heavy T-storms listed until mid-day Monday. We got out of Dodge at the right time.

Driving on an early spring Saturday morning in the south is enjoyable, in spite of the good ‘ol boys in beatup pickups going to town at their pace. Try to get around them hauling an Airstream.

We got past Tuscaloosa, Birmingham easily but had a rougher time as the traffic got the frenetic "got to get to the mall" pace to it. We were aiming at Harrison Bay State Park where we have stayed in the winter. (I had checked availability and it looked to have lots of slots – but, I had forgotten that it was for Monday, our original arrival date.). We showed up after a long drive about 2:00, having lost an hour entering EDT, to find it completely filled. We snaked through the windy roads looking for a vacancy but all we got was stares. Let me just say that the typical camper was a local yahoo who smoked, drank, probably was on meth, with a pickup full of relatives and firewood. It was out of a Grade B movie.

We got out of there, a bit shaken with no plans. I remembered a little church with a big parking lot so we headed there, caught our breaths, and pondered next moves. I have an iPad app called All-stays that shows a lot of campgrounds, fuel stops, rest areas, even Walmarts on a Google map. The only thing that I could see on our route was a KOA campground about 90 minutes away. I called them, found that they had room, so off we went to a good experience – our first stay at a KOA. What a save – we kept thinking, as quiet settled in, of the circus we had run away from.

So I did some checking and found another KOA in Virginia and booked Sunday night. Then I checked the distance and realized that it would be another eight hour day on the road. So off we launched and enjoyed two or three hours of easy travel, before the truck traffic hit. It was easy getting through Knoxville for a change and I-81 was busy but moving ok. We stopped for some lunch at a Subway franchise and leaving the store, I encountered some serious potholes in the access road.

Just a few minutes later, I got back into the moving stream of trucks and was just up to speed when I noticed blue smoke in my left mirror. At first, I thought it was the engine but as I pulled over to the shoulder and shut down, I found one of the trailer tires had blown. (There are two on each side.)

It was scary working right beside the road with 18-wheelers flying by, shaking the trailer. I got the lugs loosened, the trailer elevated, and the still-smoking tire removed. I rammed it in the truck and checked my iPad to see if there was an off-ramp up ahead because I knew that I’d have to unpack the truck to get to the spare. There was a road about a mile ahead so after waiting for hundreds of trucks to pass, I found an opening, drove gingerly on the one wheel, and found a quieter spot to extricate and mount the tire.

The last two hours were just grinding it out but we got into another rural campground where we are going to take a day off and just get rested and caught up. Then, a rather easy day into Pennsylvania where we will winterize the rig against late freezes and then pperhaps we’ll make another long haul to Vermont.

In the military, we used to describe flying as hours of boredom punctuated by moments of stark raving, terror (or something like that.) This long-distance travel seems sometimes to be like that. We’d like a little less drama – give me some boring driving for the rest of the way.

Trying To Chill Out

Back at Balmoreah State Park, I wrote about our string of calamities and promised to provide an update on our malfunctioning refrigerator. Here’s the update: it’s dead and probably needs a complete replacement. Got ice?

It began about the day, weeks back, when Mary bought a lovely group of yellow tulips for the Airstream. Even in their coffee mug holder, they were lovely until they began to emit a strong odor. We put up with it for a couple of days but then ditched them – but even wrapped in plastic, they smelled.

It wasn’t until later, in Lost Maples SNA, when I had a fellow camper, who has done a lot of rv fixing, take a look at the refrigerator unit. Since I had no power to the unit, he was going to check electrical circuits. He took one look at the scene shown below, noticing the yellow stain and the still-lingering smell of "tulips," when he said, "Your unit has corroded and all the ammonia is gone. It’s dead."

We discussed options which included:

*replace coolimg system with an Amish-overhauled unit. (He had done this with his and felt it was still penny-wise etc since you still had 15 year-old circuit boards.

*find a big RV outfit in San Antonio or Houston and see if they could install a new one.

*limp home and get a local rv outfit to do the work

*limp home and replace it yourself

I had an email exchange with my brother who has a lot of Airstream experience ans am leaning toward enlisting his brains and brawn and do it in Vermont. In the meantime we have a plan which is working.

We had no cooler with us so I bought one in the first Walmart we came to after Lost Maples – about 60 miles away. We used that, and the refrigerator, with ice.

Then, once at Goose Island, I found a cooler that runs on 12 volt power and so far, is doing well. (Friends have said that they burn out, don’t work well, but all it has to do is last three weeks more.)

We are at a place with $.99 ice so it’s only costing a buck every two days. We have quickly learned to buy less perishables, and shop more frequently. We miss the ice cream and have fond memories of the nearly-thawed pints of Ben & Jerry’s we had to trash, after stuffing ourselves, when the unit died.

I’m tempted, in the Vermonter way, to loosen the damn thing up and kick it out the Airstream door on a back southern road and keep driving. Thinking more rationally, I’ll end up hauling it a thousand more miles to East Montpelier, pay the disposal fee, and stay out of southern jails.

The Balmoreah Triangle

The wind advisory for southern New Mexico was not kidding: Saturday we endured one of the tougher nights we’ve had with winds gusting off the lake at 50 mph or more, and the Airstream shaking and making all sorts of groans and bumps. At one point, I went out with a light to see if my belly pan and back bumper repairs were holding – and they were. Our neighboors, a young family with three boys, lost their tent in the melee and had to crowd into the grandparents’ small RV next door. You could taste the dust in the air; Mary and I were glad to hitch up in the early morning darkness and be on the way to Texas.

Winds were high on Sunday but they were out of the north and directly behind us. The trip through boring oil fields was mercifully short and we arrived at Balmoreah State Park, a small CCC-built park featuring wonderful wonderful spring water in thee midst of a desert. This "oasis" turned out to be our Bermuda Triangle and we could not wait to get out of there.

The first issue, which by itself would have been a small annoyance, was the internet situation. Here we were, four miles from I-10, and the At&T signal was either weak or when available, some version that was unuseable for either email or web. And unlike our present site, you could not drive a few miles and find a signal. I needed to make reservations for later in the week but Nada.

Then, a real stress-inducing event hit. After we had just parked but not unhitched or set up, the truck alarm went off with Mary sitting in the truck with the door open. I got my keys, reached in to turn the ignition on to stop the noise, and then tossed my keys on the seat saying "In case it happens again." I then took Penny for a walk since she’d been cooped up for several hours.

I returned to find an ashen-faced wife saying, "We are in serious trouble – the truck is locked." I freaked out, trying to blame her (it was my fault), realizing that on a Sunday in a town with 649 people, help was miles, and perhaps days away. Her pocketbook, my glasses, and our phones and Ipads were securely locked away. And then I noticed that my window was down about a little less than an inch.

I took two wire coat hangars from the trailer, made a three foot- long snake with a hook on the end. Carefully, with a number of misses, I hooked the ring and slowly started dragging it toward me. My heart sank as the contraption slid off the neat nearly hitting the floor but soon the keys were nearly at the opening and I got hold of the ring. I don’t recall breathing but must have. I got the small accompanying key through the opening but the thick plastic end of the truck key jammed. Carefully, I worked it through, with literally no room to spare, and had the key, the door open, and a victory horn toot that drew Mary from the trailer with relief. If the window had been up another eighth of an inch, we would have been hosed.

The third event, about which I’ll write more later, happened just afterward. The refrigerator would not turn on and the stuff in the freezer – particularly ice cream, was thawing fast. I checked fuses, power supply – it was dead. I went in town to the only store – no RV repairs in area, nearest store for a cooler about 50 miles away, so I bought a bag of ice and returned.

We had planned two night so I had unhitched in preparation for some birding on Monday (I was looking for a Clark’s Grebe which are often seen at a nearby lake.) We decided to leave this cursed place so I did some quick birding in late afternoon – and got the grebe – and came back and hitched back up for a quick getaway in the morning.

So, we are in the cooler/ice mode but our spirits are good and we are exploring options. We are in a beautiful small park in the hill country (Lost Maples State Natural Area) and hope to see the Golden-cheeked Warbler here. We’ve tossed out the map and literature from Balmoreah – don’t think we’ll be visiting there again this trip, or this lifetime.

Wrapping up the Lower Valley birding

We had guys from a RV repair service out of Tennessee, who winter in the Valley, come by to size up the work on our sagging belly pan. I had devised a plan to fix it but it was a two-person job so when Casey showed up alone, I pitched in and we got it buttoned up fine in less than an hour. Mary and I leave for Falcon Lake State Park in a couple of days so it’s nice to have it done.

Meanwhile, I’ve been trying to pick off some birds I have missed. Let me share with you some of the diverse birds that make this place so special.

Perhaps my favorite is the Vermillion Flycatcher. They are my kind of bird – active in their flycatching and brilliant in coloration. Unlike their Least, Willow and Ash cousins who are impossible to identify without calls, these hotshots just put on a show.

Just as brilliant are the Great Egrets.

We see six doves here: White-tipped, White-winged, Inca, Mourning, Eurasion-collard, and Common Ground. These three young Commons were hanging out yesterday morning – begging for a caption.

One of the ineresting fishing birds here is the Anhinga, aptly known as "Snake Bird."

I’ll put up a few more shots in a day or so – the 4G system is completely overloaded here. We’re moving to the boonies next week so we will see how that works out.

A month from now, we’ll be in California. Time to start easing westward.

Bumper Tag

Dear Mayor of the City of Laurel, Mississippi: "I’m sorry about the scrape marks and gouge my Airstream left on 32nd Avenue but you really need to make those gutter ditches a little shallower."

Yes, we had a little "issue" turning into the driveway of our friens, Jason and Kevin, when we stopped for brunch the other day. It was a narrow street and a deep rain gutter before the driveway and sure enough, I heard and felt the rear end scrape on the pavement as we made the turn. Our back bumper got adjusted a bit and now looks like this:

We had a wonderful meal, with no skimping on calories, and enjoyed seeing our dear friends. Then, it was off for Louisiana. I didn’t dare back up and do more damage, so they offered to allow us to drive over the lawn, saying that it was pretty firm. Jason got some 2x8s to fill in the ditch where we would cross and aside from one tire spin (I should have used 4WD) the exit was easy. We did leave them a tire track to remember us by. And we have a souvenir as well, a nice splattering of southern clay, thrown up by the truck tires on to the Airstream.

We are now in Texas, heading to Mission in the morning. It was nice to get off I-10 and through Houston. Temperature was 73 yesterday although the stiff wind made the wind chill about 55. Cooler today but nothing like our VT friends are enduring.

A Riveting Day

It’s never a good thing when a trucker passes you, tooting his truck’s horn, and pointing back toward your rig. The only time this has happened to us was on I-10 outside Baton Rouge and we made an emergency pullover to find our heavy electrical cord had got loose, had draged along chafing the plug connectors to nubbins. Well, we had a similar event today outside Knoxville.

I had thought that the trailer was acting a little squirrelly but once warned, I grabbed an exit, looking for a place to stop and look, and ended up in the parking lot of Tennessee RV Sales. As we stopped, I told Mary that I was almost afraid to go back and look.

The rear part of the belly pan had broken loose and was dragging on the road. Heavy rains had soaked the insulation and the weight had caused the collapse. I didn’t even think of trying to get the service guys to fix it – on the day before New Year’s Eve – plus, I’m a Vermonter – we fix things ourselves (sometimes not a smart idea.)

It was 38 degrees with a wind but Mary and I tackled it. She stuffed the insulation into garbage bags while I hunted for tools and stuff in the truck cap. Fortuntely, I had bought new drill bits and brought the riveting stuff and after a half hour of grunting, dropping rivets with numb fingers, I had four good rivets through the frame and we were on our way. I’ll look at the pan when I get to warmer climes but I think we are OK.

Yesterday’s trip was mostly in rain, very heavy at times. The truck traffic, even on a Sunday, was nasty as they threw up geysers of spray. We stopped overnight in the parking lot of a small Walmart in Marion, VA. It had this Sonic burger joint across the street so we had the faint noise of folks ordering from the takeout spots – always reminds us of that wonderful Peter, Paul, & Mary routine – called Paultalk.

Today’s leg, aside from the mishap, was easy. We finally got off I-81 and tonight, are in Harrison Bay State Park outside Chattanooga. We have stayed here before and it’s a little decrepit but there’s water, power, and hot showers. We de-winterized the trailer and are ready to rock and roll. I took Penny on a walk just before dark and saw a bunch of birds – including some real active Golden-crowned Kinglet and my first- of-year Carolina Chickadees. Off to Mississippi in the morning.

Nearly Ready to Go

For the last several weeks, when it was not freezing or 8o degrees outside, I’ve been working away, polishing the inside of the trailer.  (Last Fall, I had taken off the grimy “mouse fur” lining the walls and fried a few brain cells getting the glue off the walls.) The polishing is just hard grimy work which requires removing the oxidation and rust with one compound, and then finishing up with another.  It looks pretty good.

The polished walls, with terrible reflections from outside, before I started re-installing beds and cabinets.

I had carefully marked most of the stuff I had removed and stored down cellar, putting the screws in small plastic bags and taping them to the item.  It worked pretty well although the rails to hold the curtains were a challenge.  I had multiple sets of holes in the walls but with Mary’s help holding the ends, and some retries, we got them in place.

Here is a similar shot after the bed, the cabinet, and the infamous curtain railing were installed.  Getting there.

Installing the curtains is a trick, especially with bifocals.  You have to thread little plastic holders into a rail while hunched over and working more by feel.  They are installed, the floor is cleaned up, and I only have Mary’s side to finish and the back end of the trailer is ready.

My side is about ready to go with mattress in place.  All it needs is the dog sleeping on it.

I got the rig de-winterized with fresh water on board — only one problem so far with a spray hose in the sink which sprays me instead of the sink.  I tested out the water heater and finally got the refrigerator going on gas.

Our game plan is to finish up the repairs this week and take a short trip over to Ricker Pond State Park next week for a few days of shakedown.  Feels good to get it this far.

All Jacked Up but not yet ready to go.

The small bruises and cuts on my fingers signify the completion of a repair project — the replacement of the front jack.  Like most efforts with our old trailer, it was not easy or without “issues.”

So, here is the culprit prior to replacement.  The gears had stripped, the motor had given out, and I was stuck with using a log to keep the tongue of the trailer out of the mud.

What you can’t see is the rusted bolts holding the jack to the tongue.

There was no way that the three bolts threaded into the tongue were going to move and I had about resolved to cut them off with an angle grinder when I got smart and posted a query on a wonderful online Airstream group called Air Forums.  Here’s the question I raised:

I got several responses back that said first use a penetration oil like PB Blaster, then heat if needed.  They all said don’t cut the bolts off.  So, down to our local hardware store I went and talked to one of the knowledgeable guys who further cautioned me to take my time and don’t use too much force or “you’ll snap off the bolt.”
So, I soaked the bolts, tried to move them, heated them, and later that day, got one to budge.  I carefully extracted two of the bolts, breaking the rust with oil and heat.  Of course, the third one snapped when I put an extender on my ratchet wrench — so I was left with two nice threaded holes and a stub of a hardened bolt.
The two bolts and on the right, the snapped-off bolt.  At least the old jack of off the rig.
I ground down the bolt prior to trying to drill it out.

So, the next morning it was back to the store and confessing to my advisor.  He sold me a drill bit/tapping set and some new bolts and soon I was back at the task, trying to get a small drill bit to center on the bolt.  I finally got it drilled and rethreaded.

The final tasks were rather uneventful – the jack fit the hole, the new bolts worked fine, and when I connected the power, the whole thing worked.  It was a lot of work but it was wonderful to have the help of folks who know what they are doing.  After a few additional fixes due to the differences in the new jack, the Airstream is now ready to hook up to the truck again.  Of course, the list of tasks grew as I worked around the unit, noticing items needing repair.  So, we’ll tackle them one at a time but this major one is great to have out of the way.

New jack ready to go.