Jan 23 2016

RV refrigerator drain tube failure

Our Airstream Safari trailer became 9 years old last December when I discovered that our Dometic refrigerator drainage tube was falling apart behind the lower, vented, outside panel door of the refrigerator compartment. The OEM white, thin plastic drainage tubing becomes brittle and falls apart, some say as early as 3-years old, undoubtedly accelerated by being near heat.

This was not an immediate problem because water only drains out of this tubing when defrosting the refrigerator or when condensation forms and drips from the cooling fins, and we live and camp in a relatively dry climate. Typically, we can go 2-3 trips before needing to defrost the refrigerator.

(Defrosting for me goes quickly: I choose a warm afternoon and place a fan on the covered lobster sink directly across from the opened refrigerator door. I turn off the refrigerator, prop open the freezer door and, as the fan blows warm air into the refrigerator, I use chopsticks to gently nudge the melting ice sections off the fins and slide the chunks toward me and catch them in a Tupperware lid and deposit them on nearby plants. Water that drips from the fins is collected in the condensation drain pan and flows through its bottom hole into the Dometic white drain pipe with cup, which connects with the drainage tubing on the backside of the refrigerator.)

After our third trip to the desert and coyotes this season,* it was time to replace this failed part, so I rustled up three feet of a more durable, vinyl plastic hose from our local West Marine store.

Shields Rubber Series 162 Polyester Reinforced Clear PVC Tubing, 1/2″ ID (inside diameter). I chose this tubing over the clear vinyl tubing because it is reinforced, can tolerate hot water (or being in a hot space such as near the boiler tube), more flexible and is slightly less expensive than their clear vinyl tubing.

We saved the original Dometic drainage plug (seen above), which is valuable because it keeps critters out of the tubing and currently costs $11.99 to replace!

Some have found that the only way to gain access to where this OEM tubing connects to the Dometic drain pipe in the back of the refrigerator is to move, tilt or slide the refrigerator towards the trailer interior, which involves disconnecting the gas, AC and DC power, and foot screws! In our case, I was able to reach this spot with my hand. The old tubing was easy to remove because it disintegrated as I touched it! The new tubing was attached to the protruding end of the Dometic white drain pipe seen below. Larry held the pipe/cup from inside the trailer while I pushed the new tubing into place.

Cable (zip) ties were used to secure the tubing connection and to keep it away from the boiler tube seen below.

Once the tubing reached the refrigerator compartment floor, it was brought to the opening of the space and secured by the OEM black vinyl coated loop hose clamp and Phillips head screw.

At this point, the tubing was trimmed and the Dometic drain plug was inserted. Refrigerator water is now properly channeled and free to flow under the lower refrigerator access panel door and exit the trailer. I am confident that this tubing will last for many years to come!

And future refrigerator defrosting with this upgraded pipeline* will almost be as much fun as surfing the tube!*

*This is a link to a YouTube video.

Jan 17 2016

Agua Caliente stars

“Fasten your seat belts, its going to be a bumpy night* and a wild new year,” I thought as we returned to Agua Caliente at the beginning of the Mardi Gras season, to enjoy clear, cool nights under the desert stars and to discover new stars! Howdy Doody was already celebrating* while sitting on the picnic table next to publication stars, Mardi Gras colors of purple (justice), gold (power), and green (faith), and behind the mask, a Buddha’s hand (fingered citron) symbolizing happiness, longevity and good fortune.

Good fortune came to our early morning wildlife stars, first the white-winged doves, followed by Purple finches, as they feasted from wild bird seed held by our vintage, rustic feeder from home.

Our local roadrunner passed by, so we threw out some breadcrumbs, but the roadrunner disappeared, probably because a hungry, young coyote was lurking nearby and soon made its bold appearance. (Its mother made her appearance last month, resulting in the permanent disappearance of a chihuahua!)

Driven by hunger, this coyote came into our campsite, while keeping an eye on us and our dogs! (Larry held corgi Tasha while I crouched and photographed by the rear of our truck.)

While hiking, I came across a more natural food for coyotes, a 3-inch Coyote melon, Curcurbita palmata, which when ripe, yields seeds that have been found in coyote scat.

At the beginning of my hike, I saw a new sign warning of recent mountain lion activity. The rangers told me that around Christmas, a bighorn sheep carcass was found with marks and covered with sand consistent with a mountain lion attack near the seep area of Moonlight Canyon Trail. Cameras were set up around the carcass for four nights, which turned this puma into a poster star!

More wildlife drama occurred the following day at camp when Larry spotted a white-winged dove dangling by its foot attached to the top of a 20-25-foot Agave deserti dead flower stalk by entangling string.

Larry notified Camp Host Dan and Ranger Melinda. Dan quickly arrived in his utility cart, assessed the situation, and returned with appropriate tools, such as a saw, large lopping shears, chainsaw chaps, and needle nose scissors and tweezers. Since the stalk had already bloomed and died, it was permissible to cut it down in order to rescue this bird. Dan donned the chaps to protect from nearby thorns and sawed three quarters into the trunk, while I supported it with the reacher. He then supported the trunk as I made the final cut with the lopping shears. We rested the stalk on the utility cart and Dan folded back the dove’s wings and calmed it while I cut the many threads that were wrapped around the foot, toes and branch. Photos were then taken and the dove was released and flew off to our delight. Camp Host Dan saved this bird’s life and is a star in my eyes!

Larry and I celebrated the season each evening by turning on a string of LED light bulbs that Larry had covered with Mixed Pepper Light Covers, which was wrapped around a wreath of homegrown red trumpet vine encircling enameled laser-cut steel in the shape of the sun – our star given to us by friends!

A wild beginning of the new year, yes, but I think everything will be OK because here comes the sun!*

*This is a link to a YouTube video.

Jan 01 2016

A Marathon tire repair

Cold and darkness were rapidly descending as I was completing our trailer unhitching for our holiday camping stay in the desert when I noticed a screw in the Marathon tire as I was placing the tire covers for a long winter’s nap. My hopes that the screw did not fully penetrate the tire were dashed the next morning when our PressurePro tire pressure monitoring system showed 21 psi for this tire, which should have been 50.

After breakfast, I carefully unscrewed it with pliers and was amazed at its length of 1 inch. It turned out to be a Torx hex washer head self-tapping machine screw* commonly found on automobiles and motorcycles. I marked the puncture site location with masking tape (and later the wheel & drum to make sure the wheel was replaced in the same position per the Airstream Owners Manual).

As the tire went completely flat, I consulted The (nearly) Complete Guide to Airstream Maintenance, which has 12 pages devoted to tire care, repair and issues. This guide reminded me that when accessing the spare tire,* just pull out the cotter pin and hold up the handle while removing the bolt, rather than doing it the hard way of removing the lower nut and bolt as seen below (which I have done before)!

The trailer’s stabilizing jacks were raised before placing the truck jack under the exposed section of the trailer’s frame between the wheels.

Before raising the trailer, I made sure the opposite side trailer wheel chock was in place and I loosened the lug nuts with a cross-type 4-way lug wrench that enhances leverage.

The trailer was then raised, the flat tire removed, and the spare put in place. I hand tightened the lug nuts before lowering the trailer. Once on the ground, the spare tire lug nuts were then tightened with a torque wrench.* Our Airstream Owners Manual reminded me to tighten the lug nuts on the spare steel wheel to 95 foot-pounds, rather than 110 for our aluminum wheels, and to recheck the torque at 10, 25, and 50 miles (I rechecked ours at 25 and 65 miles on the way back).

Once back in San Diego, I took the flat tire back to where we bought our replacement Goodyear Marathon tires, San Diego Tire & Wheel Outlet. Per the Tire Industry Association,* this tire was repairable because the puncture occurred in the tire crown (and not the shoulder or sidewall) and was not larger than 1/4-inch (6mm), ours was 4.8mm. The tire was removed from the rim so that the inside could be thoroughly inspected and repaired. The inside puncture site was prepped by buffing and applying vulcanizing cement and after it dried, a mushroom-shaped patch-plug was applied.

The patch-plug keeps water from entering and rusting the steel belts. The plug was trimmed and now the tire is set to go and we’re ready to roll into a new year of living riveted!*

*This is a link to a YouTube video.