Category Archives: Retirement

A stinky job

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Back in June of 2020, I noticed dripping from the belly pan on the trailer. Upon further inspection, it was coming from where the black and grey tanks join before the sewer hose connector. In conjunction with this, the black valve was becoming increasingly difficult to close and sometimes would not close completely! The drip was obviously not any type of clean water but also a bit smellier than the grey tank, seemed like black water.

I contacted Vinnie of Vinnie’s Airstream Repair to get his take and to see if he might have an opening in October/November (like that would happen). He responded back suspecting it was the Calder coupler, a rubber connector to allow flexing in the assembly:

The Calder coupler is #4

I put up with the leak for a while, sometimes it was copious but at times it was almost non-existent. The black valve would close completely at times but I could also get a surprise taking off the sewer cap!

When we got to Grants Pass in September, I thought I would tackle trying to fix the valve not closing. The suspicion was some toilet paper stuck in the valve. I looked at many solutions, where I didn’t have to do any trailer work. I purchased this valve:

I can attach this to the sewer output with a elbow connector that shoots water back into the tank. By closing this, it allows me to fill up the black tank (or grey) with water. Theoretically, this should allow water to fill the tank to a level that covers the internal valve. This should also help anything stuck in the valve to release and float away. This is how I set it up:

I think it may have helped a little bit. I could really slam the valve handle and it seemed to shut completely but it still leaked out the pipe. I resolved myself to see what was REALLY going on when we returned to California for the holidays.

Fast forward to the holidays, I pulled the trailer with the curbside on the curb and a 4 lego block on the other to give myself ample room. I saw the leak up close:

I removed the panels on the pan to get a better look:

I could now see exactly where the leak was coming from (the black valve):

This means the valve needs to be repaired or replaced. I opted for replacement. I ordered all the needed parts. One part I was unsure of was how the valve attaches to the black tank:

The valve is made of 3 parts, valve flanges on either side and the slide valve in the middle. The valve flange on the black tank slides inside the black tank opening and is tightened with a hose clamp. If you refer to the first image I posted here, I have to replace all the parts encircled in red.

I contacted Vinnie with the newfound information and laid out my plan. He graciously called me back and discussed the repair and gave me tips on what to watch out for. Armed with that knowledge, and tips, I was emboldened to try the repair. However, being the way that I am, I waited about another 3 weeks to cogitate a bit more, and get up the courage to perform intestinal surgery on our trailer.

The removal was a bit more difficult than I thought it would be. Airstream installs these components while the frame is upside down but we have to fix them while WE are upside down. I had to completely cut through the Calder coupler, which was OK as I had a replacement. I also had to cut through the sewer outpipe.

Since I had to physically glue one of the valve flanges to the Y connector, I wanted to ensure that it was at the right angle as the old one:

Old setup on left, new on right.

Notice the yellow circle, which will come into play a bit later. The shaft on the valve is threaded but has a hole drilled into it. That is where the shaft extension attaches. One of the Vinnie tricks was to silicone the gasket on the valve flange before installation. This keeps them in place when you try to sandwich everything together.

Next, I cleaned up the black tank outlet, this is where the other valve flange goes. It is a snug fit but not watertight (or some other fluid). The clamp helps, but the Vinnie trick was to use plumbers putty between the outlet and the flange.

Black tank outlet ‘cleaned’ up
The valve flange pressed into the black outlet. Notice the plumbers putty pushed out.
Excess plumbers putty has been removed. The valve flange is loosely attached but ready to tighten with the hose clamp.
This is the grey tank outlet, ready for the assembly to be put back. The replacement rubber connector goes on this output.

Time to put in the Y assembly that has the black valve flange attached and also the rubber connector for the grey tank. When putting this in, you have to slide the middle valve component between the valve flanges that are on either side. This is WHY you want those gaskets attached tightly. It took a few attempts and some further modifications to the pan.

Above is the new black valve assembly, all three pieces together. It fit well, the real pain is trying to get to the two bolts and nuts on the top part of the valve. Took a lot of time, patience, and a few choice words!

Above is the grey tank connection to the Y connector. This is the new rubber connector. It required some shortening to fit well.

Above is the output of the Y connection, this is where all the waste will come out. This is before adding the extension where the sewer hose attaches. this also shows another Vinnie trick. He recommended cutting the pan up high enough so you can easily get the Y connection in. Worked great.

Now to re-attach the dump handle extension. Here is a picture of the valve connection peeking out of the pan. It is shorter than the original. The second picture shows the attachment point. Compare that to the previous picture where the original valve had a threaded shaft with a hole drilled.

This difference required me to change the bracket that holds the extension and move it a bit more inboard. It was only three rivets so it wasn’t too bad. Here is the finished ‘product’:

I did a post-mortem inspection on the black dump valve. It was in such bad shape, the flange broke apart when I tried to remove it from the black tank (1st picture). The second picture shows both the ‘item’ that stopped the valve from closing and also shows the part that facilitated the leaking:

But the proof is in the pudding, as they say. Initially, there were no leaks! A week later there was no leakage from the valve or when I opened the pipe. Very good.

Now, I have to find the water leak <sigh>.

Last projects before getting back on the road

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With the quarantine restrictions being gradually lifted, we can plan on a time to leave! But there were a few more things to do, one of which I could only do with the trailer out on the street. The plan was to move the trailer to the street a day or two before we were to leave. We can sleep out there just as easily.

With the cabinet project, in the previous blog entry, I was given a location to put all my electronics. In my next blog entry, I will discuss the electronics that we use on the road for internet, satellite TV, and DVR capability. I was able to free up a cabinet above our chairs by moving all those electronics to the new location.

In the previous entry, I mentioned about the backup camera on the trailer. Here is a shot from the dash of the truck that shows it in operation:

I have used the backup camera numerous times already. I am very glad that I put it on. As a benefit, I will also get the tire pressures on my truck screen.

One of the things we had in our house, that I really miss in the trailer, is a remotely accessible thermostat, like a Nest. I thought I had issues with our Dometic thermostat a few months ago but it was a loose wire in the AC unit. It appears that MicroAir has a direct replacement thermostat for the Dometics and it does WiFi and Bluetooth! I got one and put it in. It is wonderful! Plus, since we have the cat with us, I can check the settings from wherever I am. I didn’t take a picture of ours but here it is:

MicroAir also makes ‘softstart’ Air Conditioner kit. I have been very interested in those for a while. The appeal is that not only does it start the compressor smoother but purportedly you can run the AC on a single Honda generator. I used to have two generators that put out 30amp in parallel but rarely did we use them, so I sold one.

We tried, once, to use our generator with just the microwave in Montana but it would not power it. I was confused. By figuring out the wattage needs of the microwave, using the old W=V*A formula, it should have worked. I have finally figured out the problem. It turns out to be the same reason we could not even use a 15amp connection in New York during courtesy parking.

It turns out that the battery charger/converter is a huge power hog when it starts up and for a bit thereafter. I now know to turn it off when we want to used the generator. We have the solar so it should work, and I DID put in a switch to turn it off a while back.

Now, armed with this knowledge, I am ready to try it out. But I have to install the kit. This is the one that worked the best on the street. Here are some shots of the AC with the shroud off:

Initially the install seems daunting and a bit dangerous (you are touching capacitors). However, you do it with the power off (110v) and just slowly follow the instructions and it is easy. The the AC did start up when I was done. That was nice. I will test the unit with our generator when we get on the road.

I didn’t film, or take pictures, of the install. Here are some other Airstreamers that have done it:

One extra minor tweak was an installation next to my side of the bed. It is a very powerful magnet that I screwed to the wall:

This part will be very useful. It is great at holding a heavy metal object that you might need quickly in the evening and don’t want to go hunting for it.

Next entry, electronics!