Category Archives: repairs

Antenna installation or putting a hole in the roof!

Posted on by

One goal I wanted to accomplish during our time in one spot, was to enhance our cellular and WiFi connectivity. In my previous post about electronics, I alluded to the fact that we used a hotspot for cellular. I wanted to put an antenna on the roof for the hotspot to use, which should give better coverage than inside the ‘Faraday’ cage of the Airstream. I already had an inexpensive external antenna connected but why stop there? Additionally, I wanted to be able to connect to any local WiFi that might be available and use it on all devices in the trailer. I found an antenna that did that, although there are others, a Mobilemark LTMG502.

I wanted to add some type of conduit between roof access and inside the trailer. Usually, this is done behind the refrigerator and exiting to the roof through the vent on the roof. This is what I did with the solar install and also did with rear camera install. So we take the refrigerator back out, again. This time it was out for a couple of days. This is what I found:

The wires on the left are for the backup camera and a pull cord for future use. The wires in the center are for the solar panels, the lump in the middle is a jumper to connect the different segments of wires. The wires in the upper right are some Airstream wires.

Ammonia based refrigerators, like the one we have, depend upon airflow from the bottom to the top at the back of the unit. In our ’92 we had a lot of space behind the refrigerator. However, Airstream apparently decided to start building boxes close to the back of the refrigerators to concentrate the airflow and enhance cooling. The drawback, for this project, is that there is only about 1/2″ space between the box and the back of the cooling fins near the top. There was no way to put in a 2 1/2″ conduit like I wanted. Time to revise the plan. I was going to have to go through the box behind the refrigerator. I did some measurements. Here is my little diagram:

What the above denotes is that there is 9 1/2″ from the streetside edge of the refrigerator vent to the wall of the box. I also had to figure out the distance from a known point on the outside of the trailer to the other side of the box wall. Here are the measurements from the roof:

9 1/2″ from the edge of the vent puts me right about the drip moulding on the top of the trailer.

This measurement is from the side of the trailer, offsetting the appropriate inches (I don’t remember the number). The two measurements coincide to show about where the wall is, and where I need to put the hole. I have to put it below the drip moulding, into the curved side. I looked for other solutions but could not find one that I liked.

Time to put the refrigerator back in. But before I do that, I tidied up the wires a bit more:

I tightly secured the camera wire to the wall. I was able to disconnect the solar wires, drill a hole near the top of the box and underneath the box. I could then run the solar wires into the box and out so there was no interference with the refrigerator.

I asked Airstream about running wires in the box and they stated there is no issue with that as they do it all the time. Drilling a hole underneath allowed me to get an inside view:

You can definitely see that Airstream DOES use it for wiring! They have power (yellow), 12vDC, coax from the TV antenna, HDMI cabling in addition to my solar wiring. Plenty of room for my conduit!

Choosing the conduit was not easy. I wanted it flexible, not rigid. I wanted a smooth interior, not ribbed. I wanted it large enough in diameter. The local big box home stores didn’t have what I was looking for so I turned to Amazon. I ended up using this:

This is actually tubing for a pool pump but, at 2 1/2″ diameter, it fit the bill. It, however, was very stiff for most of the time but leaving it in the sun for a while softened it up.

It takes a bit of buildup, mainly mental, to prepare to drill a largish hole in the topside of your Airstream so I took a few days to prepare the other components. Here is the antenna and its’ components:

This shows the antenna, with the 5 cables from it, and the ground plane that is recommended. The 5 cables that come from the antenna are three different types of connections. Two of them are for WiFi, both 2.4GHz and 5GHz which will connect to the router, two of them are cellular connections that will connect to the hotspot. The last cable is for a GPS, which I have no need for until I add some GPS tracker unit for security. The grounding plane is needed for better reception since the antenna will not be mounted directly to the metal roof (see below).

This box will be where I will mount the antenna. This way I can mount the antenna wherever I need to. I will simply stick this to the roof with VHB tape. Here is the assembled antenna:

The wires just hanging free will be encased in a waterproof (even though it should not matter) conduit.

I ran the wires through the 6′ of conduit to the other end:

Now, let’s tackle that hole! This is the approximate area that I need the hole:

The first thing was to drill a test hole:

This enabled me to peer from the underneath to assess where I want put the large hole. The peering view:

I could compare this to the other photo to assess that is is pretty close to where I wanted it, I just have to take into consideration the angle how the conduit is coming through. Remember there are two walls to the Airstream construction. Time to drill!

Mark off the area, tape it up, drill it!

The holes are drilled! Let’s look from below:

I think I got it in the right place. More work up top.

The next question is where to mount the antenna. I wanted in the middle and decided that this location was the best option:

This is on the centerline. It is high for the cellular, it is above the solar panels, the only issue might be to the rear due to the air conditioner. It also was the right distance for the waterproof conduit.

The wires from the antenna are not long enough to get down to my devices so I needed to add an extension. I also used heat shrink tubing on the connections. You can also see the conduit coming through the hole. I had a device to attach to the end but could not get it to work so a simple hose clamp should hold it in place. You also see the pull wire there to ease any other wires I might need to run in the future.

This is all coming into this access box that is VHB’d to the roof and will be thoroughly caulked with Vulkem.

Here is the box ready to close up:

The conduit path worked out pretty well also:

All buttoned up:

The next question is, how does it all work now?

I have connected up all 4 wires to their appropriate devices and the performance is great. On the cellular side, the bars went from 2-3 to a constant 4. Speed from 12Mbps to around 40Mbps. On the WiFi side, connecting to our son’s network, the signal strength has improved by about 20 dB.

It was a lot of work to get all this going, planning being the most, but I am pleased with the results.

A stinky job

Posted on by

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>.