Dec 07 2012

Give your Airstream some winter love

I know that most Airstream owners have put their trailers away for the winter, and perhaps are sighing as they see their beloved trailers slowly being covered in snow. A few are flipping the pages of Airstream Life and noticing the cozy Airstream on the cover parked in a Florida state park, or being tempted by the ad for Alumafiesta in Tucson.

But if you just can’t get away right now, at least you can do something for your Airstream to make it a better place to camp in next season. Even when our trailer is put to bed, I get into it as often as I can just to tweak little things, clean, or think about what improvements it needs.

In our first three years of owning the Safari, we had our share of mechanical problems, ranging from the little things like screws backing out, up to major problems like a wheel separating from the trailer. I gradually developed a toolkit and spare parts for fixing most of the problems that crop up on the road, and I recommend that you do the same. This is a good time of year to think about that, since you can share the list of tools and parts with people who want to get you Christmas presents —or take advantage of post-Christmas sales!

The tools you need depend on the jobs you are willing to take on. At a minimum, I suggest you carry parts and tools to:

change a tire
replace a fuse or light bulb
disconnect / re-connect the battery
clean up corrosion on metal
detect a gas leak and tighten a gas connection
replace a rivet
fix a 12 volt electrical connection
tighten a loose screw
test a power outlet
fix a water leak

You don’t need a ton of fancy tools to do those jobs. A cordless drill is very helpful and you probably already own that. The only other expensive tool you need is a good torque wrench (and a 6″ extension & socket), so you can be sure you’ve got the lug nuts tightened properly when you change a tire. The rest of the tools are pretty simple and not terribly expensive, even the rivet tool used to replace pop rivets. Screwdrivers (a single driver with a set of different bits is ideal for storage), an adjustable wrench or two, a little spray bottle for soapy water, some sandpaper, butt splices, an outlet tester or voltmeter, a wire cutter/stripper, a tire pressure gauge, assorted fuses, rivets, and bulbs. Some tapes (electrical and plumber’s), glue, a razor blade, a hammer, and zip-ties wouldn’t hurt.

If you travel for long periods then you’ll want more stuff. The trick is knowing when to stop packing tools. I’ve seen guys traveling with pickup trucks that were basically big rolling tool boxes. I used to ask, “Are you planning on rebuilding the trailer on the road?” but then a friend of mine actually did rebuild his trailer while courtesy-parking at a friend’s house. So it all depends on the state of your Airstream and how much you care to do yourself. I bring things like a tube of silicone caulk for periodic replacement in the shower and kitchen, and that’s only because we take the Airstream out for about five months each year. I’ll bring a relatively rarely-used tool or part if it’s light or small, but there’s a point at which I’m going to find a service center.

My personal goal is to be prepared for anything small that might seriously disrupt a trip, which is why I put emphasis on tires, fuses, gas leaks, electrical problems, and water leaks. It’s really annoying to be somewhere remote, like Big Bend National Park or the north rim of Grand Canyon, and find you have power problems because of a simple bad ground. Do you really want to hitch up and tow 70 miles to the local garage mechanic just to have him clean a contact with sandpaper that you could have done yourself in one minute? That’s the stuff I try to be prepared for.

After eight years or so, my tool kit has matured. It’s pretty solid, but it occurred to me that I still don’t have everything I should. Several times I’ve had to pull off onto the highway breakdown lane, with traffic whizzing by at 70 MPH, to check on a tire or investigate a strange noise. It can be a pretty frightening experience. I don’t have flares or orange cones, and during the day I don’t think flares really show anyway. You’re probably more likely to get whacked by a car while you’re setting them up.

So I’m going to pack a high visibility colored shirt, in green or orange, that I can throw over whatever I’m wearing when I have to get out and tend to something by the side of the road. You can get these at Home Depot, cheap, along with a lot of other safety equipment. I’ve heard that in Europe high-vis safety vests are being mandated in passenger cars and you can get a ticket for not having one (which I think is a bit of European safety ov erkill). But they’re still a good idea.

The other thing you can do this winter is check over your Airstream periodically. Two things kill Airstreams: accidents, and water. Water damage is insidious and usually slow, so it’s easy to catch if you just make a small effort. This time of year people put away their trailer for the winter not realizing there’s a slight leak, and in the spring they find a smelly, moldy, and water damaged mess. Believe me, a slowly-melting blanket of snow atop the roof will severely challenge the waterproofness of the seams and rivets, even those that didn’t leak in the last gentle rain. So it’s a good idea to get inside to check everywhere (especially inside closets and around the floor edge) for moisture. A flashlight and paper towel will help you find any wet spots.

We’re running a short article in the Spring 2013 issue of Airstream Life about all the things that have expiration dates in your trailer or motorhome. There’s quite a list: fire extinguisher, smoke detector, carbon monoxide detector, propane detector, tires, water filter, First Aid kit, batteries, and propane tanks. If your trailer is over two years old at least some of these items are either expired or need new batteries, and if your trailer is over a decade old then it could need everything on this list replaced. This is why RV owners think 9V batteries are a good stocking stuffer. So go around your trailer and make notes of all the things that may have expired, or at least pack spare batteries and water filters for your upcoming trips.

Finally, I want to talk about the First Aid Kit. You probably don’t have one, because it didn’t come with your trailer. It is surprising to me that the RV safety code calls for installation of a fire extinguisher but not a First Aid Kit. This suggests that they are more worried about saving the RV than they are the people inside it. Seems ridiculous, doesn’t it?

Let me tell you from personal experience, when you are traveling most urgent medical issues happen when you are miles away from health care, or on the Friday night of a long weekend in a small village like Jackson Center. I don’t know why. The point is, you need a First Aid Kit. You can buy these pre-made, or just build your own like we did. We went to Wal-Mart the day after Eleanor sliced her finger open with a kitchen knife, bought a zippered case, and filled it with goodies like bandages, tape, gauze, anti-bacterial, scissors, gloves, hydrogen peroxide, Benadryl, etc. We also got some advice from friends who were formerly nurses, EMTs or MDs about treatment methods and tricks. The next time we have a domestic injury while camped somewhere remote, we’ll be much more able to take care of it ourselves.

So, I’m sorry if you are stuck in the snow, or facing a long gray winter with no fun travel plans, but at least if that’s the case you can do a few things to make next year’s Airstreaming more fun and more safe. I sometimes recommend to people that they periodically go spend an afternoon in the trailer even if it is parked in storage or in your driveway. Plug it in, fire up the furnace, turn on the lights, put on some music and snacks. Make the place feel alive again. You can watch a football game on the TV, read a book, or just hang out for a while. With nowhere to go, you’ll have time to think about what you’d like to do next, and what you can do to improve the Airstream. Trust me, spending a little time with your Airstream will make you feel better, like a mini-vacation, and may well extend its life too.

Nov 03 2012

Notes from the Airstream universe

Just like the real universe, the Airstream universe continues to expand indefinitely. Little reminders of this cross my desk from time to time, and I forget to mention them here, so today I’m going to mention a few of the recent and most interesting developments.

Item: Airstream now for sale in Australia, if you’ve got the bucks. The Canberra Times reports that Airstreams are now being officially imported, compliant with Australian regulations. We’ve featured at least one Australian Airstream makeover in Airstream Life magazine, a restaurant trailer that sells gourmet hamburgers, but there really hasn’t been a lot of action in that country. Australia and New Zealand have been mostly motorhome territory. I know a few folks who have done some great tours in rented Class C motorhomes, and we’ve talked about doing it ourselves, but I’ve been waiting for Airstreams to become available. Maybe now we can start talking about putting together a caravan?

Or maybe not. Prices for the new Aussie ‘streams are running $115k-135k (Australian dollars). That’s a hunk of money, right up there with the cost of European-spec Airstreams. It may be quite a long time before an affordable used unit can be found.

Item: A new Airstream book has come out. We never get tired of Airstream-related books, do we? John Brunkowski and Michael Closen, who previously wrote a book about RV Toys, have written another great photo-rich book entitled “Airstream Memories.” It’s a collection of Airstream art and memorabilia, with an emphasis on postcards, that runs 127 pages long. It’s really fun to flip through it.

Full disclosure: I wrote the Foreword to the book, but I didn’t get to review the art until it was published. When I got my copy this week, I was surprised to see some Airstream Life covers and photo spreads in there.

Item: Another Airstream book seeks funding. Rebecca Chastenet and Carlos Briscenos jointly run an Airstream-based restaurant in Santa Fe NM. We featured that trailer with photos of Rebecca in the Spring 2012 issue of Airstream Life. Rebecca has since become a contributor to the magazine, writing for our new “Airstream food” section that you will see beginning with the Winter 2012 issue.

Rebecca and Carlos have an idea for a book about Airstream “pop-up” businesses. There are probably hundreds of them, all over the world. We’ve covered dozens in the magazine over the past few years. They’re all interesting, creative, and run by fascinating entrepreneurs.

They’re seeking funding to cover the costs of a tour to visit as many of these Airstream businesses as they can, which will then become material for the book. You can read their full proposal on Kickstarter, and chip in if you think the cause is worthy. I’m hoping this one takes off. Rebecca is a solid writer and I’m sure the result will be wonderful.

Item: Child starts blog. OK, this isn’t big news, and it’s not Airstream-related but I happen to know one of the two children who write this blog. “Sylvia Phenora” is the nom de plume of someone close to me. For a 12-year-old, she’s a pretty handy writer. She’s also producing Pokemon stories on a regular basis. I’m waiting for her first novel to come out. Hopefully it will be a best-seller so I can retire early and do more Airstreaming!

Item: We’re going to pitch in to help! The “superstorm” Sandy has really walloped the northeast coast. Brett & I decided that we are going to donate $10 for every campsite registration we get between today and Dec 31, 2012, to the American Red Cross to help with relief efforts. So if you were thinking about going to Alumafiesta or Alumapalooza next year, sign up soon and $10 of your site fee will go to help others. Thanks.

Oct 22 2012

One little problem …

When I saw the water leak inside the Caravel several weeks ago, I knew I was in for it. But I had no idea it was going to be this bad.

You might recall that back in early October we discovered that the fresh water tank in the 1968 Airstream Caravel was seeping water and had damaged part of the Marmoleum floor. This incident put me on Full Alert status, because the trailer had been extensively renovated. The Marmoleum floor covering and the plywood subfloor were pristine, and all the woodwork was made new from birch with my own hands. I had a lot invested in that trailer (both time and money) and the sight of a water leak was a dagger to my heart. Water is the #1 killer of Airstreams.

After freaking out for a few minutes, I removed the dinette to assess the damage. The birch was mostly OK thanks to multiple coats of polyurethane, the Marmoleum was lifted (the underlying adhesive had failed), and the water tank was irreparable. Those of you who have been following this saga know that I tossed the tank and ordered a new one, re-glued the floor and mashed it back down with a few hundred pounds of rocks, and fabricated an aluminum threshold to pin the flooring edge. I also sealed the perimeter of the floor covering with tan silicone caulk. That all went well, and now it’s hard to detect that anything ever happened.

The problem of the past week has been installing the new water tank. I ambitiously ordered a 12x12x48 polyethylene tank, which is slightly larger than the original. This by itself just meant I had to trim a little bit of wood here and there, and fabricate a new piece to hold the tank in place. No big deal. The problem came from my failure to request a vent on the tank.

See, the tank is standard-sized but you can have threaded fittings spin-welded anywhere into it. I requested two on the left side: one large fitting at the top for filling the tank, and one small fitting at the bottom for draining it. Logical, right? So I popped the tank in place, hooked up some hose, and we tried to fill it with water as a test.

With no air vent to release the pressure inside the tank, water wouldn’t go into the tank any faster than a weak dribble. Try to fill any faster and water would just burp out the fill opening all over you. I realized my mistake immediately, but what to do? I could have taken the tank around town and found someone locally with spin-welding capability to have a vent added in, but that seemed like a major hassle. Besides, there was no clearance above the tank to fit a vent on the top. The highest point I could fit a vent was equal to the fill point, which meant that when the tank was full, water would come out the vent. That meant I had to find a way to route the vent tube outside, which likely meant cutting a hole in the trailer somewhere. I wasn’t keen on that.

So thereby began a process of trying to outsmart the laws of nature. I dreamed up all kinds of clever ways to vent the tank at the fill hose where it met the tank. Unfortunately, my clever solutions inevitably resulted in a frothy water/air mixture bubbling up the ad hoc “vent” and plugging it, at which point the tank would have no functioning vent and we’d be back to the original problem. Worse, that plug of water would then be forced up the vent hose (by air pressure building inside the tank) and eventually spit out inside the trailer somewhere.

I literally went to bed at night thinking of ways to solve this problem, and woke up in the morning with fresh ideas—which also didn’t work. Every day I went to the hardware store to buy a handful of brass bits, hoses, PVC pipe, and various other plumbing supplies, which I would assemble in the trailer and test. I now have a small Museum of Failed Plumbing in the trash bin. I actually did design a water/air separator that would have worked, but there wasn’t sufficient clearance above, since the dinette seat covers the entire area.

After three frustrating tries, and about six trips to the hardware store, Eleanor suggested something much more clever. “Why don’t we just turn the tank so the drain is at the top?” I glared at the tank for a moment, and suddenly realized she was on to something. By rotating the tank 180 degrees, the large fill opening would be at the bottom, and the drain would be at the top, thus usable as a vent. There’s no problem filling a tank from the bottom as long as the top of the tank is below the entry point, and with a little plumbing I could also use that same bottom connection as the drain. You can see the solution in the photo.

This works beautifully. Now we can fill the tank as fast as we want. As a bonus I was able to route the vent into the existing floor drain, so I didn’t have to cut a fresh hole in the trailer. (The yellow knob is for draining the tank after a camping trip.)

After this I figured I was home free, but no. The next big surprise was that the new tank bulges when full. I hadn’t anticipated that either. The old tank had thick walls and was essentially rigid, but modern poly tanks are thin-walled and very flexible. When I dry-fitted the wood cover and filled the tank to check for leaks, the wood was forced off by the bulging of the tank.

The solution here was to add reinforcement to the tank cover to resist the weight of 225 pounds of water trying to push the walls out. I could have fabricated a new tank cover to accommodate the bulge, but that would meant a search for 1/4″ birch plywood (much harder to find here in Tucson than in wood-happy Vermont) and a few days of cutting, staining, and finishing. At this point I’d been working on the tank problems for a week and I was looking for a way to get this job done. So I added braces and extra screws and I think it will hold up. If not, I have a backup plan involving some aluminum L-channel.

At this point I think I have about 25 hours of work into this “little problem” caused by the original tank leaking. Admittedly, I didn’t just set out to fix the primary problem. I also wanted to improve a few things along the way, like the floor edge sealing, the threshold, and some woodwork details. But it was amazing how that stupid little leak in the tank ended up taking over my life for the past week.

The furniture is back in the trailer now, but the job’s not done. I want to reduce the weight of the dinette table by routing out some of the underside wood. The table was re-made by some well-meaning friends who used 3/4″ plywood, and as a result the table is so heavy it takes two people to lift it out (to convert to a bed). I also need to sanitize the fresh water system with bleach, and I think I may go find the spot where the plumbing makes a loud vibrating noise when the water pump is running, and find some way to silence it.

Whether I get to those jobs this week or not, the trailer needs to get out of the carport and back into off-site storage soon. The Safari’s floor makeover is languishing until I have more carport space, and the Mercedes 300D wants some love too. I’ve got about another six weeks of really fine Fall weather in Tucson to get my projects done, so there’s no time to waste. I’m just hoping that the next few things go more smoothly than this “little problem” with the Caravel.

Oct 15 2012

Project Season

I did say this was “project season,” didn’t I? Between the house, the Caravel, the Safari, and the 300D the list of jobs seems endless, so I’ve resolved to just tackle one item every single day without fail. It’s like chipping away at a mountain, but chipping a little at a time is the only way the mountain will disappear.

The 300D project has gotten the most attention. On Tuesday we replaced the bumper rub strip. On Wednesday I replaced the rear sway bar links and inspected the rear brakes. On Thursday Eleanor and I installed a new hood pad. On Saturday I removed the instrument cluster and fixed the dim lighting, along with the inaccurate temperature gauge. I used two T-10 LED lights from LED4RV, which really helped to reduce heat in the cluster. (The plastic was beginning to melt from the hot old bulbs.) On Sunday I very carefully removed an old decal from the defroster glass, a tricky job without breaking the silkscreened defroster elements. In between 300D jobs I continued plotting the rest of the car’s resurrection, researching parts and repairs.

On Friday I got brave enough to remove the heaps of flagstone and slate that were pressing down the Caravel’s damaged Marmoleum floor. It had been baking in the heat for the last week or so. It appears that the silicone caulk is working well as floor adhesive. As I feared, the floor is not lying perfectly flat —there’s a small lifted spot— but it’s good enough.

Eleanor came up with the idea of fabricating a trim strip to hold the Marmoleum in place, and so I cut a piece of flat aluminum to size, cleaned it up with a Scotchbrite pad and orange cleaner, drilled three countersunk holes for stainless screws, and then sprayed it with clearcoat. Beneath the trim I sealed the edges of the Marmoleum with tan silicone caulk. The dimensions of the aluminum were chosen to match the trim already in the trailer, and I think it looks great. The three screws are pinning the floor in place.

The next job on the Caravel is to get the new water tank installed. I got a start on this Saturday, but decided to take a break in favor of other projects. I think, barring unforeseen problems, that we’ll have this wrapped up in the next couple of days. The tank is mostly plumbed in, and the rest of it is just reinstalling the furniture, testing for water-tightness, and sanitizing the system.

The Safari hasn’t gotten much love lately. I bought the rest of the flooring material but we really can’t get on that project until the Safari’s little sister gets out of the way. That should be an interesting one though, as we’ll be removing most of the bedroom, the dinette, and other stuff.

The house always gets the shortest stick. All it got this week was a repainted exterior light yesterday, and a new dryer vent on the roof this morning. The many other house projects are just going to have to wait. For some reason it’s more gratifying to work on the vehicles!

Tomorrow—who knows? Every day is different. I just know that something will get done. One chip at a time …

By the way, the new Alumafiesta site is up …

Oct 07 2012

Airstream floors

Since this is our “off season” for Airstream travel, we’re getting on to maintenance projects in the Airstreams. The 1968 Caravel has taken precedence, by virtue of springing a leak.

A few years ago we replaced the subfloor in the Caravel and put a Marmoleum floor atop it, which I figured would last a long time. Marmoleum is great stuff, although hard to install in a trailer. Stored under cover, in the desert, it seemed unlikely that the floor would be water-damaged, but that’s what happened, right here in our carport. The original plastic water tank began seeping water at a brass fitting (a fitting which has no purpose that I could glean). The seepage was so minor that it was unnoticeable until it had leaked for a few weeks. I went into the Caravel for a quick inspection and stepped into a puddle of water right at the entry door.

By then the wood subfloor was saturated with water, which caused the floor adhesive to fail, and allowed the Marmoleum to lift off and warp. Most annoyingly, the water puddled entirely at the entry door where the damage would be most visible.

We had quickly disassemble the dinette, and lift the Marmoleum an inch at the edge in order to dry out the subfloor. Even in our dry season, with outdoor humidity running about 15-20% during the day, it took over two weeks to fully dry out the wood. In the meantime I consulted Colin Hyde and he warned me not to try to fix the water tank, as it was likely to fail again due to age. I didn’t need much convincing. The old tank was riddled with various plugged holes for tank monitors (unused), drains, and who-knows-what. In the photo you can see the the old brass fitting that was the cause of our problem. The white crusty stuff around the edges is probably dried minerals, and you can also see a split forming in the tank itself (barely visible at the 5 o’clock position).

So I bought a new tank from Vintage Trailer Supply with custom inlet and drain threads “spin welded” in place exactly where I wanted them. The new tank is a little larger than the original, with a 28 gallon capacity, but it fit into the same space with just a little modification to the wood dinette that surrounds it. I had to trim one edge of the lower storage compartment’s face frame, and fabricate a new wood piece to hold the tank in place.

Once installed, the new tank will be much easier to service because it can be positioned to avoid the outside water fill tube, and thus plumbing access will be straightforward. The other one partially blocked the water fill tube, so it was a real pain to connect. I’ve had to take that connection apart three or four times in the past because the water fill kept leaking, so I’m glad to see it go. The new tank will have much cleaner connections that are under less stress, and the tank itself is less likely to leak since it has only two openings (fill and drain) and I’m using all new plumbing. The threads will get Teflon tape, too.

I’m not so sure about the Marmoleum. It got pretty warped in the drying process, and a tear formed at one point. We have attempted to re-attach it to the floor using tan silicon caulk. To flatten it, we’ve stacked a few hundred pounds of leftover slate tiles and flagstone, with a base layer of corrugated cardboard. I’ll let it sit that way for a few days while the fall desert heat bakes it, and then see if we’ve had any luck. If not, we’ll have to scab in a patch.

We can’t do much else inside the Caravel until the floor is fixed, so our attention is turned to the Safari. A few weeks back I had announced an ambitious plan to face-lift the interior, but reality (meaning budget) has prevailed. So we’re going to stretch out the work, and just start with the flooring. John Irwin wrote an article about flooring replacement options, which will appear in the Winter 2012 issue of Airstream Life. Inspired by this, I began to look at quality vinyl planks and discovered that there are some really nice options, and they are cheap, easy to install, and will go right over the existing vinyl floor. We’ll remove the dingy old carpet in the bedroom and put the vinyl planks there, too.

Eleanor and I bought some of the flooring today to do a test layout in the Safari, and it looks good. I expect we’ll take a few days to complete the job, including time to pull out the furniture, prep the existing floor, cut around obstacles, and reinstall the furniture. We will get on that job after the Caravel is done and back in its off-site storage spot. We need extra space in the carport for all the furniture that we’ll be removing from the Safari.

I really don’t have any particular love for flooring work but, like painting, it is gratifying when it’s done and everything looks great. And we’re entering the season of perfect daytime temperatures for outdoor work, so I’m looking forward to tackling the Safari floor soon.