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Old 05-15-2016, 10:10 PM   #1
denverpilot
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Shakedown cruise and bummer...

Well we made It out of the spring rains and mud at the little house on the prairie long enough to head up to Summit County, CO for a long weekend at the ARRL Rocky Mountain Division Convention.

That's the good part. Well there's a little more good...

Colorado and National Parks in that area are still in "mid season" between skiing and summer activities -- so we elected to stay at the very fancy Tiger Run RV Resort in Breckenridge. It was very nice. It's Summit County and it's all about real estate up there, so bring cash. Ha. A three night stay was about $200. But we knew that going in, and it was all part of the plan.

The venerable old 2001 Dodge 3500 Cummins was (once again) up to the "Ike Challenge" and towed the trailer no slower than 55 all the way up both sides except where there was construction eastbound and the speed limit was 50.

EGT does get high enough that you should know the Cummins limits... I'll leave looking those up as an exercise for the reader, since that's always a controversial subject. Let's just remember that aluminum melts just above 1200F and you can make your own decisions from there. Heh.

(And if you're unaware of what the "Ike Challenge" is, look up the YouTube channel of "The Fast Lane Truck" and "Ike Challenges" there. Ike is the Eisenhower/Johnson Tunnel on I-70 just east of Silverthorne, CO -- and if you want to know if your rig can tow, both sides are a bear of a towing challenge for any vehicle.)

The bad news.

We rarely park on asphalt or concrete with the fiver, and perhaps this has been going on a while, hard to say, but I noticed a small drip leak coming from the area of the low point drains under the kitchen island on the concrete pad. Thinking a valve might have been slightly open, I crawled under there (a significant downside of the kitchen island concept -- those two drain pipes and valves couldn't be in a worse place to get to...) and checked. Uh-oh.

The water wasn't coming from the valves, it was dripping very slowly down the outside of those pipes.

So. We have a leak somewhere.

Obvious stuff was checked of course, no water under the sink or running down either feed or drain pipes above the floor.

It didn't APPEAR to be grey (or black water) water but -- kinda hard to tell with the grey from just the sink.

Didn't have a lot of time to fiddle with experiments so I shut off the city water supply and had some in the tank so we kept the pump off unless we needed water for some reason, just in case we had a blowout somewhere that was getting worse. Switched it on when we needed it, and used the kitchen sink sparingly.

Drip slowed but never completely stopped. This could be because maybe the insulation under the coroplast is soaked, or... Who knows. Ugh.

So it looks like I may have to drop the coroplast and get to hunting to see where this is coming from. Thinking about it, it seems to be worse if the island sink is used but I couldn't really nail it down. I can run some basic tests and watch for the leak in the dirt driveway now that I know it's happening.

The other bad news is we have another short jaunt scheduled over the upcoming holiday weekend and I know I have very little time before then that I can work on dropping the coroplast and hunting around. Probably won't get to it, really. And if things are like usual around here, there won't be an open service shop bay anywhere until fall.

It'd be really nice if when I do drop it, this is loaclaized to the island and isn't running back from "something else" forward. It's of course in the hardest possible part of the trailer to get at. Grrrr.

Otherwise the shakedown cruise went great other than I need to go up and lube the TV antenna gears. They're obviously clogged up with our prairie dust. It was being a pain to raise and it came back down easily enough and then jammed. Don't really need it -- we'd rather watch a movie, but I was checking out "all systems". Most likely just needs lubed up.

Seeing the old truck, Bubba, happily hauling 12,000 lbs of stuff at wide open throttle and 28 lbs of boost was fun again, though. Man that Cummins can pull! Whole truck rides great pulling that big trailer and the engine feels like it actually has some work to do! Was also a good workout for the new/rebuilt injector pump. Seems like it'll hold up on a longer trip!



Happy campers overall. Always maintenance on these rigs, and nothing on them is built to last or even designed to handle the banging around a trailer gets when towing.

Had a "whoa" moment towing it also today coming home. I was low on fuel and knew I could probably make the Ike and all the way over to the other side of the mountains but I don't fully trust that gauge. Started to head into the parking lot surrounding a fuel station with diesel and before getting to their overhang I read "13.0'". We're higher than that by a number of inches with the optional forward A/C we had installed and over by a little even without it.

So no fuel from there. And mountain fuel stations are notoriously small. I just decide to head on over knowing the size of the tank and my usual towing mileage (10.5 MPG, very consistently). Worked out fine. Fueled on this side of the Rockies in a west Denver suburb and then headed for the prairie.

All in all. Not that bad. Everything else ran and worked well.
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Old 05-16-2016, 04:26 AM   #2
Bill & Deb
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Leaks always suck .... I hope you find the problem. Let us know what you find.

Your trailer looks identical to my 2014 Laredo 329RE ?

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Old 05-16-2016, 12:20 PM   #3
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Nate, apparently our rigs are talking to each other while we're not watching ... I had leaks from the belly after Boyd Lake 2 weeks ago, noticed while dumping (if you recall, it rained and snowed and blew like crazy that weekend) so the whole pad was wet the whole weekend already.

So, I had 3 evenings to work on it before another trip (non-RV) and then 2 evenings to work on it after that and before the next (Jackson Lake State Park), which we just arrived home from.

Dropped the coroplast about half way back (ran into the gas line that crosses from side to side at the axle, and didn't want or need to drop it completely).

I had wet insulation only on the bottom, water pooled in the low spots of the coroplast, but nothing wet above the insulation and no apparent leaks from anything in the house ... so, tidied up all the wire bundles and tied them up out of the way, redirected the heater ducts for the so-called "polar package" (what a farce) and buttoned it all back up. And, no leaks last weekend.

Apparently the wind-driven rain and snow found it's way under the coroplast and dripped out at the low point drains and the black/gray dump pipe... at least, that's what I'm hoping, because I found nothing else.

Good luck!
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Old 05-16-2016, 05:26 PM   #4
therink
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If it was me, I would carefully cut a 3 sided square opening into the cloroplast near the low point drains large enough to get a look inside with a flashlight and make repairs as needed.
There are likely T fittings where the low point lines drop down. I bet that is where the nuisance leak is.
Once you make the repair, you can get a square of cloroplast at home depot or any sign shop that works with vinyl graphics. Then cover the 3 sided hole with larger square of chloroplast you acquired and seal edges with gorilla tape. I did this same type of opening at my black tank valve and has remained sealed since, plus now I have access for future repairs. In my opinion this is much easier and convenient than dropping the entire belly.
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Old 05-18-2016, 08:22 PM   #5
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Appreciate all the thoughts and ideas, all. Has been raining until today and the driveway has been back to being mud, so haven't tackled looking for the leak yet. I'll report back once I do!
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Old 05-18-2016, 08:24 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill & Deb View Post

Your trailer looks identical to my 2014 Laredo 329RE ?


Oh, almost forgot... Hi Bill. It's a 2013 Laredo 312RE.
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Old 05-26-2016, 04:20 PM   #7
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Hello from WA0SD, What Radio did you put in your camper? How did you mount your antennas? Are you using the DC from the Batteries?

Thanks Again

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Old 05-27-2016, 03:52 AM   #8
Bill & Deb
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Hello from WA0SD, What Radio did you put in your camper? How did you mount your antennas? Are you using the DC from the Batteries?

Thanks Again

Scot
Scot

I had several pieces of "U" channel steel welded to the frame at the back and two receivers added. On one I have a 2kw inverter generator mounted in a cage, the other I use for a bike rack when travelling. When I get to my location. The bike rack comes out and a piece of 2" receiver tubing with a piece of 2" round by about 24" long pipe welded vertically to that tube. I just slide it into the bike rack receiver. I then clamp on a vertical HF antenna to it. I use an ICOM 7000 in the rig with a PL259 feed thru connector from outside the back of the trailer.

If you would like pictures, let me know and a see if I have some of the antenna on.

Check out a thread that I posted pictures to a couple of years ago. Does not show antenna mounted, but it goes into the empty receiver to the left of the spare tire.
http://www.keystonerv.org/forums/showthread.php?t=20464

Bill
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Old 05-30-2016, 10:39 PM   #9
denverpilot
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill & Deb View Post
Scot



I had several pieces of "U" channel steel welded to the frame at the back and two receivers added. On one I have a 2kw inverter generator mounted in a cage, the other I use for a bike rack when travelling. When I get to my location. The bike rack comes out and a piece of 2" receiver tubing with a piece of 2" round by about 24" long pipe welded vertically to that tube. I just slide it into the bike rack receiver. I then clamp on a vertical HF antenna to it. I use an ICOM 7000 in the rig with a PL259 feed thru connector from outside the back of the trailer.



If you would like pictures, let me know and a see if I have some of the antenna on.



Check out a thread that I posted pictures to a couple of years ago. Does not show antenna mounted, but it goes into the empty receiver to the left of the spare tire.

http://www.keystonerv.org/forums/showthread.php?t=20464



Bill

Ohhhhh I like! I want to do that to mine.

I'm also seriously considering removing tbe dining room table and putting a desk there as a catch-all instead (we rarely sit at it to eat) and also doing double duty as a ham shack desk...

Meanwhile...

We got out again over the long holiday weekend to State Forest State Park here in Colorado (near Walden, CO).

And while there, found the leak. Talk about dumb. The fittings on the kitchen p-trap had worked their way loose. So only happened when the sink was used heavily. All better now!

Photos from the weekend...

The rescue girl doggie's first camping trip. She loved every minute of it. Here she's making sure I don't get out of the recliner!



Made a day trip over to Steamboat Springs, CO on Saturday. Rain/sleet/snow mix at the top of Rabbit Ears Pass and still plenty of snow up there.



But gorgeous on CO-14 in North Park!



Ranger Lakes themselves and the Ranger Lakes campground are gorgeous.

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Old 05-30-2016, 10:40 PM   #10
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They're doing a lot of logging on the park roads and trails. Beetle kill took its toll here and moved on. The infestation is over, but the dead stuff makes for dangerous deadfall, so they're pulling it away from roads and trails slowly, starting with the most used ones.

A quick shot of DW and Dino and Rona the wonder pups.



It's a good time to see moose. This is the same cow moose from two different angles on the Ranger Lakes trail system.





Of course you want to give moose plenty of space. This time of year they're starting to kick their yearlings out of being with momma so momma can have another calf. Momma can be VERY grumpy if bothered.

Those shots are will some digital zoom and we're a lot further away then it appears. Especially with dogs. Momma sees dogs as a threat.

Another excellent camping trip with the trailer! Bubba the Cummins happily pulled the 10,200' Cameron Pass with the fully watered and loaded trailer.

State Forest park is somewhat primitive but one doesn't come to a park like this for amenities. They have about 30 sites with electric that'll hold fairly big rigs. Our site was relatively level gravel with a nice fire pit and picnic table and the power worked great. Claimed it was 20A service on the park website, but our box had a 50A hookup plus smaller ones. Didn't really need 50A for anything but it saved digging out adapters.

One thing to watch for is the signage on the highway points into different campsites by name. Ranger Lakes is the camp with electrical hookups. There are over 120 other campsites in the park and they're all different exits off of the highway, so watch for your campsite name.

If you miss it and are headed downhill (west) just keep going until you see the visitors center. Large trailers and class A's were seen in the parking lot so there's some maneuvering room in there and the Rangers can assist with a map or just info on things going on in the park. This time of year all the moose sightings were on an easel near the entrance door inside, for example.

Dump station is in another State Park near the Snowplow shop about 9 miles down the road. Your day pass (we use an annual pass but I know many don't) will get you into any park and your camping pass will let you use the dump station. No water available at the dump so if you prefer to run a tank sprayer or similar (wand, whatever) you'll want to go somewhere else to dump.

This time of year, 2/3 of the northern part of the park (and the really long hiking trails) are still snowed in. The Rangers said July is usually an excellent time to visit the park at this altitude. Campsite was about 9800' MSL.

Of course the absolute best part -- so far away from anything that there's little to no light "pollution". Stars, planets, meteoric activity, and even a couple of satellites were spotted easily.

On-leash dogs are allowed on all of the trails and the doggies had a blast. All sorts of new sniffs to check out and Dino even spotted the moose!

We tend to catch up on movies late night in the trailer... Creed was good. Gotta love a cheesy nobody to famous boxer storyline, eh? Hadn't seen the latest Avengers movie. That was fun, special effects were amazing, did seem like Joss Weadon tried to cram as much stuff going on, onto the screen at once as he could. And we tried that "based on a true story" thing about the coast guard crew ...Their finest hour" I think it was. That was okay too. Nobody looked as hypothermic as they should have. Heh.

Oh and SmartFood pre-popped popcorn in the bag in the Movie Theater Butter flavor is eerily like sitting in the theater while you're watching. We normally do the white cheddar stuff, but DW wanted to try the Movie Butter thing and, I'd eat it again.
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