[ Outline ] · Standard · Linear+ Looking for advice, Thinking of buying need advice.....

[emcvay]

Hi All,

First off, thanks for running and maintaining the site! I know how tough that can be (I have a dart forum myself) and appreciate that you've done this as I was looking for a place where I could get some advice and found your site

OK, here's the details: I run a portable sawmill business (side business mostly in the spring, summer and fall) and am tired of driving back and forth to my cabin or to a hotel when on a remote job. I've decided I need to get a slide in camper so I can camp out onsite, enjoy the evenings (instead of driving) and save money on fuel not to mention time. I can drive as much as 70 miles each way on a job over a week....so even getting something like 8MPG with a camper and mill in tow would be better than getting 15mpg and driving 140 miles a day....

So after trading in my F150 for a long box F350 crew cab (2010 in great shape with only 32k miles) I went in search of a lighter 8 or 9 foot camper......


Found this 1995 Angler on CL for $1k....owner said it had some 'condensation damage'.....


This is the damaged spot. I can put my hand through it without trying.


You can clearly see the damage here.

One other spot had some minor (what I'd think of as minor in comparison to this major damage) water damage.

Owner said she sealed the roof every year and I looked at the roof and it appeared to be sealed without cracks etc....my guess is a leaking window above the seat.

I wonder if it can be repaired by cutting out the bad spot and fixing in new plywood? Is it even worth it?

[emcvay]

Found the water shut off to the hot water tank.

One question: if there is no water in the tank would the heater run anyway?

Also (ok this is two now), will it need a new anode if it hasn't been used in several years?

[towpro]

Found the water shut off to the hot water tank.

One question: if there is no water in the tank would the heater run anyway?

Also (ok this is two now), will it need a new anode if it hasn't been used in several years?

I removed picture, but its only 2 posts back.
the water flows the direction of the "wing" or handle on that valve.
you need to fill the hot water heater before turning on the heat. yes it can try to heat while empty, but I don't think its too good to do that. turn on water, than open valve inside to let hot water fill up.
see that over pressure valve on outside of hot water heater? don't open that. when you bleed air out of system by using inside sink, a little bit of air will remain in tank to act as a buffer as the water heats up, the pressure can rise. but you can't compress a liquid so this little bit of air acts like a buffer.
if you were to open this outside valve that last air will come out and it has been known to cause the outside valve to leak at times.


first turn on the gas. start stove to bleed air out of system. turn off stove once you get fire.

looking at your water heater, in that hole you have a 2 small lines, one goes to a probe which is used to tell the gas valve that the pilot light is lit or not, and the little pipe for the pilot lite. than the big tube is your burner tube.

turn knob to pilot, than you may have to press it in, or turn it further than pilot depending how your system works, as you hold lit lighter in hole, between upper and lower tubes shown in picture you should see wind blowing out of the pilot hole. this wind will turn into gas, which will lite. once that upper tube gets hot enough, you will be able to let off the knob so it returns to just pilot position and flame stays lit.

next turn to valve to on, and hot water heater will lite.

now does it blow a lot of black smoke out top? or sound like a whistle? or seam to be burning inside that large tube going into hole? if yes, shut if off and clean the bugs out of that large tube.

[RV_Tech]

I removed picture, but its only 2 posts back.
the water flows the direction of the "wing" or handle on that valve.
you need to fill the hot water heater before turning on the heat.  yes it can try to heat while empty, but I don't think its too good to do that.  turn on water, than open valve inside to let hot water fill up.
see that over pressure valve on outside of hot water heater?  don't open that.  when you bleed air out of system by using inside sink, a little bit of air will remain in tank to act as a buffer as the water heats up, the pressure can rise.  but you can't compress a liquid so this little bit of air acts like a buffer.
if you were to open this outside valve that last air will come out and it has been known to cause the outside valve to leak at times.
first turn on the gas.  start stove to bleed air out of system.  turn off stove once you get fire.

looking at your water heater, in that hole you have a 2 small lines, one goes to a probe which is used to tell the gas valve that the pilot light is lit or not, and the little pipe for the pilot lite. than the big tube is your burner tube.

turn knob to pilot, than you may have to press it in, or turn it further than pilot depending how your system works, as you hold lit lighter in hole, between upper and lower tubes shown in picture  you should see wind blowing out of the pilot hole.  this wind will turn into gas, which will lite.  once that upper tube gets hot enough, you will be able to let off the knob so it returns to just pilot position and flame stays lit.

next turn to valve to on, and hot water heater will lite. 

now does it blow a lot of black smoke out top? or sound like a whistle? or seam to be burning inside that large tube going into hole?  if yes, shut if off and clean the bugs out of that large tube.

Do not under any conditions attempt to fire the water heater without water in the tank. You will blow the thermofuse in the gas valve which means you will need a new valve. It is not resetable.

You should open the temperature/pressure relief valve on the outside of the water heater at the top monthly during the operating season when the tank is cold to clear out calcium build up. If you do not and let it go for a long time, it will not reseat when you open it.

The proper way to establish the air pocket in a water heater is to fill the water heater with the relief valve open so water runs out. Then shut off the water to the camper and open the galley faucet. When water stops running out of the relief valve, shut off the faucet inside and close the relieve valve. The air pocket will be reestablished, but it is normal for the air pocket to gradually be absorbed and need to reestablished several times a year. A sign the air pocket is lost is when the relief valve drips, which is a normal consequence and does not mean the valve has to be replaces as long as it is just a drip.

Normally when I put a water into operation that has not been fired in a while where the gas line may be empty, I crack the gas line connection on the gas valve until I smell propane. The pilot orifice is extremely small and it can take an eternity to get the pilot lit if the camper has been out of service for a while. Lighting the cooktop gets propane into the line part way, but how much that helps depends on how far the cooktop is from the water heater.