Hacks, tips, and tricks

[Screwby]

Originally Posted by Riich

Let's get back to this comment as I think it is confusing to some. Your hot water heater stays full unless you physically drain it. Personally, I don't know anybody who drains their water heater during the camping season. Do some of you on here actually do that? I don't know why you would, but I'm not saying it is wrong if you do. To each their own.

Now if you actually drain it between camping trips, then yes you need to refill the hot water heater and to do it properly, you need to open a hot water tap at the sink to bleed the air out. If you do not drain the water heater, you do not need to open a hot water tap and bleed air out, it's already full of water.

Sometimes if you leave water in a water heater, especially from campgrounds it can get a nasty sulphuric smell. I’ve only had it happen twice in 4 years of owning this camper. I can understand why some people don’t risk it happening, it was hard to get the sulphuric smell out. I ended up bleaching the whole system again.

[LuckyDuck]

It’s easy enough to drain and flush the tank, so rather than risk smelly water, I’ll usually do it rather than let it sit until we go again in another month or so. Once hooked up to city connect, it fills in minutes and that’s another 50 pounds we don’t need to tow.

[Riverman]

I put a valve on my water heater, now I don't have to deal with those plastic plugs anymore.

Hey Lucky Duck.... I have the same trailer as you do, but Jayco put Starcraft stickers on mine. I love it.

[LuckyDuck]

Originally Posted by Riverman

I put a valve on my water heater, now I don't have to deal with those plastic plugs anymore.

Hey Lucky Duck.... I have the same trailer as you do, but Jayco put Starcraft stickers on mine. I love it.

So do we! Perfect for two of us and love the rear-living layout and not messing with a slide. We just got back from three weeks on the road and never felt cramped or claustrophobic. If you’re interested, here’s an album with some of the mods I’ve done: https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/m...lbums1625.html

[chrismoore701]

I have gotten used to draining all water lines after my trip. I added valves to the low point drain and the water tank. Drains everything and ready for fresh next trip.

[Flyrotor]

Originally Posted by chrismoore701

I have gotten used to draining all water lines after my trip. I added valves to the low point drain and the water tank. Drains everything and ready for fresh next trip.

I’m not sure I understand your hack, every trailer that I’ve ever owned has valves on the low points and the water tanks.

[Thomson]

Today I finished reading RV Electrical Safety by Michael Sokol. For $14.95 it is the best read for any RVer knowledgable in electric or novice. He's not degrees or a master electrician, but he has practical expertise and the respect of the RV industry. I don't want to throw my credentials around, but if I say it's a worthwhile read, you'd better buy it and share it with your friends. I bought several copies to give to friends. With the title and author you can get it on Amazon. For some reason I couldn't copy the link.

[chrismoore701]

Originally Posted by Flyrotor

I’m not sure I understand your hack, every trailer that I’ve ever owned has valves on the low points and the water tanks.

My new trailer had the low point drains about 2' under the trailer with caps. I removed the caps, put a 90 on the lines, ran it to the edge of the trailer and installed valves. Drain after every trip

[jimle2]

Originally Posted by DrSmart

Our Weber Q portable barbecue often had a hard time lighting all the burner ports. After years of trying to clean all those tiny holes with a toothpick or steel brush, I drilled all the holes out to one drill bit size larger than the bit that would fit the holes. After that the whole length of burner would light first or second spark. Didn't seem to affect max temperature or flame height.

what size of drill bit, do you recall ?

[RogerR]

Originally Posted by Flyrotor

I’m not sure I understand your hack, every trailer that I’ve ever owned has valves on the low points and the water tanks.

My low point drains are way back in a mess of pipes behind the water heater. Hard to reach and impossible to see. Adding some underneath would be an improvement to accessibility. Piping them out to the side would also be handy.

[Flyrotor]

Originally Posted by chrismoore701

My new trailer had the low point drains about 2' under the trailer with caps. I removed the caps, put a 90 on the lines, ran it to the edge of the trailer and installed valves. Drain after every trip

Gotcha, now I understand

[rohuber]

Originally Posted by RogerR

My 195RB has a panel held on with two decorative screws. I had to open it each time I drained the tanks, added pink or wanted to service the water heater valves or the pump. I added two hidden, self-closing hinges, cut off the screws and glued the heads into the holes. Now all I have to do is open the hatch door to get at them. Saves time finding the peanut screwdriver!

Could you show pictures of this? I would like to do the same thing, but unsure how to attach a hinge to the 1/4” panel.

[berwin]

LuckyDuck, where did you get the stainless steel mini subway tiles?

[LuckyDuck]

Originally Posted by berwin

LuckyDuck, where did you get the stainless steel mini subway tiles?

I got them here: https://diydecorstore.com/backsplash

They have a ton of designs and materials. I liked that they were lightweight but not plastic or vinyl. I used dabs of construction adhesive in addition to the peel and stick. So far so good in our red hot summers.

[BuckeyeHB]

I just put on a new cover (second cover) on my Hummingbird 17RK. We bought a King Bird from Amazon. Very nice cover, three ply roof. I like the strap design when compared to Adco. I have seen some good suggestions for protecting covers from tearing especially on the gutter. The one I stumbled on was using two inexpensive paint rollers. The paint rollers had a plastic core. I cut a slit halfway down the length. I just slid the roller cover over the gutter. Easy Peazy.

[Hollander Mutthaulers]

We use a breathable fabric car cover for our RV. It fits over the roof and about a foot down all around. We place short sections of pipe insulation over the pointy downspouts. The cover is secured with eight rope/bungee combinations with pipe insulation over anything that would chaff in the wind. It's worked very well for three Michigan winters so far.

[Thomson]

We thought about the states map and decided that a wall of fridge magnets was the way to go. On our Montana there was a wall recess where I glued a painted piece of sheet metal. On our 315 we cut out the back mg splash and installed painted sheet metal.

[Bayoutalker]

Originally Posted by Thomson

We thought about the states map and decided that a wall of fridge magnets was the way to go. On our Montana there was a wall recess where I glued a painted piece of sheet metal. On our 315 we cut out the back mg splash and installed painted sheet metal.

My MIL collected the state magnets. Everytime someone in the family went on vacation that was her souvenir.

[Thomson]

We don't have a problem with stashing keys and flashlights. They are right next to the front door. We installed 1" cupholders and hung our assorted necessities on them. Nothing falls, even while travelling.