RV | Married to a Nerd

Water Water Everywhere

April 26th, 2010 Posted in Husband, RV

After the wonderful fiasco with the ice maker in the fridge we had yet another incident last night. In an effort to test out the washer/dryer we decided to run a simple wash cycle with no clothes. After reading the manual to figure out which spot to put the detergent (B, A, or C) we started the cycle. I checked on the machine a couple of times just to see if there were any leaks around the supply lines or drain. About 15 minutes passed when I went to go check on it again and to my amazement water was shooting up out of the drain in the shower all over the bathroom floor!

Stacy and I scrambled around like a couple of chickens with our heads cut of and I eventually got outside to hook up the sewer line and open the valve on the gray-water tank. That was the fastest hook-up manuver I’ve ever seen. Oh, did I mention it was about 40 degrees out and starting to rain? I was not the happiest camper in the world after that.

We managed to use up every flippin’ towel we had available to soak up the water. We’ll be doing more damage assessment today to see what down below got soaked. Here’s the lesson learned in all of this: ALWAYS CHECK THE WASTEWATER TANK LEVELS OFTEN! Had I checked the gray-water tank level after I took my shower I probably would have emptied it before starting the wash cycle.

Just another pearl of wisdom from our RV adventure.

B, cycle, Husband, RV, rv adventure, Stacy, tank, wastewater tank, water tank level

RV Fridge Ice Maker – Water Damage

April 23rd, 2010 Posted in Husband, RV

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We finally pulled the “Chocolate Pony” (our RV) onto the pad last night and set it up. Everything went pretty good except for the water shooting all over the shower, thankfully the door was closed. I forgot I had taken apart the shower fixture. After that situation was brought under control I still heard a small water dripping noise. It turns out the water line run to the ice maker in the freezer was disconnected or broken somehow. The water ran down behind the fridge and soaked the floor causing havoc with our heat A/C controller. Let’s just say we didn’t end up staying in the RV last night. Hopefully when we go over there today the controller will be dried out and back to working order.

This got me thinking about winterizing the water line to the ice maker. We’ve never actually ran the ice maker until we tried now. I poked around and found some step-by-step instructions on witerizing the water line to the ice maker in your RV.

Follow these Steps:

Shut off water supply valve to ice maker.

Place a shallow pan under water solenoid valve.

Remove inlet fitting to ice maker water solenoid valve. Drain water from the supply line.

Remove the plastic nut and water line from outlet side of water solenoid valve. Drain water from the line.

Cycle ice maker several times while blowing compressed air through water solenoid valve. Be sure all water is out of the solenoid. NOTE: Up to 40 PSIG air pressure can be used to clear the valve.

Reconnect and tighten lines on water solenoid valve. Leave the water supply turned off until temperatures are above 32°F/0°C.

Dry out ice maker mold assembly with soft cloth. Place bail arm in UP/OFF position.

These instructions are taken from the manual for a Dometic, so I don’t know if they apply to everything out there. I’m going to be looking at the connection through the back of the fridge on ours to see if they left it disconnected. More info to continue the RV adventure…

C. Dry, drain water, ice, plastic nut, RV, rv adventure, water, water solenoid valve, Winterizing

Moving Day Is Here

April 22nd, 2010 Posted in Family, Husband, RV

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After long and careful discussions with my wife we finally decided to move into our RV full time. We’ve done most of the work, we’ve already got a contract on our house and have moved the majority of our stuff to storage. I should say the remaining stuff, since we’ve unloaded a lot on craigslist and eBay. What’s left in the house is due to be moved to the RV and we’re off to the KOA.

I can't believe someone would even consider trying this!

Now I’m sure you’re thinking: “why would you ever want to live in a dumpy old RV?” To that I would just introduce you to our rig whom we’ve dubbed “Chocolate Pony!”