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I finally found the time to investigate the RV shower leak I mentioned a few posts back. I was hoping it was from the drain lines, which are fairly accessible, and was initially disappointed when I found that it wasn’t. My method to isolate the fill from the drain was to have Kelly fill a bucket with the shower head, and then dump the bucket into the drain, effectively separating the two processes. We used that to determine that it was, in fact, filling the shower that caused the leak. Fearing that I’d have to cut into the wall, similar to home plumbing, I pulled a picture frame off the bedroom wall just opposite the shower, thinking that it may serve as an access panel. No dice. Then I went around to the shower and looked closer, finding that there is a plastic tray that the control handles fasten to, that looked like it could be pulled out of the shower surround. I then found that the issue only occurred when the water was turned on, and removed all the shrouding to further investigate. The problem turned out to be a hairline split in the diverter tee within the faucet (which has a lot more in common with a sink faucet than a household shower valve). We didn’t winterize the RV once we set it in storage back in January, because we live in a mild climate that rarely freezes. I’m guessing that we probably should have, and that swelling due to freezing temperatures is what caused this pipe to crack. Otherwise, it could have been a manufacturing defect that has gone undetected for a while and gradually gotten worse. I’m still not entirely convinced that the pipes froze.

Either way, I found the exact replacement on Amazon, and ordered it.

Then I went and found this one, which is by the same company and has the same dimensions, but for $10 more has a single handle. We prefer this type, and it would be here a day sooner (tomorrow), so I canceled the above and ordered this one instead. It should fit in the same place and just take five minutes to install.

After ordering that, I pulled the catalog for Dura Faucet to see if they had anything else interesting. It looks like you can buy the diverter tee that cracked by itself. Good to know if we ever run into this issue again.

The trailer is still under warranty, but we avoid warranty repairs when possible because of the time involved in taking the trailer to the dealer, waiting indefinitely for them to get the parts, and make the repairs. We learned that lesson back when we had our Crossroads – waiting months at a time for service. Generally if the fix is inexpensive, I’d prefer to do it myself.

When we pulled it out of storage for this trip, I found that the battery was completely dry. Even after adding distilled water, as expected, it refused to hold a decent charge. It’s under warranty for a couple more months, but it’s a junk battery thrown in for free by the dealer and I’m considering the common proactive of replacing it with two 6v golf cart batteries, which would triple the run time (if it were in perfect condition) and last several cycles longer, as they are true deep cycle batteries. This one is undersized for our rig – both of our other trailers, which were smaller, had twice the battery capacity of this one. It’s something that I always found strange. The other option is to throw in a sealed AGM so this isn’t an issue again, but that doesn’t address capacity. I’m going to call around and see what I can get some of those golf cart batteries for tomorrow.

Edit: the 2x 6v batteries would run around $300, which I was okay with spending. But then I found that the converter that came with the RV has issues with them (killing them prematurely), and it would cost another $200 or so to replace it with a PD9270, the commonly accepted “best” converter for the job. Since that pushed the price to over $500, I decided to put it off for now and go with the cheap solution. We mostly use the generator anyway. I called around trying to find a dealer who would warranty the Interstate battery I pulled out of it, but couldn’t find one in the area that would because none have them in stock, so I decided to spend $94.22 after promo code to get one from Advance Auto here in town. As long as I maintain the fluid levels it should last me a year or more, at which point I’m sure I’ll swap out the converter and move to the 6v batteries.

Also, when putting away the septic hoses today I noticed a pool of water under the shower. I have diagnosed it yet, but either the shower faucet or drain has a slow leak. I believe it to be the drain since the faucet should be under constant pressure from the 12v pump, but we’ll see when I find some time to check it out this week.

Since installing the disc brakes on the RV, we’ve pulled it approximately 1,000 miles over the course of two trips. At the end of the first trip, I noted 6.4MPG and the second, 8.1MPG. Both of those trips included some unloaded driving, so actual MPG was lower. Normally under the same circumstances, I would book between 9.5 and 12MPG. Since this seemed to happen after the install of the disc brakes, I lifted the trailer off the ground and spun all four tires by hand. The rear-left tire had a metal-on-metal grinding sound, so I pulled the wheel to inspect it. When I went to touch the caliper, I found it was loose and pivoted freely from the top bolt. The bottom guide pin had backed itself out and the lower section of the caliper was resting directly on the rotor.

I called the vendor, explained the situation, and requested a replacement guide bolt. They told me that they have seen this issue on a few of these, and to re-assemble it with some extra Loctite (the bolts come with some thread locker, but it is insufficient). After I got off the phone with them, I ordered a replacement bolt from E-Trailer, since it is only a few dollars and I half expected them not to send one (they did, it arrived a couple days ago). So I had two bolts on the way, but the trailer was still sitting on the side street nearest my house and I didn’t want to move it again knowing the caliper situation.

Since the HOA was probably going to start complaining, I hit the message boards. I found a few people who said that the pads are the same as late 80s to early 90s Buick Celebrity Limiteds, so I decided to take a chance and see if the caliper bolts for one would fit. Advance Auto had them in stock, and two of them and replacement guide sleeves cost something like $7. I picked them up and, comparing them to the Titan bolts, found they were the same length and threading, with the only difference being the machining of the head. The head of the Titan is machined in such a way that you can use either a socket or an Allen key to grab onto it, while the Celebrity bolts could only be turned with an Allen head. This would be a problem for me if I wanted to use them on the upper caliper guide, since I could not get an Allen bit on my 3/8″ torque wrench in there due to the leaf interfering, so I left the OEM bolt on the top where I could grab it with a shallow socket and installed the Celebrity bolt on the bottom. I made sure to use extra Loctite Blue on both the top and bottom bolts during the reinstall.

Titan bolt machined so you can use a socket.

After reinstalling everything, I towed it to the RV lot in rush hour, stop and go traffic, averaging 7MPG. Considering the conditions, I think that is a good number and and that it was the entire reason for the loss in fuel efficiency. We’ll know for sure on our next trip.

The insurance adjuster is located in Virginia, so she sent a local tech of some sort to take photos. He was supposed to be out there on Tuesday, but arrived Thursday, and didn’t submit the photos until Friday morning. I think I need to consider finding a local agent after this.

I spoke with the adjuster yesterday (Friday) afternoon, and she said that she was reviewing the photos, and to go ahead and send her the quotes I received so that she could submit her estimate. I may be reading into that, but I took that to indicate that they are most likely going to opt for a replacement.

I sent her two quotes, one for a conventional rubber roof and one for the spray-on. The quotes I was receiving ranged widely, from $5-10K for the roofs, but I’ve worked with the company before that provided the written conventional quote, and theirs came in on the higher side at over $9K. They are my preferred vendor in all truth if I have to go with a conventional. However, since the spray on roof is just over $7K, I’m hoping that will be approved and we’ll be able to get a better roof out of this ordeal. Hopefully we’ll hear an approval on Monday or Tuesday, and be able to move forward on this.

On another note, we went to pick up the wheels and tires this week, but when at the shipping terminal, found one of the wheels had serious cosmetic damage due to a fork-lift accident. I had to refuse the shipment and am waiting for it to be returned to Florida, after which it will be replaced and shipped back out. It will probably be another week and a half or so before we take delivery.

We finally heard from the insurance company this morning, which is about right since today is Monday. After verbally explaining the damage to the adjuster, she said that they would definitely opt to replace, rather than repair, the roof. Unfortunately the replacement is going to fall under “collision” rather than “comprehensive” insurance, since I “collided” with a tree, so hopefully our rates will not be going up.  Even if they do, I doubt the higher rates are going to be less cost effective than paying for the replacement ourselves. She is located in Virginia, but will be sending a local tech out to visually inspect the roof tomorrow and confirm what I’ve told her. Hopefully by end of day tomorrow, this will be approved.

Over the weekend I did a lot of research on the various types of RV roofs, and have ruled out going with another conventional rubber membrane. Manufacturers use them because they’re light and cheap, but it looks like there are a lot of alternatives out there. One of the more popular ones is a spray-on roof called FlexArmor. It has been around for about a decade, but was a custom product manufactured and applied only by a small company in Florida until recently. They are beginning to franchise out, from the looks of it, and one of the six USA installers for it is just thirty minutes down the road from us. It cures with a texture sort of like a flexible, hard plastic, that is hard enough to grind on but flexible enough not to be destroyed by the forces exerted by a RV going down the road (AKA mobile earthquake.) It’s also lower maintenance since it adheres to most conventional RV materials and therefore doesn’t require caulking for items on the roof at the time it is sprayed, is repairable because you can re-spray select areas if they are damaged, and generally seems like a much better solution. It runs about $185/ft, which is in the range of most estimates I’m getting for TPO and EPDM roofs (7K total for a 38′ RV; ranges from $6-9k)

The insurance adjuster is requiring that we get a quote for a TPO or EPDM roof (what it came with) as well as the FlexArmor, though she did say she’s had several customers opt for FlexArmor and was aware of the product, and that they were all happy with the results. She said if it comes out more expensive than the traditional, we’ll have to pay the difference. If it comes out less expensive, they’ll cover it all. Unfortunately, whichever the case may be, I need to obtain a quote for a the rubber roof as well. That is proving pretty difficult because nobody wants to quote it sight-unseen, and most of the dealers I’m finding are insisting that we take it to them and leave it for a day. Then they assume that they’re going to do the work, so they expect us to keep it there. Alternately, I don’t want to waste the time of those that are willing to come to us, when I have no intention of actually using them once they spend the time and effort to make a quote. I did find a dealer who would give me a ballpark figure, “between $8 and $9K”, so if nothing else I may try to get them to put that ballpark in writing and see if it gets a pass from the insurance company.

We’re looking forward for this entire process to be over with, and a new roof to be on the unit. On the bright side, we’ll have a much more durable roofing solution with a lot less maintenance due on it, and a longer than standard warranty (20 years). Perhaps this is best to have happened now, rather than once we hit the road.