Hi folks,

I went to Lowe's and got a white food-grade water hose, and a 25-foot
heavy-duty 15 amp (contractor grade, for air compressors and generators)
extension cord and male/female adapter.  Along with a lawn/garden extension
cord I needed for my hedge clippers, everything cost me just over $51.00.

When I got home I started filling the van with water.  I found that the
holding tank and adjacent water lines are probably leaking, because just as
soon as I started filling the tank from the water input hole, I began seeing
dripping from a number of places underneath the van, significant enough so
that it made a big puddle underneath the back of the van.

I kept filling the water a little more, then I stopped doing that and I
connected the hose to the threaded city water input.  I don't think I filled
the tank completely.  Then, I switched on the water pump, which immediately
started running.  I don't have a pressure regulator (though I will get one),
so I only had the water spigot from my house on a little bit. About twenty
seconds after turning on the water spigot on the side of my house, I started
getting city water through the faucet in the galley.  I also got water
through the faucet in the bathroom sink, and through the larger tub/shower
faucet, although I noticed that the pressure in the bathroom sink was
minimal.  I also turned on the water to the toilet, and flushed it.  The
toilet flushed OK.

So, the water pump works and water was running OK through all the faucets,
but I noticed after I turned off all the faucets and shut off the water
pump, that some water leaked from around the bottom of the toilet.  Also,
there was still about an inch or so of standing water in the tub, that would
not drain.  Perhaps I filled the grey water holding tank to capacity
already?  I'll have to ask about that when I take the van in to an RV
maintenance place--it looks like I will have to do that to repair the leaks
and the slow-draining tub, at the minimum.

I then plugged the RV into my house power.  The A/C works great, as does the
small after-market microwave and built-in refrigerator (2 cf or so, I
think).  I think the fridge runs just on electrical power, not propane.  In
any case, I've put a few drinks and a tray of ice cubes into the fridge, and
turned it on up high.  I checked it about an hour ago, and although the ice
cubes aren't solid yet, the water in the tray is noticeably cold, and the
drink bottles and cans are getting cool to the touch. I'll check it again
tomorrow morning and see if the ice cubes are frozen, and the drinks are
cold.  The microwave works, but I only had in on for a few seconds, as I
didn't want to overload the electrical system.

In any case, I also found the place where the hot water heater is turned on
and off, and it's off, from what I can see.  The dial for the propane tank
is below that, at the bottom of the van, where someone would have to get on
their hands and knees to see it.  I'm sore from the race I ran last night,
so that will have to wait until tomorrow.  The propane tank should be full,
or almost so, because I never used the stove, furnace, or hot water heater
after getting the van serviced in early 2004.

So, I'll call one of the RV dealers nearby (there are three) and see if they
can find and fix the leaks in my holding tanks/lines, and the leaking around
the toilet.  I won't take it back to the place I took it 2 1/2 years ago, as
I felt they were patronizing and took longer to fix things than they should
have in the off-season.  I also thought they addressed the leaky holding
tank and lines then, but it's possible that more leaks developed in the two
years the van sat parked in my driveway.

If I was going to spend much more money on fixing the van's RV systems, I
would seriously consider taking out the built-in toilet and black water
tank, and replacing those with a nice porta-potty that's not hooked up to
the electrical or water systems.  Much easier for me to deal with. Also, the
person who had the van before me put in shag carpeting in the bathroom area.
I would replace that with vinyl flooring, at least in the "bathroom" area,
and possibly in the whole van.  I'd also put in a larger water tank and grey
water holding tank if there were room.  Lastly, I would seriously consider
putting installing more solar panels (I have only one small one on top of
the rooftop A/C), as well as a generator and inverter, so that I can run the
A/C and microwave for short periods when I'm parked at the beach,
campground, or at running races.

OTOH, I also know that the van may be such a "rust bucket" that it's not
worth fixing, other than plugging up the water system leaks--and after that,
learning to live with the limitations the van has, until I sell it, whether
or not I would ever replace it.  In any case, I'll keep the maintenance
records for everything I've done to the van mechanically and RV-wise, so
that the next owner really knows what they're getting into.

Thanks again for the advice, and please feel free to chime in with any other
suggestions--

Jean in VA

P.S.--I looked again at the electrical outlet connection on the outside of
the RV for "house power," and it looks like I should have gotten a 30 amp
cord, although I haven't shorted out anything with the heavy-duty 15 amp
cord I'm using now.  Right now it's only powering the fridge, so I should be
OK if I only run one appliance at a time.

****************************************************************************

On 8/13/06 4:12 PM, in article
uILDg.7954$kO3.2490@newssvr12.news.prodigy.com, "Max"
<thesameoldme@sbcglobal.netnot> wrote:

Thanks for the suggestions, and also refer to another post I've just added
under a new title (Update...), that explains everything I did this
afternoon, along with a couple more questions.

I start school again on August 21st (a second degree, this time in Clinical
Lab Science), and Thursdays is my "free day" this semester, so that would be
the one day I could drive the van around to charge up the battery.  Or, I
could get a parking pass for the van at school and drive it to school and
back one day a week--however, the one-way trip is only 20 minutes or so, not
quite long enough for it to be totally warmed up/charged.

I have vague recollections of having to pump the accelerator on my first
car, a good used 1972 Buick Skylark, a 21st birthday present from my
parents.  I had that car from 1976 until 1981, when I traded it in for a
Dotson 210 hatchback, my first car bought with my own money, but with
parents co-signing the loan.  The Skylark, and my present car (Acura
Integra) were the best cars I've owned, the others not as good.  I keep a
car until it dies, or in the case of a 1987 Hyundai, until I PCS'ed to Korea
the summer of 1989.  I'll be keeping my Acura for another three years (until
300K at least), until I'm done with my degree and well-employed as a
clinical lab scientist/researcher.

Jean in VA

On 8/13/06 8:20 PM, in article
1155514845.042766.263720@75g2000cwc.googlegroups.com, "Rick Onanian"
<groups.theholycow@xoxy.net> wrote:

For shame Rick.
Most carbureted engines  (at least the ones just prior to fuel injection)
have automatic chokes.  It's a butterfly arrangement that "chokes" off the
air supply by constricting the air flow through the carburetor.  This
creates a rich fuel/air mixture that the engine needs in order to start. To
"set" the automatic choke, press the accelerator all the way to the floor
*once* and let it up. Then turn the key to start (or press the start
button).  The engine will run a little fast for awhile (until it warms up
somewhat) because there is a small cam that sets a slightly fast throttle.
By "tapping" the throttle after a few minutes, you can "reset" the cam and
the engine will assume a normal idle.
Unless "Jean's" vehicle is badly out of adjustment, the procedure should
work for her. If she lets the vehicle set for a long time between uses, the
fuel in the carburetor may evaporate and there won't be enough fuel to start
it.  In that case, cranking the engine a few revolutions will allow the fuel
pump to pump more fuel into the carburetor.
Then proceed with the method I described for "setting" the choke.

Max

Reading from 2 different brands of bleach bottles, household bleach is
only 6%.

The fact that you could do that calculation says that it's not a "dump
and pray" formula. Also, for those of us who are not former restaurant
owners, bleach isn't 10% chlorine. It's usually 5.25% sodium
hypochlorite. But, you're right about it being gross overkill for
on-going use. The EPA recommendation is 1 teaspoon per 10 gallons of
water, and that's more than your usual household supply (1-3ppm).
Here's an example discussion:
http://www.doulton.ca/rv_dilem.html

You can use higher concentrations for a shock treatment, followed by a
thorough flush. That's what Jon was talking about, and the numbers he
gave are at the high end of the range I've seen recommended. I had a
user's manual that said 50ppm for 4 hours or 100ppm for 1 hour, but
I've seen the 6 oz per 10 gallon recommendation as well.

For shocking, the flush is part of the treatment. You want to get rid
of the nasties, even if they're dead.