# First night in the RV



## chag67 (Aug 3, 2012)

Well the first night in the RV was way better than I was anticipating. I prepared myself for a general feeling of likely having some things that I will just have to deal with. Fortunately, everything was much better than my expectations. I hooked up the electrical and within 5 minutes, my home was cool and very comfortable. So cool that I had to raise the temp because I was getting too cold. The bed is a king memory foam and much more comfortable than my old bed. The fridge kept everything nice and cool for that mid evening snack. The bath house is less than 100 feet away so the morning shower was nice and convenient. No line for the showers. The other RV'ers said there never is. Commute to work was 2 minutes. From the time I got out of bed to the time I walked into work was 12 minutes. Aaaaah the advantages of being a single man. I am even more excited about living in the RV now. I will hook up the water and sewage today after I buy a water regulator for the hose and clamps for the sewage pipe. The adventure has begun. Woohoo.


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## vanole (Aug 3, 2012)

Glad things went well for you the first night out.


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## C Nash (Aug 3, 2012)

Thats great!!  Just remember ,expect trouble and you want be dissapointed LOL.  Keep us posted.


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## chag67 (Aug 5, 2012)

Trouble reared it's ugly head the 2nd night when I tried to hook up the city water. There is a leak in the piping under the kitchen sink. I am not sure how bad or where since it was dark and I only had my 4 yr old son with me to "help". I will get a neighbor to help me locate the leak when I have time. Right now I am just moving stuff in and spending the weekend with my son. Don't need water just yet as we are pretty close to the bathhouse. I am hoping that it is just a worn out gasket or something easy.


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## C Nash (Aug 5, 2012)

Fittings tend to work loose over a period of time.   Hope this is all you have and not a frozen pipe that burst.  Did it leak all the time or just when draining?


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## rjf7g (Aug 5, 2012)

Hopefully it will be an easy fix...glad you're enjoying your time with your kid.


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## chag67 (Aug 5, 2012)

Well it turns out it was a burst pipe. I have attached a picture of the pipe. It is the hot water line that attached directly to the kitchen sink faucet. I thought about replacing the faucet but after looking under the sink a bit more, I realized to change out the faucet I would have to remove the entire kitchen sink and I am not doing that. I am hoping that I can just sauder the pipe like you would when you connect two pieces of copper piping together. Do you think that would work or would I need to put a patch over it and then sauder that to the pipe?
View attachment 231


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## chag67 (Aug 5, 2012)

You have to turn the pic clockwise. It is the pipe on the left. The burst is about 1/2 inch long. I was thinking of using pliers to pinch the busted part back in and then sauder with copper pipe sauder stuff. Thoughts? I sure don't need a busted pipe while I am at work or asleep. The water damage would be unreal.


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## akjimny (Aug 5, 2012)

Chag - Solder will not work on a pipe with water in it.   Pipe must be dry and clean.  Also, what you have there is a copper flex tube.  I doubt that you could solder that at all.  There are a couple of temporary fixes you might try.  I have seen some kind of miracle tape advertised on TV that says it will seal up any leaky pipe. You could try some - should be able to find it in the "As Seen On TV" section at Wally World.  The other thing you might try is epoxy paste.  The tube will have to be dry and as clean as you can get it for the expoxy to stick.

Keep in mind these are temporary fixes until you can get the tube replaced.  Good luck.


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## C Nash (Aug 6, 2012)

that looks like a burst caused by freezing.  Hope not.   Calls for close inspection of other lines IMO.  Can you see the other end?  If so I would replace the whole thing.


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## chag67 (Aug 6, 2012)

It did look like a burst due to freezing. The other lines are fine. Changing the line is not that simple. It disappears into the faucet and I would have to remove the entire sink to change the line or the even the faucet. Even thought the line is flexible copper, it is very rigid. I am going to have a contractor that I work with to look at it to see if saudering will work. If not, I will have to have the entire sink taken out just to replace a busted line. Sigh. The other option is to "cap" that hot water line and only have cold water to the kitchen faucet.


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## C Nash (Aug 6, 2012)

After looking back at the pic I understand what you got now.  Removing the sink should not be a big deal.  I would go that route.


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## chag67 (Aug 6, 2012)

You say removing the sink should not be a big deal. I am thinking it is a bigger deal to do it myself since I am not a "fix all" kind of guy. If I go that route, I would take it to an RV place and pay them to do it. I am having some of our plumbers/mechanical guys on base look at it this afternoon. Several of them seem to think that saudering should work. I do know that it has to be dry and that will be done before saudering is attempted. Removal of the sink maybe what ultimately has to be done, but hopefully not right now. I'm more upset at myself for not having the seller fix this prior to the sale. Uggh.


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## C Nash (Aug 6, 2012)

Easy for me to say not a big deal when I am not doing it LOL.  Sure there are some guy on the base that can help you out.  Yes its a good idea to have any rv checked good before purchasing but still think you got a good deal.   Don't worry there will be other things to fix.  Jump in there you may be suprised at what you can do.  I am prone to getting in trouble by saying "I can do that" LOL


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## H2H1 (Aug 6, 2012)

I spoke with my plumber friend and he was against the soldering it, unles you use silver, but he said it would still create a leak over time with all the jaring going down the road. I would replace to whole dang thing and not worry about it again. But when winter get here be sure to insulate all the lines.


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## chag67 (Aug 6, 2012)

The maintenance guy on base came by and saudered it with silver. Leak is fixed. This should suffice until I am feeling froggy and will try to replace the whole faucet and lines later. I have running water for the shower and bathroom sink but most importantly for the toilet. No more trips to the bathhouse at 3 am when that Mexican food decides to kill my stomach. Thanks for the comments and advice. Maybe I am easy to please but I am so excited that I have running water now. Oh the things I took for granted when living in a house.


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## C Nash (Aug 6, 2012)

Great chaq67 glad you got it fixed.  Want be long before you will tackle the sink removal but as long as you are going to be sitting there it probably will be ok.


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## LEN (Aug 6, 2012)

Those are the supply lines soldered to the faucet itself. Repair may or may not hold. I would not leave the water on while not in the RV or over night, otherwise the RV may have a new water feature when returning. Might just fill the water tank and use the pump(I do this anyway, have seen several RV's flooded). If you can feel the faucet under the sink there is a wrench made to go back without removing the sink and I can see from your pic that the water hookups are right there for the old/new R&R.

LEN


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## chag67 (Aug 7, 2012)

That is what I am doing right now. Using the water pump and a full water tank while in the RV. I just turn on the water pump when I need water. I would keep it on while in the RV but it is rather loud. I can't reach the faucet from under the sink so I will have to remove the whole sink to replace the faucet. I want to do that anyway and put in a better taller faucet, mainly for clearance in the sink. I am just excited that it really is starting to feel like a home now. I'm in the process of movign my "clutter" from the apt to the RV. Sept. 1st will be the first day where I am completely in the RV and have no apt. Freedom.


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## H2H1 (Aug 7, 2012)

your water pump is not suppose to be running when you are not using the water. If the pumps keep running when you cut the water off, you have a leak somewhere. I say go look for it


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## chag67 (Aug 7, 2012)

The pump was running because my valve to the tank was open. It wasn't a closed system. Once I found the UNMARKED valve (knob) to cut off water access to filling my tank, the pump turned off. Now the water works the way it is supposed to. I figured out the procedure and steps to getting running water to my RV, from the tank or from city water. Woohoo!!! I feel like a nerd getting so excited when I figure this stuff out (with some help from you guys and some neighbors).


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## H2H1 (Aug 7, 2012)

al right, glad it all working out for you, good luck


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## Boyde31 (Aug 14, 2012)

12 minutes? I would sure love to get out of bed and be to work that fast. It takes me more like an hour and a half to get to work. I sure do envy you on that account.


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## H2H1 (Aug 14, 2012)

hey Boyde31, just retire and then you would have to get up till u want to. That the way I do it.


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## akjimny (Aug 15, 2012)

Must be nice Hollis.  The Boss Lady found me a whole new occupation - two in fact.  Taking her to doctor appointments and remodeling the house we bought up here in Alaska.  Keeps me broke and tried and off my motorcycle.  Maybe that was her objective after all.  Oh well.......


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## vanole (Aug 15, 2012)

I signed up for the same plan that Hollis did 1 Aug 07.   My wife has tried her best to motivate/nudge/shove/push/demand et al to get me to go back to work.  All has fallen on deaf ears for 6 months of the year the other 6 I just head to Florida out of ear shot.

All joking aside a 12 minute commute to work might entice me to seek employment.  

Jim you know that "Honey Do" list will never dimminish in size or go way.  If I lived up in your neck of the woods and could not go fishing I'd run away from home.

Jeff


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## H2H1 (Aug 15, 2012)

well Jim the remod would be OK with me. I like doing things like that. Now as for as taking the Boss Lady to her DR, that is a passion out of love. THAT is not a job, it's a pleasure.


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## Lew1716 (Sep 3, 2012)

I'm a newbie, too; but if the fittings on both ends are standard home plumbing size, you should be able to replace the whole thing with a flexible plastic hose (made for this purpose) from a hardware or plumbing supply store.


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