House Calls with the RV Doctor
By Gary Bunzer
June 2007
DEAR RV DOCTOR:
Our day/night blinds have broken threads. Is there a way to fix or rethread them, or should we purchase new ones? Both living area blinds broke only days apart.
We also have a musty smell and taste in our water. What could we do to correct this problem? Should we drain our fresh water? My husband has purchased a new filter. I just want to make sure there isn’t something we can do to sanitize the tank.
Pat Johnson
Shingle Springs, California
You know, Pat, I tried, once, to repair a broken string on this type of blinds. I simply did not have enough fingers or patience to finish the task. Perhaps one of the many RV outfitter companies can help you with those shades. They regularly handle such soft goods. I have to admit that if it does not have LP, water, or current flowing through it, I’m out of my environment. But I did locate an online data sheet that may be helpful if you wish to attempt this yourself. Copy this address into your Web browser: http://www.winnebagoind.com/resources/service/servicetips.php and look for 2006-09 Restringing Day Night Blinds.
As for the water system, you’ll indeed need to drain and flush that fresh water tank. You’ll also need to drain and flush the water heater. It’s not uncommon for odors to develop in the water heater when the anode rod deteriorates beyond 75 percent or so. Suburban and older American Appliance water heaters are equipped with an anode rod to combat electrolysis. Atwood uses a different type of inner tank material and, therefore, does not require an anode.
You can sanitize the fresh water tank and fresh water system by adding regular household bleach to the contents of a full water tank. Simply add 1/4-cup of household bleach (sodium hypochlorite solution) for every 15 gallons of capacity in the tank. The resultant chlorine concentration will be 50 parts per million (ppm). Pump this through the entire fresh water system “” all hot and cold lines. Let the solution stand for a minimum of four hours. Then simply drain and refill the tank with fresh water. If any bad taste remains, follow the same procedures as above and substitute vinegar or a baking soda solution for the bleach.
Shifty Dash Panel
DEAR RV DOCTOR:
I have a 2002 Holiday Rambler, and I can smell the fumes from the generator that is mounted in the front of the coach. I removed the dash and found that a gap exists between the board under the dash and the front of the coach, through which you can see down to the ground. The gap is about 3/4-inch in the front. What can I do to seal this? And should this board touch the front of the coach? It has a rubber seal around it.
Stan Huddleston
Aurora, Colorado
Stan, it’s difficult to tell by your description, but it sounds as though the board has separated from the dash somehow. I would want a second opinion as to whether the separation is a structural issue or a simple shifting of the panels. I’m curious about that rubber seal. If the panels have simply shifted, creating the gap, and no further movement is evident, you can seal that gap with canned spray foam available at any of the big home repair stores. Make sure that you thoroughly mask the dash and any surrounding areas with tape before you spray. Also ensure you have plenty of ventilation during the repair. But first be sure other structural components are sound.
Aftermarket Thermostat
DEAR RV DOCTOR:
I have a 2003 motorhome. Can I replace the existing furnace thermostat control with a better type, like a digital home model?
Jack Robinholt
Shippensburg, Pennsylvania
Jack, indeed you can install a digital thermostat designed for home use to control the heat in your coach. You can also use a combination heating/cooling thermostat to control both the heating and air-conditioning in your coach from one wall thermostat, but that’s a discussion for another column. The home models usually reference 24-volt and/or 48-volt systems, typically what you’d find in a house, but you can ignore this, as you will not be using the logic portions of the digital thermostat. The only function of the thermostat you will be using is the electronic thermostat switching, which is controlled by the batteries in the thermostat. Ensure that you buy a 24/48-volt model and not one for gas systems only.
If you open up your existing thermostat, you will find two wires connected to it. The thermostat is basically a switch that closes the circuit across the two wires when the unit calls for heat. These are the only two wires needed on the digital thermostat for your furnace to operate. Digital thermostats are designed to perform on a variety of home systems, from heat pumps to gas furnaces, among several others. Therefore, they usually have microswitches mounted to the control board that need to be set to the correct position. Fortunately, you can ignore most of these, since your furnace will not be utilizing these functions. There may be one microswitch that you might want to set, which I’ll discuss later. Whether you purchase a heating-only thermostat or a heating/cooling model, they all will have labeled wiring terminals.
Disconnect all power to the furnace and remove the existing thermostat. Mount the new one with the two thermostat wires coming from the furnace. To control the furnace only, you will be using the terminals labeled “RH” and “W.” If you’ve purchased a heating-only thermostat, they just may be the only terminals on the new one. If you have a heating and cooling thermostat combination, there will be several other terminals. Connect the two furnace wires to these two terminals. It doesn’t matter which wire goes to what terminal. Your furnace should now perform as before.
There are two major benefits to digital thermostats and one drawback. The benefits are that as you select a specific temperature, the hysteresis is much tighter. Hysteresis means that the thermostat will maintain much tighter control over the temperature than the analog stock thermostat you have now. The thermostat will keep the temperature within 1 or 2 degrees of the set temperature, although this may translate to more frequent furnace cycling. There may be a microswitch on the thermostat that enables the user to select the actual amount of hysteresis. But it’s usually 1 or 2 degrees. If you set it to 2, it is a good trade-off between heating comfort and furnace cycling. The drawback is that you need to keep spare batteries for the thermostat on hand at all times. If the batteries die, so does the furnace.