Actually, we have fully working plumbing, electric, and gas! It’s not perfect, and we’re still working out some bugs, but we’re really close. We pulled the camper out of the garage so the solar panels could charge the batteries, and everything seemed to be working fine until the middle of the night when our charging devices started beeping because the power was going off and on repeatedly. Tom unplugged the full time inverter which was running the refrigerator and the charging outlets, and when we tested it in the morning we found that something is wrong with the inverter. That’s sort of a relief because we’re glad we didn’t blow up the brand new refrigerator, and it’s sort of okay because we have two inverters which were intended for full time stuff and part time stuff but also redundancy in case this happened…but it’s sort of not okay because we don’t want to have to replace an inverter before we’ve even driven out of the driveway. But, Jon from Sun’s Electric is going to come and take a look at it tomorrow, so there’s still hope for an easy fix.
We also filled the water tanks and mostly finished the water system. We had a few minor glitches, like one of the supply tubes was bulging and needed to be replaced with reinforced tubing, and there’s a minor leak going into the pressure tank which isn’t fixed yet, but the system is working through the pump and we have hot and cold running water at both sinks inside the camper. Tom still has to run the water lines for the outside hot and cold hose bibs, but at this point he’ll get that done when he has a few spare minutes.
Having hot water means that the gas system is working. We tested the stove, and everything seems to work, although I haven’t tried to cook on it yet. What’s really cool (to us, at least) about the water heater is that it has electronic ignition, so I have a switch over the kitchen sink, and when I want to heat water in the water heater, I just flick the switch and it automatically fires up and heats the water. After two older campers with the old style water heaters, it’s really nice to not have to stand outside holding lit sparkies, pushing buttons, and trying to shield the pilot from the wind in order to light the water heating tank. It’s like magic! And I know I posted a photo of this in our last post, but we have now tested it and it works as advertised, despite the fact that I wasn’t going to believe it until I saw it work.
We also filled the water tanks and mostly finished the water system. We had a few minor glitches, like one of the supply tubes was bulging and needed to be replaced with reinforced tubing, and there’s a minor leak going into the pressure tank which isn’t fixed yet, but the system is working through the pump and we have hot and cold running water at both sinks inside the camper. Tom still has to run the water lines for the outside hot and cold hose bibs, but at this point he’ll get that done when he has a few spare minutes.
Having hot water means that the gas system is working. We tested the stove, and everything seems to work, although I haven’t tried to cook on it yet. What’s really cool (to us, at least) about the water heater is that it has electronic ignition, so I have a switch over the kitchen sink, and when I want to heat water in the water heater, I just flick the switch and it automatically fires up and heats the water. After two older campers with the old style water heaters, it’s really nice to not have to stand outside holding lit sparkies, pushing buttons, and trying to shield the pilot from the wind in order to light the water heating tank. It’s like magic! And I know I posted a photo of this in our last post, but we have now tested it and it works as advertised, despite the fact that I wasn’t going to believe it until I saw it work.
Closeup of plumbing under the bathroom sink. The hose bibs to the far right in the photo are hot and cold water lines to the washing machine. Oddly enough, this is the first time since we left NY in 2006 that I will have a washing machine with hot water.
Gas lines in the utility area, accessible from the “cat door” in the bathroom. The one that is pointing up in the photo is the main shut off, and the three in-line handles run to the stove, water heater, and a not-yet-connected gas supply for the outside cooker and grill.
Tom working to hang cables in the bathroom. They’re 7’ high, so well out of the way, and we will use them to hang the shower curtain, towels, and laundry when we run the washer and can’t hang laundry outside.
A fully functioning bathroom! The shower curtain protects the washer and the toilet, as well as the dry towels. We get plenty of water pressure from the shower head, and we’ve both showered in it and found it surprisingly roomy, especially for a camper.