If you've ever felt that Murphy's Law applied only to you, THIS should cheer you up:

During winterization last fall, I removed some of the tank-to-pump and pump-to-fixture pipes & fittings...Nothing leaking, but some of it looked brittle, and after a quarter century in-place, I figured I'd do it "just because".

I spent last weekend on my belly, reaching under the sofa, trying to plumb one handed...It all went together like I knew what I was doing, with one exception: the pump came on but wouldn't pump. Hydraulic genius that I am, I cracked a fitting on the pressure side - sure enough, no water pressure. Logic tells me it's the age-unknown pump, so off my money goes to CW for a replacement and, what-the-heck, let's go with an accumulator tank too - it's located in a place where the bride will never see it and be able to interrogate me about........

Today the new pump system went in, and if I do say so myself, it's a good looking job... One small problem though - it didn't pump a drop!

I sat down on the patio with an adult beverage (maybe two), and practiced my phone call to Shur-Flo about how they made junk. But before I called, I figured I'd check-out the suction side of the plumbing just to see if there was some blockage.....

Out came the piping from the tank to the pump, complete with associated drain valving and inline check valve.....Blew into the end...Yep, the air flows one way and doesn't the other, just like it's designed....OK, NOW it's time to give the Shur-Flo folks a piece of my mind.....

As I'm dialing, I suddenly think, in which DIRECTION was I testing? Fortunately, I slam the phone down before a live voice answers and I storm out to the motorhome for another look at my rocket science project.....Yep, you guessed it - I had installed the check valve backwards!! A simple lesson learned...and all it cost me was an unneccessary pump replacement - pretty cheap, by my normal standards!

OK, I 'fessed up.....Who else wants to nominate themselves for a Darwin Award?

Lee
Wash. DC
'78/24'/P30/454

P.S. Thanks to many of you for the cards & emails regarding my recent misfortune...Things are progressing!

Well today I went to the STEEL HOUSE to pick up some flat steel stock 1/8" X 2" X 20'. 4 pieces totally 80'. They are great people and cut it in 10' sections so as I could stick it in Sharon's Matrix. Well I stuck the COOL ends in the Matrix, and tied the 8 pieces together and pull down the hatch to tie off, and you guessed it I GRABBED the HOT ends to tie my flag. Well it doesn't take me long to look at a HOT CUT END. Tip of little finger on left hand took the blunt of the heat, and lucky for me I had ice cubes in my Iced tea that I grabbed and held. Hey, ice works a lot better than the BUTTER my mother told me to use in the 50's. Got a nice blister, but in our family EVERYONE says, YOU WILL SURVIVE, and I will.

Dumb,yes DUMB.


Dale

Lee, good to see you posting again. You weren't dumb at all. You needed a spare water pump, for sure. They always crap out on a Sunday afternoon miles from anywhere. I always carry a spare.

And as for my own stupidity, I will search and post my driveway dip hangup story.

Glad you are well enough to work on your Barth. The accumulator is something I will do sometime. BTW, did you install an anti-freeze sucker-upper valve? I put one in mine to suck water in from a jug so my arthritic back and shoulder don't have to lift a 7 gallon jug for gravity fill out in the woods or desert. I suck it in with the fill valve open so it goes into the tank.

Hi Billh,

"Anti-Freeze Sucker-Upper Valve".....???

Yep, I put one in...Until your post, I just didn't know what to call it...Geeze,the technical stuff we learn here simply amazes me.......

P.S. You ever receive the logo?...

Here's my "Stupid Me" post:

Tag Axle Follies





When I first bought my tag Barth, there was a tail dragging issue. This was before I added the drive axle air bags and training wheels on the hitch. As I entered my sloping driveway with the obligatory gutter dip, the hitch began to cut gouges in the asphalt of the street. So I backed up, inflated the tag axle bags to a higher pressure for more rear clearance(pretty smart, huh?) and tried again. Well, with the tag bags fully inflated, my drive wheels dropped in to the dip where the driveway starts and lost traction due to much more weight being carried by the tag, and unfortunately, the hitch. Oh, the blue burnt rubber cloud was something to see (and smell).

So, there I was, hung up with the rear hitch dug into its own furrow in the blacktop, blocking traffic, unable to go forward or backward, and no traction. All I needed was Eyewitness News.

This was a Saturday afternoon, and all the neighbors had come out to see what caused the smell. One thing I learned, was just how witty my neighbors could be. I am the neighborhood wiseass, but I was the butt of everyone else's humor that day. One lady showed up with a tray of snacks, and another ran a cord to a blender and made margaritas. Since I had blocked most traffic in the street, it was a block party and I was the entertainment.

My driveway (and the street) was blocked by the coach, and the 4WD as in the street, so I had to unbolt the winch from the 4WD, drill a hole in the concrete driveway to anchor it, and rig up a battery connection to pull the MH forward out of the dip. Fortunately, as per my usual overkill, the 4WD was equipped with a winch that would lift twice the vehicle's weight straight up. I used a snatch block anyway, just to add to the complexity and drama of the event.

I now have air bags on the drive axle and training wheels on the frame. And I lay a plank in the dip, and deflate the tag bags when entering my *&%$@#^ driveway. Even so, I need a bit of momentum and perfect alignment to accomplish the maneuver. As I enter the driveway under power, the drive axle unloads a little, and the right pair of tires will lay rubber.

I now have air bags on the drive axle and training wheels on the frame. And I lay a plank in the dip, and deflate the tag bags when entering my *&%$@#^ driveway. Even so, I need a bit of momentum to accomplish the maneuver.

As I enter the driveway under power, the drive axle unloads a little, and the right pair of tires will lay rubber. This maneuver is further complicated by the mandatory turning required whenever a car is parked across the street, so the neighbors are still entertained and traffic is still blocked, although only momentarily.

Anyone got a good way to remove the rubber streaks from the sidewalk?


Some time later, I forgot all I learned and got hung up on a neighbor’s driveway just turning around, but with considerably less drama. Took less than half an hour that time.

I had a similar event at a particular intersection in Blythe, involving a rented dolly dragging a hors de combat 4WD home from the Arizona desert. It had a killer dip, and the rented dolly required that I invert my hitch slide-in, compromising my ground clearance abaft. The police were directing traffic and the city workers were there to watch me use my folding Army entrenching tool to dig up their blacktop to free a too-low hitch. As soon as I was done, they applied the cold patch material they had brought with them. Neighbors contributed advice and opinions, offered tools, but no Margaritas. I almost expected some enterprising youngster to set up a lemonade stand.

Everyone was very blasé about it happening again. It was a common occurrence at that intersection, and everybody dealt with it well, showing much previous experience. The ruts and patches in the road, and the debris in the gutter kept me from feeling like the Lone Ranger. I later spoke with a councilman who is a good friend, and he told they were very aware of that intersection, and very concerned, and told me how much it would cost to redo that intersection. Millions. Also had to rebuild my step (again) after that one.

As to bonehead errors, I ain't talkin', but I got more than one spare part that came from replacing something I thought I needed, but really didn't . Got duplicates in at least one case.

Using the anti-freeze sucker-upper valve to fill the water tank? Fantastic idea. Where would we all be without ol' Bill H?

[This message has been edited by olroy (edited July 11, 2005).]

When siphoning gas using the shop vac to get things started is a poor choice.

I know this.

I even knew it before hand.

timnlana, OH, so that was you I heard, I thought it was sounds from a movie being filmed. Well, you are around and able to mention such, and that's GOOD.

Dale

Timnlana, LOL! Along those lines, I can add:

Mach-3: The speed at which a shop vac head will separate from its cannister when sucking up sawdust containing a recent laquer thinner spill.........

You folks make me laugh. No wonder I am the one running this website. After all for five years I have been telling you all to forget those auto shut off valves and just use a hose and a good book while it fills. Just didn't plan on the daughter running into the motor home and yelling, "dad did you forget my doctors appointment". Ya I remembered the hose after sitting in the doctors office for about 15 minutes. Got back just when it started blowing out the passenger side fill. Wait; did I just say this out loud??

Daughter Libby turned 21 yesterday....I'm feeling oooollllddd today..

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[This message has been edited by davebowers (edited July 11, 2005).]

Oh Oh....shop vac stories.......... I was sanding a hardwood floor on my knees with a belt sander and used a shop vac to clean it up. Dumped everything in the trash can. An hour or so later, I went outside to go to work and saw the trash can on fire and the left rear corner of my XJS melting with the flames getting close to the gas filler. If I had gone to work a little earlier, who knows what would have happened. Imagine the fun my auto and home insurance had with that. The sanding dust wasn't noticeably on fire when I emptied the shop vac into the trash can, so maybe the warm sawdust and varnish dust cooked off in the trash can in the sun.

My dad learned not to put old turpentine in a glass Clorox bottle and then throw it into a coal furnace. No eye damage, but full facial bandages for a while.

OMIGOD! Is that a bomb on the forklift in picture 2?


No wonder no one is around!

Murphy is alive and well in VA today, also. I spent the day working on our 94 Breakaway. Oil and filter change - routine. Diesel fuel filter change - went OK. Coolant change for the Dometic generator - no problem. Oil change on the generator - drain hole in belly pan doesn't line up with drain plug in oil pan. Get out the air-powered cutoff wheel and after lots of sparks now the hole lines up (sort of). Works good when you first unscrew the plug, but once it starts to drip, guess where the oil goes? Runs around the bottom of the pan and on to the top of the belly pan. Naturally it finds all the other openings in the belly pan and distributes oil drips over a 4 sq. ft. area. (I bet it won't ever rust out)
I write myself a note to build a little deflector when I change the oil again. I clean up the mess, put the tools away, run the generator and the Cummins to check for leaks. Everything is fine. Must be time for some liquid refreshment. But wait, I should put the Barth back in the garage before I quit for the day. Backing out of the bright sunshine into the darkened garage, I'm watching the Corvair parked in the next bay. Missed it - no problem. Suddenly, I meet some resistance? Something under a tire? Too easy. I get out to check. Some dummy managed to put the rear bumper through the drywall of the garage on the driver side and modified the window sill in the same maneuver. You know that black rubber rub strip that used to be attached to the rear bumper?
Note to myself: Tomorrow, 1. Patch the 2' section of drywall. 2. Make a new garage window sill and retrim the window. 3. Glue the rubber rub strip back on the bumper before somebody sees it.
I can't believe how much money I save and how much fun I have by doing my own Barth service!

quote:

Originally posted by Lee:
Hi Billh,

"Anti-Freeze Sucker-Upper Valve".....???

Yep, I put one in...Until your post, I just didn't know what to call it...Geeze,the technical stuff we learn here simply amazes me.......

P.S. You ever receive the logo?...

Well, Lee, my English failed me again, and I lapsed into the old Estonian tradition of constructing a descriptive word from several others.

The correct word has now come to me. It is a "winterization" valve.

Nope, no logo yet.