So glad I am handy!

[thedinobots]

Our first two weeks in our Montana, we learned a lot! We did take it to MS, TN and on our way to AL - so we are putting it through the ringer in the cold.

Everyone says the first month you will find and resolve issues, and then HOPEFULLY it is smooth sailing for a bit, with little issues here and there. This cannot be more true in our case.

Just thought I would share for any newbies out there, to have a sense of what to expect.

Problem 1:

The grey water return line was cracked at a T joint inside the storage. I am guessing it was cracked when we received the unit, because it looked like the cap in the T joint was screwed in too far and it cracked the whole T - it only started dumping water when we did loads of laundry. At least it was nice smelling laundry water dumping into the storage! Glad this was in a very accessible part of the camper.

Solution:

We cut the T off (not sure why it was even there, it was just creating a weak point, I think the T may be there for larger units that have a second bathroom?) and replaced the pipe with some 40 gauge straight pipe. Let it seal, ran some laundry the next day and it held up just fine.

Problem 2:

Our cabinet over the TV broke off. The plastic caps that go into the holes in the wood panel wouldn't stay in place on one side.

Solution:

I used Gorilla Glue (the gel kind that expands). Mositened the wood to get adherence, put the glue in, tapped the plastic pieces into the holes with a hammer, let it set up for 24 hours. It's holding great now!

Problem 3:

The water pump froze and fuse blew. We were not keeping the basement warm enough when everything froze in Tennessee.

Solution:

Put a heat lamp and space heater downstairs until everything thawed. Now that its thawed, the heat lamp alone is keeping it plenty warm. It thawed out, and we will test it when we disconnect the water tomorrow and hopefully the pump works fine.

Problem 4:

Drawer slide broke on a kitchen drawer.

Solution:

We will buy a replacement slide from home depot or Lowes and swap out the slide on the drawer. If I am feeling ambitious, I will just upgrade all of the slides at some point with high quality soft close slides.

Problem 5:

This one was our fault. We forgot to strap the bedroom door closed when we drove. The door got jammed and the hinge that holds it in place bent.

Solution:

Remove the hinge from the door, bent the bracket straight, got the door sliding perfectly again. It also bent the magnetic holder that keeps the door open, bent that back into place as well. Oops, lesson learned!

Otherwise, so far so good! We are learning a lot and enjoying every minute of it. I am just glad my dad taught me to be handy as a child, and I can fix most things myself.

Be safe out there everyone!