Need to do a shakedown run next year

belfert · September 27, 2016, 01:25:40 PM

Next year I need to do a weekend shakedown run before driving 4,000 miles to the desert and back. Something is wrong with the toilet fill valve and it will overflow if the pump isn't turned off after use. My water heater is also leaking somewhere.

A shakedown trip doesn't guarantee no issues, but a lot less likely. The toilet issue may be just junk in the valve, but I wasn't about to pull the toilet in the middle of a trip.

DoubleEagle · September 27, 2016, 06:25:45 PM

Thanks for giving us plenty of advance notice, keep us posted!

lostagain · September 27, 2016, 07:14:23 PM

Do you really think a shake down trip is going to solve your plumbing issues?

Driving the bus has nothing to do with plumbing. Leave your bus parked and look at your plumbing problems.

JC

belfert · September 28, 2016, 07:10:33 AM

Quote from: lostagain on September 27, 2016, 07:14:23 PM
Do you really think a shake down trip is going to solve your plumbing issues? Driving the bus has nothing to do with plumbing. Leave your bus parked and look at your plumbing problems.

A shakedown run will help find issues of all types, not just plumbing.

I had surgery this year so I didn't even fill up the water tank until two days before leaving. We didn't even realize the toilet fill valve was leaking until we had been o the road for about a day.

John316 · September 28, 2016, 08:21:53 AM

I hear you Brian. We would usually take a trip two weeks before leaving on a real trip. It could even be just a quick overnight. But it really helped to get things ironed out.

Oonrahnjay · September 28, 2016, 09:49:26 AM

How are you getting along after the surgery, Brian? Hope you fine now. Also, if my bus were to sit for a year, I'd do two short trips before a big one -- one to identify problems and one after I'd worked on it to be sure that all was OK.

belfert · September 28, 2016, 12:32:28 PM

Quote from: Oonrahnjay on September 28, 2016, 09:49:26 AM
How are you getting along after the surgery, Brian? Hope you fine now. Also, if my bus were to sit for a year, I'd do two short trips before a big one -- one to identify problems and one after I'd worked on it to be sure that all was OK.

My recovery from surgery has gone pretty good. I screwed up three weeks after surgery and lifted some computer room floor panels that are well over 20 pounds and injured the muscle or something. I'm off restriction totally now, but I may need to go back to see the surgeon if it doesn't get better soon.

My plan for next year is to drive 50 to 100 miles and park overnight at a Walmart or something. That way everything gets exercised to test it. Plumbing I could just leave the pump on at home, but that doesn't test everything else.

Scott & Heather · September 28, 2016, 08:05:27 PM

Brian here's to hoping you feel better. That being said, I envy you guys that get the luxury of shakedown runs. I took a 102 shell completely empty down to the steel frame and converted into a comfy home in 13 weeks...and then hit the road literally working on various issues in hotel parking lots along the way. I do not recommend this. But some of us fulltimers have little choice. I took care of critical stuff before we left, brakes, bearings, tires. But water pump priming issues, leaky hub covers, interior doors with no knobs or latches, etc all gets worked on as I have the time. Been fun. I spent last week in the parking lot of one of our churches installing a mister system and washing the oil overspray from an overfilled radiator blower gearbox off my engine. As we pass through Texas, ill have my cracked windshields replaced by the MCI dealer and when we hit Michigan next week, I'll change the oil in my in laws driveway in between celebrating my daughters first birthday and building two more kitchen cabinets lol.

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