With Amy away, it was harder to arrange a day where I could go over and perform the needed repairs and cleaning to get ready to go to Assateague. Today was that day.
I packed up the air compressor onto the pull-behind trailer, and after a stop at Lowes for tubing and O-rings, and another stop at the Tractor Supply Store for a battery box and some other wiring stuff, headed over to the In-Laws, where my mother-in-law volunteered to babysit Avery. (Thanks, Nora!)
All the tires were low, of course, so I got them all back up to 60psi. No signs of dry rot.
After plugging in the airstream to allow the battery to charge, I went to install the new pump. One problem I ran into was that since I was going to be doing plumbing, not electrical, I didn’t bring my electrical tools. Unfortunately, the water pump, in addition to having pipe, also has wires. Red and black, of course, but also of course, the Airstream wiring didn’t use such mundane colors.
Contrary to how things usually go when I try repairs (of any kind), it turned out that I had stashed a voltmeter away in one of the drawers, so I was able to figure out which wire was positive (which I assume is important to the pump.)
Pump installed, I went on to replace the O-rings in the faucet. This time I was truer to form, and the packet of assorted O-rings I bought only had one of the two sizes I needed. I replaced the rings of the size I had, and reinstalled the old faucet cartridge. (See the previous post of why I didn’t just install a new faucet cartridge.)
[At this point, I get a text from Alec saying that Kaley fell off her top bunk, and hurt her arm. I direct him to give her some Tylenol, and take it easy, and see how it felt in a half-hour.]
After filling the “fresh” water tank (everything is relative in a camper that old) with several gallons of water, I switched on the pump, and it started (2010 pump technology is much quieter than 1977 pump technology, and smaller as well.) After the pumped primed, I started getting water through the kitchen faucet! yay!
Then I closed the faucet, and the water decreased to a trickle. A worse trickle than I originally had. (Boo…)
[Another text from Alec at this point. Kaley’s arm is still not better. Pause narrative for three hours as I go visit the ER, and then Lowes again.]
[PS, it will serve you well to not believe everything Lowe’s Associates. The first two guys in the plumbing aisle swore that they didn’t have the type of Moen cartridge that I needed. After picking out a completely new faucet, and all the new hardware that I’d need, a third associate pointed out that, no, here’s the cartridge you need. : / ]
Well, along with the new cartridge, I got a Moen Cartridge Extractor in a pretty-beat package. Associate 3 pointed out that, as long as the device was in the same condition as it was when I bought it, it was returnable, and that may have already happened in the past. Repeatedly.)
Unfortunately, the extractor only managed to pull out the core of the cartridge. Ugh. Some more wiggling with pliers and screwdrivers, and I got out the shell of the cartridge. As one last parting shot, the old cartridge ripped a hole in the pad of my thumb the size of a pencil eraser. Thanks to my wife’s preparedness though, there was a first aid kit handy.
Another test, and the sink actually holds back the water when it’s supposed to. Whew!
At this point, I think the best plan is to tow it to my house tomorrow, and clean it an pack it in the alley.
No rain, please!
(holy crap, that’s a long post about not much stuff. Oh, and Kaley’s arm was OK. Just a deep bruise.)
