Living Our Dream

Motor Home Project: Replace Shower Faucet

Bushnell, FL - Events of Thursday, March 14, 2013

After we replaced the kitchen faucet last month because the steel support inside it had rusted out, the shower faucet was the only faucet in the motor home that had not been replaced (except for the outside shower in the wet bay that is like new because we seldom use it). Oddly enough, the faucet in the inside shower has long been the one that has been in the worst condition as far as appearance is concerned. About the second or third year we owned the motor home, the protective coating on the faucet started to flake off the handle, and the exposed metal took on a white, mottled appearance. After another year or so, the protective coating was gone from the entire faucet, and it looked pretty bad with mottling all over.

Mottled appearance of old shower faucet

There are two reasons we never replaced the shower faucet until now. Even though we didn't like the way the faucet looked, we were the only ones who ever saw it, so replacing it wasn't mandatory because is didn't leak.

The second and most important reason we never replaced the shower faucet is Paul could not find anything suitable that would fit in its place. There are holes bored through the shower wall for the pipes that feed the faucet, and the spacing of those holes is 6" apart. Paul wanted to replace the faucet with a standard, residential, single-handle faucet, but he couldn't find one with a trim plate big enough to cover the holes for the existing pipes in the shower wall (about 7½" from the outside edge of one hole to the outside edge of the other) and not stick up above the lip of the small shelf above the faucet. We need a trim plate that is wider than it is tall. Paul found a couple of faucets with oval or rectangular trim plates, but all those plates are designed to be installed vertically so they wouldn't work.

Even though a single-handle faucet was our preference, Paul also investigated two-handle faucets. Those have a pipe spacing of either 4" or 8" rather than the 6" spacing of our old faucet. There are even faucets with adjustable spacing, but those start at 8" and adjust wider. Faucets with a spacing of 6" are rare.

Buying a new faucet from Tiffin would have satisfied both our desire for a single-handle faucet and our requirement for a 6" pipe spacing, but we weren't happy with the short amount of time the protective coating lasted on the original faucet. Therefore, Paul continued off and on for the past several to try to find an alternative. He has been looking in earnest ever since we replaced the kitchen faucet last month, but he still couldn't find any other faucet that would work.

Because a replacement faucet for the shower proved to be so hard to find, Paul finally decided to bite the bullet and call Tiffin on Monday. He was afraid if he put off replacing the faucet too long, the old faucet might no longer be available; and with no alternative to be found, we would be out of luck if the old one ever started to drip.

Tiffin had two of the original faucets in stock at a price of $116, which Paul thought was a little high given how quickly the finish on the original faucet started to deteriorate. Tiffin gave Paul the model number of the faucet so he could try to find a better price online himself, and they also offered to give Paul a 30% discount in the event he couldn't find a better price elsewhere. Now, that's customer service.

A search of the internet brought up only one other source - an eBay vendor who had the faucet for a "buy it now" price of only $20 plus $10 shipping. Sold! Paul placed the order.

The shower head was also in need of replacement. The holes clog easily due to hard water deposits. Although Paul has disassembled the shower head numerous times and soaked it in vinegar to remove the hard water deposits, some of the holes still didn't work, others sprayed water out at odd angles and yet others had become enlarged and just dribbled water. It's hard to see in the photo, but the front face of the shower head was also permanently etched and discolored, and the hose had several permanent dark spots on it.

Old shower head

The Oxygenics Body Spa shower head is highly rated by just about everyone, and especially by RVers because of the way it conserves water. It mixes air with the water so it can provide the feel of a strong spray while using less water. Although we don't boondock anymore, conserving water is still important to us because we only have a 10-gallon water heater. The Oxygenics shower head also has a non-clogging design, which should cut down maintenence with the variable water quality we run into as we travel. Paul placed an order from Amazon.com for the Oxygenics shower head right after he ordered the new faucet from eBay.

The shower head arrived from Amazon late in the day on Wednesday, and the faucet was scheduled to arrived around noon on Thursday. While we were waiting for the faucet, we decided to use the slight delay in its arrival as an excuse to take a drive to Yalaha Bakery in the morning. We'll tell you about Yalaha Bakery in our next post.

We stopped to pick up our packages in the mail room shortly after noon on our way back from Yalaha. Freeway helped Paul unpack the boxes.

Freeway helping to unpack boxes

The faucet was pretty easy to install. Since it was exactly the same as the old one, the water pipes lined up perfectly. There were only two connections to make, and both of them are right there in the shower within easy reach. The whole job, including connecting up the new shower head, only took about half an hour. The other good news is this is now the fourth plumbing project in a row without a leak on the first try.

New shower faucet

New Oxygenics shower head

Since finding a suitable alternative to the faucet Tiffin used for our motor home proved to be so difficult, Paul decided to hang onto the old faucet as a spare. That way he will have something to fall back on in the event the new faucet starts to leak someday and the original faucet or repair parts for it are no longer available. He experimented with trying to polish the old faucet using the Meguiar's polish he uses for our aluminum wheels. While polishing didn't make the old faucet look as good as the new one, the results are acceptable, and we would be able to use it in a pinch.

Looking for the replacement for the shower faucet was a lot bigger job than actually replacing the faucet, and it's nice to have the job out of the way. The new faucet looks great, and we hope the finish lasts longer than the original.

The new Oxygenics shower head looks good and works well to save water, but there are a couple of drawbacks. For one thing, we both prefer a finer spray than the Oxygenics shower head puts out, but that's just our preference. The other minor problem is with the angled design of the head. In the confines of a small RV shower, the angle puts the water outlet closer to your face than the old shower head, and the Oxygenics shower head sprays the water in a slightly more outward direction whereas the old one sprayed more or less straight down. We're hoping we get used to those minor inconveniences.

In our next post, we'll tell you all about our trip to Yalaha Bakery we mentioned earlier.

Motor Home Project: Replace Kitchen Faucet

Bushnell, FL - Events of Wednesday, February 20 to Thursday, February 21, 2013

The spout on the kitchen faucet in our motor home pulls out to become a sprayer. After rinsing out the kitchen sink on Wednesday evening after dinner, Paul couldn't get the pull-out sprayer to go back in.

Faucet sprayer would not go back in.

The hose of the sprayer has gotten hung up before on the pot lids we store in a rack under the sink. However, this time, it wasn't anything under the sink that was hanging up the hose - it was something inside the faucet itself.

Paul grabbed a flashlight to look into the hole where the hose comes out, but he couldn't quite see. When he tried to swivel the faucet to a different angle to get a better look, there was sort of a grinding noise. Uh-oh.

It turned out to be a steel component inside the faucet that had rusted out and had begun to break apart. The area under the sink was littered with pieces of rust, and a bunch of rusty particles that were still stuck inside the faucet were causing the grinding noise. A larger piece of rusty steel was lodged against the hose preventing it from going back inside the faucet. Paul had to remove the faucet and partially disassemble it to get all the rust cleaned out.

The steel part from inside was so badly rusted Paul never did figure out exactly what it was supposed to do, but it obviously didn't have anything to do with water because the internal parts that come into direct contact with water are made of copper, brass and plastic - and the faucet wasn't leaking. Paul thinks the part that rusted was a support for the internal components of the faucet and/or something that acted as a stop to keep the spout from swiveling around too far toward the back of the sink.

Rusted steel component from inside the faucet - about 2" across

After Paul got the big piece of rusty metal and all the rust particles out of the faucet, he tried reinstalling the faucet. He figured he would ultimately have to replace the faucet; but since it wasn't leaking, he hoped it would work well enough to use it a few more weeks so we wouldn't have to run out and get a new one right away.

The faucet was a bit wobbly after it was reinstalled. When Paul tightened it down to the sink more, the spout bound up and wouldn't swivel. He adjusted the nut underneath that held the faucet in place and found a good compromise between too wobbly and too tight.

Old faucet replaced without the rusty part

We were thinking about replacing the kitchen faucet anyway since we replaced the bathroom faucets last year, but we weren't planning to do it right now. However, the old faucet was too iffy to trust it for very long, so Paul spent the rest of the evening searching the Home Depot and Lowe's websites for a suitable replacement. He found a reasonably-priced faucet similar to what we had except the new one was made by American Standard instead of Moen and it had a stainless steel finish (which we preferred because all our other faucets are stainless steel) instead of polished chrome. Lowe's in Leesburg was the only store in the area that had one in stock, so Paul purchased it online Wednesday evening, and we headed there fairly early on Thursday morning to pick it up.

Back at the motor home with the new faucet, Paul began to remove the old one for the second time. With the old faucet gone, Paul got to work getting rid of the rust stains and hard water deposits that were around the opening in the sink where the faucet was mounted.

Rust stains and hard water deposits under the old faucet had to be cleaned off.

The caulk behind the faucet had gotten some rust particles embedded in it when Paul was removing the old faucet the evening before. Therefore, Paul removed and replaced the old caulk just in that area while the faucet was out of the way.

Installing the new faucet was fairly easy, except Paul's arms got tired reaching up behind the sink to tighten down the faucet and to make the water connections.

Paul tightening down the new faucet

Nowadays, faucets are easier to install than they used to be. Most new faucets have flexible connections so there is no need to change existing plumbing so it will line up with the new faucet. The fittings have rubber gaskets in them that make leak-free connections a snap.

After the installation was complete, Paul turned on the water and climbed back under the sink to check for leaks. Wow! This is the third plumbing project in a row with no leaks on the first try! The first two were replacing the water inlet valve and replacing the bathroom sink faucets.

New faucet installed

The new faucet doesn't look much different than the old one, but it works a lot better. Like the old one faucet, the new one also has a spout that pulls out to become a sprayer, and the sprayer returns much more smoothly than the old one has done for years. There also seems to be better water flow. Although Paul periodically cleaned out the strainer in the old faucet, the insides must have been pretty gunked up with hard water deposits. We're very pleased with our new faucet.

With Freeway's training classes over and with the unexpected plumbing project out of the way, we are hoping to finally get to do some sightseeing. Stay tuned.

Project: Wiring the New Car for Towing

Bushnell, FL

When we returned from Pittsburgh after Christmas, Paul ordered and installed the base plate on the new car. A few days after that, our registration transfer came through from South Dakota. We had a temporary tag from Pennsylvania mounted on the rear of the car, but now it was time to mount the front license plate holder because, while Pennsylvania only uses one plate on the back of the vehicle, South Dakota, where we are domiciled and where our vehicles are registered, uses plates on both the front and rear.

We ordered a nice, contoured front license plate holder specifically for the Equinox from Chevrolet when we ordered the car. The front license plate holder came uninstalled sitting on the floor in the back of the vehicle, and the dealer didn't install the holder because we were using the temporary license that was on the rear only. Paul couldn't bring himself to drill holes in the front fascia to install the holder when it came time to in put on our South Dakota plates. Not only that, but the base plate has two studs to mount a plug for the wiring connections, and the standard front license plate holder really interfered with the location of the plug. The plug and wiring are necessary because the car's turn signals, brake lights and tail lights need to be connected to the motor home so the car's lights work in concert with the lights on the motor home when the car is being towed.

Paul decided to use a universal, flat license plate holder mounted to the studs on the base plate originally intended for the wiring connector. If we still have this car someday when we are no longer South Dakota residents, Paul will be able to remove the front license plate holder and maintain the nice, clean appearance of the front of the Equinox without having any holes in the fascia. He also decided to use a flat, 4-wire connector for the wiring instead of the larger, round, 6-pin connector he used for the old Saturn. The old car needed a larger wiring connector because it had separate tail lights and brake lights whereas the Equinox can get by with fewer wires because it has combined turn signals and brake lights.

Once Paul decided to use the universal license plate holder and had it installed, he was ready to begin the wiring. Unfortunately, the cold that Paul started getting the day of the Tampa RV Show really put the brakes on his wiring project. Finally, after two weeks of sniffling and coughing, he felt well enough to get back to working on the wiring.

The first order of business was to mount the breakaway switch. The auxiliary brake we use when towing the car has a safety feature that will apply the car's brakes to stop the car in the event it becomes detached from the motor home. Paul found a rubber grommet in the firewall that he could run the breakaway wires through. The photo below shows the breakaway switch (with silver ring) mounted beside the license plate holder, which is mounted to the two studs originally intended for the electrical plug.

Breakaway switch in place

The next hurdle was to find a place to mount the wire connector. Paul experimented with several locations and ended up mounting it to the back of the license plate holder flush with the edge of the license plate. Fortunately, the holder has a bunch of recesses and slots, and two of them were spaced just right for the plug Paul bought. The next photo shows the plug just sticking out from behind the left side of the license plate holder. Note the dust cap for the plug hanging near the bottom of the holder.

Electrical plug mounted behind the license plate holder

In order to make sure this was a convenient location for the plug, Paul tried plugging and unplugging the umbilical that will will be used to connect the car to the motor home.

Umbilical plugged in to verify the location of plug is convenient

With the location of the plug finalized, it was time to run the wires from the plug to the lights at the back of the car. Paul ran the wiring up through the engine compartment then down under the car using cable ties to make sure the wires were secure and wouldn't move around or sag.

Running the wires to the rear of the car

At the rear of the car, Paul removed the taillights and ran the wires up behind the lights. At this point, the wires tap into the car's electrical system. In order to keep signals from the car's electrical system from cross-feeding into the motor home's electrical system and vice versa, diodes are used. Diodes are electronic components that allow electricity to pass in one direction only. The square, blue objects with yellow labels in the next photo are the diodes.

Wiring connections behind the taillight

The next step was to test to see if the lights worked when connected to the motor home. Until recently, the site behind us was empty, and Paul had hoped to pull the car through that site up to the back of the motor home to test the lights. However, we got new neighbors behind us a few days before Paul started the wiring project, so he had to pull the car beside the motor home to test the lights. Everything worked as it should, so except for a few more details, we will be ready to head out in the spring.

With Paul's cold and the wiring project, we have been sticking around the campground way too much. We will be definitely getting out and about in the near future. Stay tuned.

Project: Installing a Baseplate on the New Car

Bushnell, FL - Events of Monday, January 7 to Wednesday, January 9, 2013

On Monday, we were just hangin' out around the motor home, so we decided to walk the trash up to the dumpster and stop in the clubhouse to check for mail. We also wanted to let Freeway play a while at the dog park on our way back.

Freeway had a great time at the dog park. He loves to chase balls, even inside the motor home; but he really likes to do it out in the open.

Freeway playing fetch

When we stopped in the clubhouse on the way to the dog park to check for mail, we found out the baseplate for the new car had come in. Paul ordered it on January 2, and we weren't expecting it to arrive for another day or two. It was much too big and heavy to carry, so Paul drove back to the clubhouse to pick it up in the car after we were done at the dog park.

The baseplate bolts to the car's frame to provide a place to attach the tow bar. In order to install the base plate, the entire front fascia of car generally has to be removed. This is a fairly scary proposition if the car is brand new. There is always an opportunity to scratch the paint, so it has to be done very carefully. We use a Blue Ox tow bar, and Blue Ox has posted on their website full instructions with photos of baseplate installations for each vehicle so you can see specifically what is involved ahead of time. Paul also found several websites that had video instructions. Of course, you can pay someone to install the base plate for you, but Paul has always been a DIYer. He installed the base plate on the Saturn when we first bought it, so he decided to tackle the one on the Equinox, too.

After reading and re-reading the instructions several times, Paul started to remove the fascia on Tuesday morning.

Paul removing fasteners to take off the fascia

Removing the fascia isn't too difficult, but it is not for the faint-hearted. For one thing, you have to be very careful not to scratch the paint as we said. Margery helped lift the fascia off and sit it gently on the ground on a clean drop cloth. After you get the fascia off, you have to be ready for the sight of your brand new car sitting there naked.

Fascia removed

In spite of getting a relatively early start, Paul didn't get finished installing the baseplate on Tuesday. The baseplate was more difficult to install than he remembered it being on the Saturn. Blue Ox uses nuts with long, stiff wires welded to them that you have to bend and maneuver up through a small opening to get the nuts to inside the boxed-in frame section. Once you get the nuts up in there, it is very difficult to get them lined up perfectly with the bolts coming in from the outside so the threads will grab. After many, many tries, Paul finally got all the bolts in.

The transmission oil cooler was located right where the baseplate goes, so the cooler had to be relocated to a higher position up on brackets that were supplied with the baseplate. The flexible lines didn't seem want to let the cooler move quite far enough, so Paul had to modify the brackets slightly so there wouldn't be too much stress on the lines.

There also seemed to be a little more trimming required to remove interferences between the baseplate and existing components than Paul remembered there being on the Saturn. It was almost dark when Paul tried to get the fascia back into place. The instructions referred to an interference point where something on the fascia had to be ground away, but Paul could not identify the spot in spite of studying the photos that came with the instructions over and over again. In their effort to get a close-up photo of the problem area, Blue Ox zoomed in on the spot so much it was impossible to get oriented as to where it was located.

Paul tried several times to get the fascia put back into place, but he couldn't quite get it lined up properly because something was definitely interfering. Margery brought a lamp outside, but Paul still couldn't see well enough to find out what the hangup was. Not only that, but after crawling around the car all day in the hot Florida sun, he was too tired and dehydrated to even think straight. Therefore, we left the car partially assembled, gathered up the tools, piled them in the back of the car and went inside to get cleaned up and finally have some dinner.

On Wednesday morning, Paul went outside fairly early and got back to work. It is surprising what a good night's rest and a little daylight can do. Paul ended up sticking his hand up behind the fascia to try to feel where the interference was and within minutes he found the spot. The thick seam where the lower black skirt joins the upper part of the fascia that is painted hit the ends of the base plate. Paul removed the fascia (for about the 8th time), ground away the part of the seam that was hitting the baseplate, and the fascia went right back into place just like that.

One of the things we like about the Blue Ox baseplates is most of them have removable, spring-loaded, quarter-turn tabs that the tow bar attaches to. The baseplate is almost invisible when you're not towing and the tabs are removed.

Baseplate is almost invisible.

After all the difficulty he had, Paul made up his mind this is the last baseplate he will install. He is getting too old for all that bending and stooping. If we ever buy another new car that has to be set up for towing, he will definitely bite the bullet and take the car to a shop that installs baseplates and pay someone to do it.

The wiring of the car's tail lights, brake lights and turn signals to operate in concert with the lights on the motor home still needs to be done. That shouldn't be nearly as difficult as installing the baseplate.

Paul left the wiring for another day because we had been invited to the home of old friends in The Villages for lunch on Wednesday. Pat and Wink used to go the church where we worshipped and where Margery used to work back in Pittsburgh. In fact, Pat is the pastor's sister. Pat, Wink and Margery also went to the same high school. Wink and Margery were in the same class. We had a good time visiting and catching up.

Margery, Wink and Pat

After our visit with Pat and Wink, we headed back to the motor home. Paul still needed some time to rest up after all the work he did on the car, but we didn't sit still too long. We'll tell you all about what we found to do in our next post.

Return to Holmes County, OH Part II: Motor Home Project - Replace Bathroom Sink Faucets

Berlin, OH - Events of Wednesday, September 26 to Thursday, september 27, 2012

Our motor home has two bathroom sinks - one in the main, walk-through bathroom, and one in the stool room. The faucets at both sinks began showing signs of age a while back. They are brushed nickel, and the clear, protective surface finish began flaking off the faucet handles. We noticed a few months ago the clear finish was gone from about half the length of the handles and that the finish was deteriorating in numerous smaller spots all over the faucets. The deteriorated finish takes on a whitish cast and makes the faucets look like they are permanently water-spotted. Since the faucets were starting to get pretty unsightly, we began to think about replacements.

Deteriorated clear surface finish is especially noticeable on the faucet handle.

Paul looked at new bathroom faucets a couple of weeks ago when he visited Lowe's and Home Depot in Pittsburgh. Home Depot had a couple of faucets we kind of liked, so we made note of the model numbers. The plan was buy and install the faucets when we are going to be stationary a little longer in Alabama later in the fall.

When we stopped in Menards a few days ago, however, we found faucets we liked better than the ones we saw at Home Depot. Since we are going to be heading south soon and are not likely to encounter another Menards, we decided to buy the faucets on the spot. The new faucets are made by Pfister, and they have a lifetime warranty on the function and on the finish.

Paul decided to install the faucets while we were in Berlin in case there was some problem with the fit that would necessitate returning the faucets. The rainy day on Wednesday was a good time to start the project.

Paul began with the sink in the main bathroom. Removing the old faucet wasn't too difficult. There were only two nuts holding it down. There were also two water lines to disconnect and the plunger for the pop-up drain stopper to remove. Removal of the faucet revealed hard water and rust stains that had built up on the counter top around the base of the old faucet.

Hard water and rust stains on the counter top

Obviously, the stains had to be cleaned before Paul installed the new faucet. Fortunately, our motor home has solid surface counter tops with a satin finish that is fairly easy to work with. Some 800 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper (used wet), some Soft Scrub cleanser, a little solid surface cleaner/wax and some elbow grease removed the stains and blended the refinished area with the rest of the counter top.

Stains removed

Removing the old pop-up drain was a little more difficult than removing the faucet. Our water heater is located in the cabinet below the main sink, and there is hardly any clearance to get at the drain trap, which has to be removed to get the pop-up drain out. Fortunately, Paul was able to get the old trap out without spilling the dirty water that it contained, and he was then able to get the pop-up drain out.

Paul installed the new pop-up drain using non-staining plumbers putty to seal it to the sink. Non-staining putty is more expensive than standard putty, but it is recommended for materials such as granite, soap stone, marble and man-made solid surface materials.

The faucet itself was easy to install except for the fact it is a long reach under the sink.

Paul hooking up water lines to the new faucet

After the new faucet and drain were installed, it was time for the moment of truth. Rather than run outside and turn on the water spigot, Paul flipped on the water pump switch right at the sink. That way, it if there was a leak, he could quickly turn the water off again. Hooray! No leaks at the faucet, and no leaks at the drain either! That's two plumbing projects in a row (the first was the replacement of the water fill valve) with no leaks on the first try. The next photos show the new faucet.

New faucet in place

Closeup of new faucet

It rained again on Thursday, so Paul repeated the installation process on the second faucet in the stool room. This one was a little easier because the counter top is narrower so it was easier to reach under the sink. There is also no water heater to obstruct the removal of the trap and the pop-up drain. The installation of the second faucet and drain went as well as the first with no leaks on this one either.

Second new faucet installed in the stool room

We're very happy with our new faucets. They look great, and the pop-up drains work a lot more smoothly than the old ones.