REPLACING A LEAKING LP TANK ON AN AIRSTREAM INTERSTATE

While rummaging around under the chassis of our 2007 Airstream Interstate, I noticed a leak at our LP (propane) tank - it was detectable by the noise it was making.  Hopefully with this post, I can supply some information that will save other owners time and money if (or more likely when) they find that their own tanks need replacement.

You can see the leaking areas in this short video on the left side of the connection, revealed by the bubbles (I had sprayed it with soapy water for greater visibility).

URL (needed for some mobile devices):  https://youtu.be/Eq-lkah6yXY
Alternate URL:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq-lkah6yXY&feature=youtu.be
YouTube embed:

For readers who are unable to stream the video, here is a static shot of the side of the tank opposite the leaking fitting:

Heavy corrosion was visible, including exfoliation of the metal beneath the surface coating (paint).  

We decided to replace this tank outright, given the degree of corrosion that we found.  The first thing I did was contact the manufacturer Manchester Tanks (also known as "Mantank").  The information regarding the tank model (also known as "catalog number") was still visible on the tank plate shown in the photo above.

Tap to expand for greater clarity.

As the illustration above suggests, the tank that Airstream had installed in 2007 was no longer being manufactured, although it reportedly can be special-ordered as a custom fabrication that would take 6 to 8 weeks for delivery.  I didn't even ask what that price would be, but rather I began looking for a compatible stock item.  The most important parameters for this application were tank length, diameter, and configuration of the mounting brackets.  You can see from the video above just how tight the space was beneath the chassis where this tank was installed.  A tank that was even a slightly different size or configuration simply could not be made to fit.

Manchester Tank's customer service was extremely helpful and quickly emailed me their drawings for both the original #68162 and the potential replacement #6813 that I had identified (if anyone needs those PDFs, contact me via interstate.blog -at- gmail).  Armed with those drawings, I was able to go to my local RV repair center and ask them whether they could detect any engineering differences that would disqualify the #6813 as a substitute.  This initial part of the process is often more expensive and time-consuming - a non-DIYer owner would take their RV into a service center and let them determine what the replacement ought to be.  But that involves an extra trip plus labor charges for an initial examination of the rig and the corresponding research on their parts.  I was motivated to minimize costs for this repair, so I did that legwork myself.

Drawings laid side by side on the service counter, nobody could see any reason why the substitution could not be made, so they ordered the tank and a few days later my service appointment was scheduled.

The installation did not go as easily as I'd hoped, for the reasons described below.  

There are a couple of things that an Interstate owner needs to keep in mind for this kind of job.  First of all, Interstates in general are very rare.  During Airstream's T1N Interstate years (2004-2007), my best estimate (based on inferences from recalls and other publicly-available information) is that the number produced may have been only in the hundreds per year.  Most RV service centers have never even seen an Interstate let alone worked on one, so institutional knowledge is nonexistent.  Second of all, the Interstate isn't built like other RVs.  As a Class B, it is so small that a lot of stuff is basically piled on top of other stuff.  In order to get at a part that needs repair, it may be necessary to start pulling the vehicle apart so that it can be accessed.  The upshot is that even simple jobs may trigger relatively high labor costs.

Such was the case with this tank replacement.  Out of necessity, Airstream apparently installed the original LP tank in a rather unconventional, reverse-logic manner.  There's a tank, a mounting bracket, and a chassis, right?  So according to common expectation or paradigm, one would expect the installer to put the bracket on the chassis and then mount the tank on the bracket.  But because the work space was so incredibly restricted, what Airstream appears to have done instead is to put the tank on the bracket, cut the bolts flush, and then weld the bolts onto the bracket.  They then lifted lock, stock, and barrel up to the chassis and secured it from inside the Interstate, through the floor.  That was effective, but it wasn't intuitive, and a lot of labor was needed just to figure out how to dismount the welded-on original tank from the chassis.

It actually does, but it wasn't immediately apparent. 

 See, my original plan for cost minimization was to simply get the service personnel to put the new #6813 tank on the bracket that had been installed for the #68162, without removing the bracket.  That was the whole point behind ensuring meticulous correspondence in the specs, and it would have resulted in a quick tank swap and lower labor charges.

Alas, that efficiency was not to be, because of the welding that had been done, and because it took the service facility extra time and effort to determine that the only way to dismount the original tank was to jack up the fresh water tank inside the Interstate, and locate the LP bracket bolts beneath it.  Who knew??  It would have taken me forever to figure this out.

So for those of you facing this same situation, those are important pointers for your repair facility.  Don't let them re-invent this expensive wheel.  My total cost was about $550 for the tank and $720 for the labor.

Here are a few shots of the new tank as installed.  

Forward end.  The orange thing at photo bottom behind the tank is the running board ("ground effects") on the starboard side of the vehicle. 

Aft end.  The only visible difference with this tank is that the emergency vent is in a lower position (copper line at bottom).  I could have done without yet another appurtenance that causes potential ground clearance issues, but it's not as low as the engine tailpipe, which is that diagonal feature in the lower right corner of the photo (that's its protective shield).  

NOW FOR MY COMMENTARY.

I don't know why the original LP tank rusted out so badly and in such a short period of time.  I have the original purchase and maintenance records for this Interstate, and there was nothing in that documentation, nor was there any physical evidence, that this vehicle was subjected to unusual operating conditions.  It was reportedly bought by a newly-retired gentleman and his wife in the Midwest and kept primarily in the Midwest.  It was driven only lightly, an average of about 3,500 miles per year.

This kind of premature rust is a potentially treacherous problem for RV owners because it is so unexpected that they might not think to check for it.  I have extended family members who have house-servicing propane tanks in their back yards that have been directly exposed to the elements for decades and still show only the barest surficial corrosion, certainly nothing structural and certainly nothing that would cause leaks.  I myself own a portable BBQ tank which is spotless after a lifetime of sitting outside in full subtropical weather exposure.

I can't even remember how old this thing is, or how many years it has been sitting outside, and look at it.  It's still in perfect condition.  

Everything in my life experience up until this incident said, “Propane tanks are properly designed for outdoor use, and they last a very long time”.  For that reason, I never thought to evaluate our tank until I heard a funny noise underneath the Interstate.

I don't have an answer for this one.  All I know is that propane leaks will not improve on their own - they will only get worse, and they could do so with catastrophic consequences.  So this is something for which every RV owner should remain on the lookout.

Further discussion and commentary can be found on this Air Forums thread.

REPLACING THE DOMETIC 2351 FRIDGE IN AN AIRSTREAM INTERSTATE

In this March 2015 post, I described our efforts to troubleshoot an 8-year-old Dometic 2351 refrigerator.  Alas, we kept having additional problems, and so we decided to replace it outright.  I won't repeat the manufacturer's instructions here - those can be found in the manuals, which include an installation guide, an operations guide, and a parts list (PDF links).  This information is intended to provide some supplementary observations in conjunction with installation within an Airstream Interstate Class B RV, specifically the T1N Sprinter-based Interstates, which I suspect used this model of Dometic almost exclusively.

In the narrow space of a Sprinter-based Class B, you probably have to take the door off the refrigerator before you move it out of its cubby.  We removed our door and then lifted the fridge above the kitchen counter and exited via the sliding door.  

Old on the left, new on the right, rear view.  The two proved to be fully compatible, with only minor changes manifesting in the intervening 8 years of production.  For one thing, the new Dometic 2351 has a slightly bowed front.  That's important, because it means you can't use an old front door decorative panel in the new model - you have to buy a new panel.  Additionally, Dometic redesigned the control panel to be covered with a clear plastic flap which eliminates the problem of bumping the buttons and accidentally turning it off as you pass down the narrow aisle of a Class B RV.

View of the three connections that exist at the rear of the fridge:
(1) A/C plug-in cord, for when the RV is on shore power.
(2) Blue and white 12 volt DC wires, for when the fridge is running on gas (it still needs power to the computerized control panel).
(3) Copper gas feed line connector.  If you are DIYing this job, be sure you test the line re-connection with soapy water to ensure no leakage.

The rear connections all proved to be compatible across the model years - nothing was changed or repositioned.  We had no trouble hooking up the new fridge.  We did, however, have trouble finding a new front panel, and so we ended up making one ourselves (we had purchased this new fridge at a discount specifically because it was missing its panel).  The Dometic instruction manual provides precise measurements for that panel.

We cut a new panel out of steel backsplash, specifically this Lowes product called Broan 24-in x 30-in Stainless Steel Metal Kitchen Backsplash.  

I actually prefer this DIY front panel because it is magnetic (in the pics you can see a small magnet-backed level on the left side of the front face, but I also plan to add other funky magnets).  The old Dometic front panel was made of brushed aluminum glued onto a thin sheet of plywood and therefore it wasn't of much practical use.

With this new Dometic, we also installed our own thermometer, because the model 2351 doesn't come with one.  The re-designed control panel means we couldn't put it off to the side as we did with our original Dometic (installation instructions are given in this post).  We had to instead place it in the middle of the Dometic label, which gives it a kind of space-age look.  In this pic, my hand is holding up the clear plastic protective panel which wasn't installed on the original 2351. 

Ahhhhhh, 31.8 degrees with the fridge running on the "Auto" setting.  I note as well that the piezo is louder in the newer fridge, which is good because I like to listen for the ignition when I am switching over to gas operation.  With this job completed, I am one happy camper, indeed.

Old and new, visual comparison.  

NO-SEE-UM FRONT WINDOW SCREEN FOR THE AIRSTREAM INTERSTATE

Apparently I'm not the only Sprinter-based Class B RV owner who reached this unexpected conclusion - sometimes it is necessary to leave the cab windows open for proper whole-vehicle ventilation - the sliding door may not be the best option.  Something about the Sprinter being long and linear probably results in this.  The Roadtreking Store sells "Skeeter Beater RV Window Screens" that fit both the T1N and the NCV3 Sprinter front windows.  As of the date of this blog post, they had an advisory on their website saying, "ATTENTION - DUE TO HIGH DEMAND, OUR SKEETER BEATERS ARE RUNNING ABOUT A WEEK OUT FOR SHIPMENT".

Particularly because their product is advertised as no-see-um proof, in ordinary circumstances I would declare it to be a good investment and I would just go with it.  For the amount of material and labor it would take to make them yourself, Roadtreking's offering price is fair and it wouldn't be worth doing them as a DIY job.  

However, I'm in the process of helping my husband with our solar system installation, which means I spend a fair amount of time standing around waiting for my name to be called.  For this reason, I need little "filler" projects to keep myself busy in between tool fetches and other assistive responses, and so I decided to try my hand at a home-made no-see-um screen.  Here is how I did it.

I templated the window using butcher paper.  

Cut out the window shape and placed it on no-see-um netting as a guide.  This piece of netting was available on Amazon. 

Then I cut out the window shape, leaving a wide margin.

Self-portrait, thumbs up - I found it easiest just to fit the screen to the window, pinning as I went, given that I'd never done this before.  Unlike The Roadtreking Store, I used pieces of magnetic strip (they reportedly used dot magnets).  I did that because I'd bought a roll of the stuff for another project, and I had it sitting around unused.  

And now for the proverbial money shot, post-sewing-machine...

Yes, it's actually there, in place.  If you look carefully you can see the strip magnets around the edge of the window.

SHORE LINE STORAGE FOR THE AIRSTREAM INTERSTATE

I got tired of wrestling tangled shore lines out from the dark recesses beneath our Airstream Interstate's couch, so I started storing the electrical line and the potable water hose in the rear door pockets.  There was just one problem.

Ugly ugly - very ugly (channeling Robert Munsch).  

I decided to make a solution for this using the left-over remnant fabric I'd previously bought off a discount table for our Interstate's custom dog bed.

This is an extremely simple project and should take someone with beginner sewing skills just a few hours.  I have two door pockets in our T1N Interstate, and I worked out that I needed two pieces of fabric measuring about 28 inches by 46 inches.  Oddly enough, this was to within an inch of how much I actually had.  

The project basically consists of making a simple fabric "envelope" to loosely fit each door pocket.  Here are some general instructions.

First, square up the two fabric pieces to the correct size.  I use my ceramic tile floors as square guides. 

Sew a half-inch hem all the way around each fabric piece, all folds inward to the wrong side of the fabric (if it has one... the one pictured above doesn't really).  The pic above shows only two of four seams ironed in by that stage.  

Placing right sides together, decide how deep you want the envelope flap to be.  I ended up with a 17 inch deep envelope with about a six inch flap.  Once you've made your decision, sew up the two side seams. 

It seemed to be about the right size when I fitted it to the bulky electrical cord.  Now you see it...

One word of advice:  Don't make your "envelopes" too tight for the object you wish to contain.  You can always tuck in excess fabric if they turn out to be a bit roomy, or later on you may decide to use them for a larger object, so you will have the space available if you construct them generously. But if you make them too tight to start with, they will be more of a hassle than a convenience because you won't be able to easily slide your cords or other gear in and out.

...and now you don't see it. 

I used hook and loop tape for the flap closure.  I sewed the loop side along the flap edge, and then sewed the hook side to the front face.  

Much better than seeing bare cord.  Plenty of room in there if I want to use it later for other types of items such as maybe a small blanket, rain gear, sheets, etc. 

Every blog post needs a before-and-after money shot.  

One less eyesore to worry about, at a total cost of perhaps two dollars.  The value in this little project derives from the sweat equity, obviously.

STUBBLEFIELD CG, SAM HOUSTON NATIONAL FOREST, TEXAS

Following a Texas A&M afternoon football game, we headed east to the Stubblefield Lake Recreation Area in Sam Houston National Forest for an overnight stay followed by adventures on the Lone Star Hiking Trail the next morning.

Here is a general orientation map showing Stubblefield (near the top) relative to Lake Conroe and IH-45.  PDF maps are available from the Forest Service and also from the Lone Star Hiking Club, which is the go-to source for info on this trail.  

Here's a closer-in map view, which makes an important distinction between the Stubblefield campground and its Overflow campground.   

There is no chance of getting last-minute camping reservations on weekends in most areas of Texas right now.  This is our prime time of year with ideal weather for outdoor recreation.  Additionally, much of the state experienced destructive floods earlier this year, which left many of our public and private facilities closed and has squeezed outdoor enthusiasts into a smaller selection of local destinations.  The main Stubblefield campground is first-come-first-served, and provides campsites with amenities for a fee.  The Overflow campground is basically an unimproved parking lot offering dry camping, and that's where we ended up because we rolled into the area well after dark, long after all the pay spots were taken.

View of the Overflow campground shortly after dawn the next morning, with our Airstream Interstate Sprinter-based Class B RV at photo left.  This place served as a temporary home to a wide variety of tent campers, RVers, and trailer folks.  

I'm a "football widow" at this time of year, so I enjoy any opportunity to snag my husband for a hike, no matter how much we have to work around the game schedule.

Football season or not, every good hike begins with a good breakfast.  I didn't turn on the generator to make toast on this day (I'm a toast aficionado), because none of the other RVers or dry-camping trailer owners turned on their generators.  Nobody wants to make the first racket!!  And that's fine because we enjoyed the peace and quiet.  

We found the Overflow campground to have a crude "speed bump" formed out of pushed-up gravel.  Getting in was not a problem, but given the long wheel base of the Sprinter, we had to use our Valterra leveling blocks to vault the rear wheels over the incline on the way out, in order to prevent damage to the undercarriage.  You can see how close to the ground the running board is at photo right.  

After we finished breakfast in the Overflow campground, we headed over to the trail head parking area in the main Stubblefield campground, which was by that time starting to clear out (it was a Sunday).  It's not necessary to pay a day use fee (I think) if you just park at the trail head and don't use any of the camping facilities available there.  

Dog is anxious to get underway.  

The Lone Star Hiking Trail is 128 miles long, and the part we hiked on this day represented just a tiny fraction of it.  

I thought I knew the forests of the greater Houston area, as I have lived here for decades now.  But this one held a few surprises.  

In many respects it was a familiar edge-of-Piney-Woods, pine-and-palmetto Houston transitional forest, although the Stubblefield area boasts a more mature assemblage of vegetation than many other local areas that were last logged more recently. That assemblage included a lot of standing deadwood. This is prime Red-Cockaded Woodpecker habitat, although we neither saw nor heard any on our hike.  

Every once in a while we would see this bizarre sight - a lightning strike victim surrounded by forest that remained untouched. 

Something else new to me and not nearly as enjoyable - this type of sticker that I have never encountered in any other forest understory around here.  They required pulling out one by one.  

I'm constantly amazed at the quality of photos obtained by the iPhone, such as this one.  I carried my phone plus one of my trusty Nikon DSLRs on this hike.

This is Nikon work, obviously.  Despite local drought conditions, Cardinal flower was in good supply.  

As were other wildflowers at the edge of Lake Conroe. 

This section of trail remains inland for about three miles, and then approaches the lake. 

Husband and dog watch a squawking great egret go by.  

A bit of macro photography during the break before the hike back. 

Here's a trace of that part of the trail, one-way, using the free Map My Walk app for iPhone.  I'm not much of an app user, but I find that one to be somewhat useful.  

All in all, a beautiful hike, plus we gained confidence in our ability to find last-minute dry-camping resources in the National Forest during peak season.  I'm looking forward to our next exploration.

STORING MANY SHOES IN AN AIRSTREAM INTERSTATE

Shoe storage doesn't sound like something that would warrant a blog post, but I often have to travel with at least four pairs of of the danged things, two of which are massive:  street shoes, hiking boots, steel-toed boots, and public shower flip-flops.  Add one other person to that traveling mix and suddenly there are at least six pairs of shoes.  In the small space of an Airstream Interstate, this can become a case of All Shoes, All The Time.  I got tired of tripping over the danged things in the middle of the night and having them tumble from overhead cabinets, so I decided to give them special accommodations.

For smaller women's shoes storage, I simply expanded on the idea I had for food storage in Airstream's triangular overhead cabinets, except this time I used my Container Store over-door shoe pocket remnants for some actual shoe storage.

Our model of Interstate has three drop-down under-cabinet doors for accessing the fresh water tank, the water pump, and the black tank.  I used one of the fresh water access doors for two pairs of smaller women's shoes.  

The procedure is identical to what I had done for the small individual food items - cut a row of shoe pockets, sew a sleeve into which a length of shelf-hanging bar can be inserted, and then screw the resulting assemblage to the back of the cabinet door.  

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Tevas and shower flip-flops (I walked 7 miles in those Tevas so far this week). Conveniently, both of these are now stored right next to the bed.  We have learned the hard way not to store shoes anywhere under the bed.  They become temporarily off-limits once the bed is opened up and someone is sleeping in it, duh.   

Two down, three or four to go.  Next I wanted to figure out what the heck to do with two large pairs of hiking boots and/or one pair of hikers and one pair of steel toes.

I had this wasted space on top of our black water tank that was annoying me (I hate waste).  I can't imagine what I'd store on top of a black water tank besides nasty shoes.  

Especially in our Gulf Coast region with its characteristic clay "gumbo" soils, hiking boots can get incredibly nasty.  I wanted some kind of a catchment device to store the mud, sweat and tears associated with a hard hike.

I found my solution in this Sterlite brand storage tote that I had bought previously at Walmart for about five bucks.  

It looks rather large at first sight, but check this out:

It had the perfect footprint (pun intended) for two pairs of hiking boots, and the footprint was all that mattered for this little project. 

I took a box cutter and chopped the top section off until I was left with a pan about six inches high.  

This can slide into place on top of the black tank in a way that does not interfere with any PEX water lines or electrical components.  The shoes are not very heavy and the bottom of the cut-down storage container has a large surface area, so it will not place undue weight on the black tank. 

In order to keep it from sliding around on top of that tank, I used adhesive-backed Velcro to secure one corner of it in place on the tank surface.  When I want to remove it, I slide one finger between the pan and the tank to release the Velcro.

Presto!  Easy access and it does not matter how muddy they get - it stays within the pan, which I can remove and wash.  

Well, I have to carry more than I would prefer, but at least now I have places to put most of them.