Two small modifications - 2007 Itasca Navion
These may be very specific to the Itasca Navion - I'm way too inexperienced to know if they'll have broader use, but I thought I'd offer them as a small thanks for all the help I've gotten here.
As we continue to learn about our new-to-us Navion, I've made a couple of little modifications to resolve issues.
Dining table leg: The dining table is hinged against the wall, with a single leg at the outer (aisle) end. The round foot on the leg slots into a metal receiver, intended (I assume) to keep the table from bouncing around on the road:
But there's enough play in the hinge at the top of the leg that the foot kept sliding out of the receiver, and I fretted about the stress on the leg hinge, so I added a slide bolt on the back side of the leg:
There are any number of slide bolt designs; this was one I had on hand. I had to add a shim to bring it out beyond the receiver and cut the vinyl flooring at the hole in the strike plate for the bolt to give it somewhere to push into, but it was a quick project, and it locks that leg up rock solid.
Water heater temperature and pressure relief valve: As the owner's manual "promises," the T&P relief valve weeps a bit when the heater is in use. The design Itasca installed has the relief valve right above the electrical connections and the air intake for the burner (top of T&P valve is the silver circle at the top, just left of center):
It didn't seem ideal to have either spot exposed to dripping water, but there wasn't space to put an elbow on the valve, so I added a little sheet metal diverter. I made a pattern with a 3x5 card, cutting until it fit*, then cut the diverter out of a piece of copper sheet metal I happened to have. Lacking copper, I'd have used galvanized metal or even aluminum flashing stock (you might even get by with a cut up soda/beer can, although that's a tad thin).
You can see in this second photo that the diverter just wraps around the valve opening and is held in place with a machine screw and nut (I used a nylon locking nut; love those things), and that the left edge of the diverter is bent up to direct the water out to the outside edge of the drain pan below the heater (it also stiffen the copper). If I have to work on the heater, it'll probably take longer to find the right wrench size for the nut than to pull the diverter off.
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*Well, actually, cutting until I'd completely messed up the first attempt, then getting a second card and succeeding that time.
As we continue to learn about our new-to-us Navion, I've made a couple of little modifications to resolve issues.
Dining table leg: The dining table is hinged against the wall, with a single leg at the outer (aisle) end. The round foot on the leg slots into a metal receiver, intended (I assume) to keep the table from bouncing around on the road:
But there's enough play in the hinge at the top of the leg that the foot kept sliding out of the receiver, and I fretted about the stress on the leg hinge, so I added a slide bolt on the back side of the leg:
There are any number of slide bolt designs; this was one I had on hand. I had to add a shim to bring it out beyond the receiver and cut the vinyl flooring at the hole in the strike plate for the bolt to give it somewhere to push into, but it was a quick project, and it locks that leg up rock solid.
Water heater temperature and pressure relief valve: As the owner's manual "promises," the T&P relief valve weeps a bit when the heater is in use. The design Itasca installed has the relief valve right above the electrical connections and the air intake for the burner (top of T&P valve is the silver circle at the top, just left of center):
It didn't seem ideal to have either spot exposed to dripping water, but there wasn't space to put an elbow on the valve, so I added a little sheet metal diverter. I made a pattern with a 3x5 card, cutting until it fit*, then cut the diverter out of a piece of copper sheet metal I happened to have. Lacking copper, I'd have used galvanized metal or even aluminum flashing stock (you might even get by with a cut up soda/beer can, although that's a tad thin).
You can see in this second photo that the diverter just wraps around the valve opening and is held in place with a machine screw and nut (I used a nylon locking nut; love those things), and that the left edge of the diverter is bent up to direct the water out to the outside edge of the drain pan below the heater (it also stiffen the copper). If I have to work on the heater, it'll probably take longer to find the right wrench size for the nut than to pull the diverter off.
-------
*Well, actually, cutting until I'd completely messed up the first attempt, then getting a second card and succeeding that time.
