Repairing outside power inlets and outlets
Screw this... I'm going to do it myself. The man whose property I live on had promised me that he would help me get my outlets repaired, and yet he keeps putting me off every week. The power outl...
Forum Discussion
How do I post photos? The forum software doesn't allow me to post photos here, and I'm not setting up an account to house photos there. Expedition Portal allows me to post photos there without having to use an external photo source.
Regarding the outlet, the only thing that needs replacing is the outer housing that covers both outlets (horizontal). The doors got ripped off the cover. The cover needs to be unscrewed and the new cover to replace it. I already have it. The question I have is the best way to ensure water-tightness and durability of the attachment.
Regarding the power inlet for the round socket power cable that comes with the trailer. Several problems. I don't know how to ID the type of material the side wall is made of. If you look at a brochure of the surveyor products lineup of trailers, you'll see the skin on there. I know it's not metal, and it's not that fragile fiberglass that cracks and breaks apart in pieces and fiberglass threads. As for getting inside behind the inlet, good luck with taking the outside side of the wall of the shower stall out to get to the back side. No go there. Plus, the external walls appears to be constructed of maybe a two-inch thick foam core and fronted and backed each with a thin skin that would crack like semi-soft plastic that doesn't run like cheap hard plastic if you accidentally tear it. It's bonded and sealed at the factory for a leak-free structure, if anyone knows what I mean by that. So, the factory screws are too short to make it all the way through that wall material.
I've been told by the man who won't help me that, "Oh, so you want to go into town to get this and that? How are you going to get the aluminum?! It comes in 4 foot by 8 foot sheets!! Are you going to buy that much just to use a little piece?!? That stuff cost $400-500 a sheet!"
Anyway, it's turning into an unworkable deal for me to help him, and him helping me. I simply shut down and stopped helping him after I saw the pattern of his offer to look at it and then his "I've got a LOT of things to do, now what is it?"
I don't know how to do ANY of this, but I'm willing to learn. The last time I had a travel trailer was over 15 years ago, and I had bought brand-new with a service contract, so I didn't learn to fix anything, given that I only lived in it for the first 3-plus years of its service life.
Meanwhile, I have to go back outside to finish scraping the seal off the bathroom skylight and reseal it before it cools down too much.
Stephanie
Regarding the outlet, the only thing that needs replacing is the outer housing that covers both outlets (horizontal). The doors got ripped off the cover. The cover needs to be unscrewed and the new cover to replace it. I already have it. The question I have is the best way to ensure water-tightness and durability of the attachment.
Regarding the power inlet for the round socket power cable that comes with the trailer. Several problems. I don't know how to ID the type of material the side wall is made of. If you look at a brochure of the surveyor products lineup of trailers, you'll see the skin on there. I know it's not metal, and it's not that fragile fiberglass that cracks and breaks apart in pieces and fiberglass threads. As for getting inside behind the inlet, good luck with taking the outside side of the wall of the shower stall out to get to the back side. No go there. Plus, the external walls appears to be constructed of maybe a two-inch thick foam core and fronted and backed each with a thin skin that would crack like semi-soft plastic that doesn't run like cheap hard plastic if you accidentally tear it. It's bonded and sealed at the factory for a leak-free structure, if anyone knows what I mean by that. So, the factory screws are too short to make it all the way through that wall material.
I've been told by the man who won't help me that, "Oh, so you want to go into town to get this and that? How are you going to get the aluminum?! It comes in 4 foot by 8 foot sheets!! Are you going to buy that much just to use a little piece?!? That stuff cost $400-500 a sheet!"
Anyway, it's turning into an unworkable deal for me to help him, and him helping me. I simply shut down and stopped helping him after I saw the pattern of his offer to look at it and then his "I've got a LOT of things to do, now what is it?"
I don't know how to do ANY of this, but I'm willing to learn. The last time I had a travel trailer was over 15 years ago, and I had bought brand-new with a service contract, so I didn't learn to fix anything, given that I only lived in it for the first 3-plus years of its service life.
Meanwhile, I have to go back outside to finish scraping the seal off the bathroom skylight and reseal it before it cools down too much.
Stephanie
