A Devastating Discovery

[egarant]

I am filling my fresh water tank and notice steady drips of water coming out right below the drivers side jack mount which is on the same side as the water fill. I FREAK OUT.

I open the cabinet door under the sink and I can see the floor is wet and it is wet around the water fill door.

I slowly unscrew the water fill door and pry it off only to see this...



The water fill is completly disconnected.

When this camper was up in Yakima getting an entire new front end cap as the OEM had delaminated, I remember Brad Boyle from Eagle Cap pointing out some upgrades they did including a new water fill door!

I will reconnect it correctly but what in the heck should I do from this point?

I did send some pics and details to Brad Boyle up at Adventurer/Eagle Cap, I will be interested to hear his response.

Mr. E

[Travels_with_Yo]

I too had an issue with our Adventurer 80RB. There was a factory defect and Brad blew me off exactly as he did you. See my "Buyer Beware - Adventurer Truck Campers" thread.

[GeoBoy]

youngm357 wrote:
I'd be more concerned about the major repairs they made...

One has to wonder about that.

[youngm357]

I'd be more concerned about the major repairs they made...

[wsdepa]

That is very shoddy workmanship, but I wouldn't call it "devastating". It's an easy repair. If you want to see "devastating", just search this forum for broken frame welds and long term leakage and rot. You were lucking that you caught it early.

[stevenal]

Brad wrote:
... We try to do our best always but inevitably hose clamps loosen...

No they don't. If they did, nobody would be using them since the results are devastating. Nothing loosened here that wasn't already loose. Workmanship, pure and simple.

[travelnutz]

egarant,

Also send a copy to the president or CEO of Adventurer as Brad will very likely try to cover his behind and your letter will disappear. Can't do that with a copy in the bosses hands and really exposes him and lies if he withholds your written and sent letter.

[Photomike]

They probably thought that "The way it is built the water will flow down and not back up and leak, add a little putty and we are good".

Not the right way to do it but a lot of manufacturers today believe that cutting a few corners is fine on just about everything that is built.

[egarant]

I've written Brad admonishing him for sending a letter that basically said it was my fault that it leaked because I didn't check it.

I am asking that they pay for a complete inspection and any repairs of the areas that this leak could of effected.

Stay tuned.

[travelnutz]

I agree 100% with the poster that with the attitude in writing from Brad, I wouldn't own an Eagle Cap/Adventurer product ever as why feed your after tax money to an idiot manufacturer who'd even consider or allow using clamps to squeeze a too large hose on to a much smaller barb fitting and using a putty type filler to hope it won't leak and then make excuses for it failing and blaming the purchaser for not finding it while being behind a screwed on sealed covered area?

The failure is Adventurer's fault alone and they should have instantly accepted and made or paid for the total proper repair immediately and issue the owner a full minimum 5 year warranty coverage for any damage the leaked water has caused to the structure or components. They had caused the problem alone as they were the actual manufacturer and who had chosen this method of assembly!

How stupid can a manufacturer be anyway and Brad needs to be promptly fired for such a horrible response in writing as the representative for the manufacturer. In my business owned, Brad would be instantly shown the door and slammed shut behind him!

This should do a lot to turn off prospective buyers of Adventurer's products with their mindset, assembly methods and components used, lack of quality control, and then telling you that it's all your fault if their product fails. Shame on Adventurer!!!

BTW, I have saved the pic and the thread text and Adventurer's reply and will be giving printed out copies to our area RV dealers and RV repair places as it's in writing and has actual pictures of the issue. May help them to check for this issue on Adventurer TC's as it's very doubtful that this was the only time it's happened or will happen.

[Dave_Pete]

If the hose is the same size as mine, as it appears in the picture, it will not slide over the larger barb, even if the hose is long enough. But the hose is way too large to fit tightly and securely on the smaller barb.

As I linked above, I had to remove the barbs on the larger to get the hose to fit (pretty tight) after I cut off the smaller barb.

I can only assume, hose and fixture manufacturers used different specs in the inside and outside diameter manufacturing. It appears to me the RV dealer who fixed egarant's problem ran into the same thing and tried to fix it with some sealer.

To me it is a manufacturer defect, and a DIY or a dealer tech is left to either discard the part (the hatch in this case, as the hose fit my tank fitting just fine, and probably fits egarant's) or try and use the defective part and make it work.

My solution was to cut off the smaller segment sand off the barbs on the larger.

To be frank, the hatch has some other problems in my opinion. I need to relearn then manufacturer name and avoid parts from them in the future.

[ticki2]

egarant wrote:




The water fill is completly disconnected.



Mr. E

From the picture it looks like the hose and clamp were not installed on the larger barb portion closest to the door . That might explain the putty on the smaller portion . Is the hose long enough to reach the large portion with the door off ?

[lakeside013104]

I saw a new arrival to the campground complete his hookup, gather the children, DW, and back packs and head out on a hiking trail. About two hours later I noticed water pouring out from under his screen door.

I was torn about my decision of trying to help or sticking my nose into somebody else's business and those ramifications. In the end, I walked over and turned off FW faucet at the pedestal.

Just before dark, the family returned. When they opened their camper door, water was clearly visible. I walked over and told the owner that I had seen water coming out of his camper and had turned off the faucet. He was thankful.

Apparently his toilet valve had stuck open and overflowed the bowl. Lesson learned: Turn off FW faucet when leaving the RV.

Lakeside

[Grit_dog]

egarant wrote:
I agree with the advice on the insurance, not going there unless there is severe damage to the RV.

I am drying it out really good, running a floor fan 24hrs for the week, then a giant tub of Damp Rid will be there until I feel it is thoroughly dry.

I have not heard from the TC manufacturer yet....

You live in mission viejo. It's going to be 80 deg for the next week. Throw a fan in it if it makes you feel better, otherwise it will be dry like nothing happened......maybe already.

[Dave_Pete]

Start Here.

[moebedick]

I've had lots of experience with boats moored in salt water. Always double clamp everything and check them religiously. At least your camper can't sink ( hopefully).