Tag Archive for: drains

There Is Always Something Part Two

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Plugged drains. That was the second thing we had to fix. We did not have all that much rain on our way across to California from Florida. Except in Texas. On one of our stays in Texas, it poured. Water from the front passenger side overflowed the roof line making the entry and exit experience similar to a high pressure shower. And, the next day, the residue from the roof left ugly streak marks on that side of the coach.

I hate a dirty coach.

In particular, I hate ugly streak marks on the side of a dirty coach.

Our Dutch Star has four drains on the roof. One on each corner. Water on the roof flows to rain gutters that run along both sides of the coach. The gutters direct the water to the roof drains. The roof drains channel the water to the ground.

Except, of course, when the drains plug. Which they do frequently on our coach.

I usually take my air compressor and blow air up the drain from the bottom. It’s not hard to find the downspouts underneath the coach. Newmar uses a rubber Duck Bill drain valve at the end of the downspout presumably to prevent little critters from climbing up and into the drain. I remove the Duck Bill and then insert the air hose several inches into the drain line to blow the air through the line.

Unfortunately the air compressor would not dislodge the material that was blocking the drain.

I climbed up to the roof of our coach and went to the forward passenger drain. Using a slot screwdriver, I lifted the drain from an edge and removed it from the downspout entry. It comes off without a lot of effort. Silicone holds it in place.

It was full of material and the material had hardened. Like a rock. Stuck to the drain hole.

Off to the toolbox. Then off to the kitchen. I needed something with a long handle and a spoon-like end to dig out the material. Don’t let Lorraine know that I took one of her kitchen utensils.

After a fair amount of digging and several blasts of compressed air from the bottom, the drain finally opened up disgorging copious amounts of dirt and water on yours truly.

The price I pay to maintain the coach.

The first issue, the HWH Leveling red light reappearing, I have not resolved. This second issue, a plugged drain, was relatively straightforward to resolve.

The third one involves hot water. Or lack thereof.

Part three.

Tomorrow.

Air Conditioner Drainage Problem

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If you are having trouble with the runoff from your air conditioner spilling over the top of your Dutch Star, then this might help.

Ever since we purchased our Dutch Star, we have had an issue with the front air conditioner. It would spill water on each side of the front cap. On the driver’s side, the runoff from the air conditioner would drip over the windows and leave nasty water marks that were really difficult to remove. On the passenger side, the runoff from the air conditioner would drip down both sides of the door and leave really nasty water marks on the finish.

Whenever it rained, water would run down from the roof on the front cap and, yes, you guessed it, leave nasty water marks.

I had read that it was important to keep the roof of the coach clean to prevent streaking. After sealing the roof in July, the front windshield stayed clean after a rainfall. But it did not make sense to me that the runoff from the air conditioner would spill over the rain gutter on top of the coach. Surely there must be a drain?

When the folks from Superior Coach Detailing did the wash and wax, they told me that they would remove debris from the drain gutters on top of the coach and that should allow the runoff to drain properly.

Well, there was a bit more to the problem than cleaning out the drain gutters.

It turns out that the Dutch Star has four drains from the gutters on top of the coach. On our model, two of them are located on each side of the front cap and two of them come down on the passenger side of the rear cap.

This is what the drain looks like:

It consists of a drain tube that is roughly an inch or so in diameter. That drain tube terminates with a pinched rubber hose which you can see in the picture above. I guess they pinch that part of the drain to prevent critters from crawling up the drain pipe.

For whatever reason, my front drains were not only pinched but they were put at a right angle and inserted into the overhang of the bottom of the front cap. So, much like crimping a garden hose, nothing was draining out of the tubes. The drain tube would gradually fill up, the rain gutter would gradually fill up, and the runoff from the air conditioner would spill out over the sides of the coach leaving nasty water marks.

I crawled under the front cap and straightened out the down tubes. A significant amount of water was then released immediately. Perhaps I should not have been as close to the down tube when that happened. The water did not taste very good at all.

And now? No runoff from the air conditioner spilling out over the top of the coach. The runoff drains through the down tubes as it should.

I’ve been told to check the drains at the top of the coach for any debris that might interfere with channeling the water from the roof to the ground. That makes sense.

And I’ve been told to check the pinched rubber hose to ensure that water is flowing freely through the down tube. And that makes sense.

Some people will even use an air compressor to blow out the drain pipe to clear any potential blockages. I would be very careful with that procedure and use very low air pressure as the drain tubes do not look that robust.

And, of course, none of this will be found in any manual for the coach. Thankfully there are forums like iRV2 to find some insight.