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Old 09-03-2016, 02:07 PM   #1
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Name: Lise
Trailer: Boler
Washington
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First Seattle Rain! Leaks galore!

Okay so we had our first real rain in Seattle since I bought my 17' Boler in July.

Even though I tested with hose, there's nothing like a nice Northwest storm to show me who's boss.

Here are the leaks I've found so far. When I get up my nerve to repair them I will make separate posts outlining my planned steps in order to get feedback. Right now I'm just venting, if you get my drift....


1. Horizontal Fridge Vent

2. Stove Vent

3. Under sides of door, may be the belly band or the door seal

4. Gravity Water Fill

I think it's time for me to drill out my first rivet! To many of you this is a simple procedure, but understand this is my first time doing it. If anyone local wants to take pity on me and come give me some in person guidance, I would be indebted to you. PM me if you have time in the next month. At any rate before I do I will make a how to post and ask for feedback.

Windows appear fine so far--a bit of water in the tracks but I think that's normal and drains out the drain holes. I'm hoping that's the case at least, but so far it appears a minor concern.

Fall is definitely on its way. The fun I had making curtains yesterday is being put aside for these more pressing concerns.

Lise
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Old 09-03-2016, 02:27 PM   #2
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Name: Kelly
Trailer: Trails West
Oregon
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Originally Posted by LiseKen View Post
Okay so we had our first real rain in Seattle since I bought my 17' Boler in July.

Even though I tested with hose, there's nothing like a nice Northwest storm to show me who's boss.

Here are the leaks I've found so far. When I get up my nerve to repair them I will make separate posts outlining my planned steps in order to get feedback. Right now I'm just venting, if you get my drift....


1. Horizontal Fridge Vent

2. Stove Vent

3. Under sides of door, may be the belly band or the door seal

4. Gravity Water Fill

I think it's time for me to drill out my first rivet! To many of you this is a simple procedure, but understand this is my first time doing it. If anyone local wants to take pity on me and come give me some in person guidance, I would be indebted to you. PM me if you have time in the next month. At any rate before I do I will make a how to post and ask for feedback.

Windows appear fine so far--a bit of water in the tracks but I think that's normal and drains out the drain holes. I'm hoping that's the case at least, but so far it appears a minor concern.

Fall is definitely on its way. The fun I had making curtains yesterday is being put aside for these more pressing concerns.

Lise
I can come over for a few hours for some hands on if you like. I will PM you my phone number. I can certainly teach you all that is needed to know about drilling out rivets since I used to be a professional riveter. We can practice on some scraps pieces of fiberglass into which we put some rivets before we do it on your trailer.
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Old 09-03-2016, 03:01 PM   #3
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Name: Lise
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Oh Karin you are a lifesaver! I will call you and we can find a time at your convenience. Thanks a million!

Lise
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Old 09-03-2016, 05:31 PM   #4
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Oh Karin you are a lifesaver! I will call you and we can find a time at your convenience. Thanks a million!

Lise
We are only 4 miles apart and it is an easy drive on neighborhood streets

If we need solid pull rivets and metal washers with bonded rubber gaskets Stoneway Hardware has them in the bins where you can buy them priced per each. They will be open on labor day.

I also have a can of marine bedding compound and some butyl putty tape. Not sure if enough to do all the vents but we can see.

It won't take very long to sort out the fridge and stove vents and gravity fill. Door...will have to wait and see about that.

I have a brand new Camco Gravity fill I can bring along if that is the type your Boler has.
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Old 09-03-2016, 08:49 PM   #5
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When you start drilling out rivets be wearing safety goggles. I tried not wearing them while drilling out rivets on a horse trailer, got a drill shaving stuck in my eye and wound up with an $800 plus medical bill.
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Old 09-03-2016, 11:11 PM   #6
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When you start drilling out rivets be wearing safety goggles. I tried not wearing them while drilling out rivets on a horse trailer, got a drill shaving stuck in my eye and wound up with an $800 plus medical bill.
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That person in the foreground is me in my 20's, nearly 40 years ago. Don't worry about us using safety glasses, I did say I was a professional riveter.

Lise will be in very good hands and will learn everything about drilling safely, riveting safely as well as safe work holding. She will learn how to hold her hands and her body for stability and accuracy in results. The tool box I will arrive with contains safety glasses as well as hearing protection. It also contains a drill motor that is a good size for a woman's hands which is another important safety factor, having a secure grip on the tool you are using.

Seattle is a town where there are a great many highly skilled women who work with all kinds of tools and all kinds of materials and have done so in professional capacities for large and small companies. The law requires that we all take many hours of safety training including vision protection. I enjoy passing those skills on to other women who have not had my opportunities in life. But I do not teach them by generating fear or by telling horror stories of injuries because telling horror stories is counter productive to working safely.

I myself can't understand how anyone fails to comprehend that when you make people nervous with horror stories then they are going to be far more prone to making mistakes. Or even worse you will scare them so much that they never even try to learn.

The time and place for telling workshop war stories is sitting around having coffee with your buddies, please do not inflict it on beginners in forums. Say wear safety glasses if you feel you must but please skip the horror stories.

Remember it is not so much the beginners who don't wear safety glasses, they are too nervous not to.
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Old 09-03-2016, 11:21 PM   #7
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Name: Lise
Trailer: Boler
Washington
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Karin--

I have a replacement I had ordered for the gravity water fill, although I'm not sure it won't leak as well as it seems a poor design. If you bring yours along I will gladly replace it if I use it. Ditto the butyl tape and other supplies.

I plan to order some butyl tape from Amazon, I have prime so it ships fast and free.

I'll wait on the rivets as we can see what we need and run to Stoneway, I would like to use screws instead of rivets where workable.

Look forward to meeting you and your help on the Boler.
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Old 09-03-2016, 11:36 PM   #8
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And thank you Karin for your confidence in both yourself and me. I love what you said about being nervous leading to more mistakes. Your strength is contagious and I am looking forward to learning from you.

And I imagine that we will get along well. I am a careful person, an eager student and passionate about this project and about supporting women in all our endeavors.

Lise
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Old 09-04-2016, 09:14 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LiseKen View Post

Here are the leaks I've found so far. When I get up my nerve to repair them I will make separate posts outlining my planned steps in order to get feedback. Right now I'm just venting, if you get my drift....


1. Horizontal Fridge Vent

2. Stove Vent

3. Under sides of door, may be the belly band or the door seal

4. Gravity Water Fill


Lise
We got it up here in Vancouver BC as well. Man did it come down! We needed it though .... just would have been nice if it did not come down in such big buckets full!!

I spent several days this summer removing everything off the roof of my new to me trailer and resealing it all, with good very sticky marine butyl tape - not the none sticky grey putty stuff you often find in RV shops. If the trailer had any leaks they were sure going to show up in that downpour! After things settled down I got the courage to go out and held my breath while I opened the door of the trailer to see how it did! PHEW! Very thankful it was as dry as could be!

Re your Horizontal fridge vent leaking. Is the trailer sitting perfectly level? I know on my Scamp as well as my current trailer if they are not perfectly level water will enter the trailer via the side fridge vents. On my current trailer if you opened up the upper side vent there was a raised lip that went around the inside section that had an opening at the bottom of it. I purchased some fairly large weather stripping and closed off the opening and that helps to stop the water from entering that space as well.
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Old 09-04-2016, 10:35 AM   #10
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Trailer: Escape 2013 19 ft
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Originally Posted by k corbin View Post
Attachment 99341
That person in the foreground is me in my 20's, nearly 40 years ago. Don't worry about us using safety glasses, I did say I was a professional riveter.

Lise will be in very good hands and will learn everything about drilling safely, riveting safely as well as safe work holding. She will learn how to hold her hands and her body for stability and accuracy in results. The tool box I will arrive with contains safety glasses as well as hearing protection. It also contains a drill motor that is a good size for a woman's hands which is another important safety factor, having a secure grip on the tool you are using.

Seattle is a town where there are a great many highly skilled women who work with all kinds of tools and all kinds of materials and have done so in professional capacities for large and small companies. The law requires that we all take many hours of safety training including vision protection. I enjoy passing those skills on to other women who have not had my opportunities in life. But I do not teach them by generating fear or by telling horror stories of injuries because telling horror stories is counter productive to working safely.

I myself can't understand how anyone fails to comprehend that when you make people nervous with horror stories then they are going to be far more prone to making mistakes. Or even worse you will scare them so much that they never even try to learn.

The time and place for telling workshop war stories is sitting around having coffee with your buddies, please do not inflict it on beginners in forums. Say wear safety glasses if you feel you must but please skip the horror stories.

Remember it is not so much the beginners who don't wear safety glasses, they are too nervous not to.
Pat
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Old 09-04-2016, 10:46 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by k corbin View Post

Seattle is a town where there are a great many highly skilled women who work with all kinds of tools and all kinds of materials and have done so in professional capacities for large and small companies. The law requires that we all take many hours of safety training including vision protection. I enjoy passing those skills on to other women who have not had my opportunities in life. But I do not teach them by generating fear or by telling horror stories of injuries because telling horror stories is counter productive to working safely.

.


You go girl! Very nice of you KC to offer to help.

Seattle is not the only place that has women who know how to use tools & fix their own trailers safely.
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Old 09-04-2016, 04:54 PM   #12
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Name: Kelly
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You go girl! Very nice of you KC to offer to help.

Seattle is not the only place that has women who know how to use tools & fix their own trailers safely.
Indeed it is not the only place where women know how to use tools and fix vehicles safely. The leader of the British Commonwealth is one such woman who gained those skills at the age of 18 when she trained to repair and maintain large military trucks and ambulances as well as drive them. This was serious and essential to the war effort work done by a serious minded young woman.
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Old 09-05-2016, 07:05 AM   #13
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VERY good advice Bruce! I teach safety at work and can NOT figure out why it would be wrong to mention a "Horror story" that MAY save somebody's - that isnt in the know- EYESIGHT! Everyone needs to hear this be them male OR female! Thanks for posting your experience.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce H View Post
When you start drilling out rivets be wearing safety goggles. I tried not wearing them while drilling out rivets on a horse trailer, got a drill shaving stuck in my eye and wound up with an $800 plus medical bill.
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Old 09-05-2016, 09:30 AM   #14
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VERY good advice Bruce! I teach safety at work and can NOT figure out why it would be wrong to mention a "Horror story" that MAY save somebody's - that isnt in the know- EYESIGHT! Everyone needs to hear this be them male OR female! Thanks for posting your experience.
Yup that part was a bit of a head scratcher for me as well

Spent my life working in a heavy industry where there were far to many accidents that could have been avoided if some simple safety measures had been taken.

It was mandatory for supervisors of those new to the job to take the time to teach the safest approach to any job before anyone started on any project. Simple common sense. It was my experience that newbie's felt far more confident and comfortable taking on a job it they were shown the safest approach to a job before they started!

Some of the most tragic incidents I witnessed involved those who had been doing a job a long time and as a result had become far to complacent about the hazards of the job.

Accidents happen and they are gender neutral!
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Old 09-05-2016, 10:31 AM   #15
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VERY good advice Bruce! I teach safety at work and can NOT figure out why it would be wrong to mention a "Horror story" that MAY save somebody's - that isnt in the know- EYESIGHT! Everyone needs to hear this be them male OR female! Thanks for posting your experience.
I would have posted the same, but I wasn't looking for a fight.
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Old 09-05-2016, 12:21 PM   #16
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Name: Kelly
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People mostly ignore safety precautions because things such as putting on safety glasses is an inconvenience. It does not matter how you tell them or how often you tell them, they still won't do it if it is too inconvenient.

I have since the 1970s had my everyday glasses made with high impact plastics and impact resistant frames since I am frequently working with tools.

I know that I do not like inconvenience so I protect myself from myself
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Old 09-05-2016, 12:56 PM   #17
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It's a constant battle where I work as well. But for me it is NOT. I personally know a man that was running a disc grinder with no glasses when it shredded and he lost an eye! I wear safety glasses even when I'm weed eating!

Quote:
Originally Posted by k corbin View Post
People mostly ignore safety precautions because things such as putting on safety glasses is an inconvenience. It does not matter how you tell them or how often you tell them, they still won't do it if it is too inconvenient.

I have since the 1970s had my everyday glasses made with high impact plastics and impact resistant frames since I am frequently working with tools.

I know that I do not like inconvenience so I protect myself from myself
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Old 09-05-2016, 02:36 PM   #18
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I got very, very serious about eye protection in grad school when a new post doc came who had lost one eye and had serious problems with the other because she had removed her safety glasses to squint at a reaction vessel when it blew up. I always told that story to my students in chemistry labs. Some did ignore it, but others were very cautious, and a few may have retained their eyesight as a result, as a couple of times we did have a reaction splash into someone's face- thank God, never when they had removed their glasses. I'm less good about wearing them around tools, though since I do have impact resistant lenses I have some protection. I should wear them to protect my expensive lenses.
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Old 09-05-2016, 03:52 PM   #19
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I also almost lost an eye last winter.

I do volunteer work at World Cup ski races - we build the courses and while the races are on we act as race officials.

Prior to the race my crew was charged with installing all the wiring for the international TV Crews. To do that we had to use chain saws to cut big trenches across the ski race course in order to bury the wires - the snow had been well packed down and sprayed with water over several days to freeze it (racers like the courses to be rock solid ice for speed - not fresh snow). At one point I took my safety googles off for to clean them off - within 10 secs a chuck of ice from a crew member working with a chain saw about 25' from me, flew up and cut my eye. The nearest Emergency hospital was about 40 mins away and once I got there they advised they were not equipped to deal with it - they only had an Optometrist & the damage was to serious for them to deal with.. Best they could do was freeze the eye for the 2.5 hour drive to get me to an eye surgeon. I was very fortunate that I did not do worse to it than I did! Happy to say that in the end I did make it back to work the actual race days (though it hurt like heck) & no long term eye sight damage done. Although I was told that had I cut my eye just a very tiny bit further over I would have lost my sight. I do have to watch it though as apparently it could decide to rip open again at any given time.... no sure thing it will be fine forever.
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Old 09-05-2016, 09:42 PM   #20
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Name: Lise
Trailer: Boler
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Big accomplishments for me today! Karin came over and we looked at the leak areas I had identified, and a few others as well.

I saw my trailer thru new eyes and learned so much about its construction, strong and weak points.

I drilled out my first rivet, used butyl tape, took a trip to Home Depot for a rivet puller and stainless screws, and made my first repair!

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We also had a chance to do some metal work, use putty, check out a dremel, look at my roof for sags and study my door. The time flew and I learned so much. I highly recommend to anyone to take any opportunity to get some in person instruction from someone knowledgeable.

Thanks Karin!



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