door trouble, water tank

[cyndi H]

Hello again. Now that i am almost on the road i am flooded with things that need to be dealt with/fixed etc. The trailers been sitting in the garage for over a year, but i have managed new tires, moons, foam, covers, curtains, and dishes. Mostly non-road practical things except for tires. So.....Question #1 Door sag/bent hinge. I was planning on removing the top bent hinge pin and straightening it out or replacing the pin. Can that be done? Which is easier/better? I'm assuming that the door sag is b/c the top pin is bent over to the left. This also affects the door handle from clicking closed. The guy who delivered it had it duct taped closed, i CANNOT go to the first trailer meet with things held by duct tape. (also cant have the door flying open on the highway either ) I've read on the other site about ordering hinges and pins from scamp. Is that ideal, or can a hinge pin be found at the hardware store? I'm not concerned about a perfect fit, i just want the door to close and lock for the drive. Ideally i want to just replace the pin, not the hinge. Question 2: This may sound newbyish, but where does the water go in for the sink pump? I can see the hose hole in the side but where is the tank? I want to make sure i have one before i turn a hose on in there. If there is an internal tank, how can it be cleaned and rinsed out? I would think that it would be best if it were washed, it's probably pretty dirty(if there is one) Ok the dog is depressed now with all the time spent on the boler. Hopefully he will come around when he gets to go somewhere. Thanks for all the tips.

[Pete Dumbleton]

The Scamp hinge pin comes with a bronze ball (hole in the middle), spring and nut. The two parts of the hinge sit with the ball between them and rotate on it. After some use, the ball wears out-of-round and may even wear away, making the hinge parts very loose-fitting.

Presuming the Boler hinges are the same, I'd advise getting two pins, balls, etc. from Scamp, but you may also have to get hinges as well if they are worn from the ball being too worn.

To keep door closed, use bungee cord between entry door and closet door. Done correctly, it will keep both doors closed. Alternative to duct tape is to tie a large ribbon around the bottom and roof over the door and pretend it's just a decoration, kind of a dust-ruffle sort of thing...

On Scamp, the water fill is on curb-side rear corner. Tank and hoses can be cleaned with mild bleach mixture, followed by rinsing and baking soda treatment.

Note that the handle on the water pump can be left up or down. One way holds the prime and the other way drains the hose back to tank -- Should be marked on side of pump.

[Alf S.]

Hi: Cindi... On our '77 Boler the water tank is under slung under the raised dinette floor. It is held in place by bolts thru the stowage bins and a woodframe and fiberglass sheet(cut out of the rear/front window blank). I took our tank out and re-fitted it with new hoses and filled it with bleach/water then thorough rincing and re-filling. The only thing I have to do now is replace the drain tap...shoulda done it then but I am learning!!!
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

[Pete Dumbleton]

When you replace the drain tap, also set up the tank so the overflow goes down to a tap valve that you can reach from outside to open when filling tank and then close. As you drive down the road, water sloshes in tank and spurts out the vent/overflow. With valve in line, that won't happen.

On my old Jayco, it was possible to reroute the vent/overflow to the fill fixture. Slosh went right back into the tank. Starting with full tank in Jayco or Scamp, I would lose a gallon in less than 100 miles before modding.

[cyndi H]

Hi: Cindi... On our '77 Boler the water tank is under slung under the raised dinette floor. It is held in place by bolts thru the stowage bins and a woodframe and fiberglass sheet(cut out of the rear/front window blank). I took our tank out and re-fitted it with new hoses and filled it with bleach/water then thorough rincing and re-filling. The only thing I have to do now is replace the drain tap...shoulda done it then but I am learning!!!
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

I have a '76 so it may be the same. So i understand totally- did you get to it from outside under the trailer? Or, is the storage you refered to meaning under the dining seats? i will look around underneath tomorrow, but when the tires were changed i didnt see anything. Where did you get the replacement hoses-local hardware store, or rv shop? Thanks a lot

[cyndi H]

The Scamp hinge pin comes with a bronze ball (hole in the middle), spring and nut. The two parts of the hinge sit with the ball between them and rotate on it. After some use, the ball wears out-of-round and may even wear away, making the hinge parts very loose-fitting.

Presuming the Boler hinges are the same, I'd advise getting two pins, balls, etc. from Scamp, but you may also have to get hinges as well if they are worn from the ball being too worn.

To keep door closed, use bungee cord between entry door and closet door. Done correctly, it will keep both doors closed. Alternative to duct tape is to tie a large ribbon around the bottom and roof over the door and pretend it's just a decoration, kind of a dust-ruffle sort of thing...

On Scamp, the water fill is on curb-side rear corner. Tank and hoses can be cleaned with mild bleach mixture, followed by rinsing and baking soda treatment.

Note that the handle on the water pump can be left up or down. One way holds the prime and the other way drains the hose back to tank -- Should be marked on side of pump.

Thanks for that. The hinge thing sounds beyond my energy/skill level right now, but maybe just tired. I'm excited about the bungee cord idea that will tide me over until i have time/energy to deal with it. I still would like to try straightening the pin though. it has been soaking in lube spray for a while/hopefully will come off.

[Greg A]

Hey Cyndi,

I ordered a new set of hinges for my Scamp when I redid it. Most of the Boler folks say they're the same ones or close enough. One caution, the new hinges put the door in a new alignment and we missed our first camping trip due to the door not being able to close. It took me about a week and much reading to finally get the door to align with the new hinges.

Water tank and plumbing I completely redid with new. The thought of drinking water out of a 27 year old plumbing system just didn't thrill me. Added the shurflo pump and a bar faucet, two of the best mods going....

[Doug Mager]

Cindi ....IF you are pre registered for the glass egg meet in May, ductape the door and come, FURTHER to that. IF you want, send me a private message and maybe I can work a quick visit after I'm off work (in POCO) IF you want. Doesnt' sound like too big an issue. I am intreagued with the addition of 'moons'. Hoping you mean BABY MOONS as in hub caps, LOL!!!!

[Sharon Herman]

The guy who delivered it had it duct taped closed, i CANNOT go to the first trailer meet with things held by duct tape. (also cant have the door flying open on the highway either )

Hi Cyndi,

While going to your first rally, "duct taped" would be less than desireable, trust me the door flying open on the highway is worse! It happened to me on my first outing. I was flying down I5 (far too fast, I learned) and when I got off, I noticed in my right side mirror the trailer looked cattywampus. I pulled over to find the top hinge had come out and the door was hanging open held on only by the bottom hinge! After duct taping it closed (I ALWAYS CARRY DUCT TAPE) I got home. I took it to an RV place as it was way out of my league for repair. They took the door off, filled the holes back in and redrilled and replaced the hinges. The door now latches great and the hinges are secure. I shiver to think about what could have happend had that door come off.


Sharon

[cyndi H]

Hey Cyndi,

I ordered a new set of hinges for my Scamp when I redid it. Most of the Boler folks say they're the same ones or close enough. One caution, the new hinges put the door in a new alignment and we missed our first camping trip due to the door not being able to close. It took me about a week and much reading to finally get the door to align with the new hinges.

Water tank and plumbing I completely redid with new. The thought of drinking water out of a 27 year old plumbing system just didn't thrill me. Added the shurflo pump and a bar faucet, two of the best mods going....

Where did you get your plumbing supplies? (tank, hoses etc) At an rv store or on-line? Do you recall what model or part # they were? That i'm not in a hurry for. I could live through this summer with jugs of water like I've always done. I do need to get a grey water tank though. I want to be able to use the sink. I see on mine that the sink drain runs to a hose hole just above the electrical cord opening. I just assumed that they grey water tank can be bought at an rv store, and that it would hook up with a hose to that hole and just sit on the ground outside the boler. Correct? I hope so. Thanks

[cyndi H]

Hi Cyndi,

While going to your first rally, "duct taped" would be less than desireable, trust me the door flying open on the highway is worse! It happened to me on my first outing. I was flying down I5 (far too fast, I learned) and when I got off, I noticed in my right side mirror the trailer looked cattywampus. I pulled over to find the top hinge had come out and the door was hanging open held on only by the bottom hinge! After duct taping it closed (I ALWAYS CARRY DUCT TAPE) I got home. I took it to an RV place as it was way out of my league for repair. They took the door off, filled the holes back in and redrilled and replaced the hinges. The door now latches great and the hinges are secure. I shiver to think about what could have happend had that door come off.


Sharon

Yes, if it cannot be done prior to first trip i will swallow my pride and use duct tape where ever needed. Hopefully it will get fixed before, but i have a roll on hand.......