AndyShane's Blog

Our Aqua Hot was a little smokey. Replacing the nozzle and filter, along with checking the output pressure, didn't do the trick.   The exhaust can be tested, easily: hold a paper towel over the end for 10 seconds, note the pattern. What finally reduced the smoke was adjusting the air intake bypass, a slot cut in the intake pipes that overla...

After our first trip in our 2007 Beaver, I noticed a foul odor coming from the toilet area.  The floor around the toilet was dry and clean, there was no sign of leakage in the basement below. I cleaned the bowl and it still got stinky in the lavatory whenever the bus sat overnight with windows and doors closed. These toilets are easy to loo...

As a new Beaver owner, I'm stomping out gremlins as fast as I can, developing a maintenance and inspection program for the bus. Really, I cannot stress enough the importance of reviewing all manuals for the RV itself, the chassis, and its components; and then compiling all applicable checks into one simple list.  In addition to that, I've create...

We noticed the other day that our clamshell that covers the retracted topper on the full-length slideout was not fully closed. It appears that the massively long roller has a mid-section gutter in which it rests and freely rotates. Imagine a telephone pole, mounted to the corner of the rooftop, and you've got an accurate image, similar weight....

Source: HWH Front Left Jack Leaking Fluid  Well, the jury is in, and the accused is already swinging in the wind... I'll post the film of removing the jack leg from the rig later; for now, we'll skip straight to the end. In the shop, I heated the top bolt on the leg -- it weighs about 45 lbs -- used the impact wrench to extract the 6" long...

We're at the end of our first thirty days' ownership of a new Beaver Patriot Thunder , and the learning curve remains steep. Compounding our problem is the dealership's failure to locate our manuals: they were removed from the rig when the Silverleaf system was installed, and somehow became misplaced.  Were it not for online resources, I'd be lo...

Two years ago, I responded to my wife's comments that having an RV might be a nice alternative to searching for pet-friendly hotels as we attended dog obedience rallies. I mean, nothing against La Quinta -- they have a universal pet-friendly stance -- but hotels located in the vicinity of such events are afflicted with noise, puddles, and lawns strew...