Picked up new to me Chinook

[68camaro]

Had cracks checked out by boat fiberglass repair company, they said cracks were in gelcoat, very minor and no big deal. Getting me quote to fix, biggest isssue is crack in stripe, getting stripe color to perfectly match might be problematic. There's only one crack in stripe so I may ignore it.

Called around to get clean water tank fixed, everyone booked up to a month out or longer.....looks like well be bring big juggs with us.

[Blue~Go]

Called around to get clean water tank fixed, everyone booked up to a month out or longer.....looks like well be bring big juggs with us.

Have you checked the drain valve? That's the white pipe that hangs down underneath near the driver's side wheelwell. I think you said that's where it's leaking? In other words, there is a valve there just above that pipe on the inside (under the couch, by the water pump and the tank) that you turn to let the tank water drain to the ground (which it will do very slowly). If you turn it the other way, no drain.

Just curious if you have tried that.

[68camaro]

Called around to get clean water tank fixed, everyone booked up to a month out or longer.....looks like well be bring big juggs with us.

Have you checked the drain valve? That's the white pipe that hangs down underneath near the driver's side wheelwell. I think you said that's where it's leaking? In other words, there is a valve there just above that pipe on the inside (under the couch, by the water pump and the tank) that you turn to let the tank water drain to the ground (which it will do very slowly). If you turn it the other way, no drain.

Just curious if you have tried that.

Yes, I checked valve with the RV dealer, he thinks that valve is bad because water comes out when valve both open and closed. I used to do a lot of plumbing so maybe its something I can fix....

[Blue~Go]

Ah okay, fair enough.

The supply plumbing is pretty easy. At least in my Concourse it's all 1/2" Pex. Chinook used the clamp rings (that you put on with a tool), but you can also use a number of different quick connect fittings (Shark Bite, Sea-tech, etc.). I think some of the valves are "Flair it," which is another style of tool-less quick connect. The downside to quick connects is that they cost more and are a bit bulkier. The upside is they are easy and quick and can be adjusted. You can also remove them and put them back together. You can carry a few for various possible repairs or etc. For example right now I think you might be able to just use a union in place of the valve (if you need to there are other ways to drain the tank, such as pump the water into the grey tank and then dump it). Might beat jugs for your trip (?) These fittings are available at Lowe's etc.

Note: If you go with Shark Bites grab one of the little orange horseshoe removal tools. Those things can be hard to remove otherwise. Shark bit has long unions (I forget the name... slip joint? So you can push a pipe in further, then pull it back -- so that you can get a fitting on two pipes that are already in place, if that makes sense.

You (especially you, given your background) could replace all the supply plumbing in short order (not saying you'd want to, but there isn't that much to it. Maybe the elbow behind the toilet/shower would be a pain, but most of it is pretty simple.

[RVA_Cascade]

Congratulations on the new purchase! The Richmond Chinook contingent is at least 3 strong, though I keep my 2003 Cascade at my buddy's place in King William. Welcome!

[68camaro]

Congratulations on the new purchase! The Richmond Chinook contingent is at least 3 strong, though I keep my 2003 Cascade at my buddy's place in King William. Welcome!

Nice.....2 more we can have a traveling Chinook city basketball team....

[68camaro]

Spent first night with daughter on quick overnight to Virginia Beach. Size of van is great, was able to go down main drag and find surface parking in lot no problem, next morning parked on metered street and was able to fit between lines.

Since temps were in 80's and humid we decided to go to KOA campground 3-4 miles away with electrical and water. Last camping trip before buying Chinook was in tent and we woke up in morning in the rain. Had to make quick breakfast and takedown tent, clean area before heading off with everything soaked or damp.

Chinook was cramped for two of us, she got bed (club model) and I slept on floor in rear, my air mattress wouldn't inflate but I was actually very comfortable slepping on deflated air mattress and thick blanket, way better than sleeping on hard ground. Went to bed with a/c at 68, woke up too cold at some point and had to turn down to 72.....such a glorious problem to have. I still need to fix my snoring though........

First morning in RV campground was waking up in rain. It was great though, since we pulled in about 10pm, we never went outside. It was raining when we left but all I had to do was unplug, put power cord away and off we went....nirvana to say the least.

At start of this post I list some negatives about my new to me van....below are the ones I listed and an update for each:

A few negative surprise
- Fan in bath opens & closes and motor works but fans blades started disintegrating when fan turned on...LOL....clearly not used much but I figured easy fix, no biggie.....Bought a new fan blade and motor - total was about $23 for both, not sure I need motor but good time to replace.

- black/gray water hose container cap will not stay on, had to duck tape closed for trip, should be easy repair.
New container pretty inexpensive...about $50.00

- Antenna crank broke, antenna looks good, just the crank in cabinet needs new part to work.
Bought new Wineguard Sensor parts to repair it.....$17.41.

- Couple cabinet struts need replacing
Replaced all - works great total cost $97.50 delivered.

- Passanger side curtain string on one side broke during travels, it was stiff and I forced to much so will look to restring or get new shades, opposite work great. It still works just doesn't open all the way to the top, stops few inches below.
Ha, found instructions to restring but gave me headache reading it....need to find place that does it or buy new one for passenger side.

Two issue I have fingers crossed on:
- water tank would not hold water when we tried to fill, it was leaking out of tube (vent tube?) which hangs down and stops just above axle springs behind wheel....Appears to be broken valve, will have fixed, I decided not to tackle.
Also when you turn pump on water comes "out" of city water fill tube. Before trip home, I had two local RV places look at and they said it was most likely a valve or two and both thought nothing serious....I hope its not serious since I already bought it knowing it would need to be fixed.
New valve was needed, cost $32.00, will install tomorrow. This should fix water coming out of City water hookup.

- Paint and clearcoat really nice shape except for a several hairline cracks which don't appear deep, a couple are 6" long but I am hoping this is clearcoat. Since I am pretty anal about this stuff I will want to get fixed, I hope this doesn't come back and bite me.....There was one area size of fist where it looks like someone did repair, it sheens more than areas around it, hard to see and need to be looking at right angle so pretty good repair.
Good luck here, I took to boat repair place and they confirmed it is just in gelcoat, getting quote now. There is crack over stripe so we'll ignore that since trying to match the paint stripe may not be perfect so it could be bigger blemish

Brakes make me nervous, will be ordering Power Stop Extreme tomorrow and get installed ASAP, with have them go thru suspension to see if anything needs changing, also read diff will be serviced. Once brakes are on and suspension gone thru, will decided on strategy for lifting it.

Oh almost forgot, had van detailed, including buffing and wax.....ford van really shines and camper looks soooo much better, the green racing strips pop-out, van looks way better.

[Chinnin-about]

Oh almost forgot, had van detailed, including buffing and wax.....ford van really shines and camper looks soooo much better, the green racing strips pop-out, van looks way better.

Ohhh, pics?

[b6fischer]

Chinook was cramped for two of us, she got bed (club model) and I slept on floor in rear, my air mattress wouldn't inflate but I was actually very comfortable slepping on deflated air mattress and thick blanket, way better than sleeping on hard ground. Went to bed with a/c at 68, woke up too cold at some point and had to turn down to 72.....such a glorious problem to have. I still need to fix my snoring though........

Can't help with the snoring, but we too have a Club Lounge model. I'm 6-2, 250# and my wife is 5-10. We tried sleeping side by side on the jack-knife sofa and found it was not enough room. Then, we slide/locked the club chairs to the passenger side wall and we sleep with our heads on the drivers side with our feet into the buckets of the chairs. Plenty of room and we don't both each other (unless we want to... )

[68camaro]

WOO-HOO.......FIXED WATER PROBLEMS:)

Wasn't sure if this would be expensive problem or not and was waiting to take to get serviced, but I had free hour so gave it a shot. Turns out we had two problems:

1. With water pump turned on, water came rushing out of City Water Hookup.....installed new City Water Flange connection and problem solved....$32.00, about 5 - 7 minutes max.
2. Water draining from fresh water tank, several fixes:
A) changed water valve insert on on/off valve behind seat....cost $10.00...time 2 minutes:)
B) closed second valve behind seat.
finally C) fresh water drain peacock by pump was open, I simply closed it....cost $0.00.....time 10 seconds.....embarrassment factor - huge!

The 75 yr old lady and 91 yr old husband I bought this from were using jugs to fill toilet/wash etc. They bought used and I don't think ever looked at any plumbing. She wasn't joking when she said she didn't know how anything worked...

All the water works so this is great, no more hauling jugs around. However, I do not have instructions to use water heater, anybody have quick tips?

Also, key did not come with safe, hopefully owner has, if not will take to locksmith, hopeful he can open without breaking.