Dewinterization of the Lance Truck Camper

Saturday brought a nice day to be outside and get some work done on the camper. I dewinterized it by flushing the water system and filling the tank and lines with fresh water. I also installed two new Trojan brand Group 27 AGM batteries. One in the slide out battery tray and the other is located in the optional generator compartment. The original owner did not include the generator option, instead deciding to have storage the storage. Somewhere along the way two extra batteries were added to the system along with the solar panels and 3000 Watt inverter. I had Trojan brand batteries before and they lasted longer than I owned the unit they were in. I was very happy with them.

The interior checkout went well, all water faucets work and are leak free. The bath features all work like new. The fans are fantastic and the windows all work. The foam seal around some of the windows is old and deteriorating but I believe I have found a replacement product I can install myself. Lowes has a 3/8 x 3/16 weather stripping that should work perfect, only they did not have it in black. I may need to order it online to get the color I want. I will do a post when I undertake that project.

The water heater and all the gas appliances fired up just fine. The microwave worked when plugged in to 110 volt power. the power and water system monitoring station systems all seem to be working like they should.

I examined every gas connection I could find and all were checked for leaks and tightness. I hooked up an external propane tank and chilled down the refrigerator. I also ran the refrigerator on shore power for a while and the electric side also worked great. There was a wasp hanging around while I was working that gave me the notion to plug some entries. I went to Lowes and picked up some screen to make covers for a couple of vents that could be trouble areas. The vents behind the refrigerator and water heater are notorious places wasps like to build nests in. The screen project is on my list to do sometime this week.

Saturday was also brew day at my house. I am a home brewer. I brew beer in five to six gallon batches in my basement. Today I made a basic India Pale Ale, one of my favorites. It will sit in the carboy and ferment for a week or so, then I will transfer it to another carboy, add more hops, and let it enjoy another week or so of secondary fermentation. This will mellow it out and really make the hops pop on the pallet.