New Member from Michigan

[ersatzknarf]

[p]Hello ![/p][p]
[/p][p]Very glad to be here.   We were at Wells State Park in the very west side of the Michigan UP, when we saw another 16DBS for the very first time !   A nice gentleman and his wife told us about this forum.  We had no idea !  He said his name here is "Merlin."[/p][p]
[/p][p]Unfortunately, we met while waiting in line for the dump station so our conversation was curtailed, but it seems that some of the issues we have had with ours are common and I am hopeful we can find a way to get them sorted out rather than just dealing with them as we have been.[/p][p]
[/p][p]We ordered our trailer new in very early 2013 and it was completed for us by April.  We love it and are glad we got it.  Hopefully, I can take care of sorting out the issue with the grey tank and also from seeing Merlin's beautiful trailer, there seem to be a lot of neat little things that can be done to make it all the nicer   [/p][p]
[/p][p]
[/p][p]Here we are, stopped by the beach off of Route 2, in the UP...[/p][p]
[/p][p]

[ammobob]

Welcome to the community. Merlin is very active on this forum so you will see tons of his posts. Some great information on Camplite mods and upgrades too. Happy camping!!

[ersatzknarf]

Hi Bob,
Thank you very much for the welcome.  Looking forward to being a member and learning more to make our trailer all the more enjoyable.

[mjmoore17]

Welcome. I have been to Wells State Park. I miss living in the midWest and camping in Michigan and Minnessota ( except the flies). I think you will find answers to many questions here. Again, welcome to the forum.

Michael

[ersatzknarf]

Hi Michael,
Thank you very much also for the welcome.  We enjoyed staying at Wells.  We love the UP!  Thanks for the view that we'll find the answers, too

[daplumbr]

Glad you joined! Welcome! I posted a photo of your rig next to mine at the dump station in the PNW Rally thread. Here it is again, just so you don't have to go looking.

[attachment id="1656" thumbnail="1"]

It was sure unusual to see 2 Camplites at the same time, even if they were dumping. We had a very nice overnight at Wells and went on to the west coast for a month long trip. 

I'm looking forward to your adventures in Michigan and ideas on good parks to visit. 

[ersatzknarf]

[p]Hi Merlin !

Thank you for the welcome  

Did not know you had taken that photo !  LOL !

Indeed, thanks.  One park that we liked so much we have stayed twice was Brimley.  It's right on Lake Superior, but it's beautiful and the view of the stars at night is breathtaking.

Another that we have enjoyed is McLain and the view we had was as spectacular as the biting of the flies  

Glad you also liked Wells and that you had such a nice, long trip to the left coast.

Guess now that I am here, will have to do more than rely on my wife to take photos [/p][p]
[/p][p]We are off to Harrisville, next.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Would love to work on why the grey tank acts like it is full, when it is not, and the sink and shower stop draining way too soon, before we go, but no time.  Have always thought it was a vent problem, but no idea where to start.  Think if I could get that sorted, it would go a long way for us.[/p]

[craigd]

Welcome, I drove thru the UP last year with my 14DBS. I was born in Michigan but hadn't been there in 40 years so took my time driving thru. Spent a week near Holland visiting relatives and seeing the places that I grew up near.

[ersatzknarf]

Thanks for the welcome !  Glad you came back for a visit

Holland is very nice.  Guess you missed the tulip festival ?

As mentioned, we are very fond of the UP and my grandmother (mother's mother) was born there and grew up in Mass City, learning to make pasties for the miners.

Hers were beyond delicious and although I have been tempted to try the ones from shops in the UP, I know they will never be the same, so just not worth it...

[daplumbr]

[quote timestamp="1471612012" source="/post/23974/thread" author="@ersatzknarf"][p]Hi Merlin !

Thank you for the welcome    

Did not know you had taken that photo !  LOL !

Indeed, thanks.  One park that we liked so much we have stayed twice was Brimley.  It's right on Lake Superior, but it's beautiful and the view of the stars at night is breathtaking.

Another that we have enjoyed is McLain and the view we had was as spectacular as the biting of the flies    

Glad you also liked Wells and that you had such a nice, long trip to the left coast.

Guess now that I am here, will have to do more than rely on my wife to take photos  [/p][p]
[/p][p]We are off to Harrisville, next.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Would love to work on why the grey tank acts like it is full, when it is not, and the sink and shower stop draining way too soon, before we go, but no time.  Have always thought it was a vent problem, but no idea where to start.  Think if I could get that sorted, it would go a long way for us.[/p][/quote]When you get ready to tackle the grey tank problem, here is a long thread on it. To cut to the chase, on some Camplites, Livin Lite factory installers pushed the tank vent too far into the tank. Since the water level can't rise above the vent pipe, you effectively get less capacity. In ours we had only a bit more than half the advertised capacity. The fix is to remove the grey tank and cut the bottom of the vent pipe off so that it just goes into the tank and doesn't stick way down in. After I did that, we regained our grey tank capacity. It's a big job, but all the info is in this thread.

http://www.livinlite-owners.com/thread/822/grey-water-tank-problem

And, FYI, Harrisville is one of our favorite state parks! I hope you have great stay there.

[ersatzknarf]

[quote timestamp="1471619387" source="/post/23982/thread" author="@sandroad"][/quote][p]Thank you kindly for the link.  Spent a good bit of time reading yesterday and searching today    [/p][p]
[/p][p]Just finished reading the whole thing and saw your posts, too.  Thank you.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Am pretty sure it is indeed that vent-tube-being-too-long problem and not the AAV(s), however wonder if it is worth it to replace it (them) ?[/p][p]
[/p][p]So very glad to hear you like Harrisville ! ! !       [/p][p]
[/p][p]We are really looking forward to going there.  From what we could see, it looks that they are even more dog friendly than most   (rofl)   [/p][p]
[/p][p]
[/p][p]Yes, want to pull the tank and get that pipe cut ![/p][p]
[/p][p]Very grateful for that thread and the photos  [/p]

[charliem]

Having been in the middle of this from the beginning, let me add my two cents worth. The AAVs are not the primary problem. The vent pipe is a known problem. The fix is known, painful, and worth while. Merlin and I are sorry to have ruined your trip ? .  The AAV problem causes odors to feed back from an open gray tank valve. The easiest and best fix for that is a hump or "P-trap" in the sewar hose as I've posted elsewhere. Enjoy!

[ersatzknarf]

[p]Hi Charlie,

Good grief, no !   Nothing to apologize for, please !  Neither you nor Merlin did anything to ruin our trip.  We have had this issue since new, but as this is our first travel trailer, coming from tent camping, we did not understand that it was a manufacturing problem and very unfortunately, the problem did not really come to light until we were already off warranty.  That we have had our trailer since 2013 and you folks did not find the cause until two years later means that LL and our dealer would not have either.  I am ecstatic that this can be resolved.  I did not have an understanding of the exact plumbing/venting of these trailers, until reading your thread.  Thank you  

Several times I had wondered if it might be possible to pull the grey tank and see what is what down there; now I know.  If I can take care of this on the driveway, rather than at $95+/hour with the dealer or at a CW (?), then all the better.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Thanks also for explaining about the odor issue with the AAV.  Based on that, I think we are okay.  Nothing so far to indicate that is the issue, then.

Fixing the grey tank issue might just get my gumption up enough to try installing that Patty O'Room, again  

One other thing I noticed is that a number of folks have mentioned about boondocking/dry camping and this is something I have long had an interest in doing, rather than just plugging in at a state park.  We did do a version of this at the Leelanau State Park, with no electricity nor water there.  We made for two and a half days on just the one OEM battery arrangement, including running the furnace.  It was such a nice, remote place that we've talked about going again and perhaps I can learn some of the mods that folks have done to extend their boondocking, too...


We were so pleased to have run into Merlin and his lovely wife at Wells and to learn of this forum   [/p]

[prescobd]

Hi there.  Where in Michigan are you from? We live in Hastings.

[daplumbr]

[quote timestamp="1477271295" source="/post/25517/thread" author="@prescobd"]Hi there.  Where in Michigan are you from? We live in Hastings.[/quote]Ersatzknarf is located near Flat Rock and I'm in the Lansing area. There are quite a few members from Michigan and I'll add you to the list I have. Maybe we'll see about getting together sometime next spring over at a State Park on Lake Huron?