Well as I reported in my blog entry about our trip to Morgan Hill RV Resort, we developed a leak in the hot water valve fitting on our outdoor shower. I ordered some tools to remove and replace the valve but I, being who I am, could not wait for the tools to arrive so I improvised.

I used a cutoff wheel in my Dremmel grinder to remove the existing stainless steel crimp ring that secures the tubing to the plastic elbow.

I had to be pretty careful so as not to nick or melt the tubing so it was pretty slow going but I finally got the crimp ring off and got the fitting out.

I stopped off at Lowe’s RV supply department (that’s a joke y’all) and picked up some PEX tubing in case I really blew this and the next closest fitting I could find which was made of brass.

Since I didn’t have the ring crimping tool or any replacement crimp rings I made do with a hose clamp from my airplane supply box. I put it all back together and no leaks! I’ll keep my eye on it though. The tool and crimp rings did finally show up so I can always do the repair properly in the future if I elect to.

I could have just taken it back to the dealer to have it repaired but it would have taken weeks to get it back. Since we’re not under warranty any longer I can imagine the bill would be a couple hundred bucks. This way I saved money and didn’t have to be without our trailer. You can save a lot of money on your RV if you learn to be handy with some tools and use what you have on hand. It’s the difference between an adventure and a cancelled trip.

Happy trails!