KODIAK 263RLSL Wiring

[morrowcl]

We have had chipmunks cause havoc in our camper on permanent site in mountains. They have chewed up plumbing and electrical lines behind breaker box below fridge area. How do we gain access to wiring as this space is tight and seems to back toward bathroom area. We need to be able to trace wiring to see what damage was caused on kitchen/bath side of camper but have no idea how or what to remove to get access to wiring. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[franktafl]

First thing you will need to do is drop the coroplast which means probably drilling out the rivets in order to see what’s under there. Don’t despair, you can replace the rivets with screws and probably washers. If you need to cut the coroplast (or cardboard if your rv has such), there is a product on the market that you can use to tape the pieces back together. I’m not sure how well the tape works because no one has ever commented on it here, that I know of.

Good luck.

[chrisski]

I purchased so multimeter leads to help test for things like this. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08PBHX3QM
I also made a 20’ alligator clip to help with continuity over long distances.

Of course you should trace the wire back as best as you can, but I found my wires all over the place when I peaked in my RV underbelly, so that is a hard job and at some point I’d bypass finding the exact break and runs new run for what is not working.

Another thing I found in removing panels to get access is there is a double square bit which seems to be unique to the RV industry, and I found a single square did not work for me.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08LNYQQ4P

I am far from the bast at removing paneling but I was able to get most of the nailed paneling to gain access to pipes with just a screwdriver, but there has got to be a better tool for it. Sometimes the backing was not thick enough to replace the panel and I was able to glue a thin sheet of wood behind it and the screw held better.

I have a snake camera to look at places that are hard to get to, but this never gets the view I want.

I have the bullet driven nails that hold the chloroplast on. I Don’t recommend drilling the screws out. I Recommend getting a cats claw and tapping it with a hammer and then prying the nails out. If that doesn’t work, I Drill out the nails, but it is a huge pain and much easier to pry the nails out. I do replace the nails with screws.

The RV underbelly tape https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09HJVTLSJ
is pretty awful at staying on, even with good surface prep and cleaning. Where I cut into the underbelly, it is peeling off on the windward side of the underbelly. When my camping season starts, I have a black gorilla tape to try and it can’t be any worst than the RV underbelly tape.

Be careful with the underbelly chloroplast. This is not a cheap thing to replace. I looked up the price to replace mine and it was hundreds of dollars just to purchase the chloroplast underbelly for my RV. The screws and washers hold it securely. I have a 3’ section of tape.

I have a PEX crimped for any of the piping jobs that need to be replaced.

[franktafl]

I have some eternabond tape that sticks to everything. Try that. Only issue is that it takes pressure to activate the adhesive.