My Voltage Story with Pics of water issue

[1fstTRX]

I'm already thankful for this site! Just got a 2012 Voltage 3950 and it's been interesting to say the least. We took it to a shop to get checked out fully before our first outing since we only had about a week before our Halloween trip. I won't get into details, but needless to say I will be doing most of the maintenance from now on. It was an auction unit that didn't come with keys so I've been picking the locks. Finding keys has been a horrible ordeal (with Dutchmen and the dealers they pointed me too) and the poplocks setup isn't working.

First trip out:
massive fresh water leak. Maybe 1/2 full for the trip.
Diverter Tee for shower leaked. More water came out from the tee than the showerhead.
Upper bunk only stopped on 3 of the 4 bunk stops so we didn't use it this trip.

Got home and pulled the belly pan apart. Upper hose connecting the fresh water tanks was disconnected on one side. Used heat gun to warm up hose and reinstall. Did it to all hoses, because none were clearing the barbed section and would have eventually caused an issue. Filled the tanks and found massive bowing in fresh tank frames! Of course. Out came the frames and 2x2 unistrut was added to reinforce it all. Making progress...

Ordered the shower diverter tee and found there is no access door to get behind the shower in order to loosen/tighten the hot/cold valves. THANKS TO THIS SITE I found that some units did not come with an access door. Ordered one up and used stainless steel screws per the "Show off Your Mods" thread once I got it installed.

2nd trip:
No water issues
No shower issues
Upper bunk had metal bunk stops that didn't look factory. This one has me worried and I'll be posting in another section on how I should fix later. If I flipped the bunk stop (more metal on one side of screw holes) the lower bunk hits as it passes, but upper bunk would stop. Needless to say the drivers side upper bunk fell down past the stops and almost smashed my kids heads who were sleeping on the bottom. The happijac frame also ripped the screws out of the wall as it pulled away

I've learned a bunch thanks to this site especially in terms of maintenance and repair. Thank you everybody for the help so far.

 

[snakebitten]

2x2 unistrut??
Is that the structure that resembles a truss?

That's amazing. Well done!

 

[RVNevada]

1fstTRX, Welcome to the site, and as a guy who has rebuild a few RV's over the years, you will like this site and give some things to add or repair, good luck and enjoy

 

[1fstTRX]

2x2 unistrut??
Is that the structure that resembles a truss?

That's amazing. Well done!

I attached a picture that I found online. The 2 pieces of unistrut alone are strong enough to hold all the weight of each tank. The install was really easy too. I can't take the credit for it though. A buddy told me how to fix the sagging.

 

[wahoonc]

Uni-strut is a brand name, it is also known as Kendorf bar.

It is used in a wide variety of industrial applications for supporting things, in both a vertical and horizontal application.

Aaron

 

[Lilnuts]

I'm already thankful for this site! Just got a 2012 Voltage 3950 and it's been interesting to say the least. We took it to a shop to get checked out fully before our first outing since we only had about a week before our Halloween trip. I won't get into details, but needless to say I will be doing most of the maintenance from now on. It was an auction unit that didn't come with keys so I've been picking the locks. Finding keys has been a horrible ordeal (with Dutchmen and the dealers they pointed me too) and the poplocks setup isn't working.

First trip out:
massive fresh water leak. Maybe 1/2 full for the trip.
Diverter Tee for shower leaked. More water came out from the tee than the showerhead.
Upper bunk only stopped on 3 of the 4 bunk stops so we didn't use it this trip.

Got home and pulled the belly pan apart. Upper hose connecting the fresh water tanks was disconnected on one side. Used heat gun to warm up hose and reinstall. Did it to all hoses, because none were clearing the barbed section and would have eventually caused an issue. Filled the tanks and found massive bowing in fresh tank frames! Of course. Out came the frames and 2x2 unistrut was added to reinforce it all. Making progress...

Ordered the shower diverter tee and found there is no access door to get behind the shower in order to loosen/tighten the hot/cold valves. THANKS TO THIS SITE I found that some units did not come with an access door. Ordered one up and used stainless steel screws per the "Show off Your Mods" thread once I got it installed.

2nd trip:
No water issues
No shower issues
Upper bunk had metal bunk stops that didn't look factory. This one has me worried and I'll be posting in another section on how I should fix later. If I flipped the bunk stop (more metal on one side of screw holes) the lower bunk hits as it passes, but upper bunk would stop. Needless to say the drivers side upper bunk fell down past the stops and almost smashed my kids heads who were sleeping on the bottom. The happijac frame also ripped the screws out of the wall as it pulled away

I've learned a bunch thanks to this site especially in terms of maintenance and repair. Thank you everybody for the help so far.

Welcome to the group ;-helo-:
Did you take any pics of your unistrut repair ?

 

[1fstTRX]

Welcome to the group ;-helo-:
Did you take any pics of your unistrut repair ?

Yes I did. It was actually really easy to do. The hardest part is removing the belly pan! haha. The only new holes are on the main frame rail for each piece of unistrut. Other than that was removing the tank frame and notch a groove in each piece of angle iron for the unistrut to sit in.

 

[azdryheat-DUTCH]

Regarding door keys. If you disassemble the door locks you will find a code number inside that you can use to order new keys. When my 3600 was new we never got the key to the back door. I got the code and ordered it.

 

[Lilnuts]

1fstTRX, thanks for the pics. I'm prolly gonna pull my belly pan this spring and see how bad the workmanship is, and I will for sure do this mod. I even have plenty of strut in stock.

 

[1fstTRX]

Regarding door keys. If you disassemble the door locks you will find a code number inside that you can use to order new keys. When my 3600 was new we never got the key to the back door. I got the code and ordered it.

We called Keystone and they pointed us to Bauer. We gave Bauer the number on the main entry door and the cargo door (only ones with numbers). The main entry door worked, but the cargo door key did not work. I'll pull the compartment locks off and check them. It's easy to pick the locks, but at some point somebody may notice my "universal key" and start asking questions.

1fstTRX, thanks for the pics. I'm prolly gonna pull my belly pan this spring and see how bad the workmanship is, and I will for sure do this mod. I even have plenty of strut in stock.

I noticed the angle iron was showing signs of flexing, but brushed it off. We decided to fill the tanks to check the hose we put back on and noticed exactly how bad the tanks were sagging.

 

[HornedToad]

One of the reasons I bought my Voltage was the size of the fresh water tanks. If you do the math 160 gallons X 8.34 lbs per = 1,334 pounds... that's a lot of weight!!! Great mod, something to put on my To Do List. Thanks for the pics.