Aquahot leaked, How would you repair bay floor?

[Pete Masterson]

As far as I can tell, the floor of the bays are sheet steel, with a felt-like material used to carpet them. In my poking around (and drilling pilot holes for some screws to hold dividers in my bays) I did not encounter any plywood. The sheet steel has a foam insulation sprayed up from below (on the outside).

You may simply be able to pull up the damaged carpet (the felt stuff) and then install something similar. It's probably just glued down. The mixture of diesel and coolant (water + anti freeze) that's spilled/leaked onto the bay floor has probably turned into a slightly sticky mess beyond anything that shampooing techniques are likely to remedy.

While the drain idea is interesting, considering the actual construction of the bay floor, it might be better to simply cut a hole (and install a screen to keep vermin out) through the bottom of the A-H burner compartment (where I presume the leak, etc. took place). I'm told that newer A-Hs were installed with a vent to the bottom to allow air to enter for the burner, etc. -- what I propose would be to 'update' your coach to match the later installation method. The frame and case of the A-H should be sufficient to keep future spillage contained sufficiently to allow it to find its way out the bottom vent.

I also note that there is always a slight diesel odor in the bays that gets stronger near the AquaHot is apparently common. (I once lived in a home with an oil furnace that always had a slight diesel fuel smell in the basement.) I suspect that the diesel odor is an artifact of how fuel oil/diesel burners operate, and may not be specifically related to the previous spills. Over the past 3 years, nothing I've stored in the storage bays has picked up a significant odor that lingers once the items are removed from the bays.

Pete Masterson

'95 Blue Bird Wanderlodge WBDA 42

El Sobrante CA

"aeonix1@mac.com"

On Jul 19, 2009, at 12:55 PM, Kurt Horvath wrote:

Need suggestions.

My Aquahot has leaked in the past, both fuel & coolant.

Now that it's fixed it leaves me with another chore, what to do with the carpet lining in the bay, it's permanently wet and emits a nice fuel odor, especially this time of year. I'm not sure of the condition of the sub floor. You can see that it to has gotten a good soaking. It may also need replacement.

The front bay didn't get any fluids on it so it just bay 2&3 on the road side.

The Aquahot will have to come out to remove old carpet and install whatever material I need to line the floor with.

One thought was to fabricate a tray with a drain similar to what you would place under a washing machine or a water heater to catch and evacuate any fluids in case of an accidental leak.

I'd like hear any suggestion you might have.

Thanks,

Kurt Horvath
95 PT 42
10AC




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