Thank you for the info Bruce.

 

I'm glad they took care of you! I still have the Chief Engineer's and Warranty Chief's number in my phone. The difference between Keystone and Forest River, that I've found, is that when you call the higher ups at FR, they answer the phones a good bit of the time. Totally unlike Keystone.

 

Next mod is on deck. I received my Barker autodrain's this past week. Going to tackle those soon, before camping season starts. I need to know what the name is of the tape that is used to reseal the coroplast? Seems to be black and maybe 3-4" wide. Dealer has already cut the coroplast for an access panel since they had to do service work for leaky valves for me, and whatever they used sealed really well. Just want to reseal it with the same stuff, because it really seems to stick good.

 

They use Gorilla tape on the Coroplast Dave.

 

Thanks Rodney.

 

I bought some tape that is specifically for repairing the underside of trailers. I have to say that I'm not impressed. I ended up supplementing it with Gorilla tape.

 

Thanks Jim. Just ordered some Gorilla tape on amazon.

 

Be sure you clean/prep the area the tape is going on. I used acetone where appropriate.

 

X2, total waste of $. 4 inch wide Gorilla tape is the way to go.

 

Just to be clear, the product I was referring to is called Flex-Mend. A 4"x180' roll is about $50. I also used another Flex-Mend product that is 28" wide. Something that wide is a huge pain in the rear to work with when you're under a trailer with limited room to work. Even with two people it was difficult.

If you're a glutton for punishment and have money to waste here is a site that carries the Flex-Mend products. Ironically, Gorilla Tape is the first item on the page.

 

Jim you are correct about the flex mend tape. Mine started to peel at some edges. Cleaned those areas and applied rubber cement which seems to be holding.

 

X3, that is the stuff. I held my edges down with gorilla tape. Won't be surprized if l need to recover the entire "flex mend" area with Gorille.

 

So, the install of the Barker Autodrains is completed. Install is pretty easy, after the first one. I will say, that at least in my 2017 model year 3850RL that Forest River didn't use Bristol or Valterra valves.... Which the Barkers are designed for. I tried to see what was used, but not readable, other than made in Plymouth, IN. As a result on the 1 1/2" Gray water drains, the hole patterns to bolt to the valve body, were off by a smidgen, but elongating the mounting plate holes with a drill solved that problem quickly. However, the Valve itself is a little shorter, so a couple of shims (about 1/4" worth) were needed on the actuator arm so that the valve would actually close all the way was needed. On the Black Valve, the valve body between the mounting bolts is slightly convex, making bolting the plate to it awkward, but still worked. I guess I could have gotten the dremel tool out and ground it down, but it wasn't that bad. This valve must be a little taller than Bristol or Valterra, as the adjustment had to be all the way closed(short as it could go), to make sure the Barker didn't try to close the valve too far, and break itself.

As for the electrical portion, that was pretty straight forward. I had to lengthen the wires, as they come with 24" pigtails, which wasnt long enough. Nicely, they use standard wire colors used on standard trailer pigtail wires(green, brown, white, yellow), so I was able to buy more of the same, and splice it in. There are plenty of power sources to tap into behind the water bay, so that was pretty easy as well. The Valves only draw about 2A, so no need for a separate circuit. I tied into the basement cargo light circuit.

Last part of the install is the water test.... I hadn't de-winterized yet, so my tanks were empty for the install. Once done, I first opened fully, then closed fully all three valves to seat them as normal use, then I poured a few gallons of water into each tank, one at a time and observing to make sure that the valves were fully closing. Surprise, both gray valves were not, and hence the need for additional spacers to make the adjustment.

In the end, the installation was successful. sorry, no photos, it was cold out, and by the time I was getting finished, it was starting to get dark out.

 

A good job done Dave. Enjoy the electronic magic!

 

Thanks Rodney. I also installed bike rack. I guess I'm running out of mod's to do. Just time now to get down to the business of camping!