[VAC] Re: Updating to External Utility Connections

["Dave Huffman" <huff@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Last summer I posted a note regarding updating the antiquated Utility System
on our '67 Caravel.  I got only one or two responses, which made me wonder
1) is everyone content to be 'vintage' and reach under the trailer to get at
the water hose and power cable?  2) most Streamers are out on the road?
    So I'll try again.  We're planning a trip soon and I had enough of knee
bending and squatting to get at the
Hole-in-the-Floor-of-the-Utility-Compartment approach to trailer utility
hook-ups.  As I looked around the campgrounds I saw no one else hooking up
from a hole in the bottom of their trailer!
    I don't want to cut into my vintage utility door, so I got a new one
which I won't feel guilty cutting into for utility access.
I looked at current trailer utility access at a local RV center and I was
shown small PVC type boxes which have sliding or opening covers over the
utility outlet.  Seems a good idea vs. the capped male plug I was planning
to mount to the outside of the door for water.
    For electricity the simple thing would be to get an outdoor receptacle
from an electric supply and just mount that so I can plug in the power cable
from outside.  But that plastic box holding a 6-10' power cable with a cover
seems one better.

    I hoped to get some help from Airstream.  Although I got a quick reply,
it seems to me they are "vintage" in their approach also: "Dear sir, I would
add a quick disconnect to the water supply  with a short pc of hose that
will hang out at bottom of pvc pipe and put a pigtail on the electric as
well that you can hook up to with out feeding the cable through the pipe.
Other than this you will have to use your imagination to come up with a
easier more accessible solution."

    BTW I have asked what others do to prevent critters from crawling up
into the utility pipe when it's open.  In spite of a light steel wool
stuffing I found a dessicated frog in the area when I inspected it last
month.

    Huff
    '67 Caravel