Hi Everyone. New member and my first time posting here. First off, I like to say how thrilled I am to have found this forum and great community. I have read through numerous threads here, and this community seems to be grade A with people sharing love for these campers and assisting one another.
I purchased a 1987 T-1550 a couple of weeks ago. I knew very little about campers, but was looking for something lightweight with a bathroom. I came across this camper on craigslist and it seemed to fit the bill. I went to see it and the owner had all the windows and doors open and a fan running inside. It looked good and he said no leaks and all systems worked, although he didnt have it hooked up to water at the time. He seemed likeable and honest. He sold it to me for 1000.00 and I took it home.
Starting to discover the issues:
First thing I did was hook the camper up to water and identified a cracked water lines from the bathroom sink to the intake valve. I replaced those lines and the line to the toilet with PEX. Ran water again and validated that the pump was also working and no more leaks.
The hot water tank valve was switched to bypass, so I switched that back and started to fill the HW tank up. After a couple of minutes, heard a pop and water leaking. Removed the HW tank and discovered an nail head sized hole in the bottom. Treated the aluminum and patched with marine tex back to solid.
Replaced broken propane regulator and tested heater, hot water heater and stove. All appear to work.
Decided to pull up the peel and stick tiles the original owner had installed as there was gaps and the tiles were not straight. When I pulled them up I noticed an number of areas of the floor OSB had been replaced. I decided to pull up on one of the areas to see what was going on underneath.
Thats when the real trouble was found.
The wood was rotted to nothing, new 2x2 were just thrown on top of the thin metal underlayment and not fixed to anything, plywood was haphazardly thrown on top and everything was still sopping wet, wood, insulation, everything. The headers at the front and back were rotted to saw dust, the frame around the hot water heater completely gone.
I found an older post created by Thomascine who embarked on a project with the same camper in similar condition. This was a valuable find. I read all 33 pages in its entirety. A ton of great advice offered from John B on that thread.
So I began to remove the rear paneling and rear window, as well as the drivers side. Like Thomascine, most of the hex head screws are rusted apart. Ive had to Dremal a flat head slot into almost all of them to get them out. The staples are also a challenge.
I work full time, so I am doing this as time permits on the weekends and evenings. I also have a 2 year old daughter who further slows my progress. I hope to get it completed and updated so my family and I can enjoy it next summer. I plan to update this post with progress and share my experience with this great community. Im new to all this, but its amazing what Ive already learned about this camper in the 2 weeks Ive owned it with the help of past threads and posts here. The value of these conversations go well beyond the original intended recipients and are referenced for years by others.
Here are some pics of when I bought it and some pics of its true condition once I tore it down a little bit. The only thing that disappoints me is that the original owner was very aware of its condition behind the walls and floor and hid it from me. The camper it very unsafe with so much destroyed wood, rot and mildew. I had my 2 year old daughter and wife in the car when we visited to look. I wouldnt ever be able to keep that from someone in good conscience, but you live and learn and now I have to work myself out of this purchase to get the camper we thought we were. Thanks for viewing.
I purchased a 1987 T-1550 a couple of weeks ago. I knew very little about campers, but was looking for something lightweight with a bathroom. I came across this camper on craigslist and it seemed to fit the bill. I went to see it and the owner had all the windows and doors open and a fan running inside. It looked good and he said no leaks and all systems worked, although he didnt have it hooked up to water at the time. He seemed likeable and honest. He sold it to me for 1000.00 and I took it home.
Starting to discover the issues:
First thing I did was hook the camper up to water and identified a cracked water lines from the bathroom sink to the intake valve. I replaced those lines and the line to the toilet with PEX. Ran water again and validated that the pump was also working and no more leaks.
The hot water tank valve was switched to bypass, so I switched that back and started to fill the HW tank up. After a couple of minutes, heard a pop and water leaking. Removed the HW tank and discovered an nail head sized hole in the bottom. Treated the aluminum and patched with marine tex back to solid.
Replaced broken propane regulator and tested heater, hot water heater and stove. All appear to work.
Decided to pull up the peel and stick tiles the original owner had installed as there was gaps and the tiles were not straight. When I pulled them up I noticed an number of areas of the floor OSB had been replaced. I decided to pull up on one of the areas to see what was going on underneath.
Thats when the real trouble was found.
The wood was rotted to nothing, new 2x2 were just thrown on top of the thin metal underlayment and not fixed to anything, plywood was haphazardly thrown on top and everything was still sopping wet, wood, insulation, everything. The headers at the front and back were rotted to saw dust, the frame around the hot water heater completely gone.
I found an older post created by Thomascine who embarked on a project with the same camper in similar condition. This was a valuable find. I read all 33 pages in its entirety. A ton of great advice offered from John B on that thread.
So I began to remove the rear paneling and rear window, as well as the drivers side. Like Thomascine, most of the hex head screws are rusted apart. Ive had to Dremal a flat head slot into almost all of them to get them out. The staples are also a challenge.
I work full time, so I am doing this as time permits on the weekends and evenings. I also have a 2 year old daughter who further slows my progress. I hope to get it completed and updated so my family and I can enjoy it next summer. I plan to update this post with progress and share my experience with this great community. Im new to all this, but its amazing what Ive already learned about this camper in the 2 weeks Ive owned it with the help of past threads and posts here. The value of these conversations go well beyond the original intended recipients and are referenced for years by others.
Here are some pics of when I bought it and some pics of its true condition once I tore it down a little bit. The only thing that disappoints me is that the original owner was very aware of its condition behind the walls and floor and hid it from me. The camper it very unsafe with so much destroyed wood, rot and mildew. I had my 2 year old daughter and wife in the car when we visited to look. I wouldnt ever be able to keep that from someone in good conscience, but you live and learn and now I have to work myself out of this purchase to get the camper we thought we were. Thanks for viewing.