Date:         Mon, 12 Jul 1999 21:10:06 -0500
Reply-To:     j fritz <jfritz@DECORAH.K12.IA.US>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         j fritz <jfritz@DECORAH.K12.IA.US>
Subject:      Thanks and a quick tip....
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-Ascii"

Volks,

Many thanks to all who responded to my posts regarding filling the water tank.  Several of you asked for me to share my findings so here goes:  Consensus was that its never pretty regardless how you do it.  Some have removed the back check valve found in later models (like mine) which restrict the flow while others have got RV fillers which sounds like a tube that you attach to the end of a hose to get past the filler door and easily point the water where its supposed to go. I really enjoyed the post about the use of a ball check valve (often used in natural gas and water applications) to control water pressure for hooking to city water and also controlling water flow when filling from the inside rather than through the filler door.  What I really liked though was the idea of putting one on the bottom of the grey water to replace the cap.  Open it when you had water to release and close it on the road.  

Unfortunately, I filled my water tank only to find that my sensing unit doesn't work and won't register how much water is present.  I remember a strand on this earlier this year but probably won't be able to spend time looking for it in the archives before I leave on our trip.

A quick tip.....I'm always annoyed when the rear table moves while driving.  I tightened the handle as tight as I can (which is fairly tight) but when cornering the thing will still swing out a bit.  I considered velcroing it to the wall but decided to use a different tact when I saw some of that 3M stripping that you put on stair treads to help avoid slipping.  Its basically like a roll of 1", 60 grit sandpaper with a sticky back. I was able to buy a foot of it at my hardware store for $.90 (big spender!!!).  I took the table leg out and cut a couple pieces a little over 2" long that I attached to the inside of the receiver for the table leg.  One piece is attached to the device that is pressed onto the table leg by the knob and one piece is on the side opposing that.  Basically two chunks of 60 grit grabbing onto the leg whenever you tighten the knob.  It works!!  

Jim in Iowa  (I can't find my AFM but I can cobble with the best of 'em!)
91 Passat Wagon GL
89 Westy
66 Beetle