This One's For Steve

I've covered in some detail the refurbishment of my black tank, but it still wasn't going to be useful to me until I picked up a new gate valve. And since my repairs only restored it to original, I'd be looking at replacing it with another Thetford valve, where I'd prefer to use the more modern Valterra gate valves.

And that's where my good buddy Steve comes in. Some may know him from the Forums as theByamCaravanner. He's a mechanical wiz, a really smart guy, and also an all-around GOOD guy. He has been fabricating these adapter plates for a few of his Airstream friends, and I was lucky enough to be the recipient of one of those, today.


Steve is a proud Wisconsinite, so I had to don my Wisconsin football t-shirt for the occasion. Go Badgers! Very soon, I will mount this plate to the bottom of my tank, and then the gate valve will attach to the plate, and I will be back in the... umm... #2 business.

Along with the adapter plate, today UPS delivered something else to my doorstep.


I plugged it in, and waited in anticipation. I watched as my trailer took its first breath in five months.


The lights came on just as they were before I took everything apart. And, perhaps most importantly...


Now I can work in the deliciously chilled air of the Carrier AirV.

Once again, thanks to Steve for taking the time to create and ship the adapter plate. It is a HUGE help.