Quick mod to turn a cubby covering into a door

[Atlee]

My Jay Flight 23RB had a covering attached by 2 long screws over the water heater. Got tired of unscrewing the cover in order to examine the inside of the water heater, and under the tub where the drain is, and to switch over to the water heater bypass and get at the low point drain switches.

I attached two hinges, a handle, and a clasp.

I still have to fill in the screw holes, and color them so they don't show.

[Dusty_R]

I put a wood tab/cleat on bottom, so the panel can't come out/off, and a magnetic cabinet door holder at the top.

[profdant139]

mat60 says we make use of every inch. You bet we do! Our trailer is tiny -- 7 feet wide, and the box is 12 feet long. So we have to maximize the storage.

With a bigger trailer, that is not necessary. But a bigger trailer would not fit on my driveway, and it would not be as easy to maneuver on narrow twisty forest roads. Life is a series of compromises.

[Atlee]

I will not use the space I've opened up for storage. It's just an easy way to get to the mechanicals.

I too put a barrier where water lines invaded spaces that were for storage. I did it in the huge outside storage compartment in the right rear of my Jay Flight 23RB. Also did it under the bathroom sink cabinet, and under the kitchen sink storage area.

mat60 wrote:
Very nice. I need to do something with mine also.. As far as storage I have a cabinet in my rear bathroom with water lines going through it. I had to make something out of wood to protect the lines. Two screws and it can be removed. I must admit I was surprised you guys use the space around the water heater. Im thinking you make use of every inch.:)

[Atlee]

Nothing is going in that space as storage. I just wanted to make it easy to see the water heater, look under the tub where the drain is, easily by pass the water heater, and easily get to the handles for the low point drains.

There are way too many exposed water lines and a few electrical lines under there.

DutchmenSport wrote:
Nice! Makes better sense! But be careful using that space for extra storage. The last thing you want is something to fall on one of the water lines when traveling, bouncing down the road, and it ruptures the line.

[mat60]

Very nice. I need to do something with mine also.. As far as storage I have a cabinet in my rear bathroom with water lines going through it. I had to make something out of wood to protect the lines. Two screws and it can be removed. I must admit I was surprised you guys use the space around the water heater. Im thinking you make use of every inch.:)

[profdant139]

Dutch is absolutely right -- we store stuff around our water heater, and it is all soft items, well-bundled and well-secured, so that the water lines are not stressed. There are lots of things that we carry in that area -- extra bedding (in heavy plastic bags), extra paper plates, our hammock (which we keep intending to use but rarely do), etc. All of it is bungeed into place so that it does not bounce around.

[DutchmenSport]

Nice! Makes better sense! But be careful using that space for extra storage. The last thing you want is something to fall on one of the water lines when traveling, bouncing down the road, and it ruptures the line.

[myredracer]

I so hate it when the factories do stuff like that. Good idea to make the WH accessible like that and now you even have a little more storage space to hide things. FWIW, you can buy self-adhesive plastic covers for hiding holes. I bought some from Fastcap.com for mods in our TT. They have a wide range of colors and will send you a free set of color samples (at least they used to) so you can try and match existing colors. You may find similar caps at big box stores and building supply places but probably in a limited range of colors.

[jfkmk]

Nice! Looks so much better, and definitely more user friendly!

[profdant139]

Nice job! And look at all the nice storage around that water heater -- there has to be a way to make some use of that area.