Most people know the adage measure twice, cut once. However, in working with RV upgrades over the years, I have modified it to check thrice, measure twice, and cut once. Let me share a story where this procedure paid off.
Tale of Three Vents
I was preparing to install our pepwave antenna on the roof (more about this in a future post), and I needed to thread the wires from the roof down to the inside of the RV.
The top of our fifth wheel has three vent caps besides the two attic vent covers, two white and one black. The two white caps are over the vent pipes for the black and grey tanks. The center black cap is supposed to be over the conduit for wires for adding accessories on the roof and is sealed with tape. I called my RV manufacturer to confirm this. Plus, our tour guide on our recent factory tour confirmed this as well.
However, I still felt uneasy. I was about to cut the pipe with the black cap when I heard my dad’s voice, always double-check before you cut, son.
Personal Confirmation
I discovered that what was supposed to be the conduit pipe was actually the vent pipe to the black tank. The conduit pipe was actually under a white cap and not sealed. I tested this by running a fish wire down the pipe. Christine watched in the basement of the RV to confirm where the wire emerged.
Catastrophe Avoided
Thankfully, I did not cut the black tank vent, and the rest of the project proceeded normally. RV upgrades can be tricky. So make sure that you check thrice, measure twice, and cut once! Thanks, Dad!