The Water Heater Install. I live full time in a 26-foot travel trailer with a recently-diagnosed leaky hot water heater. To replace it, I ordered a tankless water heater and planned to DIY the installation. Of course, all the YouTube videos and blog posts said the it was a cinch. No problemo, they said. Just do this and that and you’ll be up and running, they said. What they DIDN’T say is that it’s tuff.
Just One Win. I’d worked on it for two afternoons and the entire third day. On the fourth day, my dad (who had been out of town) got up to speed and was ready to help. For the better part of the morning and afternoon, we were able to figure out what wasn’t working and around 6pm we called it quits for the day. By all intents and purposes, I was cooked. The one win I wanted for the day– even something small– wasn’t happening. Another cold night (having to shut off the propane heat) with no water. My dad and I would get back to it the next morning.
The Eleventh Hour. Dictionary.com defines the eleventh hour as “the last possible moment for doing something.” This is where I was mentally. Ready to give up, reset, send the unit back and get something different, something easier. Let the clock strike midnight or just give me a crow bar so I can bash something. It’s 6pm. My dad and I went indoors and my brother-in-law was nearby so I gave him a quick recap. He put his shoes on and said he wanted to take a look. This was at 7pm. Three hours later–we’ll call it the tenth hour– a breakthrough. Not only did I have running water again, THE HOT WATER WAS WORKING!
Huge. By trial and error, my bro-in-law and I got power to the unit, propane gas hooked up to it, and everything was running as if it was all no problemo, just do this and that and you’ll be up and running. 😵💫 It’s hard to appreciate having running water, having hot water, until you’ve had neither for 3 or 4 days. As I write today’s post, I’m as grateful as can be. I know some of you out there have tons of experience with appliances and whatnot and are probably thinking that I need to calm down. Alls I did was get a water heater working. But let me have this moment of joy! It’s a huge win at a time when I was a kitten’s whisker away from giving up completely.
-Out of the Wilderness
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Out of the Wilderness 