I want to ask a question... - Montana Owners Club

Dave Nowlin · 11-01-2007, 08:17 AM

I want to ask a question, not to start trouble but to get people thinking. When I built my home I drew up the plans and assisted in the building of it. I helped with the carpenter work, did all the plumbing and helped with the electrical work. I drew on my facilities maintenance background and made sure to make provisions for future repair work. Nothing mechanical lasts forever and therefore it may be necessary to replace a shower faucet or some other item. You have two choices when building (1) you can seal these things up in walls with no provisions for repair or (2) you can design in acess points to repair these things without having to tear out portions of walls. I have been considering changing the shower valve in my Montana and discovered the way it was built there is no access to change out a shower valve. It is necessary to remove the glass surround for the neo-angle shower and then remove the plastic surround as the valve is fastened to the surround. In carefully looking things over it is perfectly clear that there is a mirror on the wall in the main living area that could have been designed to be removed to allow access through an opening in the wall. I can't figure out why this wasn't done. As many of us have discovered it is good to check and tighten plumbing fittings from time to time to prevent leakage due to all the vibration as we tow these things down the road. If any of the fittings on the back of the shower valve were to develop a slight leak, how would you know if you can't check? How would you tighten them? The answer is simple you can't. You aren't likely to remove the surround to check and see if you have a leak. By the time a leak gets bad enough that it is obvious due to leakage into the basement, damage has probably already been done. I'm certainly not implying that our Montanas are junk. I am implying that a little foresight however would have assistd all of us in taking better care of our units. The fix here would simply have involved cutting some access holes which would be covered by a mirror, so no additonal parts cost would be involved in this fix. Only a very small amount of labor. It's these very little things which go unnoticed by some that are the true hallmarks of quality.
Dave Nowlin

LonnieB · 11-01-2007, 08:46 AM

Dave

Just a thought here, but have you looked behind the mirror?

Our 3000RK has access panels for the shower, in the closet by the entry door.

Dave Nowlin · 11-01-2007, 10:01 AM

First I loosened the four plastic holders at the corners of the mirror to remove it from the wall and discovered it was somehow fastened to the wall. I then called my Montana dealer and talked to the service manager. He told me the mirror was fastened to the wall with double stick tape and that it would probably break if I tried to remove it. I then called Montana and was told I would have to dissassemble the shower to access it. I thought most of you who own 3295RKs probably didn't know this This is why I brought the subject up. The 3400RL has a pantry located where my mirror is. It may have an access panel in the pantry. I really can't say but it is worth looking into for those who have these units. Since some other units have an access panel maybe this is simply an oversight particular to certain units. I hope so.
Dave Nowlin

Army Guy · 11-01-2007, 01:48 PM

I have an access panel in the pantry for the shower. I haven't removed it yet but now you got me thinking.

SlickWillie · 11-01-2007, 02:11 PM

Access panel behind the TV (in entertainment unit)for the shower fixture in our Mountaineer.

Dave Nowlin · 11-01-2007, 03:41 PM

Maybe only the people with the 3295RK were overlooked. Hooray for the rest of you. Doom & gloom for us.

Dave Nowlin

nailbender · 11-01-2007, 04:19 PM

I removed the mirror by the toilet in our 3075 using shim shingles and got it off without breaking it. Even if you break the mirror, it could be replaced a lot easier and cheaper than removing the shower. If you cut a access hole in the back wall of the hutch you would have access to the shower valve, is that correct? You could then install a new mirror or a piece of paneling to cover the hole.

Dave Nowlin · 11-01-2007, 06:15 PM

Unless I have figured something wrong, the access hole would be behind the mirror. It would of course also be necessry to slide the pocket door out of the way. I'm really confused to find Montana made provision for this on most if not all other models.
Dave Nowlin

Emmel · 11-02-2007, 03:41 AM

Dave, I guess it depends on the model as to having or not having an access panel. On our tub/shower, we have two side panels and one is directly under the faucet.
Then again, our 3280 is now 4 years old and maybe the factory has decided it wasn't neccessary any longer!
I have not replaced that faucet but I have replaced the hose and shower head with a water saver head.
Hope you can figure the access out and don't have to remove any walls or flooring. Good luck!

gjetzen · 11-02-2007, 03:35 PM

There are a couple of changes to the 2006 and newer 3295rk from the 2005 and older. The 2005 and older 3295rk had the garden tub as standard on the right side of the bath with access to plumbing through panels at the bottom of the tub and if the neo-angle shower option was ordered there was access through the closet by the entry door. Were the newer models have a floor storage cabinet with a mirror above and a ceiling corner storage cabinet, the older models had a floor to ceiling curio cabinet with the furnace and water pump stored in the bottom portion. Water closet on the left and washer dryer closet next to it, sink on right next to garden tub on older models. By rearranging the master bedroom suite on the newer models they seem to be more spacious.

sreigle · 11-02-2007, 04:02 PM

gjetzen, thanks for that explanation. I was about to describe the access panels on our 2003 3295RK and ask Dave if his wasn't similar. But your description, which describes our 2003 precisely, made it clear they're not comparable at all.

Dave, does your shower have the base high enough you could cut an access hole and later cover it with a panel? It does seem strange there is no access to the hardware.

Dave Nowlin · 11-02-2007, 06:20 PM

Actually the faucet is attached directly to the plastic shower surround you can tell by holding onto a shower knob and slightly pulling on it. The plastic surround will flex The folks at Montana told me I would have to remove the glass surround and then unfasten the plastic surround for the shower to gain access. I believe it would be easier to remove the mirror and cut a hole in the wall as they should have done. I may just leave it alone until I have to do something to it.
Dave Nowlin

ols1932 · 11-03-2007, 05:32 AM

The mirror can be removed if you're careful. We removed ours by sliding a thin, narrow piece of sheet metal under the mirror in various spots starting at the bottom and putting just a little firm pressure between the mirror and wall. Ours came off great--no breakage. We had to cut a hole in the wall where we thought the shower connections were and we were right on. You have to mentally measure from the ceiling in the shower and the outside wall, then drill a small hole in what you thing is about the right place. We used a drill and small keyhole saw to make the first hole and then used a penlight to look in the hole to see exactly where the shower connections were. After we got the hole open we found that we didn't have any leaks and the fittings were all tight.

Orv

Orv

jsmitfl · 11-06-2007, 02:02 AM

If you take a piece of thin wire and run it behind the mirror it will cut the tape.(it has to be as wide as the mirror plus some to hang onto).

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