Found a crack

[Steph and Dud B]

Yep, square cut opening for the water heater. This is the location of the crack.

Considering that Oliver is a fiberglass company first, not to mention the premium prices they charge for their trailers, I'm really disappointed that they would cut corners like this (both literally and figuratively). 

I'm sure a good boat repair shop could figure out a repair, but would they be able to remove and reinstall the water heater with its associated gas line, plumbing, and wiring?

We could go back to Hohenwald Service, but we've had sloppy work there, too, and it's a long drive. 

My wife just came in the room and suggested maybe we should get this fixed, then sell the trailer. Really sad to hear that because this was her dream camper.

(And, for those keeping score, I missed one on my previous list. This is actually #22. 😕)

 

[katanapilot]

19 hours ago, Wandering Sagebrush said:

With respect to the crack.  You might want to consider stop drilling the upper end to help relieve the forces in play.   To be safe, it would be best to run this by Oliver.

Stop drilling is how aircraft mechanics deal with small cracks in sheet metal skins, as well as acrylic windows, etc.  I assume the same would work for fiberglass.  Sharp corners create stress risers which can lead to cracks.  

Thread drift, sorry - 

The deHavilland Comet suffered multiple catastrophic failures due to stress risers that occurred with sharp corners.  The phenomenon was not well understood at the time (1950's) but the engineers quickly figured out the cause and aircraft design, especially for pressurized aircraft, changed as a result. 

[Mountainman198]

1 hour ago, katanapilot said:

Stop drilling is how aircraft mechanics deal with small cracks in sheet metal skins, as well as acrylic windows, etc.  I assume the same would work for fiberglass.  Sharp corners create stress risers which can lead to cracks.  

Were this to happen to my trailer this is most likely how I would address