New Rig

[kaypsmith]

Without air ride and a monocoque chassis design, I would not use ceramic tile, any give and the tile will crack. There are some products with either vinyl or rubber base that looks just like ceramic tile that will work well. I have granite floor in my coach and no cracks, but I have the correct chassis. Check with Ernie!

[rayin]

15 hours ago, dbenoit said:

I have a question. The contractor working on our cape house just purchased an older MH

that was well cared for and they are going to do the entire interior. They had mentioned

putting in some ceramic tile floors. I don't recall ever seeing a MH with that type of flooring. 

Thoughts?

David

Our MH has ceramic tile except for living room and bedroom, We've never had an issue arise. Heated ceramic floor would be great in cold weather.

Edited April 22, 2021 by rayin

[richard5933]

Happy to report that the new truck, trailer, and driver made it home safely yesterday evening. Everything went pretty well, and now I've got a project list as long as my arm to get them where I want them. First step will be to give the Airstream a good scrubbing and time to dry out in the sun, and then it's into the barn for some TLC.

[manholt]

You got sun? LOL

[hermanmullins]

We had sun today for 1 minute 13 seconds. It was great 😎.

Herman 

[charlieiam]

What's Sun?

[rayin]

3 hours ago, charlieiam said:

What's Sun?

I"m still one, mom is 98. She always called me her Ray of sunshine.

[richard5933]

Bit of an update on Gertie, our Airstream Excella 25-ft...

All the roof vents and skylight have been replaced. Only thing left on the roof is painting with Bus Kote once I get the the rest of the old caulking pulled up.

The electrical upgrades have been completed, having installed the following: 

Progressive Dynamics PD9245 converter/charger
Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT 100/30 Solar Charge Controller
Victron BMV 712
Samlex PST-2000 Inverter
Blue Sea main battery disconnect
Catastrophic battery fuse
New grounding block installed to chassis
Blue Sea house battery switch
All new wiring to/from the equipment

Interior has been cleaned to within an inch of its life, and we've decided to keep the carpet for now. It's in great shape and not too bad a shade of blue. The wallpaper in the kitchen and bathroom has been replaced with something a bit southwestern.

Next is swapping out the axles for new, making new draperies and blinds, and giving the appliances a once over. Then it will be time to hit the road.

[wildebill308]

Well you have been busy. Now you won't have anything to do over the winter.

Bill

[richard5933]

7 hours ago, wildebill308 said:

Well you have been busy. Now you won't have anything to do over the winter.

Bill

I thought of that - I'm sure something will be left for the winter.

There was a bit of pressure to get the mechanicals in order to be able to make use of the trailer by the end of fall, so I've been working pretty steady on it. Nice to have an indoor place to work out of the sun, so summer or winter I'm getting the benefit of a sheltered place to work.

[manholt]

Too bad your coach don't fit inside. 

[richard5933]

This week's big adventure was re-coating the roof of the Airstream with Bus Kote. One coat of primer, two of Bus Kote, and two coats of their clear top coat and everything is looking really good. I sealed all body seams with Parbond first, and the Bus Kote went over the cured seam sealer easily. It also seems to have sealed all the roof rivets really well. Slight texture from rolling on the stuff, but the clear coat is slick enough that I don't foresee any problems with it holding dirt. 

 

[manholt]

I know nothing about Airstream, so I got to look things up...why did you go with Bus Kote instead of Acryl-R?

[richard5933]

35 minutes ago, manholt said:

I know nothing about Airstream, so I got to look things up...why did you go with Bus Kote instead of Acryl-R?

Acryl-R is a seam sealer and not a roof coating - I think it's the one used at the factory to apply the narrow beads of sealant after the panels are riveted together. I used that on some seams, Parbond on others.

The Bus Kote is a coating to replace the white finish which was applied to the entire roof at the factory. It's really a very thin coating, and between the sun and time it got very thin, showing the aluminum under it in places. The white coating does a lot to help reduce heat inside the trailer so I wanted to make sure there was a good coating. The Bus Kote is advertised to reduce inside temps more than simple paint, so here's to hoping it works.

Lots of options for roof coating from a few different brands. I chose Bus Kote mainly because it was pretty straightforward to apply. I specifically did not want anything with silicone in it as that limits you to only using silicone products in the future. Not much sticks to silicone but more silicone. 

[jleamont]

Carl, Bus Kote is a great product. I have considered putting over our Fiberglass roof for its thermal resistance properties, mold resistance and it seals up the raw unpainted fiberglass that we have facing upwards plus if installed correctly has a 10 year warranty. 

[richard5933]

Today's big accomplishment was being able to plug in the Dometic RM3604 fridge again. The cooling unit had failed, which required pulling the fridge to replace it. I got a replacement from https://www.rvcoolingunit.com who sells Amish-built cooling units. While the fridge was out and things were easy to get to, I replaced the control board as a precautionary measure. New one is from https://www.dinosaurelectronics.com and was a direct replacement.

Made all the connections (LP, 12vdc, 120vac) and am now running the unit on 120vac. The heating element did come on and start drawing current, so it's working. So far the only thing happening is the paint on the flue tube burning off from the heat, which I suppose is normal. The smell caused concern at first, till I realized that it's the same smell I get when plugging in a new toaster oven or other heating device for the first time.

Not sure how long to expect the freezer plate to start showing signs of cooling, so I'd appreciate a little feedback on this.

Here are some before/after photos.

Old cooling unit:

Cooling unit removed, cleaned, prepped for new one:

Cavity cleaned and resealed - ready for fridge:

Old (top) and replacement (bottom) control board:

New cooling unit on fridge:

Edited August 20, 2021 by richard5933

[jleamont]

8 minutes ago, richard5933 said:

Not sure how long to expect the freezer plate to start showing signs of cooling, so I'd appreciate a little feedback on this.

Typically a few hours and it will feel colder to the touch. If you have a temp gun, hit it now and in 2 hours. You will know if its working. Our gas absorption refrigerators we have owned to cool the entire unit down was 24 hours. 

[richard5933]

25 minutes ago, jleamont said:

Typically a few hours and it will feel colder to the touch. If you have a temp gun, hit it now and in 2 hours. You will know if its working. Our gas absorption refrigerators we have owned to cool the entire unit down was 24 hours. 

Great idea!

Just went out and checked with the temp gun, and in the little while since posting the initial post the freezer plate has frost on it. Guess the new cooling unit is working! The temp gun shows 25F on the plate, and it's only going to get colder in there. I'm hoping that the Amish-built units truly do work better at making cold than the OEM cooling units.

After a while I'll start leak testing the LP lines. I've never turned on the LP at all on the trailer, so I've got to check all the appliances (stove/oven, furnace, hot water heater, and fridge). Then I'll be able to see how well it works on the LP side of things. 

When I was cleaning I found a big mud dauber goober in the burner tube, and my guess is that's what caused the initial problems with the unit. The PO told me that it stopped working on LP some time ago and recently stopped cooling altogether when the cooling unit failed.

[wildebill308]

Something else you can do to improve cooling is to install a couple small fans to improve air flow over the coils in the back and a fan inside to circulate the air.

Bill

[richard5933]

Ambient temp in the barn is over 80F and humid, and the freezer is already at about 5F. The fridge itself is about 45F. Guessing the new cooling unit is working well.

Then I turned on the gas and tested for leaks. No leaks, so I unplugged the power cord and the LP fired right up once the air was purged. Nice blue flame.

Happy camper!

 

[jleamont]

Nice work, clean as well!

The Amish design is much better, should do well for you. Plus it’s a Dometic, IMHO much more robust box than the other ones. 

[richard5933]

With nearly all projects on the Airstream completed, it was finally time to sit down and get new draperies made for the windows. The old ones were a baby blue to match the carpets, but since we'll eventually be changing the flooring to cork I decided to go with something much more neutral.

Here are a few photos of the project progress as I built the first panel. Only 17 more to go.

It started with de-assembling one of the original panels to reverse engineer and figure out how they were put together. Then the reinforcing interfacing went onto the lining. Lining was sewn to the facing, the pleats were pressed & sewn. Last step was to attach the elastic mounted mounting hardware so they could be put in the tracks.

[richard5933]

We made it! Finally got all the projects completed and got a trial run camping trip in before winterizing. Spending three nights at a campground outside Madison WI. Nothing fancy, but it sure is nice to be out and getting a chance to see how things work. Then I'll have the winter months to tweak things and get ready for the coming season.

All that work since May has paid off - simply amazing how nice things turned out with the new drapes. Even better is that all the appliances are now working (although my furnace thermostat appears to be wonky.)

[jleamont]

Very nice!! 
I am still considering the Bus Kote for our roof. I got a quote on the products, less than $400 wasn’t bad for a 41’ Motorhome 

Edited October 16, 2021 by jleamont

[richard5933]

Just before temps got too cold to continue working comfortably, I was able to complete the interior updating by putting new upholstery on the sofa. Now I fully understand why the upholstery shops charge so much - these things are tough to recover. The main fabric is denim made by Wrangler, and I used the same trim fabric to do the pillows and valances to tie things together. 

Can't wait to get it out on the road this coming spring!