So she's ready to go Camping! We have our trip planned this next weekend and I finally got the finishing touches in place, including the new Black tank valve.
It took a bit of "help" as I didn't exactly get the right one... the rear was supposed to be flush fitting, and I got one with a stepped lip. Crap. A quick trip to Lowes and I got a makeshift gasket and glued it on. Let that set then added more glue when I installed it... presto! no more leaks... wait what is that dripping?
Yup after 2 days of fighting with the valve, sure enough there was a 3" crack in the holding tank... son of a.... ran down to the local car parts store and picked up a roll of that steel infused epoxy putty. Mashed up a whole roll and shoved a bunch inside the hole and mashed a bunch on the outside. let that sit for a bit then sealed it even more on the edges with the silicon based glue I happened to have right there from the valve fix. Sweet... no more leaks!
Thought I would check the freshwater holding tank and the water pump... good thing as after I filled 40 gallons in the tank and tried the pump, all the seals were pretty much toast and it leaked all over from the pump. Out came the old pump, and in went a new Shurflow 2088. (2.8GPM, 45PSI, On-demand) got that plumbed in, re-filled the tank and presto I have fantastic water pressure when I need it on the road. :)
One other thing I did this weekend was installed a new bathroom light... then thought there is no way my 4 year old could reach that in the middle of the night... so I ran a set of wires down to a switch I installed on the wall to the left of the sink, just below the cabinet/mirror. I used a switch that wasn't quite working anymore by the back door, and used that in the bathroom. Presto, we now have a factory-looking switch!
I put all of the camping "stuff" back in... dishes, martini shaker.. you know all the important things. And I am amazed at how much room I still have! didn't even touch the overhead bins, the cabinet over the fridge, or even 1/2 of the space in the pantry cupboards. Fantastic.
We leave Friday, I can't wait!
Monday, August 15, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Doin' Work!
Alright, I'm sure I may be repeating some of this stuff... but here goes.
I fixed the Kitchen Sink Faucet, still leaks a bit, I need to replace another seal, but for now it's fine as it only leaks when it's on, and it leaks out the front and ends up in the sink... I can deal with that for now.
I replaced the Bathroom faucet, and of course installed the new Water Heater. I also replaced the Ball valve on the toilet, that one was spraying the wall pretty good. To say it was a pain in the butt is an understatement. So that's re-installed and working. Yay!
I got the Car stereo installed in the Dash a few weeks ago and finally got it all installed. So I installed a new 110v outlet and the 300w inverter in the cabinet above the fridge. Just tapped into the main 12v lines that come up and over the roof and got that mounted. The 110v is simply a extension cord wired into a box and outlet.
I also ran an audio/video cable to the rear, and power wires to the front. So the car deck instead of running off the Coach battery (Engine Starting) it will run off the House batteries in the rear. The rear batteries get several benefits, they are isolated from the front batteries, so if we accidently run them down, I can still start the Coach and charge them back up... and The converter is hooked up and charges the rear batteries when we are plugged in to shore power at a camp site.
I ran all of the wires I could in the walls, behind the monitor I removed the speaker, so there was and easy path to run the Power cable, the Video Cable and the two Speaker Cables. They were all run down the wall to the opening just in front of the wheel well. This opening is covered by the mini wall, then the bench is bolted to that.
The Sub Woofer will be mounted to the floor and everything is neat and tidy. :)
Here is it all working:
I also ripped all the smelly old carpet out. I decided to go with a dark red Indoor outdoor carpet. It's thin, rubber backed and water proof. So spills will clean up easy. It's a very short pile so I can either vacuum or sweep. Here is some pics with it all torn out, haven't gotten it all installed yet, so I'll wait to take those when it's done.
I fixed the Kitchen Sink Faucet, still leaks a bit, I need to replace another seal, but for now it's fine as it only leaks when it's on, and it leaks out the front and ends up in the sink... I can deal with that for now.
I replaced the Bathroom faucet, and of course installed the new Water Heater. I also replaced the Ball valve on the toilet, that one was spraying the wall pretty good. To say it was a pain in the butt is an understatement. So that's re-installed and working. Yay!
I got the Car stereo installed in the Dash a few weeks ago and finally got it all installed. So I installed a new 110v outlet and the 300w inverter in the cabinet above the fridge. Just tapped into the main 12v lines that come up and over the roof and got that mounted. The 110v is simply a extension cord wired into a box and outlet.
I also ran an audio/video cable to the rear, and power wires to the front. So the car deck instead of running off the Coach battery (Engine Starting) it will run off the House batteries in the rear. The rear batteries get several benefits, they are isolated from the front batteries, so if we accidently run them down, I can still start the Coach and charge them back up... and The converter is hooked up and charges the rear batteries when we are plugged in to shore power at a camp site.
I ran all of the wires I could in the walls, behind the monitor I removed the speaker, so there was and easy path to run the Power cable, the Video Cable and the two Speaker Cables. They were all run down the wall to the opening just in front of the wheel well. This opening is covered by the mini wall, then the bench is bolted to that.
The Sub Woofer will be mounted to the floor and everything is neat and tidy. :)
Here is it all working:
I also ripped all the smelly old carpet out. I decided to go with a dark red Indoor outdoor carpet. It's thin, rubber backed and water proof. So spills will clean up easy. It's a very short pile so I can either vacuum or sweep. Here is some pics with it all torn out, haven't gotten it all installed yet, so I'll wait to take those when it's done.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
My Entertainment System
So I bought a car stereo from my brother a while back,
The deck has some cool features. Built in 3" LCD screen, 2 RCA Video outputs and 1 Backup Camera Input. Plays MP3 and DVDs, SD card input, Line in and USB for plenty of flexibility. So it looks like the 8-Track is coming out after all in favor of the new media.
I figure I can run my Android phone on Google Maps or Pandora, piped in to the stereo. Movies? Sure I can do that too, it plays off the internal DVD, SD Card or USB. So when I install this where the 8Track once lived, it will become the multimedia hub of the RV. I will run a RCA Video and Audio back to the new entertainment system, and I think I will run a 12v power feed from the rear 'house' batteries to the front at the same time. My thinking on that is I will need to run the stereo when I want to watch movies and such, so it would be better run off the rear batteries as the converter will charge those and provide power when plugged in. The Coach automatically charges the front and rear batteries while driving and I won't risk running the starting battery down by accident.
So I removed the speaker in the wall on the starboard rear, the other 3 speakers will run off the new deck power (May need to upgrade them eventually too... but not right now.) and the line out for audio will run to the Altec Lansing PC speakers and sub woofer as well. So it will be (or can be) pretty loud. (Already tested it with Pandora on my phone) :)
So the speakers while traveling can run off the Inverter, then be swapped to 110v when we plug in at the camp site. This should work out quite well. Very minimal equipment needed or valuable space taken up.
So here is where the new Entertainment system will live. I still have access to the other inputs so if I wanted to plug in my laptop I could do that too.
The deck has some cool features. Built in 3" LCD screen, 2 RCA Video outputs and 1 Backup Camera Input. Plays MP3 and DVDs, SD card input, Line in and USB for plenty of flexibility. So it looks like the 8-Track is coming out after all in favor of the new media.
I figure I can run my Android phone on Google Maps or Pandora, piped in to the stereo. Movies? Sure I can do that too, it plays off the internal DVD, SD Card or USB. So when I install this where the 8Track once lived, it will become the multimedia hub of the RV. I will run a RCA Video and Audio back to the new entertainment system, and I think I will run a 12v power feed from the rear 'house' batteries to the front at the same time. My thinking on that is I will need to run the stereo when I want to watch movies and such, so it would be better run off the rear batteries as the converter will charge those and provide power when plugged in. The Coach automatically charges the front and rear batteries while driving and I won't risk running the starting battery down by accident.
So I removed the speaker in the wall on the starboard rear, the other 3 speakers will run off the new deck power (May need to upgrade them eventually too... but not right now.) and the line out for audio will run to the Altec Lansing PC speakers and sub woofer as well. So it will be (or can be) pretty loud. (Already tested it with Pandora on my phone) :)
So the speakers while traveling can run off the Inverter, then be swapped to 110v when we plug in at the camp site. This should work out quite well. Very minimal equipment needed or valuable space taken up.
So here is where the new Entertainment system will live. I still have access to the other inputs so if I wanted to plug in my laptop I could do that too.
Water Water Water everywhere!!!
So I got what was I thought was the last thing to test out my new water heater... I guess not. I had to get some 3/8 to 1/2 rubber plugs for the bathroom sink fixture, the old dried out and cracked plumbers putty wasn't cutting it anymore. So installed those and turned the water back on... water was spraying everywhere! It was leaking from BOTH of my new connections (hoses) the inlet hose, and water was spraying on the wall behind the Stove... great, another leak.
After I finally got the stove out (Gas fitting was giving me grief) I saw there was an inch long split in the hot water pipe that ran to the rear. Out came the hacksaw, a 6" section of the same tubing I used to connect the water heater, and two more hose clamps. Because the pipe was so swollen back there too, I had to heat up some water to soak and soften the hose a bit. Now it has a custom fit hose clamped and done. Tried it again after tightening all of my hose clamps everywhere... Success! My system hold water pressure, yay!
my "rebuilt" kitchen faucet leaks when it's on.. so I'll have to rebuild that again with correct parts. it leaks under the handle only when it's turned on... so that's not too bad, as it mostly leaks into the sink... but I'll get some new parts all the same.
but I found there was a leak in the P-Trap.. I re-tightened both connections trying to figure out what was happening... found again, there was a crack/split at the bottom of the trap, about an inch long.
So new Trap and gaskets for the fixture and I'm Done with plumbing so far.
Found a new Ball valve and rebuild kit for the toilet for $20 on Ebay, bought that and will tackle the spraying ball valve when that arrives. Still need to do the waste valve. again, not looking forward to that.
After I finally got the stove out (Gas fitting was giving me grief) I saw there was an inch long split in the hot water pipe that ran to the rear. Out came the hacksaw, a 6" section of the same tubing I used to connect the water heater, and two more hose clamps. Because the pipe was so swollen back there too, I had to heat up some water to soak and soften the hose a bit. Now it has a custom fit hose clamped and done. Tried it again after tightening all of my hose clamps everywhere... Success! My system hold water pressure, yay!
my "rebuilt" kitchen faucet leaks when it's on.. so I'll have to rebuild that again with correct parts. it leaks under the handle only when it's turned on... so that's not too bad, as it mostly leaks into the sink... but I'll get some new parts all the same.
but I found there was a leak in the P-Trap.. I re-tightened both connections trying to figure out what was happening... found again, there was a crack/split at the bottom of the trap, about an inch long.
So new Trap and gaskets for the fixture and I'm Done with plumbing so far.
Found a new Ball valve and rebuild kit for the toilet for $20 on Ebay, bought that and will tackle the spraying ball valve when that arrives. Still need to do the waste valve. again, not looking forward to that.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Weekend Work
So this weekend I got a few things done to the Cortez. First I bought that 120v Water heater, and had to finagle that in to it's new home. Well this is where it needed to go, this one opened up like a can of pop in the freezer. :)
The new one!
After fighting with it I found out the 1/2" copper pipe on the hot water side after 41 years decided it wanted to expand so as to not accept 1/2" fittings anymore, so I had to cut the pipe off and use pressure rated hose. So hopefully that all stays put.
So the little problem I thought I was going to have turned into a good solution... I took out the old water heater, so that left a one foot square hole in the side of the RV... the door that was on there didn't look too bad, and had a easy open (1/4 twist) screw... so after removing the guts from the LP water heater, I cut it down to size and riveted the end back in place and now I have a 8" deep cubby that is externally accessible for things like sewer hoses and fittings.
the door fits on like normal, and if I need to I can just plug those holes.. .but I don't think it will make a huge difference either way.
Wiring.. oh yea... I wired a new outlet directly to the fuse panel. The 30 amp service is broken up into 3 internal fuses, and a main shutoff. From the left to right: one line powers the 12v Converter/Charger and bathroom outlet, the 2nd runs the two kitchen outlets, one on the wall to the left of the stove (next to the water pump switch) and the other lower on the wall behind the driver's seat. Then the 3rd runs over to the fridge and outlet beside the dinette. The far right is the main turn off. These are now labeled ;)
So I wired this into the kitchen circuit, so if I need to turn it off for any reason, that is pretty quick and easy, this one only runs at 11amps, and the switch is rated for 20, so I should be pretty safe of not overloading it.
Other work...
I fixed the kitchen sink faucet, just replaced a few rubber seats and it works good as new now. I also replaced the bathroom faucet with a new 4" faucet i found on clearance at Lowe's for $20 or so... Just need to go get a few gasket washers tonight and I'll be set and be able to actually test the water heater. Yay!. (wish me luck!)
I got rid of a kitchen bag full of crap, out of drawers and storage... plus the scraps from the water heater install... continuing to clean her up. I have the deck ready to install, just need a couple of RCA cables to run to the new entertainment center (as I affectionately call it).
I am thinking of flush mounting the inverter in the cabinet, then installing a 120v outlet (on the fridge line) right beside it... this is where I will need to switch the power source from the inverter to 110v for movies (and rear view camera) on the go, or movies at the campsite. Should be as simple as changing one plug from outlet to outlet. :)
So, left on the list is still to replace that black water gate valve (screws are stuck after 41 years.. yeah.. fun)
Also, change the oil, install the 300w inverter, and install a new 120v outlet inside the cabinet above the fridge. I also need to replace the ball valve on the toilet, it's leaking at the moment, but at least I can just turn it off pretty easy at the wall, but that doesn't allow me to use it. :)
Once that is all done, I can see about other things... like carpet and upholstery. Carpet should be fairly cheap and easy to do, about $75 or so. Give it a day or so for that install.
The upholstery might need to wait as my upholsterer currently has his hands full with other things... should I attempt it myself?? maybe I can just order the vinyl and fabric from him and stitch them up myself... they are essentially covers... shouldn't be too bad, right? (Okay that discredits his skills... I may need to just wait.)
Then comes the exterior!
The new one!
After fighting with it I found out the 1/2" copper pipe on the hot water side after 41 years decided it wanted to expand so as to not accept 1/2" fittings anymore, so I had to cut the pipe off and use pressure rated hose. So hopefully that all stays put.
So the little problem I thought I was going to have turned into a good solution... I took out the old water heater, so that left a one foot square hole in the side of the RV... the door that was on there didn't look too bad, and had a easy open (1/4 twist) screw... so after removing the guts from the LP water heater, I cut it down to size and riveted the end back in place and now I have a 8" deep cubby that is externally accessible for things like sewer hoses and fittings.
the door fits on like normal, and if I need to I can just plug those holes.. .but I don't think it will make a huge difference either way.
Wiring.. oh yea... I wired a new outlet directly to the fuse panel. The 30 amp service is broken up into 3 internal fuses, and a main shutoff. From the left to right: one line powers the 12v Converter/Charger and bathroom outlet, the 2nd runs the two kitchen outlets, one on the wall to the left of the stove (next to the water pump switch) and the other lower on the wall behind the driver's seat. Then the 3rd runs over to the fridge and outlet beside the dinette. The far right is the main turn off. These are now labeled ;)
So I wired this into the kitchen circuit, so if I need to turn it off for any reason, that is pretty quick and easy, this one only runs at 11amps, and the switch is rated for 20, so I should be pretty safe of not overloading it.
Other work...
I fixed the kitchen sink faucet, just replaced a few rubber seats and it works good as new now. I also replaced the bathroom faucet with a new 4" faucet i found on clearance at Lowe's for $20 or so... Just need to go get a few gasket washers tonight and I'll be set and be able to actually test the water heater. Yay!. (wish me luck!)
I got rid of a kitchen bag full of crap, out of drawers and storage... plus the scraps from the water heater install... continuing to clean her up. I have the deck ready to install, just need a couple of RCA cables to run to the new entertainment center (as I affectionately call it).
I am thinking of flush mounting the inverter in the cabinet, then installing a 120v outlet (on the fridge line) right beside it... this is where I will need to switch the power source from the inverter to 110v for movies (and rear view camera) on the go, or movies at the campsite. Should be as simple as changing one plug from outlet to outlet. :)
So, left on the list is still to replace that black water gate valve (screws are stuck after 41 years.. yeah.. fun)
Also, change the oil, install the 300w inverter, and install a new 120v outlet inside the cabinet above the fridge. I also need to replace the ball valve on the toilet, it's leaking at the moment, but at least I can just turn it off pretty easy at the wall, but that doesn't allow me to use it. :)
Once that is all done, I can see about other things... like carpet and upholstery. Carpet should be fairly cheap and easy to do, about $75 or so. Give it a day or so for that install.
The upholstery might need to wait as my upholsterer currently has his hands full with other things... should I attempt it myself?? maybe I can just order the vinyl and fabric from him and stitch them up myself... they are essentially covers... shouldn't be too bad, right? (Okay that discredits his skills... I may need to just wait.)
Then comes the exterior!
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Instant Water Heater
So I bought the rest of the parts to build my on demand water heater for the Cortez. Originally I was going to make this with a far more elaborate design for the Aristocrat, but Copper was so darn expensive I had to put it off. I just need to find the pipe I had cut so long ago (sitting in a bag somewhere, probably upstairs) then I can solder it all together.
So this is the new design, pretty simple... cold water comes in one end, triggers the thermostat to turn on the 1500w diode, that heats the water (or warms it a bit... we'll see on that part later) and it flows out the other end hopefully hotter then it entered.
Actual use would be warm water for washing hands and dishes, not planning to use this for showers.
My water heater has a blown out core, so it's leaking profusely inside the coach... so that's plugged at the moment and will eventually be gutted for exterior storage (Sewer hose and such) and this will be installed on the end.
I figure, a 120v current from the fuse panel (4 feet away) with a simple switch to turn it on or off, and we are set!
Here are the parts I bought... these ran about $70, the Copper pipe another $16 or so... and this is the reduced cost option! The other design would have cost well over $150 or so... more bends, more elements... :)
strike that... that got me thinking, why build it when I can buy one I know will work? Looked on Craigslist just now and found another point of use water heater that will work fine for $75 and it will take the guess work out of this. :)
So this is the new design, pretty simple... cold water comes in one end, triggers the thermostat to turn on the 1500w diode, that heats the water (or warms it a bit... we'll see on that part later) and it flows out the other end hopefully hotter then it entered.
Actual use would be warm water for washing hands and dishes, not planning to use this for showers.
My water heater has a blown out core, so it's leaking profusely inside the coach... so that's plugged at the moment and will eventually be gutted for exterior storage (Sewer hose and such) and this will be installed on the end.
I figure, a 120v current from the fuse panel (4 feet away) with a simple switch to turn it on or off, and we are set!
Here are the parts I bought... these ran about $70, the Copper pipe another $16 or so... and this is the reduced cost option! The other design would have cost well over $150 or so... more bends, more elements... :)
strike that... that got me thinking, why build it when I can buy one I know will work? Looked on Craigslist just now and found another point of use water heater that will work fine for $75 and it will take the guess work out of this. :)
Friday, July 1, 2011
Chopped the Divider Wall
So I installed another house battery yesterday... harder than you think, the 2nd battery I had wasn't the same group size, so I had to add a platform on the battery tray and use a patch cable to wire them up. That took a bit more time then I thought it would...
on to bigger things that are now smaller. :)
So I cut the partition wall down to 20" tall, and 10" shorter. I think I might need to do it a bit different after I install the new carpet... maybe create a box of sorts to cover up the brackets a bit better. But for now this will work great.
this is the wall I modified:
Now it looks like this:
here you can see the line where the wall used to go up to... so you can see how much I removed. Also you can see how much more "open" the interior looks, especially when made into a bed.
Another view... you can see where the new position of the bracket is.. .(it moved 4" to the left)
on to bigger things that are now smaller. :)
So I cut the partition wall down to 20" tall, and 10" shorter. I think I might need to do it a bit different after I install the new carpet... maybe create a box of sorts to cover up the brackets a bit better. But for now this will work great.
this is the wall I modified:
Now it looks like this:
here you can see the line where the wall used to go up to... so you can see how much I removed. Also you can see how much more "open" the interior looks, especially when made into a bed.
Another view... you can see where the new position of the bracket is.. .(it moved 4" to the left)
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