Contemporizing 1976 Argosy D - opinions please

[BillyP]

Looking Great Serg, Happy New year to you as well, sorry i have not been checking things for a while, RL has gotten CRAZY!!!!

[SmokelessJoe]

These are the miniature marine type fixtures I used in the bath.




The chrome fixtures appear out of brilliant white epoxy-like walls with no supply lines seen, as in residential or high-end boats.





You can see how the plumbing was imbedded in the walls by going here:

http://www.airforums.com/forum...ons-26471.html

There too you will see how various members taught me how to plumb a trailer.


They also showed me how to make a by pass at the water heater



Make a suction device for easy winterizing



And got me to wondering how I could fill the on board tank easily from inside the trailer, using city water.



It’s not likely that I’d thought of doing any of these things if we didn't have this forum.


Sergei

[SmokelessJoe]

Marc, others:

Here are more photos showing how we reduced the weight of IKEA’s particle board units.

This pull out pantry will be lined with white sheet aluminum, as will all the other Ikea cabinets being used.

You wont see any of the cut-outs.

I think it reduces the weight by almost half.

Sergei

[lilmouse]

Sergei,
I'm new to the forum, and I found your thread here inspiring. I always wanted to little changes, updates, and repairs on my argosy. I've had mine for 10 years, after a lot of years of neglect on my part, my husband and I are talking about some DIY projects. I have to see what becomes of your tt, I bet it will look absolutely gorgeous when you're done.
lilmouse

[SmokelessJoe]

This repeated from post #83 above:


“Diesel Powered Trailer achieved. All components sourced and installed. (Webasto Coolant Heater, Indel Water Heater, COZY space heaters, Tempo tank). Getting the hydronic system up and running is first on our work list for the New Year”

You can follow the whole story, from original question to completion, here:

http://www.airforums.com/forum...ler-23048.html

Includes information on diesel cook tops.

Sergei

[SmokelessJoe]

This is the “frosted glass” shower wall that I finished over the weekend.

The “glass” is really a sheet of acrylic. I applied the film sign writers use to imitate frosted glass to the back of the sheet. And protected the facing surface with a couple of coats of auto polish.

The whole of the bathroom will have this pure white, frosted glass and metal look.

Sergei

[SmokelessJoe]

We set the expansion tank and diesel heater in their approximate final positions this week and started up the system.



It took only a couple of minutes to circulate less than 2 gallons of the water/ethylene glycol mix all through the 70’ of heater hose coolant lines.

There were no leaks, not a single one. We had to bleed captured air off, using a flat blade screwdriver, at the heater’s outlet before the circulation pump would run smoothly.

Once running, we could detect NO sound from the pump. We had to touch it with our hand to confirm our suspicion that fluid was traveling in the line.

When the unit first starts the circulating pump, ceramic igniter and combustion air fan all come on together and there is a not unpleasant whine which lasts 60 seconds.

When combustion starts it is barely audible. I would say the constant sound is about the same as the new Flojet water pump inside the trailer.

This silence was helped by the fact that we’d exhausted the plant to the outside of the temporary workspace.

So we tested it with the exhaust inside the shed. There was more sound but you could conduct a conversation in a normal voice.

The sound is much less than the little Japanese generators make, for instance. It’s also less than the sound a propane furnace exhaust makes.

Nevertheless, in the final set up, we will add a small muffler. The system will then be whisper quiet.

So we have no sound to speak of and no smell outside.

Inside the trailer there is complete silence. You can’t hear the fluid moving in the rubber hose of course. There is no sound of a gas furnace coming on and off. No ducts so no air turbulence. Just the quiet hum of the little 1.5 amp fans in the three fan coil units.

The little Webasto heater on the trailer tongue measures 9” x 4” by 6.4” and weights 7 pounds.

Operating on 12v it draws 5 W at high and 2.5 at low. Full heat is 17, 200 BTU. Reduced heat is 8,600.

It consumes 0.16 gallons of diesel per hour at high and .08 at low.

It’s a very, very sweet set up. I’m happy to see all the work result in such a nice system.

These are photos of the small wall thermostat used to control the fan units and the 11.5-gallon diesel tank, complete with pump.



The tank is mounted under the trailer, just forward of the axles.



The hole at the right front is where we inserted the supply feed for the diesel cook top. The stove uses the same size miniature fuel line and also just sips fuel.

You can follow the diesel conversion story here:

http://www.airforums.com/forum...ler-23048.html



Sergei

[3Ms75Argosy]

I like that bath door - can you post more details on the framing? Did you router the frame to get the plastic in? How thick was the plastic?
How are you mounting it to the interior?
Marc

[SmokelessJoe]

Marc:

The picture was not of the door but rather the shower wall. Perhaps these photos will help explain.

This is the rear of the shower wall.




A pocket door will be mounted on this side. Then the outer wall, facing the centre space, will be erected - hiding the door hardware and the tubing to the LG Art Cool air conditioner. The resulting “sandwich” of two walls will be about 2 1/2” to 3” wide.

Here is the shower wall side.



The “frosted glass” runs the width of the shower pan. Aluminum trim will be added were the pan meets the wall and where wall meets wall.

I siliconed the trim to the 1/8” acrylic (from Home Depot) then glued the trim to the plywood backing with PL Premium construction adhesive. No rivets or screws; its rock solid.

The walls are mounted to the floor, walls and ceiling with these little aluminum brackets that we made up.




Sergei

[SmokelessJoe]

The wall dividing the shower and mid space area will carry the interior unit of the LG Art Cool split A/C system.

You can read about it here:

http://www.lgaircon.co.uk/product.php

We’ve placed the outside unit on the tongue for position and are making a simple aluminum securing structure for it (to replace the lumber being used now!)




The shroud on the LG compressor will be painted Mini Cooper Black to blend in with that portion of the Argosy’s new paint job.

So that’s our immediate task: to get the shower wall/pocket door/ Art Cool mounted so that we can join the two portions of the AC split unit and get that running too.


Sergei

[3Ms75Argosy]

Sergei - you really are pushing the envelope for new technology in a trailer. I like the flat box that actually cools the trailer - what color did you pick? I looked at the website, but can't actually visualize how it works. I'm assuming there are cooling llines from the front unit to the flat screen? How deep is that interior unit? Can you post more pics as you install it?

Is it powered on 120 volts, or is it European voltage with a converter? How many volts?

I'd also like to see the heat registers that you install eventually too.

As an aside - I did see the new 2007 Sprinter on the Dodge website. I like the new look. If it wasn't so much, I'd order a shorty now (10 passenger van for the girlscouts) as my tow vehicle. It comes with a 6 cylinder diesel (3L) and a new 3.5 gas (I'd go diesel).

Airstream Life should do an article on your new technology.
Marc

[SmokelessJoe]

Marc:

The inside unit is 22” square, 5.4 ” deep and weighs 15 pounds.

Maybe you can see the 1/2” gas and 1/4” liquid copper lines in the picture of the wall. There is also a brown communication wire there.

These all run down, through the belly pan (insulated) and out to the tongue where the compressor sits. It weighs 73 pounds. The combined weight of both pieces is more or less the same as a traditional RV rooftop.

My Art Cool is the brushed aluminum one. It looks like a contemporary piece of sculpture on the wall.

(I referred you to the UK site because the models are like those we have in Canada. In the USA they sell a crappy looking Field and Stream painting looking one.)

The unit is 110 v. It uses inverter technology so it runs only as much or as fast as it needs too. The inside and outside communicate via that low voltage brown wire.

The digital thermostat/control is hand held, like a TV remote, only very cool looking, like an iPhone.

The outside is much quieter than regular compressors and the inside is almost soundless. I have these in a building in Toronto and you have to look to see if the LED light is on to know for sure that it is running.


Sergei

[Chuck]

Smokeless,
Is this going to be a "propane-free" trailer?
when I saw the pic of the a/c compressor on the tongue, I thought, "where to the propane tanks go?"...then backtracking a bit, I see you're heating and cooking w/ deisel...what about the fridge?

[3Ms75Argosy]

The brushed aluminum will look great inside. Funny about that USA model - maybe they should've put some antlers on it instead? The "big Tex" model (no disrespect to those Texans out there - just some tongue in cheek humer! )

Is it possible to put a split unit fridge in and use the tongue compressor for that too?
Marc

[bhayden]

Sergei,
I'm having a hard time following the shower construction. Where are the fixtures located? In one picture it looked to me like they were on the wall dividing the shower from the living space. The the wall with the "frosted glass" made me think the acrylic was to let in light (from somewhere) but the last sequence makes it look like the "window" is up against the plywood bulkhead. Obviously I'm very confused

What are you doing with the shower walls that are on the outside of the trailer? Those are something I'd really like to clean up. Did you reuse the original shower pan or fabricate something custom?

-Bernie

[SmokelessJoe]

Chuck:

Yes, “propane free”. One-fuel rig, truck and trailer. (Oops, the little car will still run on gas.)

The fridge is an LG 8.6 cubic foot model, 110v. I plan to use a big battery bank and an inverter when not using shore power.

Sergei

[SmokelessJoe]

Bernie:

Is your Argosy a rear-bath like mine? I guess I’m changing everything in the trailer except the layout.

If you have the same bath you should be able to follow:


So first scroll to post #102 in this thread. You’ll see how the bath fixtures were imbedded in the rear wall.

Better explanation in this thread, post # 58:

http://www.airforums.com/forum...ons-26471.html


Then I painted the entire bath area, walls and ceiling, in a POR 15 product called WhiteCoat.




I had the pan and the “shower wall” painted in WhiteCoat too.





Then I mounted this “frosted glass” panel on the shower wall, in the area above the pan.



So we have an all white space, save for the grey Marmoleum floor, with accent touches of stainless steel or aluminum and frosted glass.

(All the IKEA cabinetry opposite the shower stall has the same frosted glass look).


Did this help you understand ????




Sergei

[bhayden]

I think I get it now. The "frosted glass" is attached to the original bulkhead wall after you painted it white and it's purely cosmetic?

The back walls, I assume they are just the original aluminum skins? It seems to me a major improvement in the stock shower would be to simply pull out the trim strips that serve no purpose but to make it hard to clean. The problem is what to do with all the little holes that are left after pulling the trim.

The aluminum framing behind the bulkhead. You added all that? It seems to me that bulkhead is far to flimsy in it's stock form. I'd be willing to forgo the pocket door (or move the pocket to the other side in order to beef up that wall. With the framing I was hoping the plumbing could be put in the bulkhead to get the shower head up to a reasonable height for someone that's 6' tall. Then again a flex hose type shower is nice too and if it's easier to put the plumbing in the back wall then I can see going that route. I'm limited by the existing space up to the slide out bunk on the curb side with respect to modifiing the shower bulkhead. The closet in the bathroom I could live with out and it certainly seems like a bad place for the electical panel.

You were if I remember correctly going with a new ceramic toliet. Are you going to remount the black water tank in it's original location or will that move. Moving it frees up a lot more options for the bath but I don't know where it would go.

-Bernie

[SmokelessJoe]

Marc:

I suppose that if I’d known my project was going to take this much time I could have had a 2007 too!

I bought my ’06 Sprinter a year ago January, and drove it home last July.

It’s still in the front yard, covered in snow. 700 miles on it. Not a thing done to it yet.



I haven’t even had time to get the truck plans out of my head and onto the drawing board.

I’ll have to do that soon. Spring is coming.


Sergei

[dieterdog]

Hi Sergei,,, yes,, Spring is coming,,, sorry,, i just have to laugh,,, poor snow covered baby,,, glad you like the Marmoleum,,, dieter