HA!
I can certainly understand if living in a place that gets real winter would be happy to not be shoveling snow!
Fortunately it is warming up and it melting- should be gone before long.
I sort of echo you ‘Better you than me’ when I hear people talking of the heat and humidy and bugs in many locations. Sure glad to not have those problems!
I’ll be happy when all this snow down low is gone. I like to keep it up in the mountains, where you can buzz up in half and hour and enjoy 20 feet of snow- then come back home.
Pic is mountains just behind where I live.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 85MH325
I'm normally not one to revel in the misery of others, but I've gotta say I'm glad that's yours and not mine. Believe it or not, we don't even have snow on the ground... today anyway. That may change overnight tomorrow night... but I've not even had the tractor out to clear snow yet this year. The three snows we've had were all under an inch, and with some rain and ice. We've had weeks with the highs in the high 40s, low 50s. It's been a very strange winter for this neck of the woods. (eastern Iowa)
HA!
I can certainly understand if living in a place that gets real winter would be happy to not be shoveling snow!
Fortunately it is warming up and it melting- should be gone before long.
I sort of echo you ‘Better you than me’ when I hear people talking of the heat and humidy and bugs in many locations. Sure glad to not have those problems!
I’ll be happy when all this snow down low is gone. I like to keep it up in the mountains, where you can buzz up in half and hour and enjoy 20 feet of snow- then come back home.
Pic is mountains just behind where I live.
THAT is some pretty spectacular scenery to have for a back yard. Wow! Thanks for sharing that. I lived in NoCal for about eight years on Clear Lake under the shadow of Mt. Konocti and I DO miss the views.
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havin' to fix my broken Airstreams since 1987... AIR 2053 Current: 2004 Airstream Interstate "B-Van" T1N DODGE Sprinter Former Airstreams: 1953 Flying Cloud, 1957 Overlander, 1961 Bambi, 1970 Safari Special, 1978 Argosy Minuet, 1985 325 Moho, 1994 Limited 34' Two-door, 1994 B190 "B-Van"
We got very unusual snow (all gone now) and it has been pretty darn wet this January. With that and other things going on I haven’t had the AI out for a bit.
One of my other projects that is taking my time, I’m doing a restoration on a Benelli 750 sei. Not showroom, but a nice rider. I had one new, foolishly sold it- always was my favorite street bike. I sold my Ducati since I don’t ride street that much anymore and I don’t mind a vintage bike sitting a fair amount. Plus it has less power, which is good (less tempting to use).
I do have an idea for a mod on my AI, as soon as I get that done I will have something more appropriate to post up.
(Note the shaft connected to the Hyvo chain)
I’ve never liked having to run the generator just to warm something up in the microwave. I don’t like running engines for a few minutes and shutting off- plus it is noisey.
So...when the Yeti 1000 came on a special deal at Costco- I picked one up.
I installed a switch, to have the outlet (for the Microwave) be powered either by the original setup (gen or shore power)- OR off the Yeti.
I put the Yeti on the floor of the closet and installing a shelf above. (Some vent holes in the ‘tunnel’ going up, that is open to below too).
It works darn well, plus I’ll be able to use it for more DC power when I want.
I’ll hook up a DC input that will charge when the engine is running- and of course the AC input it came with for when connected to shore power.
It came with solar- so I’ll put an outside outlet to plug in the solar when needed. (Well, that is the current plan).
My current roof solar charges the house battery- but I could easily DC charge the Yeti if I have extra power from that solar.
I’ve never liked having to run the generator just to warm something up in the microwave. I don’t like running engines for a few minutes and shutting off- plus it is noisey.
So...when the Yeti 1000 came on a special deal at Costco- I picked one up.
I installed a switch, to have the outlet (for the Microwave) be powered either by the original setup (gen or shore power)- OR off the Yeti.
I put the Yeti on the floor of the closet and installing a shelf above. (Some vent holes in the ‘tunnel’ going up, that is open to below too).
It works darn well, plus I’ll be able to use it for more DC power when I want.
I’ll hook up a DC input that will charge when the engine is running- and of course the AC input it came with for when connected to shore power.
It came with solar- so I’ll put an outside outlet to plug in the solar when needed. (Well, that is the current plan).
My current roof solar charges the house battery- but I could easily DC charge the Yeti if I have extra power from that solar.
I’ll take some pics when done.
Congrats on the 1000W Yeti running your microwave, although it could be at or slightly over it's output rating to run one. Does it show the power output on the display?
My AS 700W microwave uses over 1300 watts. I know because I tested the one in my rig and another in my home with a Kil-o-watt. Where the other 600 watt draw (above their stated rating) is coming from, I'm not sure. The light and turntable can't consume that much so maybe there is a lot of inefficency to get the rated 700W cooking power into the food.
I have the unit in place and it appears pretty good. I still have a bit of touch up to do, setup a way to charge whenever the engine is running (I have one easy way, but I may get a big fancy).
I forgot to take a picture of the switch. I have not remounted the uWave yet. I want to move it over slightly- making it easier to reach in- and to use the other plug when I want AC to power something else.
I realized after I got it all in that I should have mounted the outlet the other way (due to the grounding plug)- but I can flip it over pretty easily.
I will use the area behind the Yeti for spares storage (with a label on what is there)- but assuring airflow. There are vent holes in the verticle ‘tunnel’ and space on both sides of the unit. But I’ll verify no heat issues.
Mark
I still have a bit of cleaning to do (obviously) and fill the old holes.
But I’m happy with how it turned out.
I moved the microwave over and gives better accessibility to the plug/switch. Plus I would put something there.
I put my chains on the floor of the closet behind the Yeti- keep weight lower. I always carry them, could be needed in summer for mud or something. I’ve never needed them, hopefully never will.
Very creative maximum-bang-for-minimum-buck approach.
Your personal / situational cost-benefit analysis was obviously such that you chose not to realign the Airstream-installed JUNK that is beneath your existing closet floor, which is what we did. That space alone could have been made to accommodate your Yeti, plus you then would have had the option of placing an air flow screen in the front.
But if you still wish to retain your original converter in that space, then no, that would not have been possible.
We could not have sacrificed any of our closet space. We use that for so many different purposes. This past weekend, it swallowed a small trade show table that folded in half to 2' x 2' (it fit in there diagonally), plus two conventional folding chairs. Plus other stuff. We have just enough room to retain the upper shelf (which holds dog food and supplies) and still get all the rest of that stuff in there.
We have also had occasion to pack the closet completely full of dressy clothing, and of course when it's not doing duty for any other purpose, it swallows my Brompton folding bike.
Yes, I want to retain the converter (I have replaced with a much better one some time ago).
Of course, if I want to spend the time to clean up the rat’s nest wiring Airstream left behind the converter, I could have enough room to fit the Yeti under the original closet floor. But I couldn’t reach the buttons to turn stuff on/off etc.
I could also move the converter- but lots of work.
Plus I wanted to be able to remove the Yeti easily for other possible uses. I don’t know if I will ever do that, but now I can remove it in a few minutes.
I was a big concerned over loss of space, I thought about putting it at the top of the closet, but wanted to keep weight low. But it would be much nicer to use up there. Where the microwave is a really nice spot. Ha!
I look at loss of space as another good reason to reassess how much I really need to bring along. For overnights I often just leave some big old cotton sleeping bags in there- super comfy but take up a ton of space realatively. Longer trips I use blankets and much more compressable bags. But the ones with cotton lining is sooo comfy- and takes just a minute to setup/put away.
Longest trip I’ve done is the 11,000 mile around the country (around six weeks)- and had adequate room. Had the motorcycle on the rear rack. But I used to work in the mountains here where I had to carry everything on my back (8 days at a time) and camp out. So this is super luxury.
I certainly appreciate all the work you guys did with your power sourcing- I’m just not ready to do something like that at this time.
I’ll report on how this actually works out in real use. Since I just have a single 100ah AGM house battery, this should really help out AND allow some AC use without starting that nosey generator up.
The closet latch has been intermittently messing up for awhile. The latch ‘receptacle’ would snap back closed after opening the door sometimes. I would have to manually open it with a screwdriver or something.
I finally remembered to look for a replacement, found a four pack and bought it. Worked perfectly. I’ll keep the rest in the van for when other similar ones have issues.
Thanks so much for posting the replacement latches! I noticed your microwave looks different than mine in my 2007 Interstate. Have you replaced the original? Is it also convection by chance? Thanks! I have enjoyed your updates to the MH and your travel notes.
Katy
You are certainly welcome. I know I always appreciate when someone posts up things that are sometimes hard to figure out what they are and a quick source.
I believe that is the original microwave. No- no convection.
I just moved it over to the side a bit to allow more room for switch and plug access, plus perhaps some small storage? I have not thought about that too much yet. Still making sure it all works.
I got in the 10amp DC charger for GoalZero Yeti- I’ll connect to either a switch I have on the centre console (activating several things from the house batt) or use this little gizmo I have that only switches on when the alternator is charging. I have not really tried that gizmo yet to see its draw is or how well it works in real life (heck, I’m not even sure it will do 10 amps, since I got it for a different project that I decided not to do).
I notice a number of differences from the 2006 to 2007. And mine is the ‘anniversary’ edition. So of course has all sorts of extras! (Well, a couple little badges anyway).
I do have an idea for a mod on my AI, as soon as I get that done I will have something more appropriate to post up.
(Note the shaft connected to the Hyvo chain)
Inline 6 looks huge on that frame...but I have never seen one in the flesh.
Are you documenting this anywhere else? Would love to follow the updates.
The lower crankcase is an inch more than a Honda 750 of the era, but of course the cylinder is much wider. They moved the alternator to above the cases to keep the width down.
The original toilet on my 2006 starting ‘sticking’- so the water would stay on.
I had read about the design of it- so decided to just replace it with something a bit better.
I used the Dometic 310 with ceramic bowl. It is much nicer than the original.
It took minimal fiddling- really just the plumbing, since the water inlet is in a different location. I found a 90º and Oetiker clamps at the local plumbing store. I already had the clamping tool and a selection of clamps, just nothing that size (I use them for beer making equipment and some fuel injection systems).
I also got the hand sprayer- maybe it will make cleaning it a little easier? Figured it was worth a go.
So far, I like it better.
Ok- not really AI related, except a nice place to go up and camp.
Yesterday up the Sol Duc, just below Salmon cascades. Water was too low for them to be jumping the falls, but they were hopping around.
This is on the way to Sol Duc Hot Springs, Olympic Peninsula.
The NP campground it nice, I don’t think much of the RV one. The group site (before you get to Eagle RS) is really nice.
Just a short update Benelli 750 sei
I’m starting to assemble the bottom end, weighing/balancing, measuring.
I’m using one of my motorcycle lifts- I can set it to just the right height (plus it is right in the path of the heater).
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