1962 22' Safari

[flyfshr]

Malcolm -

That's what my Trade Wind had on it originally but it must have been several years old and it was cloudy and the plastic coating was coming off. I chose aluminum so i wouldn't have to bother with it again.

Brad
FF

[jcferguson]

Malcolm,

looks like it would look good to me, if I had known about that product pre-installation I might have used it... do you have any pictures of your wheel wells after you installed? Is it plastic or metal?

Carlos

[jcferguson]

These photos detail the ongoing construction of the dinette.

The framework is 3/4" baltic birch screwed to the floor in a few places, then screwed to the bendy piece I made to screw to the curved wall. The curve at the corner was made with a router circle cutting jig. I built it all in place, but the entire thing can be removed with a few screws.

The sheathing is the same as my interior 1/8" baltic birch. There are two layers of wood for strength. The first was brad-nailed in place, the second was contact cemented to the first so I could avoid fasteners if possible. I will see how the cement holds up - I can always add a row of screws through the skin later if necessary.

The covers for these compartments are 1/4" ply, which seems to be strong enough when supported as it is on all sides. It adds a little bounce to the seat. I cut each to size individually, fine tuning the fit with a belt sander.

I will make some cushions for the tops of the seats, then another set for the backs.

I think this setup will give me the largest bed and storage space though perhaps it would have been more comfortable with a straight back to the seats. I do like sitting in the curve of the trailer though, you can move around until you are comfortable relative to the table space.

[59toaster]

Is your coach going to have a water tank?

[malconium]

Originally Posted by flyfshr

Malcolm -

That's what my Trade Wind had on it originally but it must have been several years old and it was cloudy and the plastic coating was coming off. I chose aluminum so i wouldn't have to bother with it again.

Brad
FF

I guess time will tell how long the stuff I put on will last...

[jcferguson]

Originally Posted by 59toaster

Is your coach going to have a water tank?

I made spaces for large-ish fresh and grey tanks under the frame (you can see them in earlier pictures).

[jcferguson]

This is the electric layout I have planned. Is this right?

Questions I still have:

1

Is the breaker box configuration correct? My understanding is that the shore power in will enter the 30 amp breaker at the bottom and this will function as my "main". This will then feed the two 15 amp breakers which will go out to my circuits.

2

Do I need to ground the breaker box or just tie all the ground wires together? It seems like 120 system is just a glorified extension cord and since the shore power line is presumeably grounded, couldn't I just rely on that? How can the trailer be grounded anyway with rubber tires?

3

With the 12v system can I just tie the grounding bar to the trailer skin once or do I need to ground the battery directly as well? Is the trailer skin sufficient or do I need to tie to the frame too?

Thanks for any help,

Carlos

[MarkR]

Carlos,
This guy's website has info about wiring . . . you may have already seen it. Since I'm not to that point yet I don't know how helpful the info is, I'm keeping the link for the future. Sorry I can't answer any of your questions as they are questions I have or will have.
Great Work by the way.
Mark

http://www.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/tech.htm

[uwe]

Carlos,
Looks like you got this licked....all three diagrams make sense.

[jcferguson]

Uwe, do you think I need a fuse between the batteries and the converter/charger? The converter/charger has a couple fuses on the front for reverse connection protection and I assume these would blow if anything went wrong. How about a fuse between the coverter/charger and the dc distribution box? Not needed because everything is fused there as well?

Carlos

[uwe]

Originally Posted by jcferguson

Uwe, do you think I need a fuse between the batteries and the converter/charger? The converter/charger has a couple fuses on the front for reverse connection protection and I assume these would blow if anything went wrong. How about a fuse between the coverter/charger and the dc distribution box? Not needed because everything is fused there as well?

Carlos

Depends..
I am running a Intellipower, which indeed has a dual fused output. However, the big lugs for the battery cables are paralleled, meaning that they will not affect the fuses inside the Intellipower at all. If the intellipower has a short, then the fuses should blow, but that does not take the battery out of the equation. If the feed wire, or the fuse panel itself has a short ( rare, I guess) then it's barbeque time...
Since you're at it, might as well add a 40 or 60A fuse( depends on your wire gauge) to the circuit.
Link the fuse between the battery and the charger, and then go from the charger to the fuse panel. Then, the line is protected all the way from the battery to the fuse panel, with the converter in between.
Better safe than sorry.

[Ken J]

Uwe

Do you know if there is a chart around that shows 12v fuse size vs wire?

Ken

[uwe]

Originally Posted by Ken J

Uwe

Do you know if there is a chart around that shows 12v fuse size vs wire?

Ken

It's actually the other way around, which gauge wire can handle how many amps, at which wire length.
There was a link right here at the forums about that, which I referred to when I laid out my DC system. I do not know where that is any longer.

As a rule, you should not need DC fuses over 15A for anything but the chargeline and perhaps an EH actuator, if applicable.
Running 12G and fusing that circuit with a 15A fuse is safe at just about any wire length in a vintage Airstream.
So, if you run 12G wiring from the fuse panel to the circuits, you should be fine.
Then, yu can fine tune the circuits with appropriate size fuses. Add up what's on the circuit, and use the fuse closest to that need.

[3Ms75Argosy]

I'm in just awe with your work! If I may, how does your router cutter work for making the curve for the dinette? From the photos, I see you cut small sections to make the wood frame curve around the front of the trailer, but how do you make the freestanding curve in the frame at the front of the dinette set? What size wood did you start with for the frame? It looks like two sections sandwiched together? Like Uwe, it seems like you use the kreg tool as well to make the frame - no biscuts, right?

Again, just fantastic work!
Marc

[uwe]

Hey Carlos,
I received my wheel well moldings from your source today. That's nice stuff. I can also use it in the interior where my stainless panels will have a visible edge. I bought 2 12ft lengths, cut at 8ft for shipping cost relief.
i will have a little left over from the 8ft sections, plus the 2 4ft sections for the interior. It's really tight on the .040, but will slip over the edge.
Very nice material, btw. the edge will have a very subtle, but elegant finish on it. Thanks for the link!
Uwe

[jcferguson]

Originally Posted by 3Ms75Argosy

I'm in just awe with your work! If I may, how does your router cutter work for making the curve for the dinette? From the photos, I see you cut small sections to make the wood frame curve around the front of the trailer, but how do you make the freestanding curve in the frame at the front of the dinette set? What size wood did you start with for the frame? It looks like two sections sandwiched together? Like Uwe, it seems like you use the kreg tool as well to make the frame - no biscuts, right?

Again, just fantastic work!
Marc

Thanks Marc!

Yes, I like my Kreg jig... I have a friend with a cabinet shop that has a hydraulic powered version that sort of clamps and drills automatically when you pull a lever. Those are about 800$ though, I will need to renovate a few more airstreams before I move to that model.

You can get circle cutting jigs for a router for not too much money (do a google search for router circle jig) If you can't find anything I can look up the kind I have and send you a link. It is probably just as easy to make your own, which I do whenever I want to cut a circle that is bigger than my jig will cut. I use 1/4 inch plywood or masonite would work. I will attach a drawing below - basically you copy the face plate of your router onto a long piece of wood, then drill circles along the length of the jig for different sized circles. You drill a hole in the piece of wood in which you want to cut a circle, put a peg through the jig and into this hole and then swing the router 'round the circle, cutting a little at a time, lowering the bit with each circle.

I made all of the framework for the dinette out of 3/4 inch baltic birch plywood - this is a great structural material. I made two circles with my jig, stacked them and glued them together, then cut 1/4 out of each circle for the corners you are talking about. I used a belt sander to touch them up and then bent the 1/8 inch ply around the framework and attached with a brad nailer, then glued the second piece of 1/8 ply to the first.

Let me know if you need any more description of this process.

Carlos

[jcferguson]

Originally Posted by uwe

Hey Carlos,
I received my wheel well moldings from your source today. That's nice stuff. I can also use it in the interior where my stainless panels will have a visible edge. I bought 2 12ft lengths, cut at 8ft for shipping cost relief.
i will have a little left over from the 8ft sections, plus the 2 4ft sections for the interior. It's really tight on the .040, but will slip over the edge.
Very nice material, btw. the edge will have a very subtle, but elegant finish on it. Thanks for the link!
Uwe

I used a soft round wood mallet to persuade the trim to go around the skin (and wheel well metal). It was tight, which made the rivetting easier as I didn't have to try to hold it in place and rivet at the same time.

Carlos

[jcferguson]

Originally Posted by Ken J

Uwe

Do you know if there is a chart around that shows 12v fuse size vs wire?

Ken

Ken, here is a link that Mark Doane sent me - you can see dc wire amp size down the page a little bit - that amp capacity, I think, corresponds to where you would want to fuse the wire so that the fuse blows before the wire melts.

http://www.cmsquick.com/Tech.html

[jcferguson]

My kitchen is pictured here, drawer-less as it will be for a while I imagine. My counters are 39" tall so I won't have to bend over to wash dishes. I suppose I will get a step for shorter folk.

Under the woodstove will be a stair-shaped drawer for wood, next over will be a 6" pull out pantry, then the water heater and a shallow drawer under the stove, a stack of smallish drawers in the tall empty space and two large drawers for the last space - the sink will be there. ...though I was thinking today I could put the sink on the other side by the bathroom and put the icebox under the counter on the kitchen side. This would allow me to have all my water needs on one side and a larger kitchen counter. It would cut down on some work-space counter top though.

Does anyone know how this type of stove is "supposed" to be supported? I made my cut-out the suggested size, and the result is that the stove is supported by the metal flange at the top and sort of floats otherwise. I wonder if I should shim up the bottom to provide some support from down there? Any ideas? Uwe, what does yours look like support-wise?

Carlos

[uwe]

Originally Posted by jcferguson

Does anyone know how this type of stove is "supposed" to be supported? I made my cut-out the suggested size, and the result is that the stove is supported by the metal flange at the top and sort of floats otherwise. I wonder if I should shim up the bottom to provide some support from down there? Any ideas? Uwe, what does yours look like support-wise?

Carlos

It "hangs" on it's metal lip, on the cutout in the countertop. My TradeWind had the same arrangement.
There should be screws going through the lip into the countertop to keep it from becoming independent of it's host.
My arrangement is not supported from the bottom either.