Furnace and water heater advice needed

[triplenet]

In its previous life, our '07 25' Safari SE FB was a corporate product demonstration trailer.

In the reconfiguration, the furnace, water heater, ref. and furniture was removed. Bath, shower, electrical, plumbing, AC and kitchen cabinets are in place.

We need to reinstall furnace, water heater and ref.

Airstream tech helpline was very helpful in giving me original model #'s installed.

Water heater: Atwood G6A-4E
Furnace: Atwood 8525
Ref: Dometic RM 3762 RB

We do need to relocate original water heater location as a front door was installed in that location.

Since the trailer is near new and in excellent condition, we plan on using new replacements.

Are there any new technological advanced products that we should consider? I have looked at Precision Temp, but don't know if that would be cost benefical.

Thanks for any advice.

Bob

[Aage]

Well, the Atwood Excalibur XT two stage furnaces sure looks interesting to me. Here's a link with pricing to look at.

The only other thing that comes to mind is that the 10 gallon version of the water heater doesn't cost much more than the 6 that your trailer originally had (according to the model number). Depending on your projected use of hot water, you may want the bigger one.

Water heaters come with a variety of options, such as LP/110 volts or LP only, manual pilot or a switch inside the coach to turn on the heater, and so on.

Have a look at Dometic's site, there's always a more expensive refer that you thought existed...

[Jammer]

The 10 gallon water heaters require a bigger door and take up more room.

[Aage]

Originally Posted by Jammer

The 10 gallon water heaters require a bigger door and take up more room.

Correct. I understood the poster to say that he had to re-position it in any event due to a door being installed where the old water heater was.

[2airishuman]

hi bob

r u suggesting that this trailer has 2 ENTRY doors?

cool.

we know nothing about the intended use, how often, where, hookups and so on...

so one option is a tankless water heater instead of the original 6 g pot heater (lots of threads on these rv style units)

the furnace was originally ducted to warm the fresh tank, with ducts into the lav/shower area, bedroom and living space.

are the original ducts present?

IF u don't plan to camp in hard freezing weather,

another option is to install 1 or 2 catalytic heaters (vented is my preference) instead of the furnace.

'platinum cat' is the brand that uses venting and they make a good product.

the oem AC should have a heat pump feature or a heating element/coil, which gives u another way of warming the stream.

fridges come in different sizes (basically the depth changes with each size) so this is a chance to consider using the larger 10 cf model.
___________

who's gonna do the work?

consider using airstream of arkansas in SEARCY for the repairs/remodel.

they'll know how it was ORIGINALLY laid out, and can get exact replacement parts IF that's your preference.

the guys there are friendly, honest and do great work at very reasonable prices.

post up some before/after photos here too!

cheers
2air'

[imeynstein]

I am planning on taking out the bathroom and renovating it. I am planning on getting a tankless water heater. Can I just get one from Lowe's, or do I have to get one designed for an RV?? I have a 1972 Sovereign and the old water heater makes taking a shower/bath a terrible undertaking as the water gets cold too fast!! Has anyone installed one of these, and if so, does anyone have photos that are step by step??? My husband will not be helping me with my project so I need all the advice I can get!!! Thanks!!

[2airishuman]

u asked about the water heater 6 years ago, did you get used to the 6 g capacity?

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f445...ter-10345.html

while it's possible to use household appliances in rv applications, this is not always the best approach...

trailers MOVE more than most houses. rv gadgets need to tolerate movement and vibration and be light enough for travel.

search using the one word "tankless" and lots of info will pop up...

here is the relevant stuff...

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f445...ter-37769.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f161...ter-25467.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f445...ter-26206.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f445...lon-33274.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f445...ter-29965.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f445...ace-23456.html

cheers
2air'

[imeynstein]

I was travel nursing 6 years ago, but my father passed away from a terminal illness, so my 'baby' has been sitting up since then. I am planning on returning to traveling possibly next year. Now I am ready to get started on my AS--finally!!! I am excited, but scared at the same time...Since she has been sitting up for so long, I know there will be tons of work to do on her now...EEKKK!!!

[triplenet]

We honestly don't know how much we will use this. We have hopes of using it often.

Yes, it has 2 doors. One is factory rear door, 2nd is Airstream door added where the window, water heater and head of the bed was originally. All modifications were professionally done.

We have done many remodels on older homes and historic buildings and have the desire to do a smaller job. The Airstream provenance intrigued us. We looked at newer used coaches, but really got hung up on how we would use the dinette & sofa area. We had about decided to buy an older wide body with aluminum framed windows and see what we could do.

We hope this coach allows us the freedom to make the interior to fit our use.

I haven't removed much of added interior yet. From what I can tell, the ducting is there, all water lines are there. I need to pull the cabinets that were added to street side so I can see all of it. Kitchen plumbing is in place, although sink and range were removed and replaced with new counter top and cab doors. It does have roof AC with heat strips and 2 fantastic fans.

I have decided to reinstall a Dometic RM3762RB as dimensions seem to max available space and roof curvature. We will need to build out the surround and am pursuing the idea of engine turned stainless steel laminated to the ref cabinet for finish. I am ordering samples for visuals first. We are hoping the different pattern will not look like we tried to fool anyone into thinking this is a stock coach!

We will keep the extra door in the bedroom. Bedroom is unfurnished (Inverter and electrical panel were relocated to base of wardrobe). We will relocate bed to street side, therefore my earlier water heater question. I have an idea on how to install a queen and still be able to walk around it. I'll need to make a mockup first, but I'm 90% sure it'll work.

Will get some pictures together and post them when I figure out how to do it.

This forum has been a great resource and we appreciate honest advice and civil nature of the forums.

Thanks,

Bob

[Aage]

You have certainly chosen an interesting vehicle to do your design and refurb work on, and we all hope that you will flood us with photos as you do it.

I, for one, am eager to see some of the parts you are discussing in their current state.

As for posting photos, it's not difficult to do by using the forum mechanism. Personally, I prefer to use one of those free web image warehousing ones, since there are then no restrictions on size, and you can later change or remove them, if you so choose. All you do is paste a link, like this:

This is one I took of the interior of a Classic 31-footer today at the Toronto RV Show. I love the kitchen layout, although I find the taps a bit scarey-looking.

And here's the Can-Am RV stand:

Photobucket.com is the one I like, but there are lots of good ones.

Cheers,
Aage

[imeynstein]

I will begin posting photos next week as I have to get a new camera. I am currently taking out the kitchen cabinets as the tambour doors were in terrible shape. I would like to replace them with cabinets like the one you have shown. Do you have any pics that show how you attached and modified the new cabinets? I am assuming that you used the previous sides of the cabinets for a template as your cabinets are absolutely seamless!!! Wow!!

[triplenet]

Aage and others,

I tried to sign up for Photobucket, but my user name was "taken" and my password can't begin with .......
So.... I didn't pursue that one.

My RV repair guy didn't show up last Sunday due to snow. I am about to order the Atwood XT 90073 water heater and Atwood Xt 38542 furnace.
According to the ads, it seems that the above would be an upgrade in performance over the original Atwood 8525 furnace and G6A-4E installs.

If $ were no issue, I'd go with the full PrecisionTemp heat and hot water.

Any advice?

Thanks for every ones input!

Bob