Virgin Roof no more. New Heatpump on my 64 with extras, tips and tricks.

[robwok]

After a year of fretting and planning, I did it. My hands look like I was trying to strangle a bobcat in a rosebush, but I have a new 15k BTU heatpump sitting safely on my trailer.

Cut the outside skin with a nibbler, and the inside with a variety of tools - tin snips, grinder, cutt off wheels, utility knife, whatever I could find. There was a quitled liner, cardboard, and in some spots 3 layers of aluminum.

I had the electric wire already waiting for me (2 spare wires in fact) but no drain tube. I talked to Coleman because I wanted a thermostat to control my heat pump (the swings in temp are much narrower with a thermostat than the type where the controls are on the unit). Also, if the electric strip can't keep up, the digital thermostat will kick on the propane. There's even an option to have the thermostat turn on a electric start generator but I'm not quite there yet.

I have the quilted interior, so I didn't want to pull everything down to run the drain tube directly, but I was able to drill through 2 rails and drop my tube and thermostat wire down into my overhead cabinets. The tube and wire will run at a downward slant to the closet, then down inside the closet to exit through the floor.

I used actual Aluminum z strips that were bowed for the front and back locations, and locked them in with olympic rivets ground a little flat. You can see the oval cutout in one where I pulled the spare wire and folded it in inside. I believe all my rivet holes are pretty close to the edge, so they would be on the inside of the foam compression strip or right under the inside lip. Also, by keeping a curve on the roof, I hope to limit a flat spot that would allow rain to poole on the roof. Got the opton for the integrated condensation pump, so that all should exit outside.

I had a hard time getting the drain tube through the channel, even trying to pull it with electrician's line, so I cut a hole in the side of it and inserted the back of my harbor freight drill stem into the tube. It was an exact fit for the interior diameter, so I was able to push back to the overhead compartment, then I just pulled it out, and the tube was flexible again so I could pull it down into the cabinet.

The AC isn't level yet on the trailer. I finished up in the dark last night, so I need to check the fit and squareness of everything after I get off work today before I really cynch it down.

Got it up there by placing a long fiberglass ladder on the awning tube that was well padded. We had a spare bunky board from the kids bunk beds so I put that on the ladder and the AC on top of that. I was up top with a rope and my friends at the bottom, but I probably could have slid it up myself. Piece of cake and took about 90 seconds to get it up there safely. I had a big sheet of foam insulation on top of the trailer just in case.

Very happy to have this off my list. Of course, now I have to finish wiring and get back to repairing that black tank... ugh. But hey, it's fiberglass. and I have everything I need in the garage. I'm just glad no one use the toilet in the last 10 years.

[Aviator]

Nicely done!

[bwoodtx]

Rob,

Am I understanding that is a Coleman unit? Can you give me part numbers, please?

[robwok]

Coleman 47233-4551 Coleman 47233-4551 62763 Electric Heat Kit for Mach 8 Heat Ready Ceiling Assemblies Camper Trailer RV
Coleman 9330F4552 Coleman 9330F4552 Plenum for T-Stat Trailer Camper RV
Coleman 8530A3451 Coleman 8530A3451 Thermostat Trailer Camper RV
Coleman 47024-876 Coleman 47024-876 62643 Mach 8 Low Profile RV Rooftop Air Conditioner Heat Pump Condenser Pump Upper Unit White 15000 BTU Camper Trailer RV
Coleman 9530A751 Coleman 9530A751 Control Kit for Heat Pump with Wall Thermostat Camper Trailer RV

All ordered from American RV company. They had the best price, awesome service, and it was delivered perfectly. I talked to Coleman to get the right setup for a wall mount thermostat that had a condensation pump and would allow my gas furnace to kick on if it got too cold. I'm almost done hooking it up tonight. If you don't want the wall thermostat, you'll need a different control box and plenum.

[bwoodtx]

Originally Posted by robwok

Coleman 47233-4551 Coleman 47233-4551 62763 Electric Heat Kit for Mach 8 Heat Ready Ceiling Assemblies Camper Trailer RV
Coleman 9330F4552 Coleman 9330F4552 Plenum for T-Stat Trailer Camper RV
Coleman 8530A3451 Coleman 8530A3451 Thermostat Trailer Camper RV
Coleman 47024-876 Coleman 47024-876 62643 Mach 8 Low Profile RV Rooftop Air Conditioner Heat Pump Condenser Pump Upper Unit White 15000 BTU Camper Trailer RV
Coleman 9530A751 Coleman 9530A751 Control Kit for Heat Pump with Wall Thermostat Camper Trailer RV

All ordered from American RV company. They had the best price, awesome service, and it was delivered perfectly. I talked to Coleman to get the right setup for a wall mount thermostat that had a condensation pump and would allow my gas furnace to kick on if it got too cold. I'm almost done hooking it up tonight. If you don't want the wall thermostat, you'll need a different control box and plenum.

Rob,

How is the interior noise level with that unit on the various fan levels?

Hate to be a pain, but I have to put A/C's on a 54 Cloud and a 61 Overlander and I am trying to gather info. I do like the wall thermostat instead of the ceiling controls.

[robwok]

Bruce,

No pain. If you have to put A/C's on 2 trailers, you're going to be in your own kind of pain. I'm jealous of your vintage trailers.

On high, it's pretty loud. On low, inside the trailer, it's about like a box fan. No high pitched whines or anything else. Since you're putting them on 2, and one of those is a smaller cloud, you may want to actually go to an RV Dealer and see if you can find where someone has put one on. 13k and 15k may also have some sound differences if you put a 13k on the cloud.

I took a SOB trailer on vacation over 10 years ago, but can't remember what that was like, and haven't been in any other trailers to compare. I also hadn't put the plenum on when I tried it last night. That may change the pitch/sound.

I think on high, it would be too loud for things like watching TV, but fine for reading. The outside was about the same as my house heat pump unit. The fans they use move a lot of air.

Loved being able to digitally see the room temp and the target temp just like in a house. I didn't have the plenum, but last night it dropped the temp inside the trailer around 10 degrees in about ten minutes, but I wasn't paying attention too closely.

[robwok]

Here's a pic with the new plenum. Looks like it's always been there. I'm glad the plenum fit in well with the rest of the trailer. No knobs on the plenum.

In the lower right of the pic, you can see the thermostat. The only thing that looks new in my trailer is this thermostat, and the little plastic buttons for the furnace. Probably should have hid that in a closet now that I think about it, but wanted the option to see the fault light. Oh well. Everything else I'm trying to keep looking like 64. I'll be ordering tiles that are very close to the original floor tiles and cutting them down to 9" squares. I haven't figured out any good ways to make the digital thermostat look old and keep the function. It still needs to be readily accessible and feel the temp. At least all my thermostat and drain lines are all hiddden.

[ALANSD]

nice looking install. Low profile looks good.

[robwok]

Thanks. Here's what it looks like when it's clamped down to the right tension and aligned level on top.

[tkasten]

Very nice job!

[LOREN SILVA]

Wow, i can't believe how great it looks.
I have learned soooo much from you.
Thanks for your input and support.
I don't guess you would like to come to arkansas for a little vacation and maybe a tiny bit of work?
Thanks again for your help, i might have to ask for guidence from my new expert!
Loren

[overlander64]

Greetings robwok!

Originally Posted by robwok

Here's a pic with the new plenum. Looks like it's always been there. I'm glad the plenum fit in well with the rest of the trailer. No knobs on the plenum.

In the lower right of the pic, you can see the thermostat. The only thing that looks new in my trailer is this thermostat, and the little plastic buttons for the furnace. Probably should have hid that in a closet now that I think about it, but wanted the option to see the fault light. Oh well. Everything else I'm trying to keep looking like 64. I'll be ordering tiles that are very close to the original floor tiles and cutting them down to 9" squares. I haven't figured out any good ways to make the digital thermostat look old and keep the function. It still needs to be readily accessible and feel the temp. At least all my thermostat and drain lines are all hiddden.

Your installation is absolutely gorgeous! I have a Coleman Mach 3 on my '64 Overlander and it doesn't fit in nearly as well as your newer model Coleman. One thing that you gained from starting with an Overlander that didn't have an existing air conditioner is that you don't have all of the mounting screws in the upholstered ceiling that I have from my original Armstrong Bay Breeze air conditioner . . . its footprint on the interior ceiling was at least 30% larger than my newer Coleman so I have about two dozen brass screws in the ceiling denoting where the Bay Breeze interior unit was installed.

I had one thought for disguising your modern thermostat. You could build a small box out of brass hardware cloth with a small hinge to cover the thermostat . . . then you could mount a round Honeywell thermostat on the front of that box as a "dummy". Your new thermostat is in what appears to be the exact position where my '64 Overlander's OEM Honeywell thermostat is located.

Your Overlander is looking absolutely fantastic!

Kevin

[robwok]

I'm happy to help Loren. Any time.

Thank's Kevin. I actually owe you a lot. Your jumping in first thing when I arrived in the forums was a huge encouragement to me and I've re-read your posts several times. You also gave me a lot of help in figuring out what to do with my drain line. I had also thought about an old cover on a hinge, but I like your idea about the mesh and adapting the old thermostat. I'll have to look into that a little more.

I did mine a little different in that I didn't want to have straight horizontal line for the condensate. It would look better hiding it up near the ceiling, but I didn't want any chance that the water could clog due to accumulated mold in the line, so it constantly falls over the entire length. It will be behind closed cabinets anyway.

[overlander64]

Greetings robwok!

Originally Posted by robwok

I'm happy to help Loren. Any time.

Thank's Kevin. I actually owe you a lot. Your jumping in first thing when I arrived in the forums was a huge encouragement to me and I've re-read your posts several times. You also gave me a lot of help in figuring out what to do with my drain line. I had also thought about an old cover on a hinge, but I like your idea about the mesh and adapting the old thermostat. I'll have to look into that a little more.

I did mine a little different in that I didn't want to have straight horizontal line for the condensate. It would look better hiding it up near the ceiling, but I didn't want any chance that the water could clog due to accumulated mold in the line, so it constantly falls over the entire length. It will be behind closed cabinets anyway.

You are welcome! It is always a pleasure to help a fellow Airstreamer, particularly another '64 Overlander owner. I am sure that you will enjoy many years of pleasure from your restoration. I am just a few weeks away from the 50th anniversary of my first camping experience in what is now my '64 Overlander. I was five years old when the original owners of my '64 Overlander invited me on my first camping trip in November of 1964 when the coach was just a few months old. Through several coincidences, I purchased the Overlander in 1995 not knowing that it was the Airstream from my childhood.

Enjoy your gorgeous Overlander!

Kevin

[robwok]

wow, I can't imagine having something like that from my childhood. When I was around 5 I stayed in a camper on a family trip, and had only seen a couple on the road. My 12 year old son keeps asking if he's going to get this one. I hope it's still in the family by then. This week I dropped my black tank and working on repairing that and a few other odds and ends before I put in a new vintage floor - 9" tiles like it originally had.