Dale and Terry get a '66 Tradewind

[Slats]

Originally Posted by ALUMINUMINUM

I think you’ll save time and $$ if you repair your door to better than new. I’m not going to say it’s easy, but a man of your Airstream skills isn’t intimidated by the challenges of mere mortals.

My skills are pretty minimal, but I have no lack of stubbornness. Having already bitten my share of bullets in this project, I may die of lead poisoning before making it to the finish line. But I'm still game for biting into this one, so the door is going to come off, come apart and be put back together the right way. I still can't believe whoever attempted that straight angle iron fix thought it was a good idea. It was straight out of the square peg round hole school of thought. But for now, I'm going to finish out my shower enclosure and tub and plumb in the faucet and spray head, which should be a little more fun. Or not. Stay tuned.

[coloradoup]

Slats,
When you get to the point of removing that door, I have done the hinge pin removal thing and have the rod to remove the pin. You probably already have it figured out but if you need any help or to borrow the tools let me know.
Mike.

[Slats]

Thanks, Mike. I may well take you up on your offer. But I'm currently engrossed in my tub and shower project, which is, at least at this point, more enjoyable than tackling the door project. Be well and tell your neighbor I said hi.

[coloradoup]

Will do!

[Slats]

I'm finally tackling the shower/bath in this project that has moved along with all the alacrity of a snail.

Here's a shot I took today after a dry fit of the hot and cold water lines. I just stuck short pieces of pex on to see where to drill the holes for the incoming lines. Tomorrow I'll remove the clecos holding the tub in place and run the lines around behind it. I think there is enough room between the tub and the wall behind it to come off a 90 degree pex bend to the faucets. If not I'll just use elbows, although it will violate my rule about not having any connectors where they can't be seen and easily replaced, if need be. I do plan to incorporate an access panel on the partition immediately behind the faucet connections, though.
It may not appear to be fun, but by golly, I'm still enjoying it, vexing compound curves and all.

[coloradoup]

Looking good. I am thinking of adding a return line for the hot water so that I can circulate the hot water up to the shower faucet so that I don't waste any water. I know how you like to use a lot of valves. Any thoughts of a hot water return line?

[Slats]

Mike -


No valves were used in this phase and no laboratory animals were sacrificed.


The lower red line in the picture is the return line to my Truma Comfort Plus tankless water heater. The reason I'm coming in from the wall rather than from underneath is that hot water line from the heater and the return line to the heater have to run parallel in an upward grade from the heater all the way to the terminal outlet.

[TouringDan]

Nice work Dale, but I see 4 elbows that you possibly don’t need.

I like the way you hid the vent line. Ours is exposed but I really don’t see it so it doesn’t bother me.

What kind of material are you making the new sections of the shower enclosure out of? I am converting my absorption fridge to a compressor fridge and plan to enlarge the original fridge box.

Dan

[Slats]

Hi Dan -

The vent cover and the small plumbing wall on which the faucet is mounted are opaque white plexiglass. I had originally planned to use plexiglass sheets for the both bathroom partitions - and had cut them and set in them in place - when an objection made on grounds of modesty was voiced by one with veto power. So into the scrap pile they went. Then, when the time finally arrived to finish out the shower, my addled mind whispered, “Hey, there’s a use for that plexiglass, after all.” Yesterday that same voice returned, suggesting that I stick a vertical strip of LED lights on the vent pipe for a neat plexiglass-infused glow in aid of porcelain throne ruminations, from whence most of my ideas flow.

[Slats]

Long time, no post.


Yesterday I fired up my Truma Aquago Comfort Plus tankless water heater and tried out my Missmin shower faucet. Both worked like a charm. I originally bought the Missmin based on the rave reviews, but then began to see grumblings that it did not work well with tankless water heaters because of intermittent pressure drops inherent to tankless heaters. I had a notion that this would not be a problem, because the Truma has a hot water recirculation line that enables its instant-on at the tap hot water feature. I reasoned that the recirculation line might work some sort of sorcery to encourage consistent water pressure. Thankfully, I filled a five gallon bucket with hot water from the shower head with no pressure drop problem. Now I'm on to putting into place my Rube Goldberg shower enclosure that has been patiently setting outside the trailer awaiting its turn in this seemingly never ending project.

[dbj216]

Greetings Mr. Slats: Welcome to spring time in Kansas City. We have cold and snow here today. Some spring.

Nice to hear your tankless heater and new shower valve are working for you. Maybe you can figure out where you might need an extra valve to make it work even better, or at least give you more control. When someone is using the shower, you could remotely shut off the hot water and surprise them. Maybe make them cuss a bit.

Press on regardless. Soon you will be planning your maiden voyage in your 66 Trade Wind 24'.

David

[Slats]

Thanks for the mild ribbing, David. Although I'm about valved out, it was nevertheless impossible to resist going for my newly purchased hand held shower head, replete with a built in water saving shutoff valve. I hasten to add, though, that no animals were sacrificed in the bargain.

[Slats]

Here's Hal's new LED shower glow tower.

[TouringDan]

Originally Posted by Slats

Here's Hal's new LED shower glow tower.

I like your shower glow tower Dale- very classy.

[coloradoup]

I agree with dan.

[Slats]

Thought I'd add a little pictorial of my LED shower light install, from micro-splitting the the _/+ sides of the LED strips, to soldering and shrink tubing the connecting wires, etc.

[TouringDan]

Thanks for showing the details on soldering wires to the led ribbon lights. I have got to do that sometime and I was worried about how you actually did it. Now I know!

Dan

[coloradoup]

Great soldering work. Not one of my strong points thats for sure.

[Slats]

Your comment on the heat on your page prompted me to post this pic of my indoor/outdoor thermometer readings today. The outdoor temp was inside the insulated metal shed; the indoor reading was in the Airstream. Tough sledding getting anything done. But the shower enclosure is coming along. Pics to follow. Maybe. Meantime, here is one of my recent exterior additions.

[coloradoup]

Nice touch, I wanted to do a fish or something like Brian did but never got around to it.