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TouringDan · 04-28-2013, 10:20 PM

I have also been thinking about buying a flag pole to fly the American Flag. I looked at Amazon and found that I could order either a 14ft or a 20ft pole for about $32 or so. I decided to order the 20 ft pole. My logic was that if I only used 10 feet of it that the pole would have 2 layers of pole and would be stronger. I went ahead and ordered the flag pole and the Jack Antenna at the same time. I figured that I would mount the Jack on the flag pole, but was not sure how I would do this.

When I received the flag pole and the Jack, I saw that the top of the flag pole was very small, 1/2", and was not the type of pole that would work for mounting the Jack to, using the enclosed metal mounting bracket shown in the above post photo. I believed that the only way that the light weight small aluminum flag pole, 1/2" at the top, would support the Jack would be if the Jack sat directly on top of the pole at the center of mass of the Jack.

I figured that I would use a short piece of 1/2" cpvc, a 1/2" cap and a 1/2" coupling to fabricate a receptacle on the Jack to slide the top of the flag pole into. Step one was to separate the top and bottom halves of the Jack to see if there was room for the 1/2" cap. The first photo shows that there was room, but parts of the two circuit boards would need to be removed with my Zip tool first.

The second photo shows shows the assembly installed in the Jack, but all you see in this photo is the cap. I made a small mistake which I will try to explain, so you don't make it. Of course this is usually unavoidable the first time, but I still should not have made this mistake. I drilled the 5/8" hole in the center of the right/left side to that the support would be as close as possible to the center of mass of the Jack. The problem is that the hole needs to be offset about 1/16 to 1/8" for the cap to fit into the confined space for it. This means that the hole needed to be oblong and not round. This results in the assembly not being as tight as needed once it is installed.

In terms of assembly sequence, first the cap is glued to the short piece of 1/2" cpvc, then it is inserted thru the 5/8" hole in the lower half of the jack, then the 1/2" coupling is glued as a sleeve onto the pipe and against the lower face of the jack. The completed assembly is shown in the third photo.

The last photo shows the Jack sitting on the top of the flag pole.

Some plastic drilling was required. The id of the pipe is less than 1/2". It needed to be drilled out to 1/2" so it would fit over the flag pole. Also the 1/2 coupling needs to act as a sleeve, not a coupling, so the id needed to be drilled out completely to 5/8".

TouringDan · 04-29-2013, 01:44 PM

So I had designed a built, jury rigged?, an assembly out of 1/2" cpvc pieces to mount the Jack antenna on top of a portable light weight flag pole. It all worked fine inside except that the cpvc assembly was a bit loose on the Jack antenna- gorilla glue to the rescue. I laid a bead of gorilla glue between the cpvc assembly and the Jack antenna, kind of like putting in a bead of caulk, and once it dried everything was secure.

I went camping this past weekend to Bandits Roost Campground (10/10 in my book) and went to Melrlefest, probably the best outdoor music festival on the east coast. I mounted my Jack antenna to the flag pole, raised it to a level of about 12 feet, connected the antenna and signal amplifier to the TV and got five good channels. Everything worked fine for 4 days through wind and rain. I just rotated the flag pole to adjust the antenna for the best signal, see photos below.

All I need to do now is paint the cpvc assembly white and figure out a good way to permanently run my cable into the trailer from the antenna. For my test, I just ran it through one of the ceiling vents.

TouringDan · 07-07-2013, 10:47 PM

In post #10, I mentioned removal of the original toilet, using the black tank for a gray tank and installation of an alternative toilet, either composting, a European cassette type or the new Thetford Curve Porta Potti.

When you look at the space available for the original toilet, it is really limiting. I really believe that the only toilet that will fit in this space is the new Thetford Curve Porta Potti.

I have had the toilet for some time, but just installed it last week before going camping with my wife and our 3 year old grand daughter. I have been putting this off, because I was scared about cutting the fiberglass console, you know the point of no return.

I can tell you now that the project was a success although I am not finished with the trim yet. Anybody have a source for a "cloth" hinge and some plastic trim for the 1/8" thick fiberglass console. I can also tell you that I was very lucky. One critical dimension, I did not even think about. More on this later.

Here are some photos of the new toilet and with it installed. More details on the installation will follow.

Dan

TouringDan · 07-16-2013, 10:33 PM

I just returned from a music festival where I camped and used the new toilet in my Tradewind for 5 days. I only pea in the toilet, but it worked great! It was so nice to get up and use the toilet 2-3 times during the night without resorting to the jug or just going outside. After 5 days it was only 1/2 full. I figure it my wife is with me, it will last 5 days for the both of us. I did not empty it into the toilet until I returned home. You just remove the top section from above and then pull the lower section out the back (see photo #4 above) and dump it into a toilet. It really worked well!

I have ordered trim for the edge of the fiberglass hole and an aluminum piano hinge for the access door to flush the toilet from McMaster-Carr (thanks perryg).

Dan

louaxtjr · 07-17-2013, 05:56 AM

Nice looking install, Dan! I hadn't envisioned the easy removal of the waste tank through the rear access door. Seems a very practical solution. I especially like the way you maintained as much of the original bath as possible while incorporating the new toilet. Kudos!

ttbikes · 07-17-2013, 10:19 AM

Nice job on the toilet. Please post pictures of the trim when you are done. I may have to go this way with my 64.

maggieevans · 07-17-2013, 01:44 PM

Nice Install Dan - and great thread! I am also considering a composting toilet so that I can be off grid as much as possible. I am following with great interest as I have also recently purchased a 66 Tradewinds! Have fun with your projects!

TouringDan · 07-17-2013, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by louaxtjr

Nice looking install, Dan! I hadn't envisioned the easy removal of the waste tank through the rear access door. Seems a very practical solution. I especially like the way you maintained as much of the original bath as possible while incorporating the new toilet. Kudos!

Lou

I never thought about removal of the bottom of the toilet (waste tank) out the rear access door either. I got lucky; the lower part of the toilet just fits through the opening. This is the one dimension that I never checked because I never thought about it.

Even though the "toilet console design" presents lots of problems in replacing the toilet, an advantage to the console style along with the use of the Curve toilet is that once the toilet is removed, the entire rear of the trailer is accessible for plumbing work, converter access, inverter access, power cord and extension cord storage and battery access. I have 2 six volt golf cart batteries and I still have room for 2 more six volt batteries.

So now I have a new plastic Curve toilet that works just great for peeing. No plumbing connection is needed, although I still have the sprayer from the old toilet. I can use this to fill up the flushing reservoir, 4 gallon, in the top of the toilet. It probably weighs about half of the original china toilet also.

The new toilet is also quite high. The toilet it self is 17.5" high plus the 3.25" platform, hiding the plumbing drain and water lines, for a total height of 20.5", taking into account the 1/2" cork floor. The 20.5" toilet works well for both my wife and me. It also works well for our 3 year old grand daughter. She climbs up on the toilet and rests her feet on the console. She can flush toilet also.

I am looking forward to installing the trim for the toilet. I will post photos when I complete this work.

Dan

louaxtjr · 07-17-2013, 03:40 PM

Wow, room for 4 batteries total...that's reclaiming some real estate!

Glad the access door accommodated the tank. Interesting that the seat height is that different. I guess the 60's standard would have been lower, even in household applications.

Thank you again for sharing your ideas and experiences, Dan.

Lou

TouringDan · 07-17-2013, 03:44 PM

Here a some photos showing removal of the bottom of the toilet for dumping the 5.5 gal capacity contents into a regular toilet.

TouringDan · 07-23-2013, 09:16 PM

I have finished installing the metal re-enforced plastic trim and the aluminum piano hinge on the small hatch door needed to access the flush lever for the toilet. Here are two photos:

Notice in the first photo that I still need to install the shoe molding at the cork floor (I had to finish the toilet install before I did this) and need to cover the lever access slot in the front of the console needed to flush the original toilet.

Dan

TouringDan · 07-24-2013, 08:43 AM

Here are some more photos showing installation of a "Curve" porta potti in my 66 Tradewind, specifically showing the trim used and access to the flush lever.

Dan

TouringDan · 08-11-2013, 10:26 PM

I just finished installing a new Dometic RM2510 fridge in my Tradewind. I started a thread titled "Refrigerator Baffling & Sealing" that covers part of the installation details. I wanted to cover the rest of the Tradewind affected details in this thread.

I was having performance problems with my old fridge, just so so cooling, and lately it would not operate on gas at all, and I boondock a lot so this was unacceptable. If you have ever removed a TW fridge, you know that it is a PITA. Fridge reliability is of utmost importance since it is such a PITA to remove it.

The original installation did nothing in the way of baffling to help fridge performance and did very little to seal the vent area and exhaust area from the trailer living area. This is both a safety concern and a performance concern; ie I want all the heat and exhaust products in the vent area behind the fridge to be vented out the roof vent. I don't want them going into the trailer. The new fridge provide a foam seal around the sides and top of the mounting plate, but nothing at the bottom. I used part of a regular exterior door foam seal to make my own seal at the bottom. This was installed between the bottom of the front of the fridge and and the cork floor.

One key element to installation of this fridge, or any other fridge is to use a remote thermometer to monitor the temperature in the fridge without opening the door. I bought one at Walmart based on a recommendation from Hoonanea and it works great. Every fridge should have one. It shows, on setting 2, that the fridge is from 34 to 38 degrees with an outside temperature from 74 to 87.

Dan

TouringDan · 08-14-2013, 08:48 PM

This is an update to post #8 where I installed a new battery shelf and 2 golf cart batteries.

When I removed the original toilet and installed the porta potty, this required moving the rear battery over, so that there would be room to flush the toilet. This resulted in the batteries rotating slightly after traveling for a while. To fix this I installed solid wood stops behind the batteries and in front of the batteries to keep them from rotating. Removing the batteries is actually easier now since I can remove the porta potty and slide the batteries out onto the porta potty false floor to check the water level. It takes 10 minutes max. I also put 3-4 coats of polyurethane on so it would look better and would be easy to keep clean.

Dan

ghostbreath · 08-16-2013, 01:10 PM

Dan, referring to your post #37 (The link provided by dpe01) I do not find a member with that designation nor any reference to a supplier. Can you supply the link directly?
Thanks, and very good work,
Steve

TouringDan · 08-17-2013, 05:52 PM

GB

I cannot provide a link directly to the source because they change quite often. If you go to ebay and just type in "36 smd led light" you will find a source for 36 smd light pads for $2.99 ea plus shipping. These lights are shipped from China and it takes 3-4 weeks to receive. I have placed 3 orders over the last 2 years and not had any problems.

Dan

TouringDan · 08-17-2013, 09:31 PM

I want to remove the plumbing fixtures from the bathroom vanity and refinish the vanity itself and then install new fixtures. Does anybody know if the vanity top can be removed or do I have to do all the work from the access area at the bottom of the vanity (see photos)?

Thanks, Dan

TouringDan · 08-18-2013, 07:23 PM

I could not see any way to remove the vanity top, so I removed the shower faucet from the front. To my surprise, it was really quite simple because the faucet body was plastic. I used my vibrating saw and it worked quite well.

The faucet looks like it is original. I find that amazing that they used a plastic body faucet in 1966. I think it is original because it does not appear that any of the plumbing feeding the faucet has been removed or modified.

Next to remove is the vanity faucet. It is all metal.

Dan

TouringDan · 08-22-2013, 09:41 PM

Removing the metal vanity faucet was a b*****. Afer I got the copper plumbing lines removed, I figured it would be easy to remove the nut holding the faucet in (photo 1). I was wrong. I tried everything. First it takes an 1 1/8 deep well six sided socket to fit the faucet nut. I could not get it to budge even after soaking it with pb blaster and then using an impact wench. I finally used a long 1/2 breaker bar which finally broke it loose, not the nut but it twisted the valve body loose from the faucet body. I then took my trusty recipro saw and sawed off the top of the brass body. This did the trick.

Dan

TouringDan · 08-31-2013, 08:45 AM

The vanity drain is not a typical bathroom drain, but is actually a standard 2" bar sink drain. I bought a new "commercial" drain at Lowes that has the same basket/sink strainer as the original kitchen sink.

Removing the old drain turned out to be quite easy if you have the correct tools. You need a basin wrench to hold the 2 1/4" nut underneath the vanity and then I used an automotive tool, designed to rotate the emergency brake piston, to loosen the chrome drain from the top. I expected it to be tight as it had not been loosened in 47 years, but it was easy to remove. See the photos below.

Now I can clean, bondo imperfections, sand and prepare the vanity for applying the Porv white coat.

Dan