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navyspook · 01-13-2012, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keyair

I'd be miserable if I had had to wear a skirt all day in that weather!

"...but they'll never take our freeedom!!!"
- William Wallace a la Braveheart

alfalsetto · 01-13-2012, 10:09 AM

I think you and about 25.000 people like to see that to.

Keyair · 01-13-2012, 03:14 PM

Here ya go...
Be warned... niether the wires nor the battery tray shots are for the weak...

crazeevw · 01-13-2012, 04:15 PM

This is my ratsnest underneath my motorhome. Cables stick so far down, I'm almost afraid that they'll get caught while driving. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Derek

alfalsetto · 01-13-2012, 04:17 PM

You have your work all cut out for you for the next two or 5 day, or maybe more

Keyair · 01-13-2012, 09:28 PM

Yes, its gonna be some work.
The whole floor is full of holes, but as it needs to be about 3" deeper, that works!
The back of the tray is rotted up about 2", so i will replace that metal too, and splice the new section in.

My plan is to leave the divider in, to act as a stiffener, remove the "Toolbox" lid, and move the Engine battery there. The 4 x GC2 batteries will sit in 2 pairs.
I am drawing up plans tonight...
Tomorrow i hope to start by cutting the floor out...

crazeevw · 01-13-2012, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keyair

Yes, its gonna be some work.

My plan is to leave the divider in, to act as a stiffener, remove the "Toolbox" lid, and move the Engine battery there. The 4 x GC2 batteries will sit in 2 pairs.
I am drawing up plans tonight...
Tomorrow i hope to start by cutting the floor out...

Steve, one of the 'previous investors' has done exactly what you've mentioned. Placed the engine battery in the toolbox area, and I have 2 GC batteries in the open area. Is there really room for 4 GC batteries in there? Didn't you upgrade your drawer slides to hold more weight as well?
Thanks, Derek

Keyair · 01-13-2012, 10:46 PM

Hey Derek,
My calculations say that the original battery compartment is 26.5" long, by 15" wide from where the rolled outer skin is to the back wall.
The "Toolbox" area is rearward, and is an additional 16".
My GC2's have a footprint of about 10" x 7". So, all 4 sitting together will be 20" x 14".
You are correct, i picked up some 500lb slides last year for this mod.

I will post a drawing maybe tomorrow.

Keyair · 01-14-2012, 10:47 PM

Interesting...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUfQ110scls

navyspook · 01-15-2012, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazeevw

This is my ratsnest underneath my motorhome. Cables stick so far down, I'm almost afraid that they'll get caught while driving. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Derek

Interesting engineering to put the fuel line and filter (and possible leaks) so close to such large electrical line and junctions...

Former Ford Pinto designer no doubt

streamquest · 01-15-2012, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keyair

Interesting...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUfQ110scls

Key,

Just watching that video makes me queasy. WAY TOO MANY PIECES, and definitely not something I'd attempt to do on a picnic table at a campground! It reminds me of the scene in the movie where the profusely sweating hero has to disarm the doomsday bomb and save the world.

If you have the courage to take that thing apart, I would like to promote you from Rivet Master to Rivet God. By the way, is there a second YouTube where he puts it back together?

Charly

Keyair · 01-15-2012, 08:01 PM

LOL, I helped my son take his 7.22 Mercedes Auto apart, and the TH400 is simplistic in comparison!
Yes, he shows you how to put it back together....

OK...
Here is some REALLY scary stuff!

Battery tray surgery...
I will let the pics do the talking...

Drilled the rivets out of the skin...

Now I get into HACK mode!

Keyair · 01-15-2012, 08:08 PM

Because the drawer devider is rusty at the joint, I might reposition it to suit my new battery configeration...

How do GC2's sit footprint wise?

Like this...
And this is what I am liking...

Or this...

Keyair · 01-17-2012, 05:42 PM

Kinda bummed out...
Went to a family party on Saturday, and a couple of the kids and adults had been ill... Now I am down with it as well as 2 others. Good news is mine is nothing more than a low fever, weird stomach, and tiredness.. One of the others is older and ended up in hospital.

Still frustrated at not being able to get on with what I had planned this week.

Did weigh the Batteries.. 63lb each for the GC2 6v, and about 40lb for the 12v starter battery.
So, 1 X 40lb + 4 X 65lb(rounding up) =300lb.
Plus the weight of the drawer, cables, etc...

Now the drawer slides I have are rated at 500lb, but only 300lb for a mobile application. I might have to rethink my plan a little...

streamquest · 01-17-2012, 09:42 PM

Key,

As I'm sure you know, with engineers, there's always a big factor of safety figured into any performance rating. If they say 500lbs, they'll probably hold 1000lbs. The stopping mechanism on the slide is possibly the most critical piece of the whole assembly since it has to deal with the impact load of bringing the contents of the drawer to an abrupt halt. A friend of mine just had his entire drawer hit the ground when the "stop" failed. Caution when opening.

Charly.

Keyair · 01-17-2012, 10:05 PM

Agreed Charly.
I was kinda planning to have the option of putting 6 x 6V in there, and will in fact have space, but the slide capacity is not there...
Maybe I could put 2 500lbs slide on each side...

Keyair · 01-19-2012, 10:13 PM

Some more planning, and measuring..
I made some choices.
The floor will drop 2.5", and the divider will move to the center to make best use of the space, and to support the center of the tray.

This way... if I moved the Engine battery somewhere else..
I could fit 8 X GC2's in here!

So, Today, cut out the divider...

And the Toolbox section lid..

Plan to put the divider back in teh center, but will have to do some repair work all around...

Including moving the isolation switch...

Scrap..

alfalsetto · 01-20-2012, 09:51 AM

It's not that hard once you start, every thing go into place.

Keyair · 01-21-2012, 04:59 PM

So...
I forgot to measure the stock slides, but I think they are about 20".

I have "In stock"..

6 x 26" 500lb slides
4 x 20" 500lb slides
4 x 14" 500lb slides

I was planning to use the 26"rs and had checked they would fit, and liked the idea of having the drawer pull out about 5" past the bodywork to be able to see all the fill holes.

Now I am thinking, as I will have to mod the slide attachments on the frame anyway, I should use 2 x slides per side to provide the weight capacity and safety margin I would prefer long term.

Ideas?

Keyair · 01-28-2012, 10:14 PM

I spent some time talking to Randy at Super Soundproofing down here is San Marcos, CA.
Randy was SUPER helpful, and patiently explained the concepts and methodology of Soundproofing my genset compartment on the phone.
When I visited them on Thursday past, I took the dimensions with me.
I explained I was on a tight budget and together we came up with a plan.
As money is tight, he suggested I do this in 3 steps, spread the cost accordingly.
The material he suggested is Mass Loaded Vinyl(MLV) with a Closed cell foam on the front face.
he says that this stuff is the Bomb, and has almost the same damping and insulation value as lead.
The MLV is 1/8" thick with a 1/4" foam on top. This stuff is heavy... I bet this roll weighs 50lb!

This will be cut to shape, and fully glued to the walls, and roof of the compartment, with construction adhesive. The foam facing toward the Generator.
Randy says to make it in one piece, with roof, back wall and sides, to minimise joints and therefore sound passages.
Whilst the foam face is non-absorbant, he said I could make it wipe clean by gluing Heavy-Duty Kitchen foil to the inner face. I might do this too.

This should slash the Genset noise inside the motorhome, which is already low at 62db under load.

For now I only have enough to do the inner walls, but the plan is to put a sheet below the generator on the floor, and on the outer wall and door too.
Randy also gave me some clues and ideas to box the air intakes and cooling ducts to minmise noise outside too, but this will come later. He also suggested adding foam blocks or dedicated vibration mounts where the genset mounts to the M/H frame, to further break up the sound path. This he called "Decoupling", and I will do this later.

Took sound readings, inside and out at various distances on page 27 of the thread Post #366.
I will repeat to see what difference it makes at each stage!

Plan to insulate the Motor Doghouse and cockpit floor with this too when funds allow.

Info on MLV here...
Soundproofing Mass Loaded Vinyl Barrier, Super Soundproofing Co | Super Soundproofing