Magnet18's 1983 310

[Magnet18]

Originally Posted by bkahler

Correct

You really should have a 20 amp breaker after the 20 amp plug.

You might want to consider installing your now spare transfer switch in the generator circuit. It would appear Airstream made a change from 83 to 84. My 84 310 had two transfer switches. Since you went to the plug/socket route that eliminates the need for the entrance transfer switch but it sure would be a good thing to have a transfer switch on the generator for the reason that Peter mentioned.

Brad

Yea, sticking a breaker inline would be a good idea, as would a transfer switch/timer delay for turning the generator on

I would also like to be able to switch in/out the front/rear AC if I ever am on a 30A plug

For the meantime, that transfer switch was too fast for the generator to warm up anyway, so I'll manually wait till it warms up then plug stuff in

There will be another round of wiring this fall, when I put in a heated floor and/or solar and/or some other goodies

[Magnet18]

New plumbing!
I ditched the leaky fill hose entirely
There is now a valve on the back of the bed to fill the fresh tank from the city water inlet, and the overflow dumps straight out the bottom instead of all over the side of the airstream and leaking into the wall like it used to

Now, if I ever feel like adding an aux fuel tank, i can repurpose the holes where the fresh fill used to be

I also drilled a big hole in the side wall so I can keep an eye on things without lifting the mattress... I hate dealing with that mattress

The grey conduit is where I ran the new wiring the other day

[Magnet18]

Of course, i still have a slow weep where the fill port meets the tank wall, need to figure out how to adress that

And a drip at my hacked up thread-into-pvc fitting

[Magnet18]

Alright, here's where I leave this project for the time being

One last tweak, the fill and overflow are swapped, so the fill is a smaller diameter and higher up than the overflow, so it is impossible to build any pressure on my hacked up plumbing creation
This seems to have stopped that leak, but just in case, i installed a very professional looking leak mitigation device (Tupperware)
(I also ran out of blue pex)

The weep from the fresh fill is gone or very, very slow in this new configuration, so it's not an emergency

It's a hacked together mess, and I hate leaving something like this, but it's now no longer ruining the rest of the airstream, and I have other fires to put out

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by Magnet18

Alright, here's where I leave this project for the time being

One last tweak, the fill and overflow are swapped, so the fill is a smaller diameter and higher up than the overflow, so it is impossible to build any pressure on my hacked up plumbing creation
This seems to have stopped that leak, but just in case, i installed a very professional looking leak mitigation device (Tupperware)
(I also ran out of blue pex)

The weep from the fresh fill is gone or very, very slow in this new configuration, so it's not an emergency

It's a hacked together mess, and I hate leaving something like this, but it's now no longer ruining the rest of the airstream, and I have other fires to put out

I always wondered why you had to fill the fresh water tank from a fill spout, seems like an inefficient way of doing it. I guess maybe it's so you can use buckets to fill the tank!

I've been toying with the same idea of using city line pressure to fill the tank although I was planning on leaving the fill spout in place.

Nice install of that mitigation device

[Magnet18]

My owners manual actually shows that!
It was a different kind of fill though, actually came out and made kind of a funnel

I have no idea why anyone would want or need to make 70 trips with a bucket to fill the airstream

I thought hard about keeping the fill spout functional, but it would be more complicated, and I couldn't come up with any reason to do so.

Plus, like I said, this frees up the port for an aux tank fuel filler. Need to find someone that does custom dimension fuel cells.

[Magnet18]

50A Y adapter showed up, so I finally have 2 ACs!!
So very, very happy

The new 50A circuit I installed as part of this works like a charm as well.

[Magnet18]

Interior door handle plate (not sure what it's actually called?) Has been cracked since we got it, but it's definitely getting worse. I searched online and didn't find anyone. Anyone know a source?

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by Magnet18

Interior door handle plate (not sure what it's actually called?) Has been cracked since we got it, but it's definitely getting worse. I searched online and didn't find anyone. Anyone know a source?

If it was me I'd call it an "Interior door handle plate"

For the most part it would likely be easier finding hens teeth than finding a replacement plate. With that being said I've send you a PM.....

Brad

[Magnet18]

Ice on the front AC! Like half an inch each side!!

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by Magnet18

Ice on the front AC! Like half an inch each side!!

Low on freon?

[Magnet18]

They're only a year or 2 old, so I'm gonna assume/hope it's because I ran it full blast for 36 hours straight in our swampy humidity
Now that I have 2, need to make sure to give one a turn on just the fan every now and then to clear off the ice

Glad I didn't just assume it was the running capacitor like i thought it might be

[Magnet18]

Stupid question time:
Where is the AC vent drain for the front AC on top?

It's clogged, trying to unclog it from the bottom isn't working, 80psi compressed air sounded like it was bleeding out somewhere else, and I don't see the hose at the top

Should I just dump a bunch of bleach in the tray on top?

Also, to confirm, this is the front drain hose, right? I'm not being dumb?

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by Magnet18

Stupid question time:
Where is the AC vent drain for the front AC on top?

It's clogged, trying to unclog it from the bottom isn't working, 80psi compressed air sounded like it was bleeding out somewhere else, and I don't see the hose at the top

Should I just dump a bunch of bleach in the tray on top?

Also, to confirm, this is the front drain hose, right? I'm not being dumb?

That hose is typically what the air conditioner drain tubes look like. I've not seen one drain into the front wheel well before but that doesn't mean anything. My guess is the drain tube route depended on what the floor plan was and what sort of accessories were installed.

I'll have to go back and look at the 345 pictures that I have to see what route the front drain tube might have taken.

Is that an emissions evaporation canister in the picture?

Brad

[bkahler]

Looking closer at your picture it looks like the radiator fan shroud is to the left which means that tube is under the dash. If that's the case then the tube is likely a drain for the dash ac evaporator.

[Magnet18]

Originally Posted by bkahler

Looking closer at your picture it looks like the radiator fan shroud is to the left which means that tube is under the dash. If that's the case then the tube is likely a drain for the dash ac evaporator.

That was taken from the curbside front wheel well looking forward, so i suspect you are correct

So where the heck is the front AC drain?

I've looked all over this thing, every other hose i can find has a clear purpose associated with it

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by Magnet18

That was taken from the curbside front wheel well looking forward, so i suspect you are correct

So where the heck is the front AC drain?

I've looked all over this thing, every other hose i can find has a clear purpose associated with it

The only thing I can point out about the drains is from what I've seen they always run down inside the wall and through the wall floor plate. That puts the hose somewhere within an inch or two of the outside edge of the coach. That's what I've seen on an 84 310, 86 345, 74 Argosy and I believe that holds true for Peanut but I haven't specifically verified that. Next time I'm looking at Peanut I'll see if I can find it.

[bobmiller1]

All roof top AC drains are factory installed on the left side of the motor home, if you draw an imaginary line from the middle of the roof top AC down to the street you will find your drain line, Regards, Bob

[Magnet18]

Aha, found it, hidden between the storage drawer and the front drivers wheel well

Thanks both!

[GWallace]

Brad,

Peanut is probably just like my 77 20’ “Jelly Bean”. It comes out on the driver’s side adjacent to the storage compartment. Basically just below the AC unit on the roof.
Amazingly my old original Armstrong is still working but the Dometic RM66 just quit and that size isn’t made anymore.

Gregg