The fulltiming adventure begins

[sd90mac]

Originally Posted by Phil/Edee

Great Story, Guys!! Sorry but I seem to have missed any pictures of the two star tourists??? Sophie looks right at home. Wish we could have been there!

Thanks for all your climbing and crawling... I assume Marie was standing nearby with a heightened sense of awareness????

Phil & Edee

Nope, I had my back turned because he is okay for this type of shennagin (sp).

Sophie had a great day at the doggie day care, including being mommie to all of the puppies that were there. As usual, when we got there to get her they did not want to give her back! She even went swimming in the pool at the "resort".

I hope we can go back soon and spend more time because it was so relaxing.

Marie

[overlander63]

The last several days, I've taken care of a few things we wanted to update for one reason or another. One has been the overbed reading lights. They are incandescent, and when you turn them on, it's like having your own personal heat lamp, plus the bulbs themselves are power hogs.
So, I was perusing our favorite online auction site, trying to see what havoc I could wreak. I found a pair of single-tube Thinlites Airstream was offering up for a good buy-it-now price. I took a couple of measurements, and determined they would fit int he area I wanted them to with minor modifications. I bought them, and late this week, I got a box from Jackson Center. I puled them out, and verified the measurements. They are only very slightly larger than the dimensions stated, and it wouldn't make a bit of difference to 98% of the people in the world. 98% of the people in the world, however, are not trying to make them fit into a vintage light fixture.
I removed the lens on both the Thinlites, and the reading lights. I removed the bulbs and sockets, and bent the ends of the Thinlites so they would fit in the reading light housing. The Thinlites both came with their own switches, which I left in place, and "on". This way, 1- if and when the switches on the reasding lights fail, I will have spares, and 2-I will know where said spares are, and know they will work for the lights, and 3-I won't have to store them somewhere, and maybe lose them.
I then wired in the Thinlites, and riveted them to the reading light fixtures from inside, and replaced the reading light lenses. The result was a pair of reading lights that run cooler, are brighter, and draw about 1/3 the power of the incandescents they replaced. Plus, the lights still look exactly as they did before I messed with them.
Here are a few pics of them:

[overlander63]

Next, I've been noticing that Bertha is very hot inside when I get home. Since June 1 is the official beginning of rainy season here (not that we've seen any yet), I've had to leave the Fantastic Vents closed in case of rain. We turn off the a/c during the day, since neither of us are home. We have to pay electric here, and I don't want the 34 year old a/c running needlessly.
However, every afternoon this week, it's been 100 degrees or more in the trailer when I get home. The outdoor temps are in the mid-to-high 90's, but this is over and above the outdoor temps. So, I gave our friends at Fantastic a calls, and asked them to send me an upgrade kit. This will make our "create -a-breeze" into a 6000RBT series fan. This has a thermostat and rain sensor. I spent about 45 minutes this morning installing the kit in our center fan. It was a clean install, and now I can leave the fan on, set to, say 95 degrees, and it will open the vent and turn the fan on when the temp inside exceeds that. It will also close the vent when it rains. We'll see how successful it is when I go to work on Tuesday...

[azflycaster]

Nice upgrades. I have been thinking about replacing the bulbs with tubes in our trailer as well. When we had a pop up I replaced the main light with a double tube. It used less power, produced no noticeable heat and was a much better light for reading.

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by azflycaster

Nice upgrades. I have been thinking about replacing the bulbs with tubes in our trailer as well. When we had a pop up I replaced the main light with a double tube. It used less power, produced no noticeable heat and was a much better light for reading.

I grabbed a photo of it from Airstream. It is a single 15 watt tube in each one. The first ones were so easy to modify and use, I tried to get the other two that were available, but someone else got them.

[overlander63]

It seems the weekend's upgrades aren't over yet. I went to Camping World to pick up a jug of blue smelly stuff for the black tank...but I can never resist a sale...
We now have a 20# LP cylinder for our outdoor Coleman grill/stove, a new FloJet water pump for the fresh water system, and a pair of Maxx-Air vent covers, in smoke color.
I got the tank purged and filled on the way home, and after arriving, I again climbed on the roof to install the covers. One is mounted facing front on the original vent in the bathroom, and covers the Solardome I got from Inland Andy, the other is mounted facing rear on the front Fantastic vent. I'm not crazy about not being able to open the front Fantastic all the way now, but I can at least leave the outer two open, and let the middle Fantastic with the thermostat and rain sensor pull and push air as needed.
The water pump is to replace the original Par belt-driven pump that hasn't worked in years, maybe decades. It's really buried under the kitchen cabinets, I'm going to have to play contortionist to get in there and replace it...

[Jim & Susan]

Looks like this is your week for upgrades.

Jim

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by Jim & Susan

Looks like this is your week for upgrades.

Jim

Yes, and maybe I'll be able to upgrade Marie's overhead bedroom tambours this week, too.

[Chuck]

Gee, your reading light lenses look amazingly "not yellowed"...unlike mine. Are they originals?

I really like the florescent retrofit idea...do you think that this model fixture is available anywhere else, or is it "discontinued"?

I think the galley light in my trailer is the same as the bunk-lights...it would be good to do that one, too.

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by Chuck

Gee, your reading light lenses look amazingly "not yellowed"...unlike mine. Are they originals?

I really like the florescent retrofit idea...do you think that this model fixture is available anywhere else, or is it "discontinued"?

I think the galley light in my trailer is the same as the bunk-lights...it would be good to do that one, too.

They are the original lenses, the bright white flourescent tends to whiten the yellow a bit.
Here are the specs for the lights:
MODEL 115
Watts: 15
Lamp: One F15T8/CW
Voltage: 12 VDC
Amps: 1.3
Lumens: 825
Dimensions: 18" x 4" x 1.375"
Dimensions (mm): 457.2 x 101.6 x 34.9
Weight (kg): 1.04 lb (0.472 kg)

Thinlite still shows them "available".
Install was almost pathetically easy, simply remove the old cover, remove the cover from the thinlite, bend the housing a bit so it will fit the OEM fixture, hack off the rivets holding the sockets, rivet the thinlite in place, snap the original lens back on.
Total time to install was 20 minutes for both.

[overlander63]

Something that's been bugging me ever since we got Bertha is one of the shower door panels is broken. It was held together by some duct tape when we started, I removed that and glued the pieces together so it looked a little better, and it didn't leak, but you could really tell it was broken. I've been on the lookout for a new door since day one, and found one on Ebay thanks to a heads-up from another forums member (thanks, ganglin), but was outbid.
So, I made a trek to Ace Hardware this morning, and picked up a 16"x48" piece of clear plexiglass. I also got a spray can of "Krylon instant frost window frosting" to make the plexiglass more opaque. I drilled out the rivets holding the frame together, removed the broken pieces of amber plexiglass, and installed the clear (now white frosted) plexi in its place. I had been planning to replace the fresh piece with an amber look-a-like when I found one, but it turned out so well I think I'll replace the amber piece with this stuff, unless I find another amber piece before I'm ready to tackle it.
Here are some photos of the door taken apart, and put back together with the new piece:

[sd90mac]

Hi,

I asked Terry to go back to Ace and get another piece of plexiglass and replace the other shower door. It really looks nice with both pieces replaced.

Marie

[Phil/Edee]

Uh... Terry... about the under sink restoration with the new FloJet... can you clean up all that "nest" of tubing while you're under there????

Ha.... Hey, we won't recognize the place when we get down there next year!! Good work....

Hugs to all...

P & E

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by Phil/Edee

Uh... Terry... about the under sink restoration with the new FloJet... can you clean up all that "nest" of tubing while you're under there????

Ha.... Hey, we won't recognize the place when we get down there next year!! Good work....

Hugs to all...

P & E

It's an "instant clean up", just slide the door shut.

[pmclemore]

Very nice install - looks bright and clean!

Pat

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by pmclemore

Very nice install - looks bright and clean!

Pat

It makes it much brighter inside the shower area as well. If anyone has the old amber shower door inserts, I would recommend replacing them with the white frosted ones, it makes a lot of difference in there. It also brightens the bathroom as well, without that dark orange stuff. All it takes is drilling out the two top rivets on the sides of the channels, lifting the top channel out, lifting the inserts out, installing the gasket around the inserts, and reinstalling everything.

[overlander63]

When I left for work this morning, I turned off the a/c, and opened the vents in the front and rear of Bertha, and set the Fantastic on "auto". I took a trip back here during my lunch break, and found the vent open, and the fan fanning like it was supposed to. We also had a small amount of rain later in the day, and when Marie got home, the fan had closed on the rain, and re-opened when it stopped. So, I will call this upgrade a success.
Now, as for the shower door inserts, it is important to note that the doors are different widths, one is an inch narrower than the other one. Silly me, I didn't measure door #2, and just got a second sheet of plexiglass in the same dimensions as door #1. I then found out to my chagrin they are not the same width. I then scribed a line down the length of the insert, and attempted to make a clean break along the line. Umm, my attempt was less than perfect, I wound up snapping a corner off the insert, so off to Ace Hardware I will go this coming weekend...

[overlander63]

Just so you know, we haven't run out of things to to with (and to) Bertha, but I have been busy with a few other projects, some of which indirectly involve our trailer.
First, I got the narrower (14 1/4" wide) shower door insert, frosted it, and installed it. It looks a lot better than the 1970's brownish-orange insert, and matches the insert I just installed to replace the broken one. If anyone else has one of these black-tank-contents-colored shower doors, I would recommend changing the inserts for white ones. It does make a world of difference as far as being brighter, both inside the shower and out.
Second, I removed one of the horizontal tambours in the bathroom, and cleaned the tracks and reinstalled it. Now it opens fully, without risking tearing the cabinet off the wall when trying to open it.
Third, in one of my "measure once, cut twice" moments, I removed the twist latch for the old nylon strap that secured the shower doors for travel that rotted to dust long before we got our trailer. I then installed a swag hook for an elastic strap on the outer edge of the shower door, and drilled a hole for the second one on the other end of the door. I was careful in that area, because I was drilling into the closet, and there were some wires, as well as the vent pipe for the grey tank there. I drilled through the wall, stopped, looked inside the closet for the hole. Nothing. Must not have drilled all the way through. I stuck the drill bit into the hole, and felt something else in the hole. I shined a flashlight into the hole, but couldn't see anything but black. I then grabbed my trusty cordless drill, and drilled some more. The drill went through whatever was in the way, and I went back to check on the hole. Still nothing. I've bottomed the drill out, so there has to be a hole there. All it is is a single 1/4" piece of wood.
I grabbed the flashlight again, and looked very carefully. I found the hole, all right--behind the vent pipe! I had drilled a hole in the vent pipe. Sigh...
I patched the pipe, and exercised the better part of valor with that project for a while.
Another thing that fell into my lap during the weekend, is a slightly used Hensley Arrow Hitch. While I wasn't looking for one, the price was right. I just had to remove the bent/broken/torched off parts so I can get the rest of it, and install the thing on Bertha. I got very little info on the circumstances of my acquisition, other than it came off a 34' Excella that flipped, totalling the trailer and tow vehicle, and none of the occupants made it through the accident alive. I'm hoping to have the HaHa installed in time for our next trip.
I'm anxiously awaiting the delivery of a pair of LED tail light bulbs, and will post pictures of the install when they arrive. I ordered the 90 degree angle white 1157 replacements so they can fit directly into the lights we have there now.
I'm also waiting for a fresh water tank to get here so I can experience the joy of crawling around in the mud under our trailer, trying to put it in by myself...

[richinny]

terry, are you going to have the hitch magnafluxed?

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by richinny

terry, are you going to have the hitch magnafluxed?

It's not a bad idea, especially considering the circumstances surrounding its sojourn to the back of my truck. I'll see if I can find someone willing to do this.