Floor Replacement '63 Bambi

[NorCal Bambi]

Originally Posted by 47WeeWind

Bambi biscotti to the rescue!

Cappucino for 4 and a camp fire sound good to me.
These will foreever be known as Biscotti vents.
Don

[CaddyGrn]

Originally Posted by 47WeeWind

Bambi biscotti to the rescue!

I want mine dipped in chocolate!
Mrs. NorCal Bambi

[NorCal Bambi]

Well, things are moving along quite nicely. I now have the Refer installed and tested. It is working great and producing "ICE". One thing I'm going to work on is shrouding. Even though the back door has plenty of venting in it, a great deal of the heat from the fridge goes into the trailer. I think most of the Airstreams have good venting to the outside. The 61 to 63 Bambi's seem to be lacking in this area. Anyone out there want to make comments on this. Or have Ideas. I'd like to hear from you. All the original equipment is up and running well. Even the rebuilt Bowen hot water heater. I can't tell you how happy this makes me. I have come up with a way to replace the small nylon slider in the window cranks. They work well and are cheap. I'll have some pictures and info on this in a future post. Every day had been lots of small finish jobs. We are definitely going to make it to Silver Falls Or. Rally. Here in Yreka, which is on I5, there have been lots of Airstream sightings lately. Someone just the other day said they saw this neat pointer front airstream in town. Their comment was, " It was really cool".
Don

[markdoane]

Don,

Here is my attempt at solving the refrigerator shroud problem.

My '59 Tradewind came with a "one-way" refrigerator. You can see the original louver vent at about waist level just behind the door.

I am installing a 2-door 2-way Dometic, and decided to go with the 'certified' vent arrangement, recommended by Dometic. That required putting in a lower vent opening and a roof vent.

The problem I saw was too much open area in the space between the refrigerator and the curved wall of the airstream. This would reduce the drafting efficiency of the flue, and also left a lot of wasted space behind the refer.

I hate wasted space.

So I built an access door, and boxed in the curved space behind the refrigerator. That left me with a shallow (4") but high and wide storage space which is perfect for storing my electrical cord, and maybe a canopy.

[Chuck]

sheesh, where do you guys learn how to do all that cool metalwork?? is there a correspondance course?

in the 70's trailers, the intake for the fridge is created by a hole in the floor, enclosed by chicken wire. (a-hem..."hardware cloth" ). The "flue" is basically the same as you made, only bigger, and it goes to the exhaust vent in the roof. The good thing about this is that the vent is not affected by the door. I've seen some owners of newer trailers complain that their fridge cooling drops way down if they have the door open, as it blocks those vents.

anyway...Norcal: could you explain those biscotti-lookin things? "hardform caps like on the airplane"....huh? whats the material?

[uwe]

Originally Posted by NorCal Bambi

Well, things are moving along quite nicely. I now have the Refer installed and tested. It is working great and producing "ICE". One thing I'm going to work on is shrouding. Even though the back door has plenty of venting in it, a great deal of the heat from the fridge goes into the trailer. I think most of the Airstreams have good venting to the outside. The 61 to 63 Bambi's seem to be lacking in this area. Anyone out there want to make comments on this. Or have Ideas. I'd like to hear from you.Don

Hi Don,

Good airflow over the back of the refrigerator is paramount to it still making ice when the weather gets hot. Take a good look at teh rear of the fridge compartment,and see if you can vent it somehow at the highest point under the counter top. Natural convection works best, but you may consider amployiong a pair of computer style muffin fans for the hotter days.
I did this, and it works very well. Mine have slow and fast speed, so I can leave them on at night without too much noise. Someone had alink with some really quiet fans, but I just bought them from a local electronic surplus store.
I am suggesting these fans because I beleive that you do not have room for a fridge scoop that exits the roof, or am I wrong?

[jcferguson]

Originally Posted by NorCal Bambi

Well, things are moving along quite nicely. I now have the Refer installed and tested. It is working great and producing "ICE". One thing I'm going to work on is shrouding. Even though the back door has plenty of venting in it, a great deal of the heat from the fridge goes into the trailer. I think most of the Airstreams have good venting to the outside. The 61 to 63 Bambi's seem to be lacking in this area. Anyone out there want to make comments on this. Or have Ideas. I'd like to hear from you. All the original equipment is up and running well. Even the rebuilt Bowen hot water heater. I can't tell you how happy this makes me. I have come up with a way to replace the small nylon slider in the window cranks. They work well and are cheap. I'll have some pictures and info on this in a future post. Every day had been lots of small finish jobs. We are definitely going to make it to Silver Falls Or. Rally. Here in Yreka, which is on I5, there have been lots of Airstream sightings lately. Someone just the other day said they saw this neat pointer front airstream in town. Their comment was, " It was really cool".
Don

Everything looks fantastic, Don. I'm interested to hear about your slider solution - I found some nylon spacers at the hardware store (nylon cylinders that I cut to size) that worked for me - wondering if you did the same. Hope I get to see your trailer sometime!

Carlos

[NorCal Bambi]

What a great response. Here is the slider solution. jcferguson, my solution sounds like what you did. The following pictures should explain. Please feel free to make comments and suggestions. The windows go up very smoothly, however they jump a lot when going down. The old sliders were the same. Maybe I need to do some work on the chanels.
Don

[NorCal Bambi]

For the fridge venting here is what I've done. The door in the back of my Bambi has 2 sets of lovers. In the top and bottom of the door. The refer is placed directly in the middle back of the trailer. The heat from the fridge is suppose to go out the top louvers. The problem is that there is no shrouds to guide the air flow. So it goes up into the drawer that is above the fridge and into the drawer. It also flows around and out of many places into the interior of the trailer. BAD. So I have put aluminum shielding under the drawer and caused a deflection up to the louvers. The 3rd shield directs the hot air directly to the upper louvers. This is working much better. However I now need to seal all small cracks and spaces left by not so exact metal work. Once again I'm open to comments and suggestions. I'll bet the old system left many a camper with a head ache in the morning.
Don

[NorCal Bambi]

Uwe, The fans sound like a good addition. We are only using one battery in our Bambi. How do you think the fans will affect the battery when Boon docking. I have six fans in my computer. So I am familiar with the need for proper cooling.
Thanks Don

[NorCal Bambi]

Originally Posted by chuck

sheesh, where do you guys learn how to do all that cool metalwork?? is there a correspondance course?

in the 70's trailers, the intake for the fridge is created by a hole in the floor, enclosed by chicken wire. (a-hem..."hardware cloth" ). The "flue" is basically the same as you made, only bigger, and it goes to the exhaust vent in the roof. The good thing about this is that the vent is not affected by the door. I've seen some owners of newer trailers complain that their fridge cooling drops way down if they have the door open, as it blocks those vents.

anyway...Norcal: could you explain those biscotti-lookin things? "hardform caps like on the airplane"....huh? whats the material?

Most of my metal working knowledge comes from what I learned in Art School and the trial and error. No pain No gain. The Biscottie vent inserts are make of hard rubber foam. They use to be a garden knee pad. The airplane referance is to a 1959 Bonanza the my wife and I had for 18 years. There are a bunch of stories there. We had hard foam pads that went into the front air vents etc, to keep the birds from making nests in the engine compartment. Bird nests can ruin a pilots day.
Don

[uwe]

Originally Posted by NorCal Bambi

Uwe, The fans sound like a good addition. We are only using one battery in our Bambi. How do you think the fans will affect the battery when Boon docking. I have six fans in my computer. So I am familiar with the need for proper cooling.
Thanks Don

Don,
I would add 2 things to the refrigerator install:
Fans, as discussed. You run them when it gets really hot, or while cooling down the fridge. A switch can turn them off if you're worried about battery life. A two way toggle can select high speed ( 12V parallel) or low speed ( serial connection, 6V each).
A wedge for a venturi effect over the cooling fins behind the refrigerator.
You want whatever air is flowing behind the refrigerator to flow over the cooling fins, and the tubing behind the refrigerator, not right past it and out the top. So, a metal wedge between the lower louver and the upper louver mounted to the access door would likely help direct the airflow where it is most beneficial. These things can make a big difference on how well your absorption fridge can perform.

[NorCal Bambi]

Originally Posted by uwe

Don,
I would add 2 things to the refrigerator install:
Fans, as discussed. You run them when it gets really hot, or while cooling down the fridge. A switch can turn them off if you're worried about battery life. A two way toggle can select high speed ( 12V parallel) or low speed ( serial connection, 6V each).
A wedge for a venturi effect over the cooling fins behind the refrigerator.
You want whatever air is flowing behind the refrigerator to flow over the cooling fins, and the tubing behind the refrigerator, not right past it and out the top. So, a metal wedge between the lower louver and the upper louver mounted to the access door would likely help direct the airflow where it is most beneficial. These things can make a big difference on how well your absorption fridge can perform.

Uwe, would you be willing to make a quick sketch and post it for me. I think I understand. But a picture would sure help.
Thanks Don

[uwe]

Originally Posted by NorCal Bambi

Uwe, would you be willing to make a quick sketch and post it for me. I think I understand. But a picture would sure help.
Thanks Don

Don, I don't know how to draw something on the computer, heck I can barely type...ashamed to admit.
I would be happy to fax you a sketch, if you PM me your fax number.
By the time I learn my Illustrator program, you will have been camping for several years in your Bambi.

[uwe]

I figured out that I can draw something and then take a picture of it....duh!
Here it is.
The dotted line is supposed to be the deflector that channels the airflow as close as is practical over the cooling fins behind the refrigerator.
I did not draw in the fans.

[NorCal Bambi]

Originally Posted by uwe

I figured out that I can draw something and then take a picture of it....duh!
Here it is.
The dotted line is supposed to be the deflector that channels the airflow as close as is practical over the cooling fins behind the refrigerator.
I did not draw in the fans.

Uwe, that's a great help. I'll work on that today.
Thanks Don

[Chuck]

Originally Posted by NorCal Bambi

...The Biscottie vent inserts are make of hard rubber foam. They use to be a garden knee pad. The airplane referance is to a 1959 Bonanza the my wife and I had for 18 years. There are a bunch of stories there. We had hard foam pads that went into the front air vents etc, to keep the birds from making nests in the engine compartment. Bird nests can ruin a pilots day.
Don

Oh, you mean "cowl plugs". yes, I'm quite familiar, having picked a few birds nest out of airplane engines, myself. had one in the tail cone, once. now THAT was horrifying to get out. after that, we made it a habit to plug both ends.

I guess I was confused, as I thought the point of those plugs was to keep stuff out of the vent without disrupting air flow.

[NorCal Bambi]

Originally Posted by chuck

Oh, you mean "cowl plugs". yes, I'm quite familiar, having picked a few birds nest out of airplane engines, myself. had one in the tail cone, once. now THAT was horrifying to get out. after that, we made it a habit to plug both ends.

I guess I was confused, as I thought the point of those plugs was to keep stuff out of the vent without disrupting air flow.

Chuck, you are probably familiar with this one too. The only thing worse than birds are mud dobbers. Do you still fly?
Don

[Chuck]

Originally Posted by NorCal Bambi

Chuck, you are probably familiar with this one too. The only thing worse than birds are mud dobbers. Do you still fly?
Don

oh, yeah. had one in the pitot tube once...nest was half way between there and the airspeed indicator. whole thing had to be pulled out and replaced. he couldn't just plug the opening. noooOOOOooo! .

anyway...nope, haven't flown in a while. maybe when I hit the power-ball.

[NorCal Bambi]

I decided the truck need a full break job before we left for the Silver Falls, Or. Rally. Spare time, What spare time.
Don