Heater suggestions

[zopolo]

Greetings everyone,

I just recently purchased a 1966 Overlander. It is an adventure for sure and I am happy to get started on refurbishing it. I'm in the middle of squaring away the exterior with fresh caulking, vents, etc. Next month it will be new pex plumbing. I will certainly have questions for the forum and have really appreciated all that I have read so far.

The furnace needs replacing as well as the water heater and am hoping to get some suggestions as to what works well in those departments and brand names. Furnace wise I will be staying in it till the weather gets truly cold and maybe then some Are any particular furnaces better suited for colder weather?

I would like to get an electric/propane H20 heater versus just propane. Does the wiring have need to have anything done to it to accommodate that? Any suggestions as to brands? Currently it is a 6 gallon tank.

Thanks in advance!
Bruce

[tkasten]

Bruce- congrats on your find. I would recommend a Suburban NT-30 for the furnace and an Atwood 6gal. DSI (direct spark ignition) Elect./Propane for the water heater. I have installed both in my Safari. Install is pretty easy.

[DKB_SATX]

You'll need a 120V source near the water heater, and if you don't already have a DSI unit for the propane-only water heater, you'll need 12V power there and a couple of switches wired in (one for propane, one for 120v).

[newsgauger]

Bruce,

Welcome to the forums and your 'new-to-you' trailer looks great!

My plans are to do the same and running the new 12V DC leads and 120V AC wiring isn't that hard of a job.

Good Luck and look forward to seeing more of your interior layout.

Chris

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by zopolo

The furnace needs replacing as well as the water heater and am hoping to get some suggestions as to what works well in those departments and brand names. Furnace wise I will be staying in it till the weather gets truly cold and maybe then some Are any particular furnaces better suited for colder weather?

Get something around 24,000 BTU/h. More BTU isn't necessarily better but you may find that in some product lines that is between sizes so you will have to go a little larger. That should carry you down to around 0 degrees with no wind with a 72 degree interior.

Suburban and Atwood are both good with the main difference being that Atwood is serviced from the exterior and for this reason requires a larger exterior door. Suburban is serviced from the interior and therefore requires some sort of access from inside and can't be completely buried under nonremovable cabinetry. Both are quality products.

I would like to get an electric/propane H20 heater versus just propane. Does the wiring have need to have anything done to it to accommodate that? Any suggestions as to brands? Currently it is a 6 gallon tank.

The electric-capable water heaters draw 1500 watts and should have their own circuit and their own circuit breaker. There is an RVIA/NEC limit on the number and size of thermostatically controlled loads in a trailer with only 30a service so some might say that you need to upgrade to 50a service if you also have an air conditioner and microwave.

As others have pointed out you will need some 12v wiring for power and controls for a modern DSI water heater.

If you are replacing the original Bowen water heater you can use either Atwood or Suburban. Some people have been able to re-use the exterior shroud although I don't think either Atwood or Suburban encourage that. Otherwise if you have an Atwood or Suburban now you should replace with the same brand because they are different shapes.

Both are good products although Atwood is slightly lighter and has a corrosion resistant tank that doesn't require an anode.

[Wazbro]

Originally Posted by Jammer

The electric-capable water heaters draw 1500 watts and should have their own circuit and their own circuit breaker. There is an RVIA/NEC limit on the number and size of thermostatically controlled loads in a trailer with only 30a service so some might say that you need to upgrade to 50a service if you also have an air conditioner and microwave.

Airstream would NOT say you need to go to a 50A service for a gas/electric water heater, microwave and 1 air conditioner, they prove this on a daily basis by building them that way each day with 30A service.

Of course it is still very important to keep total electric load in mind with any trailer, especially with 30A service, and you can't use all appliances at the same time.

[zopolo]

Thank you all for your replies and suggestions about the heaters for the Overlander. Sorry to not get back right away.

The exterior is squared away and sealed so now I can turn my attention fully to the plumbing and furnace. Fortunately a good friend of mine who is a General contractor/ electrical contractor (and a very good plumber to boot), said he would take the lead on doing this part of the project. So I can be his assistant and learn.

I have a couple of questions to throw out there:

One is regarding the tub and bathroom sink piping. If we am going to run pex all the way to the tub and sink fixtures, will I have to remove the fiberglass tub/sink structure to access the fixture connections properly? Don't have a problem with this if it is the best way. I suppose for thoroughness sake the copper should be replaced all the way to the fixtures and not just simply attach the new pex lines to the copper lead lines going into the fiberglass tub/sink structure. That would be easier but it would also be a potential weak spot. Opinions?

FYI...There is no toilet now and I am not going to put one back in but going for the Thetford Porta Potty a la Touring Dan's improvement (http://www.airforums.com/forums/f116...s-94152-3.html) The old owner hacked the fiberglass toilet seating structure in half but the tub and sink portion is good and I want to preserve that.

The other question I have is about the Univolt 30 that is still functional and in the trailer now. Would now be a good time to replace it? Or does "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" apply here?

Again, thanks for everyone's interest and suggestions. It's great to have other Overlander owners and their experience as a resource.

Bruce

[zopolo]

I just too a good look at the tub and sink fiberglass surround I found the access holes for the fixtures. Never realized it was there. So please ignore my first question on the last post!

Bruce

[Cochese]

Hi Bruce , here is what I did w/ my bath on my 65 overlander ( I stole the ideA from another forum member!)it requires reconfiguring drain pipes but end result is far better than original .

[Wazbro]

Originally Posted by zopolo

The other question I have is about the Univolt 30 that is still functional and in the trailer now. Would now be a good time to replace it? Or does "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" apply here?

Bruce

Now would be a good time to replace it. Even when working well the old Univolts were hard on batteries and much worse for AGM batteries.