Ditching propane, going all electric on a 66 Tradewind

[Wazbro]

Originally Posted by goldenchase

I have not heard that any new AS products have absorption refrigerators. DC compressor refrigerators are very efficient compared to AC compressors.

That's what I was trying to warn DAVSCH about since his post seemed to say he expected the 2-way fridge in the AS he ordered would be elec/propane absorption.

[goldenchase]

Originally Posted by goldenchase

I don't know the brand name of the composite flooring used by AS. It is made up of a top and bottom fiberglass layer with a foam middle.

Coosa makes a variety of composite boards for the RV and Marine markets.

Any type of wood product is not a good choice for an RV floor.

I have had to remove several cores from the floor of my 2022 GT to install the diesel heating system. Here is one core.

It is a composite sandwich: floor covering, thick layer of fiberglass, foam, thin layer of fiberglass and insulation. Very good product.

[richard5933]

Originally Posted by goldenchase

I have had to remove several cores from the floor of my 2022 GT to install the diesel heating system. Here is one core.

It is a composite sandwich: floor covering, thick layer of fiberglass, foam, thin layer of fiberglass and insulation. Very good product.

Good information. The true test will be how well it holds up over time, especially with full timer use.

There are some motor homes and trailers on the market using layered composite construction in their floors and roofs which have failed the test of time. Hopefully the Airstream product will hold up better.

[goldenchase]

Originally Posted by richard5933

Good information. The true test will be how well it holds up over time, especially with full timer use.

There are some motor homes and trailers on the market using layered composite construction in their floors and roofs which have failed the test of time. Hopefully the Airstream product will hold up better.

It certainly will not rust or rot. It also takes and holds screws very well. Just has to be a better solution than a wood product.

[richard5933]

Originally Posted by goldenchase

It certainly will not rust or rot. It also takes and holds screws very well. Just has to be a better solution than a wood product.

No doubt better than wood. My concern would be layer separation or foam compaction over time. Probably won't happen, but it wouldn't surprise me.

[goldenchase]

Originally Posted by richard5933

No doubt better than wood. My concern would be layer separation or foam compaction over time. Probably won't happen, but it wouldn't surprise me.

Based on my experience cutting holes in it, it is pretty stout.

[richard5933]

Originally Posted by goldenchase

Based on my experience cutting holes in it, it is pretty stout.

Good to hear.

[dbj216]

Us guys on a budget buy AXC 3/4" plywood for a subfloor replacement. Then we coat it with polyurethane, with epoxy about 2" around the parameter. My 75 Overlander is 45 years old and most of the plywood subfloor is still there and good. I did have subfloor rot in the rear of the trailer that is common for 70s trailers.

Airstream used OSB wood for the subfloor for many years, like 1981 through 2000 or so. This was not such a great choice as it turns to oatmeal when soaked.

Coosa is very expensive and I read it doesn't hold screws very well. The new composite Airstream subfloor does hold screws well so I read.

I am not a Airstream subfloor material expert by any means. Read at your own risk.

David

[richard5933]

Originally Posted by dbj216

Us guys on a budget buy AXC 3/4" plywood for a subfloor replacement. Then we coat it with polyurethane, with epoxy about 2" around the parameter. My 75 Overlander is 45 years old and most of the plywood subfloor is still there and good. I did have subfloor rot in the rear of the trailer that is common for 70s trailers.

Airstream used OSB wood for the subfloor for many years, like 1981 through 2000 or so. This was not such a great choice as it turns to oatmeal when soaked.

Coosa is very expensive and I read it doesn't hold screws very well. The new composite Airstream subfloor does hold screws well so I read.

I am not a Airstream subfloor material expert by any means. Read at your own risk.

David

Only thing I'd add is that Airstream did use plywood for some years during the time you mentioned - my 1994 has plywood. Fortunately I have not found a single spot which has water damage. Haven't figured out a pattern to which they used plywood in and which OSB.

My coach also has plywood subfloors, and they've held up well since 1974 when the coach was built.

The key is keeping up with the inspections and re-caulking to prevent water leaks.

[LLninja]

It sounds like I should consider changing out the entire floor, but at the moment, I’m planning to only patch the rotting parts. I’m off to look for composit/foam plybowrds….

[73Safari]

Hi - Great project! Last year at this time my wife and I were in your situation. We had bought a 1973 Safari 23' (August 2020) and tore it down to the frame. We had the frame re-welded, replaced the rotted plywood and rebuilt the entire interior. After a long winter hiatus, we rallied in the spring and finished in May 2021 and camped in her Memorial weekend for our first outing. It was cold, raining, and miserable, but an awesome test of her capabilities. We camped pretty much every weekend after, up until late November. I re-engineered the entire electrical system for safety and convenience as follows. 1. Progressive Dynamics 30A PD4060 Charge Controller. 2. 2x200AH LI AmperTime Batteries wired in parallel. 3. Krieger 3000W Inverter hardwired delivering inverted power throughout the camper. 4. Goal Zero 200W Briefcase Solar custom adapted to plug into the 7-way. We also bring a Goal Zero 500X to power our XM satellite radio Tour for entertainment and phones etc. We also have 2 x 30lb LP tanks which we use all the time. We re-engineered and upgraded the tank line into the camper, once again for safety and convenience so that it splits and fuels both our oven and stove top. The other line from the split is adapted to fit a little buddy heater which keeps the camper cozy when needed. Our fridge / freezer is a low wattage marine version that will work on DC or AC power when connected to shore power. Bottomline, we couldn't be happier with the result! Keep in mind, we tore out everything old, ie furnace, plumbing, septic tank, water tank etc., and rebuilt focusing on how we camp. FYI, you haven't lived until you've gotten under an Airstream and removed a 50 year old septic tank!

[WoodN48]

Sounds like a great experiment. Don’t camp far from full hookups. Any long term boondocking will be in your past. Think of all your friends with propane as you shiver in a cold trailer with no heat, no hot water and cold food eaten using candle light.

[SouthForkAS]

Remember the "Medallion" homes of the 50s-60s?
All electric homes- the wave of the future!
Until the power goes out..
Glad igrew up with vas appliances
Not to mention, the amount of storage (batteries) you'll need wont pencil out.
As co be ient as a GZ sounds on its face, it won't have the huevos to power your rig and cost much more than building a proper Solar system.
Keep asking questions you're on the right track.

[adambar]

I was thinking you could store the lithium batteries under the floor. And any other unsightly objects. In the winter the batteries could provide heated floors. Summer you would have to vent the heat.
I'm thinking of a build to support running a house for 3 or more days. When plugging into a campsite you would be only using it to charge the batteries.

[adambar]

Also you could install a 240v and 120v outlet on the outside of your camper. You can run your home using the 240v. The tankless water heaters I hear are more efficient so that is feasible. You just need to look at your light bill and see how many kwh your home uses per day if you want to also use your camper as backup power. Plus you could also install an outlet to get your EV towing vehicle muchfurther down the road.

[adambar]

You might even be able to fix up a quick charge on your camper, so you can use 2 charging stations at the same time, 1 for the tow vehicle and 1 for the camper.
But I would definitely fix it to where the camper run off the batteries 24/7. And any plug in would be just for charging or solar panels.

[LLninja]

Originally Posted by 73Safari

Hi - Great project! Last year at this time my wife and I were in your situation. We had bought a 1973 Safari 23' (August 2020) and tore it down to the frame. We had the frame re-welded, replaced the rotted plywood and rebuilt the entire interior. After a long winter hiatus, we rallied in the spring and finished in May 2021 and camped in her Memorial weekend for our first outing. It was cold, raining, and miserable, but an awesome test of her capabilities. We camped pretty much every weekend after, up until late November. I re-engineered the entire electrical system for safety and convenience as follows. 1. Progressive Dynamics 30A PD4060 Charge Controller. 2. 2x200AH LI AmperTime Batteries wired in parallel. 3. Krieger 3000W Inverter hardwired delivering inverted power throughout the camper. 4. Goal Zero 200W Briefcase Solar custom adapted to plug into the 7-way. We also bring a Goal Zero 500X to power our XM satellite radio Tour for entertainment and phones etc. We also have 2 x 30lb LP tanks which we use all the time. We re-engineered and upgraded the tank line into the camper, once again for safety and convenience so that it splits and fuels both our oven and stove top. The other line from the split is adapted to fit a little buddy heater which keeps the camper cozy when needed. Our fridge / freezer is a low wattage marine version that will work on DC or AC power when connected to shore power. Bottomline, we couldn't be happier with the result! Keep in mind, we tore out everything old, ie furnace, plumbing, septic tank, water tank etc., and rebuilt focusing on how we camp. FYI, you haven't lived until you've gotten under an Airstream and removed a 50 year old septic tank!

Ironically, just yesterday I started pulling out the rear bathroom closet to get to that 55 year old hot water heater. I’m not sure if I’m pulling out the black tank for a new one or converting it into a gray water tank.

#4 is brilliant, I didn’t even consider using the trailer plug as a way to input solar until now. I plan on ripping out everything propane and going all electric.

[LLninja]

Originally Posted by adambar

I was thinking you could store the lithium batteries under the floor. And any other unsightly objects. In the winter the batteries could provide heated floors. Summer you would have to vent the heat.
I'm thinking of a build to support running a house for 3 or more days. When plugging into a campsite you would be only using it to charge the batteries.

Right now I’m planning to put the batteries under the pullout couch over and behind the passenger side wheel well. There is an exterior door which would allow be outside access if needed for venting. I will also replace the doors on the under bed storage with vented doors. But it’s early in the planning process. Since I won’t be carrying LP, I have lots of space near the tongue to mount stuff.

So far I’ve pulled out about 730 pounds of stuff from the trailer, weighing each part as I pull it. Hopefully the fridge and batteries on the right will be offset by all the cabinetry on the left. We won’t have a stove and the portable induction cooktop is a lot lighter than the stove that came out. Maybe more batteries on the drivers side utilizing any space we can find is in order.

Under floor batteries would limit the battery size to really flat ones, and access would be difficult I don’t want to have to remove the bottom skin all the time to access them and curing a hole in the top and leaving a removable panel seems like it would hurt the structural integrity of the floor, maybe the steel beams are enough anyway… but I’m not a structural or mechanical engineer. But this does have me thinking,maybe I can open up the floor where I plan to put the batteries, make a metal pan so I have more than 12 inches of depth in the area soI could go for taller batteries?

[LLninja]

Originally Posted by WoodN48

Sounds like a great experiment. Don’t camp far from full hookups. Any long term boondocking will be in your past. Think of all your friends with propane as you shiver in a cold trailer with no heat, no hot water and cold food eaten using candle light.

I’ve never done any long boondocking so this shouldn’t be an issue unless we are dealing with a zombie apocalypse. We also don’t camp in extreme weather, so we don’t have to prep for really hot or really cold. We’re retired so we can just head north or south with the seasons (this will undoubtedly bite us as I’m certain the first time we head south, there will be unprecedented snow, and when we head north, an unprecedented heat wave making Canada feel like Arizona)

[roamingpo8t]

Originally Posted by LLninja

It sounds like I should consider changing out the entire floor, but at the moment, I’m planning to only patch the rotting parts. I’m off to look for composit/foam plybowrds….

Marine grade plywood is better if you only replace a portion of the floor. If you do decide to do a complete frame off rebuild, I suggest the following:

1) Entire floor to be replaced with composite, either Coosa or JM Huber Advantech - someone mentioned this product in another thread. Advantech is not plywood, but an oriented-strand board with a water shedding layer on top. It maybe for better screw holing ability? I will call up their rep to get more info on whether RV use is recommended... https://www.huberwood.com/advantech/...r-subflooring;

2) Considering future needs/upgrades or even when you sell to other people who might want to do boomdoncking, you should try to locate your electric system in easy to access locations. Rule of thumb should be building everything plug and play, that way you can easily swap out the batteries when better options are available or when more power is desired...