Padawan’s Life

[BobG]

Originally Posted by oldwave

Hats are the deadly deal. Whenever I wore a hat I’d smack my head.
Sometimes it takes two kicks of the mule

Yep, hats get me too. I often impact right where that metal rivet is located. Sometimes I remove the rivet from hats to lessen the damage.

[brroberts]

Haven’t had a fridge open while traveling since the ‘70’s, but it can happen. This fridge has lots of plastic including the latches. I’ve already reinforced the hinges, and have been wanting to make a fridge lock. Today was the day, but while holding it in place, I did get it crooked. It’s not noticeable with the door closed, and I didn’t want to drill an extra hole.

It’s a 10-24 thumb knob, a scrap of fiberglass from my trailer as a washer, 10-24 connector nuts, a piece of aluminum, two sheet metal screws, and a 10-24 machine screw. I used some VHB on the attachment plate.

[brroberts]

Dead board in MaxxAir. I’ve tried drying it to no avail. New board ordered. I have coformal boating, just never got that far down the list. Before the new one goes it, I’ll coat it.

[brroberts]

New MaxxAir board coated and installed. New half curtain for door. It’s unlined, so may or may not remove film from door glass yet.

[George and Linda]

Great curtain idea! Would you please show source for new board, and material/process to coat board?
Thanks!

[brroberts]

Curtain is just hung on a tension rod so it can go up or down anytime we want.

The board was covered under warranty by Airexcel. Conformal coating is basically a silicon brush or spray on to provide water resistance. It’s available from electronics, electrical, probably big box hardware stores, and probably some auto parts stores. It’s also available from Amazon.

When I checked in case warranty support fell through, eTrailer had the board in stock, although they are sometimes more expensive. As it turned out, I did not end up having to purchase one.

[brroberts]

A couple of quick mods before we head out to the Mississippi Rendezvous. We have study pillows for lounging in the corners on our bed. We refer to them as our BarcaLoungerers. Our trailer was built without USB in the captains lights. We have them head and foot on the other side of the bed, but wanted them where we sit. So I used surface mount outlets next to each light.

I also sewed a piece of acrylic canvas with a piece of PVC pipe and a couple of suction cups to make a fridge shade. The fridge works better shaded.

[edlynnrich]

Nice work. I especially like the fridge shade. Is that bungee cords I see holding down the shade? The suction cups look pretty heavy duty. Where did you find those? Thanks

[brroberts]

Just bungees to the wheels. They already have road scratches on them. In 10 years I’ll have to repaint them.

The suction cups are Stanley.

https://www.amazon.com/STANLEY-S4004...07CXPGZRZ?th=1

They stick very well.

[brroberts]

Since the trailer was new, the furnace has been unreliable. I need to do longer term use, but I think maybe possibly I might be able to trust it mostly now. It originally started acting up at 12.8 volts and quit at 12.6 volts.

A while back I went to the light action sail switch and solid duct replacement for the flex duct that was described earlier in this thread. That got me a working furnace at 12.6 volts and it acting up at 12.4 volts. Based on that, my hypothesis was that the fan reduced flow at lower voltages causing the sail switch to act as if it had failed.

My solution was to ignore the Dometic max voltage spec of 13.5 volts, and install a 10 amp 8-40 volt input and 13.8 volt output buck boost of Chinese Amazon quality. If the board goes, I have a spare 15 volt Dinosaur board. So far at 11.8 - 12.1 volts, and a 50% discharge on my dual 6 volt lead acid batteries the furnace runs great. That’s as far as I would push the batteries unless there was an emergency, so I think I finally have a working furnace.

The install had plenty of extra wire, so it was easy to do. The hardest part was removing the furnace, which is easy. I had to trace the positive wire and discovered my red wire was attached to green. Once I cleared that up, it was a smooth sailing switch.

[7Gentex]

Is that an air admittance valve on the right side top of pic #3 and #5 ?

Appears to be for the sink drain?

[brroberts]

Originally Posted by 7Gentex

Is that an air admittance valve on the right side top of pic #3 and #5 ?

Appears to be for the sink drain?

Correct. It’s factory ETI.

[brroberts]

October 2021 E19 with the cracked propane hoses. The hoses I bought don’t have great reviews, but mine tested without leaks. The right angle fitting will unthread from the hose and maybe I can get some decent quality 6” hoses made when these break. That will make a clean install.

[brroberts]

Started reoiling the teak bath mat today. Also had more questions about the small hatch I added from page 2 of this thread, so here are measurements: hatch OD 13” X 10 1/4” and door OD 11” X 8”.

[brroberts]

Re oiled the teak bath mat.

[WillyB]

Originally Posted by brroberts

Re oiled the teak bath mat.

How do you like the teak mat?

We've been looking at options. Right now we use a small rug to catch the dirt off our shoes. The idea being to keep from scratching the fiberglass floor.

[brroberts]

It works fantastic and with the rubber feet I added, it is only an 7/8” in height.

[brroberts]

I always like TPMS on my trailers, but just never got to it with Padawan. With new tires and metal valve stems, I was able to finally get around to installing a TST 507 flow through sensor system. I’ve had TireMinder in the past, but unlike others, I had unreliability and poor customer service, so I went a different direction this time.

I forgot pictures, but drilled three 1 1/2” holes with a Forstner bit through the plywood shelf to increase return air. I have not filtered or screened return air as some have done. It, so far, has not been part of my furnace issues. Three 1 1/2” holes give more area than the recommended 6 1” holes I have read ETI drilling. It’s cold, so the furnace is running on battery for testing right now. I hate to waste the propane, but want to know it works before really needing it.

[Carmel Clown]

Originally Posted by brroberts

Checked the A/C heat strip today. Easily went from 24 to 70. Outlets all blow fine, and the filters are clean.

Built a quick shelf to hold glasses, phone, etc by bed. It just hooks on the valance. I’ll have to figure out a stain concoction to get close to maple. It’s poplar, and I don’t have any maple stain anyway.

Pulled the two empty propane tanks to fill tomorrow. Just like last time, it looks like you can fill them instead of buying a whole new trailer.

Ooo Ooo, may I have measurements please?

[brroberts]

Measurements for the eyeglass shelf? That’s my guess. I’m at my folks for Christmas, so it will be awhile until I can get those. I just used pieces of 1/4” and 3/8” scrap poplar, glued and pinned. It was a very simple project that just hangs over the valance.