Late 70s 11FKS Build

[JohnB]

Looking good!

Don't sweat the mistakes, it happens. The more work you do, the better you get at it, but there is still an oops every now and then!

A few companies ago, we had a large machine shop, all custom work out of tool steel and gray iron. Every now and then, a goof would happen on a very expensive part. They would bring out the master machinist and figure out how to make a sound "fix". And they often did the fixes versus scrapping the part.

The foreman use to say "Anyone can do it right, but it takes the master to make the fix!" and it work.

And yes, you can build walls fast, the little finish work, that takes a lot of time.

[Tinstaafl]

Methinks Jay (Kxracer704) just upped his game.

[JohnB]

Wow!!!

My Uncle had a 75 C3500 dually stake body truck like that. Same engine, & 4 speed with the 350 CI V8. Once you got it rolling up to speed, it had no problem hauling down the road. That was the time GM started going to gearing them different for better economy. It is amazing it is in such great shape. WOW what a find.

I had the 75 Ford 1 ton dually stake body, 361 CI V8 4 speed. My stomach hurt driving around empty the springs were so hard. Put a ton of weight on it and it was not bad.

In that era the Chevy's did ride a lot nicer/sifter then the Ford's.

That truck will do your camper very well.

[Kxracer704]

COMPLETED BATHROOM - Truck Camper Build Part 19

[JohnB]

Looking good Jay!

Never knew about the candle wax for wood screw lube. Have to try that some time. I'm assuming a block of paraffin wax would work too if you did not have old candles around.

I learned to use a bar of soap for lube. The bar being almost dry works better then totally dry, but both work. The slightly dry the soap does not flake as badly as the totally dry. Drag the screw threads in the soap and then screw them in. Works great. Especially in hard woods as the cheap screw steels made now a days, it does not take much to twist off the screw.

How did you make out with the shower basin, did you ever pump the Froth Pak foam under it to help stiffen it more?

[Kxracer704]

Originally Posted by JohnB

Looking good Jay!

Never knew about the candle wax for wood screw lube. Have to try that some time. I'm assuming a block of paraffin wax would work too if you did not have old candles around.

I learned to use a bar of soap for lube. The bar being almost dry works better then totally dry, but both work. The slightly dry the soap does not flake as badly as the totally dry. Drag the screw threads in the soap and then screw them in. Works great. Especially in hard woods as the cheap screw steels made now a days, it does not take much to twist off the screw.

How did you make out with the shower basin, did you ever pump the Froth Pak foam under it to help stiffen it more?

No, I did not purchase the foam you recommended. There still is a crack in the pan that I cracked after installation. I plan to patch it from the top. There will be a video on the fix in the future.

[Kxracer704]

Starting the ELECTRICAL SYSTEM �� - Truck Camper Build Part 20

[IMG][/IMG]

[Kxracer704]

WE HAVE POWER 🔋 OFF-GRID ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - Truck Camper Build Part 21

[IMG][/IMG]

[Kxracer704]

UTILITY HOOKUPS - Truck Camper Build Part 22

[IMG][/IMG]

[Kxracer704]

PLASTIC SHOWER/BATH REPAIR 🛁 - Truck Camper Build Part 23

[IMG]photo up load[/IMG]

[JohnB]

Nice job on your utility hook ups.

Not sure your old city water inlet had a pressure regulator, by quick look, it looked like the check valve. But they have have had a pressure restrictor built in years back. Never seen it on a modern day one, they make you buy it separate.

Got a chuckle out of the clip with the blade falling out of the saber saw. Anyone who has used a saber saw long enough, sooner or later that happens.


The ABS patch shower pan looks great!. Good job!

Question on your fresh water tank/fill, I did not see a tank air vent tube. Does your have one? The older campers may just of had a different setup. On the new Sunlines, they have a gravity fill door hatch. And behind the hatch cover is the gravity fill spout and the place for the vent hose. If you overfill the tank while filling, or the camper leans to the tank fill side when full towing, the tank can spit water out of the vent too. Since yours does not appear to be at the tank fill, wonder where the tank vent hose will spit back at?

This is the gravity fill dish the newer travel trailers used, the key lock door option. The vent tube connects behind the little screen to the right of the fill spout.

GRAVITY WATER HATCH – B&B Molders

Your doing great! We are rooting for ya!

John

[Kxracer704]

Originally Posted by JohnB

Nice job on your utility hook ups.
Question on your fresh water tank/fill, I did not see a tank air vent tube. Does your have one?
John

Yes, my original fresh tank fill port does have a vent tube built in. I did not show it as it was not hooked up at the time. Thanks for the comment!

[Kxracer704]

FRESH WATER TANK & PUMP INSTALL - Truck Camper Build Part 24

[IMG][/IMG]

[JohnB]

On the tank size, Sunline would not have advertised the tank as a 30 gal. tank, the calcs you did are accurate short of subtracting the wall thickness.

As FYI, the Sunline brochures talk about, "system size" in gallons and that is not tank size. System size is the entire water system, tank, piping water & heater. I have a 40 gallon system in my camper as called out in the brochure. 6 gallons is held in the water heater, about 2 gallons on the pipes, (32 ft camper) and then the rest is the tank which comes out close to a 32 gallon tank. And the tank dimensions like you did, confirm the 32 gallon tank. You only have approx. the tank size in usable water, as once the pump looses it's prime on a low tank, the water in the heater and pipes can't be used as you can't pump it. Just mentioning this so you do not get tricked by the brochure system size thinking you can actually use all the water in the system.

Good for you upgrading the drain valve to a pex valve. The petcock style that Sunline used takes for ever it seems to drain the tank. I upgrade every one I work on to a larger drain valve.

The plastic threads leaking, yes a common issue. Part of the issue can be the molding of the threads on the fitting which screw in the tank. If the molding parting line is not prefect, then there is a tiny step or bump in the threads and it weeps. I have had to use Teflon tape and or potable water pipe dope too.

A few thoughts before you get all done piping the system.

1. Not sure if you added it yet, install a stop board on the floor so the tank cannot slide towards the pump. You have it captured well on the 3 sides, can't tell if you did on the pump side by the video.

2. Install a strainer on the inlet side of the pump. Sunline never did this and have no idea why, but it is a need. A piece of dirt etc. that gets sucked into the pump and it can mess up the check valves in the pump and then you can get a pressure leak back into the tank or the pump ill not prime right if the issue is bad enough.

It looks like you have a new Remco pump, and even a variable speed one, is it? Remco makes a strainer that plugs right into the suction side of the pump. Like this one.
https://www.rvupgradestore.com/Remco...r-p/25-181.htm

Or pick one of the many ones that make to fit in your space
Filters – Remco

Shurflo the other big pump manufacture also makes them. See page 6 in their PDF https://www.pentair.com/content/dam/...rv-catalog.pdf

And Flojet makes them too. Not sure if the same molder who makes the Flojet makes the Remco, I have used both and they look very close to the same. https://www.xylem.com/en-us/brands/F...inlet-strainer

3. Consider putting a flexible potable water hose loop in the pump suction and discharge piping verses the rigid suction set up you have now. The suction piping needs a level of flex and the discharge ideally can get a vibration loop in it. The piping vibration needs to be managed as the pumps do vibrate when they run and build pressure. If the noise does not bother you, the vibration on the O ring fittings at the pump can be an issue long term giggling so much.

This may help too. What potable water hose to use? You will have a hard time finding a 1/2" ID potable water rated flex hose hose in the local lumber yards. The clear vinyl hose many times is not rated for potable water and it really does not flex well, it can kink when flexed, and the pressure rating on the discharge side needs to be at 150psi if you have a water heater in the system. Sunline on the newer campers used a potable water hose that had a potable water clean lining inside, with a nylon braid outside and then a vinyl cover jacket. And it flexed very nice. I have yet to find that exact brand, but I did find 2 brands that mimic it, and flex, just not as perfect as the brand Sunline used.

I have used these 2 brands for hot and cold water hose that flexes, they do not leave the vinyl taste and are 150psi cold and 180F rated pending the brand. You have to sort out the hot water need on how you use it. Hot rated meaning, the water inside the hose you are using on is hot water. Cold water upstream of the water heater can reach 150psi from heated water expansion, but the water is not hot, so cold hose could be used there if wanted.

The Camco brand has the 150psi and 180F rating, and it can be used on hot or cold water. I bought 100 feet of this up in Elkhart IN at Johnsons RV Surplus. They cut it off a 500 ft roll they have.


The Valterra is 150 psi rated, but only on cold water. Again, depends were you are using it if you need the 180F rating or not.

https://www.valterra.com/product/rei...od-x-50-boxed/





I bought the Valterra off Ebay, by the foot
https://www.ebay.com/itm/RV-Marine-F...72.m2749.l2649

I see RecPro is selling the hot and cold water hose, it appears they sell a combo of both hot and cold water hose in a kit. They have varying lengths. Not exactly sure of the brand they are selling, but I have bought from them and had a positive experience as far as a vendor.
https://www.recpro.com/1-2-rv-pressu...waAsWWEALw_wcB

Here is a upgraded water pump mounting I did on a friends camper. Flex hose on the suction with a strainer and a flex loop on the discharge. A winterizing kit is the brass valve setup so you can suck RV antifreeze in the system. In this case, the vertical pressure loop worked better as they only use the antifreeze method for winterizing and laying the loop horizontal would use up storage compartment space.






Here is another friends camper I upgraded. You can't do all the exact same tricks all the time as there is not enough room to do it in. In this case, the pressure loop was horizontal rather then vertical buried under heater hose. They use the compressed air method mostly to winterize but can blow through the pump or use antifreeze if wanted.


Hope this helps

John

[Kxracer704]

Originally Posted by JohnB

1. Not sure if you added it yet, install a stop board on the floor so the tank cannot slide towards the pump. You have it captured well on the 3 sides, can't tell if you did on the pump side by the video.

I do have a stop board on the floor between the tank and the pump. I will be installing stop boards on all 4 sides (top and btm) of the tank. I will not be installing any stop boards in the middle of the tank due to the tank expansion when full. It gets a "belly" up to 1" on the sides when full.

Originally Posted by JohnB

2. Install a strainer on the inlet side of the pump. Sunline never did this and have no idea why, but it is a need. A piece of dirt etc. that gets sucked into the pump and it can mess up the check valves in the pump and then you can get a pressure leak back into the tank or the pump ill not prime right if the issue is bad enough.

My tank actually has a strainer on the outlet of the tank. I'm assuming this is factory from Sunline because the tank had "sunline" written on it with Sharpie most likely from the vendor who manufactured the tank for Sunline. Also there would be no easy way to install this strainer after the tank was molded. I have since added a marine deck plate to access the inside of the tank for cleaning. This also allows access to clean the strainer. Thanks for the tip of the strainers for the pump, but I'm going to utilize the built in strainer now that I can access it for cleaning.
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]

Originally Posted by JohnB

It looks like you have a new Remco pump, and even a variable speed one, is it?

Yes, I purchased a Remco variable speed pump 3.4gpm. 55AQUAJET-AES.

Originally Posted by JohnB

3. Consider putting a flexible potable water hose loop in the pump suction and discharge piping verses the rigid suction set up you have now. The suction piping needs a level of flex and the discharge ideally can get a vibration loop in it. The piping vibration needs to be managed as the pumps do vibrate when they run and build pressure. If the noise does not bother you, the vibration on the O ring fittings at the pump can be an issue long term giggling so much.

I have the suction side of the tank to pump plumbing completed with no flex tubing loop installed. I would prefer to leave this as it is completed at this time. I have not plumbed the discharge side yet. Do you think it will make a difference if I install the flex loop only on the discharge side of the pump?

Thanks for all of the other info!!

-Jay

[Kxracer704]

DOMETIC RV REFRIGERATOR - Truck Camper Build Part 25

[IMG][/IMG]

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by Kxracer704

Yes, I purchased a Remco variable speed pump 3.4gpm. 55AQUAJET-AES.


I have the suction side of the tank to pump plumbing completed with no flex tubing loop installed. I would prefer to leave this as it is completed at this time. I have not plumbed the discharge side yet. Do you think it will make a difference if I install the flex loop only on the discharge side of the pump?

Hi Jay,

I must say, the strainer in your fresh tank is a good one. The newer campers do not have a strainer that fine and some have none. Your strainer looks to be brass and it has lasted all these years. My 2004 T2499 had a plastic strainer in the tank, but it was close to 1/8" square holes. It only kept boulders out of the pump. From the looks of it, you should be good with that strainer and the ability to clean the tank is great too.

On the flex loop on the "discharge" side, that will help take out some of the pressure hose noise (vibrating hoses banging when pressure builds) and take some pressure off the Remco fittings. I do not think it will relieve much on the suction side of the pump. The suction side has more vibration then banging hoses. There have been many RV pumps with no flex loop on the suction side, or discharge side, but many of them had more rigid swivel fittings. They have straight running threads and a tapered wedge fit at the pump to create a hose seal.

On your Remco pump, it has the newer style O ring fit with a snap close clasp to hold the fitting in place. Keep an eye on that fitting for possible drips. The vibration of the rigid suction tubing "might" create issues long term with the O ring seal. It will be one of those, try and see things.

[JohnB]

OK, you take the prize for the most natural contaminated fridge from critters I have seen. WOW.....

With all that dirt and chaff in there, it is no surprise the gas burner was plugged shut. Any used camper that has been stored a while, it is a must check and clean out the burner. The smell of LP gas seems to attract all kinds of insects. I had 3 stink bugs crawl in and die in the water heater burner tube during the off season of a friends camper last year. My sons pop up fridge gas burner was jammed shut with mud daubers when he bought it.

You got real lucky, the fridge seems to be coming back to life! That was a shocker... Good job!

John

[Kxracer704]

PROPANE HOOKUP - Truck Camper Build Part 26

[IMG][/IMG]

[JohnB]

Nice job on the LP hookup! Thanks for sharing.

Since your system is as old as it is, a leak test on the gas valves/system can be a good thing to do. The soapy bubbles works well on the gas fittings, but a pressure test does all including the actual valves and any stove regulators.

You can make a home made manometer to do the test and it is accurate. See here for more. https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...cks-10981.html

Hope this helps.

John