We just bought a slightly used 1988 Saturn T1550

[JohnGB]

Bummer for sure on the dog...

You and your wife are doing a great job and looking good! Keep up the good work.

Thanks for posting. This is very helpful for the future as other folks get into theirs.


John

 

[Von Spiel]

Thank you! I wouldn't know anything if it wasn't for your guidance with your own projects and other people's quests and this wonderful site. Your educational program is top notch. I hope we can help other people to try it out. My wife is a person that loves to work, design, create and use power tools. I try to stay 8 hours ahead on the project and provide the right tools, fasteners, wood, explanations, and drawings in one dimension or another. She demands nothing, understands it all and loves to work alone, so I am recording our adventure so we can have memories, as we are worker bees. next adventure, buying tires, and a battery. going to go slow on the propane system as our goal is to roll this baby to up to Vermont in one week. Haven't plugged it in, replacing outlets. Flooring tomorrow, front end finished??? fun stuff. I am from the same town as Vice grip Garage, so I like the crazy schedule. Cheers! Are the old power converters on the 7 pin battery cookers? Thank you for everything John!

 

[Von Spiel]

Watching our short videos help so much on the rebuild! "explanations" because I get to read 40 pages on this site about people that went through the same thing and how they explained how to fix it... and I get to paraphrase what you need to do, like I know what I am talking about. Great Job!

 

[JohnGB]

Hi,

Our internet signal has been very poor so just getting to this.

Yes, many of the old battery converters were battery cookers and had no float mode. If left plugged in all the time, they would never taper down the charge voltage and or drop the current to only maintain.

Progressive Dynamics (PD) makes very good 3 stage converters with a desulfate mode and still made in the USA.

See BestConverters.com for many brands of converters and a reputable retailer. Randy knows his stuff and he is glad to help you find the best product for your needs.

Heads up in the PD converters, Amazon can be loaded with clones and they are not warranted by PD. Make sure whatever brand you buy is sold by an authorized retailer.

Hope you made it out camping

John

 

[Von Spiel]

So a funny thing happened after we had it inspected and bought our plates. The door on the camper locked. Guess what was on the list but not checked off? 122. replace lock cores on doors. Somehow at the inspection the door was locked. I finally drilled it out. It was about 120º where we work on our camper. We had been having delay after delay, after big things. three new tires etc. We decided it wasn't worth a heart attack and stayed at home. We missed out but had a nice vacation at home alone. We had been working through the hot days and nights. so close. Here is the button up. https://rumble.com/v6xo6oy-camper-5.html

 

[JohnGB]

Hi,

You and the wife are doing great!

For the power converter removal, if you haven't reached that point yet, remove one wire at a time, marking each with a number and noting the terminal from which it was removed. Take lots of pics of the wiring and wire terminals "before" you remove them.

You mentioned wanting to try doing the back wall, etc., from the inside without removing the siding. Not sure how far you have made it. The tear-out is one thing; since the whole area is gone, I don't recommend rebuilding the area from the inside only and not taking the siding off.

Now, why do I say this? The metal siding contributes to the structural stability and rigidity of the rear wall. The siding is stapled on from the outside, hiding all the staples with the lap joint of the sheet above it. The corner, between the side wall and the rear wall stud, is critical that the siding is stapled to the new wood from the outside. Think about this: how are you going to attach all the siding to all the new wall studs from only the inside? If you have found some ingenious way of doing this, please share your approach.

I know this is a lot of work, and you are doing great work too. When you reach the finish line, you'll have done a good job. And lots of campfire stores for years to come.

Thanks for sharing,

John

 

[Von Spiel]

Hi,

You and the wife are doing great!

For the power converter removal, if you haven't reached that point yet, remove one wire at a time, marking each with a number and noting the terminal from which it was removed. Take lots of pics of the wiring and wire terminals "before" you remove them.

You mentioned wanting to try doing the back wall, etc., from the inside without removing the siding. Not sure how far you have made it. The tear-out is one thing; since the whole area is gone, I don't recommend rebuilding the area from the inside only and not taking the siding off.

Now, why do I say this? The metal siding contributes to the structural stability and rigidity of the rear wall. The siding is stapled on from the outside, hiding all the staples with the lap joint of the sheet above it. The corner, between the side wall and the rear wall stud, is critical that the siding is stapled to the new wood from the outside. Think about this: how are you going to attach all the siding to all the new wall studs from only the inside? If you have found some ingenious way of doing this, please share your approach.

I know this is a lot of work, and you are doing great work too. When you reach the finish line, you'll have done a good job. And lots of campfire stores for years to come.

Thanks for sharing,

John

Thank you. So we have been challenged by our friend to go camping in the grocery store tonight. We have our camper and he has his unfinished project. We are lucky that it doesn't leak. You are correct. I have been working on an estate auction project that took every square inch of work space we have. I deliver all the stuff to the auction house next week. Number one project, hook up the battery, and map out the electrical. We have enough room to camp, We will be bringing in our our 80 pound lab so she will tell us what floor is good and what to work on. I hope to back it up in our carport for the late fall to work on. Going to have the back in platform bed status, with optional walls for now.

 

[Von Spiel]

John, Thanks again. Just read many of your posts to get ready. Pulled out the back wall, sad. Black mold everywhere. So yes, the back is coming off. Hoping to remove and rebuild the floor under the water heater and converter without moving them? I have some thin sheets of metal I hope to suspend them on? I have cut away the bad floor and removed all the mold I can see. Yes, you are correct. Not a stitch of wood on the curbside back corner. We opened the back last night in the dark. We were laughing that thankfully she didn't get on the roof like she had planned. She would have had a wild ride. We are thankful we didn't go 210 miles with the back wall gone. Cheers! Thanks again for all the information.

 

[JohnGB]

The water heater, I know you are trying not to have to remove it, but there will be some benefits to removing it.

Just like doors, windows, corner moldings, etc, they were sealed to the siding with putty tape. And that putty tape breaks down, and then siding leaks start. If you pull the water heater out, you can inspect the wood rough opening and repair any wood damage, and then clean off the old putty tape and install new high-quality butyl tape to create a lasting seal to the siding.

You have done a lot of good work. Water heater siding seal leaks from old putty tape can also cause significant water damage.

Question: Have you had the heater filled with water, and has it been up and running on gas? If the heater has a tank leak or the old gas valve is faulty, you may need to remove it for other reasons. For camper restores, I perform a bench test of the water heater to verify the gas system and detect any leaks before reinstalling it.

If you do pull out the water heater, consider installing a drain pan with a drain when you reinstall it. I have had too many friends with a fitting leak or tank leak make a lot of water damage that could be mitigated if a drain pan were under the heater. See these two posts; yes, they are about newer Atwood heaters, but the drain pan can still apply to your older heater. Make sure the pan covers the fittings on the back. This is now standard anytime a water heater comes out; it gets the pan on the way back in. For less than $30 in materials and some free labor, it can save the day.

Leaking water heater damage - how to contain and detect them.

The new redesigned Atwood/Dometic heater with pan
Replacing an Atwood water heater, with Dometic heater (Pic Heavy)

Keep up the good work!

John

 

[Von Spiel]

The tank is out! It was winterized, inside parts look unused. A few sheets of aluminum underneath We were given a hot water on demand propane system that you use outdoors. We don't plan on using the shower yet. Thankfully I could take out one lead and the power converter slid out of the way. Still cleaning up on this shot. Wife came home and patched up the holes we could see before the sun went down. Tomorrow I am working on the floor and frame. I have removed at least 3 pounds of black dirt and mold. Wow, we couldn't smell it. Washed down all the aluminum a few different times until the stains wouldn't change. Should have everything cut away to good wood early in the morning and start the fun part: Building. I found the right sized wood this time. Much faster.

 

[JohnGB]

The cleanup looks great! I'm sure it looked really ugly before that.

Keep up the good work!

John

 

[Von Spiel]

Guess who can bring a trailer to a tent site because it is only 15'? We did it!! Video soon. Bear Brook State Park, NH. Two days before, I had the back end off without a floor. I have learned a lot and we couldn't do it without this site. Thanks John for making it all easy Your posts with the other people you have helped have been our guidance. Thanks to all the people like Tommy and Yellow Jacket and all the others that have posted their journey. We have a lot more to do, but it is road worthy, lights and brakes are working. next is 110,12v,solar,water,tanks,beds etc.

 

[Von Spiel]

Camper 6. What happens when you run out of butyl before you promised to camp with someone? We made it! In this one, we remove the back and have to stop because of time, leaving the whole middle and roof to consider. Thoughts for next: I hope to have a winter parking spot under a roof. I have a car port that I hope to line it up and pull it back with the winch. I may have to remove the tires and put them on sleds. Give me a good time to check out the brakes and all the other fun stuff. The curbside roof is a spaghetti strainer. We need to think about getting it into a carport with 8" clearance(I think). We drove it with new tires, through some fun New Hampshire Bear Brook roads. https://rumble.com/v707xh8-camper-6.html

 

[JohnGB]

Hey, you made it to camp!

Nice work on the Kreg joints. You are doing a great job. Piece by piece.

I see the corner molding siding joints leaks still float to the top as the classic way the old putty tape fails. Or any other siding joint where a hole was cut into the siding and sealed with putty tape on the flanges. Those joints are really looking forward to new high-grade commercial butyl tape so they can be happy again.

Thanks for sharing.

John