92 Coachmen Ram Van resuscitation project...
I've been away from Sam and motor homes for about ten years, but now I'm back with a great project van. My last projects were a 70 Winnie Chief and then a 92 Coachmen prestige 5th wheeler. This time a...
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Spending to much time making a living lately, but we have started to cross a few items off the list.
I installed a 50w solar panel to maintain the house battery, which i also replaced and upgraded to a 110AH rated everstart, so its probably a 80 ah. But, thats okay, the price was good and i have plans to add a second panel and battery as we camp in places without power and have to make our own. the first panel went on top of the ac housing, which I reinforced and needed to repair anyhow.
We replaced the 6" broken vanair roof vent with a new, almost identical model, but this one has an exhaust fan (caught a sale on amazon and saved $20 buck!) Luckily, I was able to tap into the interior light circuit and didnt have to run any wire. downside is that that the lighting circuit has to be energized for it work. no big deal. Im still scraping the duct tape of my hands that was covering the old vent..
and today's BIG job was replacing the fridge. After trying every thing i could think of, and some things i couldnt, I decided the existing fridge was simply not going work again without a coil flush and r717 recharge. Not something i am able to do, and couldn't find any r717, A new cooling unit was close to $500 so i went for replacement. I found one that was larger, and snatched it up since it was an great deal, only to find that its too deep to work. And i was all ready to sacrifice our wardrobe closet too.. oh well. I then found a marine norcold 12/24v -115v unit, no gas but also a good deal and works great. 2.5 " wider doesn't seem like much, until you try and fit the unit in. basically i needed to rip out the entire existing cabinet facing, drawers, supports etc.. and build a new frame around the new fridge. The finish work isnt complete yet as i ran out of time and wanted to make sure it was at least enclosed before our trip next week, but the unit is in, and working great.
weve also replaced all the interior lightbulbs with LED units, got the 12v tap water heater working, installed a drinking water tap and filter (and flushed/sterilized the water tank) and some other things. not bad for working on it one day a month.. more to follow...
I installed a 50w solar panel to maintain the house battery, which i also replaced and upgraded to a 110AH rated everstart, so its probably a 80 ah. But, thats okay, the price was good and i have plans to add a second panel and battery as we camp in places without power and have to make our own. the first panel went on top of the ac housing, which I reinforced and needed to repair anyhow.
We replaced the 6" broken vanair roof vent with a new, almost identical model, but this one has an exhaust fan (caught a sale on amazon and saved $20 buck!) Luckily, I was able to tap into the interior light circuit and didnt have to run any wire. downside is that that the lighting circuit has to be energized for it work. no big deal. Im still scraping the duct tape of my hands that was covering the old vent..
and today's BIG job was replacing the fridge. After trying every thing i could think of, and some things i couldnt, I decided the existing fridge was simply not going work again without a coil flush and r717 recharge. Not something i am able to do, and couldn't find any r717, A new cooling unit was close to $500 so i went for replacement. I found one that was larger, and snatched it up since it was an great deal, only to find that its too deep to work. And i was all ready to sacrifice our wardrobe closet too.. oh well. I then found a marine norcold 12/24v -115v unit, no gas but also a good deal and works great. 2.5 " wider doesn't seem like much, until you try and fit the unit in. basically i needed to rip out the entire existing cabinet facing, drawers, supports etc.. and build a new frame around the new fridge. The finish work isnt complete yet as i ran out of time and wanted to make sure it was at least enclosed before our trip next week, but the unit is in, and working great.
weve also replaced all the interior lightbulbs with LED units, got the 12v tap water heater working, installed a drinking water tap and filter (and flushed/sterilized the water tank) and some other things. not bad for working on it one day a month.. more to follow...
