Generator pull on 95 roadtrek 210 Popular

[Blaino]

I took possession of my 1995 Road Trek 210 Popular this past June. It needs quarter panel rust repair on both sides, which is really no problem for me, however the welding work that needs to be done will require the removal of all the back end wood framing and interior wall panels, etc to avoid "up in smoke" syndrome.
I'll also remove the generator as there will be several inches of flooring going back in underneath the whole outboard edge of the generator enclosure along it's entire length where it meets the outer steel skin.... or did.
Why do people allow their expensive wonders to deteriorate this way?
For those who do not know, the 210 of those days was not a wide body, but was artificially extended in the construction process. Road Trek removed the roof in favor of their fibreglass top and then cut the entire back of the vehicle off adding in a trunk below the floor, frame extensions and then a section of exterior steel skin and welded that bit (about 24 inches) to the front and back of the gap created by the extension thereby extending the body for the "Ultimate" Road Trek. After bodywork and some restructuring inside, the work was well nigh impossible to detect. The rear side windows are placed into this patch area and the best way to see evidence of the work is in the drip rail or "rain gutter" around the top of the sidewalls.
I'm a fair mechanic and a top carpenter and wood worker, but the generator pull and related electrical issues are .... worrisome.
Any step by step will be welcome. Pictures? LOL
Also, I am considering dropping the floor there and going back with a deeper, larger enclosure to house 4 or maybe 6 batteries to become part of a storage setup for several top mounted solar panels.... plenty of room for 4 panels of 2' x 4'(or a small helicopter!).
I would like to have sufficient power to run a small efficient A/C unit all night if needed without the generator running/vibrating under the bed.
I plan to get the project underway as soon as winter decides to finish chewing on Missouri!
Thanks in advance for any help or advice!

[senf]

Our 1996 Dodge 190V Onan 2800 was mounted inside the body, but accessed from ithe outside - it was noisy inside and vibrated too much to even think about sleeping as it was located under the head of the bed on the driver side.

Our 2008 Chev 190V Onan 2800 is mounted underneath. The "muffler" mod has been done. Yes, I have had my afternoon nap with the generator running. We often use it when boondocking for microwave cooking and for hot drinks using our electric kettle. Walking back to the RT, while the generator is running, you do notice it as you get within 50 ft, but it is just a purr when inside. We try to park so that the exhaust faces a roadway or other non-inhabited area. At home, it is run for half an hour every fifteen days and I sometimes forget that it is running even though I am in the front garden nearby.

Cummins/Onan have a dealer locator website. Just type Onan 2800 and you will get all sorts of stuff.

[Blaino]

OK, so getting back to the main reason for this topic and now that it becomes more and more clear that I'll likely need the generator.... does anyone have a lead on some manuals for the teardown and over haul or a place to get parts online? there is always e-bay but I'm wondering if there is a decent place that could do the job for me or have the right part the first time.
Can anyone that has used a generator in a Road Trek discuss how noisy or vibration prone it is... or isn't?
On hot nights do people run these all night?
Thanks

[Blaino]

Neverhappy.... I started working on a 97 Leisure Travel for you to play with paint schemes.... here is the progression: first I find a picture of what it looks like, make a sketch.... (first picture)


Then scan the picture into my PC and commence cleaning up the image so it will look decent and be available for lots of color playing. I did forget how much time it takes to do this though.
In the picture I have eliminated all the factory decals and paint areas. Are the dark horizontal panels near the bottom of the back end, side doors etc door bumpers or just art work?
Second picture is the conversion to PC line art (a work in progress!)


anyway, soon it'll be done and I'll show you how to play with colors and make changes in seconds!
Later all!

[Handbasket]

Blaino, not sure where you got the notion I meant to pull it thru the black access panel. The whole green box with black bottom has to come out complete, probably thru the compartment door opening in the van's skin. You may have to remove the door and door frame.

Jim, "Mo' coffee!"

[NCWriter]

Blaino, yes - you can put a clickable link in either a Reply or Post New Topic function.

First, of course, copy the URL from another window. Open the RV Net forum where you plan to post..

Just look for a lineup of square icon buttons. Find the one with a blue globe and chain link symbol. Click that. You'll get an editor function where you can paste your link, and below that a box for a descriptive phrase (like the ever-popular "clicky.")

Enjoyed your posts and drawings!

[Blaino]

OK, MULTIPLE ANSWERS AND COMMENTS!
Arizona: Point well taken! I was going and dreaming about my ideal system based entirely on the E-Trek information.... (Drats!)

Neverhappy: Thanks for the comments. I looked up your model and was turning over some ideas in my mind for you. Stand by for a sketch/line drawing of your ride (don't rush me here, LOL) and a fast way to recolor.... on your own pc, at home, alone or with others, in your pajamas or less!

Handbasket: On the generator... seems like it may actually get over hauled and re-installed after all, based on the disappointing E-Trek information.
Also, there is no way the generator would ever come out through the access door which is "mebby" 8 or 10 inches tall and 14 to 16 inches wide as memory serves. I never used the generator and I'll take a look to review the controls or what may be seen behind the access door, which I removed last summer.
Note: I rented a storage building which has a tall enough door and barely the width and depth to fit the 210, and it's there still waiting for "winter to go away! I went to crank it up the other day, no problems.

booster:In my best Darth Vader "Most Impressive!"
I'll investigate the body bonding stuff closely. I have a super kewl electric sheet metal cutter and various other body tools. No fear!
I'll have additional pics up soon.... re: another challenge... the rear body ground effects... one is absolute warped junk, the other is damaged and 4 to 6 inches short.
Plan A: repair the one good piece, make a mold from it and create another one, then create a mold and scratch build the other one. Yes, I have worked fibre glass before. time consuming, smelly and itchy.
Plan B. (Yes, I actually considered this) find a set of rear fenders from some older full size sedan or maybe a cadillac coupe, trim them for a very thin profile align the wheel wells, weld (or bond) them in place, maybe even retaining the original tail lights and trims from the donated fenders..... and then.... well.... no, not drinking! LOL!

LAST COMMENT:You people are GREAT!
PS: Is there a way to post a site as a clickable link?

[Neverhappy]

Hey thanks Blaino !
All your info sure made me happy
I like the grey paint scheme too !
If you have more...I'm sure many here will enjoy too.

[Handbasket]

Aha! I see from your pics that you have top access to the Onan, as well as side access. I didn't know that. I'd still expect it to be a side-pull for removal, but possibly not. At the least, disconnecting/reconnecting should be snap.

With such low hours, you can expect some issues. I expect you'll end up buying a new carb ($200-$250; probably non-rebuildable), since Onan strongly recommends a 2-hour run at 1/2 load to keep the gas from forming varnish in the fine passages It also dries the condensation out of the generator section (iron laminations will rust); if it's lived in a really dry climate, that may not be an issue.

Jim, "Mo' coffee!"

[booster]

The normal procedure for using the body panel adhesive, as I understand it, is to use a panel flanger (relatively inexpensive tool) to create an offset in one of the pieces of metal, so they overlap but are at the same plane. The claims I have seen put the strength as good as welding, especially after seeing corrosive elements.

[booster]

As Arizona kid says, the e-trek does not do well running the air conditioner off batteries, and his 4 hour statement seems to be what folks are finding "reasonable", with reasonable allowing big battery drawdown and not much other electrical usage. Also remember they have 800AH of 12 volt power in the batteries.

Unfortunately, there is still a lot of the original Roadtrek specifications for the e-trek floating around, where they claimed 9 hours of continuous AC running and then getting fully charged back up off the engine in 40 minutes. They have severely backed off on the promises now, as can be seen in the FAQ section on the Roadtrek site.

[Arizona_Kid]

Blaino wrote:

Arizona Kid wrote:
One thing, you will not be able to run an a/c with enough BTU's to cool your van on batteries, even with solar. You are going to need a generator, and at least a 9,000 BTU a/c and then your only looking at 10 to 15 degrees cooling below outside temps. As for sizing a generator, double the BTU's of the a/c to get the gen-set size. So in this case you would need a 2,000 watt generator to start, and run the a/c.
Vans, do to all the glass, metal body, air holes, are the hardest type of RV to cool.

Check out the much larger Sprinter based E-Trek at roadtrek.com under models.
They are using an all electric configuration including heat, water heating, cooking, and air conditioning all running on batteries and solar.

Yes, and they are realistically only getting about 4 hours of a/c use, before having to fast idle the engine to use their upgraded engine generator, to recharge the 8 coach batteries. To use the a/c with out hook ups, you are going to have to use some kind of generator other wise the batteries will be drained in a very short time. Remember you only have half of the batteries amps to use, you do not want to discharge past 50 %.
8 batteries, engine generator, large inverter, etc are going to reduce the CCC's by about 800 lbs. and is expensive.

[Blaino]

Hey "Neverhappy".... if it's adventure you want....
here is some video of My adventure! with my 1995 Road Trek 210 Popular that I call "Serenity"...
(with apologies to the Firefly TV show!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJdXvXvULX4

that one got stopped early and picked up with part 2 here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEIJ9GYxae4

then there are several more detailing .... "Adventures!" and here is the initial walkaround part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKEPWz1HSC4

Roof window repair part 1 These are really short clips
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY0IPeGuTb4&list=UUkmuIrcB90V9lIZ-KNq_d6g

part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rstX8lpeMZQ

part 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHANOUQiiNI

part 4 painting the frame
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGqrE0nZzmA

part 5 Butyl tape
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1J-JDUENsAo

roof window is done
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tYlXmtfQ-8

Cleanup! WOW, is this ever fun!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQXUFP0HqCU

Be sure and boil the Pi_ _ out of your coffee! (LOL)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfNSsaQrFsY

[Blaino]

Ok Neverhappy... I hope this makes you "happy!"
Here are some workups I did last fall.

And this one is the result of the 190 Popular or Versatile "Special Blackout Paint Option" which usually goes with silver or pewter colored models.


Then... purely on a lark, I was thinking about the original "Shag Carpet Custom vans" of the middle 1970's (yeah, I WAS there!) and the porthole windows that were so popular high on the rear quarters.... and since everyone KNOWS that MORE is better (somehow) I went hog wild with portholes. These would vent of course, by rotation or awning style on the bottom half.... and be sealed inside with a setup like the one on the Disney Nautilus from 20,000 leagues under the sea!

[Blaino]

Arizona Kid wrote:
One thing, you will not be able to run an a/c with enough BTU's to cool your van on batteries, even with solar. You are going to need a generator, and at least a 9,000 BTU a/c and then your only looking at 10 to 15 degrees cooling below outside temps. As for sizing a generator, double the BTU's of the a/c to get the gen-set size. So in this case you would need a 2,000 watt generator to start, and run the a/c.
Vans, do to all the glass, metal body, air holes, are the hardest type of RV to cool.

Check out the much larger Sprinter based E-Trek at roadtrek.com under models.
They are using an all electric configuration including heat, water heating, cooking, and air conditioning all running on batteries and solar.