Gents,
After camping in a couple of situations where it was sort of "close quarters" over the last couple of years, it has been determined that I should have had "Genturi" long before now. It's not only common courtesy but, it's a lot healthier in terms of anyone that close to your rig, to not have to breath that exhaust if you happen to be camped that close to each other.
Well, I saw them at Quartzsite for $119.00 total. I pondered it for a day and, when a friend came back to camp with one, I thought I'd go pick one up the next day. Well, the old fraise, "You snooze, you loose", yep, it applied to me and they were all sold out.
So, back at home and check Camping World and a couple of other sights and, they hovered around $130.00 and up, and some added shipping. So, I snooped around on the net and found out there's been quite a few of you that have made them yourselves.
So, I looked any pictures that were displayed and thought, heck, if I can pull the radiator out of this big beast, if I can disassemble 3/4 of a 7.5QD generator for a sensor/rotor/head gasket replacement, if I can install a Hydralift motorcycle carrier/lift on the back, I CAN BUILD A GENTURI!!!
So, off to Home Depot for an 1 1/2" EMT elbow, and some sort of light weight 3" tubing. The rest of the paraphernalia for constructing this little project I figured I had laying around someplace. Well, regular PVC 3" tubing and, ABS 3" black tubing was just too darn heavy. I went out to the garden department and found some light weight, plastic 3" drain pipe but, it was white and none of them were real straight.
So, while wandering around in the store, I happened upon the rain gutter section. And low and behold, there was some "down spout" tubing that was white and, some was brown. I picked up a 10' section of the brown and it was incredibly light. So, my brain started straining to come up with a plan for utilization of this rectangular stuff as opposed to using the larger, 3" round stuff, if I could find any I liked.
Well, I came up with Plan A and, headed out the door with one stick of brown down spout, a couple of support clamps and, a couple of extension connectors and the EMT elbow. I got home and went to work. The first thing I had to do was cut a "V-notch" in the center of the EMT elbow and put just a tiny "kink" in the bend to get it to bend straight up. Then I had to cut a couple of slits into the one end so a regular 1 1/2" inch muffler clamp would clamp that EMT bend to the stock exhaust pipe of the gen.
Then came the formation of the double bend brackets that transitioned the EMT elbow to one of the coupler/extensions. As you can see in the pic, I didn't just pop rivet to the coupler. I "sandwiched" the coupler with small pieces of aluminum and then, attached each double-bend bracket to that aluminum. I did that for one main reason. I figured pop riveting just to the thin plastic of one of those couplers would not last all that long and vibration etc. would get to it and I'd have crack appearing soon after it went into service.
So, it was just a tad bit more work to fab up all those little pieces of aluminum but, it made a serious difference in the stoutness of the setup. Once that was done, then I installed it on the coach/gen exhaust pipe. Now, to lower the long stick of down spout into that coupler. The connection is great. Now, I need some stabilization, about half way up that pipe. Hmmmm, what to use? I was thinking of running down to Harbor Freight to pick up some suction cups that I'd seen in another home built genturi. But, DING! A light bulb just popped on in the old brain.
I've got a "Go Pro" camera that I use for motor cycle rides and other actions sports. It came with a suction cup and a mounting arm. So, I retrieved that suction cup and stuck it to the side of the rig, at the highest point I could. Now, all that's needed was something to adapt it to the upright pipe.
Well, about 10 minutes of "MacGyvering" and, DONE! Well, it was all done and mounted. Now, for the true test, will it work? Zoom, the generator started. The home made genturi is as stable as a rock. There's no movement what so ever.
I got out my trusty infra-red heat gun and checked the temp of that plastic tubing etc. at various time and distances up the pipe. The highest the temp ever got, after about 20 minutes to a half hour with no load, was about 120 degrees. I could put my hand on that down spout anywhere and not burn my hand. It had no signs of getting soft from being too hot.
Since I found no real specs on just how far away from the tubing the exhaust tip should be to create the venture effect, I just "Winged" it. I got about a 5/8" gap. When I first fired the gen up, since I don't smoke, I needed something to tell me if a "venture" was actually being created. So, off to the paper towel rack and, a butane lighter was obtained.
I lit the paper towel on the corner and let it get going a bit. Then I blew it out and of course, it was smoldering. I held that smoldering section close to the venture area and wow, it sucked that smoke right up. I was happy.
So, for about $20-$25, I got a perfectly working "Genturi". That of course does not include the spare aluminum I had laying around and, the 1 1/2" muffler clamp I already had and, the Go Pro camera suction cup mount. Take a look at the pics and see what you think.
Scott
After camping in a couple of situations where it was sort of "close quarters" over the last couple of years, it has been determined that I should have had "Genturi" long before now. It's not only common courtesy but, it's a lot healthier in terms of anyone that close to your rig, to not have to breath that exhaust if you happen to be camped that close to each other.
Well, I saw them at Quartzsite for $119.00 total. I pondered it for a day and, when a friend came back to camp with one, I thought I'd go pick one up the next day. Well, the old fraise, "You snooze, you loose", yep, it applied to me and they were all sold out.
So, back at home and check Camping World and a couple of other sights and, they hovered around $130.00 and up, and some added shipping. So, I snooped around on the net and found out there's been quite a few of you that have made them yourselves.
So, I looked any pictures that were displayed and thought, heck, if I can pull the radiator out of this big beast, if I can disassemble 3/4 of a 7.5QD generator for a sensor/rotor/head gasket replacement, if I can install a Hydralift motorcycle carrier/lift on the back, I CAN BUILD A GENTURI!!!
So, off to Home Depot for an 1 1/2" EMT elbow, and some sort of light weight 3" tubing. The rest of the paraphernalia for constructing this little project I figured I had laying around someplace. Well, regular PVC 3" tubing and, ABS 3" black tubing was just too darn heavy. I went out to the garden department and found some light weight, plastic 3" drain pipe but, it was white and none of them were real straight.
So, while wandering around in the store, I happened upon the rain gutter section. And low and behold, there was some "down spout" tubing that was white and, some was brown. I picked up a 10' section of the brown and it was incredibly light. So, my brain started straining to come up with a plan for utilization of this rectangular stuff as opposed to using the larger, 3" round stuff, if I could find any I liked.
Well, I came up with Plan A and, headed out the door with one stick of brown down spout, a couple of support clamps and, a couple of extension connectors and the EMT elbow. I got home and went to work. The first thing I had to do was cut a "V-notch" in the center of the EMT elbow and put just a tiny "kink" in the bend to get it to bend straight up. Then I had to cut a couple of slits into the one end so a regular 1 1/2" inch muffler clamp would clamp that EMT bend to the stock exhaust pipe of the gen.
Then came the formation of the double bend brackets that transitioned the EMT elbow to one of the coupler/extensions. As you can see in the pic, I didn't just pop rivet to the coupler. I "sandwiched" the coupler with small pieces of aluminum and then, attached each double-bend bracket to that aluminum. I did that for one main reason. I figured pop riveting just to the thin plastic of one of those couplers would not last all that long and vibration etc. would get to it and I'd have crack appearing soon after it went into service.
So, it was just a tad bit more work to fab up all those little pieces of aluminum but, it made a serious difference in the stoutness of the setup. Once that was done, then I installed it on the coach/gen exhaust pipe. Now, to lower the long stick of down spout into that coupler. The connection is great. Now, I need some stabilization, about half way up that pipe. Hmmmm, what to use? I was thinking of running down to Harbor Freight to pick up some suction cups that I'd seen in another home built genturi. But, DING! A light bulb just popped on in the old brain.
I've got a "Go Pro" camera that I use for motor cycle rides and other actions sports. It came with a suction cup and a mounting arm. So, I retrieved that suction cup and stuck it to the side of the rig, at the highest point I could. Now, all that's needed was something to adapt it to the upright pipe.
Well, about 10 minutes of "MacGyvering" and, DONE! Well, it was all done and mounted. Now, for the true test, will it work? Zoom, the generator started. The home made genturi is as stable as a rock. There's no movement what so ever.
I got out my trusty infra-red heat gun and checked the temp of that plastic tubing etc. at various time and distances up the pipe. The highest the temp ever got, after about 20 minutes to a half hour with no load, was about 120 degrees. I could put my hand on that down spout anywhere and not burn my hand. It had no signs of getting soft from being too hot.
Since I found no real specs on just how far away from the tubing the exhaust tip should be to create the venture effect, I just "Winged" it. I got about a 5/8" gap. When I first fired the gen up, since I don't smoke, I needed something to tell me if a "venture" was actually being created. So, off to the paper towel rack and, a butane lighter was obtained.
I lit the paper towel on the corner and let it get going a bit. Then I blew it out and of course, it was smoldering. I held that smoldering section close to the venture area and wow, it sucked that smoke right up. I was happy.
So, for about $20-$25, I got a perfectly working "Genturi". That of course does not include the spare aluminum I had laying around and, the 1 1/2" muffler clamp I already had and, the Go Pro camera suction cup mount. Take a look at the pics and see what you think.
Scott
FIRE UP wrote:
Well gents,
I just completed another project. My basement A/C unit was making one heck of a racket while running. It's been getting a tad worse as time went on. We have an '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the C-7 330HP CAT and, the basement A/Cs in those Winnies and Itascas have been know for this issue. What I did was remove the A/C unit, set it on some saw horses, alongside the coach and then, remove the top of the unit to find that, on the outside fan, (a squirlcage unit) they used a bronze bushing instead of a bearing.
Well, a trip to Graingers remedied that with a new, Pillow block sealed bearing. Much quieter now. While I had that A/C unit out, I gained access to some very important electrical components. As you'll see in the pics, they were in quite sad shape. What I found out was, they all had to do with the starting system of that CAT. And, they're impossible to get at, with that A/C unit, mounted in its cubby hole.
So, I took that whole system apart, cleaned all the cable ends and installed a new:
135 amp, automatic reset, circuit breaker
250 amp, Bussman, fuse holder
Remote start, solenoid/coil.
The big beast started pretty good before this work but, it spins over considerable better now. And, you'll see why in the pics. So, my point here is, if any of you have a similar situation, do get in there and take a look and see what kind of condition your system is in. It is impossible, on that coach, (and possibly many more of the same vintage, make and model) to do any service on that system, with the A/C unit in place.
Scott
Nice work. We had to pull ours last year to replace a compressor while in Mexico last year. NOT an easy job on the '02 32' Itasca with the Cummins.
Well gents,
I just completed another project. My basement A/C unit was making one heck of a racket while running. It's been getting a tad worse as time went on. We have an '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the C-7 330HP CAT and, the basement A/Cs in those Winnies and Itascas have been know for this issue. What I did was remove the A/C unit, set it on some saw horses, alongside the coach and then, remove the top of the unit to find that, on the outside fan, (a squirlcage unit) they used a bronze bushing instead of a bearing.
Well, a trip to Graingers remedied that with a new, Pillow block sealed bearing. Much quieter now. While I had that A/C unit out, I gained access to some very important electrical components. As you'll see in the pics, they were in quite sad shape. What I found out was, they all had to do with the starting system of that CAT. And, they're impossible to get at, with that A/C unit, mounted in its cubby hole.
So, I took that whole system apart, cleaned all the cable ends and installed a new:
135 amp, automatic reset, circuit breaker
250 amp, Bussman, fuse holder
Remote start, solenoid/coil.
The big beast started pretty good before this work but, it spins over considerable better now. And, you'll see why in the pics. So, my point here is, if any of you have a similar situation, do get in there and take a look and see what kind of condition your system is in. It is impossible, on that coach, (and possibly many more of the same vintage, make and model) to do any service on that system, with the A/C unit in place.
Scott
I just completed another project. My basement A/C unit was making one heck of a racket while running. It's been getting a tad worse as time went on. We have an '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the C-7 330HP CAT and, the basement A/Cs in those Winnies and Itascas have been know for this issue. What I did was remove the A/C unit, set it on some saw horses, alongside the coach and then, remove the top of the unit to find that, on the outside fan, (a squirlcage unit) they used a bronze bushing instead of a bearing.
Well, a trip to Graingers remedied that with a new, Pillow block sealed bearing. Much quieter now. While I had that A/C unit out, I gained access to some very important electrical components. As you'll see in the pics, they were in quite sad shape. What I found out was, they all had to do with the starting system of that CAT. And, they're impossible to get at, with that A/C unit, mounted in its cubby hole.
So, I took that whole system apart, cleaned all the cable ends and installed a new:
135 amp, automatic reset, circuit breaker
250 amp, Bussman, fuse holder
Remote start, solenoid/coil.
The big beast started pretty good before this work but, it spins over considerable better now. And, you'll see why in the pics. So, my point here is, if any of you have a similar situation, do get in there and take a look and see what kind of condition your system is in. It is impossible, on that coach, (and possibly many more of the same vintage, make and model) to do any service on that system, with the A/C unit in place.
Scott
Trap wrote:
Washed and polished one wheel, will try and do one more today. Polishing Aluminum rims is not something I want to get done in one day. At this rate it will take me most of next week to get done;)
Trap,
Polishing rims IS a pain and, an art. I've been polishing aluminum since I was a pup. Yep, it does take time. I've done mine "On and off" the coach. It does make it considerable easier to do them off the coach but, getting them off, handling them, and re-installing them, without proper equipment, tools etc. is also a pain. But, in the end, you have nice looking wheels. Good luck.
Scott
