September projects

Furnace air ducts

Hot air from the furnace is ducted throughout the motorhome by two pairs of 4" flexible air hoses (similar to clothes dryer hose). The first pair of hoses run under the couch, in front of wich are two small vents where the air comes out. This couch, wich is permanently attached to the floor, can be transformed into a bed, and is also a useful storage compartment. The other pair of hoses, connected on the othe side of the furnace, run in the lower cabinets of the kitchen and then toward the back of the Travco.

The problem with these hoses is they take a lot of storage space. A significant volume of the couch storage compartment is taken by the hoses. Under the sink, the way the two other hoses are hooked to the furnace limits storage as well. So Dad decided to do something about this.

First Dad replaced the dual hoses under the couch with a single metal duct, that feeds both vents. Dad used old galvanized steel ducts. He had to adapt and modify some parts to connect them to the furnace output. The new metal duct is much stiffer and takes less space than the original flexible hoses. Dad spay-painted the duct, and it looks nice and clean.

This is the old hose adapter that connects to the furnace:



Here's a new adapter Dad made:


Dad painting the duct before installation:


Under the couch before installation:


New duct and adapter in place:


Under the sink, Dad kept the original dual hoses, but made an entirely new adapter that allow him to position the hoses in the back of the cabinet, freeing a lot of storage space.

Old hose adapter inside the cabinet:


New adapter completed:



Same cabinet, new adapter:


Drawer

Dad made this small drawer, enclosed inside the end of the couch, near the entrance door.


The drawer is used for storing gloves, a flashlight, basic tools (pliers, screwdriver, etc.) emergency flares, and other objects that may be needed quickly, as it is quicker to open this drawer than search for stuff in an outside storage compartment. It has sturdy metal slides, and the drawer slides into a wooden divider box that separates the drawer's content from the objects stored under the couch. An old piece of wood, a bit of sanding, some varnish, a locking handle, a stainless steel frame, some patience and lots of time!




Parking spot

Dad kept working on the Whale's parking spot, in his backyard. Since last spring, a entire tree was moved, limbs were cut, the Whale almost got stuck in the mud... now Dad bought about 100 ft of drain tile, wich should improve soil drainage. So there will be a lot of digging and shovelling over the next few days...

Back to work

Parking brake

The Travco's park brake was not working. On a Travco, the park brake hand lever doesn't apply the brakes on the rear wheels of the vehicle, but on an additional smaller brake drum on the driveshaft.

The park bake is actuated by a cable, that Dad cleaned lubed. Then Dad took the drum out, and realised that the brake shoes were completely worn. No big surprise here: this type of park brake is not very powerful, and with the brake not fully engaged one could easily drive off with the park brake on without realizing it. Especially since setting the parking brake doesn't turn any warning light in the dashboard. Obviously, driving with the park brake on results in a quick overheat and wears off the lining rapidly, and after a few times the park brake is completely worn out and will stop working.

Looking for a place to buy new brake shoes, Dad took his cousin Almas' advise and went to a specialized shop, where for a few dollars they completely remanufactured the shoes with new liners. The following picture shows the overhauled shoes, just before putting the drum and the driveshaft back on, held in place with two QuickGrip clamps.



All will be left to do is a road test to check for braking efficiency in case of emergency. Considering the weight of the vehicle (around 14000 lbs) it is hard to believe that such a small brake can stop the Blue Whale within a reasaonnable distance without orverheating.


Furnace

A few weeks ago Dad took the furnace out to clean and repaint it, and to fix the broken support brackets. There was also an issue where the pilot flame wouldn't stay lit and the main burner wouldn't light. We were told that the problem was probably caused by a faulty "thermocouple", wich is the safety system built into most LP appliances to shut the main gas valve if the pilot flame extinguishes (and the reason why the start button must be held in for a few seconds when lighting the appliance).



So Dad took the furnace out once more. Looking at the thermocouple, it looked like it was kinda loose and not tightened into the correct position. So he tightened it properly, and voilà! the furnace is working like it should: the pilot stay lit, and the main burner kicks in normaly! After numerous starts and shutdowns it was still lightning up perfectly, so the furnace is considered fixed.

Front end alignment

During his trip last week, Dad found that the Travco's sterring lacked a bit of stability. So Dad checked the front wheel alignment. If one knows how to do it properly, there is no need to go to a specialized alignment shop. Dad has done it himself a few times, using his friend Gerry's procedure (Gerry has done it hundreds of times). So he adjusted toe angle, and after a road test he may have to set the caster angle as well.


Carpet

Dad installed the remaining pieces of carpet, left of the driver's seat.
Next will be the armrests but this will probably be done later with the dashboard.
On the photos you can see the park brake lever discussed above.





Bedroom

Here are a few photos of the rear bedroom. The rear window, wich as you know is not a real window anymore, has been covered with a decorative painting made by Mom. The idea was to cover up the old sealants stains left when the previous owners tried to seal some water leaks, and to cover the holes left by the screws that were holding the ugly cocoplast panel that covered the rear window (see "First Discoveries", posted May 18).




My next post should be about electrical issues, as we have made a few scary discoveries in the Travco 110V electrical system...

July

Finally an update!

The last update was almost a month ago, as I worked a lot lately, then I was away on vacations for a week.
I've added some pictures of the first outing on the last post.

Meanwhile, Dad kept working on his Travco. He undertook two main jobs, the fridge and the furnace.


The fridge

Back then, you could buy a Travco with either a 2-way 110V/LP fridge (as in any RV) or a 110V-only fridge. Unfortunately, the Blue Whale's refrigerator is an electric only model. In my opinon, in a RV, a fridge that can't run on propane is useless. So this fridge will be replaced with a standard LP gas fridge. With the help of his brother, Dad took the fridge out, and is now shopping around for an appropriate replacement.



Interestingly this 110V fridge actually runs on 24V DC. A small transformer reduces the voltage and powers the small 24V 60W compressor unit. The unit is still nice and clean, and we'll try to sell it.

The furnace

The Travco is equipped with central heating. The furnace is mounted in the cabinet under the counter. Air ducts distribute the heated air throughout the coach.

First, the furnace mounting brackets were almost broken off, probably due to age and road vibrations. Dad took the furnace out and reinforced and repaired the mounting brackets. Here is the heater housing, after a new paint coat:



Air inlet and exhaust gas oulet are on the side of the vehicle, and the ducts from them to the furnace were leaking and had to be redone. Dad fixed them with some stainless steel tubing had had, and parts from an old car exhaust pipe. Cheap, but a lot of work.

But there is a bigger issue with the furnace: it won't start! And here we need some help. If anybody knows anything about propane heaters, your comments will be appreciated.



The furnace is a Suburban model NT32A. It has a pilot light that can be lighted with a BBQ grill style igniter or a match, and it has a button that has to be held depressed for a few seconds during ignition, as with many LP appliances. Here's what happens.

When we hold the start button depressed, the pilot can be lighted. However, the flame is very weak, and goes out as soon as the start button is released. Even if the start button is held for a longtime, the pilot goes out as soon as the button is let go. Normally, after about 30 seconds, the pilot should stay lit after the start button is released. It looks like the pilot light is not strong enough to heat the thermocouple enough for it to keep the gas valve open.

There is an openning where the pilot can be lighted with a match, and through this opening we heated the thermocouple red hot with a propane torch. Still the same result, the pilot fades out gradually as soon as the start button is released.

Another test we did, is try to light up the main burner. Since the pilot light is weak, we inserted the lighted propane torch in the ignition hole, and we increased the thermostat setting until it triggered. The blower kicked in, then after a couple seconds we can hear what I beleive is the gas valve opening, but nothing else happens, the main burner doesn't light up. Just like if there was no gas. But there is propane in the tank, as the stove works perfectly.
So if you know anything about this, please leave a comment!

Other things

Dad has almost finished the door step trim. Two small curtesy lamps have been installed at the bottom of the step, they come on automatically when the door is opened. The famous hydraulic retractable step is now completed with a control switch mounted just inside near the door frame. The batterie compartment has been redone, with a sturdy braket to hold the large 8D battery.

On the next picture, you can see the entrance step finish, the battery in its compartment, one of the curtesy lights, and in the lower corner of the aluminium door frame is the switch that controls those lights.



Also, the water pump, wich had stopped working during the camping weekend last month, has been officially declared dead. For some reason, the motor is burnt. It's a small piston pump, driven by a small 12V motor by a rubber belt. Dad is going to try to replace the motor with another one he already has, but chances are he'll propably have to get a new motor (or a new pump, depending on the price).

I'll be on vacation over the next week, we're heading for Bar Harbor, Maine, for a few days. I offered my parents to come with us with the Blue Whale for this 450km trip. It would make a good road test for the Travco, and if something comes up with the motorhome we'll be along to help. There are many things to take care of before the coach is declared fully roadworthy, such as some lights or signals that are not working and that Dad temporarily wired for last month's outing.

So I don't know if the Blue Whale will head for Bar Harbor next week, in any case it's a good oportunity for my parents for a nice vacation week on the east coast.