Putt

[Putts]

Thanks!


Well then...back to the mundane.
Started the roof insulation, you can't see it up behind the plywood I'm using to wedge it into place.
I have to have the ceiling done to put up the top electronics cabinet where all the 12V switching will be.

I used Sikaflex to glue them up.
On a comment made by Gary, I think, I've started using Sikaflex on everything. Even in the wood construction. I like it, but what do I know?
I understand its that it's less brittle than wood glue and is less likely to crack with road vibrations. 
I also got some Tightbond-3 wood glue as some folks recommended it.

My question is: When should I use one or the other, or should I be using something else entirely for a construction adhesive?

 

[makenmend]

I've built quite a few wooden boats using Titebond III and did some joint destruction to prove soundness of joints, the wood always failed before the glue.

MM

 

[Putts]

IT'S ALIVE!!!!

Okay...it's just the panels to charge controller to the batts...but, by golly, it's turning photons into electrons!

Smoky day; sun's going down; one panel is in the shade of a tree...but it's friggen working!!!

All I gotta do is connect two wires to the inverter and I can go to the cop shop and have an officer sign me off.

I got a dang burn RV in my driveway!

And on schedule!

No! I'm not going to stop using exclamation points! 

(Thanks for your comment, makenmend, I'll get back to it...but right now I'm going to pour me a stiff drink and watch the electrons roll in!)

WOOOT!!!!

 

[highdesertranger]

LOL little excited are we. seriously good job. highdesertranger

 

[Cammalu]

Way to go Putts!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Gary68]

if you got good contact the sikaflex will hold,it drys to a stiff rubber consistency,Bradkw kept telling me about it then i finally used it and now it's my goto goo for construction and exterior sealant/caulking

with that said,i'm am a big fan of bolts and screw,i used screws and sikaflex for my walls

 

[makenmend]

Congrats Putts, I still marvel at my Solar bringing the power into my van, been a few months now but still get a kick out of looking at my system monitor.

MM

 

[Putts]

I've built quite a few wooden boats using Titebond III and did some joint destruction to prove soundness of joints, the wood always failed before the glue.

if you got good contact the sikaflex will hold,it drys to a stiff rubber consistency,Bradkw kept telling me about it then i finally used it and now it's my goto goo for construction and exterior sealant/caulking  

with that said,i'm am a big fan of bolts and screw,i used screws and sikaflex for my walls

So, I been thinking about this. 

The structures I build into the cabin---walls, cabinets, bed---will be attached pretty firmly to the big box of the step van. Having driven across some rather uneven RR tracks at 50MPH out in the middle of nowhere Montana, I can tell you that vehicle can establish a fairly violent shakeup for a couple of seconds. I gotta believe that box is flexing around quite a bit. It wouldn't surprise me at all that it could create cracks (from very small to catastrophic) in some of the pieces of plywood or cabinet framing. So, if the Tightbond III holds longer than the wood, I might actually get a lot of stress and crack some wood. 

I think with the Sikaflex joins, Kreg screwed to the walls, it will have just a little give. The wood around the screws will loosen a little, but that's probably okay because the Sikaflex will do most of the work. I'm thinking, in the end I want to build something in there that's just shy of perfectly rigid. 

So, makenmend, do you have experience with somewhat large boats that put a lot of stress on the interior structures? Does the wood just generally have enough flex naturally that cracking joins aren't a problem? Does plywood become a problem at some point because it's too stiff? Are my thoughts above reasonable? Am I missing something?

 

[Putts]

Oh, and I will be using the Tightbond III on stuff like making drawers, cup holders, small things against the wall---trim, smaller panels agains the larger walls, etc.

 

[Gary68]

"Sikaflex is the most well known brand of one component polyurethane sealant/adhesive in the world
This fast curing product provides permanent elastic adhesion to a number of surfaces with excellent cut and tear resistance
Designed to resist the shock and abuse encountered over countless road miles, Silaflex-221 will maintain its strength and adhesion over the long haul
Sikaflex-221 is weather resistant, sandable, paintable and NSF approved for potable water and incidental food contact"
https://www.amazon.com/Products-017-90892-Sikaflex-221-Aluminum-Gray/dp/B004RCX8XS

 

[Putts]

Alright...that's it...I'm going to start keeping the extra Sikaflex chunks I have around and chop it up in my antipasto!

 

[Putts]

Alrightythen....

Got some news on the Putt front:

1) Re-registration as an RV: Ah well. It kept me on schedule anyway.  I'm totally ready to go to the cop shop and have an officer sign me of as an RV. But...before I did that, having heard all the horror stories, I called my Farmers Insurance agent. Long story short, he can't insure an RV that wasn't made in a factory. He said, in fact, that he might not even be able to insure it under the current policy if I've structurally altered it. 

"Nah, no worries," I said, "it's just some camping stuff and shelves I stuck in there that might pass the test and make insurance and registration cheaper. Forget I said anything, okay?" 

"I good at forgetting stuff," he said.

Well, there you go, it cost me about $500/yr in insurance, and I just re-registered for the new year and it was $108. Not too bad really. Once I pull out of here and sell the house I'll do the Nevada domocile and Arizona registration and I should be able to get a reasonable deal.  'Til then, I'll just keep paying it the way I am.

2) Plugged in my fridge---a Dometic CFX50W---and put a couple sixers of beer in it. 

Figured I'd give a little work for the solar system to do and make sure it's clicking along. So far, so good, as far as I can tell. Still reading 12.5V in the morning before the sun comes up; goes into bulk,absorption, and float by about 2PM. My Morningstar Pro Star is a hell of a lot smarter than me, so I just set it for a flooded battary and let the system run. Haven't got my hydrometer yet, but when I do I'll read a bunch of Stearnwake posts and noodle around a bit. 

3) You might think it was bad news I couldn't do the re-registration as an RV. The way I look at it, is that it kept me on schedule, and I've always been pretty insistent that I wouldn't do any work that needed to be done over for it. As a consequence I'm nicely along with the work. I'm on schedule to pull out of here two years from now. That in itself is a victory I'm going to claim...and then move on. 

4) Moving on. As I said in my last post, I need to put in the ceiling beams to hang the ceiling and cabinets from.

Cut bean to length.

Pre-drill the screw holes; sand and prep the surface for adhesives; and stick some 3M VHB tape in places.

Had to cut out some big holes for some air flow...you remember I got that weird air flow system in the walls. Prepped the existing beams for adhesives and marked and drilled some holes for the screws.

Then I put a bead of Sikaflex on the existing beam where ever the 3M tape wasn't; put it in position (had to do this right the first time because God forbid you should touch that 3M tape to the wrong place), and screwed it in.

Woot! Seems to have worked well; I don't think it's going anywhere.

One more to go and I can start with the electronics cabinet and that ceiling area.

 

[breeze]

Dear Putts,

How do you load motorcycles in your step van? I was just starting a NV3500 High Roof build, and my first goal is to put a wheel chock in van, lifting straps on bike, and put a 1,000#-6' reach Venturo crane in my van like the pic below.  I'm  sorry if I missed it in your impressive graphical documentation of your build  or am side-tracking you from your complex build. Most people just gloss over loading and unloading motorcycles as if they do it by themselves. After loading them for 44 years, I can tell you they are not automatic (and friends run away from you almost as fast as if you are moving residential household goods.) Mine is about a 24" drop, but yours looks much steeper than that! Maybe you are pulling a trailer, for whatever reason; or are leading a convoy of trucks/vans (?)

As well, the lift could easily place it to the side into the front wheel chock in a corner, which is critical in a mini-rv with a motorcycle, stationary bike, bulkhead partition, ... Next to my locking gas cap, Viper alarm, and bulkhead partition, this is next (since i'll be optimizing space around it just to make it all fit - ?)

Any insight in your plans is greatly appreciated. Oh yeah, nice accommodations for the dog... some day (sigh.)

 

[Putts]

The back of my van will be closed off from the wheel wells back to form a storage shed of sorts. I'll be having a custom bumper built to load the bike on sideways. It'll have a ramp stored in the bumper. It would be tough to load on in the van regardless as it is quite high.

 

[tx2sturgis]

The back of my van will be closed off from the wheel wells back to form a storage shed of sorts.

A drom box!

I bet you will be googling that term!



(Or you can just look here:

http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/martin_phippard_droms.htm )

 

[Putts]

Cool! Now I have a word for it. Only you and I---and fat old truckers---will know what it means, buy hey, I like it.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Yep...any closed-in (or sometimes open) storage unit for tools or cargo mounted to the back of a semi tractor has been called a drom box by truckers, for decades....that's the only word I would know to call it by. It comes from the word 'dromedary', a one-humped camel.

Today you dont see them as often on American highways except in the case of high explosives carriers...the blasting agents or detonators are always carried in the drom box, separate from the main cargo...for obvious reasons!

When I build my rig, with plans for a cargo compartment at the back, that is what it will be called...naturally. I will skip the high explosives though....

Fat old trucker signing out!

 

[Putts]

Got the second ceiling beam up.

Then built this thing. It's a cable tray and header between the two walls.

The neoprene pads protect the cables as they fall into the two cabinets on either side.

The ceiling itself will screw up into it. 

Riveting, isn't it?

 

[BradKW]

Riveting, isn't it?

I was on the edge of my seat for the entire scroll down...fastenerating!

 

[tx2sturgis]

Oh this is getting goooood!!!