Water damage, the good the bad and other upgrades

[rvpopeye]

Ohhhhhhh mannnnnnnnnn.
That rig is gonna be SO much better than a new one when you get done.
Scratch that "when you get done" part , it already is better than new !

 

[shadow]

Ohhhhhhh mannnnnnnnnn.
That rig is gonna be SO much better than a new one when you get done.
Scratch that "when you get done" part , it already is better than new !

Thanks, I really appreciate that.

With the house battery problem I recently had, I have discovered another problem that needs to be fixed/upgraded.
The inverter/charger on all rv`s from the seventy`s up into the late ninety`s was an analog unit that was barely able
to trickle charge a battery, and would not properly maintain the battery when plugged in.

The new inverter/chargers have built in three stage charging and one hundred percent filtered DC output.
The output voltages are 13.2 VDC float, 13.6VDC normal, and 14.4VDC boost. So now the inverter/charger is a smart charger
that can properly maintain the battery`s as needed when plugged in.

I will be ordering a new inverter/charger in about two weeks, and also getting a new house battery.

 

[AbuelaLoca]

You have been just chugging along with this project! Looks great!!

 

[shadow]

You have been just chugging along with this project! Looks great!!

Thanks

Its a slow process, but I`m getting there.
Once I get the inverter/charger and battery replaced, I need to look at getting some curtains,
and some carpet.

 

[shadow]

I got a few more thing in the mail over this past week.
I had to buy a new electric staple gun, the one I had broke. I also bought one hundred feet of good quality speaker wire.
The speaker wire installed and used in my rv from the factory is solid copper phone wire (no, I`m not kidding).

I also bought some LED light bulbs to help save some battery power, and I got a blow out valve to clear
the water lines.

 

[shadow]

Weekend Update.

Another busy weekend working on the rv. I removed the small over cab mattress and put a cover over the bare wood,
and what a huge improvement it made, it was the finishing touch.

 

[Charlotte's Web]

I removed the small over cab mattress and put a cover over the bare wood,
and what a huge improvement it made,   it was the finishing touch.

Shadow, what a transformation!  Every chance I get to check in your project amazes me more.
Have you slept a night in it yet?
Charlotte

 

[shadow]

I spent the rest of the weekend replacing the speaker wire in the rv. I still can`t figure out why they
used solid copper phone wire for speaker wire in the rv ???.

I replaced it with good quality 14 gauge speaker wire.
I then added insulation behind the trim panels, and put it all back together.


This is the phone wire they used for speaker wire. I removed as much of it as I could.
The rest of it is in the walls.

 

[shadow]

Shadow, what a transformation!  Every chance I get to check in your project amazes me more.
Have you slept a night in it yet?
Charlotte

I have not slept in the rv yet. I need to get some curtains for it, but because of the odd size
of the rv windows I`m having trouble finding some that fit, and a color that looks good.

 

[highdesertranger]

unbelievable transformation, really nice work you have done. they used the solid phone wire because it was cheap. they probably bought like 20,000ft of it at a surplus sale for 5 bucks. highdesertranger

 

[shadow]

unbelievable transformation,  really nice work you have done.  they used the solid phone wire because it was cheap.  they probably bought like 20,000ft of it at a surplus sale for 5 bucks.  highdesertranger

Yea, I know, anything to save a buck.

 

[shadow]

Well, we got our first snow fall yesterday, it wasn`t much, but its very cold here. So things will be a little slow in getting done for a while.
I`m not a huge fan of snow or cold weather, and I will be very glad when spring and summer return.

 

[VanKitten]

When do you leave the frozen north for good?

 

[shadow]

When do you leave the frozen north for good?

Unfortunately, its going to be quite a while before I can.
My mom is in a care home, and my dad will be in the next year or two because he has health issues and doesn`t take
care of him self the way he should.

Then there is dealing with the house and everything in it. Its quite overwhelming when ever I stop to think about it, because
in the end it will all be on me to handle.

I am originally from California, and the only thing good about California is that it didn`t snow in the area were I lived in winter,
but I have no desire to move back there at all. I do like were I`m at now in Idaho, its just the cold an snow in the winter that
I have a hard time with.

I also still have ten years before I can retire, unless disability gets me first. So, until then, I just take it one day at a time.
I do wish my rv was finished, but its getting there slowly.

 

[shadow]

Nothing new going on with the rv right now, but I just spent an hour going through all of the pictures I have taken, and the
progress I have made in the repairs and rebuilding of the rv, and its just amazing how far it has come sense I have started
rebuilding it.

I still have a ways to go before its done, but sometimes you just need to go back and look at were you started, and compare
it with were you are now, and for me, its a great sense of accomplishment for everything that I have done, because I have
made all of the repairs to my rv by my self, no help from anyone at all.

I am no carpenter and I have no experience working on an rv, but its not hard once you get started.
If you are new to rv`s like I am, don`t be afraid to dig in and at least try to do the repairs your self.

 

[shadow]

Today`s Update.

I ordered a new inverter/charger today, and the rest of the curtains I needed.
I still need to get some curtain rods, so a trip to wally world will be needed in
the next couple of weeks.

 

[jimindenver]

I think you should be proud of what you have learned and accomplished. I always suggest that either you make sure to cross of the items as you get them done or have a second list of what has been done so that you can see what you have accomplished when you feel overwhelmed.

 

[shadow]

I think you should be proud of what you have learned and accomplished. I always suggest that either you make sure to cross of the items as you get them done or have a second list of what has been done so that you can see what you have accomplished when you feel overwhelmed.

I am very proud of what I have learned and accomplished so far, for sure. I don`t have a list of everything that I have done,
but I take before and after pictures of everything I do to the rv.

When I first started working on the rv I was very overwhelmed, to say the least. Mainly because I had no idea what I was doing
or how to do it. But now that I have some experience working on my rv, I can look at something in the rv that needs to be repaired or replaced, and figure out how to do it.

The only thing holding up the progress of getting things done, is lack of time and money.
So I have to do it a little bit at a time.

 

[shadow]

My rv needs new tires, the tires on it are 875-16.5 LT, this is an out of date tire that is usually a special order at most tire shops, and
they are expensive.

What I`m going to do is get new 16'' rims and tires. That way I have a better selection of tires to select from.
I live in a small farm town, and the only tire shop in town is Les Schwab. I do know that they are over priced, but they
are the only tire shop in town. The estimate I got for new rims and tires was $2191 dollars.

This is just an estimate, there are several different tires choices to select from, and the prices vary depending on what tire I select.
So the price I got just gives me an idea of what to expect. I had already figured that the price would be around two thousand dollars,
so I was pretty close in my own guess of the cost.

I took the spare tire with me so they could see what I had on the rv, and I also had them check the date code on the tire,
and the tires on my rv are twenty three years old. The scary part of that is that I drove my rv home three hundred miles on those tires.

I am saving as much money as I can every month for the rims and tires, so I hope to have them by spring time.

 

[jimindenver]

Firestone is the only shop that I know still carries the original tires for that RV