Excel Product Improvement Suggestions

[gonfercoffee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Workshop If anyone wants.....I would be happy to repost the drawings I did earlier of the general water/sewer systems that I posted in the '101' section. workhorse

Hey guys!

Where in this site are workhorse's drawings at?

Gonfer

[rockintom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gonfercoffee Hey guys! Where in this site are workhorse's drawings at? Gonfer

Hey coffee,

Welcome to our forum! I looked in your profile and it shows you have a 36 TKE. Congrats!

Here's a link to the workshops 101. It is located on a sticky near the top of the first page. Restoration 101: Life of a 2001

Work is our woodworking (and much more) super guru on Excel products. He's especially talented on older units like his 2001. Read thru his stuff and you'll agree he is a genius, who is a super nice guy and very helpful when you need him. Remember not all of the information he does is up to date on newer models. Hope that helps! rockin'

[Workshop]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gonfercoffee Where in this site are workhorse's drawings at? Gonfer

Well I referenced the wrong areas, saying they were in the '101' section. If the drawing was related to my unit, it got posted in the '101'.....if not in the Best Practices area. And the current ManaBloc panel was in a Post started by Rockin'.

The ManaBloc when I tried to print it was oversided and you might have to select 'shrink to fit' if you printer has it. If not let me know and I will repost it in a printable size.

Pre 2010 Water System
Current ManaBloc System
Current waste system, and earlier models

Hope something helped,

workhorse

[gonfercoffee]

All very good info. Especially the plumbing diagram. I've taken down the belly fabric to find a leak in the black water tank, so it came in handy.

The rolled steel straps were broken for both tanks. A little too-too light (if your reading this) for the application Bryan! Those tanks really blow up when they fill!

Think I'm going to install a flushing circuit in the gray tank while the bottom's open.

Anybody ever think about a 12v heating pad on the tank bottoms as a back-up, just in case?

All in all, we went to Smith Center twice before ordering in 06. Bryan and the boys took the time to make sure we saw their "new" TKE design and Tanya and I fell in love right off. Bought the coach from Doug Gauer at Couler Valley in Dubuque, Iowa. Couldn't ask for a better/nicer/fair dealin' family run RV place.

We brought it out to Smith Center right before the warranty ran out in 09 and the boys at the repair center took good care of us. Met some real swell folks from Texas or Oklahoma while we were there.

So far, I made a return air filter for the furnace, fitted a longer fold-down counter, modified the water box so the city water hose comes in through the bottom. Managed to cause the black tank leak during an over enthusiastic flushing process too!

We live in it, so after four years--all in all, I'd STILL rate the Excel experience highly.
Gonfercoffee
Steve & Tanya

[Workshop]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gonfercoffee Anybody ever think about a 12v heating pad on the tank bottoms as a back-up, just in case? So far, I made a return air filter for the furnace.......

......12v heating pad on the tank bottoms as a back-up, just in case?

I wouldn't need this type of backup where I use my unit in the winter and believe the heat in the basement would protect the waste and fresh water tanks from freezing. I feel the size and volume of liquid in the tanks, if left at reasonable levels, would be enough to keep the tanks from freezing. My concern would be the lines attached to the 'City water' and tank flush lines where they attach to the side wall and the Utility Center area. As these are attached to the outside wall which will be your coldest area.

......I made a return air filter for the furnace.......

Here are two Atwood furnace reference manauls I have. Neither recommend the use of an air filter on the return air to the furnace. They feel the use of the filter will restrict the return air and could cause problems.

Hydro flame Furnace , pg 26
Atwood Service Manual, pg 21,26,27

On my unit the furnace is in the basement and is open to it. In operation it will pull air from the inside heated space through a grille located at the steps. The remaining air is pulled from the basement, as it is heated by two duct outlets. I feel that if the air is restricted coming from the inside space, it will pull more air from the basement to meet/balance its draw.

On my unit I have openings, small as they are, in the basement so the slide driveshafts, manual slide cranks etc can pass. I have sealed them up the best possible, but still have some bypass and will draw air in from the outside through those areas. I can turn on the exhaust fan in the bathroom and a draft will start and felt from under the bath vanity. This air is coming from the outside through the basement if a window isn't opened up someplace else....your unit might not be setup like mine, but just as a reference to say that if the furnace is restricted one place it might get it from someplace else and that air will be unconditioned, COLD.

workhorse

[gonfercoffee]

Atwoods response makes sense if a fella forgot to change the filter, and I'm sure that's one of the reasons there are none on the system.

I'm on my second year with the filter on the step riser. Replaced the fiberglass three times in two years. You should have seen the crud on the filter! I thought we were pretty tidy folks, and have no pets in the coach either, so maybe we're going to have to clean with our glasses on!

I used the same thin foam around the furnace's return slots in the basement as used in the A/C return. In my book, the kicker is that when I cleaned out the furnace this year before firing it I ran into a lot less dust inside the squirrel cage and around the inlet.

My heating pad idea might be overkill. It gets down below zero for a week or two here every winter. and those temps get a guy thinkin'.

I haven't taken the time to see where our sliders come inside the unit. I'll be under it this afternoon, and I'll see.

gon fer coffee

[Bruce and Jenna]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gonfercoffee My heating pad idea might be overkill. It gets down below zero for a week or two here every winter. and those temps get a guy thinkin'. gon fer coffee

I suspect you could not practically generate enough heat for those tanks with 12v. If you did, you would quickly run down your batteries. So you might as well use 120v.

That said, you should have a dedicated duct from the propane furnace to the tanks. For more heat, I'd use a small space heater and a small fan. Or move south.

[gonfercoffee]

Now that I've dropped the tank and am looking up at the plywood floor, heating ducts and all that insulation, I think going south is the best advise yet!

We ran a small quartz heater in the basement of our old Holiday--that kept old man winter out of the water box, but would make me nervous some nights. I think I like Excels method better. In the event of a heater failure, the black and gray tanks would be the least of my problems.

Gon fer Coffee

[Bruce and Jenna]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gonfercoffee Go South young man! Gon fer Coffee

Advisory:
The number of posts makes you a Junior Member.
But not necessarily a "young man."

[LarryN]

Hello
Offer Big Foot leveling system.

[Still Working "NOT"]

On the counter top, give it a smooth finish on the bottom side on the overhang of the cabinet like the stove counter top. This is a woman's point of view that I heard at the HDT Rally.