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honkytime · 10-29-2013, 08:45 AM

Hi guys and gals. New to the class a scene after upgrading living spaces from my 1982 dodge okanagan camper van (awesome my-time-my-way.blogspot.com).**I was mulling over rent or..? *for the upcoming fishing season...guess ? won as I am now the proud owner of a 1986 31' Vanguard. Its quite a unit. Only 76000km on it. 126hrs on the onboard gennie. Fully insulated, storm windows....nice, real nice.**Its an 86 and some things arent working quite right. I noticed a couple of holes in the ducting, one window isn't sealing correctly. A few controls I've never seen and so on...*Its got a "Level Command II" information console that appears to be reading right. Even came with a full belly of propane and got respectable mileage over the 250km trip home. If its life was a road warrior it shows no signs of wear. Originally from Saskatchewan so virtually rust free.**Im leveling it today to power up the fridge.So now...I have questions.

I am certain these or similar have been covered before, my challenge is net connection and surfing the entire sight is difficult. That being said, drop a link on a brother if you know where the info is at.**Ill start with the base. I picked up a 30x50 trap for my skirting. I will make a more professional skirt later but its not practical right now. So I thought Id lay this thing out, center the beast and drive it on. Then lay my blocking and get it levelled. Once levelled work on the skirt. Original thought was snaps. Im still on that thought.

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Does anyone have a simple skirt tip? How should I connect it to the unit? I thought about just tying it over like lacing a shoe and then cutting out the door. Wouldnt be pretty but it would keep the wind out of the belly. Rigid insulation, framing, proper...later.**Propane...I would like to get a 200lb tank set beside me as the last thing I want to worry about is having enough juice to be warm. And that brings me to another question, if I get *200lb tank, could I still run a buddy heater off of that? Not sure about running one inside, doesnt ring right to me. But I though about running it under the rig inside the skirting. The big one has a fan. Get a week on a 20tank at low 4000btus. Would this be a significant enough heat source to change the ambient floor temp hopefully raising the rigs comfort? There is no option for an electrical option which would be ideal.***Other than that...let the games begin!

As I said I am living in this thing so filltimers in cold climates weigh in please. All experience is more than my experience. For example...its the middle if winter, the rig is working hard to stay warm And. .I find a leak in the roof? Im not planning on using the tanks just yet but if I did, how do you use them in -30c for a week? Or can you?**I will have a shack built next to me next year with a wood stove in it which will make life easier but for now this is what I've got.**

sorry its all mashed in...Im on my phone and its capabilities ate...limited to me patience level

cheers

**JohnRR** · 10-29-2013, 09:42 AM

That looks like quite a unit

honkytime · 10-30-2013, 08:48 AM

Ok after day one I am level (almost...more on that). And have done some insulating in the lower compartments (just reflectix which I know isnt a great insulater but its better than nothing and I have a shitload laying around. So i lined the floor under the black and grey water. There was about a 1/2" gap to work with, tricky but done. Then I put it on the inside of all the compartment doors.***

I found some serious wet in the compartment that houses my power cord. Im not sure why there is a 30amp plug in inside that the main line was plugged into. It Kay have something to do with the plug on the other side...see below.

There is also this other plug in the main battery tray..and I can't*get the drawer out all the way but i see there is a battery tender in the back. There is also another battery compartment...eventually Id like to load up 2more to compliment my future solar array.**

So the leveling system...it appears that neither rear jacks are working. One swings down but neither activate. *The fronts work like a charm and with my blocking on the tires my bubble in the fridge is almost on.**So i have never used a system like this fancy Mark V electric thingamadoodoo here are some questions...1. Its all turned off...the red lights are still glowing...right or wrong? 2. It seems pretty simple but are the jacks really that strong or should I block the points on the frame by them and let them up. 3. Once I get some either bottles jacks or scissors for the rear Im planning on jacking it up till the green light on the leveler goes out. I have no green light indicator on the rear left....its the one that doesnt swing down. So i was planning, the bubble in the fridge, the rear right level light and a finger crossing. My blocking is already up quite high on the rear left already so i don't see the right side needing anything more than firm support at the height it is.

**And now...the big project. Turning this tarp into a skirt. Seems like snaps are hard to come by in the area. I thought about lacing it up like a football but seriously...lol. Id like to keep it whole so it the future I can roll it out, drive on and snap it up...but someone said to cut it into a few pieces (5 with the connection for the short side run *under the steps) and *attach the seams with velcro. That would work but have some other things I want to explore first.**So, has anyone had success with velcro outdoors? In one scenario Id like to run it in a continuous strip around the entire thing. In another I think I could spend a lot less if I put some quilting into the tarp edge, roll it and then attach it to the mh every couple feet. I saw huge velcro in 10' rolls but it was 25' and the rig is 31'...not going to happen. Of course I may be looking at the velcro wrong. Maybe regular velcro would be good enough and the industrial is over kill.**

ramble ramble...time for the new superman and my first pizza in my new (to me) oven**oh yeah...its cold in those cupboards...add a small vent?

Leave them open?**and is this a heat pump?**lol