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Bigblue12v · 08-20-2012, 06:55 PM

Ok I got the ac. It looks older than 3 years old but it is a Coleman Mach 8333-871 non ducted that works perfect. My research shows it is a 13,500 btu so basically it's the same unit as the front, ducted one. I'll probably leave this one plugged into the outlet from the factory a/c breaker so the ducted one will be the primary unit running off the auxiliary 20 amp power cable, since this one won't be running all the time or will be the best one to shut down if we need to use other high powered appliances. The ducted one will still have a vent in the bedroom. 27,000 btu of Coleman Mach air baby!!! Woohoo!!! Oh and I got it for $125, the shroud is even in pretty good shape! I'm pretty excited about the whole thing. Should help a lot! Also going to recoat the roof since all the white is gone from it, going from black back to white should help a lot also.

Bigblue12v · 08-22-2012, 09:04 PM

For anyone still keeping up with this:
I am making progress on repairs! I got the wiring ran for the 2nd a/c, got the first ceiling panel cut out and in place, shortened the ductwork from front ac, and built a special set of roof trusses for the a/c unit. The other standard trusses are already built just waiting on other new ceiling panel to go in first. The trusses for the a/c I cut out of solid 2x6's. The rest of the trailer will rot to the ground before this part of the roof starts to sag. The normal trusses are 2x2's for the bottom flat part, with short stubs of 2x2 as spacers, tallest one in center, and a 1x2 as the top part of the bow/arch. These are what my trailer has and I'm sure a lot of trailers, they were easy enough to make and very light weight, not that weight is a concern really. The 2x6 solid trusses are a lot heavier but also much stronger. If I were to build a camper and wanted to walk on the roof frequently and put cargo up top or have a party deck, these are what I would use, if weight were no concern!!! I would also upgrade from the 1/4" OSB roof decking that mine has lol. It was dark as I was finishing so I don't have pictures. My phone was dying. I'll try and remember to get pics tomorrow then everyone can see how these things are put together if you never have before. I think I'm about the only person around doing this sort of work on an RV. Everybody I talk to including the RV dealer is shocked and inquisitive about my doing it and how am I able to. It's not that hard, they are very simple. Just the order and fashion of assembly at the factory doesn't make the structure very serviceable using normal house and building knowledge. Oh and it's tight quarters! Lol
Also a friend turned me on to this stuff:

http://m.lowes.com/mt/www.lowes.com:...eviews#reviews

He used it on his TT it's about the same age as mine. It turned out really good, looks wise. Time will tell how it performs. I don't have leaks but the white is all gone so it's black. Just wanna reseal it and reflect some sun! It does say on the can that it can be used on RV's. Not sure if they mean rubber roofs or the old galvanized/sheet steel roofs. It has a couple of reviews online both of which are negative but I doubt lowes would sell something that poor. I could easily be wrong but I'm also aware of the fact that most times name brand product failure is operator error or excessively high expectations. For as cheap as it is i figure it may be worth a shot.

Dunner · 08-23-2012, 05:27 AM

I got down on my hands and knees, begged mother nature and finally got a heavy rainstorm to hit my house and motor home. No leaks that I could detect. Even checked around the new windshield and all the windows and slides.

The only dripping I found was off the dog from prancing around in my back yard in the 2 inch deep water.

Bigblue12v · 08-24-2012, 07:49 PM

Nice.... I had no leaks in the front, un-damaged area.... Which was a nice little ray of sunshine on my rainy parade....

Bigblue12v · 08-25-2012, 08:05 PM

Well got a bit done today but with all the running to town, not as much as I'd have liked.....
Got the trusses all tied together and braced up. Insulation in and decking on, very well done. I was bouncing on my heavy 2x6 a/c trusses shakin the whole trailer; they are rock solid!!!! Freaking awesome!!!!!
Then as I was trying to get the inside setup for wife to paint the ceiling, I realized I forgot to route the 12V wiring for the lights and had even forgotten to drill holes in the ceiling for the wiring! So off came the roof decking, and somewhere along the lines I realized that I had unknowingly moved the hole for the second ac unit forward one set of trusses. It's a great spot for the a/c, better than where it would have been. Won't have to get on the mattress to reach the controls (would have if the hole were in same location as old roof vent) so that's a good thing. That part was planned. I just didn't realize that where I intended to put it wasn't where the vent had previously been. So now my hole in the rubber roof is shifted 16" from where it needs to be :-( I guess I'll cut my new hole, and move that piece of rubber over the vent hole and patch it on with Eternabond. So that was a big setback. Then I had problems with the aluminum piece I am using for the top of the rear wall. It has to curve over the edge to the rear of the roof. Not a sharp bend. A nice smooth curve. But I can't get the aluminum to follow along as tight a curve as I want. I then got frustrated with that as it was getting dark. So I took it back off and will try to find a way to curl it on the ground tomorrow then reinstall it. It is race car body aluminum, pre-powdered coated in a variety of colors. I picked up some new clearance lights as most got busted in the tree love scene. The wife has the inside ceiling looking pretty good. We went with the "sand" textured ceiling coating. It's a lot thicker than paint but came out nice.

And I did some extra reinforcements on the back wall. It previously only had the one vertical board in the center, I added 4 more.

Will get more pics tomorrow. Hopefully it'll be 95% done tomorrow....

Bigblue12v · 08-26-2012, 05:07 PM

Pics from today.
Notes:
Still have to install trim strip at bottom of aluminum on back wall, and install the new marker lights. It looks like crap but a ton cheaper than a new piece of fiberglass that wouldn't match either. Also still have to install the vinyl trim insert on corners etc. and trim the putty tape.
Inside notes- trim and cabinets still not reinstalled but wanted to show the progress made- my wife painted the ceiling with textured ceiling surface paint. I just got done reinstalling the light, speakers and the a/c vent/controller which I refurbished a little by cleaning and repainting it as it had yellowed. I also refurbed the a/c covers up top by cleaning and repainting in spots and also painted in the "Coleman" on them where it presumably originally had a sticker (red I think?) anyway blue is what I had in stock. Looks ok to me. Kinda time consuming but looks better. Holy crap this thing gets cold! The ducted unit loses a lot of temperature through the ducts it seems. However the front stays nice and the bedroom is a walk in freezer unless you turn the rear unit down a bit! Freaking awesome!!! Don't have to worry about it taking 6 hrs to get down to 80* inside anymore :-)

Bigblue12v · 08-28-2012, 05:08 PM

Here's the back all finished with new marker lights and all the trim in place. Well I trimmed the putty tape after the pic, doubt you could notice that anyway. I also picked up another MaxAir vent cover for the front vent. Since the stabilizers on rear got damaged I had to buy a new set. Getting ready to install them. One of the old ones appears salvageable. If so, I will put it just in front of the axle under the slide out. I always level and drop jacks with an extra turn on the slide side and it still throws it off level. Not that the 1 degree matters so much as it just seems like a good idea. That good ol' Super Slide is heavy!
I think the jacks are the last thing to do on the outside other than test the roof for leaks. Then gotta clean up the inside it's still a mess. My father in law called and said the cabinetry for above the bed is fixed. I'll pick it up tomorrow after work. The small passenger side wardrobe was splinters no chance of saving it. Maybe we will find a mirror to put in that corner. Not sure at this moment.

Mamadubbs · 08-29-2012, 10:48 PM

Looks like a trailer again!

NLPRacing · 09-10-2012, 08:55 PM

Looks great!

Bigblue12v · 09-11-2012, 08:12 PM

Thanks! It's all finished and used it labor day weekend. It rained 60% of the time and was In 80's so lot of humidity. Both a/c's tag teamed it and kicked butt! Everyone complained it was freezing inside and rear unit was on low fan speed. Mission accomplished!!! Haha!! Also zero leaks!!! Woohoo!

Mamadubbs · 09-11-2012, 08:19 PM

That's awesome!! I was just reading the thread and wondering if you made it out in the newly new re-rebuilt trailer. Any pics from your adventure?

Bigblue12v · 09-11-2012, 09:29 PM

Yep not a very photo friendly weekend thanks to the weather but it beat sitting in the S&B watching the rain I guess lol

nwcanopies · 09-12-2012, 01:25 PM

Love your attitude. Positive. That trailer is really really really lucky to have you. Many would have scrapped it even before you began the work!

Bigblue12v · 09-12-2012, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nwcanopies

Love your attitude. Positive. That trailer is really really really lucky to have you. Many would have scrapped it even before you began the work!

I suppose that is true and thanks for the compliment. I love a good challenge and doing what most would not attempt. But I have to break out one of my favorite lines here:
"There's a sucker born every minute!"
Just this time it might be me lol. I have seen gobs of fiberglass sided rigs this age and most of them the fiberglass is in fairly similar condition as mine, just have added distractions such as paint or graphics, but to me the fiberglass on mine is sort of rough in spots or makes the outside condition appear rough. Maybe it wouldn't be that huge of a deal if I were to ever sell it but I'm thinking it's probably not worth a lot more than I have in it at this point.... Which would basically make me a sucker because I haven't yet put a dollar figure on my labor and added that to the equation... But I'm not trying to sell it so who cares :-)