Community Forums

Franka548 · 10-03-2016, 06:42 AM

Harvey,
Glad that you had an enjoyable trip. My guess with the oven is that the flame on the pilot is too low and not heating the thermocouple enough to allow the gas valve to open. The furnace could be anything from just needing a good cleaning to a new sail switch, to needing a circuit board. Hope that you get everything sorted out.
Frank

Wroughtnharv · 10-05-2016, 09:45 PM

I had given up on getting back the reports from Holt Cat on the oil and antifreeze samples. Then today the antifreeze report came in, not enough glycol. That makes sense because I had added two plus gallons of water to get us home. Otherwise, all in the coolant department is good according to Cat on that sample.

I'm a driver, love the view from the wheel. I'm really learning to like Jane.

Wroughtnharv · 10-16-2016, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ronjhall

Harvey, glad your trip went well with minor problems.
When I had my fridge rebuilt a few year ago it was recommended that the inside vertical pieces in the Camco cover be cut off. They restrict air flow needed to make fridge work properly.
Hope to meet up with you after Thanksgiving. Leaving Charlotte, NC on 11/26.

Thanks for the tip Ron. I trimmed the perimeter pieces to allow for airflow without sabotaging rain coming in. The fridge has been plugged into 115 volts for a couple of weeks now without throwing a code or acting up. Thanks again for the heads up.

Wroughtnharv · 10-16-2016, 12:18 PM

I haven't touched the coach as far as repairs go for a couple of weeks now. But next week we will be doing the exhaust manifold and EGT installation. We will also go after the antifreeze leak before we button up the engine access.

And if you wonder what I do when I'm not hammering the keys on the Apple stuff, IMac, IPad Pro, and IPad, I do real work, not as much as I used to do of course, getting old gets the best of getter'n done.

This is a carport I finished. It's all steel. We walked on top doing the panel install. Twenty feet deep and twenty four foot wide, 1/4" out of square when we checked before installing the panels. And it cost four times what the Carolina Carports do, twice what the aluminum one did that failed in the hailstorm earlier this year its replacing. I also have two US Patents on the system.

Wroughtnharv · 10-16-2016, 12:23 PM

We had baseball size hail early April. This is what the aluminum carport looked like after the storm hit and client's 2016 F250 was sent to the body shop for hail damage.

Wroughtnharv · 10-16-2016, 12:33 PM

I would appreciate all the help we can get on doing our trip of a lifetime next year. We're looking at dropping off oldest grandson and his girlfriend in Georgia next April for their hike of the Applachacian Trail. Then we're heading up north visiting places like DC and Niagra Falls. We want to go from the east coast of Canada to the west coast and then on up to Alaska.

Best thing about me at first questioned the fiscal irresponsibility of such a trip. Then she thought about the breast cancer and our ages and decided to agree with me that we can either do it or the kids will waste it on Caribbean cruises when we're gone.

I'm confident that by April I will have Jane ready and dependable. We're looking at a toad and right now I'm thinking manual shift Fiat 500s will be the best buy when we consider weight, versatility, and resale value if we buy used now. They seem to have a 34% value depreciation first year.

I already have my passport and best thing about me can get one easy. But any tips for what to not miss and to miss woul be appreciated.

Wroughtnharv · 10-16-2016, 12:43 PM

Here's some details on the carport. All the steel is hot dipped galvanized, fourteen gauge purlins and twelve gauge brackets. No welding because everything is put together with either TEK screws or bolts and nuts.

This is the last one that I will do so it is not a solicitation for work. After I decided that I was getting out of the working off the truck stuff I've gotten tons of calls. Day before yesterday an old client wanted to know if I would move a gate I had made and installed for him ten years ago. I'm retired. But when you have a one of a kind gate, 4" pipe frame with 500 lb stone state of Texas in the middle with a D coming out that's been working without fail for ten years, 1350 lb swing gate even, it's hard not to want to see it moved correctly.

ronjhall · 10-16-2016, 03:44 PM

Nice carport. Wish I had one for my motorhome.

Wroughtnharv · 10-16-2016, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ronjhall

Nice carport. Wish I had one for my motorhome.

We've purchased some of the materials we need to build an 18 X 40 X 13' high home for Jane. She was in the open when the hail storm hit us but suffered minor damage. It was a five hundred year storm but we've had two hundred year storms in the last thirteen years.

HarveyP · 10-20-2016, 09:46 AM

Could you share part of the purchase list for a carport that size? Maybe materials list would be a better description. We have played with the idea of one about that size but have not had the experience to know where to start. Rough ideas about the cost of materials would be great also if you were game to share that sort of info. Thanks, HarveyP

Wroughtnharv · 10-21-2016, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarveyP

Could you share part of the purchase list for a carport that size? Maybe materials list would be a better description. We have played with the idea of one about that size but have not had the experience to know where to start. Rough ideas about the cost of materials would be great also if you were game to share that sort of info. Thanks, HarveyP

Keep in mind the prices are local, yours might be more or less depending upon where you are. Figure the sheet metal @ $3.00 lineal foot. So the 20' sheets were about $60.00 each, 12 of them. Primered C purlins, 1 1/2" X 4" go for about $1.15 per foot, 6 ea 25' and 7 each at 20'. Point of personal pride here, waste was less than 10' total. However, the ones I used were galvanized 2" X 4" and cost about $2.00 per foot. 8" C purlins like I used are about $4.00 per foot, come in 25' pieces. Figure the same cost for the posts. Screws are $25.00 per bag, 250 screws per bag, you need purlin screws and lap screws, so one bag each. I get $5.00 each for the brackets when they are hot dipped galvanized. $300.00 for them.

The subcontractors who install those $799.00 car ports get about $75.00 labor for each installation unless they can get into extras. I get more than that per hour.

The other day I had my power steering pump replaced on my C5500 welding rig that we used to tow the fifth wheels before we bought the motor home. Bud called me to say the pump was almost a grand, nine hundred plus closer to a thousand. I had priced it online for a shade under five hundred so I asked him about me supplying the pump. He said he would get back to me. I called back minutes later and told him to get the parts and schedule the repair. Everyone has to make a living. The money he makes off of the parts make his business viable. It also insures that if I have a problem with the work he will be there to stand behind it. The path goes both directions, sometimes the wind is at your back and others it is in your face.

HarveyP · 10-21-2016, 10:15 AM

Thank you for the information. Always good to hear from a man with experience instead of just theories. HarveyP

Wroughtnharv · 10-22-2016, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wroughtnharv

Keep in mind the prices are local, yours might be more or less depending upon where you are. Figure the sheet metal @ $3.00 lineal foot. So the 20' sheets were about $60.00 each, 12 of them. Primered C purlins, 1 1/2" X 4" go for about $1.15 per foot, 6 ea 25' and 7 each at 20'. Point of personal pride here, waste was less than 10' total. However, the ones I used were galvanized 2" X 4" and cost about $2.00 per foot. 8" C purlins like I used are about $4.00 per foot, come in 25' pieces. Figure the same cost for the posts. Screws are $25.00 per bag, 250 screws per bag, you need purlin screws and lap screws, so one bag each. I get $5.00 each for the brackets when they are hot dipped galvanized. $300.00 for them.

The subcontractors who install those $799.00 car ports get about $75.00 labor for each installation unless they can get into extras. I get more than that per hour.

The other day I had my power steering pump replaced on my C5500 welding rig that we used to tow the fifth wheels before we bought the motor home. Bud called me to say the pump was almost a grand, nine hundred plus closer to a thousand. I had priced it online for a shade under five hundred so I asked him about me supplying the pump. He said he would get back to me. I called back minutes later and told him to get the parts and schedule the repair. Everyone has to make a living. The money he makes off of the parts make his business viable. It also insures that if I have a problem with the work he will be there to stand behind it. The path goes both directions, sometimes the wind is at your back and others it is in your face.

One of the issues one has to deal with when losing their mind is math. That should be 8 sheets of R Panels 20' long instead of 12. Each sheet covers an area 3' wide even though they are 37 1/2" wide, got some over lap there.

Wroughtnharv · 10-22-2016, 07:19 AM

Yesterday a bud/mechanic came by and we did a pretty good once over on Jane. He's going to remove and replace the exhaust manifold. I'll install the pryrometer now that I have the new exhaust manifold back from the machine shop.

He confirmed my observation that the antifreeze leak was around the neck even though we can't get in there close enough to verify it. He believes I will need a new core and thinks it will be about $500.00. He also agreed with me that installing a misting system to the shroud will probably help.

I'm going to install a seven wire RV line from the engine bay to the dash when I install the pyrometer leads. That will give me a couple of 10 gauge wires and five fourteen gauge wires to use for future projects.

It looks like the easiest way to pull the radiator is to remove the body work at the rear of the coach. That appears to relatively easy. It's ABS plastic over a steel skeleton. Once it's out of the way it appears the radiator is pretty well accessible. Bud noticed grease on the CAC and that will be taken care of too.

Hopefully in ten days to two weeks we will be on the road for a short get away in Jane. That will be a good thing, very good thing.