American Coach: Basement Rust Repair

[n2zon]

Wow. Nice job!

[Meames1]

Electrical compartment installed, fit like a glove. Also installed a Hughes Power Watchdog. Got all done and my dogs face was white, so that means good to go ! I have the outer "spacer" frame pieces to replace and paint next before the door can go back on as you can see in the pictures.

[cwk]

Very nice, clean, professional look.

May I suggest a rubber cap to cover the end of the white hanger where I presume you will be hanging a power cord when not in use? It might prevent the "sharp end" of the hanger from digging into the cord's outer insulation.

[Meames1]

Originally Posted by cwk

May I suggest a rubber cap to cover the end of the white hanger where I presume you will be hanging a power cord when not in use? It might prevent the "sharp end" of the hanger from digging into the cord's outer insulation.

[Drewfab]

One thing I did in that electrical compartment is to add a 30 amp 110v female receptacle from a 30 amp breaker on the main panel that you can plug someone else’s RV/camper or your race trailer to run off the generator. It was easy to snake some romex from there to the panel along the existing wire from the 50 amp input receptacle.

[Meames1]

Originally Posted by Drewfab

One thing I did in that electrical compartment is to add a 30 amp 110v female receptacle from a 30 amp breaker on the main panel that you can plug someone else’s RV/camper or your race trailer to run off the generator. It was easy to snake some romex from there to the panel along the existing wire from the 50 amp input receptacle.

Ha! When I rebuilt the front driver side compartment, I found a standard 30 amp outlet wired directly to the generator. I couldn't figure out why and was planning on removing it. But as I thought about the scenario you just said, or we have an extended power outage at home, it might come in handy.



You can just see it in the front compartment here.

[Jthigh]

Awesome and professional work. Mine needs some TLC as well but don’t have access to equipment for the work. Maybe one day?

[Drewfab]

Originally Posted by Meames1

Ha! When I rebuilt the front driver side compartment, I found a standard 30 amp outlet wired directly to the generator. I couldn't figure out why and was planning on removing it. But as I thought about the scenario you just said, or we have an extended power outage at home, it might come in handy.



You can just see it in the front compartment here.
Attachment 280852

Cool, did they run a breaker on there or just use the breaker on the Generator? I was thinking about doing something similar but with a 50 A 220V plug so I would run a welder or something directly off the Generator.

[Meames1]

Originally Posted by Drewfab

Cool, did they run a breaker on there or just use the breaker on the Generator? I was thinking about doing something similar but with a 50 A 220V plug so I would run a welder or something directly off the Generator.

Just the breaker from the generator.

[Meames1]

The $9 door weatherstrip.
Several of my 20 year old compartment door weatherstrips were pretty bad looking, and also appeared to be leaking. These (of course) are no longer available. I decided to make some of my own to try them out. I bought several samples from McMaster-Carr, my go to for pretty much anything hardware related. I looked at several types that hook over the aluminum extrusion like the original and could not find anything close. So, I landed on a style that had an adhesive backing. Testing out the sample, I was impressed that once it's stuck the molding itself will tear before the glue lets go. I went with 5/8 wide by 5/8 tall weatherstrip with a 1/4" hole in the center to allow easier compression. I first made a template and a "sample". Installed the test one and it works great, good contact, decent compression and I'm sure it will work great. The door closes hard at this point, but I will wait a season for the strips to wear in before I adjust the door catches with shims. The weatherstrip is outdoor rated and water resistant. McMaster sells it for .80 cents a foot. I Found several companies that specialize in weatherstrip materials and their prices were...Extreme to say the least, I saw prices as much as $5 a foot ! Each compartment takes a little more than 10 feet. The glue used is 3M rubber instant adhesive, which is basically "super-glue", careful using it will stick your fingers together NOW.

[Meames1]

[Jake21]

^^^. Looks good. I tried testing this on a bay door but couldn’t get the door to close no matter how hard i pushed. The rubber would not compress enough. Can you share the SKU# of the trim you used?

[Meames1]

Originally Posted by Jake21

^^^. Looks good. I tried testing this on a bay door but couldn’t get the door to close no matter how hard i pushed. The rubber would not compress enough. Can you share the SKU# of the trim you used?

Sure. The McMaster-Carr # is 93085K81.
The Trim-lok # on the roll is X5381HTSINGLE

I crawled inside and measured. With the baggage door closed even all around the gap between the door and frame (minus any seal) is just under 1/2" ..like maybe 15/32"s. So the 5/8" will compress to that quite nicely. The doors I've done definitely shut tighter than the ones with the worn out original seals, but I would expect that even with new original seals (if you could buy them). Good Luck !

Edit: I'm also considering drilling some air / relief holes in the lower part of the trim like the originals for the air inside the interior hole can escape. That may help with closing, less bounce back.

[Jake21]

Cool. Thanks!