We Bought a RV Clark!! Oh no! Rebuild thread

skyhighZJ said:
I know they are pricey but while you have good access to run a bit of wiring look at a Fan-tastic vent. I have a couple in my Cyclone and they are awesome for moving fresh air. They actually compliment the AC in the summer by drafting hot air up and out. They also have a thermostat controller and a sensor to auto close when it senses moisture (rain). This one is one of the fancier ones but the make em with more manual options as well. They are awesome though.

Fantastic Remote Control Vent and Vent Parts | 31-2286

And for any of you manual vents add a maxxair on top of it. It helps with keeping the UV off the vent lids and also lets you drive with the lids open for ventilation. They provide a bit off rain protection too if you forget to close a vent.

Maxxair Vent Cover - White - 00-933066 - United RV
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That looks very nice. You're right, its pricey though.
 
Dylan W. said:
That looks very nice. You're right, its pricey though.
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That’s the “blingiest” one they have but if you search Fan-tastic Vents they have all sorts of em. Out of the rv roof vents they move some serious air! And the auto shut is good piece of mind especially after all the awesome time/work you and your group has invested!
 
Dylan W. said:
Anybody have experience with rooftop a/c and heat units? All in one..

How well do they heat?

I realize that by deleting the gas furnace which doesn't work, I'll be completely relying on having electric power to heat the rv. (Unless buddy heater in emergency) But realistically, we probably wont be camping in the dead of winter, but who knows...we just might.
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I have one also in my toy hauler. Like others have said, they don't do great for heat. I use a ceramic infrared heat combined with mine, and it has kept my 24* enclosed tolerable down to 15*
 
Damn....aren't you glad you bought this RV? :D


Have you been keeping track of how much money you've got in this rig? Or is it more of an "I don't even care or want to know..." type of thing?
 
Croatan_Kid said:
Damn....aren't you glad you bought this RV? :D


Have you been keeping track of how much money you've got in this rig? Or is it more of an "I don't even care or want to know..." type of thing?
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It's more of a '' I care, but dont wanna know" type thing.
But yeah, I have a good tab on the numbers. Maybe I'll post the total cost at the end..IF the numbers aren't too embarrassing!
 
Dylan W. said:
That looks very nice. You're right, its pricey though.
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Pull the wires now, and order it later.

We have the maxxair covers on ours, but the fantastic fans are great. They also make a fantastic fan that has a maxxair style cover built in, so you might save some money that way. Might also check adventurerv.net I found some decent deals through them before.

The nice thing about a fan like that, is it'll cool the camper off in situations where you *almost* need AC. It's not uncommon for us to have to fire the generator for an hour in the evening to run the AC because we've been cooking, or took a few showers, etc, and you just can't get rid of the hot/humid air quickly enough via natural ventilation.
 
I've already bought 4 new vents. 1 for bath with a fan, and 1 for shower w/ fan. I bought 2 decent regular vents for the master bed and kitchen/den area.
So you think I should send the regulars back and get these fan tastics for the bed and kitchen? They look nice...but are they that much better than the cheap fan vents?
 
Let's talk about condensation...

I notice a bunch of it when we had the snow. I had tarps on the roof at the time. So it was water tight, but soo much condensation.
Is this because there were no vents open at all?
Was it the snow?
Do rvs often have condensation like that?
How do you control it?
 
Dylan W. said:
Let's talk about condensation...

I notice a bunch of it when we had the snow. I had tarps on the roof at the time. So it was water tight, but soo much condensation.
Is this because there were no vents open at all?
Was it the snow?
Do rvs often have condensation like that?
How do you control it?
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They all get condensation. It is mostly due to the fact no matter how much we try to insulate them we can only go so far.

My bus gets it bad in the front due to a lot of windows. And the difference of how quick the inside temp vs the outside temp can change.

In the back bedroom not as bad as less windows and better insulated.

Best thing to do is make sure you have a good working heater for winter and if not using it in winter make sure you winterize it.
 
On the cheap you can throw a couple bags of charcoal bricks in the camper and they will also help with moisture and deodorizing. Just don’t get the match light shit with the fluid on it. (Ask me how I know :rolleyes:)
 
Dylan W. said:
I've already bought 4 new vents. 1 for bath with a fan, and 1 for shower w/ fan. I bought 2 decent regular vents for the master bed and kitchen/den area.
So you think I should send the regulars back and get these fan tastics for the bed and kitchen? They look nice...but are they that much better than the cheap fan vents?
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Yes. They are a blessing in the crapper. Also great just to air it out and lower moisture levels while showering.
We have one, works like a attic fan of you crack opposing Windows. Great certain times of the year.....or it the AC craps out.
 
Dylan W. said:
Booom... that's it. 99.3% sure I'll go this route. That'll be down the road a lil bit, but hopefully sooner than later. Thanks for the link @shawn
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Dylan W. said:
Let's talk about condensation...
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We run vent-less/99+% efficient propane heaters in our house (has 1-6 settings and will cut off) and a POS '92 5th wheel on rental lot (only has Low-Med-Hi... either on or off). Both do just fine, but "let's talk condensation" :D

H20 is a by-product of burning propane and since it's NOT being vented, WILL initially fog & then "sweat" on your windows. We've negated this by strategically cracking (millimeters, not inches) a few windows in the house.
The trailer doesn't have that issue (read: screen door construction), but because there's no "forced air" the temp changes depending on elevation... at the ceiling = 100* and decreases about 10* per foot going lower (bed at 60* and floor at 30*) :flipoff2:
 
The last couple of days have brought great weather..sunshine and temps in the 60s! We're gonna do work!

So for starters..let's have a look at what needs fixin'.

How about some rotted roof?
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In this picture you can see(at very bottom of pic.) The edge of new luan, then the white, which is the old foamboard. Some of the foamboard is salvageable, you just have to work for it. It takes a while, but scraping the old rotted luan off leaves a nice clean surface to work with. And it means I wont have to replace this section.
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As the roof is being replaced essentially 1 panel at a time, I am also working inside on the ceilings. Trying to finish several different phases on each panel,top,middle and bottom.. as we go. Alot of the foamboard is junk and will be tossed out. I'll have to replace it with new.
So theres one major PITA that I'm dealing with. The aluminium rafters are arched upwards in the middle, with close to 2 inches of fall on each side. Which is no problem for the roof, the luan curves nicely...my problem is the middle foam...its gotta be humped too. I'm just going to salvage what I can then figure out the rest as I go. One things certain...I can not cut new flat foamboard into this shape.
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The trickiest Part of salvaging an original foamboard, is getting it down in one piece. If the piece starts to break , it all ends up busted ..you just gotta get a new piece.
Then...you use the scraper to remove as much of the old luan as you can. Next, use the sander and smooth down what is left. In some spots it is too hard to get it all off without ripping chunks. So I just did the best I could. That'll do.
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Ok...up on the roof, where the front nose cover meets the rubber roofing, there is what's called a termination bar. It's the trim piece that connects the two. Screws go down through the trim, on through the FRP, through the rubber roof, down into the ceiling. The factory used a strip of thick metal tape(think 1/8 thick) it sticks to the foam, and creates a nice place to fasten screws. The factory used this in ton of places. Unfortunately, I dont have any, so I'll utilize built in wood,in areas requiring screws.

Here, I've cut a 1×4 into small lengths, and glued them directly to the underside of the luan. Now, I have a place for the screws to catch. (I'll use this method in a lot of areas later in this build. I cut it into sections to accommodate the roof curve easier.
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Now I needed to rip my foamboard down some. Ella right by my side.
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