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jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,799
8,383
Nowhere Man!
2nd night here. Long Ass Extension cord got run over by Lawn tractor. Need backup power source that doesn't involve gasoline. I hate generators. Gas leak has been fixed. Hay bails fill the gap between the leeward side has improved heating efficiency. Mrs Skunk has been stopping by daily. Mrs Porcupine has been chasing Her off. Mrs Raccoon may need to be dispatched after her babies are more advanced.
 

eric strt6

Resident Curmudgeon
Sep 8, 2001
23,187
13,446
directly above the center of the earth
2nd night here. Long Ass Extension cord got run over by Lawn tractor. Need backup power source that doesn't involve gasoline. I hate generators. Gas leak has been fixed. Hay bails fill the gap between the leeward side has improved heating efficiency. Mrs Skunk has been stopping by daily. Mrs Porcupine has been chasing Her off. Mrs Raccoon may need to be dispatched after her babies are more advanced.
Lots of solar panels and you do have the roof space. more batteries too
 

eric strt6

Resident Curmudgeon
Sep 8, 2001
23,187
13,446
directly above the center of the earth
Cleaning day. just spent a couple of hours cleaning out the grime from 18 days on the road. Still have to fill the fresh water tank and refill the propane tanks. Oh yeah and since we killed DirecTv and we never watched it anyways I yanked the TV out of the camper
35324.jpeg
 
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jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,799
8,383
Nowhere Man!
Cheap ass metal, plywood, and aluminum seem to conduct cold enough to exceed the ability to properly generate heat. The newly repaired floor is the culprit. The snow on the roof had even amounts except around the vent which I need to push down on from on top to properly close. This involves a ladder. I ran out of eggs and bread so I came home instead of another night.
 

eric strt6

Resident Curmudgeon
Sep 8, 2001
23,187
13,446
directly above the center of the earth
Cheap ass metal, plywood, and aluminum seem to conduct cold enough to exceed the ability to properly generate heat. The newly repaired floor is the culprit. The snow on the roof had even amounts except around the vent which I need to push down on from on top to properly close. This involves a ladder. I ran out of eggs and bread so I came home instead of another night.
pink foam board with a veneer or veneer with an expanding foam backing for insulation.
 

gonefirefightin

free wieners
Cheap ass metal, plywood, and aluminum seem to conduct cold enough to exceed the ability to properly generate heat. The newly repaired floor is the culprit. The snow on the roof had even amounts except around the vent which I need to push down on from on top to properly close. This involves a ladder. I ran out of eggs and bread so I came home instead of another night.
When I was full timing it in my toyhauler I had to run propane and electric heat in order to keep it a comfortable temp inside. no amount of insulation or prep would have changed that. I have since upgraded to a coach with artic basement and ceiling insulation rating and heated floors. Traditional RV's are built so poorly that I wasnt happy with any of mine during the winter until I swapped over to a used coach.
 

jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,799
8,383
Nowhere Man!
once I put Fiberglass batts behind the outside access hatches and refectix over all the windows, skylights, and doors my Lance became comfortable down to Zero F
I want to be able to look outside. More then often I am not there. I need a system to be independent. The platform I have is not capable of this. There will be no down to zero for me here. Every surface seems to conduct cold. It's the very nature of its construction. It is what it is.... I had to dispatch Mrs Raccoon today. Very unpleasant for me. I really do not enjoy killing things...
 

Adventurous

Starshine Bro
Mar 19, 2014
10,261
8,766
Crawlorado
once I put Fiberglass batts behind the outside access hatches and refectix over all the windows, skylights, and doors my Lance became comfortable down to Zero F
Lowest we went in ours was 15 below. Reflectix over the windows, 2" foam board under the floors. Luckily we had shore power and ran a small space heater. Stayed in the 50s inside, which is honestly more comfortable to me.

Lowest on our propane furnace alone might have been single digits.
 

6thElement

Schrodinger's Immigrant
Jul 29, 2008
15,827
13,062
Getting an appointment anywhere was proving tough.

So I just tore into the burners on our setup that won't stay lit when you release the burner knob. Ordered the last two replacement thermocouples I could find in stock on the planet.

Just need to work out how to remove the star washer thingy that holds the old one in place and how the green plug unplugs from near the back of the knob. I'm guessing brute force for the star retainer thingy.

IMG_4333wesa__63460.1635894021.jpg
 

maxyedor

<b>TOOL PRO</b>
Oct 20, 2005
5,496
3,140
In the bathroom, fighting a battle
Needle-nose pliers and pull for that push-nut (washer) on the thermocouple. Using the right size socket helps push the new one on.


Pretty sure my camper wants me to hate it. Great trip, tons of fun, finally worked off grid the way I want it to and started planning the next trip while driving home. Back it into the driveway, hook up to AC power and fire up the AC to make unloading less unpleasant. After less than 5 minutes something went to shit and it sounds like there's a rock in the fan on the AC unit. Fawk, whatever, I'll pull it apart and see if it's worth dragging in for warranty repair. 20 minute slater look up in the bathroom and the trim around the fan is falling down off the ceiling, have a look, and sure enough the factory seems to have cut the hole too big and 2 of the 4 screws weren't hitting anything.

Should have built a deck, bough and Alfa or had another kid instead SMH.
 

6thElement

Schrodinger's Immigrant
Jul 29, 2008
15,827
13,062
Needle-nose pliers and pull for that push-nut (washer) on the thermocouple. Using the right size socket helps push the new one on.
Thank you.

The green end doesn't seem to want to pull out from its home, so I'll assess versus the new parts.
 

jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,799
8,383
Nowhere Man!
Folks keep showing up and needing things at the Campsite. 2 more Campers are here now. They keep asking for cigarettes. No matter how many times I say I don't smoke. The folks next to me started my Generator up and plugged into it while I was in Ithaca. They have their own Generator? Need to find my own place.
 

junkyard

You might feel a little prick.
Sep 1, 2015
2,601
2,303
San Diego
Folks keep showing up and needing things at the Campsite. 2 more Campers are here now. They keep asking for cigarettes. No matter how many times I say I don't smoke. The folks next to me started my Generator up and plugged into it while I was in Ithaca. They have their own Generator? Need to find my own place.
maybe display the dispatched raccoon
 

Full Trucker

Frikkin newb!!!
Feb 26, 2003
10,483
7,526
Exit, CO
I think people just convert them, I don't recall seeing anything beyond AWD as Doc points out.
Astros did come in AWD, just not solid front axle. Have a buddy that had one of those Tigers on an AWD Astro, it was awesome and terrible at the same time. We managed to drive it for most of the length of Gemini Bridges Road in Moab to get in and out of a campsite back in the day, it did fine-ish.
 

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,647
1,116
NORCAL is the hizzle
Pretty sure my camper wants me to hate it...Should have built a deck, bough and Alfa or had another kid instead SMH.
I've never met a camper owner who never had any problems. Focus on the awesome and deal with the bullshit. There are tradeoffs but they're worth it - unless you ended up with a total lemon, in which case you can just get a different one.
 

junkyard

You might feel a little prick.
Sep 1, 2015
2,601
2,303
San Diego
I've never met a camper owner who never had any problems. Focus on the awesome and deal with the bullshit. There are tradeoffs but they're worth it - unless you ended up with a total lemon, in which case you can just get a different one.
so I bought a cheap riverside retro camper. The screws came loose on the heater. That was it. The thing just never really has any problems or faults. I bought it brand new back in 2014 or 15 I think. Sold it during the pandemic for 2k less than purchase price. Probably coulda got more. I only bought a door holder open thing I broke, a tube of caulking, propane and batteries for it. Took it well over 30k miles. Absolutely amazing.

now my new airstream on the other hand. Just the stripped screws alone infuriates me. Much less all the other bullshit.

With campers, if you don’t wanna fix stuff, gotta buy a used one as the first owner does the quality control.
 

gonefirefightin

free wieners
There really isnt a "quality" built RV out there. The bulk of RV's are literally built in less than a day so its pretty much impossible to find something that wont start having issues after 10k miles. Out of the 11 RV's I have owned I have pretty much had to mod more than I care. Even my $80k toyhauler had issues in the first week. Its just a matter of knowing what you are getting into. Once I started looking into the coach market and combing them over there is a reason you cant find a used premium coach for less than $100k and even I am adding, modding, fixing stuff but just not at the same caliber as my prior towables.
 

stevew

resident influencer
Sep 21, 2001
40,494
9,525
Screenshot_20211130-123615_Instagram.jpg


camping....not sure where....probably 82 or 83...as hal still looks young as shit...not sure whose camper that was...our pop top trailer was stage right...
 

maxyedor

<b>TOOL PRO</b>
Oct 20, 2005
5,496
3,140
In the bathroom, fighting a battle
I've never met a camper owner who never had any problems. Focus on the awesome and deal with the bullshit. There are tradeoffs but they're worth it - unless you ended up with a total lemon, in which case you can just get a different one.
Oh, absolutely, and I knew it going into it. Actually, Junkyard made me feel much better because I've always wanted an Airstream and was kinda bummed that financial responsibility is a thing and I went with the Apex I could pay cash for and tow with my current truck and park in my current driveway, nice to know they're still a PITA so it's not like I'd be saving any headaches.

On the up side, 3 days in the desert with low 30 degree nights and never having to run the generator was pretty damn nice. Don't think I'd quite have the power for 4th night or if it were sub 30s, but I think I'd only need another 200w of so of solar to make it happen. Our fresh tank was still reading full and the grey/black were barely registering on the meter. The trailer is mostly good.

now my new airstream on the other hand. Just the stripped screws alone infuriates me. Much less all the other bullshit.

Sorry, your suffering makes me feel better haha.

Still gunna buy an Airstream one day because they look cool as hell and I've wanted one since I was like 6.
 

junkyard

You might feel a little prick.
Sep 1, 2015
2,601
2,303
San Diego
Oh, absolutely, and I knew it going into it. Actually, Junkyard made me feel much better because I've always wanted an Airstream and was kinda bummed that financial responsibility is a thing and I went with the Apex I could pay cash for and tow with my current truck and park in my current driveway, nice to know they're still a PITA so it's not like I'd be saving any headaches.

On the up side, 3 days in the desert with low 30 degree nights and never having to run the generator was pretty damn nice. Don't think I'd quite have the power for 4th night or if it were sub 30s, but I think I'd only need another 200w of so of solar to make it happen. Our fresh tank was still reading full and the grey/black were barely registering on the meter. The trailer is mostly good.




Sorry, your suffering makes me feel better haha.

Still gunna buy an Airstream one day because they look cool as hell and I've wanted one since I was like 6.
That was my goal.

I still think it was worth it. It’s just surprising is all. In reality nothing too bad that I couldn’t handle. Somethings I’ve read on the airstream forums just blow my mind.
 

Montana rider

Turbo Monkey
Mar 14, 2005
1,741
2,164
There really isnt a "quality" built RV out there. The bulk of RV's are literally built in less than a day so its pretty much impossible to find something that wont start having issues after 10k miles. Out of the 11 RV's I have owned I have pretty much had to mod more than I care. Even my $80k toyhauler had issues in the first week. Its just a matter of knowing what you are getting into. Once I started looking into the coach market and combing them over there is a reason you cant find a used premium coach for less than $100k and even I am adding, modding, fixing stuff but just not at the same caliber as my prior towables.
Elkhart IN and their epidemic level meth usage / piecemeal day laborers say hi!

 

Adventurous

Starshine Bro
Mar 19, 2014
10,261
8,766
Crawlorado
Elkhart IN and their epidemic level meth usage / piecemeal day laborers say hi!

Glue and staples. They are pretty much arts and crafts projects made by people who failed arts and crafts.