Plumbing refresh Part 1
Removed all the Faucets, and the sinks and cleaned a started the replacement of all the rubber o-rings and gaskets. I found a few of the gaskets but need to run back to Menards to find the others since they were just a hair smaller.
I haven’t done much in the last week. It’s been busy. I did pick up a 10ft x 20ft carport from Harbor Freight, but I’ll probably wait till spring to set it up. I got a good deal on it. For now I picked up a 16x19ft silver tarp to put over it since there is a hole in the roof. 2 in fact, someone tried patching them, but with silicon. Silicon should never touch the exterior of a camper. Here’s some Roof Pictures. It’s going to need some work. And by work I mean it’ll have to come off. I’m glad all the original roof vents are still there. The square 14″ Roof Vent in the middle will be replaced with an AC unit, eventually.
Started on Disassembly of the Interior. The best way to rebuild a camper from the ground up is to start with what you can remove without gutting inside. Gutting is a dirty word in the camper renovation business. Most people who know will run away from a camper that someone has gutted and renovated! You start by taking out the cabinet doors, drawers, appliances, basically anything that can unscrew. Then remove the aluminum skins on the outside and disassemble outside in. Basically the exact opposite of how the camper was built. The problem most encounter is they gut the inside and they lose all structural capabilities of the camper. The Cabinets are usually screwed from the outside in, if they are screwed inside out then you can remove them. If you don’t see the screws well then you’ll probably have to wait until you remove the ceiling and skins. The way these are constructed is Frame, Floor, Walls, cabinets, roof and then metal skins.
So on that note. I removed the Dinette Cabinets, Front bed frame, Kitchen cabinet uppers and lowers, and the Dinette upper cabinets. These were all unscrewed, not a single screw or staple was cut. Once I got to the Fridge cabinets and rear bathroom I could tell these were installed before outside metal skins so they will wait until I remove them and can unscrew them WITHOUT Demolition.
All the removed pieces were moved to my shed until I can rebuild them in spring.
Time to tackle the fridge.
I pulled the door off and unhooked propane and the 110v. Then I pulled the screws out that hold it in and slid it out. I moved it outside for a good wash. Cleaned and degreased then sanitized. I brought it into the garage after dry and plugged it in. The rear heater/burner box started to get warm after and hour, perfect. After running the entire night the fridge did not get cold, at all, not perfect. So I tried running it on Propane, but the pilot wouldn’t light. I pulled the burner off and cleaned the rust flakes out of the orfice and reassembled. I was then able to light the pilot, set the temp to coldest and waited 6 hours, nothing again. I read about how you can burp a ammonia filled fridge so I flipped it over for a day, nothing. I read this is due to an anti-rust solvent they mix in the lines with the ammonia/hydrogen/water solution, over time it crystalizes and flipping it over can break free some of the clogs. Next step was to turn the fridge 90 degrees and tap on the lines with a hammer, I repeated this several times, nothing. Then as a last resort I hooked up a palm sander without paper to the lines and used the vibrations to vibrate the crap out of the lines, nothing. I’m almost 100% certain the lines are clogged really bad and this fridge is toast. I’ll set it upside down in a corner until spring.
Back from Thanksgiving and back to the camper. Furnace repaint and reassembly. I found some 1/8 Kawool 2300f to use for the burner gasket, it seems that’s what they use on all the new furnaces. I also got my Silicon High temp hose and cut it down to fit. All the Gloss black parts are painted in 500f Engine paint and the Burner box is painted in flat black 2000f Extreme heat paint.
Removed the 30amp Shore power connection to clean up.
After blasting and buffing. It’s almost to nice to repaint.
Stove teardown.
I fired up the stove and oven to see if they worked and they do, quite well actually. It’s just dirty and rusty. I took out the burners, valves and the bottom plate. Lightly soda blasted the valves and burners. Stripped the paint off the bottom and sanded, sealed with Coroseal and painted with black appliance paint. I used automotive polish and wax to buff the paint. Then I used Food grade machine oil to wipe down all the valves, burners and the entire oven to keep it from rusting. Oh I also used 00 Steel wool on the chrome. Afterwards I reassembled everything and tested again. The top burners work better and the oven lights up once the pilot is lit BUT the oven doesn’t shutdown at the correct temp. In fact I had it set at 200f and it got to 700 before I turned the knob to off to turn it off. After some research from my favorite Facebook group it was determined to be a bad temp switch/regulator/thermocouple/or whatever you call it. Basically the bits behind the oven temp knob. I did try and remove the copper thermocouple from the valve and this is most likely what messed it up. there is a set distance that has to be set at to turn off the gas when it reaches temp and I have no idea what that was set to before. So I’ll have to get a new/used one. At least the oven looks great now!
I cleaned and reassembled enough to test the furnace out and make sure it works before I sink any money into it. I hooked up Propane and 12v to it and lit the pilot light inside. The Pilot lit and stayed lit after releasing the “reset” button, aka the pilot light button. Then I shorted out the thermostat wires to turn it on. The blower fan started spinning, although very squeaky, and looking though the front pilot light hole the burner kicked on and looked great. So it works! I was able to leave it running for about 30 mins and it actually got the garage nice and warm. Since the exhaust was venting into the garage I had a window open and Monoxide detector present. Well now I know it works so next step is to tear it down and rebuild it correctly.
Started tearing down the furnace even more to repair, replace, repaint and rebuild parts. I’m waiting on a burner gasket and rubber hose to arrive yet. So I tore down the squeaky motor and found that one of the bearing race holders had popped off.
And now we wait for the parts to arrive.
Time to address the fact I have no keys for the camper. After some research on the Bargmann 100 Door lock I found out just how expensive they are. $425 for an intact decent lock assembly with keys, yikes! So I called several local locksmiths and NONE of them had availability and all of them wanted to come to me for the low low price of $100 trip charge and $100/hr, double yikes. So one person suggested just changing out the lock cylinder since it was easy. Ok, well I found one on e-bay with keys for $90. Still cheaper than the local locksmiths. Once I got it I realized my mistake. It was NOT easy to change the cylinder, in fact I ruined the knob and the old cylinder, great. So I ordered a partial lock assembly with a new knob for $75 and swapped it out. Well this new knob didn’t have keys either. So I’m down $165 and back to square one. I call a locksmith in a nearby town and he’s way too busy to help but suggested a guy here in town, a place I always forget about, True Value hardware store. So I stop over and drop off the Front door lock assembly and the trunk lock. The guy that does the locks was already gone for the day. Next morning I get a call, the 2 keys for each lock you requested are done and ready to be picked up, your total is $16 for all 4 keys. Dang, not bad. Lesson learned!
I started the teardown the furnace. I figured I could get it running and use it to keep the camper warm while I worked. Well it was in rough shape. I’m going to need some parts. The bad news is after doing a bunch of research they don’t make parts for these anymore. Suburban considers these too old to service. I sort of get it, it is 51 years old, lol! After joining a Facebook group for Holiday Rambler owners I found several very helpful people who gave me some insight into this furnace. I also called Suburban and they sent me over a repair and service manual for the Model NT-17C with part numbers(See Below), although none of the part numbers are available.
Part Numbers
Model NT-17C
Pilot Ignition RV Furnace
Vent Cap Assembly 260164
Thermostat 160902 (161154 Replaces Part Numbers: 160737 and 160902)
Fan Switch 203292
Combustion Air Blower Wheel Kit 520400
Motor Kit 520388
Thermostat Relay 230423 (Replaces Part Number: 230530 & 230503)
Thermocouple 160876
Main Burner Orfice 180113
Pilot Burner Orfice 160659
Pilot Burner 160535
Valve Kit 520402
Microswitch 230444
Complete Gasket Kit 520226
