I did it! 87 uhaul ct-13

[tartosuc]

hi,

It was quiet at work this morning so i used my tool to fix the battery test panel that was at the entrance of the camper.

old swich and meter were all corroded so installed new ones.

added to switches to the left to control the entrence light and a future exterior light

insulated all connections with hot glue, that way humidity wont corrode them

[frank_a]

Originally Posted by tartosuc

after reading a few threads i will most likely be using interlux brightside paint, the red they have is fire red...should be nice.

Bernard, I used Brightsides on the deck of my classic fiberglass boat 4 years ago, and boy, does it ever fade if out in the sun much. Looked great the 1st year, less so the 2nd, worse the 3rd, and I need to re-do it soon. Problem is once you have it on, they say you can't overcoat it with any other product, water based or oil. I'm trying to figure out what way to go now, but will end up with a car color, base coat and clear coat, so I can keep it shiny over time. Next is to try coating a sample piece with a two part epoxy primer, see if that reacts. If not, that's the way I'm going. I can paint about anything over that epoxy primer!

Good luck!

Frank

[tartosuc]

Originally Posted by frank_a

Bernard, I used Brightsides on the deck of my classic fiberglass boat 4 years ago, and boy, does it ever fade if out in the sun much. Looked great the 1st year, less so the 2nd, worse the 3rd, and I need to re-do it soon. Problem is once you have it on, they say you can't overcoat it with any other product, water based or oil. I'm trying to figure out what way to go now, but will end up with a car color, base coat and clear coat, so I can keep it shiny over time. Next is to try coating a sample piece with a two part epoxy primer, see if that reacts. If not, that's the way I'm going. I can paint about anything over that epoxy primer!

Good luck!

Frank

Good to know, did you use somkjnd of wax on top of the paint (redmax or other)
That might have helped?

I honnesl never ever seen a paint that can't be painted over. Its odes not make sens.... a good sanding should do the trick.

I might go with simple tremclad paint then

[frank_a]

You can't use any kind of polish or wax that has polish in it on Brightsides Bernard. The way it gets so bright is that as it dries, these little spheres of the bright stuff move to the surface. I found out the hard way that wax just dulls the surface as it abrades these spheres.

I've tried a few other things since, none of which have worked. I suppose it's great stuff if it's applied to something inside all the time that you will never want to overcoat. I want to overcoat mine badly and have a couple more things to try, short of stripping all the paint right down to the fiberglass and starting over. I wish somebody had told me this before I used it!

I did use Interlux VC Performance epoxy paint on the hull and absolutely love it. It dries rock hard and can be wet sanded and polished. Unfortunately it only comes in white. So my hull is gleaming, but my deck is not!

Again, best of luck. Looks like you're doing a great job.

Frank

[Youhauler]

Originally Posted by tartosuc

hi,

It was quiet at work this morning so i used my tool to fix the battery test panel that was at the entrance of the camper.

old swich and meter were all corroded so installed new ones.

added to switches to the left to control the entrence light and a future exterior light

insulated all connections with hot glue, that way humidity wont corrode them

I installed a multifunctional meter (Digital voltmeter, clock, Temperature, forecast) found on ebay instead the original battery tester. It work very well. I also had to modify the old power converter and installed a regulated power supply inside the converter itself. It regulates the whole 12V circuits which now contains a lot of fragile electronics (radio, LED lights, LED dimmer, Fan electronic dimmer, etc.). Also installed a "Charge switch" to disable charger when powered by 120VAC for a long time. The solar charging circuit is enough to keep the battery fully charged when I don't use it a lot.

[ShawnKK]

Hey Dan, What is the link or name of your new meter? I might like to have one like that..

[tartosuc]

Originally Posted by Youhauler

I installed a multifunctional meter (Digital voltmeter, clock, Temperature, forecast) found on ebay instead the original battery tester. It work very well. I also had to modify the old power converter and installed a regulated power supply inside the converter itself. It regulates the whole 12V circuits which now contains a lot of fragile electronics (radio, LED lights, LED dimmer, Fan electronic dimmer, etc.). Also installed a "Charge switch" to disable charger when powered by 120VAC for a long time. The solar charging circuit is enough to keep the battery fully charged when I don't use it a lot.

I did not want the big digital meter. I liked the look of the old testing unit and wanted a cheap fix, total cost with switches 6$, plus it seem fairly precise. I have an old multimeter connected dirrectly to the battery if i want better precision. If i ever go with a digital unit, it will be connected where the old one was.

What kind of regulator did you use? I'm interrested in that modification if its not to expensive...you say you did an internal mod? Tell me more about it.

Right now my 120v sytem is very simple, i used an industrial powerbar with 15a breaker and everything connect to it, so to disable the charger i just unplug it..that said i was thinking of maybe replacing it with an intellingent charger.

[Youhauler]

Originally Posted by ShawnKK

Hey Dan, What is the link or name of your new meter? I might like to have one like that..

Here is the link:

Digital LCD CAR Auto Clock IN OUT Thermometer Hygrometer Voltage Gauge Voltmeter | eBay

There are many other models some smaller. On ebay, just type in the search field: CAR VOLTMETER THERMOMETER

[ShawnKK]

Thanks Dan, cheap too.
I havent gotten to the battery part yet but with this I can do a install within 20 mins.

[Youhauler]

Originally Posted by tartosuc

I did not want the big digital meter. I liked the look of the old testing unit and wanted a cheap fix, total cost with switches 6$, plus it seem fairly precise. I have an old multimeter connected dirrectly to the battery if i want better precision. If i ever go with a digital unit, it will be connected where the old one was.

What kind of regulator did you use? I'm interrested in that modification if its not to expensive...you say you did an internal mod? Tell me more about it.

Right now my 120v sytem is very simple, i used an industrial powerbar with 15a breaker and everything connect to it, so to disable the charger i just unplug it..that said i was thinking of maybe replacing it with an intellingent charger.

The modifications I did are really not expensive. The actual vintage power converter is composed of an unregulated power supply that act at the same time as a power supply. This means that the DC supplied to equipments is unregulated also. This is really not good for new electronic devices. So what I did is keeping the unregulated power for the charging process and I add a new 12Vdc 10Amps regulated power supply from ebay (less than $20). If you need more info, we should start a new thread because there are technical details involved such as schematic modification.

[tartosuc]

Yes please start a thread about it
From your pic it looks like a 120v to 12vdc psu?

You basically just seperated all 12v going to lights and electronics from the charger and the charger is only used for charging?

So how do you work it out vs the battery power? You have switch to use 120v or 12v for the electronics? (I had similar setup in myother camper to orevent over charging the battery).

[Youhauler]

Originally Posted by tartosuc

Yes please start a thread about it
From your pic it looks like a 120v to 12vdc psu?

You basically just seperated all 12v going to lights and electronics from the charger and the charger is only used for charging?

So how do you work it out vs the battery power? You have switch to use 120v or 12v for the electronics? (I had similar setup in myother camper to orevent over charging the battery).

Exactly right. I don't need a switch because there is already a relay in the charger. When there is no 120VAC, the relay is OFF and the Normally closed contact feeds the battery power to the fuse distribution block. When there is AC present, the relay is ON and the power fed to the fuse block comes from the regulated power supply.

[tartosuc]

Originally Posted by Youhauler

Exactly right. I don't need a switch because there is already a relay in the charger. When there is no 120VAC, the relay is OFF and the Normally closed contact feeds the battery power to the fuse distribution block. When there is AC present, the relay is ON and the power fed to the fuse block comes from the regulated power supply.

good idea for the relay..inever used one..i will have to investigate that to find a suitable relay.

if you have a drawing/diagrame of your setup i'm interrested.

thanks a lot.

[tartosuc]

anyone ever replaced the front window of the uhaul with soemthing that can be open?
seem to me that it would greaty improve ventilation...my other camper is setup like that and it makea ahuge difference.

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by tartosuc

anyone ever replaced the front window of the uhaul with soemthing that can be open?
seem to me that it would greaty improve ventilation...my other camper is setup like that and it makea ahuge difference.

I think Bob installed a Scamp window by opening the hole slightly.

[knighth001]

Congratulations and good luck on the renovation!

[tartosuc]

hi,
so i've worked on the uhaul again in the past 2 days,
i have intalled a fan system on the roof vent, also added an entrance light and fixed a big electrical bug.

i'm leaving tonite for 3 days for a MTB festival..can't wait.

[Donna D.]

Safe travels Bernard and make a ton of great memories!

[tartosuc]

I had a great weekend,
Our moutain bike event was crazy fun despite the fact that broke my ie and cushed a few ribs.


Loovvvved the trailer, i now see the little details that i will need in the future.
Can't wait to work on it!

[mary and bob]

Originally Posted by Thomas G.

I think Bob installed a Scamp window by opening the hole slightly.

I put a Scamp window in the rear by widening the opening about 1/2" on each side and installing the clamp ring backwards. But at least one other Uhaul owner here did put a Scamp rear window in the front. As I recall the price was about $150 plus shipping. Window is made by Hehr.