Boler 1700 refresh.

[Con]

Don't get too hung up on eliminating the noise entirely, but you can reduce it by quite a bit, from damned annoying to just slightly annoying!

[Herb P]

Don't get too hung up on eliminating the noise entirely, but you can reduce it by quite a bit, from damned annoying to just slightly annoying!

I want to make sure the heater doesn't drown out the campground crows at 5AM.

:-)

[Herb P]

Been another week and I've been busy again though a lot of what I've done is not really visible or substantive ... I took the day off work yesterday to make it a 4 day long weekend of work in the trailer ... June 15th is creeping up...

The stove vent was a particular irritation to me. It's such a simple thing yet somehow, some previous bonehead managed to screw it up... The fan wouldn't come on unless the light was on. I'm not sure what neural dysfunction caused someone to rewire it that way but it's fixed now. I also removed the remnants of the wasp nest that was in it and sealed the inside of the vent with bugscreen to prevent future penetration by the insect set ...





There was an AC plug under the dinette, the purpose of which I couldn't deduce considering there is also one on the front of the kitchen counter. It's hard to reach and I figure if I really must have the toaster to hand while having breakfast, I'll hire a therapist. So I moved the outlet to an even more difficult to reach spot to accomodate the battery charger under the sink. I figure there can be no problem putting an electrical outlet next to a hot water heater.





I finally managed to get the scissor jacks of my dreams and welded them into place. I discovered that a person can either pull up a beach mat and spend some quality time lowering these by hand with the crank they provide, or I can carry a cordless drill with me.
I have a Ryobi drill and a vacuum cleaner that both take the same kind of battery. I think I'll add a little storage place just for the drill and vacuum (and hand crank).





...continued.....

[Herb P]

As part of my rethink of the electrical system, I found a new cable hatch (why do manufacturers think you want to have a gigantic opening in which to hang an insect highway on the inside storage compartment of your trailer?) and epoxied in a household 30A 125V male connector. I almost put the wrong gender of connector in there, I got so far as to mix the epoxy and had it all fitted on my bench before I realized my horrible mistake.





The previous tongue jack was missing its platform and the crank interfered with my spare tire carrier so it needed to move. I was going to move it to my bbq/cooler rack (future installment of this topic) but wasn't able to find a happy mount mechanism. This one was $29 and I could simply weld it to the side of the tongue. I added a half inch steel plate to reinforce the area before welding the jack in place. It has lots of lift and best of all, the handle comes off easily so I can use my drill to raise/lower it.





I ran out of 'spare matching wood' for the various cabinets so I bought some of that fiberglass sheet they sell at Home Depot. It looks decent and clean... I mounted it on the front of side gaucho bunk. Looks 'ok'. I think I'm going to re-face those doors in the same material some day plus add another little storage door for the vacuum cleaner and drill to the left there.





Gonna be a busy rest of the weekend so I'll be back to post more ...

[Herb P]

This weekend I spent a lot of time not really accomplishing anything... I did build 90% of my front storage rack... I like having 2 batteries and I figure they put two propane tanks on the 1700 for good reason, and finally, I like having our beverages and such stored out of the trailer so we're not waking our kid up after he goes to bed. Plus, there's never room in the fridge. I also like somewhere to put the bbq for both travel and cooking. This rack worked really well on the 1300 so here we are:





I still have to build the swing out tray for the bbq as well as devise some way to secure the propane tanks..

Also did some basic fiberglassing. The previous owner must have backed into a tree trunk or something. Sadly, his idea of 'fix' was to cover the crack with bondo and paint it with tremclad. The bondo didn't stick but created a nice ledge for water to collect on and seep into the rear storage compartment. So I ground away all the bondo and applied 3 layers of fiberglass cloth... When it stops snowing, I'll sand it flush, finish with a skim coat of body filler and temporarily paint it until I do the final paint...





I also dismantled the horrible arborite job in the kitchen. There was 2 layers of arborite with curious seams all over the place... Purple/blue doesn't go with brown...





It's going to be nice and simple white with oak trim.

[Herb P]

A lot of work happened this weekend. My father came over and helped with the insulation/headliner and the arborite. We managed to do all the insulation, then all the headliner, and all the arborite/backsplash in a single 12 hour day with a brief stop for lunch and support... On Sunday, I did some final cosmetic touchup on the headliner, (add a few chunks where some of our borders came up a little short, blend some seams, cleanup some glue strings), plus added the counter top moldings, and got a start on the electrical. I also replaced the fridge door panel with some of that fiberglass sheeting.

[Herb P]

...and looking forward... here you can see the fiberglass sheet I used to replace the old wooden 'backsplash' in the front dinette. I asked myself whether to bother or not. I could have just mounted the table right onto the plywood behind the insulation but then the fuzzy stuff would get dirty whenever we wiped the table or ate spaghetti, or what have you...

As you can see, I made a measuring error while cutting this but I think the cushions will hide it. If not, I can fix it for the cost of another 4x8 sheet...





Right now the sink is just sitting in there. I'll need to seal it as well.

[Herb P]

Floor is almost done. Still missing some mouldings and have to size the doors to fit still....

[Chester Taje]

Looking good---How hard to install insulation / headliner?

[Larry&Carrie]

[quote]Floor is almost done. Still missing some mouldings and have to size the doors to fit still....


Attachment 8059


Attachment 8060


HERB- - -looks good. But I gotta ask ya--I didn't know you had put a loft in-is that where that ladder leads to???? Larry

[Herb P]

Looking good---How hard to install insulation / headliner?

It was a nightmare. Well, a daymare anyway... My dad and I worked for about 12 hours from bare fiberglass shell, to complete (modulo 2 hours of trimming and cosmetic cleanup the next day). The glue that Joe sold us gives you no margin for error. If you get a piece placed wrong and let it grab hold of something, then when you try to peel it back off, you end up with both sides of the glue in one place and you have to respray the other 'half' again. The insulation part was very unforgiving but since it was only the insulation, we could be as patchy as we wanted... The headliner however, was very sensitive to alignment, and apparently had a 'direction' component too (some of the headliner looks dark/light depending on which way you're looking, however it had a little more give. ie: it could be stretched about a half inch to meet a seam... I thought the 1700 would be easier than a 1300 due to not really having any compound curves (all the compound curves already had furniture on them), but it turns out there are just enough compound curves to really frustrate. Namely the raised center roof section. If you start on one edge, then the roof section screws up your panel and you're out about an inch by the time you get across it...

The whole experience was most unpleasant. The result that Joe gets on the Outback is far better than what I got; but my neighbors all say what we ended up with looks professional.. I guess I can see all the flaws because I know where they are.

[Herb P]

HERB- - -looks good. But I gotta ask ya--I didn't know you had put a loft in-is that where that ladder leads to????

That's for the rooftop patio.

Actually, it's for the bunkbed.

http://www.beer.org/gallery/Boler17-refresh/IMG_5454

[Chester Taje]

Thanks Herb for feed back on Insolation and Headliner install

[Herb P]

Another additional bit of progress...

Finished the electrical work. I have a (presently slightly undersized for the inverter) feed coming in through a fusible link, to a 30A main breaker, and from there to a breaker/switch panel. The solar charger also connects to the 30A main breaker (panel side) and the inverter goes between main breaker and fusible link. Everything is protected theoretically.





Looks a little disorganized but everything is labelled, and strapped together in manageable groups.... The coil on the floor is the wiring from the 7 pin trailer connector.

[Herb P]

No new pictures yet. This week/weekend was spent on little things. Clean all the windows with a toothbrush and hot water/varsol... The right thing to do here would have been to dismantle all the windows when I had them out to reseal them but this works ok too... Rebuilt a couple of screens that were broken/stretched/oxidized.. The big job was wiring up a hoppy 4->7 connector in the truck plus installing the prodigy and running 8ga charging wire from one of the truck batteries to the plug. I tested all the lights on the trailer plus the brakes, and took it for a spin.. The brakes seem to work well, though I don't know what to expect having never had them before...

Lots of little teeny detail jobs were done this weekend. It's amazing how the loose ends all pile up into a gargantuan amount of work. I broke a plumbing fitting so I'll have to fix some of that before I fire up the plumbing...

Only 4 more days before we go camping the first time... Getting tight.

[Herb P]

Finally got through a substantial portion of the list just in time for our first planned camping trip...

Here's my little one up in the upper bunk. He liked it up there but the mattress was a little hard...





This was 'camp', such as it was. We didn't get the new awning in time so I just threw a tarp up over part of the trailer.. Turns out to have been a good thing since it rained most of the time we were there ....





Then on Sunday early morning (2:30 AM, we heard some cracking, and then a thunk/slide.. Looked like the weight of the water from the rain took down the tarp. oh well. 6:30 AM, I woke up to find I couldn't open the trailer door. Here's what happened:

[Herb P]

...I moved the gazebo thingy under the tarp the night before just so it would dry off and I could pack it up easier the next morning... That night it started snowing. The weight of the heavy snow broke the tarp lines and dropped the tarp down on top of the gazebo which promptly buckled and became pinned against the door of the trailer. I could only open the door about 2 inches. I couldn't move it with my hand through the slot in the door. So I told Shari/Jakob that we may as well make our final phone calls because we had been buried alive... Just when I'd lost the will to live, I remembered the dinette window. I got out my trusty jack knife and started hacking away at the gazebo through the window, started pulling on pipes and other assorted carnage, until finally, I was able to open the door just wide enough for my svelte physique to glide through... The cracking I heard was the trees breaking and falling down... So I got my wits about me and started dismantling camp. I had to move several tons of wet slushy snow to free the tarp and shove its dripping wetness into the back of the truck, along with the rest of camp. Shari and jakob in the meantime luxuriated in the warm confines of the trailer as well as packed up.. By 8:00AM, we were on the road. The roads were icy and the trailer really wanted to spend another night in the ditch but I fought it and got us back on the highway...

[peterh]

So I told Shari/Jakob that we may as well make our final phone calls because we had been buried alive...

Isn't camping fun?

Well, glad you got out and used your new toy. And Jakob looks so very cute with his teddy bear in the bunk! I suppose you'll be driving further south for your next camping trip, no?

--Peter

[Donna D.]

The weight of the heavy snow broke the tarp lines and dropped the tarp down on top of the gazebo which promptly buckled and became pinned against the door of the trailer.

Shari and jakob in the meantime luxuriated in the warm confines of the trailer as well as packed up.. By 8:00AM, we were on the road.

YEOW! And people wonder why little trailers need an egress window or roof vent...just imagine if it would have been a tree blocking the door.

Snow and all, it appears the trailer is the ticket to keep the family warm and dry

Well, you did want to make memories

[Brian B-P]

...And people wonder why little trailers need an egress window or roof vent...just imagine if it would have been a tree blocking the door.

The egress window in my B1700RGH is the rear one, over the gaucho. It's just a normal horizontal slider, but it is the largest, and is designated as the emergency exit by a label. It would be an awkward exit, but I'd take it rather than stay in a fire, for instance.

I don't know if the Side Gaucho B1700 has a similarly designated window, but the street side dinette window looks like the same size (and type) as my rear window.