1983 Coleman Columbia

[samh]

I'm not following your question, M-88. You mean what I put over the stove when it's not in use? Right now it's just a random sheet of material that just lays there. That's on my to-do list to cut and fit something nice that would sit there securely but it's not yet been done.

 

[samh]

Round two troubleshooting the Hydroflame a success. I took the pilot assembly off yesterday and coated the internals in PB Blaster to try and break any obstructions free (same method I used when troubleshooting the old Coleman 4312 last year) and it seemed to work. I was able to get the pilot to stay on after the first try.

Next step is figuring out how to plumb the new furnace into the trailer since the propane feeds to the stove on the opposite side of the old furnace and therefore won't screw directly to the copper flange that the trailer is plumbed with.

http://samh.net/coleman/photos/furnace-hydroflame-secondlight.jpg

 

[M-88]

Just a closer picture of what you did with what used to be the cabinet. I want to remove the stove completely, but would be nice to have something like that so I could set the stove inside if I wanted (which I don't really want)

 

[samh]

Okay, M-88 here are a few more photos of the galley (be sure to scroll through all previous 3 or 4 pages of this thread to see the in-progress photos I took of that work too). I essentially cut the left half of the galley off, removed the sink and all hoses, and then used the metal and wood from the part removed to construct new sides to close up the remaining half. I did cut a new piece for the bottom front of the galley however which I constructed out of 1/4" plywood. I cut two holes in it with a jigsaw to create an opening for the furnace on one side and a storage area on the other.

It's not particularly pretty but so far my build hasn't been about looks it's been about function. Once all is functioning the way it needs to I'll set about making nice curtains and painting and such. Like one of the fancy makeovers that look so good on the Popup Princess' website.

Overview of the redneck junkshow that is our camper's galley.

A photo taken from the top, looking down, with the top half of the galley folded forward.

A photo looking into the front of the upper portion of the galley. Note the little gap in the back-left corner. Once again this could all be much cleaner and better looking but I'm simply trying to make everything work and be sturdy - - not necessarily look perfect.

 

[samh]

Went to the local propane shop in town and had a three foot length of 3/8" NPT flare hose made up (male one end, female other). I needed this because the newer furnace I wanted to install had the gas-in on the left side but the OEM furnace was on the right. I got the newer Hydro Flame 7920 hooked in tonight and ran it for an hour or so. Temp outside was low 50s F and temp inside reached mid 60s.

 

[iflyos]

That's a pretty impressive increase in temperature for such a short runtime. I'd call that a success!

 

[samh]

With the furnace operating as needed and dinner with friends out of the way I spent a couple hours this evening wiring a shunt off the negative side of the battery and re-configuring some of my wire runs to make room for a Bogart Trimetric TM-2025 Battery Monitor and Xantrex Hi400 Inverter. The monitor and Inverter remain uninstalled but the shunt fits nicely. Only problem I have with the layout is the close proximity between the positive terminal of the battery and the shunt. It wouldn't take much but a slip of the wrist to drop a screwdriver across both those terminals and blow up a crazy arc so I may need to rotate my battery 180 degrees to further that distance.

Battery monitor will be mounted in a hole cut in the open area above the charge controller with the info screen facing the outside of the bench for viewing from within the cabin. Location of Inverter yet to be determined.

 

[M-88]

Excellent! Thanks for the pics!

I need to get going on mine. First trip of the year is less than a month away!

 

[samh]

Memorial Day marked the first camping outing for our family. We headed about four hours SW of where we live and met up with friends from as far away as Seattle and Salt Lake City. Four days and three nights of camping were just enough to really relax. There were eleven of us in a really nice creek drainage that had very little traffic on the mellow dirt road. The boondocking was sublime.

 

[wusthof]

I took the pilot assembly off yesterday and coated the internals in PB Blaster to try and break any obstructions free (same method I used when troubleshooting the old Coleman 4312 last year) and it seemed to work. I was able to get the pilot to stay on after the first try.

have the same 4512 furnace in my 82'. very happy with the heat tho......pilot wouldn't stay lit so hey.....replace the theromocouple right? crap.......let the button go after a min or two and the pilot goes out. the pilot lite seems small from my memory of last year......might have to pull the stupid thing out again and soak the hell out of like you did.....hope it works and thx for your written progress.......any other reason the pilot seems smaller in size.....or sound like theres crud in there?

 

[samh]

Dust and spider webs don't do these old furnaces any favors so give it a soak, that just might be the solution.

 

[samh]

Had the trailer open to do some work on it yesterday and I grabbed a couple photos so I thought I'd share. I have had grounding issues ever since I started in on working on this so I am hopeful that this modification will be helpful. I thoroughly sanded an area of the frame and then drilled, tapped, and bolted a grounding lug with a bonding WEEB that my entire 12v system grounds to.

I also measured and drilled my solar module to accept some angled feet. I have yet to mount these to the roof but hope to do that prior to our next trip. The Gorilla Tape in the photo was on there to hold it in place temporarily for the sub one mile drive from my work and my home.

I also added a small LED light and switch that will light up the floor of the trailer but failed to grab a photo of it.

 

[imd12nv]

Just went through you're whole thread. Very informative and great job. Im about to start working on my columbia and love yours.

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

 

[samh]

Thanks for commenting. My task list is far from complete so feel free to subscribe for more updates as I do them. Once you get started on your builds I hope you'll document them too so I can follow along.

 

[samh]

Absaroka Beartooth mountains, Southwest, Montana, USA.

 

[iflyos]

Sam, you guys really have some great spots to camp!

 

[samh]

Thanks, iflyos. And the best part is most are free spots on USFS land.

 

[jnc]

Sam, you guys really have some great spots to camp!

I agree 100%. Those are some great looking places to camp.

 

[samh]

The road in and out of this canyon is pretty awe-inspiring too.

 

[jnc]

Your killen Me. I cant wait until my PUP is no longer a POS so I can at least dream of road trips like this knowing the PUP is no longer the reason we cant go.