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Old 05-06-2021, 11:17 PM   #1
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30.5MLOK HVAC & Insulation Enhancements

We've been camping for the past 4 weekends and except for the first weekend, temperatures have been below normal. Mother Nature isn't showing any of warming up either. I've been looking at areas where comfort can be improved.

Today's project was insulating the inside of the propane compartment wall that protrudes into the basement storage area. On the 30.5MLOK the walls in the basement storage area appear to be decently insulated, except behind the area with the battery disconnect switch. In that area the steel wall from the propane compartment cuts into the basement and is not insulated at all. It appears to be air tight but appears to be 1/8" steel that gets very cold and draws heat out of the storage compartment.

For this project I used 1" un-faced foam board and 3M foil tape. I simply cut three pieces; two sides and a top. The tallest (right-hand) panel was cut 1/8" long so it could be press-fit into place. The other sides were taped together, then the sealed to the walls using spray foam.

The area where the propane compartment intrudes upon the basement storage is behind this panel.



This is what it looked like with 2 of three sides in place.



And the finished project.



The entire project took 30 minutes from start to finish.


Our upstairs has suffered from poor airflow ever since we bought the rig in 2018. I finally decided to do something about it today. The riser ducts that go from the underbelly to the upstairs duct was a mess. There were two flexible runs that were about 18 inches too long and sagging badly. However what I think what was killing the airflow them most was the poor alignment of the ducts to the holes that were cut. I estimate they were blocked by at lest 33% or more.

The only photo I took of the project. This is after removing the flex duct to see the alignment of the mounting plate relative to the hole that was cut.



To get this project going, I had to remove the interior wall. This also required removing the P trap for the shower to get the wall to come out. Once everything was out I removed the flex ducts, shortened them, then reattached with the holes properly aligned. Everything was sealed with foil tape to ensure no air leaks.

I didn't do a good job taking photos as it was getting late (and cold), so I don't have any more for this project.

The total time was about 2 hours start to finish. Removing and re-attaching the interior wall took most of the time.
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Old 05-07-2021, 10:35 AM   #2
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Wardrobe Slide Gap Insulation

Here's another quick project that I did a couple days ago…

While we were camping in high winds and cold temperatures last weekend I noticed a considerable draft coming in around the wardrobe slide in the bedroom. I ended up stuffing some extra (clean) socks in a few spots to stop the drafts. I checked the bulb seals and they all appear to be sealing properly, although there is a small gap in the top corners where the horizontal and vertical gaskets overlap.

I did see small hints of daylight on several points on both vertical sides of the slide, along the Schwintek slide frame. This was due to the opening in the side of the camper being 1/4-1/2" wider than the actual slide mechanism and I believe to be the source of most of the air leakage.

Here's what I mean...




I decided to seal around the slide out frame on the sides to try and reduce, if not eliminate the gap. Spray foam was the obvious choice, but also a risky mess for using in the bedroom. I also didn't want to risk "glueing" the Schwintek racks to the camper frame in case they ever need to be removed.

I found a product at Lowe's that was an expanding foam tape. It's like any peel-and-stick gasket material except it's very flat and expands and seals with heat. As a bonus it's black to match the frame.



Installation was easy. I decided to stick the tape to the Schwintek frame. To prep the surface I just used a paper towel on a small stick soaked with rubbing alcohol. That cleaned out the dust and grime nicely. The tape went on easily too; just stuff it in the gap, peel the backing, and press down with a small pair of scissors.

It was raining hard so I didn't feel like getting my heat gun from the house, so I held a small space heater up to the tape for a few minutes until it expanded. The end result looks like it was factory installed.

Foam gasket after application, before heat applied.


And the finished result after expansion..


All told this project cost $14 in materials and took about 45 minutes, with the heating/expansion taking most of the time. We haven't had any windy days yet so no idea how much the draftiness has been reduced. However, it was very cold last night and I didn't notice any small leaks around the slide. Time will tell.
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Old 05-07-2021, 07:26 PM   #3
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Looks good shackrat.

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