Electrical Upgrade -- Counter Power Outlet - 3 hr job
We have been looking for a good place to have a power outlet added so we can have power for the toaster and the coffee pot rather than trying to have it near the bed or on a box over the sink. Since we have the cover on the stove now, that adds some counter area that made the back corner of the pantry possible for the power box to be installed. When doing the smart tile the other week, I traced out the recepticle box and left that portion of the tile job open.
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| No Turning Back Now,... first side is cut for the outlet |
I made the cut using the spiral side bit on the dremel tool, which worked very well to trace the opening. The pantry wall is a double application of a luan plywood, so I then pre-drilled the corners from one side to transpose it to the inside of the pantry to make the second cut.
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| Careful Measuring, Pre-drilling corners, leads to good results |
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| All complete and wired, will be nice for our next trip. |
Didn't take to long once I had it cut to get the box installed. I took a piece of 1x4 to slip in between the two luan panels so that the box has good solid support. Two small screws on the pantry side secure the wood and then the box easily installed to the tile side of the wall. a few minutes later and I had the outlet wired and ready to connect to the breaker panel below the pantry. After pulling the converter, you have access to the 120V wires coming in the back and can feed the new line thru the romex connector to the power panel. I matched this up to a proper breaker and installed. Don't forget to label the breaker.
Fantastic Fan Installation - 3 hr job
The first step of getting ready to have the fan installed, besides ordering it, was to open the 12V side of the power panel and be sure I knew which fuses controlled the wires in the camper. I saw that the labels were not completed as I have wires hooked up to all positions 1-11 and fuses too. So, I pulled all the fuses and started one by one, finding the 12V lights, fans, awnings, etc that came on with each fuse.
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| 12 Volt Fuses Identified |
Working on the roof requires some protection as I'm not sure if our roof is rated as "walkable" since we don't have a ladder or it stated specifically in the manual. On the forums, it was suggested if you don't have a ladder, it is likely not "walkable". So, I used 1/2" foam board about 4'x4' square on the roof membrane and then a piece of 3/4" plywood that I had left from building my daughters American Girl Doll House. That would distribute my weight across the roof supports and also provide me a good surface to lay on, stand on when getting off the ladder, etc. In the photo above, you can see that on the roof with my putty knives and tools needed to get the old vent cover off.
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| Take your time, even though you are sweating the pounds off..... |
The first task is very time consuming and unfortunately, hot. You want to have a good warm day with the camper in the sun to help soften some of this Dicor sealant as it is very much like chewed bubble gum that has been stuck to a table. Patience is key, so you don't poke a hole in the roof membrane. My fingers were quite sore after this from trying to pry it back and roll it back with my fingers while working it with the plastic putty knife.
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| Removed roof vent |
Once the sealant is removed and the screws as well, you can carefully pry up the roof vent. This still took time with the metal putty knife to break it free from the sealant below the flange. Working around, I finally got it free and didn't damage the roof. I did take my staple gun then and re-attached those flaps that folded into the camper to the wood edging that I had on three sides. After the sun softened this up for a bit, I worked on cleaning that up too. At this point, I was well into the project for over 2 hrs, with the easy part now ahead.
I used a mounting gasket/putty around the flange of the new fan and carefully pressed it down onto the roof. I worked from one side to the other to secure with screws, first by hand, and then I used the drill with the clutch set lightly. Once the putty squeezed out evenly among the fasteners I stopped so I wouldn't over tighten and strip out the wood.Then, down inside the camper I went.
Inside the camper wasn't much cooler,... although it was nice to be out of the sun. I checked the polarity of the wiring to verify colors. Unfortunately, the fan uses black as the (+), as it feeds to the fuse first and then to the switch, and the white as (-) or Ground. This is what the instructions said and I verified, as the little positive sticker they put on was located on the White wire. The light wires in the ceiling were White-Red (+) and White (-). I carefully made these connections with wire nuts and electrical tape, although i could have also soldered them. Once properly secured, the fan was tested and worked great on all three speeds. Back to the roof for a final sealing.
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| Final Sealing with flexible roof sealant |
I sealed over the fasteners and down the side of the flange, and then smoothed it out using my plastic putty knife just like doing icing on a cake,... which, you may say I'm not that good at! The sun smoothed out the final appearance a little as the stuff setup and it should provide a really good finished product. This vent will be protected by a MaxAir II cover as well, so this joint should hold up a long time.
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| Baffle trim installed inside |
Inside just needed a little fitting with the garnishing trim baffle and to attach the screen to the fan. I'm really happy with the installation and this should help make things nice to vent when cooking, move air when we don't need the AC on, and especially when at Assateague camping this summer.
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