What did you do to your SMB today?

[jsaavedrav]

A forum member showed this solution to avoid the falling of the swinging table so the coffee, PC or whatever stay on. I used two picture hangers and a mini bungee cord to solve the issue.

[lndshark]

Originally Posted by stanw909

After running the freezer all night with a fan (wife likes a fan down stairs while sleeping) I got no red light from the solar controller that warns of low voltage at 6 am so it 's looking good so far. I think tonight I will go really bold and also run 2 fans all night with the fridge. Don 't even think about trying to stop me. I 'm like a crazy man here. I also think I may be able to add 2 more batteries in the cupboard bwahahahahahaha!!!!!! bwahahahahahaha!!!!!! bwahahahahahaha!!!!!!

LOL!!!

[larrie]

Covered her up for the winter.



But before I did that added some foam tape to the corners of my solar panels. Hopefully the tape will protect the tarp and cover from tearing.

[Spenard]

We were finding a substantial amount of water in the front left penthouse fabric when it was parked, roof down, after heavy rains. Water was dripping out of the headliner onto the rolled window shade. Bummmer. Anchorage is way too far from SMB to drive there have them figure it out. Looked all over around the SMB mounted solar panels for an obvious hole and did not see one. Since are parking spot is has a slight slope in that direction it could have been anywhere. Started to unscrew the front head liner panel to see if I could spot the location. Oh crap! the perimeter screws also attached the exterior ph fabric to the top and it was starting to slip out and all those big through bolts for latches and panels. One more look on the outside and noticed the left rear mount for the solar panels was not rimmed with butyl caulk. Could slide a credit card partly under it! Pull the bolt cap off the inside and it was full of water! Took the bolt out which had some silicone goop on it and pried the outside big washer off. It was only partly buttered with a thick lump of butyl. My guess is that it had set up before the bolt was put on, which was not real snug causing the leak at 10K miles and 16 months of operation. Cleaned it up, slipped a disk of self adhering butyl sheet between the washer and roof (aka Bituthene) left over from a recent foundation waterproofing project and tightened it all down. Bolt sticks down too low to put the cap back on as the butyl membrane is way thinner than the caulk, but well sealed. no leak after 2 days of showers. The rest of the roof bolts have more visible caulk and feel snugger. Think is will reset with a second layer of bituthene to get the bolt to sit higher. Put the sidewalls back in with the perimeter headliner screws was a PIA. All the hassle because of poorly executed original sealing job on this one critical roof fastener at SMB Glad we caught it before we park it outside for the winter.

[geoffff]

One relaxing hobby I have during long road trips is to try to track down where all those lovely squeaks are coming from.

I've found that my 9-year-old side-door cabinet is a big culprit. I do love this creative fold-out box combination storage & outdoor cooking unit, but it wiggles as I drive over bumps, causing an incessant squeaking. The problem, I've found, is that it's bolted to the wood (most likely particleboard) attached to the inside of the door -- rather than to the metal door itself. This wood flexes somewhat, allowing the cabinet to wiggle a few millimeters -- squeaking as it rubs against the door vinyl. This has only gotten worse over the years.

Anyway, my fix was to simply run some bolts all the way through the door, so the cabinet is now firmly attached to the metal of the van door. Much better! Pardon my crappy photos:

[mikracer]

Got the recall taken care of on my "new to me" SMB. No more fire hazard FTW!

[jage]

Originally Posted by Spenard

Took the bolt out which had some silicone goop on it and pried the outside big washer off. It was only partly buttered with a thick lump of butyl.

Make sure the washer is flat against the roof and not cocked up on a channel when you redo.

[Tooey]

putting in new water lines

[JJSporty]

Thanks for mini bungee cord and picture hanger D rings solution to keep the fold up table in place. Replicated the "mod" with great success! We take two big Labrador Retrievers with us on all our trips and it is like the proverbial bulls in the china shop when they stick their big heads under the extension. Lost a few glasses of wine that way!
Jeff, Janna, Guide Dog "Fodi" and Slacker Dog "Russ"

[vanvan]

After a year!

Before!

After!