What did you do to your SMB today?

[simplesez]

Took my suburban furnace out to bench test it. Will not ignite. Could be any number of things

[Glider]

I pulled the non-functional ISE W152 water heater out of the van this evening. I have some troubleshooting and some thinking to do. It currently looks like it is 50/50 for repair or replacement. If I do repair it, I will need a new element--and the OEM part is no longer available. I'm not sure if there is an aftermarket part that would fit.

The alternative would be to go with a new water heater. I'm putting in a diesel tank to power my Wallas Nordic DT stove, so I could switch gears and go for a diesel water heater instead of another electric unit. That's potentially tempting.

Any thoughts, gang?



Oh--before I go--a couple more interesting items:

1. Holes in the Floor
After pulling the water heater, I discovered that there are two holes through the floor of the van in the water heater cabinet. One is for the overflow pipe, and the other is for the corner drain of the drip tray under the water heater.

OK, fair 'nuf. The holes are needed. But here's the interesting part. Both of these holes are directly over the exhaust pipes for the van and for the generator--which leaves open the possibility of carbon monoxide intrusion into the van --especially if the van is not moving and either the engine or the generator are running. That's a bit disconcerting. No matter what I do with my water heater, I am definitely going to do something to prevent exhaust gas from seeping into my van.



2. Draining the Water System
I think this bit is pretty interesting. I have a drain on my water tank, which is under the gaucho on the driver's side. I have a drain at the water inlet, which is at the rear of the van on the driver's side. However, the water line crosses over the back doors to the passenger side of the van, which is where the water heater is located.

The way the van is currently set up, there is no simple way to drain any of the plumbing on the passenger side of the van. Even if I were to drain the water heater--which, given how it is installed, would be a challenge to accomplish without making a wet mess--the water line is looped in such a way that there would always be one segment of line that did not get drained. This is something that I am going to change. No matter what I do for hot water, I will definitely set it up so that I can fully drain the system.

[86Scotty]

I thought the same about your drain issue. SMB does some weird things sometimes.

As for thoughts, sure, but no cheap thoughts. I wouldn't put an electric only WH back in but without a propane in it's place things get pretty expensive.

[tlg]

Installed a 4" GearTrac on the doghouse to hold a phone and other misc electronic gear. Enough space on the track for 2 x Ram 1" mounts. Really cleaned up the electronic mess I had going on. Also got a cupholder back (was using the Ram Mount Cupholder Base). Purchased from YakAttack. I'm going to add another track on the shelf above the counter to hold an iPad for the kids.

[tlg]

One more GearTrac install on the above-counter shelf. Will free up more counter space and keep the kids happy.

[arctictraveller]

Originally Posted by Glider

The way the van is currently set up, there is no simple way to drain any of the plumbing on the passenger side of the van. Even if I were to drain the water heater--which, given how it is installed, would be a challenge to accomplish without making a wet mess.

Long ago I gave up on trying to drain all the water in my boat or my van. There was always somewhere where the water would hold up. At first I pumped RV antifreez through the system, but that got expensive, so now I simply put compressed air to the water inlet side of the pump, and open a fixture, which pushes all the water out of the entire system, including the water heater and it all goes down the drain. Through out many cold Alaskan winters I have never had a problem with anything freezing while using this method, it's fast, easy and costs nothing.

[Jsweezy]

Originally Posted by tlg

Installed a 4" GearTrac on the doghouse to hold a phone and other misc electronic gear. Enough space on the track for 2 x Ram 1" mounts. Really cleaned up the electronic mess I had going on. Also got a cupholder back (was using the Ram Mount Cupholder Base). Purchased from YakAttack. I'm going to add another track on the shelf above the counter to hold an iPad for the kids.

That looks awesome.

[PeteM]

Originally Posted by Glider

I pulled the non-functional ISE W152 water heater out of the van this evening. I have some troubleshooting and some thinking to do. It currently looks like it is 50/50 for repair or replacement. If I do repair it, I will need a new element--and the OEM part is no longer available. I'm not sure if there is an aftermarket part that would fit.

There's another thread in the Appliances and Interior subforum about replacing the ISE water heater:
http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/for...air-17600.html

Apparently some ISE units had a left-hand thread heating element that has no replacement source. But if yours has a standard 1" NPSM right-handed element they can be easily replaced with a Camco element. You might want to consider using the 1000W Camco 02103 to reduce inverter load and max battery amperage draw rates.

[Annie O]

I actually did something myself instead of paying somebody else today. Yee haw. (HellBetty has had enough sensor failures to keep my mechanic happy) Before appointment to replace a leaky window, it had to pound rain every night and the carpet was soaked even more than I thought (already decided it was coming out anyhow)

Thinking of bolting storage/sleeping structure to the seat base holes.

I had new flooring selected but now that it is bare I am not so sure, since it will be 2/3 covered by the storage/sleeping structure. Not exactly sure what base/Subfloor would go under new sheet flooring. At any rate I want an insulation/sound barrier covering.
Has anyone used the BedRug-VanRug product?
Any suggestions?

[Annie O]

Pic from the back. The dirt is re-constituted western dust which was under the carpet from her life as a Wyoming work van