New RV Flooring

Started the flooring installation in the RV this afternoon. The flooring is Allure TrafficMaster Vinyl Plank Flooring with GripStrip. Fairly straightforward to install but the built-in kitchen cabinets added some challenges. The kitchen cabinets were not installed straight and there are some angles. The biggest challenge so far was that I needed to start in two locations, by the refrigerator, and by the door, and they needed to meet in the middle. After a lot of measuring, they actually did meet and align.

Only two more runs are needed with the last run fitting under the slide. The original flooring was installed before the slide so it’s a little awkward reaching that section. Plus there is still some carpeting that must be glued to the bottom of the slide. I think it’s looking pretty good so far. I still need to pick up some quarter round molding to cover the edges of the floor where it meets the wall and cabinets.

Updated Monday Evening - This is the last piece of flooring. Since I worked from the kitchen (passenger side) of the RV, the last piece is next to the slide. It was a real pain to get the last row installed as it had to slide under a metal molding which prevents the floor material from catching on the slide as it goes in and out. The flooring thickness was just about the same as the opening and if there were remnants of carpet staples on the floor, it made for a very tight fit.

All that is left is to pick up some molding to conceal the small gap between the new flooring and the walls and cabinets. The instructions said to leave a ⅛" to ¼" gap to allow for expansion. The tool is a hand roller used to press down the seams. I need to go over the whole floor again to make sure that I didn't miss any. The instructions say to go over the whole floor with a 70# floor roller but I think that may be a recommendation for a residence where you may not want to use the small, hand roller.

Floor Shopping

While I was at College Coffeehouse this morning (Wednesday), it really started to snow. By the time I left, the rig and the parking lot was completely covered. Maybe I should've taken a picture then. Anyway, my next stop was Lowes and Home Depot to get some flooring samples. I'm looking for vinyl plank flooring with panels that stick together as opposed to the seemingly more common "click joint" or glue to the floor versions. This type would be cheaper, thinner and lighter. All good features for a seventeen-year-old RV.

I found what I was looking for at Home Depot. It looks like their house brand flooring will work and at $1.89 ft², the price seems reasonable. The local store only carries a handful of choices and, contrary to their sign of 5-day shipping on special orders, the sales clerk said that four to six weeks is more common. I didn't find anything similar at Lowes. The area that I'm working with is only 125 ft². Not a lot.

Last week, I noticed that someone set up a Nenana-style tripod on the ice on Ballaine Lake. I was usually in the wrong lane to turn into the turnout but I needed a test ride. This seemed like a reasonable turn around spot. With yesterday and today's snowfall, the engine would start running really rich so I assumed that the air filter needed cleaning. It wasn't that dirty or wet but the engine barely ran when I pulled into the garage. After removing the air cleaner element, it ran great so I'm assuming that was the problem. I went ahead and cleaned and re-oiled the K and N filter element then took the test ride. Since it was mostly clear and sort of sunny, no problem...

Not Slacking Off

Or at least not slacking off too much. I pulled the carpeting out of the main part of the trailer. It turns out that the linoleum from the kitchen area extended almost up to the slide. The linoleum was installed before any of the walls or cabinets were installed as it extends under the exterior walls, cabinets, and all the way into the front storage area. The carpeting extends under the cabinet at the top of this picture and was folded over and stapled wherever there was an exposed edge. The carpet did not extend under the exterior walls and was just tucked under an aluminum cap where the slide comes in.

A utility knife made quick work on removing the linoleum in pieces. I just ran the knife along the cabinet edges and the exterior walls. There is still some cleanup at the ends of the slide as there are welded aluminum caps to reinforce the corners of the slide. Tomorrow, I'll clean up the floor and pull out any leftover staples. Overall, the floor looks pretty good with no soft spots or signs of water damage.

At least not until you turn around. This is the driver's side rear corner. The plywood on the floor is still really solid so water has gotten into the luan wallboard below the window. The wallboard feels solid above the bottom of the window. The rear wall is suffering from the same problem. Fortunately, all of the framing material in this trailer is aluminum so I will simply replace the wallboard after locating the leak. This could be a remnant of the roof leak that was repaired before purchasing the trailer as the floor is completely dry in this area. 

Since I was out there, I connected to the RV wifi network to see how the solar was doing with the recent snow. Yesterday, there was insufficient sun to get to the absorption stage. You can tell from the voltage graph where the red line (array voltage) is above the green line (battery voltage) and the battery voltage is above 13.4 volts. If the battery voltage drops to ~13.4 volts while the array voltage is still high, then the batteries are in float charge.

We did get a measurable amount of snow today and it was actually sticking until early afternoon. I got the new thermocouples from Aircraft Spruce yesterday so they are now installed and it's nice to see the cht (cylinder head temperature) gauge working again. Compensating for the 35°F air temperature, the gauge was peaking at about 400°F while cruising down the road. Since this is a simple cht gauge, you need to manually correct the readings for the ambient air temperature. Seems to be a bit high but I need to check it against my IR thermometer. At least it's an easy way to see when things change. 

A Long Day

Feeling tired and sore but we're almost done. Here you can see the ratty, old carpet that used to be in the entryway and the dining room. We could never decide what kind of flooring to put in until it just drove everyone up the wall. I picked up laminate flooring from Sam's Club a couple of weeks ago and my youngest son and I are installing it. It's only 350 ft² but there are four closets to fit. Most of the flooring is down except for two small hallway type sections and surprisingly, its lining up pretty well. The house is "squarer" than I thought it would be.

 

The small black things along the wall are plastic spacers that you use during installation to keep the flooring spaced out ¼" from the wall to allow for expansion. Once we are done, the spacers are removed and base board is installed. The floor is floating and is not fixed to the floor anywhere. Once we get away from things like closets, we can move along pretty quick. Even with all of the other things going on tomorrow, we should get pretty much done and can move the furniture back in. Of course, now that we replaced the flooring, the wall paper looks pretty ratty. I don't think the project will ever end. My only concern with this flooring is water resistance. With it by the entry doors, moisture is almost guaranteed.

This morning, I rode to College Coffehouse where some of the AIrheads meet and Ken, the other guy who bought a used Cozy sidecar, decided against trying to put it on his R75/6 and just pick up a new Ural. He was a initially a little concerned with Dom's trials but decided that it would probably be worth it. He likes the 2WD and reverse. He may be Frozen Motorworks first sale.

 

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Autumn is Over

After 5 days of light snowfall, we are back to clear and visibility unlimited which means that winter has arrived. This is the 8:30AM view to the south east as the slow transition to daylight begins. Sunrise still isn't for another 40 minutes and we are losing daylight at the rate of 6 minutes per day. I don't think that I will ever get tired of the view of the Alaska Range to the south. Mount Hayes is the highest peak near the center of the picture at 13,832 feet. Reality has finally set in and I packed away all of the bike and camping gear that was scattered around the garage so there is now room for a second car inside.

Now that winter is setting in, it seemed like the "perfect" time to shut down the boiler for some routine maintenance (that I could have easily been done last summer). We get our domestic hot water from a heat exchanger inside of the boiler and over the years it gets calcium and other inorganic minerals built up inside the copper tubing. The way you clean is is to isolate the heat exchanger from the water system with a couple of gate valves and circulate a fairly strong hydrochloric acid solution through the heat exchanger until it flows freely. The water in the boiler should be near room temperature when this is done. I had plumbed the system with the appropriate valves and hose fittings to simplify this job but it still meant that there was no heat for several hours. Fortunately, the house is fairly well insulated.

The University of Alaska pays the borough a lump sum every year to enable anyone affiliated to ride the bus just by showing their university ID card. I'm attempting to take advantage of this benefit as much as possible though it is challenging to make it to the bus stop in the morning. If I do ride the bus, it ensures that I will get at least 3.8 miles of walking (or running) in per day. 

Labor Day Weekend

I didn't really have fun activities planned for this past Labor Day weekend. No extended motorcycle rides or long walks. It rained on and off for much of the weekend so it wasn't even a good day to go to the farmers market. I did manage a several rides around the area mostly running to the local Home Depot.

I have been procrastinating long enough on this bathroom remodel. One of the things that I wanted to replace was the shower mixing valve. I preferred one that actually had a diverter valve instead of the little button on the bath spout.  Since I get a real feeling of satisfaction from sweating copper pipes, I was actually looking forward to installation. We cut out a section of the wall, shut off the water in the house and drained the water lines. Kind of a hassle when there is a full house. This 2x4 stud really does get in the way of mounting the valve and pipes.

After a bit of trial and error, I got the new valve installed and soldered everyone together. Now the moment of truth. I turned the well pump back on and checked for leaks. Tested everything and now I can turn the rest of the job over to my oldest son to finish. Jobs like this always seem to take me longer than I think it should. It seems like there is always some part or tool needed to finish the task. But then again, there's nothing wrong with more tools.

On Monday evening, the local Airhead.org chapter had its monthly meeting at the local microbrewery. Only five us us showed up and much of the discussion was about one of the members road trip to Key West via the BMWMOA rally in Sedalia, MS. His '84 airhead had a few issues along the way including having the exhaust valves starting to close up during the trip. He expects that he will be pulling the heads for a top end overhaul as I had done 1½ years ago.

Today, I think, was the first time  since mid-April that I drove the truck instead of riding. I need to drive my middle son to his dental appointment in the middle of the day. Another sign of the end of the summer is no more motorcycle parking spots near our building. I'm not looking forward to winter at all this year. Last week, I sent out an email to the Google Group associated with the local BMW riders announcing the "last ride #1" scheduled for September 16^th to Chena Hot Springs. It's labeled #1 as it is the first last ride of the season. In past years, there have been up to four "last rides". Summer was too short...

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