Winter Improvements

The weather the past couple of days in our neck of the woods was incredibly good.  The family took this as an opportunity to finish some improvements to the Airstream and the Argosy.  Some new parts were purchased but needed to be installed.  Both campers will get used soon for camping trips, so they needed to be cleaned out and have some things checked out.  I didn't put water to either of them...still too soon for that.  But, here's the improvements worth noting:


Airstream:

We removed the overhead light fixture when a Fantastic Fan was installed a couple of years ago. The bedroom has been kinda dark sometimes since.  There's a couple of other lights in the bedroom, but none ceiling mounted or that really throw light in the center of the room.  I found this 18" light bar as a new product at http://led4rv.com/.  It works very well, although I would have liked it in warm white instead of bright white.  Right now, only bright white is available.  I think in the future I will add more of these and maybe even completely remove the not-used center vent in our trailer and replace the light fixture there with one of these bars, too.

A new LED light bar in the bedroom. 

As our boys have gotten older, they do less and less well with sleeping in the same bed.  Since our Airstream only has two double beds, there's not a great way to separate them unless Andrea and I are willing to separate at bedtime as well (not happening!).  Recently, we also swapped bed space with the kids.  We used to sleep in the mid-bedroom and the kids were up front.  While this was OK and offered us (the parents) the slightly bigger and more comfortable bed, it became an interruption to the kids' slumber when we wanted to get a late night snack, a refill on wine, or clean some dishes.  So now the kids are in the mid-bed and the parents are up front.  I had desired to do a complete re-do of the front sitting / sleeping arrangements, that didn't happen this winter.  What we did manage to accomplish was a bunk for the kids.  While not an original Airstream bunk, I was able to score original wall brackets and ceiling hooks.  With those and some help from an Airstream bunk professional (thanks Steve "byamcaravanner"), Andrea and I were able to fashion a bunk for the Airstream.  It can be lifted and stowed at a higher level so that full use of the couch can be made when not folded out into a bed.  There's also enough of a gap at the "head" end that both top and bottom beds can get reading light.

New bunk in the center bedroom

Last but not lease for the pictures, there is a new tongue jack.  I wasn't thrilled about spending the money on a new one of these when the old one was working OK, but the cover on the old one was severely cracked for some time and totally broke last year.  I had searched for a replacement cover, but the old jack was not made anymore and although the manufacturer is still in business in trailering supplies, they no longer make tongue jacks.  No parts available   I thought of making up my own fiberglass mold and trying to replicate the cover myself, but that proved to be way more time and effort than a new one was.  Based on discussion and recommendations that I found on AirForums, I opted for a Barker.

New tongue jack

I didn't take a picture of it, but it's worth mentioning about the battery.  I purchased a single Optima Blue Top 4 years ago.  It has worked flawlessly.  Toward the end of last camping season, it seemed like the battery was getting weak.  We spent a couple of nights needing to run the tow vehicle in order to have enough voltage to run small things like the water pump and a few lights when boondocking.  Also, the old tongue jack would barely lift unless the tow vehicle was plugged in.  Through some experiences with the Airstream this winter in the barn, I started to suspect the charging system or the battery.  I managed to narrow it down to the battery based on advice found at Optima's website.  My battery just wouldn't take a full charge!  Long story short, with an old-fashioned non-automatic battery charger, a volt meter, and some careful over-watching, the battery was brought back to life.  It now holds a nice 12.8V charge with no loads. This is compared to the 11.7 that it would hold but lose quickly previously.  Maybe the first camping outing will make a liar out of me since there will be a couple of boondocking nights where the furnace will be needed.  But for now, I'm happy.


Argosy:

No pictures of improvements to the Argosy (motorhome), but the list is: Cable TV outlet inside and outside connection were fished through the wall.  An identical flat TV mount was installed so that the TV can be easily shared between the Airstream and the Argosy.  The front bed has a new wood plate under it.  I'm not sure how the 3/16" synthetic plastic-wood board made it all those years, but it was looking pretty sad, so I replaced it.  The over-door light was fixed.  Who knew the inner door frame was so easy to get off (no kidding!).  The motorhome is also getting a new trailer electrical receptacle   There was an old 6 pin on it when we bought it, but the last time it was used was in the mid 90's and the receptacle clearly had better days.  For an upcoming rally, we plan to use the Argosy but we're obligated to bring the firewood and soem other supplies.  Usually we bring those in the truck or with our small SUV and trailer, but there's no more SUV and there's no way I'm driving the Argosy and the Excursion there!