Back Shelf Rebuild or Post Corrosion Fallout

fstop32

I got into this mod by accident as I was cleaning up the havoc wreaked in the wake of the "Corrosion of Alde Convectors" debacle (see post by that title if you have trouble sleeping...)   
Who could forget "The Battle of the Bulge"...8^ (


While slowly working my way through the Convector Crisis I noticed how NuCamp had redesigned the 2016 rear end cabinetry from what my 2015 looked like and since I had all that ripped out anyway I thought "why not...".

More or less the original looked like this...

There was a flat top panel (not pictured) with small vent holes in it to allow some warm air to rise from the convectors which were attached to the back side of the headboard panel.  There was no storage at all below that flat panel.  To access the glycol reservoir I had to remove the panel and wedge my gargantuan cranium into the space provided while performing my best Cirque du Soleil moves to check the fluid level or add to it.

This pic shows the fully gutted back end in its first stage of rebuild, the "repurposed" convectors and new glycol lines are roughed in.  Because I wasn't able to purchase new rear convectors for reasons I won't go into here I cut off the corroded ends of the existing convectors, removed a few fins and reinstalled them.

I moved the convectors from the back side of the headboard and dropped them down to the sloped wood floor tail panel as was done in the 2016 model.  I used lots of foil covered bubble wrap and the good foil backed hvac tape (love that stuff).   I built new left, right and middle bench framing beams as part of the process.  Actually, by the time I was done the only original wood bench frame piece not replaced was the bench cross member.  The middle beam is a box duct that carries air from the cabin floor to the convectors regardless of how full the bench compartments might be.  It includes a fan to assist the flow and an internal diverter to spread the air out across the sloped tail panel and up into the convectors.  The pic also shows the new glycol tank support and how I rotated the tank 180 degrees for a little better access (the spout on top is my "filler funnel" when top off is required).

This pic shows the new roughed in headboard with attached "trough" cubby behind it.

I built a new headboard and added a storage trough on the back side.  I decided to change the wood to cherry hence the different color.  At some point I'll build a new face frame and doors for the upper cabs to match.

The next 3 pics show the next phase of rebuild and the left and right cabs roughed in...

     

The next few pics show the progress moving along; the Alde boiler back in place, wire trays to keep bed rolls from dropping into the netherworld*, passenger side beam inner panel to keep things in the storage compartment from damaging my glycol lines, closeups of the side cabs, yada yada yada.
*In colder weather I drop a foil-backed piece of foam board onto the trays to better direct airflow through the convectors so the warm air doesn't get trapped in the bench back.  There is also a double foil sided foam board that separates the convectors from the bottom side of the wood trough cubby and creates a nice vortex effect to direct the airflow up and out via the 1" gap provided cubby and the ceiling panel.

              
              
The driver side cab tips out for visual glycol check (with tank light), if need be the power to the cabinet can be disconnected for easy removal.  I put a cleat on the bottom of that cab and because the weight is trying to keep it tilting back it has so far stayed snugly in place during towing.  I may put a lid on the trough storage but I find if I have a flat space I AM COMPELLED TO PUT SOMETHING ON IT, which then makes accessing the storage area inconvenient to say the least.  Being an avid backpacker I have a plethora of stuff sacks that drop nicely into the trough and are much easier to access than below the bench seat area.

This is the reservoir light and the lighted cubby in action...  The light switch for the reservoir is just behind the top of the headboard once the cubby is tipped out of the way.
             

New look...and I installed strip lighting in the upper cabinets as part of the new wiring I did in the rear of the camper.

Ok, that's it for now.  I may put a post together on the actual rebuild of the glycol plumbing project but I've got to take a nap now...

Sharon_is_SAM

Wow!  Nice job!  Do you remodel bathrooms?  😂

peterjoce400

Very impressive rebuild!  Like your modifications (especially the light for the glycol tank!!).  Note you put marine grade clamps on the hoses behind the standard clamp: is there a concern as to pressure blowing those hoses off?

fstop32

As a matter of fact I do @Sharon_is_SAM!  Though they are usually a bit larger than my T@b bath 8^ )

fstop32

@peterjoce400, the double clamping was not for pressure concerns, it is a very low pressure system.  It was an added effort to squeeze the rubber hose tightly around the convector tube and the end of said tube.  The corrosion I and more than a few discovered seemed to be mainly centered in the hose to aluminum tube surface connection.  @BrianZ came up with the idea of using 1" heat shrink tubing to cover the end of these connections where the hose slides onto the tube.  The double clamping was an added defense to prevent the glycol from getting between the hose and tube.  There is a lot of discussion and ideas on what was causing the corrosion buried in that lengthy post on "Corrosion of Alde Convectors", and lots of pics of the problems and solutions.

Romana

Nicely done, quality work.

tybladesmith

Nice work Dave, I see light at the end of your tunnel - Project! - Very innovative!

fstop32

Thanks @Romana and @tybladesmith!  Some of those upgrades would never have been done but for the requirement to pull so much stuff out to fix the corrosion problems, it just opened up a whole new world of possibilities!!

BrianZ

@fstop32,
Great work, Dave!  Nice to see all the details in photos & thanks for sharing.  That cherry looks really nice!  The only time I  ever built something out of cherry was a table lamp that I made on the lathe in high school shop class, and it looked nice too.  You've  done a load of great work.  I see you've got the new glycol too, something I'll likely do this season.

fstop32

Thanks @BrianZ!  Ah, shop class, that's bringing back some fond memories!  I've got more photos and details if anyone was interested in diving deeper but I didn't want to dump a "War and Peace" thing on everyone 8^D 

Denny16

Dave, your cabinet work came out grand, a brilliant job.
 Cheers