| Topic: Avion truck campers - Hundreds of photos |
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Posted By: 67avion
on 01/03/13 08:42pm
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Welcome aboard! You'll find a lot of encouragement from this Avion community and expertise as well. Believe me - you'll need both in a restoration. It's a tough frustrating thing at times, but worth it. Don't hesitate to ask any question.
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Posted By: rfuerst911sc
on 01/04/13 05:19am
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Another question and this one is regarding heat and LP bottles. My C11 has what looks to be the original furnace. It is on the wall that separates the kitchen from the bath. It is aprox. 12-14 inches wide and about 4 foot tall. There is a thermostat on the wall near the overhead bunk area so I assume the heater has a fan ? I have to figure being 60's technology it is not very efficient is that a true statement ? I'm thinking of maybe replacing it with a vented cat heater and use the existing vent stack for the exhaust any problems doing that ? And now the LP bottles or lack of. When I purchased my camper it did not have bottles with it. I know originally it came with two horizontal bottles but don't know the size. The LP compartment measures 20 wide by 16 tall by 20 1/2 deep and has a regulator for the two bottles. After some internet surfing I realize horizontal bottles are pricey but the alternative is to use small vertical bottles. I have no idea how much LP can be consumed on a 3-5 day trip so I am concerned about having sufficient volume. I did find online a horizontal bottle in 20 lb. size that will physically fit in the compartment and thoughts on having just one bottle ? I have yet to use the camper it was purchased as a project and I'm going to start working on it in the spring so I have and will have lots of questions.
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Posted By: ticki2
on 01/04/13 07:13am
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The original propane tanks were a pair of ASME tanks , not DOT cylinders . Tanks with the same dimensions are no longer made . As you have found you can fit a single horizontal 20# Dot cylinder in the compartment . If you can find used originals in good condition you can use them as ASME tanks require no re-certification . That being said , some fill stations are unfamiliar with them and may refuse to fill them. There is much confusion in the industry.
I am using the original furnace as you describe . I don't know how to test it's propane efficiency but since it is a gravity type furnace I can't see that it would be less efficient than a forced air furnace . Electrically it is extremely efficient . The thermostat uses 0.01a and the optional fan at the bottom uses 0.9a for a total of 1.0a . The fan won't come on until the thermal switch warms up and the toggle switch is on . In short if the heater is determined to be sound and in good condition I would keep it.
'68 Avion C-11
'02 GMC DRW D/A flatbed
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Posted By: rfuerst911sc
on 01/04/13 07:59am
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Ticki2 thanks for the reply, that info is greatly appreciated.
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Posted By: 69 Avion
on 01/04/13 08:00am
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As ticki2 stated, if the furnace is good, keep it. I don't know how efficient they are but they will keep you very warm. The furnace, sink, and the stove/oven are about the only thing original in my interior. I believe that Avion used a furnace that was also used in some of their trailers so it is over sized for the camper. I have run them quite a while on the camper LP tanks, but that was over 30 years ago and I don't remember how long they lasted, but it was quite a while.
Ford F-350 4x4 Diesel
1988 Avion Triple Axle Trailer
1969 Avion C-11 Camper
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Posted By: rfuerst911sc
on 01/04/13 01:42pm
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How would I go about determining if the heater is " good " or not ? I assume if the burner is not a pile of rust that's a start ? If it is a gravity heater does that mean no fan ? What else should I look for ?
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Posted By: 69 Avion
on 01/04/13 03:34pm
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I would look for corrosion or obvious defects. It has a fan that works quite well. Fire it up and see if it works. About the only thing that usually goes wrong is the thermocouple. The one in my camper hadn't been used for about 30 years and it fired right up.
I put a little "pull" handle on my lower cover so that I can remove it easier to get to the fan and to light it.
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Posted By: 67avion
on 01/04/13 03:44pm
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69, don't you think he should walk his issues past someone who is real knowledgable about propane and furnaces? I was lucky enough to talk to a fellow at the local propane dealership and he was familiar with every furnace that I could imagine. It gave me a great deal of confidence in my solutions to the tanks and the heater. I think for many of us, me included, old gas lines, old tanks, and old furnaces raise real caution flags.
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Posted By: 69 Avion
on 01/04/13 04:34pm
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I agree, if he is concerned about the furnace, by all means, he should have it checked out by a professional. The piping on my Avion was so bad I couldn't possibly do a worse job. LOL
My furnace showed no signs of wear, corrosion or problems. My issues were in the piping leading to the furnace. When I did my rebuild, I had my LP tanks checked, even though they were ASME tanks and I put almost 100% new piping in. My camper seems to be the only one that I have found that had a galvanized cross over pipe heading to the refrigerator. Galvanized piping is against any building code that I know of for gas piping. I had two copper lines that had rubbed together since new and one line eventually wore a hole in itself. It was a copper water line rubbing against a copper LP line. Fortunately for me, the water line broke first. That was the last time I used the camper in 1983. I knew that it would take a lot of work to get to it, so I never repaired it for close to 30 years.
I never went cheap with anything dealing with the LP. I even put in a new Rego regulator, not one of those throw away units that you get from the RV store. Also, I installed, and highly recommend, a CO, and LP monitor. That gives me a lot of peace of mind. They didn't have those in 1969, as I recall.
When in doubt, don't take a chance with LP. Having said that, don't assume that a new one will be better quality.
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Posted By: rfuerst911sc
on 01/05/13 04:43am
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I'm fairly confident I can perform a good visual inspection of the furnace once I tear into it. First I have to figure out what I'm going to do for LP bottles. Then I'm going to replace the LP regulator just to be safe this may have the original installed. Then a visual/soapy water solution inspection of the copper lines and flare fittings. Only after all of these are a " pass " will I try to fire anything up. I do not plan to cause a big boom ! After talking to the " pro's " at my local Camping World I'm not so sure they are more competant than I am ! I kid you not, went in the other day and asked them for a 14 x 14 vent cover for the C11. When I told them the vent opens on both sides they looked at me like I was from Mars..........they actually told me they NEVER heard/saw one that did that ! I am an avid DIYer and gear head have been for many years, this conversation sealed the deal I'm doing ALL of my own work on the Avion.
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