Added stuff, too much for the What did you do thread...

[rimjaine]

Hi Randy,
I've been looking for your post on the AC you installed on the roof, didn't find it, HELP.
Later, Jim (rimjaine)

I decided to look in my favorites and found it, here it is. https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=58083&highlight=dometic

 

[israndy]

Glad someone noticed it, I have seen nothing else like in on the Serenity Press

 

[Bertible]

I haven't been on this site for a long time, but still happy owner of an '08 Libero with Freedom II (Serenity/Libero) body/layout. I had a recent issue and this last link to your air conditioner replacement was very timely Randy. With the original Freedom II coach body, the a/c is faired into the roofline, a very nice design that keeps the overall RV height down and is also more aerodynamic than having the AC stickup from a flat roof. The obvious disadvantage is that the inside height over the corner bed is lower since the valley in the roof sticks down, making a more constricted sleeping area (we have a fixed bed, not electric couch).

I just found out a less obvious disadvantage of this design. Our driveway slants down from the road then levels out, and we typically have our Libero parked on the flat part, or with the nose out towards the road. Yesterday, my wife moved the RV towards the road, but with the rear end outward, so tilted towards the front significantly. It was absolutely pouring rain for a few hours here, and we went into the unit and found the bed absolutely sopping with water dripping through the A/C vent. The design of the faired roof causes water to pool deeply when the front of the RV is downward tilting. I haven't figured out if the roof seal is gone, or if the water was actually deep enough to spill over through the A/C air ducting. I started removing the interior covers, but i think I'm going to have to do what you did above Randy and reseal the roof mating flange https://sprinter-source.com/forum/sh...hlight=dometic Has anyone else experienced or seen this on a Freedom II coachbody? I will be going up and removing the AC cover to see if it was actually not the seal, but just an overflow (in which case we'll simply avoid parking downhill during rainstorms.)

Regards,
Gary
Shawnigan Lake, Bc
08 Libero

 

[israndy]

Crazy. If I remember the insides of the AC I don't know there is much of a way to get water thru the unit. There may be a wire that goes thru, but air doesn't go thru, the hot air is on the outside and the cold air is on the inside. And the seal for the AC is intense. But, yeah, the water does gather there if you park nose down. There isn't a drain.

 

[israndy]

OK, it's been 4+ years since I got the Tesla and I haven't been treating my Serenity well.

The hood and the roof have pealing clear coat. I ended up getting a hood protector off Amazon, kinda looks cool, better than the hood itself.

I was getting a P0404 error, that turned out to be the EGR. I went to Harbor Freight to get Outside Torx bits. Managed to pull the EGR easily. Tried to clean it, but the aperture would not close by itself. Shopped around and ended up getting a new one from Amazon (I hate them but love their ease of return) for just under $200.

Still on the same tank (down to almost fumes) as when I bought the Tesla, had to replace the battery after letting it sit a year and that new battery is starting to go bad. Really should spend more time in the RV...

edit: Oh, also, added the Deltran Battery Tender WiFi Monitor, hopefully that will be the end of my killing batteries

 

[israndy]

Ok, more work on the Serenity, the rains have been beating down on the RV and I've noticed they were getting into the "trunk" so I ordered 20' of replacement seal material and cable door retainers and installed them today, my hands are sore, turns out you wanna pry the seal open a little as it's a pretty thick area you are mounting it on. closing the door is pretty tight, but the seal is new:



The retainers that came with the RV were chain based, and they cut into the seal badly, caught on other links when closed, came open and unhooked and generally gave me a hard time. I found vinyl coated aircraft cables (similar to what newer units come with) that were about the right length on Amazon and ordered them both:

Cables: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IUJ7IC6?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Seal material: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0855HX5MS?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Both of these were just eyeballing it, and there may be a better match, but these both seem to work

 

[hoosierrun]

Ok, more work on the Serenity, the rains have been beating down on the RV and I've noticed they were getting into the "trunk" so I ordered 20' of replacement seal material and cable door retainers and installed them today, my hands are sore, turns out you wanna pry the seal open a little as it's a pretty thick area you are mounting it on. closing the door is pretty tight, but the seal is new:

View attachment 251162

The retainers that came with the RV were chain based, and they cut into the seal badly, caught on other links when closed, came open and unhooked and generally gave me a hard time. I found vinyl coated aircraft cables (similar to what newer units come with) that were about the right length on Amazon and ordered them both:

Cables: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IUJ7IC6?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Seal material: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0855HX5MS?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Both of these were just eyeballing it, and there may be a better match, but these both seem to work

Nice job. So far I haven't had to do the rear hatch door yet, but did have to do the side entrance door seal. Not an easy job, but the cost is all in the labor. It took me about 3 hours.

 

[israndy]

Wow, not looking forward to that one

 

[israndy]

The rust under the windshield returned and was started to rust thru the upper corner below where the fiberglass is glued in place. I ran into a guy who explained how to fix it so I hired him to grid down the rust and re-seal it, and he also wet sanded the clear coat that was flaking off and then polished the paint and applied ceramic coating to the entire vehicle. Not quite 4 grand but at least I can stop worrying about it for a while.

I also yanked the Chinese flex solar panels that I glued up there when I first got the RV in 2011 and purchased some EcoWorthy 120watt rigid panels to replace them with. Just waiting for the mounting Z-brackets to arrive. I'll wire them in and finally hook up the 180 amp hour lithium battery I built. Installing it next to the water pump as they are less likely to freeze inside, and that frees up more basement storage. Also mounting my Renogy 60 amp DC-DC charger where the old converter used to live to keep the alternator happy. Perfect fit. Although I have not seen these HighPower cells taking all that much charge when hooked to my Xantrex 80 amp inverter/charger.

 

[israndy]

Front to back a 110 watt (1190mm x 540mm), a 75 watt (820mm x 535mm), and a 60 watt (734mm x 535mm)

Upgraded my 10 yo Chinese flex solar panels. I had sprayed the roof with a 3M paint protection film hoping it would protect the paint from the spray adhesive I used to mount the panels, but some of the roof paint came up with the panels. I cleaned up the glue mess as much as possible and then coated the roof with ceramic paint protection. Hopefully better than the tech I had in 2011.

Since the flex panels had outlived the 8 year lifespan I was happy I had used them, but there was no saving them. Totally bleached out and no longer letting enough light get to the SunPower cells. They all cracked as I pulled them out of the glue, now just trash. So this time I went with glass. Now that rigid panels are everywhere I shopped for some lightweight ones. The biggest matched panels I could find for the space were EcoWorth 120watts:



The previous panels had never really provided the expected output, despite matching output voltage, so I went for matching panels this time. The smaller space JUST fit and the larger space I could probably get another row of cells in, but they are $199 delivered. I added some Renogy Z-brackets and some heavy duty mounting tape and mounted them in place yesterday.

 

[israndy]

OK, it took me a long time to finish this project (finish?) but I ordered one of those small and cheap 100ah Lithium batteries off Amazon (although I could have saved some money by going AliExpress) and I rewired the battery location to be in the same bay the 12v relay and the breaker panel lives under the banquette. There is a battery sized gap in the space between the AC inlet and the cords running in from a hole down to the generator and the battery bay. I ran the wires that I originally installed from the Xantrex Freedom XC to the battery compartment thru newly drilled holes, and moved the Xantrex LinkLite battery shunt and fuse to the new location:



This should be more power than the original dual 6v batts could store and it actually can take the full 80 amps of the 2000w Xantrex when charging. Got to 50% in 45 minutes from low battery cut off. I purchased the Renogy 60 amp DC-DC charger to protect my 150 amp alternator, but it only ever charges at about 30 amps so I guess I don't need it. Not sure how I was gonna wire it in with the Trik-L-Start anyway.

The battery is NOT BlueTooth capable or freeze protected so I'll have to turn off the 12v in the vehicle when in storage to not charge from solar below freezing, should stay at the level I charged it to before turning it off for the winter months, assuming I take it somewhere that it gets cold. I got a second Deltran Battery Tender WiFi Monitor for this battery so they both show in the app. Sadly they company no longer makes them, had to get a refurbished one off eBay, so no upgrades to the software over time (like tracking charge level would be nice).



This frees up the battery bay for use as more storage, although it's not sealed like the other two basement bays are, it's like the generator bay, so I'll have to find a plastic box to keep things from flying out on the road.