Chinook RV

Kirah wrote:This thread is giving me all kinds of ideas for radical remodeling

We aim to please!

Oh, btw, I see that "Shelly" looks to have had the roof air conditioner removed, and the resultant hole is covered with something plus some expanding foam. This is probably obvious since the Air-con is not there, but that is a stock ~14" x ~14" hole that takes any normal RV roof vent (the Air-con units are much larger, but the part that projects down through the hole fits the 14" opening).

I removed my Air-con because I don't tend to use it and instead have a skylight there. I really like the natural light that floods in, plus the star views. I kept the hole and the AC wire stub intact so an Air-con could go back if desired. The Concourse windows are tinted/privacy mirrored, which is nice, but the natural skylight light complements it, IMO (I like natural light). I do cover it with Reflectix (on the inside) sometimes when it's hot and the sun is at summer angles, but that wouldn't be necessary with a vent.

If you do have the Air-con AC wire, it likely runs the same as my Concourse. That is that there is a small junction box on the wall just aft of the passenger side window (was in Microwave cabinet) and from there a piece of Romex type wire goes through the roof cavity and comes out on the passenger side of the Air-con hole.

There are (on my Chinook anyway) also DC wires that come in from the other side (from the chase over the couch window they run through the roof cavity to the Air-con hole). Those feed a ceiling light that is between the sink/stove and the couch/dining area, and then go forward to another ceiling light just head of the air-con hole, and then go forward again to power a Fantastic vent in the forwardmost 14" hole right at the front of the roof.

Quick update: had the vehicle checked out at the local fleet sales dealer and had the oil changed. No major problems just lots of small maintenance issues common for an 18 year old vehicle. Fluids, hoses, etc.

Ripped out the carpet and found some water damage. Doesn't seem too bad. Went on the roof and sealed off the remains of the AC unit and the bathroom vent with plastic bags and tape... Triage for now. Is there a stock part for the bathroom vent fan cover? Mine's missing... I'll have to source a skylight for the AC hole. Front Maxxair fan seems ok, but the shroud/cover was broken so I removed it.

Lots of cleaning and random junk/wood removal to come. Photos too!

eporter123 wrote:Quick update: had the vehicle checked out at the local fleet sales dealer and had the oil changed. No major problems just lots of small maintenance issues common for an 18 year old vehicle. Fluids, hoses, etc.

Great news. Even though mine had been maintained obviously by the original owner (from whom I bought it), I still went through and had hoses/belts/fluids changed. Just so I had a known baseline.

eporter123 wrote:Ripped out the carpet and found some water damage. Doesn't seem too bad.

Ah... carpet be gone. You have to laugh at the fact that they removed even the *tanks* but left you the carpet. Mmm, twenty-year-old RV carpet (actually, even ONE year old RV carpet...).

Just curious where you found the water damage? It's not unusual to have leakage into the lower refrigerator vent (just due to the design), and sometimes the rear door or "tire locker" door (not bad designs but sometimes need new weatherstripping or caulk).

eporter123 wrote:Went on the roof and sealed off the remains of the AC unit and the bathroom vent with plastic bags and tape... Triage for now. Is there a stock part for the bathroom vent fan cover?

I believe I made a thread in 2014 about the bathroom vent, detailing the brand/part number/parts. At least that's if you have the one that has a mini fan and a light ring around the perimeter (which serves as the bathroom light).

eporter123 wrote:I'll have to source a skylight for the AC hole.

I'm not sure there really is a stock skylight to source. I made a temporary cover out of an acrylic sheet that was around 19" square, sealed with good butyl around the large overlap -- and then I painted the overlap part to shield the butyl from UV. Turned out to be one of those temporary mockups that I liked well enough to keep

I think someone else adapted a bubble skylight (often found over Class A showers on the roof). There are also companies like I think Maxim that make fancy custom ones.

eporter123 wrote:Front Maxxair fan seems ok, but the shroud/cover was broken so I removed it.

That may be a replaced fan, since I think all of the stock forward units were Fantastic Vent brand vents (at least around our era). I personally don't like those covers because I like to see out, and plus they make it so you almost have to use the fan because they block a lot of airflow. Without the cover, I can see out and I rarely run the fan. But I don't tend to linger in rainy/humid climates, or I might very well change my tune.

eporter123 wrote:Lots of cleaning and random junk/wood removal to come. Photos too!

Now you're talking

Here's a quick update, since it's been pouring rain here in Portland. Inches!

I had to place a couple buckets inside to deal with leaks from the AC area. I definitely need to seal that off ASAP. I think for now I'll go the butyl tape and poly carbonate square/skylight route.

The main water "damage" is in the center, where it has been dripping from the AC for likely some time. The plywood seems to be in good shape still, not too soft or anything. Mainly just some black staining. I ran some screws into it in a few random spots, and felt resistance so it's not rotten/mushy by any means.

Once the sun starts shining, I can really let this thing air out and then start sealing up any potential leaks.

I did notice that there appears to be a different piece of plywood in the area where the furnace would've been. Did the factory cut out the floor to fit the furnace? I see that on the other side where the floor is cut out to accommodate that water heater. Just wondering if it came from the factory with that plywood patch there, or if that was an older repair.

Love the pictures. Keep them coming. Interesting t&g on the dinette side. Should be a fun project.

Being about 50 miles north of Seattle I feel your rain. It blew and poured here yesterday too. We had a tree come down as well.

Yes on the furnace area (at least on the Club lounge layout). The floor in our era (at least in mine) is made of two sheets of plywood, one atop the other. Either 3/4" or 1" each (can't remember which at the moment; let's assume 3/4" for now).

In the Club lounge layout the furnace was underneath the forward chair's box base. Well, those chairs were already pretty high up (base plus chair bottom). Too high for me. Anyway so to fit the stock Concourse furnace under the forward base, the floor was cut out so there is only something like 3/8" - 1/2" left. One whole layer is out, and the other layer was "delaminated" to make it thinner. Even so it was a real bear to get the furnace out from under the box bench! (There is a thread in which I removed my furnace that has photos.)

Not sure if it was the same way in the dinette layout. The dinette seat cushion may have been thinner and allowed room (?).

On the leak under the Air-con: If you do find the upper layer to be more rotted than you thought, you could cut out the top plywood layer, then fiberglass a new piece in. The bottom layer will make it easy. You could do a similar thing in the way of the furnace if you want a flat/full strength floor there.

I also made a thread for the Air-con "skylight" in case you want to see how I went about it. Others then added their mods to the same thread.

My 1994 was originally a club layabout, and there is no floor recess for the furnace. The plywood subfloor is coplanar. I still have the chair bases and can measure them if that interests anyone. Maybe they're taller than those in the later rigs? (This of course presumes that we all have [had] the same furnace)

I don't know if my Premier was club or dinette. The dashed red line in this pic is the "patch" that is flush with the rest of the floor. I circled a couple bolts that are sticking up, there are some more, and some holes where some are missing. Maybe those are for the rotating club chairs?

That T&G is nailed to the stock wall paneling but it's all coming out & some insulation added behind. I need to hit reset on this thing...

Better pic now that I'm home. You can see the two bolts and their shadows at the left of the "furnace patch" panel and the 3rd is above in the shadow. There are two similar bolt holes back by the wheel well, with one bolt missing.

Bathroom update: no bathroom, lots of holes!