VACList Digest Thursday, March 20 2003 Volume 03 : Number 137
When replying to a message, please delete all unnecessary Digest text To unsubscribe or change to an e-mail format, please go to http://airstream.net/vaclist/listoffice.html Topics in Today's Digest: [VACList] Re: water tank [VACList] Photo calendar? Re: [VACList] Photo calendar? [VACList] inside tell tale - over the door & behind the light [VACList] Floor bolts Re: [VACList] Floor bolts Re: [VACList] inside tell tale - over the door & behind the light Re: [VACList] Floor bolts/ Elevator bolts Re: [VACList] inside tell tale - over the door & behind the light Re: [VACList] Floor bolts Re: [VACList] inside tell tale - over the door & behind the light [VACList] Re: VACList Digest V3 #136 Re: [VACList] Floor bolts [VACList] inside tell tale - over the door & behind the light Re: [VACList] inside tell tale - over the door & behind the light Re: [VACList] inside tell tale - over the door & behind the light ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 08:41:35 -0500 From: "Scott Scheuermann" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [VACList] Re: water tank Bill, If your tank is 12" in diameter there are still galvanized metal tanks available. If you have an air pump (vs a water pump) you may wish to go this route. Mine was 10" and no one appears to still make them that small. The new ones are pricey---$500 give or take. I am looking at having a plastic tank custom made, replacing the air pump with a water pump, and making the necessary plumbing modifications. As for your electrical question, I don't know. Scott 60 Overlander - ----- Original Message ----- From: "bill rogers" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Does anyone on VACList have any suggestions about putting in a a new water tank? > > Thanks, > Bill > Lafayette, CO ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 09:41:59 -0500 From: "C B Rollins" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [VACList] Photo calendar? I could be cracking open a can'o'worms here, but another list I belong to, ForwardLook (MOPAR stuff 1955-63) have had their own picture calendar with photos of members cars etc for a couple of years now. They seem to be pretty popular but also seem like alot of work to select pics, put together, get printed, mail out etc. Still, it might be a 'neat' thing for VAC folks to have a calendar with pics of their nicest (or worst) trailers, dates of club events, important days in Airstream history (not that I'm volunteering but then again maybe I would) CB Rollins South Amherst Massachusetts 62 Globe Trotter (still in Georgia!) _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 11:12:22 -0500 From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [VACList] Photo calendar? 3/19/2003 4:41:59 AM, C B Rollins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >I could be cracking open a can'o'worms here, Not at all. A/S put out some calendars in the past. I have ones from 1999/2000 and 2002 (thanks to Brian Burkhardt) that I actually carry with me, and certainly would be a sucker for another. So be all means "get cracking". -- Lew #4239 '72 Safari bicycle ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 16:19:15 -0500 From: Terry Tyler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [VACList] inside tell tale - over the door & behind the light Hi Gary, Thanks for the comeback. I have great respect for your perspective. I agree with you that Bobby's solution seems best. Next month, when I have the '67 22' in our back yard, I'll look at that light switch closely. Maybe I'll go that route, but then again - maybe not. The fiber optic route is especially enticing because it's an application I know nothing about. It's something new and different for me. Plus -- now that I'm no longer a working stiff and under no time constraints, it's fun to let my curiosity play with ideas in novel ways and perhaps - try my hand at it. Everyone has their idiosyncracies. <grin> Terry - ------------------- on 03/16/03 8:04 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >> The application I want to accomplish in our '67 22' should be no more >> difficult than that. I really like the idea of not disturbing any aspect of >> the 12 volt system. >> > >>> Either that or just replace the rocker style light switch with a lighted >>> style rocker switch such as what is used with some off road lights or other >>> auto accessory items. >>> >>> Just a thought, Bobby >>> > Hey Terry: > > Did I miss something here? It would seem that the perfect solution for you is > what Bobby suggested above. I just went out and looked at the switch in my > truck that operates the fog lights. It is a green lighted rocker switch that > is about the same size as the toggle we have that operates the outside lights > on both our Safaris. You would only have to take out the existing switch and > replace it with the lighted rocker. You might have to alter the new switch or > the switch cover a little but it seems to me that it would be a HOAL easier > than getting into fiberoptics. When the outside light is on, so it the > lighted rocker. Is it because the switch is behind the curtain or something? > > This should be a really inexpensive fix. > > Sorry if I've totally missed the point. > > Later, > > GQ '67 Safari > ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 14:29:15 -0700 From: "Earl Peck" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [VACList] Floor bolts Does anybody know what the flat headed floor bolts are called and are they still available? Would a standard carrage bolt work just as well? Earl ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 16:44:02 -0500 From: Chris Bryant <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [VACList] Floor bolts Earl Peck wrote: >Does anybody know what the flat headed floor bolts are called and are they still >available? Would a standard carrage bolt work just as well? > >Earl I've always heard them called "elevator bolts"- and a google search gives a bunch of hits for this name. - -- Chris Bryant mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 16:53:09 -0500 From: Neal Warren <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [VACList] inside tell tale - over the door & behind the light Terry, The TV news just reported that we have bombed a fiber optic cable facility in Iraq, there's probably some loose pieces just laying around over there. Neal > > The fiber optic route is especially enticing because it's an application I > know nothing about. It's something new and different for me. > > > Terry > > ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 14:11:14 -0800 From: "Oliver Filippi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [VACList] Floor bolts/ Elevator bolts Elevator bolts are essentially flat head carriage bolts. They have a flat head with a cone shaped base (just like a flat head screw. However, they also have the square shank where the threaded shank of the bolt goes into the head. Thus yoiu can insert them into a countersunk hole and tighten them from the threaded end without the need for a wrench on the other side. Oliver Filippi - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris Bryant" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2003 1:44 PM Subject: Re: [VACList] Floor bolts > Earl Peck wrote: > > >Does anybody know what the flat headed floor bolts are called and are they still available? Would a standard carrage bolt work just as well? > > > >Earl > > I've always heard them called "elevator bolts"- and a google > search gives a bunch of hits for this name. > > -- > Chris Bryant > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > When replying to a message, please delete all unnecessary original text > > To unsubscribe or change to an digest format, please go to > http://airstream.net/vaclist/listoffice.html > > ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 16:25:53 -0600 From: "Dr. Gerald N. Johnson, electrical engineer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [VACList] inside tell tale - over the door & behind the light Its FAR easier to find super high efficiency LEDs and a resistor and wire than to find a FAT fiber large enough to see these days. Some 30 or 35 years ago, Edmund Scientific and Radio Shack both carried exactly the right fibers for your application. And Airstream used them as an option to show brake lights and tail lights to the driver. The emphasis on high speed communication caused the common fibers to be drastically reduced in size which then aren't very useful as indicators for users over 12 years of age. The active spot is too small. Digi-Key shows some fiber optic cables, but minimum roll of 500' isn't enticing. And I'm sure they are for communications so the core is tiny. Things you might experiment with: Clear fishing leader. Go for 20 or 30 pound test and then try melting a ball on the end to view. Try to cleave the ends very close to perpendicular with a razor blade. There is probably an optimum angle, Brewster's Angle, for the air to fiber interface. It won't be at right angles, probably 45 to 60 degrees from right angle. Lighting fiber. There are light fixtures made for expensive homes and for museums that mount a high power lamp in a closet and then transport the light to locations without room for a fixture through fibers or cables of fibers. Upscale electrical distributors ought to be able to supply the fiber separately. Often the fiber strand is stained or the material chosen so it won't transmit either UV or IR light, thus saving the colors of the object d'art. Another lighting fiber. Fiber optic decorations such as Christmas trees. One fiber might not be missed and would probably do your job. Thin clear polystyrene rod. Thin enough to be bent gently. A frosted end lights up nicely when illuminated at the other end. I have a voltmeter that uses four such pieces to illuminate optical switches. The originals fell apart into piles of crystals, but fresh rods make it work just fine. These would be a little harder to work into a wall. McMaster-Carr shows 1/8" diameter extruded Acrylic rods, 6' long, 28 cents each. www.mcmaster.com They do have fiber optic cables but their fat fibers are .002" core diameter. A truly tiny spot... All of these depend on a polished surface to reflect the light internally and a frosted or squared off end to accept and release light. Some may use bundles of tiny fibers. McMaster-Carr does have a fiber-optic illuminator. Page 591. You don't want to know the price of the fiber cables. If you go to a remove LED with wire and resistor, be sure to put the resistor close to the switch so if the wire beyond the resistor shorts it won't ignite the wall. The resistor will be a good current limiter. Otherwise you'd want to run a 14 gauge copper wire so if it shorted it could draw enough current to blow the circuit fuse, but its hard to connect a quarter watt resistor and LED leads to 14 gauge wire. Gerald J. - -- Entire content copyright Dr. Gerald N. Johnson, electrical engineer. Reproduction by permission only. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 16:30:48 -0600 From: "Dr. Gerald N. Johnson, electrical engineer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [VACList] Floor bolts Occasionally hardware store carry elevator bolts. Farm supply stores a little more often. McMaster-Carr (www.mcmaster.com) has them at better prices, but you probably have to buy them by the box. Page 2853, in plain steel, zinc plated steel and stainless steel. Plow bolts have a flat head and square shank but dig a much deeper hole in the wood than elevator bolts. They can be found more often than elevator bolts in farm stores, generally no smaller than 3/8" diameter. Gerald J. - -- Entire content copyright Dr. Gerald N. Johnson, electrical engineer. Reproduction by permission only. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 15:59:55 -0800 From: "Gary Quamen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [VACList] inside tell tale - over the door & behind the light > Plus -- now that I'm no longer a working stiff and under no time > constraints, it's fun to let my curiosity play with ideas in novel ways and > perhaps - try my hand at it. Everyone has their idiosyncracies. <grin> Hey Terry: You should see the TREMENDOUS amount of effort I expend in order to save myself a little work. Later, GQ '67 Safari BTW, for those of you more fortunate, my wife filled up her car with regular a Costco gas today (the cheapest around in the SF area) and it was $2.049 / gal and rising. Ay caramba....Gotta start saving for the Silver Trailer Social at Napa in May. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 16:27:05 -0800 (PST) From: Bill Peary <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [VACList] Re: VACList Digest V3 #136 Don't know if you Airstreamers are aware of this but The Pottery Barn has reduced the price of their 1:24 scale Airstream camper to about 35.00. I bought one and it is very well made and HEAVY! To find a store location near you go to www.potterybarn.com The store near my work still had a few left last week. You can also do a search at this site and order them online. Stream on... Bill in Dallas VACList Digest <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: VACList Digest Wednesday, March 19 2003 Volume 03 : Number 136 When replying to a message, please delete all unnecessary Digest text To unsubscribe or change to an e-mail format, please go to http://airstream.net/vaclist/listoffice.html Topics in Today's Digest: [VACList] Re: VACList Digest V3 #135 [VACList] Re: VACList Digest V3 #132 - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2003 13:03:02 EST From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [VACList] Re: VACList Digest V3 #135 That would be superb!! I will email you directly with my fax number! Do you by chance know if your actual cut out dimensions are the same as the dimensions listed in your installation instructions? Ours are off by 1/2" or so, which may not matter in the end. However, we hate to spend money on a stove to find out that it does matter. Further, finding a replacement stove that is 21 3/16" deep is proving to be an even greater challenge! Thanks again! molly&tom > > Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2003 11:15:12 -0600 > From: "Don Hardman" > Subject: Re: [VACList] magic chef for 69 Safari > > I have a Magic Chef four burner stove and oven that I took out of my 1976 > Airstream. Everything works great, I did not need the oven so I installed a > cooktop only. I don't have the model number but its series BT22G-47. The > cutout measurements are: > > 20 1/2" wide, 19 7/16" deep and 21 13/16" high. > > I am in the Houston Texas area. I can fax the materials on the unit if you > would like. > Molly Kelley ADSA ph: 217/485-3441 fx: 217/485-3922 [EMAIL PROTECTED] - ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2003 19:32:50 -0500 From: "bill rogers" Subject: [VACList] Re: VACList Digest V3 #132 Thanks, Scott - I found the short - it was in the line going to the heater fan. It seems the lead was disconnected when the transformer was installed, and never hooked back up again, so it was resting against the aluminum bodywork. And the fuse box has apparently been removed. One question: In order to hook battery power back up to the heater, do I need a relay between the battery 12V and transformer 12V? Also, I'm intrigued that your 1960 Overlander has a water tank up front. My Trade Wind, made two years later, has a galvanized steel "torpedo" tank over the axle, under the port-side berth (this is a D model, so it has only one rear berth). I'm about to remove the steel tank (and replace with plastic) because it already has two BB-sized holes un the underside. I'm told that by the time a hole appears, the tank is ready to start leaking from anywhere. Does anyone on VACList have any suggestions about putting in a a new water tank? Thanks, Bill Lafayette, CO - - ------- Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 13:43:14 -0500 From: "Scott Scheuermann" Subject: Re: [VACList] 12-volt woes Bill, I am assuming that your '62 is similiar to my '60 Overlander. You say that wiggling the battery lead used to help. I would start at the battery and take a long hard look at where the wire disappears into the coach (the battery box is on the front, outside wall, right?). Inside the coach at the front is a couch. Take it apart and look for the water tank. To the right of it on the wall is where the fuse block is located. My bet is that at least one of your problems is located between the battery and where the fuses (at least used to be) located. My 12V system used the trailer body as the ground. It has never caused any problems, but then again the trailer has been on the road regularly since '60, so any corosion between panels is worn away exposing fresh metal so the electrons can flow smoothly where they need to go (or at least that is my theory.) The transformer was most likely used to power the original furnace blower fan. It allowed it to run on either A/C or D/C. I had one of them for the blower motor and another for a vent fan. Scott _____________________________________________________________ Get 25MB, POP3, Spam Filtering with LYCOS MAIL PLUS for $19.95/year. http://login.mail.lycos.com/brandPage.shtml?pageId=plus&ref=lmtplus - ------------------------------ End of VACList Digest V3 #136 ***************************** When replying to a message, please delete all unnecessary Digest text To unsubscribe or change to an e-mail format, please go to http://airstream.net/vaclist/listoffice.html Karen and Bill Peary 620 North Coppell Road #2404 Coppell, Texas 75019972/304-0022Bill cell 214/763-9222Karen work line 972/745-3258Karen cell 214/597-2362 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 17:06:03 -0500 (EST) From: Bobby Gill <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [VACList] Floor bolts Earl A carrage bolt will work just fine. Once you get that sucker in there and the trailer all spruced up, who's going to know you got a carrage bolt in the floor instead of elevator bolts? Bobby > > Does anybody know what the flat headed floor bolts are called and are they still available? Would a standard carrage bolt work just as well? Earl - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- When replying to a message, please delete all unnecessary original text To unsubscribe or change to an digest format, please go to <a target=_blank href="http://airstream.net/vaclist/listoffice.html";>http://airstream.net/vaclist/listoffice.html</a> > ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 20:38:22 -0500 From: Dick Kenan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [VACList] inside tell tale - over the door & behind the light Terry: Fiber bundles are manufactured for medical (endoscopes, colonoscopes, laser guides, etc.), lighting, automotive, military, etc. applications. Below are 4 links I found by searching for "lighting fiber bundles." The first one offers bundles from 1'-4', but unfortunately their catalog is not currently available on line. There are a whole passel of hits on just about anything with "optical fiber" in it, most for communications, which, as Gerald says, wouldn't interest you because they're tiny. But, there are lots of people in businesses oriented to other light-guide industries. You may have to look hard to find a suitable bundle at a reasonable price, however, especially in the companies that make bundles for medical applications. One of these sites does offer fiber with a 2 mm diameter, which could do the trick if it's financially feasible for an individual. There may also be some www.fti.thomasregister.com/olc/fti/fiber7.htm http://www.schott.com/fiberoptics/english/products/healthcare/medicalillumination/fiberbundles.html http://ewweb.com/ar/electric_fiberoptic_lighting_hass/ http://www.efiber.net/Company_Listings/O/Optical_Fiber_Systems/optical_fiber_systems.htm Still, without meaning to discourage your adventurous leanings, the lighted switch idea seems to me to be the best and easiest solution. But, if you're intent on fiber, then use your well-documented patience and look around a lot for a bargain bundle and go for it. Let us know how you fare. - - Dick (5368) At 04:25 PM 3/19/2003 -0600, you wrote: >Its FAR easier to find super high efficiency LEDs and a resistor and >wire than to find a FAT fiber large enough to see these days. [snip] "God Himself, sir, does not propose to judge a man until his life is over Why should you and I?" -Samuel Johnson, lexicographer (1709-1784) - --------------------------------------- Dick Kenan Tel: 770-451-0672 Retired and loving it! WBCCI # 5368, 28' 1995 Excella Atlanta mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.mindspring.com/~as5368/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 22:37:24 EST From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [VACList] inside tell tale - over the door & behind the light many years of caddys had fiber optics in wire harn for lite tell tale mark 67 safari ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 22:59:53 -0500 From: Neal Warren <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [VACList] inside tell tale - over the door & behind the light Buicks also had them on the front fenders to monitor the head and park lights and on the back deck to monitor the tail lights. I know they had them in the late '60's and early '70's, maybe others. You might could find some in a junk yard. Look for Electra 225 Buicks. Neal > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 22:37:24 EST > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: [VACList] inside tell tale - over the door & behind the light > > many years of caddys had fiber optics in wire harn for lite tell tale > > > mark > 67 safari > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > When replying to a message, please delete all unnecessary original text > > To unsubscribe or change to an digest format, please go to > http://airstream.net/vaclist/listoffice.html > ------------------------------ End of VACList Digest V3 #137 ***************************** When replying to a message, please delete all unnecessary Digest text To unsubscribe or change to an e-mail format, please go to http://airstream.net/vaclist/listoffice.html
