rustystud
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Hey Tim, do you know how much the timing was retarded ? Also how "Hot" of spark plugs are they using ?
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S-280 camper build
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tim292stro
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Don't know about the timing, have been meaning to try one - I imagine you'd figure it out in a few minutes. It's somewhere between optimal for white gas and optimal for kerosine. The spark plug is the standard spark plug, but they put a ring-thermocouple on the spark plug to read the cylinder head temperature (CHT). For that value, the range is 155-175°C. INI Power installs a door on the exhaust-air vent which must be manually operated by the "soldier", who reads to the temperature of the CHT. Temperature control door shown here in figure 7 and 8 of their patent application:
Shown here in one of INI Power's setups with my notes on basic operation (fair use, edited/instructional/commentary):
So the jist of their modification: find an all-aluminum engine (so the temperatures are consistent between the cylinder walls and head) that has a pushrod design and a compression ratio of over 8:1, put in synthetic oil (for the high-temp operation), put a spark plug CHT sensor on the engine, install a CHT/Hour-Meter LCD instrument on the case, drill a hole in the air filter box and insert a common "Aerosol Spray Wand" to inject the ether into the air filter media, then they replace the blue case plastic with tan, add a can holder to the back service panel, put a cover over it after installing the starting fluid canister, and snap in a sliding door to regulate the engine temperature. I can see that they also put on a barbed hose fitting to the exhaust pipe, allowing a silicon hose with a service rating over 500°C to be used to move the exhaust somewhere else.
It's probably less than a hour of total work if all the parts are available before hand. You could remove the internal tank and install the ether canister within the generator body (would need to be insulated from the engine heat!!!) swap in a gas regulator like an off-the-shelf part from US Carburetion in the location of the tank, putting a quick release hose fitting (that would match up to a Scepter gravity feed cap for sale from of the SS members here) for both gas fuel and liquid fuel operation.
Moving to a 5-gallon Scepter MFC from a 1.1Gallon internal tank would give you approximately 50 hours of run time on diesel (versus the 9.5 hours you get with 1.1 gallons of internal gasoline/petrol), and would keep from having big clunky add-ons from hanging outside the case during movement. Working with the available HDT fuel hose manifolds, you can provide a dual hook-up manifold so that you can swap MFC cans without shutting down the generator or risking splashing fuel on the hot/running engine (fuel can be located a few feet away as they do with SHC35/60 heaters). The second picture above shows that INI Power modified the fuel tank vent to feature a quick disconnect to to allow connection to a Scepter MFC as I describe, my way is just cleaner at the expense of requiring an external tank.
Shown here in one of INI Power's setups with my notes on basic operation (fair use, edited/instructional/commentary):
So the jist of their modification: find an all-aluminum engine (so the temperatures are consistent between the cylinder walls and head) that has a pushrod design and a compression ratio of over 8:1, put in synthetic oil (for the high-temp operation), put a spark plug CHT sensor on the engine, install a CHT/Hour-Meter LCD instrument on the case, drill a hole in the air filter box and insert a common "Aerosol Spray Wand" to inject the ether into the air filter media, then they replace the blue case plastic with tan, add a can holder to the back service panel, put a cover over it after installing the starting fluid canister, and snap in a sliding door to regulate the engine temperature. I can see that they also put on a barbed hose fitting to the exhaust pipe, allowing a silicon hose with a service rating over 500°C to be used to move the exhaust somewhere else.
It's probably less than a hour of total work if all the parts are available before hand. You could remove the internal tank and install the ether canister within the generator body (would need to be insulated from the engine heat!!!) swap in a gas regulator like an off-the-shelf part from US Carburetion in the location of the tank, putting a quick release hose fitting (that would match up to a Scepter gravity feed cap for sale from of the SS members here) for both gas fuel and liquid fuel operation.
Moving to a 5-gallon Scepter MFC from a 1.1Gallon internal tank would give you approximately 50 hours of run time on diesel (versus the 9.5 hours you get with 1.1 gallons of internal gasoline/petrol), and would keep from having big clunky add-ons from hanging outside the case during movement. Working with the available HDT fuel hose manifolds, you can provide a dual hook-up manifold so that you can swap MFC cans without shutting down the generator or risking splashing fuel on the hot/running engine (fuel can be located a few feet away as they do with SHC35/60 heaters). The second picture above shows that INI Power modified the fuel tank vent to feature a quick disconnect to to allow connection to a Scepter MFC as I describe, my way is just cleaner at the expense of requiring an external tank.
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rustystud
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Which member sells the gravity feed caps for the Scepter fuel cans ?
tim292stro
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Suprman (avatar is an M939 series truck in a FLIR scope) - send him a PM as I don't see any listed in the classifieds, but his eplace account "fastcashmoneyman" shows more than 10 available. Since I can't reference an auction, do a Google search for HDT part number 171230, I'm sure you'll find him. That picture might even look familiar 
NOTE: I mis-spoke above about "Scepter fuel hose manifolds", they are HDT parts, not Scepter. Correcting above.
NOTE: I mis-spoke above about "Scepter fuel hose manifolds", they are HDT parts, not Scepter. Correcting above.
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Well, I’ve been camping in my S280 for a couple of years now. Only thing I’ve really noticed is a 8k btu A/C is about the bare minimum for one of these. It cools it fine but it takes a long time to get it cool after it’s been sitting out in the sun all day. My first routine was to fire up the generator and A/C around dark, as I wasn’t wanting to waste fuel when nobody was occupying the shelter, but that doesn’t work very well. On a hot day, turning the A/C on at dark, it was about midnight before it really got cool in there.
For this camping season, I’m thinking about making some sort of aluminum platform off the back, sticking out about 4’. It’s kind of a pain to go right up the steps into the door. What you end up doing is having to go to the top of the steps, open the door, go back down the steps to allow room for the door to swing open, and then go back up to enter the shelter. I figure it will make entering the shelter much better and give me a place to transport items like the generator that I don’t really like having in the shelter due to fumes.
The idea is to have it attached to the shelter skid on the bottom with a hinge and have it supported on the end by chains or cables running up to the top tie-down/lifting rings. They will allow me the hinge it up against the shelter to allow pulling a trailer or get out of the way when I load/unload it from the bed.
For this camping season, I’m thinking about making some sort of aluminum platform off the back, sticking out about 4’. It’s kind of a pain to go right up the steps into the door. What you end up doing is having to go to the top of the steps, open the door, go back down the steps to allow room for the door to swing open, and then go back up to enter the shelter. I figure it will make entering the shelter much better and give me a place to transport items like the generator that I don’t really like having in the shelter due to fumes.
The idea is to have it attached to the shelter skid on the bottom with a hinge and have it supported on the end by chains or cables running up to the top tie-down/lifting rings. They will allow me the hinge it up against the shelter to allow pulling a trailer or get out of the way when I load/unload it from the bed.
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You might want to investigate the idea of a shade tarp. But instead of canvas, use some highly reflective sheet metal like polished stainless steel. Possibly set it up on a roller like an awning.
I am sure you can come up with a workable solution.
I am sure you can come up with a workable solution.
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Subscribed.
Working on mine now. For the bed of my M923
Working on mine now. For the bed of my M923
- 649
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Pictures came out like crap but I had a few minutes today with the S280. I was going to gut the inside and start over but it would never get done. Tongue and grove walls. Rebuilding a camper stove. (Almost blew myself up as there was a leak)
metal baskets on right wall. Stopped at Home Depot and picked up some commercial floor mats in 36x36. They have the nipples on the bottom to keep them just off the floor in case of a spill or leak. I will then put some sort of outdoor carpet over it for comfort. Have a tankless hot water heater that I will make a mount for outside. Shelter has a 50 gallon tank on the roof. Twin over full bunk. Twin is really close to the ceiling. Will see how it goes.
metal baskets on right wall. Stopped at Home Depot and picked up some commercial floor mats in 36x36. They have the nipples on the bottom to keep them just off the floor in case of a spill or leak. I will then put some sort of outdoor carpet over it for comfort. Have a tankless hot water heater that I will make a mount for outside. Shelter has a 50 gallon tank on the roof. Twin over full bunk. Twin is really close to the ceiling. Will see how it goes.
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Any new ideas on roof care? I scrubbed mine the other day with simple green and want to roll on a sealer. I have been looking at the RV stuff and just have to make sure it sticks. I see the bed liner idea, but there has to be other options?
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Just got off the phone with Dicor. Oddly they recommended NOT using their metal roof sealer on aluminum. They said they have had issues with it not sticking.
Dock Rocker
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That’s surprising. That stuff sticks to anything, especially me! I though I was going to have to sand it off last one I sealed the roof on a camper.
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Zed254
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Agree: I used Dicor Lap Sealant https://dicorproducts.com/product/epdm-lap-sealants/ to stop a leak on my camper's aluminum roof. I had to pull off some kind of sealing tape to expose the pin hole, but after several tries I found the leak. This stuff is recommended for aluminum and VERY sticky. It's been holding up for several months now but is used for the joints only, not as an entire roof cover.
joshuak
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Interested in options as well. The OP mentioned possibly using the product bellow.
Did you happen to try it out rusty?
Member RAYZER had this to say about sealing his M146.
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Only concern I have with the EPDM is it's for the rubber roofs.
joshuak
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They have version for RV Roof repair. https://www.epdmcoatings.com/liquid-roof.php
According to the website this version is suitable for:
- Various Metal Roofing systems
- Weathered Aluminum
- Weathered Copper
- Any original epdm rubber roofing system
- Fiberglass
- Acrylic Sheet and any acrylic based products
- Weathered Vinyl
Again, no experience with the product just hoping to read others experiences with this or similar products.
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Decided on the Henry brand. Should stick to anything. Started tonight just painting seams and repaired areas. Roof looked solid but after several heavy rains there was water inside. Not sure if it's the roof or windows but figured it could not hurt to do the roof first.
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Here are better pics of the inside. Going to find of indoor/outdoor carpet to go over commercial mats. Twin over full. Led lights will be added. Just can't decide to have shelter run off my Honda 2000 or set it up for solar.
CMPPhil
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Hi
I used epdm rubber roofing as replacement for the tar covered canvas on my S56 back in 1991 and still no leaks. I used the version of epdm that is rated for high winds it has a layer of fabric in the rubber. Wasn't that expensive got it from a commercial roofing company size you néed for a shelter box is generally waste from big building projects. Remember to take a photo of your truck with you, if you're lucky they may just give it to you. If the will let you garb an arm load or two from the Dempster the rubber makes great anti rattle strip and is usefull for all sorts of projects.
Shelter boxes with good bunk are so much nicer than sleeping on the ground.
Cheers Phil
I used epdm rubber roofing as replacement for the tar covered canvas on my S56 back in 1991 and still no leaks. I used the version of epdm that is rated for high winds it has a layer of fabric in the rubber. Wasn't that expensive got it from a commercial roofing company size you néed for a shelter box is generally waste from big building projects. Remember to take a photo of your truck with you, if you're lucky they may just give it to you. If the will let you garb an arm load or two from the Dempster the rubber makes great anti rattle strip and is usefull for all sorts of projects.
Shelter boxes with good bunk are so much nicer than sleeping on the ground.
Cheers Phil
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Another coat today 
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Finally had the time to actually load the shelter box. Will weld up some mounts when I decide the best way to secure with leaving the troop seats on. There is like .5" clearance in the nose of the bed to slide her in. Took someones advice on here and spun them around backwards so they will fold down to the outside and the legs will rest on the sides hinges making a great shelf. Water tank on top for showers (thanks Apple). Have 5 gal. tank inside for sink with RV pump. Just single temp faucet. Two 5 gal jugs side by side under sink.
