Hello All, and questions re: Roadtrek Parts

[firehawk335]

Hi All,
This is my first post here; but I've used classbforum as a good resource for my Roadtrek. I purchased a 190 Versatile in November 2009 and have a love/hate relationship with it. When everything works life is pretty good but have a problem and it seems like a fight to get Roadtrek to warranty everything properly; maybe this is just par for the RV industry as I've never owned an RV before. But I'd say by now I have quite a bit of experience. I've spent over 300 nights in the Van over the last year, I work away from my residence and the Van is my new house. Maybe in the future I'll post on upgrades I've made including electrical changes, AMsolar Solar Panel, and generally having to rebuild stuff on the Roadtrek to make it handle day-to-day living.

But for now, I have a couple of projects I'm working on that I'm looking for input.
#1 front folding mattress
Is there any parts source that is reasonable for a new folding front mattress? My quote is over $400, that's ridiculous. Any other options? Has anyone built one?

#2 quiet the genny
Summertime in South Louisiana sucks - hot and humid. A/C is a must, but the generator is noisy. Even after the resonator mod and spring hanger mod; still noisy. Has anyone actually found a solution to quiet the beast; say a good muffler or something?

Thanks in advance.
Merry Christmas,
-Chip

[Mike]

I looked into the noisy genset thing a while back, and found nothing over and above
what you've already tried, and I never did try any of them. There was a longer add on to the
exhaust system which vented (the Venturi or something like that?) it above the roof line
of the RV, but it looked too cumbersome and ugly.
The only fix I've found for the noise, is find a secluded spot to park it.
Some on here say they park at the farthest side of a boondock location parking lot (Walmart, etc.),
and then try to face the genset/exhaust away from the parking area. I assume you're boondocking?
We spent a night just outside Baton Rouge in October 2009, and it was the hottest/humid night we've
ever spent in our van. And, we were boondocking where we couldn't run the genset.
I'd (we'd all?) be interested in hearing about some of the other mods you've done.
btw, welcome.

[firehawk335]

Exactly, in Baton Rouge, boondocking 300+ days a year. Genny is just noisy. I've found an inline 1.5 inch muffler I'm going to try in line with 2 onan resonators and an 8 in flex pipe to isolate the exhaust from the genny and see if that helps. I've considered a 3 chamber muffler design but I think space is a limitation and they only go down to a 2 inch exhaust size. Looking for ideas...
-Chip

[Mike]

The only other suggestion would be to try to find a place where your generator isn't
the loudest noise in the area. Like the end of an airport runway. Then the issue is
no sleep, either. How much of the noise comes from the genset itself, and how much
is coming from the exhaust pipe end? I'm thinking it's probably 40/60? So, even if
you muffle the exhaust part, there's still the generator vibration and engine noise
to deal with. Of course, Roadtrek mounted them directly below the bed. Another
questionable design issue? It's a tough problem.
I have a couple of ideas I've been toying with, but I back burnered them a while back.
I'll see if I can find some odds and ends, and if anything seems to work, I'll try to post
up something.

[Ron J. Moore]

Chip,
You might check out www.myroadtrek.homestead.com; Roger has a Section on the Onan Resonator, along with a Super Trapp Spark Arrestor, Model 3S for 2-10hp engines. I have the resonator on mine, have the Spark Arrestor, but have not bother installing it. I am so hard of hearing that half the time I am oblivious to loud noises!! Safe travels.

[Mike]

Originally Posted by firehawk335

Exactly, in Baton Rouge, boondocking 300+ days a year. Genny is just noisy. I've found an inline 1.5 inch muffler I'm going to try in line with 2 onan resonators and an 8 in flex pipe to isolate the exhaust from the genny and see if that helps. I've considered a 3 chamber muffler design but I think space is a limitation and they only go down to a 2 inch exhaust size. Looking for ideas...
-Chip

Well, I've been browsing the web and the only other idea I have regarding quieting the
lawn mower which is the Onan gas generator, is to use some technology already in use
at some garages and auto repair shops. I was thinking that, if you could get hold of
one of those flex exhaust hoses they use to vent car/truck exhaust to the outside of their
shops, through the little port in the door, and figured a way to secure it over the tail
pipe of the Onan, it might add some more noise baffling to the exhaust. I imagined that
you might pull the one end of a 20' section of hose over the pipe, and secure it by hooks
or bungee cord to the hanger that holds the pipe under the rear end of the van. The other
end could be then placed anywhere just out from the side or front end of the van and I believe
it would direct a large amount of the exhaust noise away from the sleeping area in the rear
of the van. If I were to try it myself, I'd try to find a piece of vent hose that is 3"-4" in
diameter, probably 15'-20' long extended, and with fairly deep accordion-style grooves in it,
and it would be as flexible as possible to allow you to position it anywhere you like, just away
from under your van.
I thought this could be easily setup in a few minutes, once you settled into your boondocking
spot for the evening. You'd just slip the "Onan pipe" end over the exhaust pipe, and then extend
the rest of the flex hose, placing it so it vents away from under your van.

The only safety issue would be gases from the exhaust exiting through the "hanger" end of the
hose, but there may be a way to stuff some sort of heat/fire resistant material into it around
the Onan pipe to keep that from happening or reducing it so it's not a health/safety issue.
Or, maybe there aren't enough exhaust fumes which might escape at that end to worry about.
I'm not sure, and I don't know how you could test for it, except to make sure your CO detector
is functioning, and to get a portable detector, like a house inspector might use, and thoroughly
test around the inside of the van with this system set up and running.

Anyway, that's what I was going to try, if it wasn't so cold up here right now, and my
van wasn't having it's intake manifold gasket replaced. I will experiment with this setup
when I get the van out of the GM shop, and things warm up a bit, and I can find a local source
of auto shop exhaust venting flex hose, and the other odds and ends to put it all together.
I thought of using hoses and parts like this stuff ....
http://www.autobarn.net/sti6130series.html
http://standardus.com/stdshop/
If anyone has any ideas for a quick attach/release mechanism on the Onan pipe, I'll cut them
in for some percentage of the profits when I patent and start selling this rig.

[markopolo]

That could help. I don't think you'd have to worry about there being too much back-pressure if you use a large diameter hose like you suggested. You'd have to see how hot it would get. No grass fires.

Just for fun I stuck an oversized lawn mower type exhaust on the end of my Onan exhaust pipe and took measurement before and after with a db meter. There was no difference. So, extending it like you suggest might help.

With my Onan 4000 the "noise" seems to come from the whole generator. Sound proofing the compartment walls and ceiling is they way to go if you have space like in a Class C or A. I don't know how much room there is for extra sound proofing above and around the sides of a generator in a Class B. I had some boat engine room sound proofing that I wanted to try but never got around to it. It was three layers, foam, a rubberized lead and foil. I let it go when I moved because it was so heavy and I was being billed by the pound.

I've been Googling as I type and found a comment that supports your theory:

Simply extending the exhaust to beyond the vehicle makes a remarkable difference.

In his case, the exhaust originally terminated under the RV.

[markopolo]

Originally Posted by Ron J. Moore

Chip,
You might check out http://www.myroadtrek.homestead.com; Roger has a Section on the Onan Resonator, along with a Super Trapp Spark Arrestor, Model 3S for 2-10hp engines. I have the resonator on mine, have the Spark Arrestor, but have not bother installing it. I am so hard of hearing that half the time I am oblivious to loud noises!! Safe travels.

That is a useful link Ron:

http://myroadtrek.homestead.com/OnanResonator.html

Three ideas presented there.
1. Onan resonator
2. Super Trapp spark arrester, with resonator
3. Spring mount on exhaust pipe

[VernM]

The thing to watch with exhaust system modifications, any engine manufacture will warn, is increasing back pressure which can/will lead to burned valves and other unwanted stuff. My solution was the Honda e2000i, which is pleasantly quiet enough to talk over while standing over it.

[Mike]

Originally Posted by markopolo

That could help. I don't think you'd have to worry about there being too much back-pressure if you use a large diameter hose like you suggested. You'd have to see how hot it would get. No grass fires.

I had thought about the temperature aspect too, but I assumed if it was me boondocking, I would likely be in a parking
lot somewhere, and so it would have to be on asphalt, gravel, concrete, or even dirt (maybe?) and so hopefully on a
non-combustible surface. On the hose, I'd have stamped *Caution - contents may be HOT!!!" just like coffee cups?

Originally Posted by markopolo

Just for fun I stuck an oversized lawn mower type exhaust on the end of my Onan exhaust pipe and took measurement before and after with a db meter. There was no difference. So, extending it like you suggest might help.

Much like the resonators, spring hangers, and spark arrestors, not doing much, if anything. I think you need to
push the sound through a length of heat resistant hose, and place the open end away from the sleeping area, which
could be towards the front end of your van, near a tire.

Originally Posted by markopolo

With my Onan 4000 the "noise" seems to come from the whole generator. Sound proofing the compartment walls and ceiling is they way to go if you have space like in a Class C or A. I don't know how much room there is for extra sound proofing above and around the sides of a generator in a Class B. I had some boat engine room sound proofing that I wanted to try but never got around to it. It was three layers, foam, a rubberized lead and foil. I let it go when I moved because it was so heavy and I was being billed by the pound.

Agreed. My suggestion doesn't address the vibration and noise from the generator's casing itself. Maybe extra
insulation would help, but I doubt there's much room for it as you've said. Probably wouldn't help much anyway.

Originally Posted by markopolo

I've been Googling as I type and found a comment that supports your theory:

In his case, the exhaust originally terminated under the RV.

I think the principle is sound. ( )

Thanks for experimenting with the decibel meter (you have all the cool toys!!! ) and for
your comments. I still haven't been able to find a test hose, it was suggested I try NAPA, Carquest, or some
other auto parts supply house.

[firehawk335]

I've done the Resonator mod and hanger mod months ago. As far as perceptive noise inside, the hanger mod does more than the resonator, outside noise, the resonator helps more. I'm not up to the supertrapp mod as I believe that will increase backpressure too much as mentioned above.

I have recently ordered some stainless flex pipe to isolate generator vibration from the exhaust, and a 1.75 inch magnaflow muffler. I will increase the diameter of the exhaust pipe too. I'm hoping these will further quiet the exhaust. Then I believe some sort of dynamat sound proofing will be in order under the van (between the Genny and floor, covering sleeping area) however I think this will be very involved. I move so frequently the flex exhaust extension may not be appropriate for my situation, but is a good idea for normal boondocking.

How about the parts inquiry? Anyone know of a good source for affordable parts?

-Chip

[Mike]

Some say a futon may be the answer.
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1672&p=7358&hilit=mattress#p73 58
or the custom build route as you've already looked into.
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=897&p=2929&hilit=mattress#p292 9
or eBay
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=793&p=2425&hilit=mattress#p242 5

No idea how reasonable the prices are. Depends on your definition of affordable, I guess.

We have an "improve mattress" project on our list of to dos, and I'd probably go with either an
air mattress, or possibly the futon.

Good luck.
I'm still trying to source a non-combustible exhaust hose to try my "move the noise farther away"
experiment. They appear to be pricey, based on recent online googling.