Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 12:21:31 EDT
Reply-To: Ssittservl@AOL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: S Sittservl <Ssittservl@AOL.COM>
Subject: Carver P4 - Thoughts on installation
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I've been staring at my camper's interior a lot lately, wondering
how to install the Carver P4 heater. Here are a few rambling thoughts;
I'd welcome any comments, opinions, or experiences.
I guess I'm convinced that under the rear seat, on the passenger side,
is best. I think about the only other place that would work is the
closet. The closet's big enough that the space the heater takes up
might not be missed too badly, especially if it were mounted on its
side - since the closet's wider at the bottom than at the top, the
"extra width" at the bottom could be used. But I have a feeling I'd
regret it later if I put it in there. I kept hoping to find some
way to wedge it into the "secret compartment" behind the 110 outlet,
but it's just too big.
Mounting it on its side against the front wall of the under-the-seat
compartment appears to take the least room, since no room is taken up
by the exhaust and inlet pipes. But, that leaves a narrow/deep
storage space under the seat, and I think I'd probably be better off
with a wide/shallow space, so I'll probably mount the heater flat
on the floor, and put a shelf over it.
Looks like there's too much in the way under the van to get the exhaust
easily to the driver's side (without having the pipe hang low enough
I'd be afraid it could get damaged easily), so I'll probably put it
just forward of the right-rear jack point, and the intake some
random spot forward of that (it's less critical).
For some reason I'm reluctant to cut visible holes in the under-the-seat
box, so I'm considering running no cold air return duct, and relying
on the existing ventilation for the existing rear heater. (I guess that
comes mainly from the open "slot" at the driver's side of the seat box.)
For the warm air duct, I've wondered about running it into the side of
the existing (very short, rectangular) heater duct, under the seat. Then
I wouldn't need a new grill in the seat box front. To keep the warm air
from running "backwards" through the rear heater core, I've thought
about sticking in one of those louvered covers that are used over
clothes dryer vents - that would act as a one-way valve. (It would have
to be the kind with multiple thin louvers - not the one-big-flapping-door
kind). And then I wonder if that idea is too dorky to work, and I
should just cut the hole for a new grill.
For the propane line, I'm not sure whether to copy Tom Forhan's
route (from the 11/96 list archives), or go under the van instead
and up through the floor right at the heater. Also, I think
I've seen flexible rubber (plastic?) propane lines - on the
Eurovan, for example. Perhaps those would be easier to run.
For power, I figured I'd tie in just after the "pump" fuse -
I think it's got enough extra capacity, since it just runs the
pump and the fridge condenser fan. There's a ground I can
run to in the "secret" compartment.
I'll put the wall switch above and to the left of the closet door
(left as you face the closet door). I think I can snake the cable
from the seat box, up through the closet, behind the closet wall
(between the wall and the curtain), into the overhead tray,
and then to the switch. I'll put the switch on a little wooden
backplate, again to avoid cutting holes in the visible face of the
cabinetry.
I'm considering wimping out and having a local RV place do
the stuff that sounds hard to me, like running the propane
line, and possibly drilling the big holes (since I'd have to
buy the drill bits for a single use, and it may be as cheap
to have them do it if they've already got the tools). I'll
at least have them give me an estimate.
That's the plan, at least until I go stare at everything again.
What do other P4 owners have in mind?
-Steven Sittser
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