Revcon Trailblazer "Watering Hole"

Hellwinger

Member
Just for the record, three EP members who are Trailblazer owners (besides Hellwinger) have made themselves known: AdvWife, Country, and OFFRDRV. All are welcome.

A recent inquiry asked about leveling solutions in regards to the refer. Ammonia-cycle fridges need to be level to work well.

The photo below (2015) details the jacks bought, and the (soft) wooden interface blocks made with pins to fit the holes in the top of the jacks (which are intended to be bolted onto the bottom plywood of a trailer, at the corners). Shown is the storage configuration for the Phoenix, normally nose-down. So, it’s parked on 4” blocks at the front wheels, which get close, and then the jacks bring the nose up just a bit. How much lift those jacks can handle depends on how much weight they are taking off of the suspension springs. Park accordingly.

There are bubble levels (pitch & roll) mounted on the outside at front and rear (2020 & 2023), as well as inside the RV (2022, on the dash with illumination) to fine-tune the jacks. The dash-mounted levels come in handy when first parking at a camp spot. The illumination is needed for nighttime arrivals. The jacks can also be placed at the rear porch corners, depending. The outer levels are handy for first adjustments of the jacks. The interior levels confirm. Keep a headlamp handy for jumping out and doing things at night.

Image 2016 shows a quick-jacking solution. The PVC holder for the socket driver can be quickly crazy-twiddled with a finger to get the jack close to the desired extension. More reliable than a cheap rechargeable drill motor and almost as fast. Greater torque can be applied with the handle that comes with the jacks.

Photo 2017 shows the levels mounted near the fridge. They are calibrated in relation to the body of the fridge, which may not quite be level with the floor of the coach.

Photo 2018 shows a storage solution under the stove that also hides the water heater and space heater. Note the green switch at upper right. This is a more convenient location for the water pump switch, being within arm’s reach of the shower stall and the vanity sink aft of the fridge. It is in parallel with the stock switch, which is in the door well, forward of the sink. And frustratingly out of reach of the head.

Photo 2019 shows a venting solution for the rear coils of the fridge. The stock config was a microwave on a shelf above the fridge that pinched the convective flow. The upper rear edge corner of the micro was too close to the coach wall. Behind the sealed metal in the (now storage) cabinet are two muffin fans that exhaust upwards out the roof vent. They are controlled with a purpose-adjusted bimetal switch that is mounted on one of the cooling coils. It is all scaled properly because the fans only engage on the hot part of ~85F days. Or when aerodynamic pressures overcome convective forces whist rocketing down the road.

IMG_9174 shows the fans, situated behind the curved metal cabinet back in IMG_2019. They blow up, out the roof vent for the fridge. Note unobstructed path between them for nominal convective flow.

Note two spares in image 2023. When out in the sticks, a single spare means service station anxiety when a flat happens. With two spares, the potential need to return to civilization is reduced. This mode is a result of experience and also running with used tires, which are much less expensive than new, but more prone to failure. However, the Phoenix has new tires now. Hopefully two spares will not be needed.

So far, tire failure modes have been highway blowout (YIKES, one in front, two on tag axle), sidewall cuts due to tight turns, from sharp rocks camming into the sidewall in deep road cuts, blowout due to under-inflation on a dirt road (actually probably operating at too high a speed for the inflation level), and a sharp piece of obsidian on a pioneer wagon toll road over a volcano on Thanksgiving Day.

- Hellwinger
 

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Hellwinger

Member
Just found this photo of a PVC-fitting flashlight mounting solution near the coach door. The handles on the door come in handy when climbing in or out. The draped bungee is for holding the door open in the wind. Hooks onto the handle to the right and the rear cab door handle. The shelves at the left are handy because they can be accessed when standing outside. Bear spray, field spade, roadside geology guides, dog leashes and poobags are kept here as well.

- Hellwinger
 

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Hellwinger

Member
This is the tank level indicator. Simple NPN transistor circuit. The '90's era LEDs were replaced with modern "super bright" LEDs from a holiday light string (cheap source of LEDs).

They are readable in full sunlight. Blinding at night. And, because the modern era LED is much more efficient, a bit more sensitive in its indication.

One problem is the black tank - it always seems to read fuller than it is - takes a while to read empty. Am guessing there are (moist) salts or other conductive goo on the tank walls? Any solutions out there? Will need to research...


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- Hellwinger
 

Boosted1

New member
Hello fellow owners. Just purchased #1020 from OFFRDRV. Is this the only spot to connect with other owners? We are planning on making a lot of changes/updates to our new adventure rig.
 

Hellwinger

Member
Welcome Boosted1!

AdvWife, Country, and now you are the only other Trailblazer owners I know of.

Found my way to ExpedtionPortal via AdvWife, via Google searches that uncovered AdvWife posts to other platforms. ExpeditionPortal seems like a very well done site, so settled here. This Watering Hole blog is a back-burner project, for sure.

I've done a few casual Web searches for things related to our machines, but am no expert on what's out there by any means. I cannot say that this is the only spot to connect with other owners. I just have not found one in my limited experience, so I created one. I'd be very interested to find as many other owners as possible, and learn more about the history of the manufacture of these beasts. As well as swap experiences, tips, and tricks.

If you have not guessed, my approach is to maintain on a budget, repairing/rebuilding (myself) where I can and only gutting and replacing where I have to. That's not to say it is not tempting to gut the whole thing and re-engineer with modern materials and practices. Much can be learned by everyone in any case, so please feel free to share. And take value from whatever I post.

So, Boosted1, how do you know that you have #1020? There's this sticker by the coach door (photo below). Does this mean I have #115 (Mfd. March 1994)? I find it hard to believe 1000 were made. Or even 100. Maybe Revcon changed from a 3-digit to a 4 digit numbering system? If so, that might mean I own the 15th made and you the 20th, perhaps.

1620752441631.png

Anyhow, welcome again, and good luck!

- Hellwinger
 

Hellwinger

Member
By the way, found a good explanation and some maintenance tips regarding our type of tank sensors:


I replaced the factory (interior) black tank of the Phoenix with an external one. See below.

It is tucked up between the coach body and chassis frame, and armored. It has clean outs at strategic elbows - no part of the system is inaccessible.

The flush valve is mounted right on the tank. The front wall of the tank can be viewed through that aperture. So, in theory at least, a pressure washer wand could be used effectively.

My plan is to fill and soak with the enzyme, empty, and then fill and soak with the detergent, and then pressure wash the interior.

1620754947114.png

Oh what a fun mess!

- Hellwinger
 

AdvWife

Active member
Welcome Boosted!
Thank you Hellwinger for posting so much info! We’re even more delayed in getting back into the renovation due to....track accidents. Kinda have to rebuild my Ford F100 after LSFest. Can’t wait to finally get the Revcon finished to get it back out on the road.
Noticed your post on refrigerators. We decided against the “traditional” RV fridge and went with all electric. Looked at a bunch of bigger rigs at the Overland Expo throughout the years and went with Isotherm. We’re hoping to love it as much as we do the ARB we’ve had for years.
 

Hellwinger

Member
Thank you, AdvWife.

If you can't tell, I'm a little envious of your ability to strip it down and rebuild (and re-engineer) from scratch. I'm such a cheapskate. My partner in adventure has a helluva time convincing me we should buy something new because I keep fixing the old ones. She likes new things. Fancy that...

I kept the original refer because it's clean, works, cost, etc. If I had to replace it tho, I'd certainly go with a compressor type. Having an open flame and gas plumbing running around in an (off road) vehicle seems non-optimum to me.

However, as far as a portable (heat) energy source goes, propane is hard to beat. The compressor type of refers run on around 4-5 amps at 12VDC from what I gather. If long periods of boon docking are desired, putting that sort of a constant load on a battery system makes sizing the overall battery capacity and charging system (solar panels, engine alternator, shore power AC to DC charger wattage) critical, especially if the compressor duty cycle is high.

like I've said, lead is heavy. I like the idea of LiFePO4 - just procured a couple of 12V 16Ah units from Amazon, for mostly for the shelf life (reliability) and lighter weight. Lead acid batteries don't last for more than a couple of years if you don't keep them on a maintenance charger. These new batteries are for a couple of field instruments that are dusted off and deployed for a day or two every 6 months or so. We will see how they perform on the job:


- Hellwinger
 

AdvWife

Active member
Oh trust me, there is a lot of self doubt with the rebuild. For heating, we’re probably sticking with propane. We landed a propane generator to replace the rusted out stock generator.
He’s researched the solar system to death. Not sure what size system he’s planning, but We are staying away from lead acid, for sure.
Hopefully so this century we’ll get back into it.
 

Hellwinger

Member
Got 'ya, AdvWife.

We were lucky - the stock Onan 5KW generator is still in good shape. We don't like running it - sorta ruins the ambiance. Not nearly as quiet as one of those red Honda portable generators, which I have seen folks situate some distance away from their camp with an extension cord. That setup would not be able to handle the 4.5KW roof AC unit tho.

Propane sounds like a good idea. Does not smell as much. The exhaust fumes from our gasoline burner seem to permeate the area. I have been wondering if some sort of exhaust stack would be a good idea if it was not too ugly.

I have seen silent methanol fuel cells out there. There are also propane-burning solid-state ceramic fuel cells coming . . .


They are meant to cumulatively charge a lithium cell pile that has sufficient capacity to run the AC overnight.

- Hellwinger
 

Boosted1

New member
Our renovations have begun! Have decked the roof with solar 2100watts, new inverter, mini split air conditioner, & added the wet bath back. Would like to know how many of these rigs were built and a bit more of the history.
 

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Third

Member
Got 'ya, AdvWife.

We were lucky - the stock Onan 5KW generator is still in good shape. We don't like running it - sorta ruins the ambiance. Not nearly as quiet as one of those red Honda portable generators, which I have seen folks situate some distance away from their camp with an extension cord. That setup would not be able to handle the 4.5KW roof AC unit tho.

Propane sounds like a good idea. Does not smell as much. The exhaust fumes from our gasoline burner seem to permeate the area. I have been wondering if some sort of exhaust stack would be a good idea if it was not too ugly.

I have seen silent methanol fuel cells out there. There are also propane-burning solid-state ceramic fuel cells coming . . .


They are meant to cumulatively charge a lithium cell pile that has sufficient capacity to run the AC overnight.

- Hellwinger

You'd hate my 10hp 6kw diesel gen.

You can hear it and hate it both from 50 miles away.

I'm just determined to only carry one fuel...
 

Hellwinger

Member
Our renovations have begun! Have decked the roof with solar 2100watts, new inverter, mini split air conditioner, & added the wet bath back. Would like to know how many of these rigs were built and a bit more of the history.

THAT is some serious mobile solar acreage. What kind of power storage do you carry? Model # of the split AC? Looks like a cool solution!
 

Hellwinger

Member
You'd hate my 10hp 6kw diesel gen.

You can hear it and hate it both from 50 miles away.

I'm just determined to only carry one fuel...

May I suggest for next time, more and smaller Diesel cylinders? ?

Seriously, tho. Make and model? I have not seen many such Diesel generators out there, probably for the reasons you share.

And, ceramic fuel cells can run on Diesel, in theory. I wonder if anyone is working on that...
 

Boosted1

New member
Hellwinger,

We our unit was manufactured 3 months after yours in 1994, but the tag gives an ID# of 1020, so I am guessing you are right and are unit number 15 and we are 20.
Welcome Boosted1!

AdvWife, Country, and now you are the only other Trailblazer owners I know of.

Found my way to ExpedtionPortal via AdvWife, via Google searches that uncovered AdvWife posts to other platforms. ExpeditionPortal seems like a very well done site, so settled here. This Watering Hole blog is a back-burner project, for sure.

I've done a few casual Web searches for things related to our machines, but am no expert on what's out there by any means. I cannot say that this is the only spot to connect with other owners. I just have not found one in my limited experience, so I created one. I'd be very interested to find as many other owners as possible, and learn more about the history of the manufacture of these beasts. As well as swap experiences, tips, and tricks.

If you have not guessed, my approach is to maintain on a budget, repairing/rebuilding (myself) where I can and only gutting and replacing where I have to. That's not to say it is not tempting to gut the whole thing and re-engineer with modern materials and practices. Much can be learned by everyone in any case, so please feel free to share. And take value from whatever I post.

So, Boosted1, how do you know that you have #1020? There's this sticker by the coach door (photo below). Does this mean I have #115 (Mfd. March 1994)? I find it hard to believe 1000 were made. Or even 100. Maybe Revcon changed from a 3-digit to a 4 digit numbering system? If so, that might mean I own the 15th made and you the 20th, perhaps.

View attachment 660046

Anyhow, welcome again, and good luck!

- Hellwinger
 

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