Simple and genius at the same time!

thanks!

r.y.

When you drill through the door to install the bolt, mark the hole location on each side, and drill each side separately, from the out side going in.? You'll get a much straighter hole that way than trying to drill straight though both sides from one direction.? ?That's assuming you don't have a drill press or drill guide to use.

We bought our new Aliner Classic in 2012 and after short time noticed the wood screws backing off or falling off altogether.?

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Then there was the the trip home from Floida were westayed the night campground with winter temperatures dipping into the lower teens. We pulled into a drive through site, hurried to get the panels up but opening the door we found the microwave laying on the floor with the cabinet that holds it collapsed. We jurry rigged the cabinet back together strong enough to get us home the next day. I then rebuilt the microwave cabinet replacing every spot that had been held together with wood screws now held together with a nut, bolt and locking washer. I also made a new mounting for the microwave to relace junk Aliner came up with.?

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The main reason for the microwave cabinet falling apart? was probably the trailer tires being out of balance causing vibration. I can't say this enough... HAVE YOUR TIRES BALANCED WHEN EVER YOU HAVE YOUR PRESENT TIRES REPLACED AT A TIRE DEALER OR YOU BUY A USED ALINER!!!? Also if you have your trailer tires replaced, NEVER, EVER alow them to use the axle as a jacking point as too much pressure can bend the axle costing around $3000. The last time I hade my Aliner tires replaced (Goodyear Endurance - made in the USA)I went to a Discount TIre outlet and talked to the manager informing him that the axle was not the jacking point and the proper location WAS ON THE TRALER MAIN FRAME that with the weight of the trailer. This Discount Tire has a waiting room that overlooks the service area and just waited for the inevitable. Two employees came out with a mobil jack and placed it right on the axle. I ran out and told them the alex was not the jacking point, that instead it was the main frame and if they bend the axle it was a $3000 rep? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

On Tue, Apr 22, 2025 at 06:35 AM, Ramon Yanez wrote:

Thanks for the advise. Would you have a picture of the plastic attached to the door that you could share with the email ?

sounds good, but I’m having a bit of an issue imagining what it looks like. R. Y.

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Thanks for the advise. Would you have a picture of the plastic attached to the door that you could share with the email ?

sounds good, but I’m having a bit of an issue imagining what it looks like. R. Y.

I’ll probably add a lock to the inside of the door to close it. Thanks for the advise.

On Mon, Apr 21, 2025 at 01:37 PM, Jim wrote:

You might be able to correct this with an inside wind protection device aka adjustable shower rod or a cargo bar from Harbor Freight.? This will force the two side A-panels outward towards the top. That thin section above the door just below the roof lifting handle is the weakest part of any a-frame trailer.

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You might be able to correct this with an inside wind protection device aka adjustable shower rod or a cargo bar from Harbor Freight.? This will force the two side A-panels outward towards the top. That thin section above the door just below the roof lifting handle is the weakest part of any a-frame trailer.

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My Chalet has the same issue.? I bolted an oblong piece of plastic to the inside of the door, and I twist it to overlap the door frame and pull it shut.

Hello,

2004 Aliner Expedition, the top section of the door does not set flush , even when the door is locked. Could the hinges be sprung? I’ve placed a straight edge on the door, it is not warped. The wall is not warped, either. Any fix?thanks!

Just to relate my experience, I used a Mr heater Buddy for two seasons in Quartzsite, and it did leave condensation if the outside temperatures were low enough.? I never ran it through the night just to take the chill off in the evening & in the morning.?

I did borrow a wave 3 from a friend for about a week. Her unit seemed a little less effective then the buddy heater over the short time I used it. Since then I have installed a diesel heater, which I do not run all night.? Here in the cold of Montana, I have had condensation just from my breathing and the moisture from my CPAP condensing on the dormer aluminum above my bed.?

I started collecting all the A-frame trailer owner's manuals a dozen years ago.? As far as I know I have all of the Chalet and Aliner owner's manuals.? I also have the Forest River (Flagstaff and Rockwood) owner's manuals.? There is no place to post all of them so I started a Facebook group for the purpose of one public arena for posting all of these and the various articles I have written over the years related to A-frame trailers.? I will give the link below.? If someone has a better idea of a place to post all of these for public access, let me know.? For now the best and only place is below.? I have also collected all the historical sales brochures for Aliner and Chalet A-frame trailers and temporarily placed them in another public forum.? Perhaps someone has an idea of where these should be posted publicly. For now the below provides the links to where these can be found:

Owner's Manuals: ?

Historic and current sales brochures: ?

They have used gas springs with forces up to 135 pounds (or maybe more).? As the spring compresses the forces rise.? ?I collect pictures people post showing the damage these high forces cause to the areas where they are connected for both the dormers and the roof panels.? If you have a 2015 with dormers you may want to watch them because that year they installed the gas springs in reverse.

Using springs of the lowest force possible and with the best length and alignment should be the safest.? An owner might say why would anyone use 135-pound springs when perhaps 40-pound springs might take care of the needed assistance if the springs were installed optimally?

I have never seen windows fog up and even with the fan speed at perhaps level 3 of 13 the alarm has sounded two or three times when using the three-burner stove to make pancakes across two of the rear burners.? Those stoves are apparently far more problematic, however, we are awake when doing this cooking.? The high altitude areas are usually rather dry, but I do see some condensation occur on the exposed aluminum as you also note.? I don't recall the moisture ever being a significant problem.? I probably vent at two or three times the open window area than the minimum recommended when using the catalytic heater.? I open the tiny window in the bathroom, the tiny window in the door, and crack open the center ceiling vent about an inch.? This is far more venting that recommended.? But the former catalytic heater (was on the floor) faced the sleeping area and raised the interior temperature about 25 degrees.? This makes a noticeable difference when it is 20 degrees outside (or less) at Mammoth Lakes, Toulumne Meadows (of Yosemite), Yellowstone in September, etc. where it gets very COLD at night.

I understand that it has illegal to use a compression fitting for the RV propane lines due to the vibrations, etc. when traveling that could allow for leakage to occur.

I fully agree with your safety concerns.? My father was so worried when I used a catalytic heater in his RV decades ago (parking lot of Bachelor Butte Ski area).? ?Years later he bought an Olympic Wave catalytic heater and has it installed in the entryway.??

Perhaps the only people who should camp off grid in cold climates with an RV and plan to use a catalytic heater should first ask around among their friends as to whether they are mentally competent and responsible enough to use such a heater.? You must follow the safety procedures in the owner's manual and open low and high windows (and/or vents).? You must also have a CO monitor as per the manual (and requoted in the article on how I installed it).

So I am not encouraging everyone to run out and get one of these.? There are a lot of people in the A-frame community who likely should NEVER think of operating such a heater.? But guess what, when a breeze is blowing toward the street side wall it can blow the CO gas from the refrigerator into the RV is it does not have a fan system operating while the propane refrigerator is in the cooling mode.? This has been known to happen and set off a CO alarm for one owner of an Aliner.

People should likely not cook inside the Aliner if there is no exhaust fan operating.? My Aliner did not come with such a fan.? Even with the (added 13-speed) fan going the alarm has on several occasions triggered with the fan on a lower setting exhausting the inside air.? There are many dangers associated with our Aliners, and other AFTs.??

So please don't rush out and get a catalytic heater is you don't feel comfortable with your ability to remember to always follow the owner's manual and provide at least the minimum recommended venting.? I always use about twice what is recommended and also my Aliner leaks a LOT of air everywhere.

The article was only written for those who are in my same situation, wanted one of these Olympian heaters for off-grid camping in cold climates, responsible with venting, and just needed to know how to plumb it into the existing propane system.

I would recommend people buy a small $18 propane/natural gas leak detector.? After bubble testing everything I then used it to determine absolutely no leakage is occurring.? I plan to always take it along to check for any leakage when installing the heater for a camping trip.

Two days ago I decided to check my entire Natural gas system in my home.? Everything inside and out was fine with no detected leaks anywhere except for one area where I had 15 years ago put an elbow brass connector to the outlet port for the dryer.? The leak detector when on the highest sensitivity position alarmed.? I could not find any bubbles with a soap test.

Way back then I used white teflon tape and it apparently degraded.? You could not smell any propane or detect any bubbles.? I removed the part, used the yellow teflon tape and a thin layer of yellow sealant, put everything back together and no leakage was detected anymore.? The leak had to be very minor around that tiny brass elbow fitting, however, with the leak detector I could find it and replace the white teflon with the yellow teflon and sealant used for propane and natural gas.

I camp in very high altitude off-grid locations in Northern California, and it gets COLD at night.? I camp at Tahoe, Sierra Buttes, Lassen, Yosemite, Grayeagle, etc.? It is very helpful to have some form of heating that does not drain the battery when I camp at these types of places for one to two weeks at a stretch.

Here is a picture of the plumbing someone did for one of these heaters to tap into the propane system.? I don't think he tested for leaks with a leak detector or used the proper teflon tape and yellow sealant.? You can see the corrosion that the leakage is causing.?