Removing the generator compartment

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nessab190
Weekend Camper
Posts: 21
Joined: Tue Oct 22, 2019 6:26 pm
B190 Year: 1996

Removing the generator compartment

Post by nessab190 »

Has anyone cut away the generator compartment or part of it? I'm removing the generator completely and I'd love to shrink that box down by about half. Any pics? Thanks
calimike
Weekend Camper
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Oct 01, 2018 9:03 pm

Re: Removing the generator compartment

Post by calimike »

are you reselling the genny?
nessab190
Weekend Camper
Posts: 21
Joined: Tue Oct 22, 2019 6:26 pm
B190 Year: 1996

Re: Removing the generator compartment

Post by nessab190 »

Sure! I also have a water heater, propane furnace, grey water tanks, stove, and some other parts 😊
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skater
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Posts: 2569
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2007 1:00 am
B190 Year: 1991
WBCCI: 13270
Location: Annapolis, MD

Re: Removing the generator compartment

Post by skater »

I don't think anyone has done this.
1991 Airstream B190 - bought, 2005; sold, 2011; bought 2017
1995 Airstream Excella 30' trailer

WBCCI #13270, Washington, DC Unit
nessab190
Weekend Camper
Posts: 21
Joined: Tue Oct 22, 2019 6:26 pm
B190 Year: 1996

Re: Removing the generator compartment

Post by nessab190 »

Cool. I'll post pictures to show the process then!!
nessab190
Weekend Camper
Posts: 21
Joined: Tue Oct 22, 2019 6:26 pm
B190 Year: 1996

Re: Removing the generator compartment

Post by nessab190 »

So this was easier than I had anticipated thankfully.

I started by removing the generator door which took drilling out the rivets in the aluminum frame above the door, there were about 5 or 6 of them. Then once the door was off, I drilled out all of the remaining rivets in the door trim.

After that, I went inside removed all of the electrical boxes which were just screwed on, removed wiring, etc.

I tried prying the box up first and just seeing if it would come out but it turns out there are 2 rivets underneath the entire box (I'll address those more below) which held the floor of the genny box down.

All the remaining rivets I could access from inside the van I drilled out as well. This included the rivets under the tape by the floor. They are a bit hidden, but pulling the really old duct tape up allowed me to get at them. All of them drilled right out and were easy to get to except for 2 which I couldn't access from the inside. On the outside of the van at the bottom of the frame for the Genny door and just inside the compartment, you can peel back the insulation and get at the remaining 2 rivets, one on each side. I had to drill these out from the back of the rivet and then use a punch to drive them out as the head of the rivet was in the inside of the van and I was drilling from the outside. Once all of these rivets were off, I removed the back of the box (1 piece of metal) and the top 3 sides which are all one piece of metal.

The hardest part for me came next. I couldn't figure out where the box was attached to the floor, it seemed like it should be free, I couldn't see any rivets etc, but it would just not come up. I started prying with a piece of plastic slid underneath my prybar to protect the floor and all of a sudden a rivet popped. There were 2 of them on the long edge farthest away from the door of the compartment. Once those 2 were popped, the bottom slid right out!

That was all for the removal of the compartment. I sealed the hole with wood and will insulate it with foam, and screwed the compartment cover back on with metal screws. After that the last step was to rip out the wiring and seal the gas line which I did with a 1/4 in barb fitting and an end cap.

Hopefully this helps someone!
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