September 10th

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September 10th 2003

	We finalized the paperwork on the trailer this morning. The trailer dealership had it stored out behind their shop for me to take apart whenever I want. So, you know what we did today... <grin> First thing we did was roll out the canopy to see what kind of shape the fabric was in. We couldn't see anything wrong with it. I think it's around 20 feet long and I would guess at about 12 or so feet off the side of the trailer. It also happens to be the color scheme that we had already decided to paint the bus, so I am extremely happy with the deal I made with the dealership.
	First items we stripped out were the stove/oven combination. Nothing to it, 6 screws, a couple of electrical connections and the gas line. We had this out of there in no time. There is some rust under the burner plate, but nothing that can't be cleaned up easily. The oven light came on while we were playing around with the various buttons, so I went out and disconnected the battery to the trailer so we wouldn't have any shorts as we pulled everything out.
	The Dometic refrigerator came out next. It's one of the bigger ones that we have come across while looking at new/used units. If it works as the dealership claims, we will save a lot of money on this item. It took us a little over 1/2 hour to take the fridge out. It was very heavy and jammed in the space so tightly that I had to use a pry bar to get it to slide out enough to get my hands on either side of it. We had to unplug it, remove the drain line and disconnect the gas. Nothing too difficult and it looks like assembly in the bus will be pretty easy. The fridge barely fit out the door and it took a 3 count to get it up and into the trailer with Becky's help.
	I found a gas heater under the sink area. It has a bit of rust here and there, but it looks like it still might work fine. That came out pretty easy with the exception of the outside vents that were rusted in place. The pry bar came in handy again and the only damage was to the side of the trailer and not the heater. Since the hulk of the trailer is going to be dumped after I am done with it the dealer doesn't care what condition it is in when I am done.
	There were quite a few other items that we took from the trailer today. Some of the DC lighting, the tank and battery monitors, vents, covers, etc. Basically we tried to keep each system together. I pulled the thermostat, converter, vents, covers and wiring for the heater assembly so that I wouldn't have to look for any connectors or anything later. We put the doors back on the Dometic refrigerator and plugged it in. I didn't hear any noise at all from the unit... Hopefully that's a good sign. I checked the freezer temperature after about 10 minutes and it did seem to be getting colder, but to be honest I have no idea how well these fridges are supposed to work, so I left it running over night with a bottle of water in the freezer. I'll check it tomorrow to see if it's cold or even beginning to freeze. The gas check will have to wait until I get to it.