Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Valerie,
I have not really performed all those calculations. That will be one of my future things to do and I am sure others on the forum may be able to jump in with inputs. My need for next week was only to have some sort of 120 V power for a 12v battery charger, lights and maybe a coffee pot.
So the 1400 watts of the Champion I bought would serve that purpose. I fully expect to have to replace it down the road.

Thanks for the inputs... I have one more idea using Mass loaded Vinyl and medium density fiberboard. Will show you the finished product in a few weeks. I scrapped the other box.. sound deadening was great.. but it just did not get enough air.

If this doesn't work well... I may be forced to go the Honda route... although that Champion generator looked nice too!

Been a while since I posted here. Geeting ready for some cmping and made some more additions. I added a Bag Awning and finished my front counter top and cabinet in the V nose. Almost done with this build. Each time I go camping I find new things I want to do to improve. I guess you are never done. '

New Bag Awning Closed Up


Opened Up



New front cabinet and counter top in V-Nose

Nice job, love the kitchen and new awning.

Wi urban camo wrote:Nice job, love the kitchen and new awning.

<== Thanks!


I made a few more improvements tonight (at least I think they are). Nothing Major.. just remounted the 1500W Inverter and DC Supply/Charger on the shelf in the new cabinet. I permanently mounted the microwave on the counter so it does not take up so much of my cabinet space and I made a mount for my TV antenna and a pass through cable jack. I gave my old antenna (rotatable) to a friend who could not afford cable anymore. I bought a new smaller omni-directional antenna that had better reception and stores in the overhead cabinet. It installs in minutes now. In any case.. almost ready for my camping/dual sport event next weekend. Looking forwards to doing some camping in my toy hauler and riding two 125 mile off road loops next Saturday and Sunday with about 100 other riders. Will be fun!. I'll past a few pics of the campsite.

[/URL]

[/URL]


[/URL]

Well... I drilled a hole in the roof tonight and finally installed the Radio Antenna I bought last year. Getting a lot done. All I really have left is to plumb the hot water so I can hang an on demand propane hot water heater on the outside next to the shower box and then install 2 15 gallon fresh water tanks and an on demand 12VDC pump. I am planning on using some dead space in the Vnose up front for the tanks and then hooking them up together.

I have also been thinking about getting a 100W solar panel and mounting it to the roof to keep the deep cycles charged while the trailer is parked in my back yard. The RV Power supply I installed will do that, but I would need to keep it plugged in all the time.

I have bought some mass loaded vinyl and some medium density fiberboard to built a sound enclosure for my 1500W generator.. I want to get that ready for the summer so I can run my A/C at night. With the sound box... you will just hear a purr out of the generator <64db. I don't have $2,000 laying around to buy an quiet Honda... so i am going to build a box to do the same thing and I can stick my cheap generator in there. I camp off the grid in remote areas to ride my dirtbike.. so it should not bother anyone.

Anybody ever used one of these: http://www.harborfreight.com/solar-pane ... 68751.html ? Are they worth the money or a waste of money?

Seems pretty expensive for the 45watts. I got a 100 watt panel through Costco.com and a controller from Amazon for way less than that. Here is what I bought, and they have both worked well for me. They both cost a little more now than what I spent a year ago, but still better than the HF 45 watt.

http://www.costco.com/Grape-Solar-100-W ... 54656.html

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006J ... UTF8&psc=1

Here is a recent post on Solar panels.

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=59420&p=1072808&hilit=flexible+solar+panel#p1072808

Thanks! I appreciate the links.

Loading up for a dirt biking weekend. Just missing the bike. Will throw that in last minute. I built this cargo trailer up specifically for this purpose and it really is perfect for what I use it for.



The cargo!

Had a good weekend camping and riding. I am bad a taking pics.. This was all loaded up for going home. I did decide to get a Solar Battery charge so I can go off the grid and not need the generator for charging the battery . L am ussually out riding all day and the fridge uses some battery capacity, so to make it through the night hours, I'd usually crank up the generator to top off the battery. With solar power, the fridge can run (110W) and draw some of the battery when on and then the collector will charge the battery when the compressor cycles off. It only runs about 25% of the time. Solar Power has become affordable now. Four years ago it would have costed about twice as much

I have ordered a 100W Cell with a 30Amp controller from Renoly. I read up on the types of cell technology and the mono-crystalline is suppose to be the most efficient and only looses 20% capacity over 25 years. I'll probably be pushing up daisies by then. :-). If it works well, I am going to get another 100W Cell and another Deep Cycle battery. I should be able to run everything (fridge, TV, uWave, charging phones, laptops, lights) and only pull out the generator if I need to run the AC on really hot night. I am going to modify the rear door to take a 5000BTU window AC that has a low current start and runs on 640W. I will be able to use my 1500W generator for that and not really every need to use it for charging batteries. The fridge should run on the solar and batteries along with the TV and other small items running via the inverter. We'll see.

The Solar Panel and controller arrived this week. I plan to install it on top of the trailer this weekend. It is a 100W panel. I ordered another yesterday so there will be two. They should fully charge my 125aH battery while running the refrigerator (110W that cycles on about 30% of time) and leave me with enough battery to run it, some lighting and the TV until the sun comes up. Should only need the generator if I want to run the AC. I'll post some pics after the install. I have a Shunt and Ammeter on the way so I can monitor usage during the day.

The side benefit it will keep my deep cycle fully charged while parked. :-)

Other work I plan to do this weekend is cut the hole for the window A/C and install. Also, will get started on the sound box for the generator. I plan to get rid of the "portable" AC as it needs a 3KW generator to start it up. That is ridiculous for a 7000BTU AC. The 5500BTU window unit will be more efficient and I know it runs on my little 1500W Generator. Pics to follow this weekend.

I did not get a lot done today, except I did get a chance to work on the sound box for the generator. I have the inner box completed and the inner box alone makes a huge difference. The fan blows a lot of air and the generator never gets hot. The outer box will go over the box and have a 2 inch gap all around. It will cover the back end of the generator and all the air will be force forward. I bet this generator is less that 54dB when I am done.
I won’t get the chance to install the window AC or the solar panels this weekend. Mother’s Day is tomorrow and I will be busy with that in any case. I should finish the outer box tomorrow. I’ll update the pics.
I am using ½” MDF Board and MuteX Sound Proofing Materiel. I works like a mass loaded vinyl and really deadens sound. The MDF is also good at absorbing sound. Many times better than plywood. Given it is a MDF board, I am spray painting it to seal and I will cover with a good latex paint when all done. This will also allow the generator to set out and run in the rain.

Well, I got the generator cover completed. All I need to do is put a clear coat on the outside to Weather proof the generator.
I tested the sound today and although I have no official meter, I can tell you this generator is probably less that 58db at 10 ft. All you can hear is a small purr. Get 25 feet away and the wind is louder. On a scale of 1 to 10 if the generator is a 10 without the cover, I’s say it is a 3 or 4.

In any case, the generator runs cool. I ran it for 25 minutes and when I removed to cover, the frame and gas tank were still cool. The fan does its job and it runs from the 12VDC output from the generator itself.

In any case, I am really happy with the results this time. I would not bother anyone running this generator in a campsite now.

Next week, I may get the solar panels installed and get the window AC in. We’ll see. I have a 3 day camping and riding trip planned at the end of the month, so I am motivated to get these things done. I will be off the grid and it is summer in Florida. I will use the Air conditioner.

I didn’t get to spend much of today working on my trailer as I intended, but I did make some progress. I got the solar panels mounted on the roof. I didn’t get the wires run and the controller installed, but there is always tomorrow. I used some tracking and bolted it down on the sides so there are 4 bolts going into the frame. The panels bolt into the channels. I didn’t want a bunch of small holes in the roof, besides the fact that I don’t know what I am drilling into below.

I actually have room for another panel on this rack as you can see. We’ll see how these two panels do. If they work well, I may add a third and get a second deep cycle battery so I can store more juice. We’ll see. I hope to get the controller in this week and then cut the opening in the ramp for the Window AC next weekend. I have a long weekend and it will be my last chance to finish up these mods before my trip.