dustboy's 6 x 12 conversion

[Glenlivet]

Good job so far on that CT conversion!

[hankaye]

dustboy, Howdy;

Ok, I see it now, thought you may have purchased a white
colored tank and the sunlight was reflecting from it.


hank

[dustboy]

Ok, I let the inverter dry out for a week, it's still shorted. Any recommendos on what to replace it with? I will most likely just use it for charging gadget batteries, or the laptop for watching a movie. Or a coffee grinder, if we're really glamping it.

[Rainier70]

If you want to try again, then put the inverter in a bag of rice and let it sit for at least 3 days.

[hankaye]

dustboy Howdy;

I don't catch everything, I missed or it just didn't register about
your inverter. Emergency reclamation of electronics can be as simple
as removing the cover and using a hairdrier on a medium setting to
circulate warm dry air over all the surfaces and while you are in there
check to see if anything looks scorched/brunt/smoke checked, if so
go buy another.
When we wrote the manual for the Nimitz after the big flight deck
accident back in the early 80's we used the ships sauna and oscillating
fans to dry out the aircraft avionics ... same principle, just a different
scale. Rice is great also, ... we just didn't have a few tons at the time.

hank

[dustboy]

Good advice all, but it has been warm and dry here and it's been a whole week since it got wet...if it wasn't dry by now, it ain't gonna get any dryer.

Anyway, it was a cheap Radio Shack inverter that I bought 5 years ago...I'm lucky it lasted this long! Maybe I just need an excuse to get a better one

So, I can get a basic 2000 watt inverter for the same price as a 400 watt pure sine wave...Not that I need all that power but someday I might want to plug in a chop saw at a job site. Otherwise it will probably only ever charge my laptop or camera battery. I understand the benefits of pure sine vs. modified sine. I reckon my group 24DC battery might not make enough current for a big inverter anyhow?

[dustboy]

Ooohhkay, had a nice boondocking weekend, but we have learned that the Poly tubing and hot water are NOT compatible...was washing dishes this weekend when I heard a POP and found water spraying all over inside the plumbing/electrical cabinet. No other damage, but the water was hot enough to make a soft spot in the tubing just past the barb fitting on the hot side.. had to crimp off the tubing and go without hot water.

I had two other leaks with this tubing, related to stress where it met a barb fitting. So I can strongly recommend not using this stuff!! Looks like I'll need to put in PEX where I have hot water, and anywhere else that seems to leak.

Also on this camping trip, the galley faucet started dripping, on the cold side. The knob had to be cranked way down to stop the drips. It's barely a year old and has only been used on a handful of trips.

I have a long list of to-dos, in no particular priority:
1. Fix hot water plumbing
1.5 Put electrical components inside an enclosure
2. Add outdoor shower fixture
2.5 Add another water tank?
3. Add spare tire mount
4. Replace inverter
5. Reverse hinging of under-bed hatch doors
6. Add awning (or just an EZ-UP? Can be moved with the sun)
7. Add portapotty with an enclosure?
8. Replace Coleman stove with cooktop
..Then it will be all done (HA! YEAH RIGHT!)

[hankaye]

dustboy, Howdy;

Impressive list of fixin'-tos.
Lookin' forward to a peak at the results.

hank

[dustboy]

I'm thinking about moving the galley outside. It would let us push the bed a couple feet back toward the rear door, and frees space up front for a small countertop for wet weather cooking and morning coffee.

Also we have a problem when the baby takes two long naps a day, and during that time we can't cook or clean dishes without waking her (nor can we get at the beer once the kids go to bed!).

It could hang on the wall over the fender, and swing down for use. A bag awning above it could complete the outdoor "kitchen". Not sure where the cooler would live.

Here's a quick sketchup of what I'm talking' bout.

galley up.jpg (72.35 KiB) Viewed 3294 times

galley down.jpg (70.98 KiB) Viewed 3294 times

[dustboy]

Oh yeah, and I replaced the inverter, and ran PEX where I had the hot water leak. Also built an enclosure to keep the electronics dry in case of another leak. Pics to come.

[dustboy]

Wellllll...Haven't seen the ol' UPS man for a while so I spent a little time on eBay. Picked up a used 3-burner slide-in cooktop to replace the cheezy Coleman stove/grill. And, since I've been thinking about trading the cooler for a mini-fridge (and my newer 400w inverter apparently wasn't up to the task), I scored a Xantrex 1000w inverter for just $40. I have a mini-fridge in my office at work that would be very happy spending its weekends riding along with us.

Aaaand, I got to thinkin' how it would be so nice to brew a cup of joe in the morning without getting all dressed up, I think the galley might be moving inside. Guess that means the trailer would be more permanently an RV rather than a hauler. That's fine because I'd rather hire a delivery crew to move my product anyway.

Probably going to end up with a few upgrades to the batteries and solar charging system due to the fridge, but I think we'll come out ahead of a comparable 12V refrigerator.

[dustboy]

Posted this in the electrical section as well. Picked up a Xantrex 1000w inverter for dirt cheap, so now I can run my mini fridge on battery power. Started a trial run of the system this afternoon, tomorrow I should know how well the system supports the little power hog of a refrigerator.





The fridge is a tall one that just fits under a standard countertop. My wife has a smaller mini fridge at work that we discussed trading, but as a family of four we tend to travel with a lot of food. I'm pretty happy with a hot dog and some beans, but she needs to have at least three different kinds of kale. I guess I'll have her to thank when I live to 100.

[dustboy]

MOAR POWER!!
This oughta get us going, picked up a 190 watt solar panel on CL, and this 20A Tracer MPPT charge controller.





If you've been following along, you've seen why I know that electronics and water don't mix (e.g. don't install your water system and inverter in the same box), so I'll be finding a better home for the charge controller before I pressurize the water system again...At least it's mounted now and I can see how it works.

Where should I mount the charge controller? I'd put it in its own enclosure, but I'm worried that it will get hot. The other option I can see is inside the trailer, but when the trailer is in cargo mode it might get bumped.

[hankaye]

dustboy, Howdy;

If you are going to be making this a mostly RV type now instead of a convertible,
why not place it inside and mount it on the cabinetry or one of the walls in your
new 'kitchen area'?

hank

Ps. How's Clark taking the reduced work load now that he isn't required to
re-locate the CT's innards?

[MtnDon]

IMO, you should place the CC where it can be seen easily if you are the type of person who wants to know what is happening. Ventilation can be important for keeping the electronics alive and well. Then you will have to watch the wires to the battery, distance and gauge to make sure they can carry the charge current without too high of a wire voltage drop.