7'*18' V-Nose Cargo Trailer Toy Hauler Conversion

[BigDave_185]

Looks good.


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[flboy]

Ok.. got the glue drying in the exact place for the standoff blocks. I will put a self tapping screw in later to make sure it stays after the glue dries. In any case, a rear egress from the bed area is something I have been meaning to do for a while. I can leave the ramp door latches open and put the locks in the catches to render them unusable while camping and then the door stays locked from the inside and can be opened and pushed out from inside if I had a fire or etc. up front. I have an emergency window over dinette, but that was there in the beginning in case the door was barricaded or etc.. Now I have three ways out and I can get out quickly from in bed. There is one of these on each side of the door.






I still need to put Jam nuts on my turnbuckles. Just waiting for a good time to go to the hardware store. Fl. issued a stay at home order on Friday and I am trying to be a good citizen and obey the best I can under the circumstances. I'll stop by when I am already out for the necessities.

Also, you can see the Magnetic Reed switch in this picture which turns off the bed winch when the bed has reached the upper limit.






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[flboy]

Can tell I cannot go anywhere. Had some extra 1 inch angle stock so I put drip edges over all of my windows. No leaks yet, but this is just an added layer of protection and will be the first line against the water coming off the roof.

Easy install with Dicor tape and some self tapping screws.











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[featherliteCT1]

Flboy,

I always enjoy reading and learning from your build.

I was looking at how you installed your refrigerator and the fact that you also installed a 120v fan to help dissipate heat. Where and how does air draw in and then exhaust out of the the space around your refrigerator?

I see how your air conditioner exhausts out the side wall and draws air in through the roof vent.
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=65498&start=240

However, I did not see how the refrigerator is vented. Do you just exhaust the heat into your living space rather than exhausting outside?

Thanks for your help!

[flboy]

Hi. Thanks.

I never installed the vent fan for the fridge and if I was venting it outside, it would also have to pull in outside air to replace, so at the end of the day it is a zero sum game except for compressor heat. The fridge door opens, cold air into trailer, then fridge pulls heat out of air when door closes and puts it back into the trailer.

After using the trailer and fridge for a while, it became clear to me that the fridge, which uses less than 50 watts when running and cools through it cover, does not get warm or work inefficiently. It really does not need any more air circulating than it gets by convection. Really, when you think about it.. your house fridge is doing the same thing.. no different.



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[featherliteCT1]

Good to know, thanks for the explanation.

I bought an Artic Air 120v refrigerator, 1.1 cu ft, from Walmart for $120, and am “bench testing it” in my garage with a 700 watt pure sine wave invertor. In 70 degree ambient temperature, loaded full with warm items, it surges at startup drawing 30 amp for a second, then draws about 6 AH, until it reaches 40 degrees, and then idles along drawing .6 AH. The refrigerator dissipates heat through the top and side walls.

I am concerned about how the refrigerator will work inside the trailer when it is 90 degrees inside the trailer as I travel. Sometimes the trailer will get up to 100 degrees inside the trailer if it is in full sun.

I saw a portable Sundanzer refrigerator, compressor style, 1.1 cu ft, where the published specs said that the refrigerator will draw 6.5 AH, 14AH and 29AH at 70 degrees, 90 degrees, and 110 degrees, respectively. So the AH’s double, then quadruple as the temperature rises to 90 and 110 degrees.

What has your experience been?

[flboy]

That makes sense with a hotter environment that the fridge will have to work harder and use more power, but that would be the same for any fridge regardless. In that case where the ambient temp of the refrigerator environment is hotter venting it outside is not going to significantly help. I qualify that with ...... If the trailer is insulated well and has good airflow from outside, the inside should not get hotter than the outside ambient by more than a few degrees if any. You may want to work on that if yours is a solar oven.

Do you travel with the top vent open and crack a window or two to pull through air? I know out west in the summer the air might be 100F.

[hankaye]

flboy, Howdy;

Ya it will be that hot Starting Next Month or even as early as the last week
of this month down here. Already been in the 80s once 2 days ago. BUT, ...
it's a dry heat. Right now we are in 5% to 25% humidity, and the winds are
pickin' up justa bit. Up where McD is it will be ??? Does it ever get that hot up there???

hank

[flboy]

Yes... summer will be upon us soon! Eveything seems to work harder at the extremes.. hot or cold. Stay cool Hank!

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[hankaye]

flboy, Howdy;

Thanks, I be , .

hank

[John61CT]

Good ventilation of the condenser/electronics "hotspot" area of the fridge is critical for reliability and efficiency.

Especially true as ambient temps rise.

A good design for airflow is to place the outward venting where it will expel the fridge waste heat not letting it build up in the living space.

Also ideally with cooking smoke, any cooking / fuel and battery fumes.

CFM throughput needs to be increased as interior temps rise higher than outside ambient, and that requires better energy inputs.

There does need to be some ventilation at all times if there is any humidity present, and certainly while the space is occupied by any mammals.

[flboy]

Don't disagree that ventilation is important to a compressor fridge.. would say that it doesn't matter where you dump it however depending on needs and convenience. Frankly, not enough additional heat from fridge to worry about with an AC in operation or windows open. Remember, it is only cooling to replace loss to the environment it is dumping to. In the winter and with CTC all buttoned up, it may be a benefit. There is the theoretical side to everything and useful in design; however, for everything in system design there are costs, benefits, and tradeoffs. What I am saying is that the venting of 1.2cu. Ft. Compressor Fridget ( or my 4.3cu ft for that matter) is a small consideration and if you have a few inches around it for air exchange in its environment, then good enough. I'd also say that its environment should be not hotter than ambient outside temps if CTC is insulated and has good air circulation.

Do you vent your refrigerator at home to the outside? I'd be willing to guess no. Wonder why they don't do that?

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[flboy]

Okay.. have to stay at home, so redeeming the time.


I have scraps in the shed from the build, so I made a small shelf to hold hand soap bottle and a few misc. items over the bathroom sink since there is no real counter space in there. Will mount it under the medicine cabinet after the paint dries. I noticed that when my wife is camping with me... we need more counter space for stuff.


I have another dinette table pedestal leg coming also. I am going to make a removable counter top to put along the ramp door in the rear. Now that the bed goes to the ceiling and I have the ability to walk all around in the area, extra counter space to set things will be useful. When not in use or when the toys are on board, it will stow under the bed where I also keep the portable solar panel. Hopefully get that done next weekend.



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[flboy]

Okay... installed. I think it is a good addition, especially since it was leftover material. Having a few extra places to set things sure makes it better for extended trips.



Goes with the other shelf I built a month or so ago.





Also similar to the shelf I built in the kitchen area. It kinda ties it together. You'd think I'd be done with this build by now.... never done I suppose, but always nice to add little custom improvements. Each little thing is not a necessity and does not take a lot of time individually, but adds up over time to something I did not envision from the start and certainly would not have taken the time to do before I started enjoying the trailer.







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[McDave]

That has got to be the nicest trailer bathroom I've seen for under a million $'s. You are making good use of this time alright. Staying busy helps pass the time and to stay sharp. @ Hank, yeah we live on the severe side if the Rockys. Record high 117f, record low -65f. Luckily we do get that week in May we call Spring. You don't need heat or A/C. Man, is that sweet. The average humidity is 67%. Higher in the summer, less in winter generally.
On the refrigerator issue, there are top of the line domestics that vent condenser and compressor heat to the outside or garage like Subzero and JennAire and you will notice that your grocery stores and butcher shops have the compressors and condensers located in the back room where the loading docks are. The amount of heat the air conditioning units must remove is already huge so dumping refrig. heat elsewhere makes a lot of sense. The reason domestics are not made to dump heat to the outside is mostly for cost and ability to make reefers more consumer friendly and self contained. Household A/C units are sized to take into consideration the heat by-products of appliances and human activities. A well insulated trailer will keep heat in as well as out, so it is possible to have higher inside temps and every compressor cycle adds to the heat. The cumulative nature and the fact that refrigeration is required 24/7 is where some advantage may be realized by venting reefer heat to outside. We know that the current draw is lower as the temp is lower, that alone may be enough reason to vent. Less current also equals less heat produced. Full disclosure, I have my trailer refrigerator set up to vent the compressor and condenser heat to the outside. They are in a vented shaft sealed from the inside and have a passive system where the lower vent brings in cooler air as the upper vent exhausts hot air, the chimney effect, no fans needed, no loss or exchange of inside air. I like to believe it helps and lowers run time but can't really prove it.

McDave