Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

by **Robbie** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 11:42 am

I have thought about that a little bit. I found some small interior LED's on Amazon that are listed for accent lights for boats and airplanes that are super cheap. I was thinking of putting 2 or 3 in there so you can have some light to see what your doing inside since your head will block the dome light. Here is the link to the lights I was thinking of using...

http://www.amazon.com/Convenience-Airpl ... sbs_auto35

by **absolutsnwbrdr** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 1:07 pm

Its coming along Robbie! Nice idea with the plexiglass.

Those LEDs from Amazon are similar to the ones I picked up for my new build.

If there is one thing I will suggest about LED's, it would be to try and find ones that are "warm white", which is very similar to a typical incandescent light bulb.

Heres a chart showing a comparison....

My warm white LED's came in on Friday and I can't wait to have a trailer to put them in. I ordered 4 of these (AM-xx-x6) for my interior lighting...

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/ ... s%2Fam.htm

by **Robbie** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 1:16 pm

Zach did you have to order one of their power supplies to run those LED lights or do you just run it straight off the fuse block? I think I may order the warm white, black housing, rectangular ones for my cabinet lights.

by **absolutsnwbrdr** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 1:26 pm

Those are 12v so you can just run them straight from your fuse block and through a switch.

If you're looking at that website, you should see a little 12V icon in the same row as the available colors. Their site is a little strange to navigate at first.

by **Robbie** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 1:39 pm

Ya it took me a minute to understand where everything was. After some more looking around I'm thinking of running 4 of these small LED puck lights and mounting them recessed with the aluminum trim ring. They put out a 120 degree pattern so 4 of them spaced out in a square should provide pretty even light, look good, and be a good power saver.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/ ... rl-smd.htm

What do you think?

by **absolutsnwbrdr** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 1:53 pm

Robbie wrote:After some more looking around I'm thinking...

I've found myself saying that same thing a few times!

Those recessed fixtures are a little more expensive, but they will definitely look sweet!

:thumbsup:

by **Robbie** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 1:57 pm

Ha ha ya I'm just trying to decide if that extra cost is going to be worth it. The further along I get in this build the less "Budget Benroy" it becomes. :lol:

In fact, a name change is in order.... I was originally intending on a super simple electrical setup but now that its coming together I just want to get the best stuff to make it as nice as possible. Hmmm. What to do? :roll:

by **kinto** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 5:28 pm

the exact same thing happened to me...

first i thought, 'bah, we've always camped without electric...'
then it was, 'well, maybe just an outlet or two...'
which led to, 'eh, if i'm doing electric at all might as well have lights, a fan, exterior lights, a tv, microwave, a/c etc etc...'
i'm *still* NOT putting in a 12v system though! :lol:

looking great robbie! :applause:

kent

by **mike93lx** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 7:46 pm

Robbie wrote:Thanks! They turned out a lot better than I was anticipating! I just need to get the ball latches installed and get some sort of stay to keep the doors open so we don't have to hold it on our heads while were getting in there.

The trailer's looking great! I'm planning a benroy right now that I'm hoping my wife will get involved in the construction of.

A simple way to hold the doors up may be to glue some small neodymium magnets on the roof where the knobs touch.

by **Robbie** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 8:12 am

Thanks Mike that's not a bad idea! I'm definitely going to look into that! Maybe I can find some that are strong enough to glue on the inside of the roof so the door just sticks there with nothing visible at all!

by **GuyllFyre** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 8:15 am

Robbie wrote:Thanks Mike that's not a bad idea! I'm definitely going to look into that! Maybe I can find some that are strong enough to glues on the inside of the roof so the door just sticks there with nothing visible at all!

Rare earth magnets will do that. Friends of mine use them to hold their license plate to the front of their car from behind the plastic bumper cover so should be more than enough for the cabinet doors.

Like these:
http://applied-magnets.amazonwebstore.c ... 2APPAM.htm

by **Moho** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 8:43 am

Here is where I get Neodymium (rare earth) Magnets for guitar repair work. Grade N45 which is a much better gauss rating than most you will find elsewhere. Keep in mind at rating of N45 a larger magnet can crush your fingers if put near another one.

http://unitednuclear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=70_79

by **Robbie** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 9:01 am

We use some small rare earth magnets on our white boards here at work. I'm gonna take one home and see how it works with the knobs on the doors. I got the door catches all hooked up yesterday and they work great! Easy to open but they will stay closed while being towed. I also ordered a bunch of the electrical components this morning! I got the dome light, 2 porch lights, 2 DC outlets, porch light switch, 100 ft. of 16 ga. speaker wire, and the storage outlet. I can't wait for them all to get in and start wiring this thing up!

Quick question about wiring... I will have a battery in the tongue box for the 12v DC system and then will just have a 15 amp inlet with a surge strip for the AC system. My question is, can I use a Battery Tender Junior to keep the 12v battery charged while plugged into shore power or a generator so I can use all the 12v outlets, lights, etc.?

I was looking at the Junior and the Plus and was wondering if anyone on here has used the junior to maintain a full charge on their battery while connected to an AC power source.

by **absolutsnwbrdr** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 9:50 am

Robbie wrote:Quick question about wiring... I will have a battery in the tongue box for the 12v DC system and then will just have a 15 amp inlet with a surge strip for the AC system. My question is, can I use a Battery Tender Junior to keep the 12v battery charged while plugged into shore power or a generator so I can use all the 12v outlets, lights, etc.?

I was looking at the Junior and the Plus and was wondering if anyone on here has used the junior to maintain a full charge on their battery while connected to an AC power source.

Thats exactly what I've done for the past two years, but with the Waterproof 12V5A Battery Tender. I don't even have a battery on-board my trailer.

The issue with the JR. and the "Plus" is that they are both very low current (.75A and 1.25A). I don't think that will even be enough to power the roof fan. My Fantastic Fan 4000 draws 3A on high. Probably about 1A on low.

I really, really wouldn't suggest anything less than the 5A model. I got mine here....

http://www.batterymart.com/p-battery-te ... arger.html

Sorry I keep trying to help you spend more money :oops:

but I think you'll be very very disappointed by the smaller Battery Tenders, especially if you plan on using them as a power converter when hooked to shore power. They will also take much longer to charge a drained battery.

by **Robbie** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 9:54 am

Thanks Zach! I'd rather spend a little bit extra now rather than buying something that won't work and having to buy another one down the road. Besides, its only a couple bucks more than the Plus. I saw on their site they have a 12v battery, the Odyssey PC625, with a rating of "16 Ah @ 10hr rate". Does this mean the battery can handle 16 Amps of output continuously for 10 hours before going "dead"?

And I ended up going with a standard Progressive Dynamics single bulb dome light. I figure since I have all winter I can upgrade the bulb to LED eventually but for 5 bucks I couldn't pass it up!

Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Robbie's Benroy build- Now For Sale...

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