Generic Benroy Foamie in NE Wisco

[Pmullen503]

,....

I'll focus on the pmullen warning of warpage if the interior walls are not PMFd. I'll spend the next couple days organizing the wiring and plywood cleats to be installed then will PMF the interior.

Now that you've assembled the sides and bulkheads there's nothing to worry about. It matters only if you cover one side and let it sit for days. The panel can bow making subsequent assembly more difficult.

 

[Pmullen503]

I'm curious how gluing the fabric to the trailer floor went. I did just the opposite; covered the interior walls and roof first and covered the outside after assembly.

 

[TimC-TNT]

I'm curious how gluing the fabric to the trailer floor went. I did just the opposite; covered the interior walls and roof first and covered the outside after assembly.

Will have to let ya know on that. The flap is just dangling for now. Our intention is to glue it PMF style to the edge and underside of the 2" overhang and secure that with a trim piece that incorporates a drip edge on it. Not sure what we'll use yet. I'm thinking trim made from 1x treated lumber. The floor overhang (2") underside is already coated with black jack roofing tar. I suspect the TBII will not readily adhere to it. Thus the 1x treated to help hold it in place. The trim will have to wait until we have the PMF done on the roof.

Tim

 

[Pmullen503]

I wonder if you could use more black tar to stick it down. Worth a test on some scrap canvas.

 

[TimC-TNT]

I wonder if you could use more black tar to stick it down. Worth a test on some scrap canvas.

Good point. I hadn't thought of that option. It would definitly stick. It'd be messy, but I think it would work better than trying to glue with tbII.

 

[TimC-TNT]

Burying wires for headboard USBs and porch light and its switch. I tried hot glue to "tack" the wires in the channels, but, all that did was melt the foam and make a big mess. I ended up using homemeade 18g wire staples to keep them in the groove and then used PLP to lock them into place. Any suggestions of what to use to fill the void without making too much work. I have GS original, GS window and door. I'm thinking spackle and drywall mud would eventually just shake loose. The channels will be covered with PMF, so...

Porch light switch location

This homemade switch cover will mount on the above block.

Playing around to get a layout for the electrical panel. It will include the items pictured. Not sure this layout will be final. I know the fuse block will require the most room for wires in and out so it might go into a hidden panel behind the rest of these. Also haven't decided on a main battery kill switch location. The pictured location will be behind a cabinet door and have easy access to reach in and power up the TD. I put my kill switch in TD#1 in the galley, but, that has proved to be a pain if I just want to turn on a light to get something out of the cabin or I'm just stopping for a roadside nap and want to turn on the ventilation fans.

Left to right and top to bottom... Anderson Powerpole outlet for battery charger or to power a 12v appliance, 12 space ATC fuse panel with neutral buss, three banger USB/12v/voltmeter, switch to power voltmeter on/off, solar charge controller 10 amp, battery kill switch.

 

[TimC-TNT]

Burying more anchors for shelves and hooks.

 

[ghcoe]

When you are ready to canvas the interior hit me up I can give you some recommendations to make it easier.

For a switch plate I use these https://www.lowes.com/pd/CARLON-1-Gang- ... 1000976020 . Just place it on the wall where you want it, trace around it with a sharpe, hot wire the foam out deep enough for the box, glue in with DAP Latex Caulk. They work great!

For gluing in your hard points I would recommend using DAP Latex Caulk or Gorilla Glue Construction Adhesive. It does not expand like the Great Stuff Does. I use to use Great Stuff a lot, but now I hardly use it at all because of the expansion issue. If I have some big voids and I want to use glue I will use it then. I like to use a bit around door and windows once they are installed. A small squirt will help keep the window/door in place going down bouncy roads.

I usually install the exterior canvas, now, once the body is assembled. I found it much easier to flip the body so I can install the canvas on a flat surface, rather than trying to apply the canvas to a vertical wall. The exception is the end walls though since it is hard to flip the body that way and still be able to work on them. It is also easier to glue the bottom flap without glue running down your hand.

Bottom floor coating is last just before applying the drip edge.

The hatch on my #1 is quite large and it works quite well. It came in at only 25lbs. so it is easy to lift without lift struts. I used flashing on the ends for attachment points and support for the latches and hinge. No other support was needed.

Good luck, George.

 

[TimC-TNT]

Thanks George. I'm going to review your build on the foam hatch before we get too far along.

Still not sure about how we are going to cover the interior. It might be a patchwork of canvas or other material. I get the idea of doing that horizontally but we are too far to have that option at this point.

Tim

 

[ghcoe]

I walk through how I did my interior about half way down this page http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=54099&start=405 .
I walk through how I did the ceiling about 1/3 of the way down here http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=54099&start=600 .

 

[TimC-TNT]

I walk through how I did my interior about half way down this page http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=54099&start=405 .
I walk through how I did the ceiling about 1/3 of the way down here http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=54099&start=600 .

Very clever use of lumber to roll up the excess canvas; and lumber framing to help hold the ceiling canvas. I'll definitely benefit from your experience.

Our ceiling is poly varnished lauan and it is cut, assembled into one piece and pre-finished on the garage floor before installing. Same Fredrick "inside-out" method of ceiling/roof construction that I used on my previous TDs. So, interior walls may still be PMF'd before that ceiling is installed.

Similar to this, but from ceiling out will be lauan, 1 1/2" foam, PMF vs lauan, spars and foam insulation, two layers of lauan and PMF

Thanks George, Tim

 

[ghcoe]

 

[TimC-TNT]

Despite clamping the cleat faces to keep them flush many of them sit proud of the wall. Made a router jig to shave off the uneven bits.

 

[TimC-TNT]

Doing a little work to finish up prepping interior walls for PMF. I think PMF is the way to go. We'll put a good overlap on the floor/wall corner that will help secure the wall. Over that we'll put a trim peice in that corner that will be able to be screwed into the floor as well as the cleat face along the bottom of the wall.

The porch lights will go here, just to the side of the door. I need to bury some cleats in the foam for anchor points. Then finish spackling the walls.

Andy is due for a weekend work session next week. I hope to have a lot of the putzy work complete so we can close in the roof while he is here.

 

[Mr. Lahey]

You're making great progress on this build. Really moving right along. Looks great too!

 

[MickinOz]

I like the look of that porch light.
Where did it come from?

 

[MickinOz]

BTW, I see you to have a Renogy solar charge controller.
I have a Renogy Rover MPPT controller I am about to install.
I chose it because it seemed like a good step up from the extra cheap Ebay specials that no one can even agree really are MPPT.

I read the manual and it says always connect the battery to the charge controller before connecting the solar panel. It says NEVER connect the panel before the battery. Capital letters in NEVER.
So I had a quick google, and your manual says similar on page 7.

I haven't yet found out what happens if you install everything then use an isolating switch to disconnect the battery.
Does that count as connecting the solar panel before connecting the battery?
Despite there being, apparently, some sort of damage potential involved in having the panel connected to the controller without the battery, the manual still recommends fuses on both the panel and battery wires.
So you could, potentially, blow the battery fuse and end up with the panel still connected to the charge controller.
Maybe it's just an initial install thing.

 

[TimC-TNT]

I like the look of that porch light.
Where did it come from?

Andy ordered them from here... https://bestprolighting.com/product/step-deck-light-bpl400-rst-8
They come with a " 12V JC Bi Pin 20W bulb". Not sure what that is. An LED bulb option is $14 extra. Andy found a pack of five LED bulbs on Amazon for around ten bucks. They are built well. Better than most RV lights I've seen.

 

[TimC-TNT]

BTW, I see you to have a Renogy solar charge controller.
I haven't yet found out what happens if you install everything then use an isolating switch to disconnect the battery.
Does that count as connecting the solar panel before connecting the battery?
Despite there being, apparently, some sort of damage potential involved in having the panel connected to the controller without the battery, the manual still recommends fuses on both the panel and battery wires.
So you could, potentially, blow the battery fuse and end up with the panel still connected to the charge controller.
Maybe it's just an initial install thing.

That is a conundrum! I have read that warning. I don't have a kill switch or fuses on my TD's solar sytem. My battery kill switch is downstream of the battery. On Andy's TD I'll be installing a fuse at the panels and just downstream of the charge controller. Something I may have to do to my TD someday.

I have an MPPT on TD#1 and don't really notice a difference in charging. Of course I haven't studied its operation other than installing it. It's supposed to be more efficient. Something about it converts overvoltage capacity to amps? I don't know! Andy's charge controller is a PWM. Supposed to be a good one. I've gone from an $8 cheapie CC to a little bit pricier one to now an Epever 20a. The Epever is the first MPPT I have tried and I guess I'm happy with it even though it takes up a large space compared to the cheaper PWMs.

 

[MickinOz]

I've sent Renogy a message asking for clarity on isolating switches.
Feed back on their website suggests they seem to be in all sorts of diabolical strife. Some due to product quality, some due to lack of service which I got the impression is a Covid virus related thing.
I try not to let bad product reviews worry me too much unless there are a lot of them. A firm may sell thousands of units, but everyone who gets a good one probably doesn't post on the internet.
Their dud unit rate might only be one per thousand, 0.1%, and that will get plastered all over the net, but you aren't going to hear about the 99.9% that are fine.

MPPT controllers are of best use in fairly special circumstances, of which I have some.
If you are desperate for power, a MPPT controller can eke out a little more in the reduced light conditions at the start and end of the day. But it depends on the power curve of your panel.
If you have a panel that is the right voltage for a 12V system, you'll be hard-pressed to notice.

Or, you could have what I have.
I have a brand new 250W panel that was left over when my son's boss changed brands at their solar installation business.
House mounted grid connect solar is huge over here. You can put up to 10 Kw of solar on your roof and get a subsidy for doing so. (Saves building more power stations as the population grows.) Thanks to Tesla and others, now we can also have batteries to use the power generated at night, too.
The boss changed brands and gave the last 4 old panels to his workers.

But - its a house panel. The 250 watts is achieved with about 31V at 8 amps.
I could use a PWM controller, but I'd only get the 8 amps - about 112 watts at 14 volts on the battery.

This is where MPPT is supposed to shine. It is supposed to take the 250 watts at about 31V 8 amps, and turn it into about 224 watts at about 14 V 16 amps.
(Nothing's 100% efficient)
I looked at the myriads of youtube videos of the cheap Ebay MPPT and many were tested, and pulled apart, and proved to be mis-labelled switching regulators, not MPPT at all.
So despite my earlier statement re: not believing everything you see on the net. I looked elsewhere.
Will this work? I'll let you know.