maiden voyage comlete

[nubwon]

Well we were finally able to take the teardrop out for it's maiden voyage. We just went about 30 miles from home for an overnighter and most things went very well. One small problem was the A/C not cooling quite like it should have. At first I thought it wasn't getting enough air flow over the evaperator coils, causing too much head pressure and shutting off the compressor. After checking it closer using a thermometer laying on the mattress, just touching the return air grill. It was infact shutting off at the set temp of 66 degrees. Puting the thermometer on the shelf above our heads, it wasn't getting any colder than about 78 degrees when the compressor was shutting off. I think i need to put some kind of deflector in to prevent the cold air from being sucked back into the return air so fast. I'll work on something to try to get it working better.

We woke up this morning to the drizzly drips, a slow light rain. So after getting coffee and seeing the weather wasn't going to improve, we just threw everything in the bed of the truck and headed home. While coming home, we went through several bouts of good hard rain, and the only leak i can find is a spot at the hatch hinge. I'm using the hurricane hinge so that kind of surprised me. I think I'll re-caulk the top part of the hinge and see if that stops it.

All in all I got to spend some quality , alone time with Connie, tried everything out, including the Zodie shower and the inclosure we had gotten, which worked great I think. So except for 2 minor problems I think the innaugural outing went quite well....

Now for the pics:
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P.S. Thanks for the help editing Madjack

[madjack]

...Glad your trip worked out...the small problems are just "tweaking" that you will get figured out....have you thought about a small fan to help circulate the air around the cabin...also, with the small volume of space inna tear, you might wanna try opening a window or vent to "lose" some of that cold air and give the AC a longer cycle time...a 5000btu AC is 4 r 5 times more than is needed, so losing some of that capacity, will not only, not hurt but can actually help it to cool better...a leaking hurricane hinge can be hard to find the specific place it is leaking at...did it leak under the front or the ends or thru the hinge...how did the leak manifest itself....
madjack

[rooster]

Nice tear, I liked your camp setup, especially the screen around the door. It looks like its made out of PVC, am I correct?

Jim,

[PapaJ]

Awesome pictures!!!
I cannot wait until I can post a similar message.

Congratulations!

[nubwon]

Thanks guys.....Jack, the air conditioner was cycling quite a bit, thats why i thought it was restricted air flow around the condensor coil. But checking with a thermometer, it kicks off before all the inside is cool. I have the a/c down at the foot of the bed. The mattress covers about 2 inches of the bottom of the front area, where the cool air intake is. Since putting the thermometer there and getting a 66 degree reading when the compressor drops out, I'm thinking i need to extend the discharge duct some more. Its like its sucking in the cold air before it can get into the area good. I'll play with it this wwek and see if I can do something there.

I didn't find the leak until we got home, but it is about in the center of the hatch looking from side to side. It is just a small single line of water running from the hinge all the way down the hatch in the closed position to where it meets the floor in the rear of the trailer. I think it may be coming under the top part of the hinge where its mounted to the tear body. I'm going to to re caulk the top part of the hinge and see what that does.

Yes Jim I made the frame out of PVC. Normally I would wrap the torp on around to completely enclose it, but behind the trailer was nothing but thick brush, we were the only ones at the campground and i thought I would need the other tarp for the quick up to block the afternoon sun. I just made some hangers on the top and used stakes to hold the bottom of the tarp down, It worked out really well.

PapaJ, you keep on workin on it, and before you know it, you too will be doing a shakedown trip......keep it up, and if you need any info, you know there is plenty here to be had. This is a great bunch of guys and gals for sharing ideas and anything else you may need...NUB....

[sid]

Sweet.... very sweet.... Great job!!

[rubyede]

Congratulations!! Good job. Nice tear,Nice setup and Nice pictures.Sounds like you will be able to handle the small problems. Ed & Ruby

[mikeschn]

P.S. Thanks for the help editing Madjack

I notice you didn't use your fourm album for those pics. Did it not work for you?

Mike...

[nubwon]

Mike, To be honest, I've never thought much about starting my personal album. I'v always had a photo bucket account, and just use it, I guess i need to check into it and see if i can start one here....... thanks......Terry

[Mary K]

I'm jellous Just kidding...

That's a sweet TD!!

Mk

[stjohn]

I'm not finshed w/ our yet but we did sneak out there and took a knap , I had same problemm w/ the ac I think to much of a cold blst in a small area I opened the window about 4" we still froze are butts off but it did not cycle as much if you come up w/ a better fix please let me know

Thanks Mike

[nubwon]

Thanks Mary, we really enjoyed our first outing. I was afraid Connie wasn't going to like it because she has gotten use to our big trailer, with all the conveniences of home, but she really had a good time.

Mike, the problem I'm having with mine is that it is cycling too fast, and the compressor is shutting off before the room is cold. I got a vent deflector from HD yesterday and will have it installed today. Gonna try it and see if that helps any...


Terry....

[nubwon]

Ok........I think the vent deflector from HD did the trick, it appears that the trailer is cooling much better now Using the thermometer at the furthest point from the a/c vent, the compressor is kicking on when the thermometer hits 72 and kicks off at 70. That was just running it about 30 minutes or so.

The water leak should be able to be fixed with a lil caulk, so now every thing is hunky dory in nubsville again

[Classic Finn]

Congratulations on the Maiden Voyage...

Sure is a cute Lil Teardrop

Glad it Goes where its Towed..



Classic Finn

PS Thank You for sharing the photos with us...