Greets from Croatia

[jofa]

Hello! I write from the Croatia and pre-apologize for my English.
I intend to build a TT and thanks to this forum I think I've come to what I want. I made a basic blueprint and this is what I want.



want to avoid aluminum coating, so I decided to go with epoxy. That way I can get a nice rounded edges. I'm interested if anyone can estimate the cost of material and weight. I'd love to install the AC, battery, inverter, converter, water tanks and pump, gas stove ...
walls and floor would be plywood, completely isolated. I know this is hard to estimate, but only approximately.

Thanks!!

P.S. Croatia - Europe ...sorry for metrical

[3822sean]

welcome to the forum,from sunny southern california

[emiller]

Greetings

[jofa]

if i may say this forum is a thrill ..i thank google fot it.
I am little bit lost in foot and inches we are metrical nation so i read & convert, read & convert......
Admire all the built jurnals
Croatian birocracy is killing me.
It seem to be extremly dificult to satisfy all the norms when self built trailer. What are the costs to register TT in US?

as for the sunn, we still wait for fall to kick in here. ...summer is still on

still hope for someone to estimate the weight of my sketch

Thanks!!

[Shadow Catcher]

Your English is far better than my Croatian (non existent) so do not give it a thought.
To give some idea of weight much more information will be needed and in reality you should be able to do it your self. The frame will likely be the single item that sets weight. There are EU standards for brakes and tongue design that will influence the final weight. From what we have seen with others elsewhere, those are available pre EU approved.
What you plan on using in the way of plywood, siding etc. will influence weight. A very rough translation from US sizing to metric... (my attempt to find EU standards was frustrated), 6 mm about 11 Kg, 9.5mm about l16.8 Kg, 12.7 bout 22Kg, 15.9 about 28Kg, 19.4 about 35 Kg.
Our trailer is very large by teardrop standards 3 by 1.83 meters and weighs 680 Kg. this is achieved by the use of an all aluminum frame and 6mm inner and outer skin in a stress panel construction (see album). Think about it as, you are building an aircraft not a tank.
We will be interested in your build.

[jofa]

I looked at your album and the dimension and weight of your trailer are useful information. Thank you.
I assumed that your Croatian is little rusty

I would use 6mm plywood on the outside and 4mm plywood on the inside, 2 cm of insulation . Noot sure fore the roof thickness? I will use Okume plywood wich is extremely light & waterproof. It is commonly used by race class boat builders.
The frame should be approximately 120-150kg. My goal is to achieve a total weight between 400kg and 500kg.
Limit in Croatia for lite trailers is 750kg total weight. All advice on how to lose weight are welcome. The thing is, we in europe use cars with lott les power than you in US, so i need something that can be towed with average compact class vehicle.

I don't think i will start to build soon, I want to have everything on paper first. Im all in electricity now.
...am one of those freaks that want to know everithing before I order material. It looks the bigest problem will be to find TT windows in Croatia. If someone has some european links id appreciate you post it.

need to say again !!! this forum is great !!!

[Shadow Catcher]

I can understand wanting to know everything about something before you make a move, but just about the time you think you know everything somebody comes up with something new. If I were to be building a trailer I might well consider trying to do one of the foamies. I do understand the needs for keeping a lighter weight trailer as cars that you have available generally are much lighter weight and get much better gas mileage.

There is a great deal of information in this forum and lots of folks that are more than willing to help you out with specific questions.

One thing to remember is that panels tied together become a great deal stronger and that was what I meant about making it more like an airplane and a great deal less like a tank. One thing also to remember is that a great deal of insulation is not required as you generating a great deal of body heat within a rather small volume of space. That is unless you are going to be wanting to air condition it some way or another. If you look at the album and you saw that I used computer case fans in place of a much larger commercial unit. There are other adaptations that you can certainly make.

I will be interested in seeing what you come up with. Tom

[jofa]

Thanks for interest Tom !!

I understand what you mean comparing TT with airplane. That is the main reason why I want to know "everything" before i start. That will help me to reduce weight. Have experience with woodwork, and no expirience with foam so I am going with plywood. I did notice that many people overbulit. Most frames seem to strong to me if you put on the wood raster sandwiched in plywood. Wood raster between plywood coat must be minimal.
Insulation is very important to me because i will use trailer in range -10c to +40c.

I just post an eletricity scheme on forum to get some response for it. I did not use CAD for it, it is simple drawn in excell so anyone can use it for himself or correct it.
http://www.mediafire.com/?bdp594sj489bjfj
Have no worries for wood, but electricity is enigma for me.

Will have some qustions about axel position and weight distribution later on, but first i have to figure out what i really want. ....getting closer to it

BTW computer fans are great idea

[Shadow Catcher]

That is quite a temperature range, and I agree insulation is going to be important. I see you are planning on using a solar panel and have an inverter with 240V outlets in the galley. If you are planning on doing what we call boondocking, camping for periods away from shore power you need to understand the limitations of any device that uses resistance heat i.e. a coffee maker which suck large amounts of power the lack of efficiency of the inverter, if you decide to use one have an off switch for it as they use current even when not in use.
You have done the right thing going for LED lights and the use of things like computer case fans can also reduce load on your battery.
You might want to question the use of a three way fridge, at least here in the US they are rather unreliable and they for the most part have a vertical door and every time you open them all th cold falls out. What Bob O and I have settled on is the use of an Engel or Waeco refrigerator Bob on his web site did a test of current draw and it is low enough to be made up with a solar panel setup. Necessary is some way to monitor the battery and charging system.

[jofa]

That is quite a temperature range, and I agree insulation is going to be important. I see you are planning on using a solar panel and have an inverter with 240V outlets in the galley. If you are planning on doing what we call boondocking, camping for periods away from shore power you need to understand the limitations of any device that uses resistance heat i.e. a coffee maker which suck large amounts of power the lack of efficiency of the inverter, if you decide to use one have an off switch for it as they use current even when not in use.

That is temperature range that we have in Croatia. I like Kitesurfing, Snowkiteing & Snowboarding. In Croatia you can get all of that in range of 500km. During the summer I kitesurf, during the winter I kitesurf, snowkite, snowboard.
The autonomy i need from my TT is two to three day's. Do not intend to use any elctrical consumer for boiling water or similar. Inverter is there just in case. Maybe I vill have hair drier. ...Inverter is with switch.

You have done the right thing going for LED lights and the use of things like computer case fans can also reduce load on your battery.

LED ligts is must have. As for the computer fans, that is idea i will probably use.

You might want to question the use of a three way fridge, at least here in the US they are rather unreliable and they for the most part have a vertical door and every time you open them all th cold falls out. What Bob O and I have settled on is the use of an Engel or Waeco refrigerator Bob on his web site did a test of current draw and it is low enough to be made up with a solar panel setup. Necessary is some way to monitor the battery and charging system.

this is the fridge I intend to buy http://www.waeco.com/en/products/3122_481.php. They sell in Croatia. Angel products looks nice, but I dont think I can buy them in here. it is great news that i can power waeco fridge trough solar and that it really works. What kind of panel you use?
did anyone tried those thermoelectric coolers? ...like this one http://www.waeco.com/en/products/3111_4750.php they are a lot cheaper, but do they cool?

I would like to pre wire everything, so if it become necessary i will be ready. Probably not going to buy solar at first but will pre wire for it. The same is with gas hose for fridge or heater. All of my instaltion will go trough flor an walls, so i need to be prepared.

Necessary is some way to monitor the battery and charging system.

was thinking about that. Can you racommend something for monitoring?

[Shadow Catcher]

The version of the Waeco I have is the the CF50 and I have a 12V power tap in the back of our Subaru where it sits when we are traveling powered by a direct line to the battery. I have a 185W panel that I just finished installing. I made a mistake when I bought the panel and got one made for a grid tie system that puts out 35 to 40+ V and had to buy a MPPT solar controller that could take higher voltage. I think that may work to our advantage as it is, even when shaded or cloudy putting out enough voltage to charge the battery some.
The thermo electric coolers will at best only cool 40F 4.44C below ambient temperature and the ones I have seen are noisier than the Waeco and use more power. One thing to remember is that you can recharge your battery from your tow vehicle and you can use heavy jumper cables to do it more quickly.
Monitoring battery condition can be as elaborate as using something like one of the Bogart meters http://www.bogartengineering.com or as simple as a volt meter to monitor and make sure you do not get below the level that will discharge the battery too far see http://www.batteryfaq.org and http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm W&S has a great forum with solar information that a couple of us are on.

[jofa]

great info

thanx for your time Tom.

[H@nk]

Hallo Jofa, welcome on this crazy site.
I am from the Netherlands, also Europe. I readed somewhere in your posts, its difficult to register your teardrop in Croatia. Isn't there a law, everything under 750 KG don't need a registration? I haven't done it with mine. Its built on the platform of a tent trailer. A Alpen Kreuzer or STEMA. I only insulated roof and floor, but I don´t camp at winter temperatures. And for the weight account, use 3 mm birk triplex. Messures 5´by 5 ´.
Greetings, Henk

[jofa]

Hi Hank!
Unfortunately in croatia not only that you need to register TT, but you need to register it every three years. If slef build TT, first you need homologation to get administrative approval to get on the road. Croatia is not EU member and our bureaucracy is hell. There is tons of norms you need to satisfy when self build. PITA

BTW. I love benelux countrys. Been travelling trough Netherlad two years ago.

[mezmo]

Hi jofa,

Welcome to this great forum full of friendly people and information.

It looks like you have a good initial design.

I'd like to offer something to consider. Consider using 2 entry
doors instead of one. It is a matter of personal likes and such, but you
should also take usage into consideration. And the number of persons
using the TD is also a consideration.

Since a TD is such a small space, having 2 doors makes using it much
easier. [Think of how much easier access to the interior that a 4 door
car has over a two door car. The same applies going from 1 to 2 doors
on a TD.] Easier access to get into bed, and to make the bed, and to stow
possessions inside the interior cabinets.

I think it also a safety matter, two users can leave it faster if necessary.

It also eliminates the contortions and awkwardness of crawling over the
person sleeping by the door when you need to to exit in the middle of the
night for a restroom break.

Some single users [only one occupant] feel they don't need two doors,
[again, personal preference] but the added utility/ease-of-use that 2 doors
provide is well worth it I think, even for a solo camper.

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo