Blue Ridge Spirit, Bob and Lynn's 6x14 CT

[aggie79]

Looking fantastic Bob!

[lrrowe]

Thanks Tom,
Things are starting to come together...finally. But I must have hit one of those "creative walls". You know, when you moved forward but then cannot seem to make progress. I want to take some time away from the job, but my obsession with the project will not allow that.

For the last few days I have been constructing the lower cabinet around the refrigerator and the 10 gal water tank. Here is where I realize the significant planning mistakes I have made. And they are not reverserable at this point.

Where I am mounting the water tank, well, it is right next to the electrical part of the refrig. Per se, this is not a problem, but should a water connection spring a pressure leak, I could have streams of water getting to close to the electrics. And I did not plan for the incoming water attachment on the traditional driver's side of the CT. And it cannot come thru there bc of the shower and main electical box area. So I am coming through the front. It will look weird to the uninformed observer, but it will work.

But, that again is right behind the refrig. So after all is done, I will come up with a "shield" of sorts to defect the potential water leaks away from the electrical stuff. I will try and post pictures tomorrow, also showing another mistake with where I ended up,with the water fill and exit valve conmections. They too are a hinderance to the total safety of the refrigerator.
Before anyone points it out, I know the real solution is to do a perfect construction job.

I am so far behind in my self imposed schedule that I am going to leave things as they are for this year. I will just be extra vigilant.

I did learn that I can custom order a tank that better fits my space and volume needs and specify where I want all connection holes placed. It really is not that big of a deal. If you watch you-tube vidos on spin welding, you can see how simple the process is. Then with the current 10 gal tank, I will either use it for extra water, carrying it in the truck bed, or just offer it up for sale.

Now I am going to try a find an 1/2" diversion (3 way) valve. I will first reread MtnDon's build posts as I think he used one.

[aggie79]

Bob,

Don't let the setbacks or pace of construction get to you. I think you're doing well.

I thought I would finish my teardrop in one year but it took 3+ years. When I tried to hurry I had "learning experiences" that cost me time and money. I finally reconciled to throw out my self-imposed schedule and everything started going smoother. At times, I had to walk away for 2-3 weeks for a mental "re-boot". In the end, I'm happy with the final product although there were many things I wished that I had done differently.

Take care,
Tom

[lrrowe]

I have been working on the water tank plumbing and the heater tank along with plumbing for the radiant and transmission cooler concept.
All is ready to trim up...all just put together in these photos for layout purposes.

Here is the 10 gal water tank. Need to finish the intake portion, cement all the PVC joints and clamp down the PEX tubing. Also need to relocate the refrigerator power outlet and beef up the tank shelving.


This one below shows the concept the tubing routing for the general water flow, the floor radiant heat tubing and the tubing for the transmission oil cooler for heated air.
I will let it sit for a few days and come back and rationalize that it is the best layout for what I what it to do. I had many high end valves left over from my home radiant heat project, so since the $$$ were already spent, then why not use them?

It really looks crappy now, but I did not want to trim, shorten and such until I have finalized the routing.

I also added two runs for water to go down through the floor and back to the galley area for ease of getting water back there.


And I did get two 120 V outside outlets added to the back part of the trailer.


I had a lot of company over the holiday weekend so not much got done. But now after they have left and a lot of naps, I am ready to get started again.

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

Bob

I'm still confused with all this heating, are you moving somewhere it's a constant -40 below ?

[lrrowe]

Lets just say that I do not want a repeat of where my 5 gal of water froze last fall while hunting. And aqgain I will repeat that Rube Goldberg was my mentor.

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

Bob

I just take my 5 gal water bottle to bed with me and I hug her really tight all night long.

Or you could try big game hunting in Africa - I heard water does not freeze there.

Thanks for clearing that up for me, now I just need to research about Rube Goldberg.Please excuse my ignorance about Rube.

Cheers ottct

[lrrowe]

Bob

I just take my 5 gal water bottle to bed with me and I hug her really tight all night long.

Or you could try big game hunting in Africa - I heard water does not freeze there.

Thanks for clearing that up for me, now I just need to research about Rube Goldberg.Please excuse my ignorance about Rube.

Cheers ottct

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=ru ... rg+machine

[lrrowe]

It has been awhile since I last posted my results. I have worked on many phases concurrently and therefore had no real meaning results to report on anyone item. Then all of life's stuff gets in the way and then the waters opened up in the east which slowed things down. I am going to try and report on several stages in this one post rather then many posts.

GALLEY
The galley is about done where all I need to do is to cut, paint and add the shelves. And at the bottom right is the removable wall section which will allow for the sliding in of our 10 and 12 foot kayaks.


Water Inlet.
I had no choice but to mount the water inlet high and on the front of the trailer. Not my ideal location, but stuff inside prevented any other solution. I think I will run some painted PVC tubing from the inlet down and to the tongue and hook the hose on to it there. Should look better.


The white pipes on the left are for my AC system. Like Shadow Catcher and others have done, my AC unit will be outside and under the back end of the trailer. I will run flex tubing from the AC unit to these tubes and into the cabin. They will be wrapped in aluminum bubble foam material to aid in the insulation. As noted in my earlier posts, I have proven that this will work for me with a 5,000 BTU AC unit. They can be removed.


Here are the adjustable inside duct vents:


PROPANE

Added tube through floor. Allowed for addition pipes and maybe a drain plug for later.
Pipe runs to front and turns to tongue. Oh and that is not rust on the bottom of the frame....just Virginia red clay splattered up from rains.


I will build a tongue box later for the propane tanks.
Scale so as to be measure propane consumption for heat tests.




Fresh Water Tank
Just a quick shot of my water tank. Tubing sort of runs everywhere. But it allows for hot water to be recycled back to the tank while waiting for shower water to work up. It also allows for campground water or off grid water with the turning of a valve.


Hot Water Tank Heating System.

Again, as noted in many earlier emails, I have dabbled with radiant in floor heating, taking my home experiences and taking them to the CT. Near the end I was ready to throw in the towel. Many dollars were spent and nothing seemed to come together. But within just he last week it all fell into place. I can say it works. I realize I have been testing it lately in warm evenings (down to 55 F) but it has heated my floors to 72 degrees F at the lowest heater temperature. I am not running a thermostat yet. I need to place my order for one now. The walls read 72, the ceiling read 72 and the ambient interior temp was about 68. Now radiant heat requires a long run time so as to heat the objects on the floor.

If I run the water heater at mid setting, I achieved about 80 degrees F on the floor surface.
Today I finalized the transmission cooler, computer type fan connections and was getting surface temps of 110 degree F on the surface of the cooler. Right now I have both systems running off of a small battery just for experimentation purposes. I need a cool night to capture and report on how effective it is. Also I need to find out what the AH usage is.

Here is the complex running of water tubes around the heater.




Solar pump


I will report back later with more results. Plus I will list my take on the "pros" and "cons" and I know there many.

[rebapuck]

The temps are falling so testing should give more realistic results.

[aggie79]

Bob,
That is some nice progress. I know it was a lot of work. I'm really interested in the radiant heat system.
Take care, Tom

[lrrowe]

The temps are falling so testing should give more realistic results.

Yes! I am anxiously waiting for a 40 or 30 degree night. Last night or rather this morning at 8 AM it was 59 out and the inside ambient temp was 86 degrees F. And that was just with the radiator and fan. I shut off the radiant tubing for the test. As I get the temps that are more significant then this, I will report them. And I received my "ordered" parts today which will allow me to enclose the system and start on the cabinets.

[lrrowe]

The temps are falling so testing should give more realistic results.

Yes! I am anxiously waiting for a 40 or 30 degree night. Last night or rather this morning at 8 AM it was 59 out and the inside ambient temp was 86 degrees F. And that was just with the radiator and fan. I shut off the radiant tubing for the test. As I get the temps that are more significant then this, I will report them. And I received my "ordered" parts today which will allow me to enclose the system and start on the cabinets.

quote="aggie79"]Bob,
That is some nice progress. I know it was a lot of work. I'm really interested in the radiant heat system.
Take care, Tom[/quote]

Aggie, what would you like to hear about with the tubing? I piece mealed comments about it in many earlier posts, but I am sure they are buried to some degree. I will be happy to explain more about it.

At this moment I have two or three concerns which have to be thought out.
(1) While I am sure none of the water in the PEX or water tank will freeze during deeply cold days out in the woods (off grid) if I can keep the heat going. What could fail? Well what if my pump breaks or what if I get a leak? or what if the batteries are too weak to continue? To address the pump failure I will just order a spare and bring my tools. They are cheap enough. For leaks I will simply have a supply of fittings and tools. I believe I will carry some SharkBite fittings. Expensive, but would be great for this protection. In fact going forward, I am starting to use them as I replace an issue fitting or connection.

I am not worried about the batteries right now because I will have my loud 2000 Watt Champion generator with me to run at night for a few hours. I will carry the two small AGM (I call them hobby batteries) just to get me through the night. But with new batteries which I have not yet purchased yet, I am sure this year will not be an issue. I am going to do the math on usage as soon as I get my amp meter hooked up.

(2)Since during really cold trips such as the hunt camp style, I will be off grid which means no running water. I do not plan to "charge" the plumbing for regular water use.
Showers will be using heated water on a stove and for right now, a garden sprayer for Navy Showers. So do I want to consider charging the radiant system with RV pink antifreeze (not really antifreeze in the automobile sense)? Normally I would say yes, but my warranty clause says not to use it because of potential damage to the sacrifice rod in the heater. I could take it out for the winter months but again I get negative vibes from the manufacturers disclaimers. I am wrestling with believing that for the short period of a hunt camp, that the risk to my heater tank would really not be an issue. This is an open issue with me right now.

I do need to add a thermostat which I will order this weekend.

So again, I am calling this project a success.

Jerry from OTTCT asks me if I have tried his test yet which I have not. He adds heated water to a large water tank and relies on the heat radiating out from that to heat his trailer. I think I can now believe that it is a viable option to test. As soon as I can find a reasonably priced tank, I will try it using water heated from my RV heater.

[Padilen]

The temps are falling so testing should give more realistic results.

Yes! I am anxiously waiting for a 40 or 30 degree night.

Move to Michigan !

[lrrowe]

The temps are falling so testing should give more realistic results.

Yes! I am anxiously waiting for a 40 or 30 degree night.

Move to Michigan !

Clarification needed.
Michigan is a great state. Lived there for 4 years. VA is a great state. Lived here for 45 years.
But I only want "cold" for the test. Then I need to be further south.