HALLMARK 6X12 CONVERSION

[McDave]

Hmmmm......

McDave

[Tommy B]

All along it was this butt connector. The main negative battery terminal wire. No ground to the power center what so ever. I have trouble with these butt connectors. Seems like I need three hands to hold both ends in and one to crimp. I am going to #10 ring connectors and wing nuts for ease of quick disconnect from battery. Other wise I had to unbolt the terminals to do that. Also I will but an inline 40 amp blade fuse up by the positive battery terminal to protect the battery from a short PER tech support. The PC has really kept the battery charged to 12.8-13.0. I'm impressed.
I think Im almost there now. We will see. Plenty of this I can tell you. I BETTER add that I need to confirm this after work but I was sure at the close of business last night when the skeeters started to bite.

[hankaye]

Tommy B. Howdy;

Nice catch. It's nice when the problem kinda sorta jumps out and shows itself ...

hank

[Tommy B]

Thanks Hank. I followed your advice on this panel under the sink. I did not make one big panel because I need to see the water tank and I am concerned about adequate ventilation for the PC center. Not sure what I will to with this space between panels. That water fill panel is not even screwed in and needs a little help on the top trim there. I think I may drill a couple 3 inch holes with a hole saw into the panel for circulation. In front of the toilet 12 -15 inches apart. I could leave that space open between panels but I don't know. Curtain maybe?

Also the next " system " I need to work on is the propane hook ups.

one moment please. going to snag a picture.

I'm thinking ahead. Sorry to be so needy all the time.
So I have that stove. The little buddy heater with 10 foot hose specifically for it. And the thankless hot water heater that came with a hose too. I also have one big Y vale for one tank. That one will run inside to the stove and one will be coiled up for the heater and stored under the stove on top of the water tank or some where between panels I guess.
My question. Should I just run the stove and heater lines down and up through the floor like I did the battery cables? IS that ok? Is there a better safer way?
The tank less hot water heater line will only be hooked up at camp and stored in the camper until needed I guess.

Again Thank you.

[Tommy B]

I am still considering putting that kiwi curtain down where the panel is. Ease of access. Ventilation. Push aside to monitor tank. One big canvas panel. Plus if the gas lines are down there it may aid in leak detection through the CO2 AND PROPANE sensors.
But I cant decide. I like the look of the wood and was going to dress that panel up a bit with small trim.

[McDave]

They don't call em "butt connectors" for no reason....They are not ...great. For future reference look up "telegraph or Western Union splice". Much better way of doin' bidness. I really hate electrical "gremlins". All those type of crimp connectors can be hit or miss. I would prefer to solder, or crimp/solder all connectors. Then insulate with shrink tube, preferably adhesive type. You need a "mechanical" connection as well as an electrical connection and some sort of strain relief for a reliable connection.

McDave

[hankaye]

Tommy B. Howdy;

As far as the wood panel goes, where-it mine I'd tip the saw blade over to a 45º
and cut some down to up (as seen from outside of storage space), vent lines in it.
Think like a floor vent on it's side. Use a drill to neaten up the ends of the cuts,
little sandpaper to smooth out the edges apply surface treatment of choice. Just
a thought ...
As for your propane set-up, ... get thee to your local propane dealer and discuss
your wants and needs with the learned person. See what they have to say. I've
always been a fan of seeking expertise for that type of endeavor. For some reason
I always get a flash vision of McLean Stevenson in the TV show MASH coming out of
the latrine with his precious roll of tp just after the latrine was blown-up BOOM?????
when folks start talkin' propane...

hank

[flboy]

All along it was this butt connector. The main negative battery terminal wire. No ground to the power center what so ever. I have trouble with these butt connectors. Seems like I need three hands to hold both ends in and one to crimp. I am going to #10 ring connectors and wing nuts for ease of quick disconnect from battery. Other wise I had to unbolt the terminals to do that. Also I will but an inline 40 amp blade fuse up by the positive battery terminal to protect the battery from a short PER tech support. The PC has really kept the battery charged to 12.8-13.0. I'm impressed.
I think Im almost there now. We will see. Plenty of this I can tell you. I BETTER add that I need to confirm this after work but I was sure at the close of business last night when the skeeters started to bite.

Tommy, If you have a good heavy soldering Iron, I'd recommend soldering those connections. It is a critical ground and you don't want any compromise on that over time. What I typically will do is crimp it, then solder.

[Tommy B]

On the battery butt connector. I simply did a crap job the first time making the connection. I have good crimpers and used the same butt connector as its what I have. It is right now but I will ask a friend if he has a solder Iron. I do not. It will not be right until its soldered and taped. I wish it was heat shrink but its not.
I show an older picture to remind myself that this was/is where I think the heater must go. This adds more to here but seems to sway me back to the wood panel for sure AND Hank when I envisioned your vertical vents an " aahaa" moment came to me. If I don't do that exactly I may try to be a bit creative and MAYBE cut the pattern of a Palm Frond as I had been thinking about painting one on some how but over stain, well I let that thought go. But now, hmmm.

Does anybody know if thats an ok spot for the heater? I have never used it but from the specs it seems it will be ok. I will of course make a removable shelve there so it does not set directly on the plastic or maybe that wooden framed 3/4 plywood square that I have it on ther in the pic will suffice?

I will seek professional advice on this LP GAS as I have done some research and found the many tragic stories related to this. Very sad, tragic, and preventable.

Thanks all.

[Tommy B]

I think I can do this. I may play around on some scrap 3/8 to see how it looks but otherwise I like the 45 degree angle on the circular saw. Will see very soon. Might not look right just as a cut out.

[hankaye]

Tommy B. Howdy;

Gettin' "Artsy" on are ya? . When I was mentioning the vents I was thinking they would be horizontal
and go from the bottom up. Sorry about the confusion. The 45º were to keep things inside out of view and
also to help create a 'flow' of air from cooler (lower), air in at the bottom and allow warmer air from inside
to flow out. Kind of a circular pattern.
Like your Palm frond idea . A roto-zip would be ideal for that job. Not sure you'd need the 45º
if you go that way. If you can find some green screen material to attach to the back of the cuts should make
it POP.

hank

[Tommy B]

oh I knew just what you meant. bravo on that idea. Really. That sealed it for me on the wood. I have carved a few things like pelicans, dolphins and half a dozen tikkis or so just for fun. Sold a few for a couple hundred bucks a piece but after all the hard work I did not want to sell them and it was very time consuming.
Will see if my friend has a rotto zip. I do not have one and may have to get jiggy on it! Or go vertical vent slits. you will know very soon.

will post some pretty good pics soon. I hope to finish 90 percent this weekend. I was planning on some diamond plate to protect the inside right wall and left bed base but will have to wait due to the cost factor.

Happy 4th weekend everybody. Stay safe its crazy out there.

[hankaye]

Tommy B. Howdy;

Good luck! Lookin' forward to seein' what you come up with.

HAPPY 4th. Keep all your digits where they belong

hank

[Tommy B]

Latest update.
Ran out of time with code enforcement. Had to move it to the side of the house for a bit. Very difficult back there. No air, very hot in the afternoon. So hot you can not hold your hand on the ceiling and it really radiates heat. I was still trouble shooting the power center and could not run the air. HOWEVER, After finally having to take a day off to coordinate with tech support My power center is functioning fine. Nearly got heat stroke through.

When the instructions say consult a qualified electrician for installation they could have just as easily said use a separate DC buss panel for your DC ground as one is not provided. Do not use the AC ground bar in the power center for your DC ground. Also they could have said to be sure and ground the power center directly to the frame and you will need to provide the wire as that is not provided either. I could have easily done this in the beginning if I only knew. Well, now I know and I will not forget.

Hope that helps someone. I have learned so much from the school of hard knocks for sure.

No fancy wood work, plywood does not work well for that. I did make a square cut in that panel right in front of, and the same size as the power center for ventilation.

is it too late to insulate my roof?

[McDave]

That a' boy! Stuck with it and saw I through. Grounding issues are by far the most common cause of failures, especially in DC circuits. They can drive you crazy and make weird stuff happen. DC grounds return to the battery via the ground strap attached to the Neg. battery terminal. AC circuits use ground as ground. They use "Hot" and "common" as conductor's, ground is for safety. All power wants to return to return to ground. if you give it an easy path, like a ground wire, it becomes the shortest path to ground, and not you. The reason to have AC ground to the chassis is in case there is a failure in the trailer, you have a way to get to ground, since the tires insulate you from ground. DC uses ground as a path back to battery, and not usually a path to ground, your truck isn't grounded, if it has tires on it. Using ground (chassis) as a conductor back to battery is ok but can be un reliable. If you run a wire directly back to battery you don't have to look for a bad ground, it either goes back to battery or It doesn't. Chassis then becomes a easy path back to battery, in case of failure, rather than you.
I will have to say, I have seen some very vague and confusing schematics and wiring diagrams, especially on imports, mostly Chinese.
You know, you learn something new all the time when your involved with one of these projects. It's not boring, to say the least.
You're doin' great Tommy, I'll check back soon.

McDave