M116A3 Build

[lfhoward]

How about The Nautilus?

It's whatever fits and you like. You'll know when you have zeroed in on the right name.

I liked it the other night, but am not sold on it. Once there is white aluminum on this thing, it won't look nearly so menacing at night.

[lfhoward]

Today the weather is cold and drizzling, but I couldn't stay away from doing something on the trailer.

Without taking the tarps off, I rolled up the sides a little so that I could access the side utility doors. What I found was a little wetness dripping down the sides of the trailer, but no warping of wood or absorption of the water as far as I can tell. I will not be able to examine the roof until a nice dry day, but I am 99% sure it is ok up there under the second smaller tarp.

With the side utility doors open, I found it was bone dry inside. Very glad of that, since the electronics are in there. I did a couple of small projects with the electrical:

1) I hooked up the 1000 watt pure sine wave inverter using 2 gauge cables. It works great! About 30 seconds after turning it on, the automatic transfer switch senses the current and then turns the power on to the household 120 v AC outlets. My multimeter showed 128 volts at the outlets, so there is plenty of AC power! The inverter is now wired and ready to go.

2) I built the aluminum frame that will hold the solar panel to the roof, and bolted the solar panel to it. The solar panel can now be positioned at a ~40 degree angle, which is about ideal for this latitude when it is pointed south. The frame can also be collapsed and secured flat for travel, or for when the trailer cannot be parked pointing south.

3) I hooked the panel up to the Tracer charge controller in the trailer for the first time (wires out the door and solar panel sitting on the driveway). What I found was even on this cloudy, drizzling day, the panel outputted 28 volts. The batteries registered 12.52 volts before connecting the panel, and 12.68 after, which means they are getting positive juice from the system. It will take a much sunnier day to charge them fully, because that would take 13.5+ volts. I believe something like 12.8 volts registering from the battery after it has sat a while and equalized is a full charge.

After playing with the electrical for a little while, I disconnected the solar because I didn't want to charge the batteries long enough to accumulate explosive gasses under the tarp. (I need to buy a hole saw of the right diameter so that I can install the battery box vents soon. Until then I will only charge the batteries when I can vent the whole trailer.) Next, I buttoned up the tarps again and secured them with ratchet straps. We are still going to get 40+ mph wind gusts and scattered showers from the hurricane offshore, and I want the trailer to be ok overnight. Maybe tomorrow afternoon I can take the tarps off and dry everything out.

I'll report on the condition of the roof at that time. Thanks for reading!

[S. Heisley]

lfhoward wrote:

Thanks for reading!

Thanks for posting!

[lfhoward]

This afternoon I took the tarps off the trailer and there is no water damage!!!

I also put the solar panel out again to see what kind of output I could get from it.


The light was diffuse because of my neighbor's tree, and it was about 4 pm so the sun is low in the sky.


Even in this situation, the panel cranked out more than 34 volts!


The battery, which was at 12.4 volts or so when I started, got up to about 12.7 within an hour or so. It seemed to equalize there, probably because the sun was going down.


Here is the trailer, chilling in the yard with wires from the solar panel. And the Tracer looks happy.

[lfhoward]

Thinking ahead to skinning with aluminum, I have a quick question. It is hard to explain, so I drew a picture.



In "A", the aluminum sheets meet at the corner, and the roof edge molding covers the gap between the sheets. That molding, plus butyl tape and some screws from the top, makes the waterproof seal.

In "B", I have the roof sheet bent over the side sheet before covering it with the roof edge molding. Thus, the roof edge molding isn't solely responsible for waterproofing the seam, and is mostly cosmetic.

Which is the better method?
The advantage of A is that it would be easier to make the aluminum fit the edge, especially if the trailer isn't exactly square (which would be important factor for the fold in B to be positioned properly). The advantage of B is no water gets between the wood and the side aluminum if the roof edge molding seal ever fails.

I have seen method A on this forum, but never method B (so far). My neighbor, who is a roofer and someone who has made trailers before, suggested method B tonight. I thought I would run it by you all for feedback.

[noseoil]

I did the "A" for mine. The width I have to deal with (due to the frame I found), is 60 5/8" or 5/8" larger than the sheet size of aluminum available to me. I split the difference on both sides, put butyl rubber tape on the trim & screwed it down. So far so good, but the tarps are in place & it's starting to rain this morning. Will have to see once it's out from under the tarps, but I think it will be fine. With .040" aluminum & 1/8" tape, there's plenty of room for it to mush down & seal.

Don't worry, your plan with the "A" detail will be fine. The "B" plan has too many places for problems as I see it. If the sheets are not made perfectly at the fold, it won't work & you will be cutting off the bent section and back to "A" anyway.

[aggie79]

If you are using .040 aluminum, it can be quite stiff to bend 90 degrees.

I used the "A" method with an additional step. I used sealant between the aluminum and the plywood along the outer edges. Then I bedded the trim in sealant. All fasteners were pre-drilled, sealant injected in the holes, and the fasteners were screwed into place.

Picture showing sealant squeeze-out prior to installing trim:



Trim bedded in sealant:

[lfhoward]

Tim and Tom, thank you both for responding to my question about lining up the aluminum at the edges. I had a hunch that it was overkill (and very difficult) to make a perfect 90 degree bend to overlap the sides with the roof. Good to hear from folks who have skinned a trailer before.

I am a bit bummed that I was not able to take advantage of the last few days of nice weather, but it is always good to go to work and get paid. This weekend is looking a bit rainy, but there are other things I need to get done that would have priority anyway. I have my eye on Saturday the 17th for skinning, weather permitting of course! One of my neighbors who has been super helpful with the construction (helping me with building walls and the roof using unwieldy large pieces of plywood), is very gung-ho to get it skinned too! (He called it, "one kick --s trailer" when describing it to my other neighbor, and I overheard that!) My other neighbor just happens to have an 8 foot sheet metal brake that he is willing to let me borrow! So hopefully it won't be long.

[lfhoward]

Made a little progress today. Took the doors off and urethaned them twice. Also did the door jambs. So now the trailer has three coats and the doors have two. One more coat on the whole thing ought to do it!

[Padilen]

My internet is working very well. So I can't see photos, and posts are one or two lines then I have to scroll. But you mention tarps. I've had better success with house wrap. Are you laying down a tarp underneath to? Is this how your winter storing it? If so I'd recommend a tarp under with boards 4x4 or something on the ground then a tarp over board & tarp top/sides down to ground tarp. Lay side tarp on&under and from the inside add another board. It's hard to explain- but it helps to keep moisture out.

[lfhoward]

Thanks, Padilen. I am hoping to get the aluminum sheets installed and waterproof before winter, so I don't have to worry about tarps at all. In the event I can't get the aluminum installed in time, I will probably cover with another 3rd tarp to make it 100% waterproof from above. I looked into portable garages from Harbor Freight and a few other places, and nobody makes one tall enough. That and they don't hold up to snow or gusty winds. Yes, tarps and ratchet straps would be the way to go.

Update on skinning:
I won't be able to get to that tomorrow because of responsibilities at work. Looks like my next free Saturday is actually Halloween!

Today I put another layer of spar urethane on the trailer and its 3 doors after getting home from work. I think the trailer plywood is now very waterproof at 4 coats, but the doors could probably use one more coat.

[Padilen]

I should have waited until I could read the posts️. I thought it was a wood sided storing outside. But seriously house wrap is better than blue tarps.

[lfhoward]

In taking the doors and hinges off to do this most recent coat of urethane, it occurred to me that any gorilla with a Phillips screwdriver could easily take my trailer's doors off without worrying about the door locks.

I am looking into replacing the hinges' screws with security screws. These come in either hex head or spanner head:





Does anyone have an opinion on which type is better?

[Alan_H]

In taking the doors and hinges off to do this most recent coat of urethane, it occurred to me that any gorilla with a Phillips screwdriver could easily take my trailer's doors off without worrying about the door locks.

I am looking into replacing the hinges' screws with security screws. These come in either hex head or spanner head:





Does anyone have an opinion on which type is better?

There are a couple schools of thought on this.

1) Locks keep honest people honest.

2) A determined thief will find a way in, so the harder you make it, the more damage you will have to repair.

I guess that's almost either side of the same coin though... As far as difficulty, the spanner would be more difficult, as I see many tool bit sets with the 5-point and post like your pic above.

[OP827]

I agree with you about the spanner.