Retro-Kamper (Puffin for Four)

[aggie79]

Jerry,

The shower looks fantastic - better than factory made! I know the Retro-Kamper has been campable for some time, but it is almost finished now.

Take care,
Tom

[Donutboy]

Okay, more progress. First, I have reinstalled the toilet, so the shower is complete except for shower curtain and rod:



Next, I completed the plumbing for the drains. Here is the view under the sink. I had to use a green rubber p-trap to allow for insertion and removal of the top drawer. This picture also shows the air vent for the plumbing:



Here is the plumbing under the camper, shown from the left (driver side of tow vehicle). All PVC is 1 1/2". The drain from the sink drops through the floor at the far end, intersects with a tee-fitting to bring in the p-trap from the shower, and finally mates with an adapter to let me use a standard RV hose fitting.



Next up is the plumbing for water to the sink and shower, upholstery, a battery, and it will be complete. Except for the odds and ends that will always come up.

Also, I've decided not to mount the water heater to the camper, there isn't enough room in the area I reinforced. I will simply make a mount to attach it to the propane tank to be carried in the camper or tow vehicle while enroute.

[aggie79]

Very nice Jerry!

[Donutboy]

Thanks, Tom! I've been working on the water into the trailer this weekend, learning how to sweat copper. Should have that wrapped up in the next few days. Will post more pics then.

[Donutboy]

Got the plumbing done. The solder joints aren't the prettiest thing you will ever see, but they hold. Those &@#*! copper unions, on the other hand, were a pain. I finally cheated by smearing a little plumbers putty on the mating surfaces, and I *think* they are sealed now.





Here's where the hot and cold water will connect. The Eccotemp water heater is external to the camper.



Will mess with the water heater this weekend. Also need to rig up a shower curtain now.

[Donutboy]

Spent the weekend working with the water heater. I kept trying to figure out a way to easily mount the water heater for camping, but remove it for travel, since I don't have enough room for the water heater and the propane bottle on the tongue.

I noticed the bolts sticking out from the little swing-down wheel thingie and this gave me an idea. I bought a piece of angle iron and drilled it for attachment to the bolts with wing nuts. The heater is bolted permanently to the angle iron, but all that is necessary to remove it is to undo the hoses and the two wing bolts. Here it is attached (and connected to the water softener in the garage).



Close up from the side.



Connections to the trailer:



And here's the result. The water coming out of the connection in the garage was 54 degrees. The heater brought it up to 116 degrees.



A lot of water has to flow through the heater to trigger it on, so my goal is to have it slightly too hot and feather in cold water as needed.

Next I'll be working on the shower curtain and rod.

[aggie79]

Jerry,

Good use of a mounting point that you already had! The idea of a hot shower in the camper is nice luxury. I know y'all will enjoy that amenity very much.

Take care,
Tom

[Donutboy]

Thanks, Tom. I bought the RV-style drain hose, and connected it, routing the water out of the garage. Playing with the heater further, I was able to see temps of 129 degrees F. I've dialed it down to about 107 degrees. The temp depends on the amount of water flowing. I plan to test it out this weekend by taking a shower in it...will be curious to see how that works out. Will update this post again soon.

[Donutboy]

One more of the water heater. "Houston, we have ignition."



Shower curtain installed:




The electricians among you might recognize the shower curtain rod bracket. I think it's a ground lug? Found it in electrical at Home Depot. The rod itself is some round aluminum stock from Lowes.



I also measured the tongue weight, which is at 215 lbs (sans water heater). The battery will be aft of the wheels, and will offset this somewhat.

[bdosborn]

Wow, that shower rod support is pretty slick. Nicely done.
Bruce

[aggie79]

+1 on what Bruce said! That was a clever use of a part being used for something other than it's intended purpose. Good job, Jerry.

[Donutboy]

Thanks, guys. Yeah, for the shower rod, my challenge was finding something in the right scale.

This weekend I insulated the cabinet around the icebox with nearly a full 4x8 sheet of 3/4" blue foam insulation. 3/4" thick on the left, 1 1/2" on the bottom and right, and 2 1/4" on the back and top. Other posts indicated that adding extra foam to the icebox made it stay cool for a lot longer.



I will reinstall the icebox in the next day or so, and I plan to order the foam for the seat cushions in the next few days also.

[Donutboy]

Seats are done!

[aggie79]

Awesome!

[bdosborn]

Awesome!

X2!

Bruce