Hybrid Foamie in Southern Alberta

[Wolffarmer]

Yeah, get a multi meter. or as I call them a volt/ohm meter. Find out what is what. I think I would also trace that wiring Uhaul put in and find out just where it is connected to the car. And if there is a little black box in the wires.

Randy

[Shar]

Yes, Randy, we will do that this very evening. I am curious to see where those Uhaul wires go to, and if everything is plugged in right.

[Shar]

No success yet. We spent an hour tonight fiddling around with the car, the trailer, and two different meters. One is a continuity tester and the other is a multimeter. It looks like the connector on the Subaru is ok, and the wires on the trailer connector are ok. We previously tested the bulbs, the light itself, and whether it was grounded. Also every connecting point from the light to the connectors. So far everything we've tested has seemed to be ok, but the right tail light and signal light are still not working.

BTW Randy, we looked for the trailer plug in the Subaru; we followed the cable that Uhaul had installed. It went below the floor on the left side of the hatchback, and under some foam structures that were glued in place. Mark was reluctant to tear those loose, so the location of that factory plug must remain a mystery.

We will try again tomorrow.

[Wolffarmer]

The info I saw showed the factory plug to be on the right. But I may have been looking at the wrong car. Do not know how many different Imprezas there are.

[KCStudly]

Feed hot 12v (and ground) to the trailer plug with the problem and see if the lights come on. If so, the problem is a bad connection at the plug. i.e. if the TV is good, and the trailer is good, er go the plug is bad.

[Shar]

Victory at last! On our fifth try, Mark and I got the lights working. The problem was that the bracket holding the light was not grounded to the trailer frame. We had to take it off, and file off some of the paint on the hole that the bolt ran through.

For the sake of anyone less experienced than myself (unlikely) I will tell how we diagnosed it. We took a wire with alligator clips on each end. One end we clipped to the metal part of the lamp, and the other end to a bare metal part of the trailer frame. Then we turned on the car lights, and the trailer lights came on. If we unclipped either end of the wire, the lights went off again. This showed that the lamp was not grounded, and the only thing connecting the lamp to the trailer was that bracket.

Back in business. Tomorrow morning we will pick up the rest of the materials, and I will commence making sawdust, of both the wood and foam varieties. Thanks to everyone on this forum for your advice and encouragement!

[Wolffarmer]

Ok, I should have mentioned my rule #1 when dealing with stupid electrical problems

CHECK THE GROUNDS

Randy

[Shar]

No worries, Randy, you worked harder than anyone! And we had checked the grounds, earlier in the process, but our first test was not done right so we got misleading results. Newbie blundering around, is what it was...!

[Shar]

We took the trailer out for its first run this morning, and picked up the 1/8 ply from Windsor plywood. We had planned on getting birch ply, but the few sheets they had left were ugly looking, so we spent a little more and bought maple instead. I am amazed at how strong that stuff is!
I have 2 days off work (starting tomorrow) so I hope to glue the plywood to the foam side walls, and start prefabbing the other walls- we'll see how much I get done. With any luck, I won't have to use the angry emoticon!
Here's our rig, just home from getting the ply.

[KCStudly]

Let 'er rip!

[Shar]

Busy day! I set my tools up in the back yard (it was warm and sunny) and got going on two things at once. One objective was to bring out one of the foam side walls, and glue the 1/8 ply panel to the inside of it. The challenge, as most of you know, is compressing the whole thing so that the layers are as close together as possible while the GG cures. We used all the clamps I had, both my ratchet straps, and every heavy thing we could find on the property. It still wasn't enough; on the middle of one side the very edge has a gap. Maybe I can squeeze some glue in there at a later date, and clamp it? Not sure. We kept it clamped/pressed for 2 1/2 hours, then brought it back inside. I am confident that when we do the other wall (tomorrow) we will be faster and better with our placement of stuff.
Part two was building the front wall. I framed this today, and did a test-fit of the foam insulation, and prepped the ply to be glued on. By the time all of the above had been done, I was exhausted. I am currently taking a break, but later this evening I plan to glue & screw that plywood on, and maybe even glue the foam in as well. I have 2 days off, so I am trying to make all the tracks I can.
I'm glad Mark was here, to move those huge bricks.

[Shar]

Here are the fruits of yesterday's work: two wall panels with inner ply attached. It's raining now, so I can't do the other side panel, but I will insulate the front wall and put a coat of polyurethane on that nice veneer- all the parts that won't be glued later and visit the hardware store again for a few things. One annoyance is that I can't find 4' wide foam anywhere, in any thickness. I thought I could get the 1" foam in 4x8 at Rona (this would be for my roof) but when I went there to get it, they said they don't carry it (the website says they do). Oh well. I will have to glue 4 sheets of 2x8 together. That stage will be further on in the process.
If the day goes well, I will start framing the back wall. I cut most of the pieces out yesterday, so it should be workable as a living room task. I love how patient my family is.

[Shar]

Just for fun- a folding sawhorse made from discarded Ikea bed slats! One set of bed slats can make 2 of them; I need to get some more chain before I can make the other. Good thing to do while glue is drying.

[Shar]

This next stretch might be a tad boring. I am prefabbing the walls, in back yard or living room depending on weather, and there isn't much to photograph. I will be gluing foam to ply, roughing and rounding foam, gluing down canvas, and putting on finishes where it makes sense. On a sunny day when Mark is home, we will laminate the other big side wall. The next photogenic thing will be when I frame the back wall- likely Monday.
If anyone is curious, the reason I have that funny framing at the bottom of the wall: there are 3 bolts inside the wall, that hold the floor to the trailer, and I wanted to be able to access them in future, if we ever need to take the cabin off the trailer frame. When the trailer is "put together" more, I will attach a narrow panel to cover that area. Then my paneling won't have "flood pants" anymore.
This is one of the scariest things I've ever done, but I'm glad to be doing it. And miter saws are priceless, because they save me from my wonky manual cuts. And 4 sawhorses are SO much better than 2!
Teatime.

[Wolffarmer]

But when you glue yourself to the foam be sure to get pictures. Okay?

Randy