Thrifty Alternatives ..Building Foam Campers

[mikeschn]

Did you sleep in it yet?

Mike...

[GPW]

Mike , 90F here today , humid , feels like 95F ... not getting cool at night any more ... so the thought of an AC install comes to mind .. Still have to do the interior , paint and trim ... I have some cushions left over from the Jayco dinette removal ... planning on using them ... looked for hinges , but I had none ... I could have sworn there were some around here.. ??? Still much to do before I give it the sleep test ...

Now also need to buy the Electrical system ... 50' GFI extension cord... Thinking of a solar powered LED Lantern for the Lighting system ... and I have a ton of LED flashlights... Maybe even a carpet remnant for over the soon to be painted floor ...

[eaglesdare]

i know you personally did not spend too much on your tear, but i would not sell it for less than what it WOULD have cost you to buy the materials.

i am working on a couple of pics for you.

[Wolffarmer]

GPW, You are cursing the Walmart paint. Is that a Walmart branded paint or some other name brand they forced the makers to cheapen up for them?

2 weeks ago I painted one side of my trailer with Sherwin Williams floor paint. It is looking pretty good. It was a bit on the thick side and took at least a week to get near dry, in the cool wet weather we had here. I will get some pictures some time but it seems to be pretty good stuff. Now I need to do the other side. Sand all the varnish off first and as it is the door side with a bunch of wood trim I am leaving unpainted. Will be a bit harder to do.

Randy

[Ratkity]

GPW,

The color scheme is awesome!!

Eagle and I and the other TearJerkers of the Chesapeake Bay had a great time this weekend. I got a lot of little things done and tried out the new solar panel. BTW, the battery was charged by 9 am in full sun.

The solar cover didn't move a millimeter and looked fabbo riding down the road. It did rain on the way there and the diluted T3 did not prevent the cloth from being wet like primer and paint. I might put another coat of diluted T3 on it.

Hugs,
Ratkity

[GPW]

Wolf, McCloskey Multi use... Thin , the film dried nice , just they skimped on pigment .... a lot .... Worse , the SW store is across the street ... Lesson learned there , and really it didn't take that much paint for the whole thing .. Gal. of Primer, 1.5gal (est) for the color....

... Perhaps a coat of WB polyurethane varnish, definitely waterproof ... over the solar cover... shouldn't hurt it ...
Rat, glad youze' guys had a Great time

[eaglesdare]

this was our view


i had the counter reversed
before


the guys working on it


after


i have to say I LOVE IT now. the counter works much better. i can just reach in without killing my back to bend over and under to get to stuff.

my tote and cooler will fit on the top shelf btw. i had them in there the first night. why you might ask? well the ground was wet which caused the road/path to turn into mud. our site was at the top of a hill. our cars were not going up the hill with that mud. so we had to unload the car and put everything in the tears. then we were towed up.

this is a pic of my tear being towed back down.


i did a little more work on the strap, that is why the tape is there.

now a little bit of info about sleeping in the foamie. when its cold out, its cold in. when its hot out, its hot in. the first night it was cold. i had the shakes. eventually i fell asleep. the second night however, i had to keep the door open with the fan running for a while to let the hot air out. after a while i closed the door and all was good.
so, it will be important to make room for a heater, and plan for the a/c. i can not imagine camping in the foamie without the a/c come jun/jul or beyond.

[GPW]

Like living in an ice chest ... All that insulation won't keep you cool or warm , just keeps the cool or warm inside ... AC time ... Even with the tiniest AC, you should be able to get comfortable ...

Looks like FUN Eagle ... glad you had a good time ... Great shelf mod !!!

[eaglesdare]

oh you are right, it does not take too much to be comfortable inside. especially my sized one. the fan worked good for now, but the night time temps were cooler.
now come that jun/july and beyond when the temps at night don't drop down, that will just be miserable inside.

i am thinking about getting mesh for the doors, so i can keep both sides open, that might allow a breeze (if there is a breeze).
i do have an a/c i got a few yrs back for (you'll like this one bear) $25 from sears.
i was looking for an a/c that i could take for the tent. the salesman said it would never work for a tent. i have used it a few times in there and it worked great. even used it in my house. so for 25bucks it wasn't bad. now to figure out how to rig it up in the tear.

my first thought: set it on my counter, and run a hose thru a hole in the bulkhead.
my second thought: don't have one yet.

oh and yes, you are right, this was the 3rd trip out. and i still have managed to not have to cross the nose bleed bridge.

[eaglesdare]

we have a scheduled trip in 3 more weeks. that will be number 4. that one will be further west in our state, heading towards shenadoah national park. we won't be staying inside the bear country park though. just outside. so lets just hope no bears decide to visit our sites.

[GPW]

$25 for an AC ... Well you're all set !!! Eagle , I gave the AC a lot of thought and decided the best place was up front (for me ) , the AC actually sitting on the floor (strong) ... no foam to reinforce to hold that weight ... just a little framing around the new opening , more fabric and perhaps some rubber door seals fixed to that .... And we'd need a cover for the AC when traveling , that or mount it as a "slide out " on drawer guides with a hatch cover (door)...
What do you think ???

Just an idea ...

[pat g]

Eagle,

thanks for the report. I'll let you know how my TD does as far as staying cool/warm. With my window that is capable of opening 75% of 20x30 opening, I think I'll be OK in most weather. Usually I end up camping by a river somewhere and rarely have I ever been too warm. Almost never have access to electric hook ups. My experience is that I normally slept in a van or my Suburban with little ventilation. I do plan to make a screen for my doorway just in case. In the cold Fall weather, The insulation value of the foam should hold in the body heat generated while sleeping. We shall see what the real world tests reveal. Stay tuned.

Pat

[GPW]

If you are blessed to live/camp in an area with low Humidity , (unlike here) then a small "swamp cooler" might be sufficient ... 12V computer fan , But you'd still need some Ice ... Might be good for a couple days if you brought your own ice from home ... like in frozen milk jugs (recycle/repurpose) Maybe make a swamp cooler from leftover foam ??? Just another Foamie' project..
Here (EXTREMELY Humid ) We need a small AC , with a drip tray and good Drain ... no way around that ...But then we mostly have AC all the time ... or find a place that does ...

[eaglesdare]

gpw, your placement looks good. i just don't want to cut into my canvas/foam. i don't want to worry about 1 more posible leakage point.

but i am likeing the idea of the slide in/out for an a/c. i could put that in my storage area. not worried about the support as that is my floor anyway. the floor will hold an a/c. and i only need a small hole cut into the bulkhead for the hose to run into. my only other concern is the water drippings that will come from the a/c. that is why i am thinking the slide out would be great. just slide it out and let it drip.

i thought about keeping my doors opened during the day, but i found that wasps liked to go in there. so i think i got them all out and closed the door.

[pat g]

GPW,

You are right. I do not camp in Louisiana! In 10 years of camping for boating, I have been miserably hot a handful of times. I like the swamp cooler idea.

Pat