The Memorial F150 Craptor. A semi foamie camper shell camper

[RJ Howell]

I am honestly having trouble understanding the email from Chins as, well Chinese to Engiish loses a LOT in translation, but it looks like charging voltage ranges is 14.2 to 14.6 where the internals of the battery cut off voltage should it get an overvoltage situation. Between that and the dozens of reviews of this unit, it does not seem to be a danger to the battery, it just might not charge it properly.

Maybe PM me what you have. I'd like to get a close look at it. I also have a friend that can decipher a bit better of the BS no matter what language.. LOL

Test it out and let me know, please 14.2 at a charge value is good if it rests (yes all batteries rest) at 13.4 (preferred 13.6) it's good, again as I understand it.. My current 60ah battery (LiPo4) rests at 13.3 and runs the DC Frig 3 days (2.5 on really hot).. Not all run like we hope, yet I go amp in to amp out, I'm good with my little 60ah.
Well I say that and I'm building up 100ah system to integrate.

Oh ya, we play with ideas!

Love seeing what you're doing!

[dbhosttexas]

I am honestly having trouble understanding the email from Chins as, well Chinese to Engiish loses a LOT in translation, but it looks like charging voltage ranges is 14.2 to 14.6 where the internals of the battery cut off voltage should it get an overvoltage situation. Between that and the dozens of reviews of this unit, it does not seem to be a danger to the battery, it just might not charge it properly.

Maybe PM me what you have. I'd like to get a close look at it. I also have a friend that can decipher a bit better of the BS no matter what language.. LOL

Test it out and let me know, please 14.2 at a charge value is good if it rests (yes all batteries rest) at 13.4 (preferred 13.6) it's good, again as I understand it.. My current 60ah battery (LiPo4) rests at 13.3 and runs the DC Frig 3 days (2.5 on really hot).. Not all run like we hope, yet I go amp in to amp out, I'm good with my little 60ah.
Well I say that and I'm building up 100ah system to integrate.

Oh ya, we play with ideas!

Love seeing what you're doing!

I'll have to scan the owners manual / users guide as it is a paper however I found an online version that looks like the same data just formatted kind of screwy at https://manuals.plus/atem-power/vabg008 ... ger-manual

The voltages look right for sure.

I am probably going overkill with my setup. There are power absolute must haves that are...

#1. Power my 12v fridge, which I bought when my wife was still alive and we were planning on doing this together, so I got a 63qt, kind of big for just one person, but I will probably configure it to use as fridge and freezer during the summer months.
#2. My travel CPAP. This is non negotiable. No CPAP, no sleep, no sleep, bad things happen...
#3. Charge my laptop. This is where going high end is biting me in the butt. 100w charger is the smallest I could go with that would keep the laptop happy.
#4. Top off / recharge my USB things, so phone, camera, gimbal, auto tracker etc... Those charge total off of the alternator using a regular fast charger in 30 minutes of driving, pretty sure they won't hit the solar setup too hard.

I am not sure if I mentioned it above, but the electrical / solar setup at this point is a Dokio 300w solar suitcase, The AtemPower DC to DC charger and charge controller, a Chins 200 amp hour Lifepo4 battery and a Bestek 500w pure sine wave inverter. I need to see what my battery life is like on the laptop just playing back video, not doing heavy encoding and such...

I won't hit the battery all at once with this, and work laptop battery drain TBD... Just working with the data I have right now.

Getting very anxious and ready to get my truck back from the shop. It's a one man operation with a shop helper and I have not been able to get a hold of him since yesterday which concerns me. Not that I think he is doing anything shifty, just that his health isn't exactly wonderful. Going over that general direction tomorrow to do some BBQ, drink some beer and smoke some cigars with a friend of mine, probably drop by there. He was supposed to be doing my state inspection as well and I need to get him a copy of my proof of insurance...

The Trail Digger MTs will pass inspection, but at least the fronts are worn past where I would tolerate them. So they gotta come off, and the BFGoodrich's gotta go on...

I keep going back and forth about doing a flatbed conversion like yours, I need to get my head in under the truck bed and look around. It seems like there is a lot of dead space caused by the bodywork. I think with a flatbed layout I could do a much larger soalr / battery setup and MAYBE even be able to run AC...

[RJ Howell]

Numbers work! I just bought the 30a unit! Thank you for bringing it to my attention!

[dbhosttexas]

Numbers work! I just bought the 30a unit! Thank you for bringing it to my attention!

No problem. I have not tested mine, but on paper it looks right. Test yours soon so if it is non functional with your Lifepo4 you can return it. I am over the return period I am sure.

What size panels are you using? I went with 300w just becuse it was the biggest I could afford that would fit space wise. I mean I could fork over for a 1200w kit but need WAY more battery, and they would be rigid panels that need a LOT more roof than my camper shell provides etc...

I also need to find a compact 110v charger for the lifepo4 so I can charge off of my generator if I end up needing to...

Honestly, if you say you can run your DC fridge for 3+ days on a 60 amp hour battery, I don't see why my power needs aren't met for 3 days between drives or charges with my 200 amp hour battery...

[dbhosttexas]

Up early this morning, doing some volunteer work at the church for services this morning. I start my new job tomorrow so I got up kind of extra early so I can pull my sleep schedule back and insure I am going to be able to sleep early tonight.

I think I am going to go ahead and enclose the side of the electrical compartment between it and the side of the truck bed. I finally had a moment of brain snap that reminded me I am planning on stowing the hoses and water heater unit for the instant hot shower. I want a physical barrier between potentially wet and electrical.

I have been thinking of gear organization and fast access items like I want rapid access to my O2Cool battery powered fan, flashlights, toiletries bag etc... So I Have been looking for a cot organizer, and I was finding only half length units. Well I went to Cabelas while running some errands, and found that they offer one that is sold separately from the cot and they call it a cot side nightstand. The attachment points look to be where my camper shell clamps are so I should just be able to piggy back off of the clamp bolts to secure this.

And at least for this build, one last item. Help getting in and out of the back of the truck.

I am no 20 something, and considerably overweight. The truck is tall enough, and my legs short enough just sitting on the tailgate and swinging legs in is not an option. I need some sort of step. I know there goes some of the credit off of my man card. Oh well... I earned extra points though as the reason for mobility and weight issues from taking some seriously hard hits on the road when I was younger and bad meds from docs years ago...

Anyway, I have a household 2 step type step stool, which is great, except for on soft wet soil. The back legs form a U hoop and are no real problem. The front however are just pipes, and they even lost their end caps.

I have plenty of 2x2 left, and was thinking about measuring up those pipes and the distance between them. cutting out an appropriately longer segment of 2x2, and drilling 1" deep with a proper sized forstner bit to make a sort of load spreader for the stool. It would likely cause the back to tilt slightly but I don't think it would be problematic.

I have actually been looking for step stools with BOTH sides being hoop bases, but that doesn't appear to be a thing. The other option is a painters folding work platform, sort of a micro scaffold. Those are usually around 30"w X 12" d X 15"h. The 15" high I can manage and it will make tailgate access doable for me, but that leaves sinking into mud. I guess carry a piece or two of plywood to spread the load...

That is one huge drawback of truck shell, or just straight out truck campers is hard to get steps into them like with a regular RV... And step in height, especially on a lifted (mildly) 4x4 with larger tires makes entry / exit a bit mroe challenging. Oh I miss the days that wasn't a problem.

[RJ Howell]

Numbers work! I just bought the 30a unit! Thank you for bringing it to my attention!

No problem. I have not tested mine, but on paper it looks right. Test yours soon so if it is non functional with your Lifepo4 you can return it. I am over the return period I am sure.

What size panels are you using? I went with 300w just becuse it was the biggest I could afford that would fit space wise. I mean I could fork over for a 1200w kit but need WAY more battery, and they would be rigid panels that need a LOT more roof than my camper shell provides etc...

I also need to find a compact 110v charger for the lifepo4 so I can charge off of my generator if I end up needing to...

Honestly, if you say you can run your DC fridge for 3+ days on a 60 amp hour battery, I don't see why my power needs aren't met for 3 days between drives or charges with my 200 amp hour battery...

I only have 120w solar suitcase. It's just enough for my needs. Here in the Nor'east I'm more reliant on the DC/DC charging, but have put the panel out. Far too many trees around here to mount on the truck (and keep the angle) so suitcase was my choice.

Honestly, not so sure you need that generator unless your planning a weeks stay with no exploring.. I saw you went with the 20a unit, I did the 30a because it replaces everything I've used within a couple + hours (DC/DC wise). We stop so much as we move along that size fits nicely. My old 20a (now installed) is fine yet it just needs that much more driving to get me charged up.Should have the unit here later today and installed by mid next week. I'll post ya up once in and running.

I agree! That 200a LiFePo should be quite sufficient! Well unless that AC gets turned on. Something else I don't have to worry about and something I work very hard to avoid, camping in high heat! Blue Ridge surprised me as in it wasn't the heat that got to us, the humidity did us in! We drove to PA to get away from it!!

[dbhosttexas]

I honestly don't expect any requirement for the generator unless I'm having to run the air conditioner because of the main issue it issue is AC on solar will drain the battery so fast I won't be able to really use it. Having said that if I had 4 400 and power lifepo4 batteries and 1200 W of solar yeah I wouldn't have any qualm whatsoever of just leaving the generator out.

Unfortunately 80 amp charge controllers and DC to DC chargers are hard to get.

I wasn't thinking about the rate of charge from from DC to DC so much as I was trying to match the factory included charge controller that came with my 300 W solar suitcase.

I am probably going to cable from the battery to the DC to DC charger with 0 or maybe 2 gauge cable so I can easily upgraded to 40 amps or more if I want to. And it is entirely possible that I might just pick up one of the 40 amp models.

For the DC to DC charger connection it looks like I'm going to need 4 gauge wire to run from under the hood along the frame back to the camper. A total run of about 15 feet coming over across down and then backup.

Well 4ga wire is kind of expensive I found most jumper cable sets are made with 4 gauge wire though and a Cheap set of 20' 4 gauge jumper cables is actually a 3rd of the price of just bare wire so guess which way I'm gonna go...

I am just starting the new job after uh after losing my old one and it is in my wife be my wife so I can't really get away from Houston metro for a while anyway, and to keep what sanity I've got left I need some way of getting away from that house..

[bdosborn]

Well 4ga wire is kind of expensive I found most jumper cable sets are made with 4 gauge wire though and a Cheap set of 20' 4 gauge jumper cables is actually a 3rd of the price of just bare wire so guess which way I'm gonna go...

Take a look at how thick the insulation is when you cut the jumper cable, the Chinese ones are notorious for having super thick insulation and skinny wire. Jumper cables aren't like your father's jumper cable anymore.
Bruce

[dbhosttexas]

Well 4ga wire is kind of expensive I found most jumper cable sets are made with 4 gauge wire though and a Cheap set of 20' 4 gauge jumper cables is actually a 3rd of the price of just bare wire so guess which way I'm gonna go...

Take a look at how thick the insulation is when you cut the jumper cable, the Chinese ones are notorious for having super thick insulation and skinny wire. Jumper cables aren't like your father's jumper cable anymore.
Bruce

You are probably right.

Probably best off just going to Lowes, or Home Depot and getting some 4ga by the foot...

[RJ Howell]

Well 4ga wire is kind of expensive I found most jumper cable sets are made with 4 gauge wire though and a Cheap set of 20' 4 gauge jumper cables is actually a 3rd of the price of just bare wire so guess which way I'm gonna go...

Take a look at how thick the insulation is when you cut the jumper cable, the Chinese ones are notorious for having super thick insulation and skinny wire. Jumper cables aren't like your father's jumper cable anymore.
Bruce

You are probably right.

Probably best off just going to Lowes, or Home Depot and getting some 4ga by the foot...

Or to the next swap meet!

[dbhosttexas]

Well 4ga wire is kind of expensive I found most jumper cable sets are made with 4 gauge wire though and a Cheap set of 20' 4 gauge jumper cables is actually a 3rd of the price of just bare wire so guess which way I'm gonna go...

Take a look at how thick the insulation is when you cut the jumper cable, the Chinese ones are notorious for having super thick insulation and skinny wire. Jumper cables aren't like your father's jumper cable anymore.
Bruce

You are probably right.

Probably best off just going to Lowes, or Home Depot and getting some 4ga by the foot...

Or to the next swap meet!

Never seen bulk wire, particularly large diameter wire, for sale at the swap meet. I have seen all kinds of crazy stuff at the Swap Meet, just not wire like that.

I stumbled across a price drop, It's not a suitcase, but I came across a 600w solar panel, wire, and charge controller kit for just over $300.00 on Amazon today. I already have the 300w suitcase though, awfully tempting to double the charging. Honestly when I do end up building the foamie, I want to stuff 1200w on it, and enough battery to not worry about running a 5K BTU AC 24x7 if I have to.

[RJ Howell]

Never seen bulk wire, particularly large diameter wire, for sale at the swap meet. I have seen all kinds of crazy stuff at the Swap Meet, just not wire like that.

I stumbled across a price drop, It's not a suitcase, but I came across a 600w solar panel, wire, and charge controller kit for just over $300.00 on Amazon today. I already have the 300w suitcase though, awfully tempting to double the charging. Honestly when I do end up building the foamie, I want to stuff 1200w on it, and enough battery to not worry about running a 5K BTU AC 24x7 if I have to.

You buy that solar panel and you'll have more on your camper than I do on my garage!! LOL

[dbhosttexas]

Never seen bulk wire, particularly large diameter wire, for sale at the swap meet. I have seen all kinds of crazy stuff at the Swap Meet, just not wire like that.

I stumbled across a price drop, It's not a suitcase, but I came across a 600w solar panel, wire, and charge controller kit for just over $300.00 on Amazon today. I already have the 300w suitcase though, awfully tempting to double the charging. Honestly when I do end up building the foamie, I want to stuff 1200w on it, and enough battery to not worry about running a 5K BTU AC 24x7 if I have to.

You buy that solar panel and you'll have more on your camper than I do on my garage!! LOL

I haven't pulled the trigger yet there are absolutely no reviews on this setup set up but I'm pretty sure it's just generic Chinese panels and a generic Chinese controller the idea here is eventually I want to get to a setup that is self sustaining as far as all of my electrical needs including running an air conditioner again remember I'm traveling In the Gulf coast region where it is very hot and very humid even overnight so in order for me to sleep I need to have an air conditioning space

[dbhosttexas]

So here is the next dumb question, not relevant to the Memorial camper build but for the Project M style pop up. Need to come up with a project name for it, but I figure, lookinga at the Amazon product page at https://amzn.to/3DcNENu...

Each of the 4 300w semi flexible panels measures 46.5 x 21.3 x 0.11 inches.

I am figuring on a 10' long roof from the overcab all the way to the tailgate. Possibly 12' if I can figure out how to fully support my weight cantilevered over the cab in the sleeper. In some ways this might be easier to do if I made it a slide in instead of a shell type camper, but more on that later...

I should have WAY more than enough room on the roof for those 4 300w panels.

The same kit comes with 2 40amp charge controllers. This is where I start my head scratching.

I understand from a wiring perspective, why you might want to go with 2 40s instead of a single 80, and at this point output off this battery REALLY needs to go through an RV breaker panel.

Anyway, I have no clue how to wire this to a battery bank, and doubtless with this much incoming power, I will need a lot more power storage, effectively going with say 3 more of the Chins 200 amp hour Lifepo4 batteries. Yes that is an awful lot of electricity, but look at it this way.

Charge USB for phone, cameras, gimbals, weather radio and tablet. Yes I still have a stand alone emergency / weather radio... I know old school.
Plenty of power for my gaming laptop. 100w usb C power supply is what feeds it.
Fridge
5K BTU Window unit AC should I need to run it overnight, which I would here in TX....
CPAP, that runs overnight.
Cell booster
Furnace fan if I decide to put a small propane, or more likely Diesel heater furnace in the camper
Water pump / hot water heater.

The BIGGEST draw worry I have honestly is the AC.

I REALLY want to go camping / fishing in the summer in the south, mostly an excuse to get out and about.

I need to feel out how they do things, but I might end up actually taking leave time and, well not snow birding, but more like reverse of that whatever you call it, but I may end up taking leave in the summer to get out of TX when it is unbearably hot...

Anyway, I digress badly. This is not where we are yet. For now I slide the AC into a tailgate block off plate thing that allows me to adapt the AC to the truck bed, and power it with either shore power, or the small generator. The particular AC was chosen because of its ability to be powered by a 1KW inverter generator...

IF the mechanic is good to his word, and we will see, pickup for my truck will be tomorrow. He was given instruction to be VERY thorough and let me know if the truck needed anything else, any rude surprises while he was in there. Flat out that my plan is to leave his shop, go to the house, get the BFGs go to the tire shop that does my installs for me mount and balance the BFGs and see if they want to buy my pull offs, 3 of them are good at least... And 35x12.50/17 used tires are next to impossible to find... but once done, and the business at the tax office is done, I want the confidence in his work, and the inspection / quality of parts that I should be able to turn the key, and head straight to Alaska with no issues.

Of course I need to finish the camper install. So yeah, gotta get that bedrug in there, install the bed / electrical cabinet, and then wire up the connections, test it all out, and maybe, just maybe even run the connections to the alternator. Route the 12V outlet for the back seat into place, install the fridge, throw in the mattress, load up the gear, put on the bedding, Install the giantly over thick gasket that will seat the hatch to the tailgate, install some weather stripping to seal the tailgate so I don't fill the bed of the truck with dust and sand, and then fill it up with gas and go...

Oh, get a good measurment at the top of the camper shell. I need to find parking near my office that has enough height, OR make sure I work remotely on Fridays consistently so I can head out immediately after work and just go...

I want her pic in there somewhere. and this might sound dumb. But I have seen those pillow cases made where they print a photo on them. Probably going to do that and put the pillow in the passenger seat. I know sounds stupid, but I want her along for the trips...

I need to figure out a good basic roadside tool kit, and make sure I have it with me as well... Probably source most of that stuff up at Harbor Freight.

[dbhosttexas]

So not gonna happen anytime soon, but here is the overkill deluxe 12v system. Think gee I just won the Powerball what now kind of money situation...

Given the dimensions I listed in my last post per panel, mounting up 1200w of solar easy peasy not a problem.

Get that IN to the camper via most likely a pair of, not sure what those roof penetrations for solar are called, but, you folks should know what I am talking about. Need to figure out some protective sheath for the wires as they will have to flex right along with the canvas as the roof is raised and lowered...

Get the wires down to a control cabinet / closet. where according to the MFG after I had to ask, you would wire them in parallel to the battery bank, or in this case, a positive, and a negative bus bar. So first lug on the hot, and last lug on the ground should be shared by the 40 amp charge controllers. This will be permanently roof mounted, and unless I have no sun at all for days on end, no real need for DC to DC charging, but have it anyway as a failover. Go with a stand alone DC to DC charger at 40 amps.

Upgrade to a 3KW pure sine inverter, and wire it off of the first lug inboard of the charging circuit. At least ONE of the outlets should be run to a dedicated outlet box / extension at the AC, still planning on sticking with the 5K BTU, with the space, as long as I insulate properly that should actually be overkill. Remember solar panels are on the roof so they are taking the direct sunlight instead of the roof. Oh and roof would be coated with Tropicool anyway...

Again we are talking powerball stupid money here, but why not, 4 Chins 400 amp hour Lifepo4 batteries. Yep, 400 amp hours... Yowza! And in parallel so we have 1600 amp hours of reserve at 12v nominal. I do not believe I would need an external monitoring system as these particular batteries have the bluetooth monitoring and app built in... So just monitor on my phone...

Obviously I would need to figure out where in the camper remaining 110v outlets would need to be run to, but also the second lug from the main cable ends should be run run the 12v oulets and USB charging ports. No need for the voltometer versions but it is what i have right now...

Also wire in some house lighting, and a fantastic fan...

With the full camper build where I do not have to sleep in such a confined space, I will have plenty of room to house the 12V fridge in the camper instead of the cab of the truck too...

A guy can dream right?

Yeah I know, massive, and I mean MASSIVE overkill...