2013 Mirage XPO 6x12- Mt Air Express

[Rainier70]

Shadow Catcher, yes, I would have been ahead if they had left the panels off. Unfortunately because of time constants, I bought my trailer off of the lot instead of ordering one. When I looked at it I thought that they were screws and it would be no problem to remove and replace them. If I buy new again someday, I would order and also have the windows put in. I still would insulate it myself though.

Hankaye, you could heat something on the surface there, but I don't generally run it hot enough to fully boil anything or I would fry! I did use a piece of insulated 4 inch pipe through the wall. I debated on a 4 inch or 6 inch deck plate opening. It turns out that 4 inch was enough with the insulated double wall. I could still go to a 6 inch.

TnRiverLover, I don't use the stove on high. One of the reasons I got this stove was because of it's temperature range. The burner is completely adjustable from very low to roaring. I only use low and medium low. That is more than adequate for my 6 x 12. For a quick warm up I place an O2 fan to one side of it and run it on low to move the air around quicker.

I just got back from spending 4 days camping in it. Nights and mornings were in the low 20s to the upper teens. It was cold out, and I sure enjoyed having the warmth in the CT. I ran the stove on low at night and medium low in the morning. I was trying to take some of the chill off of the floor. Didn't happen. No matter how warm the rest was, the floor was still cold-- at least to me. I am going to investigate insulating the floor next.

[hankaye]

Rainier70, Howdy;

My 'Home' is a Keystone RV. The bottom is enclosed with a corrugated plastic sheet like these;
https://www.google.com/search?q=colorip ... x&tbm=shop
If you want to enclose the bottom of yours this would work.
Only a suggestion...

hank

[Rainier70]

The coroplast is nice stuff. I wish that there was a place to buy it closer to southeastern Idaho or northern Utah. I can buy a set of 10 sheets from HD, but it is more than I need. Did you use foam sheet insulation between the cross braces and then the coroplast on top of the braces? Glue the foam to the bottom of the plywood? Air space? How thick insulation?

What I was thinking of doing is to glue 2 in foam to the floor and then put frp panels right on top of it. The FRP is more expensive per sheet, but it is readily available. Three sheets of it are going to be just about as much as the pallet of 10 sheets of coroplast. I wonder which would work better? If I got the coroplast, would it work for the ceiling too? hmmm

[hankaye]

Rainier70, Howdy;

The coroplast is nice stuff. I wish that there was a place to buy it closer to southeastern Idaho or northern Utah. I can buy a set of 10 sheets from HD, but it is more than I need. Did you use foam sheet insulation between the cross braces and then the coroplast on top of the braces? Glue the foam to the bottom of the plywood? Air space? How thick insulation?

What I was thinking of doing is to glue 2 in foam to the floor and then put frp panels right on top of it. The FRP is more expensive per sheet, but it is readily available. Three sheets of it are going to be just about as much as the pallet of 10 sheets of coroplast. I wonder which would work better? If I got the coroplast, would it work for the ceiling too? hmmm

I wish I had answers for your questions. This and most every RV that Keystone (laughingly assembles), sells has the stuff under it.
Try asking around some sign shops or local RV repair shops . This is the same stuff that the annoying yard signs are made from. I have zero
idea what Keystone has placed up inside of the coroplast. They claim it's insulated ...but ... I kinda doubt it. When Keystone installed it they
used self-tapping cap-screws with washers (7/16ths. I think), to hold it in place.
As I said earlier, I was only suggesting the use of it. It is sturdy and holds-up really well for this use.

hank

[Rainier70]

I camped on a high mountain stream here in Idaho for 4 days Nov 8-11.


Day time weather was good, but crisp. Nighttime weather started at about 5 pm and got really crisp! I am guessing that night time temp was in the low 20s to high teens. I ran my stove from about 5pm to around 10am every night. It worked like a champ! I kept it on very low at night and then turned it up just a little bit from about 6am to 10. I think I used between 7 to 12 pounds of propane out of a 20 pound tank. Not too bad for about 51 hours of run time.

The one thing that I did find was that while using the shorter vent cap the strong wind gusts would affect the stoves flame. Not a lot, but enough that I noticed it flickering.



The other thing was that if the wind was in the right direction I would get some vent gases come in when I opened the door. That probably wouldn't be bothersome for anyone except me. I still had the elbow and pipe extension with me that I had originally planned on putting on the outside vent. I just thought that the cap alone looked better. I put them on and it solved both of the vent issues. I could use just the end cap on calm nights or extend the pipe up, both are easy to slide into place.

The pipe extension looks much taller than it really is. The cap is just a little higher than the center curve of my roof.
Edit: I have since changed this stove pipe configuration. The changes I made are on pages 8,12, and 13 later in my build. Page 13 details some of how my stove is installed and safety measures. Works great now even in gale wind conditions.



Either way the stove works very well and kept me comfortable in some very chilly temperatures.

I tried to take a picture of the sunset from my doorway, but it was a little too dark and the colors didn't come out as I would have liked.



It was a great trip for mid November in Idaho!

[hankaye]

Rainier70, Howdy;

Nice write-up. Happy to see that you had the extension to allow the chimney to
vent properly. One reason you see most home chimneys built to set above the
roof line is so that the wind won't effect the draft, except in a positive manner.

hank

[Rainier70]

Yeah, that is why I already had the pipe and elbow. I just wasn't sure if it could vent straight out the side in all conditions. It did work well with little or no wind, but wind is pretty much a constant here! The amount it was affecting the flame wasn't nearly the problem for me as the vent's close proximity to the door. I knew that might be an issue too, but is about the only place I had open to put the stove.

This was really a minor issue. I still am delighted with the stove and how warm it kept my CT. Except the floor....insulating it is still on the menu.

[hankaye]

Rainier70, Howdy;

Buy some of those runner rugs at Wally-World.
Helps keep the feets warm.

hank

[MtnDon]

I find interesting the way folks handle the challenges. Which brings up my question. Would you not be ahead by asking that interior plywood not be attached just loaded in or left off entirely? A) you would see the bones, B) you would not have to deal with screwball fasteners, C) they would have to do the job of paint etc, of the ribs.

I realized I had not read the beginning pages of this nice project so just did.

The above quote caught my eye, I was told by 2 different builders that the interior plywood could not be left off. It had to be installed as it was actually needed for structural rigidity. It serves a similar function as the exterior wall sheathing that is used when building a home. And those are not towed around the roads. Seems reasonable to me.

I like the stove install with chimney. What is that exterior closure / plate / cover??

[BC Dave]

ah-ha! found it nice stove install and nice fishing trip; that trout was well fed (small head large body) what river did you catch him in?

[Rainier70]

MtDon, The plate in the wall for the stove pipe is a 4 inch marine deck plate purchased through Amazon, but I have also seen them at State Trailer Supply. I don't remember if this was the Amazon store I used but here is one http://www.amazon.com/DECK-PLATE-Black- ... deck+plate

I also used a marine deck fuel port for the floor opening where I can either pass through the gas hose, or at home an extension cord for 110 ac. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000Y8 ... UTF8&psc=1

I like both of those ports as they are easy to open and also keep any dust etc out.

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

Rainier70

I just read that you can get season pass for skiing for only $229 in some smaller places
You could rent your trailer out as cheap lodging ?

It was a yahoo story of how the sport is becoming only for the rich ?

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/middle-class-getting-priced-ski-180000835.html

I might have to take up Idaho skiing in my 60's as long as the hills are pretty flat
$229 and free trailer lodging sounds affordable
I just need to map out beginner slopes.

[Rainier70]

MtDon,

You are correct about the interior sheathing being part of the structural integrity of the trailer. It acts as the diagonal bracing. If they had used real screws on mine, getting it off wouldn't have been an issue at all. The full paint on the ribs is no big deal. I think it would be nice on a sales-lot to be able to see what is behind the plywood. Maybe one panel left off on a model for show. Also if I had ordered, I could have requested screws in the panels as well as have them put in windows etc. ... I think I still would have liked to have the paneling up on the walls. That way I know it all fits right.

[AZ_Desert_Rat]

Hi Cindy,
It had been a while since I read your postings and went back through it. I have to thank you for the post you made on the nails that looked like screws! I read that article before I ordered mine and made the mfg put in writing that all panel attachments were screws! I even made them pull a couple "screws" before I took delivery of mine ... Thank you for the warning and a great thread

[Rainier70]

I went camping for several nights over the weekend of Apr 12th. My heater ran great except for some minor wind problems on one of the days. The wind was gusting at about 40+ mph, and it would blow out the flame if I had it on really low. I have a "high wind" cap on order so I hope it fixes that issue.

The main thing that I noticed was just how much cold was coming through the floor. It was pretty cold out at night, and I kept my heater going. It was about 65 deg in the camper when I got up and about in the teens or twenties outside. What I noticed was that where I had put my waders to drip over my shower pan the pool of water in it was frozen. A water bottle that I had left on the floor was partially frozen also. Both of those were frozen within 3 feet of the stove and when the temperature at 3 ft high was 65 deg. I know that I could put a fan on and stir the air a bit more, but it really shows me how much of a heat loss the uninsulated floor is.

I have since then started to insulate my floor. I am using 2in "pink" foam board. I am covering one side of the foam with the canvas-glue-paint coating that the foamie builds are using. I decided to try this method since I already had most of the supplies for it. I had to buy the Harbor Freight canvas at $15, but that was about it. The paints, glue, and etc are leftovers. If I had to buy everything, it would be getting close in cost to using the frp panels. It does take awhile though to glue and paint the canvas covers on.

Once the panels were dry, I put liquid nails on the back and then using screws and fender washers I put them up in between the ribs.

Edit: I used 2.5 inch screws. The fender washers hold the screw head out a bit, but there is just enough length to suck the foam panel up tight without going through the floor. I think my floor is 5/8ths.





So far I have put the four main panels in. I will be measuring the odd sized sections and doing them as the weather around here allows. Once all the panels are in I will be going around the edges etc with Great Stuff.

It will be interesting to see how well it holds up. But if there are problems then I can always just do plan B.... cover the bottom with the fiberglass reinforced panels.