dustboy's 6 x 12 conversion

[Glenlivet]

Me, I'd mount it high on the front and put a 20 pound tank on the tongue. The heater already matches the trailer exterior without the big box. Then it'd gravity feed your sink at least.

[dustboy]

Well, I had an unexpected free weekend, so me and my almost-3-year-old-helper got to doing some big work on the trailer.

Fortunately, Glenlivet reminded me that I needed a 20 lb propane tank on the tongue.


Doesn't look like much, but that tank ain't goin' nowhere.


Here's where the cabinet ended up. Yes, there is enough space to pull up the tank for exchange.


All the guts: Water heater up top, below left is accumulator and water pump. At right is solar charge controller, fuse box and battery at bottom.


The water heater is pushed up to the top of the cabinet, an oval 'B' vent from Lowes is cut and riveted into the top.


Gonna work on getting everything hooked up tomorrow. Need to move the water tank underneath the trailer floor.

[hankaye]

dustboy, Howdy;

What are your plans for all those holes in the cabinet
you have the water heater in ... won't the charge controller mind?

hank

[dustboy]

Good eye Hank. The cabinet came with the holes, I thought since we have an enclosed space with a battery and an ignition source, the holes might be a good thing. But at highway speed the rain will be blowing right onto my gizmos. I plan to put my inverter in there too, so yeah.

[hankaye]

dustboy, Howdy;

you'll still need some ventilation for the battery, perhaps a vent
hose assembly after you seal up the rest?

hank

[dustboy]

Yeah, looking at the cabinet, it's never going to be very well sealed, so instead of trying to weatherproof it, I'll get one of those plastic electrical enclosures to put the gizmos inside. For now, it's fine. Here in CA it's not going to rain again for probably 3-4 months, even a mountain thunderstorm shouldn't be a problem.

Now, I do realize I've added about 150 lbs directly to the tongue. I'll move the spare tire somewhere behind the axle, if I need more I can locate the water tank a little further back. It always needed a bit more tongue weight anyhow.

[dustboy]

Added my 300w cheapo Radio Shack inverter (no need for more, we're "camping", remember?? ) Got everything all wired up. I'll dress out the wires after I get the plumbing done.

[Rainier70]

I think I would put the battery in a sealed box that you can run a vent to the outside. Probably no problem, but the vague possibility of hydrogen gas, propane gas, and an ignition source getting together makes me nervous.

Something like this:

http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/rv-c ... vented.htm

I'm not recommending the seller, it was just the first one I saw on Google for an example.

[dustboy]

I need to move the 21-gal Valterra fresh water tank somewhere under the floor.

I can fabricate the frame to hang it with, but since I'd like to spend minimal time under my trailer with a hot-slag-spewing welder, has anybody seen a really quick and dirty way to suspend a water tank?

[hankaye]

dustboy, Howdy;

One chunk of advise my Dad gave me long ago was,
"If ya have a question ... go ask an expert." In your case I'd
take a road trip to a local RV Repair shop and ask to see how
their tanks are hung. Some use brackets, some straps with chaffing
gear the truly high $ ones use magic ...

hank

[dustboy]

We got out for two nights at Union Reservoir near Bear Valley. Had the place to ourselves since it was weekdays.

Everyone slept surprisingly well, considering we had two adults, a 3 year old, a 2-month-old, and a dog in a 6x12 box. My 3-year old boy loves his new bunk above the galley.

The bunk above the galley for the youngsters. Baby still sleeps up front in the pack-n-play.


I had a few plumbing leaks. One was a crack in the poly tubing (guess that's why we use PEX??) and the other was at the connection coming out of the Eccotemp water heater. I tightened the hose clamp and the FIP barb, but it had already soaked my inverter and blown the fuse. The inverter had a few days to dry out, haven't checked if it's still shorted.

The answer to the wet electrics is to get a plastic enclosure. Something like this:


Here's the spaghetti and meatballs:


Plumbing and electrical routed to the underside, plus fresh water fill connector.


Okay, not the prettiest hose routing, but we were in a hurry to get out of town. Water tank now lives below the floor, that's it back there between the axles. It's suspended by three metal straps screwed to the crossmembers. I thought about welding up some brackets, but I didn't feel like hanging out under the trailer with hot slag flying around.

[hankaye]

dustboy, Howdy;

Nice job putting this CT together.
Especially like the tupperware cover for the voltmeter ...
Did you put something between the tank and the straps? If not ya might
want to think about doing so or the vibrations ay cause a hole to get rubbed
into the tank.
Some strips of inner tube would work well.

hank

[dustboy]

Yeah the tupperware cover..sometimes you gotta use what's handy!!

The water tank has a piece of 1/4" marine ply between it and the straps. The straps need some sturdier bolts through the crossmembers, but now that we have the hot water, we are thinking we need more water in case we want to shower..the 21-gal tank ran out just as we rinsed the last breakfast dish on the third day! I might add another 21-gal, or at least a 12-gal tank. Will we ever have enough water? Probably not, but neither will California!

[MtnDon]

What do you tow with? If a pickup do you have room for a tank in the bed. We have both a fifty and a one hundred gallon poly tank that we can carry if we are expecting to be places where good water may be hard to get.

[dustboy]

MtnDon, I tow with a Honda Ridgeline. I could put another 20 gallons of water in the bed, but more than that and we are pushing the GVWR with tongue weight and passengers. Could just hook it up to the filler port via white garden hose.

Beware, in certain parts of CA, you go boondocking with a 100 gal tank and the authorities might think you are watering some illegal crops.