Mark's Weekender-XL build

[KCStudly]

Good to hear. So long as you are diligent you shouldn't have any trouble.

[Gold5one]

Day 68,
I finished boxing in the wheel wells this morning, and totally cleaned out the inside for a trip to the scales- 15 miles each way.
About 3pm I left for the scales and was able to run 50-55 most of the way. I averaged a one mile stretch both ways. I saw 15 and 25mpg= an average of 20mpg at 50mph- obviously there was a grade or tail wind that gave me 25mpg- Real world, I suppose 17 mpg will be more realistic once the final build and gear weight is added in. I'm not sure if this is a good mpg number or not for an oversize build. I'm satisfied with the resulting weight. I was a little afraid that 3/8" plywood skin would be a lead anchor, but I think not.
I leaving the final outside detailing (stripes/logos) for later, after I have given it some thought.
leaving the scales

back home

rear DH window (for a 5000 btu A/C) and the vent fan.

[KCStudly]

So what was the weight?

[Gold5one]

somewhere between 700 and 900-- anyone venture a guess?

[Gold5one]

weight was 760 lbs- a pretty good number, I think, for an oversize build.
the hitched weight was 640 lbs= 120lbs tongue weight

[KCStudly]

Yeah, that surprises me a little. To be honest, I thought for sure you were headed for a much heavier build. I wonder how much completing the interior will add.

You will be done soon.

[Gold5one]

No galley saves weight.
I'm cutting down a 24" flat slab luan door for the counter- its very light. I will weight stuff as I go and when I get to 960lbs the hard decisions begin. I am shooting for 999 lbs ready to travel. I can shift heavy provisions from milk crates in the car to the pantry as I run out of Dinty Moore stew.

[Gold5one]

We had a storm come through and there was no sign of any water infiltration- I still have door seals to install.
Thank you all, for the encouraging comments. My neighbors were waving at me when I did a victory lap around the block..
we have 2 kinds of retirees here = doers and watchers . My doctor said the doers live 10 years longer. tntt is where doers have fun.

[Gold5one]

The low horizontal run of sidewall stud blocking acts as a plywood box beam to help support the walls. That is one engineering trick I applied from home construction. My build has no need of a wood framed sub floor , either.

[Gold5one]

I've been out of town for a couple weeks-
I have my battery now- it's and Odyssey PC925 330cca, 48 min reserve, 26lbs and rated for 400, 80% discharge cycles. I have 3, if I need to use two. As you can see they are very compact= it's a premium commercial grade battery.

[Gold5one]

I realized I will be doing a lot of boon docking, so decided to get a generator. It took a lot of research to locate one that should work- it's a Chinese clone of the 2 stroke Yamaha ET950 (it's made in China, too) just like the Harbor Freight models- the main difference is it has 100 watts more power and has an 8 amp 12vdc battery charging outlet. The engine is 71cc vs HF 63cc, so I am inclined to believe that it does have more power- and the gas tank is a little bigger at 1.2 gal-it was $89 on ebay w/free shipping. It is epa and carb approved. Right away, I saw that the pull cord is a lot bigger than the HF model pull cords, that are prone to breaking. The main thing is it has to run my 5000 btu A/C and I am 95% sure it will-- and also operate a 700 watt microwave (not at the same time)- that I'm not sure about.
While I was working out of town for 2 weeks, I thought about my 45lb 2.7cu ft refrigerator and am now going to take it out and just use an ice chest. I can keep the cooler's weight more centrally located when I travel, move it around and use it outside, too. Those mini fridge pounds can now be allocated to a generator. I went with a smaller and lighter premium deep cycle battery= saves me another 20lbs. I wanted more useable space under the end counter, too. My 15 yr old daughter has claimed that fridge for her room.
We had a lot of rain in the 2 weeks while I was gone and there were no leaks anywhere. I guess my roof is a good one.

[bc toys]

1st Let me say I like your build you put a lot of thought into it When you get done you will have a nice trailer to use
2nd I was always told its not good to set a battery on concrete that it will drain them fast (IS THIS A WISE TAIL)
3rd I like you gen think it will do what you want it to
and last keep up the good work

[KCStudly]

For short term periods, such as the the time it took to take a pic, it won't hurt a battery.

The wise tale stems from concerns that the moisture inherent in unsealed concrete could potentially complete a circuit (assuming the battery has been poorly maintained and has wetness on top and around its terminals), thus discharging.

For long term storage i am in the habit of placing a piece of wood between a battery and concrete, but who's to say the moisture in the wood wouldn't do the same? I suspect that it may have been more of an issue with the old tar sealed batteries than it is with modern plastics.

[Gold5one]

Thanks everyone for the feedback--
When I took the picture, these two batteries were - Dead- really dead, as in no volts at all. I got them that way for free- I guess they thought they were worthless as they couldn't get them to take a charge- I tried to use a dumb charger to see if they would take any charge at all and they did , after 3 hours of charging ( with breaks when the battery got warm) it went up to 11 volts. I checked it a day later, it had dropped to 6 volts- most likely, they had sulfated
They were manufactured in August, 2014 and somebody just ran them down and didn't notice the standby charger wasn't working. The third one had a slight case bulge, but it was 13 volts and seems to be OK.
Anyway, it took a Shumacher SSC-1500a charger to desulfate them, but it worked. The trick was to use my dumb charger to get the voltage up to 8-9 volts, so the smart charger knew it was connected to a 12 volt battery ( I could have hooked a good 12v battery in parallel, too). I quickly connected the 1500a charger and it took off- after few minutes the yellow charger light started blinking (desulfating mode) when it recognized sulfation. It only took 15 minutes for that part and the SSC-1500A went back to regular charge at the 10 amp rate. It went another 2 hours, then it stopped- bad bat- readout, 7 volts. I restarted the dumb charger and went through the process 3 more times and each time the battery got a little stronger. Finally, the sulfation was corrected and it took a full charge-
The second battery took more work, but it was recovered, too.
The final charge top off required my 20 year old Schauer 10 amp regulated charger. The problem was the computer controlled Schumacher charger wanted to go over 15 volts at the end for the last 10% and that is a no-no for an Odyssey battery, the dumb charger was at 14.8 volts when it got to the final 1amp rate.
added: after several days, the voltage is steady at 12.8 volts= a full charge for this type of battery.
Now I can correctly store them on my wooden workbench.

[Gold5one]

I did a short 30 minute run of the generator today and then I plugged in the 5000 btu A/C- it started right up with nary a hiccup. I checked the voltage with my kill-a-watt meter and it was 130 volts- So I tweaked to governor screw and got it down to 120-121 and 60 cycles. The power factor was 96%, which tells me the generator isn't overloaded. The only draw back I see, is the CARB/epa approved generator has no idle screw adjustment. That fixed idle & lean jet setting makes for a loopy idle. I can replace the carb with one off ebay for about $18- identical, except it has the idle/mixture adjustment screws. Maybe that will get better as it wears in.
I tried my garage refrigerator next- that really pulled it down, but it did start the compressor and run- 730 watts. The voltage was down to 119, still 60 cycles. I expect it to do better after it gets completely broken in.