First TTT Build- The Mobile Mango

[pchast]

HI,

I'm getting 'broken link' instead of electrical images....

Thanks,
Pete

[MadMango]

I'm getting 'broken link' instead of electrical images....

Everything is displaying for me, not sure how to fix it from my end.

[Dan242]

They work for me too

[pchast]

Must have been something weird yesterday. I see the images today.

[MadMango]

Through all the curse words and second guessing during this build, capturing this photo this morning makes it all worth while. Just camping out in the front yard and testing out the battery power, all three of us managed to get a good night's sleep. My son actually stayed in his drop-down bed the entire night. I will say that I wish I had gone for a 6" foam mattress instead of just a 4" one. As you can see, I still need to finish the interior.



Yesterday I managed to route my 6ga power cables from the battery in the tongue box to the rear kitchen area. I connected my inverter and mounted my 12v distribution block, and plugged two power strips into the inverter. Nothing blew-up and I had 120v from the inverter! Then I plugged in shore power and tested everything again, and no warm wires and still nothing blew-up. Today I hope to get the trailer wiring completed and working.

[MadMango]

Well I didn't get the trailer wiring started, but did get more interior and exterior stuff done.


I managed to mount and power both porch lights. They still have the incandescent light bulbs, but I'll replace with LEDs after these burn out. I'll find out how much light they actually give off once it gets darker tonight. If they don't give off enough light, I might replace with LEDs sooner.


I also managed to get my LED tail lights mounted, along with my license plate holder. This is actually for the front of a truck/Jeep to mount off road lights, but I think it works well as a handle for raising the hatch and as a step to reach the top should that need arise. I still need to add a license plate light and make a harness that follows the hatch back and down through the floor to the trailer frame.


Here I finally got around to installing my 3/16" ABS fenders. I heat formed these with a heat gun and pieces of wood, held in place with clamps. As another hobby I make custom Kydex holsters, and the same techniques worked here. It just took a lot more heat and time due to the thickness and these being too large to fit in my oven.


I also added a little bling, aluminum diamond 1"x4" trim, to the lower edge of the camper. I need to order more material and lay a bead of caulk around the fenders and edges of the trim to prevent water wicking.

[MadMango]

No pictures for this update.

I've mounted interior and galley 12V LED lights, blew-up a PWM controller for my fan (tried installing a reversible switch, but the fan didn't like something), and finished sealing all my nooks and crannies (that are obvious without rain) on the outside. I also managed to wire my hand-held pump wand for the sink and modify a 5gal container, so we now have running water. I struggled for a few hours (i.e. wasted) on the trailer wiring, only to discover that my receptacle on truck was bad. Seems the locking tab from the vehicle harness to the trailer port was broken, and that allowed for corrosion to form. After I tracked down a volt meter, I was able to see there was zero power at the 4 or 7 pin connector, and when I held the receptacle in-place, had power. Dealer wanted $78 for a replacement, found an OEM replacement on Amazon for $27. Pretty stoked about that.

I have a half-week for work, so hoping I can find time to work more on the interior finish. I'd like to get a curtain up for the stargazer window. When we test-slept in the trailer a couple of weekends ago, the almost full moon was right in my eyes, worse than a street light.

[jonb8]

Heck, you got it licked now, wish I was that far along.....Looks great

[MadMango]

Another pictureless update.

Sorry for the lack of activity, my father passed away on December 22nd, and that sort of took the wind out of my sails. We've been taking care of him for the past 3 years, and finally received hospice in-home care at the beginning of December, due to his COPD and dementia. We knew his time was close, but thought we had a few more months. It's one of those things you can expect, but are still not prepared for, no matter how much you think you are. He was 83, and a 20-year Air Force veteran, preceded by my mother in 1995.

On to the Mobile Mango build!

When I started this project, I was shooting for completion for a New Year's weekend camping trip. While the camper is "finished", it is not "done". I still need to do little things like curtains and finish the interior ceiling, but all wiring and plumbing are complete. I tested out the trailer wiring last night, everything works great. I wired for the standard 4-pin connector, but my lights will support the 7-pin round connector for reverse lights. I'll leave that as a future upgrade. I think I meet my goal, and the camper is very "campable" in it's current configuration. I'll get pictures to post of this weekends inaugural excursion.

Thanks for following along!

[KCStudly]

Sorry to hear of your loss. There is really no way to make yourself ready for the loss of a parent, or anyone close.

But as part of the healing process, good deal on making your goals and go have some fun... call it a tribute to dad.

[Iain Hall]

Sorry to hear about your loss my friend, I lost my mother under similar circumstances all I can say is that time is the great healer for such loss.

[captainj101]

Sorry for your loss MadMango, may he always have the wind at his back! (sailor term)

I see that you are in the South Central Florida area. If you are interested in epoxy, for decent prices, there is a place in Vero Beach that handles marine ply and their own version of epoxy along with West and System 3. The name is Boat Builder Central, the site attached: http://boatbuildercentral.com/products.php?cat=41

Be safe and have a Grand New Year!

Capt

[MadMango]

Thanks for the kind words KC, Iain, and Capt.

So, as desired, we were able to take the Mobile Mango out camping for New Year's weekend. We rolled into our camping area around 4pm on Friday and left around Noon on Sunday. We were able to boondock the entire time, and had no issues with electrical power. We were with about 6 other families, many of which had giant RVs, but all managed to wander over to gawk at our camper. Friday temps dropped into the the low 40's, and Saturday even was a nice mid-50's. We had a little condensation issue, but it was only the windows, the walls were dry. So all in all it was a great trip. A plus our creations have over traditional tents is I could barely hear any generators going during the night, they were muffled to the monocoque construction.

My wife has solid ideas for our kitchen area, and I discovered a few minor things I need to take care of. It was great camping when cold, and I can't wait to camp in the heat to discover other things I might have over looked.


So first off was the master of ceremonies, a 62lb pig in the fire pit for Saturday's dinner. It fed everyone with plenty of left overs for New Year's Day breakfast.


It was cooked to perfection, Cuban style.


Plenty of crispy skin to go around too, so I didn't feel bad eating the lion's share.


We had a nice level spot for our little camper... untill the fireworks started Saturday evening. They were lighting off some pretty impressive mortars about 30ft from our camper. We were all watching from the central bonfire that was about 75ft away. It was all very safe and well controlled.


My wife's coffee maker and single burner stove for bacon, what more does one need when camping? I'm seriously considering that Camp Chef stove/oven combo as a future upgrade.


We were snug as 2.5 bugs in a rug, with our 4 year old son sleeping above our feet. One the second night he had slid off and was hanging his legs over ours, almost a full stand, so I might have to build some rails to keep him in place. We sleep in a king bed at home, and worried a little that the full mattress in the camper would be too cramped, but even with our son sharing there was plenty of room as long as no one decided to flip around and change positions too much.

So yes, great weekend, and can't wait to go camping again! I hope 2017 holds a lot of joy and good times for everyone reading this.

[friz]

Nice! To quote Bill Murray. "I want to party with you, cowboy!" Trailer turned out great and that pig looks awesome.

Sent from my Altair 8800 using Tapatalk

[greygoos]

Well I didn't get the trailer wiring started, but did get more interior and exterior stuff done.


I managed to mount and power both porch lights. They still have the incandescent light bulbs, but I'll replace with LEDs after these burn out. I'll find out how much light they actually give off once it gets darker tonight. If they don't give off enough light, I might replace with LEDs sooner.


I also managed to get my LED tail lights mounted, along with my license plate holder. This is actually for the front of a truck/Jeep to mount off road lights, but I think it works well as a handle for raising the hatch and as a step to reach the top should that need arise. I still need to add a license plate light and make a harness that follows the hatch back and down through the floor to the trailer frame.


Here I finally got around to installing my 3/16" ABS fenders. I heat formed these with a heat gun and pieces of wood, held in place with clamps. As another hobby I make custom Kydex holsters, and the same techniques worked here. It just took a lot more heat and time due to the thickness and these being too large to fit in my oven.


I also added a little bling, aluminum diamond 1"x4" trim, to the lower edge of the camper. I need to order more material and lay a bead of caulk around the fenders and edges of the trim to prevent water wicking.

Can you point us in the right direction to a good source for the ABS