M116A3 Build

[lfhoward]

Starting to look a little more like home.

Towel rack.


It folds out when needing to hang up towels. Actually it can hold towels above the heater so they can get nice and warm.


Clothes hooks for both sides.


They can fold out or lay flat against the wall.

[KCStudly]

Very nice. I like.

[lfhoward]

Thanks KC!

Little by little we make progress.

[S. Heisley]

Those look really good! Great idea!

Just think! If you are taking a sponge bath, you can have a heated towel to dry off with.

[lfhoward]

Got some Rock Tamers to protect the front of my trailer from stones and other debris that my lifted Jeep kicks up on the highway.

[lfhoward]

After a long pause in working on the trailer, I found some time to work on it today. I've not been able to finish the interior walls and ceiling because I didn't have all the wiring in place, specifically the wiring for the solar panel. Today I started to do something about that by installing the cable glands / wiring pass thru in the roof. I have been putting this off for quite a while because frankly drilling holes in my perfectly watertight roof made me nervous. But today I got up the courage to proceed, and tonight I have a watertight seal where the pass through attaches.

This is the pass thru with cable glands that I'm referencing above.


And the underside...


I used two layers of butyl tape to fill up the bottom grooves on the plastic housing and seemed to compress well against the roof.

In the process I also installed and ran my solar panel wiring through pre-drilled holes in the ceiling spars and front wall beams. Down in the compartment by the solar charge controller I wired a 35A switch into the + wire so that I will be able to turn off the solar panel's electrical current to the battery system if I need to.

The panel feet are next in line to install, and they will require more holes! But I think I have regained my confidence and it shouldn't be too much of an issue.



I am planning to use butyl tape under this as well, just like the edge moldings on my trailer. It seems to work well. I have 6 bolts with T-nuts in interior beams to hold this on (3 per side). If that's not enough I can always sink some screws into the beams as well.

For those of you who may be wondering why I am mounting my solar panel on the roof instead of making it portable and movable, here is why:

Non mounted Pros: Can move it periodically and so get maximum sun exposure throughout the day, and maximum charging. Cons: Takes up interior space when not deployed. Not bolted down so it could potentially "walk". Would worry it could be stolen, so would have to put it away if I am gone from camp during the day, so I wouldn't be charging the batteries.

Roof mounted Pros: Once bolted on, is pretty low maintenance. In order to increase sun exposure my mounting system can be manually tilted forward or back. If the trailer is parked in a north-south orientation, this can increase charging efficiency. More trouble to try and steal it because it is 7 feet in the air. I can be away from the trailer during the day and I don't have to put it away. Cons: not much charging possible if parked under trees. More wind resistance on the highway (although it is already like a brick towing a brick).

[lfhoward]

The solar panel was sitting on the roof today and cranking out free electricity: The panel sent low amps but at 40+ volts. The MPPT controller converted that into 7+ amps of charge at 14.5 volts (which slowed down to 1.2 amps at 13.5 volts as the battery bank reached full capacity). It's a good system. The battery was sitting at 12.9 volts after dark.

[noseoil]

Bingo! It's working & sounds like you will never have to worry about enough electricity now. Even on a cloudy day, our system charges well, not a lot, but enough to provide some juice. Since we seldom have clouds, it works all year for us & your system should do the same. Congratulations on the build!

[lfhoward]

Thanks Tim! I'll snap some photos of the panel once I finish mounting it. Right now it's setting on top waiting for me to get some spare time. I am thinking that my on-board battery charger isn't going to get as much use anymore!

[lfhoward]

Think we have a leak...



The edge molding is pushed out 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch and you can see where the Sikaflex caulk has pulled away.

Next big rain is Friday... Got some repair to do!

[S. Heisley]

Hope you can find the leak and get it fixed in time!

[lfhoward]

:cry: Hope you can find the leak and get it fixed in time!

Me too!! I have an hour or two tomorrow afternoon I can devote. I plan to screw the edge molding on a little tighter (squishing the butyl tape a bit more). I'll also remove old caulk and clean out that seam on the side and squirt a mess of new Sikaflex in there.

Since once a tube of Sikaflex is opened it has to be used within a day or it goes bad, I might also do some other stuff, like:
- Install my aluminum vent shades over the side windows
- Put an extra layer of protection on key seams
- Remove all skin screws, shoot Sikaflex in holes, reinstall screws
- Install solar panel feet on roof, finishing my solar panel installation

BTW, my solar panel has been up on the roof for several weeks now, and the trailer is officially off the grid. I can run the fantastic fan all night and it charges the batteries back up to 100% during the day. (Been doing a little driveway camping to see.)

[KCStudly]

Leaks? Drats, that is never good news!

So what caused the panel to move away from the trim (or vice versa)?

Did the panel get pushed away from the trim or did the trim grow thermally (with ends butted hard) and buckle out?

I would look to solve the mechanical issue before just slathering more caulk on it.

[lfhoward]

There was water under the aluminum skin, which made its way into the end grain of the plywood, causing it to swell. (The plywood, including end grain, had been previously sealed with spar urethane.) When I removed screws at the bottom of the wall, water poured out. I worked as much out as I could using physical pressure on the skin, then put rolled up bits of blue shop towel into the screw holes to wick out the rest. I kept replacing the paper towel bits until they stayed dry. After about an hour of evaporative wicking using the paper towels, I removed them to let the holes air dry for another hour. After that, thinking 98.7% of the water was out (but yes still probably damp under the skin), I torqued down the edge moldings to get more pressure on the butyl tape, then removed old caulk from the sides of the edge molding, cleaned the surface with alcohol, and reinstalled caulk (more liberally than before). I also shot Sikaflex caulk into the screw holes and reinstalled the screws. This same process of waterproofing the screws and reinforcing caulked seams should be done everywhere, but that will have to wait until the weekend. 1-2" of rain begins tonight after midnight.

[huntsonora]

This build is just right! I'm considering doing something similar but I'd need to make it a miniature toy hauler so I'd need the roof high enough and the rear door big enough to get my 450 Kodiak into it