Karebru's 7x16 Build Log

[foxontherun]

Good afternoon,
How is your AC setup working out? Anything you would change/do differently?

Thanks,
Harry

[Karebru]

Good afternoon,
How is your AC setup working out? Anything you would change/do differently?

Thanks,
Harry

We haven't spent the night in the camper yet, and I still need to install baffles to divide the intake from the exhaust, inside the shroud.
After working in the trailer this weekend, I closed it up and ran the AC for a few hours with the exhaust grill removed again.

7'x16' plus V-nose x 6' 6", insulated walls and roof
5,000 BTU AC
Air temp. 97 F... Yeah, it's been hot.
Humidity... It's Florida
Partial shade/partial direct sun

When I opened it up again, it was 80 F inside.
My wife and I both like it warm. We will only really need the AC for sleeping, and we could actually live with 80. I'm also sure it will get cooler after the sun goes down. One thing though, the inside of a trailer is a small space. Just opening a door allows a huge exchange by volume, with outside air. I think an 8,000 BTU unit would work better by providing a shorter catch-up time. We'll try it like this, but I imagine the 5,000 will quickly be demoted to spare status.

So, she says to me today... "Good thing it has that big wheelchair ramp. We're gonna need it by the time it's finished."
After 40 years, I tell ya, I still get no respect!

[foxontherun]

Love the wheelchair ramp comment; can't wait to share it with my wife, she will agree. Our trailer has the ramp as well . Thanks for the update on your AC.
Harry

[Tas]

Good afternoon,
How is your AC setup working out? Anything you would change/do differently?

Thanks,
Harry

7'x16' plus V-nose x 6' 6", insulated walls and roof
5,000 BTU AC
Air temp. 97 F... Yeah, it's been hot.
Humidity... It's Florida
Partial shade/partial direct sun

When I opened it up again, it was 80 F inside.
My wife and I both like it warm. We will only really need the AC for sleeping, and we could actually live with 80. I'm also sure it will get cooler after the sun goes down. One thing though, the inside of a trailer is a small space. Just opening a door allows a huge exchange by volume, with outside air. I think an 8,000 BTU unit would work better by providing a shorter catch-up time. We'll try it like this, but I imagine the 5,000 will quickly be demoted to spare status.

So, she says to me today... "Good thing it has that big wheelchair ramp. We're gonna need it by the time it's finished."
After 40 years, I tell ya, I still get no respect!

I'm kind of surprised it only got down to 80 F. I would have thought it would be lower.

It's only been 20 years for me so I still will have no respect at 40. Just Great!

[Karebru]

I'm kind of surprised it only got down to 80 F. I would have thought it would be lower.

It's only been 20 years for me so I still will have no respect at 40. Just Great!

She's still here. So there must be SOME respect.

In fairness to the little air conditioner, it WAS hot AND humid. Also, The ramp had been down all day and it was facing west into the afternoon sun... The dark floor got way too hot for bare feet. There must have been an extreme amount of heat built up in the inside mass of the trailer when I closed it up.
All that, and the fact that I still haven't divided the heat exchange airflow inside the shroud... Come to think of it, I'm pretty impressed with the performance.

Back to milder weather camping... Way back when, I decided to go a different direction from my original plan for my rear door bug screen, but didn't know what I would end up doing.
This is my latest idea. I need to get prices from a few of the local canvas shops to see if it's do-able.
Thoughts?

[Karebru]

And a revision to the revision...
A little bit of privacy when the ramp's down.

[aggie79]

[Karebru]

This is an old picture but it shows a good example of an, "I wish I had."
I wish I had rounded that corner of the counter top to the left of the sink. It took a chunk out of my arm as I was going out the side door the other day.



Your skin gets pretty fragile by the time you're in your 60s, I've noticed.
It would take quite a bit to pull it out of there to rework it, and I'm too close to being finished to start going backwards...
If it proves to be a problem for us, I'll deal with it... down the road. (Pun intended.)

[foxontherun]

Been there done that; looks like the gremlin that lives with me has a cousin at your place . I'm always finding unexplained bruises and cuts, . Would something like this work as a fix?

https://www.lowes.com/pd/KidKusion-Corn ... lsrc=aw.ds

Harry

[Karebru]

Yes it would! Thanks for the lead.

[Karebru]

Had to scroll down a bit to get here, so I'll give it a bump.

I must be getting close because I've finally settled on how to do my bunk/dinette area.
My water tank is in a fixed location on the starboard side, so anything that folds up there won't gain me any floor space.
I've ordered material to do one of these guys over the top of it.
It will be just under standard queen size when expanded, and work as a couch when retracted.
I was thinking about hanging a fold down dining table on the port wall, but to keep it simple, I will probably just have a free standing folding table that I can drag outside if I want to.


(Not my picture)

One of my wife's clients sews, and she offered to make us curtains. The wife had the fabric, and I sacrificed an old pair of 501's for the loops.



This shows the frame that the rear door screen panel will snap to.
Also, the boxed in ramp lift mechanism. It's all removable in case it needs servicing, or needs to be adjusted after I add the weight of the flooring to the ramp.


Still missing a piece of baseboard there... I've got the rest of it all finished and trimmed out.
I need to take a few pictures.

Happy Friday. Thanks for lookin'.

[Karebru]

It ain't a camper until it has a place to sleep!
This was Saturday's project. It still needs skirt boards and real legs.
Two foam mattresses should be here in the next couple days. Each @ 30" x 74" x 6"
That makes it a short queen size. Which is fine for us, both being (barely) average height.

[flboy]

Looks great! As usual, exceptional craftsmanship.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

[Karebru]

Thanks, Don.
Here's the finished bed in the "couch" configuration. I ordered two, 6" mattresses. They sent one 6" and one 5". I'm impatiently waiting for the replacement.
And these guys want $15 an hour?



My Labor Day project was adding the PVC flooring to the ramp. I've been putting this off because I've been afraid of having to deal with adjusting the lift spring.
Once I removed the factory flip-out extension piece and it's hinge, the ramp became too light. I had to weigh it down to keep it from slamming shut.
However, adding the PVC and aluminum trim brought it right back where it needed to be.
Glad that's done.


That's the last of the raw wood to cover up.

[rjgimp]

Once I removed the factory flip-out extension piece and it's hinge, the ramp became too light. I had to weigh it down to keep it from slamming shut.

Aren't you able to adjust the spring tension?