The Tiny Tillson Teardrop Trailer (T4)

[saywhatthat]

maybe some type of sealer and not Johnson water sealer. Just something that can let it breathe or maybe a solar fan keep the air moving during the winter . a lot of the older trailers that come in have nothing on their floors are fine
Seems this Builder has an eye for detail so I'm sure he'll keep an eye on the floor to make sure gets no rot.

[BLTillson]

I would never leave raw (expensive and painstakingly crafted) lumber exposed to the horrors of miles of road abuse. All the breathing that needs to take place will happen inside the trailer with side events and a good ceiling fan. From what I have been told and have seen so far, the Flex Seal will do a fine job of protecting my investment.

[tony.latham]

I would never leave raw (expensive and painstakingly crafted) lumber exposed to the horrors of miles of road abuse.

Tony

[BLTillson]

Update time!

I have had a couple of good days to work on the project. So many of the details and planning processes continue when I don't have any tools in my hands (well, I guess the computer is a tool). Refining the building plans, working on the electrical schematics. This project has been challenging from the standpoint of all the skills I have needed to learn to accomplish success. OK, Picture time.

A milestone was reached when I was able to secure the sub-floor to the trailer.

Screwed Down 1.jpg (130.66 KiB) Viewed 1450 times

Screwed Down.jpg (117.35 KiB) Viewed 1450 times

Next was the insulation.

Insulation done.jpg (398.49 KiB) Viewed 1450 times

[Tom&Shelly]

This project has been challenging from the standpoint of all the skills I have needed to learn to accomplish success.

That described Shelly and me, and probably most of us, at the stage your build is in. Fun challenges though, no?

Looking great!

Tom

[BLTillson]

Much work has gone into electrical planning and is still being worked on. I have been buying equipment before it becomes too expensive or unavailable. I have purchased the power converter, solar panels and solar controller, power monitor, fuse box. I am still hunting for batteries (6v x2). I am also calculating all the wire sizes and what plugs, lugs and lights I need. This is a lot of detail work! 12v electrical systems are something I have little experience working on let alone designing.

Here is a link to the open source program I am using for creating the schematics. It is called Drawio This is pretty much free Microsoft Visio. https://github.com/jgraph/drawio-desktop/releases/tag/v16.5.1

Here is what I have so far:

2 Renogy Flexible Solar Panel 50 Watt 12 Volt Solar panels (100 Watts total)
Renogy 10 Amp 12V/24V PWM Negative Ground Solar Charge Controller
Blue Sea Systems ST Blade ATO/ATC Fuse Blocks
Powermax 110 Volt AC to 12 Volt DC Power Supply Converter Charger for Rv Pm3-45 (45 Amp)
Battery Monitor, DROK Amp Volt Power Watt Meter DC 0-300V 200A STN

Not the final version - If you see any huge errors, let me know.

Trailer Electrical 3-18.jpg (100.32 KiB) Viewed 1447 times

Electrical Parts

Electronics.jpg (123.79 KiB) Viewed 1447 times

NOTE: This was not the final electrical diagram. There are errors here so don't use this as an example. I have an electrical questions post that has more information in it. viewtopic.php?f=30&t=75418

[BLTillson]

This project has been challenging from the standpoint of all the skills I have needed to learn to accomplish success.

That described Shelly and me, and probably most of us, at the stage your build is in. Fun challenges though, no?

Looking great!

Tom

Oh yes! The challenges we inflict upon ourselves can cause great growth and great rewards. ...and fun!

[tony.latham]

Renogy 10 Amp 12V/24V PWM Negative Ground Solar Charge Controller...

You might check the manual, but I think you'll want to install a switch between the panels and the controller. My Renogy can be damaged by disconnecting the battery while the panels are making juice.

Tony

[BLTillson]

Renogy 10 Amp 12V/24V PWM Negative Ground Solar Charge Controller...

You might check the manual, but I think you'll want to install a switch between the panels and the controller. My Renogy can be damaged by disconnecting the battery while the panels are making juice.

Tony

Thanks Tony, I recently watched a video on the subject where that was suggested along with some fusing solutions. I am definitely going to have my schematics and build double and maybe triple checked before I turn the whole thing on.

[Graniterich]

Renogy 10 Amp 12V/24V PWM Negative Ground Solar Charge Controller...

You might check the manual, but I think you'll want to install a switch between the panels and the controller. My Renogy can be damaged by disconnecting the battery while the panels are making juice.

Tony

True of all the controllers I have seen!

Sent from my KFTRWI using Tapatalk

[Tom&Shelly]

I suggest you move the fuse from the charge selector switch to the right, so it's right in front of the battery. Physically that's where you want it as well, so that if the positive wire accidentally shorts to ground there is a fuse to protect the batteries. For lead acid (including sealed and AGM) a 30 amp fuse is appropriate. For the various lithium flavors, I don't know, but others here do.

You won't get 270 amps from the tow vehicle alternator with lead acid batteries. Less than 10 amps will be about right (it depends on the difference in voltage between the alternator and camper batteries). And, though others will disagree, about 10 gauge wire there is fine. (With the charge current you will get, the voltage drop with 10 gauge wire isn't enough more than larger wires to make it worth the problems of running that larger wire.)

Of course, if you want, you can make that part more complicated and run large wires from the alternator in the tow vehicle. To make that worth-while, you'd want to add a DC-DC converter to up the charge voltage at the batteries. The upside is that the charging will go a lot faster. (I do it the simple way, but we're okay with taking 5-6 hours to get our battery from 80% to 100% charged.)

Again, if using lithium batteries, that part gets more complicated and you'll need some more electronics for charging from the tow vehicle to limit the current so you don't blow up the alternator.

Tom

[BLTillson]

I suggest you move the fuse from the charge selector switch to the right, so it's right in front of the battery. Physically that's where you want it as well, so that if the positive wire accidentally shorts to ground there is a fuse to protect the batteries. For lead acid (including sealed and AGM) a 30 amp fuse is appropriate. For the various lithium flavors, I don't know, but others here do.

You won't get 270 amps from the tow vehicle alternator with lead acid batteries. Less than 10 amps will be about right (it depends on the difference in voltage between the alternator and camper batteries). And, though others will disagree, about 10 gauge wire there is fine. (With the charge current you will get, the voltage drop with 10 gauge wire isn't enough more than larger wires to make it worth the problems of running that larger wire.)

Of course, if you want, you can make that part more complicated and run large wires from the alternator in the tow vehicle. To make that worth-while, you'd want to add a DC-DC converter to up the charge voltage at the batteries. The upside is that the charging will go a lot faster. (I do it the simple way, but we're okay with taking 5-6 hours to get our battery from 80% to 100% charged.)

Again, if using lithium batteries, that part gets more complicated and you'll need some more electronics for charging from the tow vehicle to limit the current so you don't blow up the alternator.

Tom

Thank you for all of that. This has been a challenge working on 12v RV electrical systems. Its a bunch to learn and apply. My retired brain just is not as sharp as it used to be. All the help is greatly appreciated.

I will look though your suggestions when I am in planning mode and consider applying them to my design. That 270 A from the alternator was a typo and has been removed. That's a bit high! I will be using two 6v AGM batteries. I am researching them now to get the best price I can before the economy tanks any further.

[BLTillson]

Greetings all, Merry Christmas and a happy and blessed new year.

As I know many of us have discovered, building a teardrop trailer is a labor of love. When heath issues halted my progress nine months ago I began to doubt my ability to work on the project at all and the hopes of completing it were dwindling. I am happy to report that the drive to finish the project has helped me overcome the some of the physical issues and I have as of this month begun work again. I am not working at my original pace but I am plugging along. I am now pressed with a deadline since we will be moving from southern California back to our home in Oregon in 4 months. So, now I am up against a deadline! I am going to be paying someone to provide some carpentry help since there is not skilled free labor available, (AKA, family or church members). So I plug on, lots of Ibupropine, water and breaks. Measure three times, cut once.

Now, on to the progress:

This was the state of the project for the past nine months.

Abandoned project.jpg (208.84 KiB) Viewed 1245 times

I had run into issues with the trailer not being consistent in its measurements on both sides. It started its life out as a custom built motorcycle trailer. The builder did a solid construction job but exacting accuracy was not needed for his application. As I showed in earlier posts, I had to learn to weld and make several adjustments. I still did not get everything perfect and have had to work around that in my better skill set with wood.

First thing I needed to do was get the fender wells fixed.

Wheel Well fix.jpg (274.85 KiB) Viewed 1245 times

Final fit for the fenders and the fender boxes (as we call them)

Final Fender Fit.jpg (213.09 KiB) Viewed 1245 times

It's very exciting to be working on it again.

[BLTillson]

The next decision was regarding doors. I was going to custom build them, however, given my new time constraints, physical and mental limitations and fear of the unknown, I opted to buy doors.
I bought them from this seller on Ebay: https://www.ebay.com/str/rvoutlet

New doors.

Entry Door.jpg (223.37 KiB) Viewed 1245 times

This meant that I had to modify my Sketchup drawing to accommodate the new doors. I did lose some of the cute roundness for a square look but I saved many hours and the possibility of fighting with malfitting doors.

Drawing modifications were needed.

New Door Design.png (345.88 KiB) Viewed 1245 times

And then a very fun thing happened; I started building the first wall. There was a lot of other work to do but this seemed like a great motivator.

Fitst wall Front.jpg (231.62 KiB) Viewed 1245 times

I have also spent many more hours working on the Sketchup plans on the water system as well as getting the electrical in place. I will post more on those as I work on them. The difficult part has been the steady rise in the cost of everything. Unfortunately I am having to spend way more on parts now that if I had purchased them back at the beginning of the year. Not much I can do now but just move forward.

[BLTillson]

I have a question. I am looking for a solution to a trimming need. This is a detail of my fenders where the wall meets them. The inside of the fenders will be covered in .040 Aluminum. The outer skin will be 1/4" plywood with poor man's fiberglass (PMF). I need a trim solution for this edge that will mostly protect the bottom edge of the plywood and better seal between the trailer wall and the fender.

What kind of trim.png (205.92 KiB) Viewed 1245 times

Thank you in advance.