Not exactly tiny... or trailer...

[Mr shorty]

but it will be our travel trailer... If I am in the wrong place, let me know.

I am trying to put together a toyhauler/camper and need some help with the electrical systems, does/don'ts and any suppliers would be very helpful.

We are going to be converting a uhaul 26' box truck.
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/ ... c660ebc786

[Juneaudave]

I don't think you are in the wrong place!!! We like this kind of stuff!!! Ya got to include lots of pictures and (I think) there are a lot of cross over ideas that we would welcome and offer!!!!
Whoo Hoo..another build!!!

[S. Heisley]

Go to the top of this website, in the "letterhead" area and click on 'sdtripper2's Index'. You'll find lots of help, ideas, and parts locations there. If you have questions, the people here are more than happy to share their knowledge and experiences with you as well.

Oh, and yes, they like to see lots of pictures of what you are doing. So, please post 'em whenever you can. They will reward you with kind words, advice, jokes, and the biggie: encouragement.

Happy Dreaming, Planning, and Building!

[edcasey]

Sounds like a great project. Can you give us some specifics about what your planning? Are you adding a propane system with appliances or maybe a water system? What questions do you have about your electrical system? Are you adding a converter, inverter,solar panels, air conditioner or generator? Just trying to get a better feel for your project.

It's certainly been done before:

[Mr shorty]

I read up on that build and a couple others over on Pirate4x4 BBT and that is where I got some of the ideas I am adding to mine.


I have a 5500 gen and plan on a roof top A/C, 24X32 stand up shower, dual propane tanks for stove top and water heater, fresh and gray tanks for certain, but everything else... not sure on.

I plan to try and keep all lighting LED for lower consumption. I would like to keep everything 12v as much as I can, but I realize that the A/C will have to be 120V. Converter/inverter... I have no idea. I truly have no idea about any of this, so IF I am planning on something that either not going to work or is costly mistake.


Most of the places we go have full showers and restrooms, so those are necessary, but would be nice to have a warm shower...

I have changed the 3d google drawings up a lot. I put the refrig where the shower was and moved the shower on the opposite wall to use the space better and have a whole kitchen together...
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/ ... revstart=0

[Mr shorty]

I forgot to mention, this is still in the dreaming/wishing stage and wont be bought until after my company gets through the strike which is the first part of April. So I am hoping to learn more about the electrical systems before that time comes. I am going to try and look into the "how to's" on here before buying anything...

[Mr shorty]

After doing a LOT of reading here and a couple other places, I think I am going to use a battery isolator to charge my battery bank from the truck alt. I will use an inverter to power up one of the two 120v circuits for the fridge when I am mobile. I will only have three 120v circuits, A/C, fridge, TV (and equipment). I am going to run the inside LED lights from my battery bank and will recharge as needed. The shore power cord will either plug into shore power or into my gen and power the circuits.


Will I miss having a converter for charging batts from the gen?

I changed the drawings again to fit the 24er uhaul boxes, I can get my hands on one cheaper and easier than the 26ers. In doing this, I lost my shower, so no need for the large water tanks.

What would be a good size for kitchen sink only, 20 gals?

[edcasey]

Sounds like you have been doing a lot of research. Are you planning to use a microwave? You might consider a separate circuit for that.

The converter is something I would recommend for a motorhome. I think your plan is to run more than one coach battery(you said battery bank) to run your lights and charge the batteries with your alternator through the isolator. Maybe I got that wrong? But by running a converter you would only need one battery (24 series deep cycle would be fine) and not have to worry about your battery going dead while on shore power or generator power. The cost of the converter would be partially off-set by only needing one battery, buying a smaller isolator and smaller 12 volt wires. Plus your battery will last longer if it isn't frequently discharged and recharged. Also, a diode type isolator will cause about a .5 voltage drop. So if you are trying to charge your battery bank by letting the engine idle and you combine the low alternator voltage output of an idling engine with the voltage drop of a diode type isolator, your batteries could take quite a while to charge sufficiently. This is the reason modern motorhomes use solenoid type isolators. If your not familiar with the difference here is a good explanation http://www.bcae1.com/battiso.htm. Ignore solenoid "B" and switch "B" as they are not needed for a motorhome charging system.
Also, you said your battery bank would just be used for lights. Latter on you might want to add a Fantastic fan or propane furnace that would draw your batteries down even quicker without a converter.
I've made some assumptions about your plans and the way you'll use your Uhaul so sorry if I was wrong.

[edcasey]

Oh ya...Did you see what the guys who own the Uhaul conversion I posted above did for their shower? I thought it was pretty creative. I guess it depends on where you camp as to how practical it is.

[Mr shorty]

I had not even thought about a microwave.... All of the trips we have made so far and look to make in the foreseeable future have been for less than 3 days, usually goes like, arrive mid-day set camp, night, day, night, day, night, morning load up and pull out. I figured after being plugged into a battery tender/charger while in storage and then charging while on the usual 6-14 hr drive the batts would be charged well enough to make a couple nights running LEDs.

I am going to buy the heating strip that goes into the roof top A/C unit and rely on that for the heating. We aren't extreme campers... if it gets that cold, I can load up and head home.

The wheeling spots we have camped at so far have had showers and restrooms relatively close to the RV hook ups and a short drive from the off grid camping. Around some of the jokers we wheel with, that outside shower would NOT work....

I am trying to learn everything I can before buying things I wont need or use. The warden of the wallet and I have discussed a few different ideas and she would like them to be able to watch TV while in route to the camp grounds, so I guess now an inverter is what is needed to temporarily provide 110v while unable to have shore power/gen running. What size inverter for a 32" LCD and DVD player? I am going to try tonight and draw up a diagram of what will be in my conversion to see if it even looks right on paper, muchless in RL.

Looking at the diagram of the solenoid, it appears to be the same continuous type as we used on the tow trucks I use to drive. That will be an easy and cheaper way to get the batts to charge from each other.


Thanks for the pics and comments!!! I have a few irons in the fire and this will only add more, house remodel, samurai complete tear down rebuild, engine swap in wife's sami, and conversion of uhaul...

I might have found a 26er in the DFW area for $3000 including TT&L... I will find out more on that deal tomorrow and might be heading up there to view the truck.

[bg]

I know of a church with a 26' uhaul for sale.

I have no idea what the price is, but the phone # for the church is (removed)

[Miriam C.]

Will definitely be watching this. Is there any reason a shower like the one above can't be inside and fold down out of the way. The shower pan can fold up also.



The electrical is indexed in Electrical Secrets. You can use plastic pvc to run wires that look good and not have to worry about them.

[brian_bp]

I noticed this comment on the Sketchup page:

Changed the design again... after putting a tape to the actual box of a 24er and found the wheelwell to get right in the way... imagine that.

I knew someone who converted a Hertz rent-a-truck to carry a competion car, and also had the internal wheelhousings in the way of the car. He built ramps which ran over the wheelhousings, and used the spaces under the ramps for storage... there was still lots of height for the car.

If the wheelhousings were in the way of something which cannot just be mounted higher (such as the door), that's another matter.

[Mr shorty]

Well, after lots of discussing with the warden of the wallet, she agreed this is the one we wanted. We were looking at a 24er in La Marque when we found a 26er in Dallas and I was leaving this morning to go look, when on a whim I called the Antoine location to check back on the 26ers, seems the last person I spoke with didn't have a clue as to what I wanted and told me they didn't have any available... truth being they had over 30 of the 26ers sitting waiting for sale and he said he would match the $3000 plus doc fee that Dallas had offered me.

http://www.uhaul.com/trucksales/truck_d ... ion=745039

All of the major parts of the truck have been recently replaced and after the test drive I found an oil leak so the salesman agreed to drop the price even further... I ended up giving $2549 with doc fee and and extra prize. They are going to bath her and get a fuel leak fixed for safety and I will go back on Thursday to drive it to a RV storage place I have picked out.


I was going to have to loose the shower in the 24er, but it fits with extra space in the 26er... As far as the wheel well, I am going to be building angle iron ramps leading up to and over them from the back door. I will also build a bump stop to keep me from driving too far in.

The cab cut through will be the first thing that gets installed with captains chairs up front, then sub floor structure will be built and then elec/plumbing, and then start insultaing and skinning everything... This should not be THAT bad. I hope....

[Mr shorty]

oh yeah, this is the extra prize I am getting them to throw in the deal...

I have a suzuki samurai 4x4 that we wheel and they are also called sami's...