Re: New TTT - The Boxcar - New Sliding Bed

[bdosborn]

Thanks Miriam!

Bruce

[canned o minimum]

Bruce,
As a "lover" of wood, but not a REAL carpenter, I jus read this WHOLE thread and can appreciate all yer hard work and attention to detail.
I rebuilt a TRASHED 2005 Little Guy 4 wide. I redid the entire interior in WOOD.
There is no galley as I use the TD fer VW shows and I display a lotta "stuff" in the trailer. So it is OPEN and you can see everything on the interior from the rear hatch.
I hope to build a TD sum day soon as I'm sellin this one to buy an Eriba Puck. I'm learnin that it takes a lot more than jus a few screws. I need to learn a lot about the glue and such fer the framin.
My hope is to build with wood and fiberglass to make it lite enough to tow with my 1965 VW Bug.
Mighty fine craftsmanship, sir !!!!

[bdosborn]

I finished the dinette table and Jean finished the cushions. I used table legs from Harbor Freight since the front cabinets wouldn't allow hanging the table from the wall (oops). I reversed the legs on the outside pair so we'd have more room to get in and out. Jean did a great job on the cushions, they came out really nice. Its hard to get a good picture inside but here's a couple of shots.





Just need to finish the shower stall and I'm about out of things to do
Bruce

[canned o minimum]

God forbid that you run outta things to do !!!! Heck, you'd HAVE to go campin then !! What a beauty ya got there !!!

[bdosborn]

God forbid that you run outta things to do !!!! Heck, you'd HAVE to go campin then !! What a beauty ya got there !!!

Thanks! I'm supposed to go next weekend so hopefully the weather will be better than it was this weekend - lots of rain.

Bruce

[mikeschn]

Bruce,

Do you have any problems with the ac access door leaking when driving in the rain?

Mike...

[bdosborn]

Mike,

No problem so far but I haven't driven through a lot of rain. I think having it right in the middle of the camper helps keep most of it out. It would be more of a problem if the door was out towards the sides as that's in the wind more.

Bruce

[mikeschn]

Mike,

No problem so far but I haven't driven through a lot of rain. I think having it right in the middle of the camper helps keep most of it out. It would be more of a problem if the door was out towards the sides as that's in the wind more.

Bruce

Thanks for that info Bruce...

The next question is: do you have a picture of the door open with the AC running? I found a real early construction photo, but nothing since then.

Also, how do you get air into the side intake vents? It looks like you have your cabinet right up along the sides?

Mike...

[bdosborn]

Mike,

The a/c is on slides so the exterior sides are out in the air.



The interior portion of the a/c only pulls air from the front.

We camped in the rain last week and I left the door sitting on top of the a/c:



It stayed pretty dry even though it was raining fairly hard. The wind wasn't blowing though. You need to make sure that you have some sort of catch to secure the a/c while in transit. Otherwise the a/c will try and come through the door when you stop. I used a marine cabin door hook.

Bruce

[mikeschn]

Ah, thanks for those pics. I didn't realize you pulled the AC out. Now it all makes sense.

I did something similar on the Escape Hatch... But it didn't seal well. I did have the sliding bolt to keep if from traveling when I hit the brakes!!!



Mike...

[bdosborn]

The last camping trip was a week long during a lot of cloudy weather. I noticed that the 220 watts of solar panels on the roof had a hard time keeping up when I was watching TV and the refrigerator was running. The solution -turn off the TV? No way, I added two more 90 watt solar panels! However, this time there was a twist (pun intended). The only area I had left on the roof was the poptop. It's already heavy so there was no way I could add traditional framed panels, I wouldn't be able to lift it. Enter eBay with a 90 watt, high efficiency, flexible solar panel that only weighs 4 pounds.



The panel is 19% efficient, which is quite a bit higher than my nicest panel, a KD135 Kyocera (which I think is around 14%). It's set up for charging a 12V system so a traditional PWM controller can be used. The panel voltage is compatible with the existing panels at 17.6 Vmp so I could run all the panels in parallel if it made sense to do so. I had a Sunsaver 10 left over from the last system upgrade so I'm using it to control the new panels. The two existing panels are being controlled by a Sunsaver MPPT but it's tapped out with the 220 watts already connected to it. I'm running the Sunsaver 10 in parallel with the Sunnsaver MPPT.



I attached the panels directly to the roof using 3M VHB 4941 tape. I cleaned the surfaces with isopropyl alcohol and used a roller on the tape to ensure a good bond, per the 3M instructions. I also made sure it was warmer than 60F when I attached them. I've tried to pry them off and they feel like they're attached pretty good. I hope so as it would suck if they blew off.



Since the panels are on the poptop, the routing of the wires from the panels to the battery was a challenge. I never thought I would be adding panels to the poptop when I was building so I didn't include any wiring provisions for future panels. I ended up connecting the new panels in parallel to a power pole connector at the edge of the roof. I made a removable jumper wire that connects the panels to the Sunsaver controller behind the refrigerator access panel. I'll have to connect the panels when I pop the top and remove the jumper for transit. I'm not very happy with the lump of connectors on the roof and I need to figure out something else. However, this works for testing, I'll figure out something tidier later.



The panels are very thin compared to the traditional panels on the roof, I'm hoping the won't be in the wind much at all. They're certainly a lot smaller than anything else I've bought to date. I tested one that was tilted to the sun and it was putting out 85 watts, which isn't bad for a 90 watt rated panel.



I rolled the trailer our today and the panels were putting out 6 amps. Not bad for panels laying flat and a charged battery. That puts my roof PV capacity at 400 watts. Add in another 140 watts of portable panels and I have a total of 540 watts. These new panels seem a little delicate, the composite surface scratches pretty easily. I don't think I would leave these in the sun all the time. Since the trailer is garaged most of the time I don't think it will be a problem. I'll need to be careful cleaning them to make sure I don't scratch them up. I keep saying I'm not going to buy any more panels but advancing technology keeps bringing out new products. Maybe I'll be buying solar paint for the trailer in the coming years...

Bruce

[S. Heisley]

Bruce,

Thanks for keeping us in the loop on your solar enhancements. You're keeping yourself pretty much on the upper edge of solar technology and posting what you find and do here helps bring everyone else up to speed, too. Good job!

[Lgboro]

Wish I had more play room on weight with my Jetta TDI so I could follow your lead but my tow weight is currently tapped out. Your info has helped myself and many of others on the forum with our builds and for that a big thank you. The additional panels should supplement and already awesome solar system.

[bdosborn]

I finally got a picture of all the solar panels in action. 400 watts baby!



we were charged by noon everyday with an average usage of 30 amp-hrs a night.

Bruce

[Lgboro]

Awesome!!!!!