1986 Boler Upgraded

[Markz]

To celebrate, we decided to throw a Boler Camp Party by inviting a bunch of friends over. Now we are down to 80% power.

[Markz]

To keep our party goers comfortable we installed a 120v box fan in our pop-up to keep things cool while keeping the bugs off our buffet.

[Markz]

The Party was a power haug. We are at 70% capacity. Two days of camping to go...

[Cotton]

neat!

[Markz]

But the food was amazing...Attachment 147204Attachment 147205

[Markz]

My conclusions so far: running the ICECO on batteries should last 4 days without solar. Solar likely extends that indefinitely.

We can however run the induction stove or microwave a couple times a day because we complete using them in minutes at a time. Air-conditioning, on the other hand, uses a tremendous amount of power and requires a much longer run time to be effective. For the 6000btu AC to be sustainable, we would require another 4 panels given our site and the available sun light. Despite having 400w of panels, in full sun, we're getting under 240w for a couple of hours. Especially not enough to replenish our 278ah battery bank after yesterday's party.

The site we picked had plenty of shade while providing too much shade at the same time. We had a difficult time finding and maintaining the sunny spots on the panels. While hiking, we found a camp site with unobstructed southern sky and a lean-to big enough to park the Boler inside. Going to try it out on the next trip.

When we woke up this morning our battery bank was down to 60%. We ran the ICECO, fantastic-vent, recharged our cell-phones and ran fans for the LP refrigerator all night.
With an overcast day we were able to get the battery bank back up to 71%.

I have stopped using the LP refrigerator because it wasn't cooling properly. Now I'm looking into pulling the refrigerator out, again, to work on the propane side. I hope the 120v and 12v still remains fixed. At-least turning off those two refrigerator fans will probably help extend our available battery power.

Its gonna rain soon, so cooling off will not be an issue any further. We have already began to pack the things we rather not get wet. I am still hoping to get a few extra watts out of the solar before I finally pack them up for the rest of the trip.


P.S. As soon as I sent this post it began raining...

[Markz]

I'm happy to hear the new water system was appreciated by my wife.

I converted a 5 gallon Carlisle beverage dispenser by removing the original plastic tap and replacing it with a Solid Brass Rain Barrel Spigot. I have a 8 inch hose, Camco water filter and a 1 foot hose running to the camper's water inlet. The inlet is piped directly into our Flowjet water pump which is piped to our water heater and sink faucet.
By running the water pump inline to the ity water inlet, we can use either hooked-up city water or use the pump to suck water into the camper.
This allows us to use the beverage container as an insolated water holding tank, but it also makes winterizing the camper quite easy. I can just as easily pour some antifreeze into a bucket and suck it into the water system for winter use.

The custom 30amp power cord you see in the picture serves to jump the inverter to the shore power inlet. I decided against using a transfer switch to keep it simple and foolproof. No one can ever simultaneously connect the camper to shore power and our inverter power. Its one or the other. Plus it gave me an excuse to install a second external 120v power outlet. I made the power cord out of an old cloths dryer cord I had lying around.

[Markz]

UFO sighting:

[Markz]

I don't like to think it, but it has become time to winterize our baby.

I use our in-line water pump to flush the system with a switch.

[ACHINBAC]

Up to your old tricks again I see Mark! More quality work from a Crafty Guy! Hoping to see you & the Crew @ the 23' Spring Fling to review all......Jackie & I wrapped the season @ Little River State Park Vt. 9/26 thru 10/5 - Great ol' school campground on a beautiful uninhabited lake (not a single house on it) with some epic views >>[

[ACHINBAC]

Got down in the 30s a few nights but had plenty of fire power on deck + some little 3000btu radiant heaters that work mint for spot heating (zoom in on the night pic to see them) Am working on a small project for the Scamp I know you'll appreciate & will upload it this winter > in the meantime am spending time rehabbing the front of our house before the weather shuts me down..Keep up the Good Fight Mark, and say hi to the Bride & the little ones for us!
Dave & Jackie

[Markz]

READY FOR WINTER CAMPING

Finally completed the install of the Propex HS2200 heater.

Ran into error (4) codes for a day but came to understand the length of the exhaust tube is instrumental to it running properly.

I now have the exhaust providing supplental heat to the battery/propane box.

Looking forward to it snowing. [emoji3]
Attachment 147851

[ACHINBAC]

Mark, I didn't see your PM til today, but would have advised what you found...Couple tips for you; I installed stainless screens over the intake and exhaust to keep the critters out, but beware the exhaust screen can ice up in the winter in extreme cold if your line is long (which cools the flow).....directing the exhaust line into your front box will be problematic > the warmth will enhance your battery's performance a bit, but for every gallon of propane you burn you'll dump almost a gallon of water into the box via the exhaust. Also, propane vaporizes on its own fine @ minus 20 degrees so heating it would be a mute point, unlike butane which fails below ~40°...

[ACHINBAC]

Last note> at no point should your exhaust line run uphill....level is ok, down better... We've also always carried a couple small 3000btu radiant heaters with us...good backup while I worked to get the bugs out of my own Propex set-up.

[Markz]

Originally Posted by ACHINBAC

Last note> at no point should your exhaust line run uphill....level is ok, down better... We've also always carried a couple small 3000btu radiant heaters with us...good backup while I worked to get the bugs out of my own Propex set-up.

Thanks for the reply. I have the exhaust running below the battery/lp box with the idea that heat raises and water drops. [emoji98]
I love your idea of screening off the intake and exhaust and will seek out a solution.
I will post more pics soon, but still working out best way to trap as much exhaust heat below the box while allowing trying to accomplish the following objectives:
1. Significantly Reduce exhaust noise,
2. Maintain unestricted exhaust flow,
3. Trap as much exhaust convection heat under the battery/lp box to provide some heat inside the box. I have insulated the exhaust pipe with a layer of fiberglass wrap, like yours, as well as a layer on aluminum duct tape over the fiberglass wrap. It is possible to grap the exhaust tube without getting burnt now.

I am mostly concerned with maintaining peak performance of lithium batteries without having to use battery power to run the electric heating pads of of the heating trays. Lithium batteries do not like being frozen.

[ACHINBAC]

Forgotten you had upgraded to Lithium. Their cold temp performance regarding discharge is really pretty good compared to AGM @ the Temps you're likely to camp in around here, however they do not handle charging well below ~30 - it builds crystals on the anodes as I understand it and most good quality battery's bms will block charging at that level. Regarding exhaust noise, I borrowed my son's Webasto muffler (he's upfitting a Transit van) and temporarily mounted it to my exhaust, did help a little, but no room in my exhaust location for it. I suppose you could build some sort of a chamber/ box under your battery box - 4 sides and a bottom....and scavenge some heat while mitigating noise frome the exhaust? Perimeter of the chamber would need rigid insulation as well as the box above. I applaud your efforts to reclaim the waste heat, but wondering about alternatives like a forced hot air heat loop out if the Boler, or additional battery capacity??

[ACHINBAC]

Oops on the chart

[ACHINBAC]

An alternative I'll be pursuing in the future when my current AGM pooches (does not address your current situation course) is the new lithium batteries being offered by the Aussies now - they've got "Caravanning" down to a total science. The form factors available via the use of prismatic cells make internal cabin mounting less problematic. Picture a 1.5" thick 100AH - pretty awesome...could be bolted under platforms or on sidewalls.

[Markz]

Wow, that's a neat possibility, but alas for another camper at another time.

Exactly as you said, I am working on a arraignment to box in the exhaust heat using the old propane tray on the tongue which sits 2 inches below the tongue box.

[ACHINBAC]

The box will definitely attenuate the sound. Scavenging the heat is still a tough call > just cracked a cold one after blowing & hauling 32 barrels of leaves off the front grounds and am sitting giving it some thought; > Your Propex runs @ about 80% efficiency, with ~ 1200btus out the exhaust....At a 50% duty cycle that's ~600btus/ hr available (equal to a 200 watt incandescent bulb) ..How much of that you can "capture" and transfer through the bottom plate of the battery box is food for thought....everything between the exhaust outlet and the interior of the battery box is going to absorb (frame rails etc)...careful attention to insulation will help of course, a thermal mass to capture the inrush of heat, then eventually release it up ward would help, but we're getting awfully deep in the weeds here....