Maintenance & Restoration

Buggeee · 10-01-2017, 03:01 PM

Well today has been a pretty productive day for me and I have the fresh water system as complete as the wastewater system, which means it's all done but the kitchen sink.

I've attached some pictures for my build log here. The first one is a picture of the 30 gallon freshwater tank with the gravity feed attached - it's the green tube. The clear tube is the vent. Down below you'll see the water pump system. This is a Shurflo pump that I had as a spare for the Long Long Trailer. I think it's a bit overkill for this rig but I had it and it's on there now. You'll have to pardon the wiring mess for the time being, that will be cleaned up.

It pulls the water from the fresh water tank through a little sediment filter that has a screen in it that you can easily remove and clean. Then after it's pumped it goes into that black bubble looking thing which is a canister that basically has a rubber balloon inside it that you pump up with a bicycle pump to whatever pressure is appropriate. I forget the name of it off the top of my head right now but a fellow egger here had one of those in his system and so I've copied it. Oh, there's a label right on it it says accumulator. It doesn't really accumulate anything, what it does is absorb the vibration from the water pump. I've never used one of those before so we'll see how it sounds in the middle of the night when I flush the toilet or turn on the sink.

The next picture is the water heading from the pump station through the little utility closet where it picks up a lead from the city water line in the event I'm using that. The Shurflo water pump has a check valve built into it so I don't need a check valve I can just hook up the city water and it'll run on that if it's available.

The next picture is the bathroom and you can see the water line leading back behind the toilet and from there it comes up and feeds the toilet... but also leads to that black thing in the wall. Want to know what that is? It's a bulkhead fitting like for boats or something, and it allows me to send the water out the front of the shell. On the other side is an outdoor water faucet and so I've included a picture of that from the outside.

That's going to service an outdoor shower. I have an instant hot water heater that runs on propane and is really small and portable. It's about the size of a small camping grill so it goes right in the bench seat storage area and I'll pull it out when I need it and use a pop up tent shower with that. I've never had one of those before so I'm looking forward to trying it out. The Long Long Trailer had a 6 gallon hot water tank that kept the water hot all the time. This little egg is going to be much more efficient with everything including this.

All the propane is outside the rig in this build so the propane tank will share grilling duty in front of the camper and shower duty up there as well.

Before I can hook up the sink I need to build some kind of a little cabinet for it to be mounted on so I think that's the next step.

Note: for the waterlines I'm using PEX which is like spreading butter on a piece of toast. You just measure the length you need and cut it with these handy cutters. I've attached a picture of those. Then you just push it into the fittings and they grab it and hold it in place and you're done there's no glue or anything. The two brass ones in the utility closet are SharkBite brand, as is the blue Pex. The plastic ones are Watts. I was going with all plastic for weight just for the heck of it but ran short and Lowe's had the brass ones in stock.

k0wtz · 10-01-2017, 03:06 PM

buggee could you erect this thing on the Walmarts parking lot? Just kidding you!

Buggeee · 10-01-2017, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by k0wtz

buggee could you erect this thing on the Walmarts parking lot? Just kidding you!

I'll end up on you tube if I do!

I'll have to wait until the campground for a hot shower, but other, well... bodily functions can be fully relieved anywhere I can find a place to park this thing.

k corbin · 10-01-2017, 04:22 PM

Looking great, nice renovation work.

As a side note from my head which is over-filled with too much stuff I have accumulated over the years of working around industrial materials:
White PVC is prone to UV damage but black is UV resistant. You do not need to spray paint your black vent stack to protect it. As a general rule the black plastics are UV protected because of the coloration. This situation holds true for black PVC, UHMW, Acetal, ABS, etc.

It is a big reason why a lot of the cargo roof top carrier boxes are made in the color black as well as the fittings for ski racks, bike carriers, kayaks, etc.

Look up on the roofs of houses and you will see that the black plumbing vents are not painted.

Buggeee · 10-01-2017, 05:02 PM

Hey thanks K Corbin that some useful information.

Now that I've got the plumbing run all the way through the bathroom I was able to get these walls permanently installed. This is a milestone of sorts because this now allows me to start building cabinets in the kitchen area and also puts closure to a whole section of the project. Since it was a warm day today too I got out a couple of the paints and did some touch-up work here and there. You can see up on the Dome now it's just floating on the ceiling instead of all that adhesive mess. It's amazing what a little bit of paint detail can accomplish for the overall impression.

Also. Here's a quick shot of the inside of the vent fan and the light. They are wired on different circuits because the fan pulls almost 5 Watts if you crank it up to eleven. It'll run on just a fraction of a watt in the lower settings which is great for boondocking. The light is Led.

k0wtz · 10-01-2017, 05:41 PM

buggee how many hours do you have in this thing? are you keeping track? Oh to be young again I just spent about 10 hours on my 13f Scamp and me with back surgery not long ago but I just cannot stand what people do to rigs sometimes. Now I have improved things I have much more room and it makes sense! One more thing I have to replace a counter top I am going to get it from home depot they have the fanciest in stock for the money and I am a big menards fan but they don't have these! Good luck on your remodel!!

Tony O · 10-01-2017, 05:50 PM

OK, while on the off-chance I might find a hidden treasure I stumbled onto a local ad for a trailer that looked a lot like the Amerigo I once restored had and decided to have a look. I bought it even though it looked rough, thinking, OK, maybe I can make this thing sparkle again since winter is just around the corner and, being retired, it would give me something fun to do.

Anyway, I hooked it up and pulled it home. I didn't even know who built this trailer and after several hours of stumbling around on Pinterest looking at vintage fiberglass trailers, viola!, I found a match! I had just purchased a Playpac Hitch-Hut!

Apparently, the previous owner had been using it for backyard storage and had gutted it so I had no idea about what they looked like inside when in their prime.

After I learned that only about 150 of these were ever made (1971-1973), I decided that a rare specimen like this really ought to be restored. BUT, did I really want to tackle yet another restoration in my young, golden years?

Next morning, after cleaning it out and fiddling with some minor, easy to fix issues I decided that my Casita and significant other probably would rather go south this winter instead of seeing me hunkered down in the shop for months obsessing over yet another vintage trailer.

So, I'm thinking about selling it. (Envision tears falling upon idle power tools.)

Your exquisite restoration of your Playpac truly inspired me. The downside is that after reading your thread from end-to-end I realize that I probably couldn't hold a candle to your very fine work.

As a small favor, could you advise me about where to sell it so that it falls into the right hands? Many thanks for a reply.

Buggeee · 10-01-2017, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony O

... I had just purchased a Playpac Hitch-Hut!

Apparently, the previous owner had been using it for backyard storage...

You saved another one!!! I sent you a Private Message Tony.

And your words are too kind. I'm having a ball with this build. It is so small and so interesting and I am getting to apply all my previous camper experience and wish list in one little egg for me and my gal to share. I'd been dragging around a 36 foot destination model for years (because I really am that ridiculous) and once in a blue moon I'd see an egg at a campground. I'd think to my self... One day, one day.

Buggeee · 10-01-2017, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by k0wtz

buggee how many hours do you have in this thing? are you keeping track?...

All of them!!! Things were really out of hand as I pushed to get it into rough shape for a Labor Day dry run. And I do mean dry... It was little more than a shelter! But it withstood the rains and that's what I needed. After that I have been able to dial it back just a little bit - no more work-lights into the wee hours. When the sun goes down so do I. To be young again would be nice wouldn't it? Now where did I put that Ibuprofen?

k0wtz · 10-01-2017, 07:51 PM

buggee did anyone call the police for you working after hours? just funning you but I bet the lights were bright. were you out there cookin?

Buggeee · 10-03-2017, 05:33 PM

Here's a couple quick pics of the Storm before the Calm as the electrical system develops.

There's a shot of the storage area under the passenger side rear bench which is opposite (of course) of the driver side rear bench that houses a 30 gallon water tank. On this electrical side of it I've got one more battery going in which will be a total of four 100 amp hour SLA Batts and together they will weigh 240 pounds over the right side of the rear axle. That will serve as a nice counterbalance to the 250 lb of water that can sit in the 30 gallon freshwater tank over the left side of the axle.

If I'm really going to pull this thing with a Volkswagen Beetle I'm going to have to yank out three of the batteries and run the fresh water tank empty until I get to the campground. But that's very doable in a half hour preparation before I leave. I normally tow with a full-size pick-up truck so weight is no issue with that thing.

You can ignore the snakes nest sitting on top of the batteries as I've got some solutions for that on the way.

Also, even though these are sealed lead acid batteries, that really means that they are valve regulated and can pop out some hydrogen gas and other nastiness in the event they hit an overcharging situation. Those will be boxed in and there'll be a vent in the floor and another vent out the side so that air circulates within that box, keeping the batteries at atmosphere temperature and also keeping any gases away from the passenger compartment outside the box.

Running down the back you can see all the 12 volt wires heading to the tail lights in the back and waterpump around the other side. The yellow one is the shore power feed coming around from the 30 amp outlet I put in the side of the camper in the utility closet on the driver side.

Tucked way down there in front of the batteries is a green 2000 watt pure sine inverter that feeds the household current when I'm boondocking it. It has to be pure sine wave cuz I use it to run the compressor motor in the chest freezer.

The next pic shows what I'm doing with the storage cabinet that exists right by the front door. As far as I can tell it would be good for putting spices in and that's about it because it's not very deep. It does serve a structural function for the trailer so it has to be there.

I've decided to use it as my electrical system center and it's going to house just about everything.

Down below there's an 30 amp (120vac) automatic transfer switch that will pop between the shore power or the inverter power off the batteries depending on which one is flipped on at a given time. That piece is designed so that you can be running on shore power all the time and then if you turn on a generator it will force the switch over to the generator power and keep it there until you turn off the generator. In this case, however, I don't have a gas generator, I have solar replenished batteries. I do not want the solar system to be holding that relay closed when it's running because that absorbs energy, even though it's a small amount it's a constant drain. So I have the switch hooked up backwards, basically allowing the inverter to be the default setting but when shore power is plugged in it forces the relay into the closed position to allow shore power to feed the system. It won't go back to the inverter feed until shore power is unplugged.

That automatic switch will never let the inverter and the shore power be hitting the system at the same time. In conjunction with that it is my intent to have the battery charger hooked up to a relay that only is triggered when the shore power clicks on (if I can get that sorted out my mind) and that will be another safeguard so that the solar power batteries are not running the battery charger on the inverter trying to charge the batteries that are running the inverter, etc. ad infinitem. I forgot to unplug the inverter and the charger when I plugged into shore power one time in the Long Long Trailer and fried a really really nice ( I mean a really ridiculous never-able-to-get-one-again nice) inverter that way and I still have it in the garage hoping that one day I'll track down a replacement board for it. I don't want it to happen again. I have the relay for that circuit but it's not pictured yet.

Up top you can see the 12-volt distribution panel, which in this case is a circuit breaker panel for boats on the right side. On the left side is an AC distribution panel, again for boats that one is a blue sea product. And I really like it. Both panels have voltage meters because it's fun to look at the voltage.

In towards the center you can see that I have taken GFCI extension cords and cut out the GFCI portion of it and wired it in each of my three AC circuits in this rig. Now all of my AC circuits are GFCI protected and I don't need GFCI plugs. That was necessary because the plugs I'm using have both an 120v AC outlet and USB fast charging outlets built into them but there is no room in them for GFCI.

Also demonstrated in the center of that picture is my use of extension cord plugs in place of boxes to serve as wiring connections for the household current. Rather using Romex and then twisting wires together and putting caps on them with electrical tape inside of boxes, I'm using heavy duty outdoor extension cords to run my circuits and I install plug ends where they meet to connect them together. It takes a lot less space, and allows me to modify the system at-will later if I want to.

I have three AC circuits, one circuit for outlets and another circuit for the refrigerator and heater and the third circuit for the battery charger.

Down Below on the left side you can see the progressive Dynamics battery charger it's a 60 amp smart charger that has four stages for maintaining the batteries in tip-top shape.

Not shown is the solar charging panel - it's a 30 amp solar smart charger that has multiple stages of battery maintenance.

Also not showing at this point is the battery monitoring system that just arrived. It will run off a shunt by the batteries and tell me how many amp hours I have left.

If my maker is willing, I'll knock out some of this in more detail and also show you what it looks like when this wiring mess is cleaned up, but I wanted to get this overview out of the way so I can just hit and run as different pieces are starting to roll.

John in Michigan · 10-03-2017, 06:45 PM

Great work Buggeee! That'll be a great system. I'm sure you are eager to get it all installed for your camping adventures.

John in Michigan · 10-03-2017, 06:48 PM

If needed, you can also get heavy gauge multi-strand wire in bulk (by the foot) at building supply stores.

k0wtz · 10-04-2017, 04:47 AM

Buggee you are an amazing person I run into people like you every once in awhile a truly blessed man! I hope you are putting all this down so the next owner can understand this system!

I certainly would like to see it in operation when completed! Pretty neat stuff Blessings on you man!!

Buggeee · 10-04-2017, 07:23 PM

Hey there peeps I'm attaching a picture of the mockup installation of my positive side busbar for the battery bank. [EDIT: the placement of the batteries shown in that picture is incorrect. I need a half inch space between each of the batteries to allow for heat to escape and for the case of the battery to expand a little bit. Not to worry, I'm on it!]

While I was thinking I didn't want to use bus bars cuz this can be a vibrating environment when traveling, and that puts stress on the battery posts, I decided to do it anyway. To mitigate that effect I'm going to lash these batteries together with a nylon kayak tie-down strap and then mount some wood blocks to the floor to keep the bank from sliding.

This is a quarter inch by three-quarter inch solid copper bar that, according to some chart I found, has an amp rating of 300 - 355 amps, about 3 times the total possible amp draw from this bank. I've got an 80 amp circuit breaker on the inverter and I've got a 30 amp circuit breaker on the 12-volt panel. So that's a total of 110 amps that could be drawn from this 12-volt battery bank at any given time. By over building the connections between things, I am decreasing the amount of resistance and thereby will have a more efficient system losing less energy to heat than I would with smaller pieces.

Don't freak out I'm going to wrap the exposed copper this is just a mock-up.

Oh, and I've attached a picture of the coffee cup full of copper shavings that I've saved so I can toss them in the campfire one night and make magical blue flames for the kiddies.

Also notice that little red connection between the 80 amp circuit breaker and the green inverter. The circuit breaker is mounted directly to the bus bar. And that thick, short red wire is a 2/0 welding cable and it's only about 4 inches long. I can't get the inverter attached any better than that unless it was mounted directly to the bus bar, which is not possible in this configuration.

If you're going to run an inverter off a battery bank the idea is to get it as close as physically possible to the battery bank because when that inverter kicks on it draws a tremendous amount of amps at 12 volts to put a little amount of amps out at 120 volts. The folks in the electrical section told me it's an 11 to 1 relationship. So in other words, when my heater kicks in to pull 6 amps from the household current, that means the inverter is going to yank 66 amps out of the batteries right then. That's a lot. So this run in particular has got to be short.

DISCLAIMER: Nobody in their right mind tries to run an electric heater off a battery bank. I'm an idiot. If you doubt that just go ask anybody in the electrical section. Actually they are being quite kind and supportive over there. It's just that electric heaters and batteries pose unrealistic math-bending problems. If you want to join that discussion do it on that thread the link is in an earlier post. Running a freezer on a refrigerator thermostat, however works fantastic and I've been doing that for years. Wish me luck.

Buggeee · 10-04-2017, 08:38 PM

Fair warning Eggers double check your sources... Especially if one of those sources is me!!!

I've been given a heads up by one of our trusted ranks that I may have a battery spacing problem here. Something that had crossed my mind but I chased it away. I'm going to do a little research. I'll check back in with the results.

In the meantime, I'm going to post the good advice here because I think that's what these forums are all about. If somebody reads this thread even 10 years from now I want them to know that this thought is something that should be considered here it is... And I quote...

"Buggeee, generally lead acid (including AGM) manufacturers recommend air space between batteries so that they don't overheat (shortens battery life). For example, Trojan Battery recommendation is "Make sure there is enough space between batteries to allow for minor battery expansion that occurs during use and to allow proper airflow to keep battery temperature down in hot environments". Typical recommendation is 1/2" spacing. Check with your battery manufacturer."

There you go Peeps, I've been saved by one of our own. THANK YOU ☺️

I'll be back with an update

Buggeee · 10-04-2017, 08:55 PM

I'm back. Everything within striking distance says 1/2 inch between batteries, including SLA/VRLA, to allow for expansion and "convection cooling".

Again... THANK YOU!!!

Glad I didn't drill both bus bars yet, I'll get a replacement on its way...

Buggeee · 10-14-2017, 07:34 PM

We'll here's what I've been up to so far in the event anyone was wondering... and even if they weren't I suppose.

Having learned that batteries are like people, needing a bit of space even when partnered together, I've been working the puzzle of how best to accomplish the goal while allowing me to dissasemble the pack when I want to shed three of the batteries (60 lbs a piece) for a weekend of buggin', and then lash them back together for the normal routine with a proper tow vehicle.

I'm trying this out for the moment. I got aluminum edging for plywood, which is just over 1/2 inch thick, drilled holes in it, cut it into 12 pieces, mounted eyelet bolts and ran the lashing straps through those. The lashing straps through the eyelets hold the spacers in place, and the spacers give the batteries a bit more that 1/2 inch breathing room from each other so they don't start an argument in the middle of the night even though they are lashed together.

Pictures attached. I'm working on bus bars now and digesting the set-up to see how it settles in the mind.

p.s. Ive learned that "thermal runaway," which motivates the spacing, is like this (as I understand it) - when you are charging the batteries with the smart charger they accept more juice when they are hotter. They get hotter as they charge. Then they accept more juice, repeat. The smart charger keeps rolling along, they keep getting hotter and eventually... POW right I the kisser. Have fresh batteries in your fire alarm I guess. So by doing things to keep them from overheating while charging, in a normal way they start tapering off what they will accept from the smart charger, the charger senses that it's job is complete and calms things down to a trickle float charge.

Buggeee · 10-18-2017, 06:00 PM

Here's an update on the battery air cooling system as it is developing in the field.

Picture attached of the rack made for the batteries to sit on, and the holes cut in the floor. (The offset of the holes accommodates a diagional frame rail running underneath)

The air will be drawn up through a two inch hole under each battery where it will flow across the bottom of the batteries and up through the spaces between them, exiting out the side of the shell.

On the way are a waterproof computer muffin fan, and a temperature controlled relay. My battery moniter has a relay that can be set to close at a certain voltage.

Here's the plan. The system will be gravity fed until (a) the voltage exceeds 13.5, indicating a charging situation and (b) the tempurature is above a certain threshold, indicating a hot situation. When both conditions are present, both relays will be closed and power will be supplied to the muffin fan, drawing air through the box.

I needed to post this before I mixed up the resin to seal all this in. After that and some paint I'll throw some pieces of window screen over the holes to keep out the riff raff.

Now where did I put that respirator?