Mods the Former Owner did that you like

[40bpm]

The PO of my Bigfoot built and installed a nice hanger rod in the bath. Perfect for drying clothes and stuff.

[lisantica]

Originally Posted by jon carpenter

Back to the thread...... One of the mods our previous owner did was to apply reflective silver window tinting to all of the windows. LOVE it... helps keep the sun and heat out during the day. Plus no one can see in until late after the sun goes down, but then we will have blinds down.
jon

That is a good mod. I have my windows tinted on all my vehicles but hadn't thought of doing it on the Scamp. Reflective silver, yep, that is good, doubles as an outside mirror, win-win!

Originally Posted by 40bpm

The PO of my Bigfoot built and installed a nice hanger rod in the bath. Perfect for drying clothes and stuff.

Useful mod, love it!

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Raspy

It takes very little ventilation to be safe with a battery under slow charge and low amp draw.

How much is "very little?" How do you make sure the charge and discharge are safely regulated to safe levels?

Originally Posted by Raspy

Many new batteries are sealed or have special caps to avoid water loss or hydrogen gassing.

But so called "sealed batteries" will still vent under some circumstances. See paragraph 5 on page nine.

Originally Posted by Raspy

From a weight distribution point of view, a battery over the axle is way better than a battery on the tongue.

While it is generally true that weight near the axle is better than away from the axle, this is another case of YMMV. My rig would be under 10% on the tongue if I moved the battery (and moving the axle to re-balance the trailer is too much work).

Originally Posted by Raspy

And, of course, it is probably less likely to be stolen if it is out of sight.

Yes, theft happens, but outside of storage yards I think it it a very rare thing.

Originally Posted by Raspy

With the battery not on the tongue, the bottles can be farther back and possibly allow the tailgate to be opened while connected to the TV.

Thats one approach. I just bought the "Ultimate Jack" which gave me enough clearance without moving the battery or propane cylinder.

I'm not trying to be augmentative, just providing a little more information. As always, one should follow the manufactures instructions. My understanding is that the "Danger" sign was on at least one brand of battery and for wet cells at least, it is not an overstatement.

[k0wtz]

Gordon my viewpoint on things no doubt is different than yours I don't resent yours at all!

what is life without debate but belittling people doing it is not debate. Now not accusing you of anything here but there are some that seem to think their way is the only way and take great feelings of achievement doing these things!

bob

[mary and bob]

Originally Posted by lisantica

That is a good mod. I have my windows tinted on all my vehicles but hadn't thought of doing it on the Scamp. Reflective silver, yep, that is good, doubles as an outside mirror, win-win!

New York now has a law on the amount of window tint that is allowed, applies to vehicles, not trailers. The inspection stations now are required to have a device that measures the amount of tint, but only have to use it at their own judgement. But each inspection place has to buy the tint meter, and there is little to no profit in doing inspections so of course none of the inspectors are happy with that new law.

[clairemr1]

Originally Posted by gordon2

How much is "very little?" How do you make sure the charge and discharge are safely regulated to safe levels?

But so called "sealed batteries" will still vent under some circumstances. See paragraph 5 on page nine.


While it is generally true that weight near the axle is better than away from the axle, this is another case of YMMV. My rig would be under 10% on the tongue if I moved the battery (and moving the axle to re-balance the trailer is too much work).


Yes, theft happens, but outside of storage yards I think it it a very rare thing.


Thats one approach. I just bought the "Ultimate Jack" which gave me enough clearance without moving the battery or propane cylinder.

I'm not trying to be augmentative, just providing a little more information. As always, one should follow the manufactures instructions. My understanding is that the "Danger" sign was on at least one brand of battery and for wet cells at least, it is not an overstatement.

thanks for posting, gordon. you bring up some valid points. i also want to let everyone know, having your battery inside your rig (as some manufacturers assemble them) can result in an explosion. happened to friends of mine. he was at work/she was home/heard a loud boom, checked inside the trailer and their battery had exploded. left a huge smelly mess of melted plastic and acid. took them a long time to clean up. don't know the details of why that happened (overcharging, dry cells?) but since it was located just beneath their heads, they opted to move the location to the tongue as well.
just something to consider. stuff happens...............

[Kai in Seattle]

Hi, I have another mod some previous owner did to ours that we LIKE.

They changed the torsion axle to a regular axle but somehow kept the Dexstar wheels. We like the regular axle AND the strange-looking wheels.

We painted the hubs/center part black and the rims white to emphasize what we might otherwise have considered a weird drawback. Myself, I love vintage baby moon hubcaps--but this was good enough.

BEST
Kai

[lisantica]

Nice Kai!!!

[Raspy]

gordon,

As I mentioned, some batteries are completely sealed and can even be mounted on their sides. These don't vent under normal circumstances. Your question, as you know is impossible to accurately quantify because there are many different brands and types of batteries that are in all different conditions and charged by every method. The point still stands: a smart charger or solar charger or Honda generator, etc can charge a battery without outgassing. It's a more stable design and doesn't require re-wiring, if you keep the batteries near the center of gravity, than mount them and re-wire them on the tongue. If someone wants some simple ventilation it's easy to install a couple of 2" or 4" soffit vents in the enclosed compartment and be done.
You may call modern batteries "so called sealed" if you wish. You may not be familiar with the design or good battery management. Anything in life can fail if it is treated wrong enough for long enough. With trailers and other things, sensible design and practicality are important considerations. Any of our trailers can also burn up in a forest fire or get wrecked on the highway or have a tree fall on them. It's impossible to always design for all imaginable contingencies. But it's undeniable, for a host of reasons, that weight centralization is better than weight at the far ends of the trailer. You may personally decide, that on yours, the batteries on the tongue is better than near the center of mass, and you are free to put them there, but real towing practicalities and use patterns can say otherwise. It's a matter of placing more importance on trailer balance than ease of construction. As I said earlier, Oliver mounts the very heavy (4) deep cycle 6 volt batteries directly over the axle and the system works great. I've never towed a trailer more stable. My Fleetwood took the easy way out and mounted the batteries on the tongue. I could not open the tailgate on that trailer and they could easily be removed by anyone while the trailer was in storage. In my pop-up the battery was inaccessible from outside and out of the weather. I charged it with three different systems and it was fine.

Simply saying that to position the weight in the trailer for best stability, would knock yours out of the 10% tongue weight ratio, is missing the point. 10% is a general number based on typical trailer design, but is not an absolute number. For instance, I've read about people adding weight on the rear to balance their trailers to 10% tongue weight and that is a recipe for disaster. Study pendulum physics if you'd like to understand this better. I have a friend who lives in Germany and there, they don't do the 10% "rule" with their travel trailers. There is a lot more to trailer stability than simply calling out weight on the tongue. I know this because I've towed a lot and with all different configurations. I've also had serious scares from instability and then built trailers based on my findings. I don't just recite general numbers as some sort of gospel. Stability considerations include distance from the ball to the axle, axle width, center of gravity, mass centralization, height and general weight distribution both fore and aft as well as vertically.

So many people are wondering about weight distribution hitches and getting them to help their softly sprung vehicles. Many of these problems could be fixed with better weight distribution. It's even possible to overload your axle, if it's near capacity, with a WDH. We were recently talking on here about an extended tongue. That in itself, will reduce the tongue weight without doing anything else and it will also increase the trailer stability. Just another example that 10% is only a rough guideline. Really, there are many factors involved in stability.

Please set yours up any way you see fit. I'll set mine up based on a lot of experience and reasonable design. I enjoy different approaches to problems and I try not to simply recite "rules" that I've read somewhere as absolute in all cases. In other words, YMMV.

[Raspy]

Lisa,

It's fun to hear about your adventures and the fun you're having.
We've had ours now for about a year and it's a keeper. There weren't any modifications done by the previous owner, so I'm doing a bunch of my own.

[EricAllyn]

Since mine is a gutted rebuild I don't have any either -- but I like this thread because it does have things to think about -- ideas to try.....

[k0wtz]

I have made some changes in the scamper 13f now 10f but I am done. we live on gravel when we came home I hosed off the mud from the road that's it.

it is parked in our driveway now I notice I hosed off one of my buttons on the outside so I have to dig out the new ones, get the caulking gun out and put a new one on.

it all tends to get a little old I looked at the scamper is needs a wash and wax job. Not! At 75 my life as a washer and waxer is over now if I convince my wife to do it. Maybe! But I doubt that is going to happen either.

I am spending my time relaxing and planning our next great adventure to the southwest. Anything better than that?

bob

oh a 13f scamper is ridiculous

[1500]

Added a olympian catalytic wave 3

This one I don't know yet, have no idea the full effect. They added a vent pipe to the black tank. I assume it is a modification as it does not appear to be stock.

[40bpm]

Originally Posted by 1500

Added a olympian catalytic wave 3

This is a mod I'd like to make. Does it heat your trailer adequately?

Any further comments or pix would be greatly appreciated.

[Civilguy]

I added a USB / 12VDC receptacle to the Casita, so the new owner may consider that a favorite mod by the previous owner!

Ouch, ouch! I hurt my shoulder reaching around to pat myself on the back!

[1500]

Originally Posted by Civilguy

I added a USB / 12VDC receptacle to the Casita, so the new owner may consider that a favorite mod by the previous owner!

Ouch, ouch! I hurt my shoulder reaching around to pat myself on the back!

Looks very well done, can't even tell it was something you added.

I have thought about doing that (it has been a mod on my mind for my Vanagon for years), but i have a lot of experience with USB plugs breaking due to bumping by dogs, or in this case kicking them with your feet (hitting them with your head). It does not take much to loosen those connections, and eventually breaking them. The other issue is finding ones that produce enough power (2.1 amps) per plug.

I really dislike that Casita and Scamp placed the outlets jutting out into the seating area and bed. It is worse in the Vanagon as the outlet is near the floor next to the back seat, waiting to get stepped on.

I ended up just getting a USB power station. Only takes a single outlet plug, adds 6-8 USB power connections with multiple 2.1 amp ones. Down side is that it takes up counter space.

I will be interested in hearing how you like your mod as time goes on.

[k0wtz]

I did as Mike as done but I added a 12v monitor.

bob

[Civilguy]

Originally Posted by 1500

I will be interested in hearing how you like your mod as time goes on.

Oh, we sold the Casita. However, it worked out just fine while we had it.

Yes, this particular location is somewhat vulnerable but we had no problems with kicking the cords or anything like that. It was handy to put devices on the stove cover while charging at night.

I didn't want USB wires projecting into the narrow aisleway where they would get bumped and this was a very easy location to make the installation; everything is a compromise of some sort. I "borrowed" 12VDC power from the furnace circuit, and tinned the wiring connections with solder.

I thought the receptacle expensive at $22.95 (it's now down to $19). But, I wanted it to look like it grew there so I sprung for the big bucks. It has two 2-amp USB receptacles.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

One thing that strikes me with the 12VDC part socket on this and many other receptacles is that it seems they do nothing to discourage the plug from falling out, or the spring loaded contact from pushing it outward and minimizing the contact pressure. I guess I expect some texture in the socket or some similar measure.

[k0wtz]

yes that part is very strange

bob

[Alex Adams]

I got this to put in my Boler 13 foot. I will have to get a new electrical box for the receptacle since this doesn't fit into the existing one:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1