Some Casita Trailer Modifications

[Sunnyfalls]

Just some of many modifications made to our 2023 Casita Liberty Trailer.

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"
https://www.borstengineeringconstruc..._2023_Trip.pdf

[Casita Greg]

A few of those mods look vaguely familiar., I wonder where you got the ideas from them...
Enjoy!

[ShelbyM]

Love the cat litter box at the head of the bed. Enjoy!

[Sunnyfalls]

Originally Posted by Casita Greg

A few of those mods look vaguely familiar., I wonder where you got the ideas from them...
Enjoy!

Hi Greg,

Yep, got bathroom/kitchen windows, detachable shore cord (although mine is 120/240VAC 50A for 240VAC 6500 Watt electric/propane tankess and 3500 Induction) and the larger access hatch ideas from you... BTW, Edmonds corruption resulted in $20M city debt and upcoming disbanding of the police department so Dietrich and family are soon headed to Utah. We just returned last week with the Casita after spending 3 months mostly in Costa Rica.

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

[Sunnyfalls]

Originally Posted by ShelbyM

Love the cat litter box at the head of the bed. Enjoy!

Yep, a large cat box is needed for our three cats... It has a motion detection and a timer to enable mood lighting and fan exhaust venting.

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

[Sunnyfalls]

Some more photos showing the 100AH LiFePO4 battery, 200 Watt solar panels and electrical system used with our 3000 Watt Inverter for long duration dry camping which is mostly what we do.

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

[ThomasE]

Is that an induction stove to the right of your gas stove?

[Sunnyfalls]

Originally Posted by ThomasE

Is that an induction stove to the right of your gas stove?

Yes it is.

For our induction cooktop, we selected the Kenyon Bridge Induction Cooktop, which is a 2-burner induction design that can be “bridged” together to enable large griddle use, uses 240VAC and provides 3,500 Watts of total induction capability…either all used by one single burner, shared by both single burners or bridged together to create a large cooking area suitable for our Lodge Reversible Griddle. And 3,500 Watts of induction capability enables boiling water unbelievably fast. This high-end marine quality induction cooktop weighs 12 pounds and has dimensions of 12 inches wide by 21 inches deep.

We replaced our Casita trailer OEM 3-burner slide-in propane stove with this induction cooktop and a 2-burner propane cooktop. We first upgraded our lame 120VAC only 30A shore power capability to 120/240VAC 50A shore power capability.

Additional details, explanations and photos of all these modifications may be found in our aforementioned writeup if interested.

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

[ThomasE]

That's really interesting, I've never seen an RV have both propane and electric stovetops. If/when my 3-way fridge fails (I always need to clean the burner jet and it doesn't cool all that well in hot weather), I'm planning to go with an electric replacement for both the fridge and stove.

[Sunnyfalls]

We wanted the ability to not use any propane at all when we are paying for and have 50A shore power. And when are dry camping for free without any shore power, which is mostly what we do, we wanted the ability to use propane for everthing possible (e.g., air conditioning, cooking, heating, hot water, refrigeration, etc) to keep our daily 100AH LiFePO4 battery depletion under 50AHs so we can replenish it in less than 4 hours using our 200 Watt solar panels so as to enable dry camping indefinitely. Hence, our 3500 Watt induction and propane cooktops and our 6500 Watt electric/propane tankless water heater which also provides us with plumbing and potable water tank freeze protection in cold weather when in use. When dry camping in nice weather, we use our Camp Chef stove outside.

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

[Stacy and Shawn]

Curious when you say spent three months in Costa Rica. Was that with your Casita?

Love Costa Rica and would love to camp there.

[Sunnyfalls]

Yes, we have a second family home in Costa Rica and we enjoy taking our Casita trailer there and camping/exploring Central America.

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

[Stacy and Shawn]

Wow that sounds magical! I have 5 years until I retire, then we would love to do the same. I assume you drive down from the states?

[Sunnyfalls]

Originally Posted by Stacy and Shawn

Wow that sounds magical! I have 5 years until I retire, then we would love to do the same. I assume you drive down from the states?

Yes, we drive from southern Oregon. We have been going to Central America for many years. We find it nicer, friendlier and safer than most places in the States to do our Winter camping and certainly way better than the Florida and Quartzsite RV zoos. We have tested our hydraulic ram pumps in Guatemala for many years at the Finca Ixobel ecology resort.

https://www.borstengineeringconstruction.com/Landis_Hydraulic_Ram_Pump.pdf

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

[13FtofHappiness]

Thank you for sharing. I enjoyed the journey with you through your photos.

[daveandalice]

I see you use the Omnia stove top oven, one thing I miss camping are fluffy buttermilk biscuits.

Some of the reviews on it claim it's tricky to get them fully cooked without burning the bottoms of them, any thoughts/suggestions on it's use?

After trying different camp stoves over the years we now use the Camp Chef Ranger II that works great in windy conditions, has heavy duty burners and spark ignition, and you can bring the flame down to a simmer.

Thanks
David

[Sunnyfalls]

Originally Posted by daveandalice

I see you use the Omnia stove top oven, one thing I miss camping are fluffy buttermilk biscuits.

Some of the reviews on it claim it's tricky to get them fully cooked without burning the bottoms of them, any thoughts/suggestions on it's use?

After trying different camp stoves over the years we now use the Camp Chef Ranger II that works great in windy conditions, has heavy duty burners and spark ignition, and you can bring the flame down to a simmer.

Thanks
David

We typically cook outside when the weather is amenable using either our portable propane or induction stoves.

When couple camping, we use our portable Camp Chef Everest 2X Stove (with our Lodge Reversible Griddle), which is a 2-burner propane design, has a piezo electric ignition and provides 20,000 BTU capability at each burner. With this stove (or with the Contoure Propane Cooktop inside our Casita), we use the innovative Swedish design Omnia Cooktop Oven to provide convection oven cooking capability without taking up much space or using much weight. We use Silicone inserts and we have not had any issues at all burning the bottom of food placed in it. We start out with a low heat setting and adjust as needed to achieve the cooking mission. We have found that this simple oven vastly expands our camping menu options and we have been very happy with it.

When camping with family and friends, we use our portable Camp Chef Explorer 14 System which is a 2-burner propane design and provides 30,000 BTU capability at each burner. This system uses a separate griddle unit, a separate BBQ unit and a separate pizza oven unit.

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by Sunnyfalls

...when are dry camping for free without any shore power, which is mostly what we do, we wanted the ability to use propane for everthing possible (e.g., air conditioning, ...

How do you use propane for air conditioning ?

[Sunnyfalls]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

How do you use propane for air conditioning ?

By using a lightweight, quiet and small Honda EU2200i generator, a Hutch Mountain Propane Conversion Kit (fed from a MB Sturgis Sturgi-Stay T-Fitting with Quick Disconnect placed on a Casita propane tank), and a MicroAir EasyStart placed on the air conditioner.

https://www.etrailer.com/Propane-Fit...03613-MBS.html

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

[John in Santa Cruz]

ugh, i hate generators when camping, I don't care how quiet they are. ah well.

my kid runs a heat pump system off his 600 AH of lithium and 800 watts of solar in his camper, seems to do ok, but his camper is a custom built aluminum cab-over on a F550 frame. no propane at all, but he does have a diesel furnace for cold winter nights, since the truck is already a diesel.