29 replies to this topic

[drumwood]

We took our maiden voyage shakedown overnighter a couple of weeks ago, so now is a good time to document progress so far. Before I start the next phase.

I am taking a Proto typing approach to building out my shell. My wife and I have not owned a camper before or even done any RV type camping. So everything I've built is an experiment, that we will try out and then likely change.

I am having trouble putting pictures in this topic. I better post what I have so far and do the rest and subsequent posts.

[drumwood]

I built the cabinet boxes out of half inch Baltic Birch with water-based lacquer finish. Mounting is with a French cleat system so I can move them easily.

Edited by drumwood, 26 May 2017 - 10:40 PM.

[drumwood]

I am building the boxes as light as possible. The front is a mitered frame. I plan to fill the frame with a fabric panel. That will give me access from the front, so I don't have to dig down from the top if something is at the bottom. And the cabinet can have shelves since there is front access.

[drumwood]

We think we like the side dinette configuration, but wanted to try it out to be sure. I got a Coleman Pack-Away 4-In-1 Table for a prototype.

https://www.amazon.c...i_0BlkzbJ4Y78AC

The leg length options make it good for this type of experimentation. I used half to simulate a site dinette table, and half to simulate a counter.

Edited by drumwood, 26 May 2017 - 11:16 PM.

[drumwood]

I can only get one photo per post. This is getting tedious. Maybe I'm doing something wrong.

[drumwood]

For the counter area I just leveled out the middle step with one by six so I can use some bins. At this point I'm not planning to build in the water system so this will all be storage under the counter.

[drumwood]

I want to optimize for solar. I haven't put in an isolator or a converter. So my only charging while on a trip is solar. We'll see if that is sufficient.

I've got it all in one of the side dinette seating boxes.

[drumwood]

The box lifts off for good access to the solar set up.

[drumwood]

Besides the standard lights, I am running a truckfridge, furnace fan, and lights. I just wired in a USB charging outlet as well.

I've got the trimetric 2030 controller and monitor. It is giving me a good readouts so I can evaluate my usage.



Since I haven't camped like this before, I did not really try to estimate my usage. I had no usage to estimate. But by reading the posts on this forum I've figured that we could get by to start with a 100 watt Renogy panel on the roof and a 110 amp hour Crown AGM battery. I hope to monitor our usage and adapt our camping methods to the system we have. But if necessary there is room on the roof for another panel. Or I can add a portable.

[drumwood]

By the way, the shake down overnighter went very well. We went to Fort Stevens State Park on the Oregon coast. My wife and I both slept through the night in comfort. Better than at home. The weather was good. We saw some very interesting birds. A hopeful harbinger for trips to come.