Author Topic: My Trailer Trash Project 2 (Read 17685 times)

Red01 · « **Reply #15 on:** August 10, 2005, 12:09:55 AM »

With a Sprinter, you wouldn't need a trailer, would you?
You could dress it up inside like your trailer trash projects...

PeteSC · « **Reply #16 on:** August 10, 2005, 03:08:45 AM »

Naw, the goal is to haul at least 4 bikes...4 people.
Right now, I need to store 2 bikes safely....and I'm always on the lookout for a third.

PeteSC · « **Reply #17 on:** August 16, 2005, 11:26:45 PM »

Just a couple thoughts on the construction of the Pace American Aerosport trailer I bought....

It is a much more 'mass produced' trailer. A lot of the little details weren't noticed until I started improving it.
You can really tell the difference in quality between my smaller Cargo Pro trailer, and the Pace.
The Cargo Pro is a higher quality, (and price) trailer, made in a smaller shop. The fit and finish is much better.
The Pace has a lot of exposed sheet metal screws. A lot of the trim screws were overdriven so the heads are under the trim piece.
The roof is almost flimsy. I can get on the roof with my big arse on my Cargo Pro....the Pace, i wouldn't try.
The Cargo Pro has a screwless exterior, the Pace has thousands of little Torx type security screws I can't find the proper driver for.....

I finally got a ladder, and mounted the Maxxair roof vent cover today.
My order of the rest of the Etrack I need to finish the trailer got screwed up, and probably won't arrive until the end of the week......or later.

Anyway, I'm close to having it ready for the road. I'm looking for a couple of small opening windows with screens to mount....but can live without them.

PeteSC · « **Reply #18 on:** August 22, 2005, 10:53:22 PM »

No new pictures, but I've made a lot of progress.
Most of the etrack is in. I have one section I need to cut up in 18 inch chunks to fill in some gaps.

I ended up sawing the plywood bunk shelf in half for easier handling, and storage. Somehow.....moving a 6'7" inch long piece of plywood inside a trailer with 6'6" headroom got to be annoying.
Sawed in half, I'll make a hinge out of webbing, fold it....and strap it to the wall of the trailer when it's not being used.

I'm still fumbling with the a/c unit I bought, have the shroud roughed in, most of the ducting I need, but am waiting on some exterior vents to show up before I cut holes in the floor or roof.

The temps in the trailer are pretty rough around mid-day. When it's 95, the inside thermometer can hit 110. The trailer is sitting in full sun.
I try to get a couple of hours work in during the morning, and a few after dusk.
"work' is being kind of liberally. It's more like 15 minutes work, 45 minutes head scratching out of each hour.
Fans help, but not much.
I may end up insulating the roof, which is easy to get to, and really gets hot to the touch during the day.

Anyway, the trailer will be ready to roll to Road Atlanta for the AMA races.......I should have a little room for beer!

PeteSC · « **Reply #19 on:** August 23, 2005, 04:14:34 PM »

Still a mess, but getting closer. The a/c unit will probably be the last thing installed.
I'm finishing up all the little stuff that wasn't done....etrack is all in, will re-wire my solar panels and charge controller tonight.

The unpainted plywood box on the floor in the front is the almost completed shroud for the a/c unit, sitting on the top left shelf.

PeteSC · « **Reply #20 on:** August 24, 2005, 02:27:41 PM »

I may throw a microwave on the shelf where the a/c unit is sitting, temporarily.
I thought about buying a new one for $40, but the one I have in my kitchen is like 10 years old, and small, so may throw it in the trailer...and buy a new one for home.
(Dang, they're like under $40 now.)

I bought a new, large inverter on Ebay, 2000 watts, and have come up with a strategy to run the a/c unit. The a/c will run off of the generator, but pretty much keeps it at full tilt until the inside temperature drops down, and the compressor cycles on/off.
If I use the inverter and house battery to bring the inside temp to the point the compressor is cycling off and on, then switch to the generator, the generator should last 6-7 hours on a fill up.
The other alternative is to run the a/c off of the inverter all of the time, and hook my deep cycle charger up to the battery. The generator runs barely above idle with the 10 amp charger hooked up.
The battery would have to be moved outside, maybe on the tongue...since I don't need the charging gases inside.
I've been reluctant to mount the battery outside, since it would be more prone to theft, and freezing temps.
Maybe I'll come up with a 'secondary' battery position, and just put the battery outside when I'm using the a/c?
May work....just some longer cables, long enough to reach a few feet outside the side door. The battery is mounted in a boat battery box just inside the side door.
Hey, I'm kind of liking that.....

theroamr · « **Reply #21 on:** August 24, 2005, 05:07:17 PM »

Keep this up and you wont need you apartment anymore heh ?

12sdrag · « **Reply #22 on:** August 24, 2005, 11:20:22 PM »

Hey Pete, Something to think about. This year alone I have replaced about 15 inverters all due to over working the unit. I`m not saying that your idea won`t work. I think it is easier to run the gen. and keep the inverter for back up. I know the a-c unit in our race trailer would kill an inverter, batteries, the truck and anything that got in its path. Alot of my customers want me to wire in inverters so don`t waste fuel when they are on the hook, but they always seem to come back with some kind of problem. Does your inverter say anything about duty cycle?

PeteSC · « **Reply #23 on:** August 25, 2005, 12:06:20 AM »

Yeah, JR. I've had a lot of problems with inverters, also.

The one I bought on Ebay for $70, was cheap enough, has a 2 year warranty of some sort, and 'satisfaction guaranteed', plus it's oversized enough that there's no reason it shouldn't start my little a/c.
The a/c draws a stated 530 watts, which I'm not sure if that's an average, or includes start up amp/watts.
The 1000 watt generator I have will start it, it idles up pretty much to the max pretty much.

The inverter I bought, and am still waiting for.....is rated a constant 1000 watts, and 2500 surge.

Here's the 'claimed' specs/features......

Quote

Specifications:

Soft Start Technology

2 AC 110 - 120 Volt Outlets

Dimensions (LxWxH): 13 3/4 x 4 7/8 x 3 1/8"

Weight: 5 lbs. 15 oz.

DC Input Voltage: 12V (10 - 15V)

Output Wave Form: Modified Sinewave

Output Power: 1000 Watts

Maximum Surge Power Capacity: 2500 Watts

Efficiency: Over 90%

No Load Current: <0.5A

Protections:

Battery Low Alarm: DC 10.5V

Battery Low Shutdown: DC 9.5V

Alarm and Thermal Shutdown (Automatic Recovery): Yes

Cooling Fan

Internal DC Fuse

Power Switch

Of course, I'v seen a lot of inverters with claimed high watt output, and they'll come with 16 gauge hook up wire. a 5 amp fuse, or cigarette lighter plugs!

I've also known of one tractor trailer that caught on fire from the guy using a cheap inverter to run a clock radio in the sleeper. The inverter ran hot, caught on fire, and did a lot of damage.

If this inverter I bought works....it isn't going to be used when I'm not around.

The problem I've had with a lot of smaller inverters, particularily in trucks...is they weren't real tolerant of voltages that were slightly low.
A lot of them wouldn't work in the sleeper when the truck wasn't running , due to the slight voltage drop you have with DC current, and the maybe 10 feet of wire from the sleeper socket, to the batteries.

Typically, I won't spend a lot of money on an inverter, since even the high priced ones don't work this great.

Worse comes to worse, if this one works OK to run a microwave or power tool for a few minutes, it's worth the money.

I've got 35 watts of solar panels on the roof of the trailer now, would like to get up to about a total of 100 watts or so. I'm keeping my eyes open for cheap panels... My charge controller will handle up to 12 amps of panels. The 35 watts I have is only putting out around 2.2 amps.

100 watts or so would be enough to run the a/c during sunlight, or power my koolatron fridge 24 hours a day.

I'm guessing the generator will only run about 4 hours on a tank if it has to cool down the trailer. I was hoping I could get it to run long enough to sleep overnite. I think it will do that if I either cool it down with the inverter/battery....then switch to the generator, or cool it down, then top off the gas tank before I go to sleep, also.

Anyway, I ended up insulating half of the trailer roof today.
I used Reflectix,or something, insulation. This is two layers of thin bubble wrap type stuff, with two outside skins of aluminum foil.
Overall, it's like 3/8 inch thick, and easy to work with. The way the trailer roof is constructed has the roof only fastened on the extreme edges, I guess welded. It's not fastened to the roof cross frames. There's enough slack in the roof skin, I could cut the stuff to 24 inch wide pieces and slide it under the frames. I bought some self stick tape to hold it against the roof, but didn't need it. The stuff is stiff enough.
I taped it on the ends, and where it passed under the center strip of plywood on the ceiling. Out of a 25 foot roll of the 48 inch wide stuff, I have enough left to do about half of what's left of the trailer, which is mostly sections that are either not square, or have some protrusion to work around.
Ideally, I would have left an air gap between it and the roof skin, but sticking it up there the way I did made it so easy, didn't rob any headroom....and should at least tone down the heat the roof throws off inside during the day.

12sdrag · « **Reply #24 on:** August 25, 2005, 05:08:44 PM »

sounds like you know, hate to see a mishap, all the rigging work sounds good should be a great bike trailer.The bandit and dr can sit in the a-c while you make frozen drinks and watch tv

btw are you going to put a brass pole from floor to ceiling, mirrors, lights and awesome sound system? You could name it "BANDITS" rolling strip club

PeteSC · « **Reply #25 on:** August 25, 2005, 05:17:39 PM »

well, I've got an anemic car stereo...satellite radio....and might be able to spring for a suggestive poster...............

12sdrag · « **Reply #26 on:** August 28, 2005, 11:04:40 PM »

Pete, Do you think you chould point me in the direction to find some of that etrack? or was it just someone selling on ebay?

PeteSC · « **Reply #27 on:** August 29, 2005, 05:22:30 AM »

JR, I bought mine on Ebay, and don't 100% recommend the seller.
(Had some problems with the way they shipped the stuff, and although they straightened it out....it took a couple of weeks.)

I think with shipping, I ended up paying $80, for 6, 5 foot pieces.
I did see somebody selling the stuff outright on the 'net for around that price.

I don't see the seller who I bought mine from on Ebay with any to sell right now.

This guy always has lots of 6 pieces, but is $10-20 higher.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/E-TRACK-6-5PCS-ENCLOSED-TRAILER-VAN-CARGO-TIEDOWN-GLV_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ50466QQitemZ4570869887QQrdZ1
Somebody is always selling some E-track on ebay, just do a search for 'e-track'.
6 pcs of 5 foot etrack weighs 57 pounds, so shipping eats you up.
If you need a LOT of it....make sure you check shipping costs.
I did a search on Google and found one seller 'claims' to have 5 foot painted sections for $8.99, but I couldn't find shipping costs.

The stuff is easy enough to cut with a hacksaw, or a jig saw.
I bought 2 pieces of 2 foot sections to fill in some gaps, and it ended up costing more than the 5 ft sections. Buy the big stuff, and cut it....

Anyway, back to the trailer.....

It took me quite a while to get the nerve up to cut a hole in a rear door to mount the air conditioner.
When I finally started cutting, it went fairly easy.

The door was constructed as I guessed......outer aluminum frame, with some wood bracing, and a center foam core.
I cut through the inner plywood, and foam layer first, leaving the outer skin intact....in case I screwed up!
I kept measuring...and double checking. Didn't want to miss anything.
When everything looked good, I mounted my wood framing for the a/c, and screwed it in.
Then....I cut the metal outer skin. I drilled a hole on each corner of the opening, and used a cheap metal nibbler I bought at Harbor Freight.
($6). This worked pretty well....and wasn't prone to get away from me like a power tool.
The foam is only lightly glued to the interior and exterior sheathing, so it was easy to get rid of it.
I need to fashion some sort of trap door or flap to cover the hole on the outside, since the a/c unit won't be permanently mounted there.
I don't think the door will handle the extra 50 pounds, particularily when opening and closing repeatedly.
I'll just open the trap door, and slide the unit in when I want to use it.....

Oh yeah, I did screw up something......

I forgot to take into account the handle on the rear door cam when I did my measuring.
When I had everything bolted in, the handle hit the a/c unit, and wouldn't close.

I initially thought about cutting off the offending 2 inches or so with a hacksaw....but ended up just bending the end of the handle outward a bit....

Anyway, I'm over my 'fear' of cutting holes in the trailer, and am hunting a few opening windows to put in.....

I've got some more stuff to do this week, before heading to Road Atlanta for the AMA races friday morning.

Oh yeah, JR, the inverter showed up, and it will power the A/c unit. I just hooked it up, and ran it for about 10 minutes.....not a serious test, but it barely got warm. (The inverter)

12sdrag · « **Reply #28 on:** August 29, 2005, 10:51:14 PM »

Pete, glad to hear the inverter is working. I think the true test will be an hour or two into a cycle. You should be fine. Now for the hole in the back door

what were you thinking

just mess`in with you

I`ve cut holes in 1/2 millon dollar boats and had to fill them back in, because I didn`t like the way it turned out. I would have thought you would have gone with a roof mount a-c (RV sytle) with reverse cycle for heat? Thanks for the info. on the etrack have a 7x10 utility trailer to build.

Bantana · « **Reply #29 on:** August 29, 2005, 11:42:24 PM »

Lookin good Pete. Did you install the waterfall yet?