Aluminum Camper Forum

Beautiful but brr. Back in the day I was a winter mountaineer.  Snowshoeing, XC Skiing, Arctic Soldier and Paratrooper.  Now in my post 60 years I have lost my joy of being cold. Got a brother in Vermont who still loves the cold but my old bones don't enjoy it anymore.

I think we all naturally gravitate to the same types of setups. Inherently it just works, and that is what we want. Comfortable camping.

Pretty nice area to serve out a posting!

Here is a current pic of our camping spot. A tad different to the sunny Keys.

Have a great camping season with your updated power system!

I was able to find the VE Shunt settings on YouTube.  The YT screen shot does not show that I set the discharge floor to 15%. 

Aware that you can't charge the LiFePO batteries below freezing.  I do not plan on camping for any extended times in below freezing weather.  I am a classic snowbird winter camper in the Florida Keys.  Usually we get one to two days of below freezing weather on the trip down.  The Navy campground has way more dry camping sites than FHUs especially since active duty military can now live in the campground for their entire tour at NAS Key West. I was dry camping for five weeks this winter and the 8 year old LE batteries couldn't keep up. 

Fan of the Bluetti too we have the AC 180 with 200 WT solar.  The AC 180 worked great for running the DC powered Starlink at night and for making toast in the morning without having to fire up the generator. 

We also recently made the conversion from our x2 Trojan 6 volt AGM batteries to lithium. Very happy to reduce our tongue weight of approximately 100 pounds as well. Noticed a very nice improvement on towing.

For our requirements a 100 AMP heated lithium battery was imperative with a VE smartshunt. Initially the LiTime product was very appealing, but their BMS required an external power supply to engage the self heating function. Ok, how much power is required? A whopping 10 AMPs! All of our camping is off grid, this will not work.

Battle Born employs a true self heating function that uses low AMPs and cycles the heating element on and off, no external power required. It also has a toggle switch that you can turn the self heating function on/off. Why have the element on during the dead of night. We just turn it on at 7:00 AM and the BMS does the rest. Works perfectly. I don't worry about our legacy electrical system providing a full charge to the lithium battery because we are never plugged into shore power, always solar. Battle Born now has an all in one system, no shunt required. I saved some money and went with the traditional smart shunt and battery. System is installed in our exterior locked battery box. IP67 ratings were also required.

Watching old DVD's on the TV, running our diesel heater 14 hours and general trailer power consumption during the night we are averaging 20 AMPs.

We also purchased a Bluetti AC 60P. All in one do it all, we leave this outside to charge our fun devices including some heated seat pads. We hardly use our Honda geny anymore, only for the microwave and oven. The Bluetti is also charged with solar as well.

Happy so far no issues.

Outstanding! You really did it right. When my regular flooded lead-acid batteries age out, I'll follow your lead and do the very same thing. Thanks for the info on the power center. That makes it all a much more doable mod.

I know from experience with the VE Smart Shunt it's important to have the parameters set for your particular battery specs if you want to monitor precisely. Take the time to look up those specs and program the shunt via the app.

I made the conversion from lead acid to Lithium Ion Phosphate battery with our 21 RBS.  After dry camping in the Florida Keys for 5 weeks this summer with 8+ year old golf cart batteries it was time to replace them or upgrade to li-ion battery. The old batteries, two 6 VT, did fine running the camper but could not keep the Starlink and TV going in the evening without a taking the batteries below 50%.  Both TV and Starlink are 12VT. 

Went with the "LiTime 12V 280Ah Plus Deep Cycle Lithium Battery with Low-Temp Protection" that fit in the existing battery box.  Upgraded the converter-inverter with the "Progressive Dynamics Replacement Converter Inteli-Power 4000 Series 45 Amp Power Center" vs. replacing the entire inverter-converter. This is only five wires to change out.  Then added a "Victron Energy SmartShunt Battery Monitor (Bluetooth) - 6.5V-70V, 500 amp" with "Victron Energy Temperature Sensor BMV-702/712" to monitor the battery status on the phone app.

I have not had the chance to give it a good shakedown because I got FHUs the last two weeks in the Keys where we did the conversion.

I am told we increased by battery capacity by three times and lightened the tongue weight by 40 lbs. 

I will give an undated report later on how it goes.

 

Hi all,

I got a flat on the highway in the middle of no place on the way to Florida from Atlanta. I was probably doing about 80, and while I felt the tire blow, the trailer was well behaved, and I pulled the truck and trailer over on the on-ramp to the next exit.

The tire had completely disintegrated from flapping on the highway, and I was mad at myself for packing my axle jack inside the camper. Such a bad idea. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a H.E.R.O. truck shows up, and the guy pulls out his floor jack and changes to the spare for me. Awesome result!

I had a look at the remaining road tire, and given its age and condition, I fretted about it for the rest of my trip. And now I was down a spare. I had to pick up a tire-on-wheel to have another spare available, and that cost me over $160 at a Bass Pro. I could've probably spent less, but would've had to spend a bunch of my trip staying put and awaiting shipping, dealing with repair, etc.

If you're looking for a tire-on-wheel that's just like mine, you're looking for a 5.3x12 tire on a wheel with a 3.19-inch center hole, and a 5-lug pattern. Note that if you measure distance between lug hole centers and it matches your existing wheel, and you have 5, the spread from the center has to match too (ask your Geometry teacher). If you match that measurement, and have a center hole that matches yours, the wheel should fit.

I had a look at the tire codes on the spare (now on the trailer) and the other original road tire. These are called "DOT Codes", and an online look-up can tell you how old your tires are (I bought my trailer used). Ugh: 2009. It's way past time for all the tires to be replaced.

Here, however is where I make a mistake: I ordered a fairly cheap set of tires from Amazon, that matched my 5.3x12 wheel spec...but after looking at a bunch of tires and buying cheap, these came "Load Range B" instead of the spec "Load Range C". In a double-mistake, I didn't discover this 'til the tires were mounted. Ouch. These tires will carry less weight than the prior set.

I might get this fixed again when I have a spare $150 to drop on nothing I particularly want to buy, but for the time being, Load Range B will just work if they're properly inflated, and I don't add a bunch of stuff in the trailer (I've had it weighed on a CAT scale).

Lesson learned: 5.3x12 AND check the load range.

While we're at it, when looking for someplace to get your tires mounted, make sure and check that their machine will handle a 12-inch aluminum wheel. Don't just assume any tire store can do them. There was a day before aluminum wheels were popular that not all tire stores could mount on them. And it's no guarantee that their machines can handle a wheel of this size.

Hope this helps someone. Would've helped me!

Hi all, (cross-posting from Livin' Light board...)

I realize this forum is only lightly-trafficked now, but it's a common hit for info on my camper, so placing this here so someone in need can find it.

I fretted over how to do this for a long time before pulling the trigger. I finally determined it was time when this spring at Sebring I was able to use the old A/C to get the interior of the camper a bit warmer than it was outside.

The old A/C was a GE:

GE AEH05LMG1 - 5200 BTU 
Body 17-3/4 w at coils/exterior end, 12-3/4 deep from coils end, 12-1/4 high at pull tab 
GE Spec dimensions: 12 7/16 H x 17 11/16 W x 13 5/16 D

As I looked for a replacement, I noted that there are higher-capacity, more efficient, and smaller units available, but what I was really looking for was:

- something of equal or better BTU 
- that has a remote 
- that is pretty close to fitting the hole.

I chose an LG LW6024R (no, they aren't paying me, nor do I get money from Bezos) because it's 6,000 BTU, and the measurements are:

12.83"D x 17.31"W x 11.13"H

The cord is on the right side (looking at it from the control panel), but that thing is in the way no matter how it goes in. The plug is a little thicker (but smaller in width/height) than the interruptor plug on the GE. Haven't had the whole camper unfurled yet to see that fit.

I discovered I could replace the A/C without opening the camper. I opened the hatch, pulled the AC out on its slides (which are just somewhat robust drawer slides), and unscrewed the 4 sheet-metal self-tapping screws which held the body of the A/C to a couple of aluminum planks at the end of the slides.

These planks and the self-tapping screws looked pretty janky to me, but I embraced the jank and plopped the new A/C in about the same place on the planks, then looked for where to drill.

Note that I'm not telling you to drill into your A/C. Just describing what I did. If you drill into your A/C, you're doing it on your own and I take no responsibility for damage, death or danger.

I HAD TO BE CAREFUL DRILLING INTO THE NEW A/C. I shouldn't have to say this, but I realize that there are plenty of places where drilling into the bottom of the A/C, or placing self-tapping screws may penetrate a refrigerant line or someplace else that is, and should stay pressurized with refrigerant. The info on the A/C indicates that Hell surely awaits if any of that now-flammable refrigerant escapes.

I was careful and didn't puncture anything. I did have to drill a couple new holes in the janky aluminum plates. I got new hex-head self-tapping #8 screws, and secured the new A/C

With that finished and the A/C mounted and sliding in and out, I went over to mounting foam insulation around the perimeter of the A/C to seal it against the existing rubber weatherstripping when the A/C was pulled to working position.

I used black weatherstrip adhesive (I got 3M - they know what they're doing) and followed carefully the instructions to make sure the surface was CLEAN and DRY (gluing weatherstrip to dirt wasn't going to seal my camper). I mounted non-adhesive 1" foam rubber "Air Conditioner Weatherstripping" - purchased as a couple 6' rolls from the hardware store - all around the A/C. I had to note how far I needed to pull the A/C out to run properly before deciding on a mounting spot. I picked right about where I would've mounted the sliding side-panels for the A/C if I were really mounting in a window.

All in place, when I pull the A/C out on its slides, it seals well against the factory weatherstrip.

I'm looking forward to having a little better cooling this summer.

Merlin, Thank you for the reply. I have pressed in bearing races in the past and it takes a little time and patience. I do like the Dexter Never adjust brake set up and the Dexter pre-grease drums and hubs would definitely save on overhaul time. 

When I did a similar thing with my dual torque flex axle 16TBS 4 years ago, I went with the Dexter units. They were very easy to install and have been completely trouble and maintenance free since. I assume the Dexter brakes you're looking at are self-adjusting. Every so often etrailer.com runs sales, so check with their site.

Unless you have experience with the tools necessary to install the press-fit races, I suggest not going with a set up requiring that.

And kudos for paying attention to brakes!