Aluminum Camper Forum

I was just playing around with cooling on my own fridge last week. In my case I was trying to prevent the existing thermostatic fan from kicking on because it seemed to be running too often. I was planning to either assist with airflow (taking off the cover will stop the fan within seconds), or using a lower power/quieter fan. So my first question to everyone that has responded so far: Do you have a stock fan at all? It doesn't sound like it. My trailer came from the factory with a relatively small Sunon that makes a bunch of noise and doesn't seem to do much. It's mounted on a bracket near the top of the cabinet, but points up. My idea was to install an array of larger, lower power fans (like 120mm Noctua industrial) on a baffle so that the air has to leave the cabinet instead of just swirling around in circles. I was hoping to keep the power the same or lower than the existing fan so that I could just steal its power connection. Any thoughts?

Wow! Were there any screws at all? I can't see any in the photo. Looks like it was held on with sealant alone.... yikes...

I have it stuck to the aluminum angle that the step is attached to. It makes a nice little shelf that's slightly below the floor of the trailer, but in the shade.

Quote from: rickyz1 on September 06, 2018, 09:59:11 AM
I put mine under the entry steps in the shade and use dual lock 3m Velcro, strong adhesive and hard to separate. Like Charlie said put it on your checklist so it doesn't get wet and muddy while on the road.

That's exactly where I put mine except I just leave it there... no issues so far.

Here's the one I used:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000UNOQ3E/

And a couple pictures of the install:







We still absolutely love it. Having the soap and water filter integrated is very handy too.

Quote from: Paul on June 18, 2018, 08:21:09 PM
An autonomous solar mower! How does that work? Is it something you made yourself?

If I told you I'd have to...   

You know the old saying "necessity is the mother of invention"? Well a few years ago we moved to a property with about 5 acres of grass. It takes hours to mow conventionally and being in the Northwest it grows with a vengeance. All of my neighbors just suffer through it or buy bigger more expensive mowers, but still end up sitting on a mower and getting beat up for hours. Literally within a week of doing it the old fashioned way I had converted a 52" walk behind to remote control and that worked great for a couple years, but I still had to stand there and move my fingers I hatched a plan to make a fully autonomous version and decided all-electric was the way to go both for safety and comfort (it's completely silent). It's been through a few iterations, but the current version is basically two ebay wheelchair motors adapted to a pair of snow blower tracks and three 7" direct-drive cutters. It's guided by a gyroscope and some pretty sophisticated GPS (look up RTK if you're curious). The result is very satisfying:



The device itself is pretty simple; the bulk of the effort was actually the software that makes it work. Luckily I'm a software developer, so I was able to tackle that over the winter. So now I just release it in the morning and collect it in the evening. It takes about two days to mow all 5 acres. It travels 24km during the process. Each pass I send it out in a different angle or spacing since the guidance is so precise that it will drive within 1cm of the planned path and doing the same one will eventually cut grooves into the ground. So far this year I haven't had to mow the field once with the RC mower.

Quote from: Merlin on June 15, 2018, 11:39:15 AM
Youve likely mentioned this before, but which solar panel do you have in that photo?

That particular panel is a "WindyNation" 100 watt flexible solar panel. It's just a coincidence that it ended up in the photo though, I don't use it with the trailer. I use a pair of them to power my autonomous solar mower:

Here's the box that we used:



The left half has my battery and other related goodies, the right is just additional storage for stuff that I use during hookup (ball mount, socket for Anderson hitch, tongue jack stand, etc...).

I posted mine on the old forum, but it seems to have lost the pictures. Here it is again with pictures:

QuoteI installed the Progressive Industries EMS-LCHW30 in my 21BHS this weekend. I managed to fit it behind the converter on the underside of the fridge:



That was about the only location I could reach that had enough room to fit the unit. The floor space is occupied by a few large grommets and grounding busses:



It's also occupied by spare zip ties, loose screws, a couple chunks of loose foam, a foot of unused wire loom, half a dozen cut off wire connectors, and the serial number sticker for something (maybe the converter iself?). It's a tight space, so I can't exactly blame them for not digging around for everything they dropped, but I pulled out everything that I could reach. It was so tight that I couldn't hold the unit and drive screws at the same time. I actually drilled and tapped two holes and then hand started them:



The gray material is a heavy duty double stick foam tape that I used to help dampen any hum. You can hear it if you put your head right next to the converter, but otherwise you'd never know it's there. This was definitely not a normal DIY upgrade, so I wouldn't recommend it unless you've done something like this before.

Progressive Industries sells a version with a remote display, but the display itself is primitive and ugly. So I bought the EMS without the remote display to save some money with the goal of adding my own display. My unit has an internal display that shows through the window... but you may have noticed it's missing in my picture. It turns out that the internal circuitry for both units is identical, but mine is just missing the connector. I soldered on the appropriate connector and then cut a hole through the enclosure. I reverse engineered their protocol and am developing my own display to show the information (and more). Important note: the unit only functions this way if you leave out the internal display. Once you connect the internal display, it does not send any information through the external connector (those pins are used in the internal display instead).

Quote from: garymcclellan on June 01, 2018, 03:50:56 PMI guess it wouldn't be a major issue for people who camp at sites with full hookups, but I bought this trailer to boondock with.

I'd say it's actually even worse for people who have hookups. Normally in those circumstances you leave the grey valve open so that you can have unlimited showers/sink use without having to worry about anything filling up. The black valve stays closed even with hookups since there's a tendency for turds to sit on the bottom of the tank while the liquids run away. But in your case you'd need to open the black valve much more often or risk filling it up during a shower.

Are you absolutely sure? Like ran the shower and watched shower water come out of the black valve sure? If so, then get that fixed under warranty, that's ridiculous. If I remember correctly, on mine it just takes a quick turn under the shower pan and then drops through the aluminum floor directly into the tank (you can see it from behind the converter). I don't think you'll be able to see anything from below the trailer.

Pretty much any razor blade will work (like a box cutter). It's pretty fibrous, so I wouldn't suggest any kind of saw or it will just shred and fray. You may need to add something to the back to reduce flex. Even just some aluminum sheet glued or double-stick taped to the back will help.

Quote from: FastEddieB on February 14, 2018, 11:26:51 AM
It has also been brutally cold at times. We've visited the trailer at temps near 20°, and the fridge still kept temps in the same range, leading us to believe it must also heat when temps drop below a certain point.

It's still an insulated box. It probably won't heat it, but the same insulation that prevents heat from entering also prevents heat from escaping.

Why not trade in the Tacoma for the Outback and keep the Sequoia? If you use the Sequoia primarily for towing duty and the Outback for commuting duty, you could probably make the Sequoia last quite a while longer.

Quote from: ADR on February 01, 2018, 10:01:05 AM
I'm wondering if replacing the rubber roof with aluminum would be a better long term solution....

Yes! If you have the choice then swap it out. That particular roof is completely flat (one of LL's original justifications for the rubber was that it could transition better). I wonder if doing so could save you some thickness and possibly allow your slide to close without dragging...