Building a Toy Hauler

[Lennie]

Looks awesome

[FLboy]

Thanks Lennie!

[FLboy]

Got some more wiring connected up to switches tonight. Working on hooking up the DC Circuits. Ready for the batteries now. :-) I may pick those up this weekend if I get time. 

 

 

Wow, These rear lights are very bright for LED's!   

 

I have a relay installed where my reverse lights on the truck will also turn these on when the trailer is hooked up. Will be great for backing up at night. 

 

[FLboy]

I got  some work done on the kitchen today. The Counter-top and lower cabinets are roughed in. I need to do the top cabinets tomorrow, then glue and screw it all down. I also need to decide door placement and size and cut the opening for the doors and the hole for the sink. When I get that far, I'll move back and build  the rear cabinets in and the dinette. I only want to set up once to build the doors, so I will get everything else done that will require doors first. Hopefully I'll have more progress pics tomorrow. 

 

My wife likes the tile board in the bathroom and wants that for back splash, so I think I will do that. I was going to tile with Mosaic tile, but that is alot of work and weight if she doesn't want it. The Counter top will be a "pewter" color and the cabinet door panels will be diamond plate aluminum, so it  should have good contrast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I picked up 2 Exide 31MDC 12VDC Group 31 115AH  (115A @ 20H) Deep Cycle Batteries. I may not get the third right away. 230AH should be more than enough.  We'll see after I actually use them a few times. In any case, it will be easy to add one or two more.

 

 

Edited August 20, 2016 by FLboy

[FLboy]

Got more done in the kitchen today. All the upper cabinets are built and everything is glued and screwed together. I even have a good idea how I going to layout the cabinet doors. I am going to tape all that off tomorrow to get a feel for it. . 

 

 

I will be adding some Luan to the bottom to cover up the framing. I need to do that anyhow as I have LED lights that I am recessing into the bottom. It will have a nice smooth look to it I hope.

 

 

 

You can see the overhead cabinets. I will be adding the back splash tomorrow if all goes well. That will change the look drastically. Also, I am struggling with whether or not to build the microwave into a shelf just above where it is setting. I think that may close the kitchen in too much (you have to be standing in there to see what I mean). I may just build an open shelf there where my motorcycle helmet can set and keep the microwave on the counter. Not decided. 

 

 

You can see the range and hood installed. That will be a cabinet over the hood when I cut the opening and install a dooor. :-) 

 

A look from the back. The LED lighting under the counters will help the lighting up front. It is dim compared to the back end. 

 

[FLboy]

I didn't get much done Sunday except I got the last Solar Panel installed and I have all the cables ready to mount and drop into the camper this week. I'll have to work on the cabinets again next weekend. 

Looking at the top of the trailer today, I figured I could paint whatever isn't covered with panels or etc. with that white reflective paint?  ? 

 

 

 

Following are  pics of the junction box I made to connect up the panels and feed down through the roof. I hope it is helpful for someone.

 

 

I have two inputs (+/-) and I have two terminal strips fastened down. I cut 1/2" holes for the conduit connections and one smaller hole for the  Output that goes down through the middle. The 1/2" Waterproof inputs will accept 1/2 pvc conduit, so I will cut two pieces  long enough to go under the closest panel. I'll run all the wires into the conduit under that first  panel (I made extensions for some of the panels wires so I could home run them all to the same place).  I want to shield all the wires from the UV's given  UV's will cause the insulation to break down over time. Additionally, that, along with the Silicone caulking I'll shoot into the end... should keep water out  of the conduit. 

 

 I may be hooking it all up tomorrow night after work if weather permits. I'll post some pics. 

 

 

 

 

[FLboy]

I still need to clean up the wires and insulate from the UV's, and add the Dicor.... but you can get the idea of how this worked out.  I think it will work well and I can easily isolate a cell to troubleshoot and etc. by removing a wire from the terminal. I'll get it all wired up through the controller in the next few days and test it all out.  ? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Skippy23]

Looking good!

[FLboy]

Looking good!

Thanks sir.

[FLboy]

Well, I have Solar Power now. It was charging with 13A at 8:15PM with the sun low in the sky with clouds. I can't wait to see what it does on a sunny day in the middle of the afternoon. 

 

 

 

Aside from connecting up a few outlets, tucking away wires,  bundling them neatly with tie wraps,  and mounting the indicator panel shown in the pics below, my electrical system is up and working. 

 

I am running off solar now. I tested the inverter under full load. It runs the Fridge and Microwave with room to spare. The pics below show the Kill-A-Watt meter on the front of the inverter that monitors to AC output, and the bottom one is a panel I got of Amazon for $15.00. I had to connect a current shunt in the return line from the inverter, but basically it monitors current, voltage and power usage for the inverter. It will be handy when boondocking as you have to manage total power usage so as not to overload the inverter or run the batteries down below 10.5V. When the meter indicates 100A.. it's time to shut something down. I can also see any difference between the voltage at the batteries and the voltage at the inverter. You can see in the pics they differ by about .1 volts. 

 

 

 

I am going to mount this right above the Solar Charger/Controller so at a glance, I will be able to monitor the input to and output from the batteries . 

 

Edited August 27, 2016 by FLboy

[FLboy]

Some more progress today despite a slow start. I got the backsplash in, the under cabinet lighting, cut the overhead cabinet access, and did some more wiring of switches. Still alot of trim work. I'll probably cut the remainder of the access holes and cut the kitchen sink in tomorrow.. all I'll probably have time for. 

 

 

I think the lighting turned out nice. I like it. 

 

 

 

View into the kitchen from where the dinette booth is going to go next week. I need to make some more holes for the two amp meters I have to monitor the solar. Both are like the one I showed previously wit the Blue Back lighting. I need to make a panel mount for them and they will go directly over top the Solar Charger. I'll be able to monitor the current and etc. going into the battery and back out. I'll be able to set alarms for under voltage and etc..  

 

 

I had to add more switches (lots of stuff to turn on and off!)  and decided to mount the Water Heater switch there also since it was convenient. 

[FLboy]

Only had about two hours I could work on the trailer today. I finished marking off the cabinet doors. You can kind of see where things will go from the tape. I'll start cutting holes later this week and then fabricate doors. 

 

 

Instead of having pull out drawers, I found a nice plastic set of Rubbermaid stacking drawers this will fit nicely behind the more narrow cabinet door.. so when that opens, there will be several longer/deep drawers.. With this design, I can configure it any way I want inside. 

 

 

 

 

 

I need to clean up this old sink I got from the donor trailer... but I think it will go nicely where it is setting. 

 

 

 

 

This is a random picture of how my back cabinets will hang. I will put these steel hangers on each beam and use that to secure a  2x2 to the ceiling which all the cabinet faces will  mount to. I plan on using 1/2 Birch Plywood for the face and do the same with recessed lights like I did in the kitchen area. The cabinets will be 12" deep, but I am debating whether to make the 12" tall or 16"...    In any case... they should be sturdy enough to hold some heavier items if needed.... although I'd rather keep the heavy stuff down low. 

 

Edited August 28, 2016 by FLboy

[FLboy]

Made the panel for my Volts/Amps meters and installed all the shunts and wires for accurate readings. One meter monitors the Solar Charger input to the batteries and the other monitors the Battery Output to the Inverter. The top display has a problem and I will be returning it to Amazon as soon as the replacement arrives.... The mount is a double gang wall plate I cut out with a dremel tool and then painted black. I'll bolt it down as soon as I have the replacement meter. 

 

The Solar Charger has a display that shows some of the same information for the charging... so it is redundant in that sense.. but I have a backup solar charger that I got cheap. It does not have a display like this, so in that case, the meter will do the job. Plus... a lot of digital displays look good to me! LOL... I like gadgets!  ?  ? 

 

[FLboy]

I have the next few days off and plan to get a lot done. 

 

I spent some time cleaning up the wiring and putting in DC breakers for the Inverter and etc. between rain storms today. I also got the DC meters figured out and all wired . The AC stuff up top, DC stuff in the middle, and batteries at the bottom.

 

The Dual Band VHF/UHF HAM radio is just setting there. It will be remote mounted when I get the dinette in. 

 

 

 

Battery disconnect switch in. Shunt wires neatly packed away. I will panel inside the cabinet to hide/protect the wires. This will be a closet for hanging stuff. 

 

Most all of this wire I recycled from the Donor Camper. It is all heavier Gage than really needed for the circuits... but I like to overbuild anyhow. It should give me no troubles. Good heavy gage copper wire is expensive these days! 

 

 

 

Meters working well! :-)  I got the replacement for the defective meter today.

 

Getting ready for major cabinet building tomorrow. The rail that will bear a lot of the weight of the cabinets and contents. I'll be building cabinets and starting on the doors this weekend. Zero experience building cabinets... so here it goes! 

 

Edited September 1, 2016 by FLboy

[FLboy]

Got the rear cabinets built today and will start the dinette booth tomorrow. After that, I'll start building cabinet doors. My brother has got a router sable and etc. he said I could use for this project... it helps to have the right tools for the job. 

 

I do have only one more cabinet to build in the bathroom. I'll get to that tomorrow as well, I hope. 

 

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Also, I was in Home Depot last night picking up some screws and etc. for today and they had restocked their Exide 31MDC batteries. With coupons and rebates, I got this for $80.00 so I decided to get it anyhow since I am building the dinette this weekend and I need to build the extra battery under it. So I now have 345Amp Hours. Definitely enough for boon-docking and running a few things. 

 

I ran the AC from the inverter and batteries today for 3 hours just to see if it would do it. It did! . It draws about 47Amp running and at the time,  Solar was replacing about 10A as it went with the sun low in the Sky at 9:09AM. I can see where I will be able to pull off in a rest stop on a sunny day and crank up the AC and have lunch and take a nap without any generator. This is why I built in the smaller AC that cools the trailer fine and uses lower power. I love it... I don't think I have enough battery capacity to run overnight.. but definitely on a sunny afternoon... when it is the hottest..   ?   ?

 

 

Edited September 3, 2016 by FLboy

[Skippy23]

Nice job on the cabinets!

[Splat03]

You do awesome work. Read your other build and have followed this one from the beginning. I love the updates and seeing the project come together. I'm not knocking your passion but it seems to be the trailer is the passion. Do you ever have time to ride? If I had a spare couple hours I would be on the bike. I'm just curious, I don't mean for it to come across as insulting.

Edited September 3, 2016 by Splat03

[FLboy]

Nice job on the cabinets!

 

Thanks!

[FLboy]

You do awesome work. Read your other build and have followed this one from the beginning. I love the updates and seeing the project come together. I'm not knocking your passion but it seems to be the trailer is the passion. Do you ever have time to ride? If I had a spare couple hours I would be on the bike. I'm just curious, I don't mean for it to come across as insulting.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I use to ride every weekend with my boy and we tent camped when we were out overnight. He has grown up,  graduated college,  got married, and moved out of state.. so I often either go by myself or with friends. I don't ride near as much as I use to... but I am hoping to get out more when the weather cools down here. This is not the best time to ride in Florida... wet and hot. 

 

I started this build in the end of March.. and will finish next month when the weather starts to cool down again.. then I can enjoy the toy hauler trailer I worked on all summer.. :-)  I am getting older now and like the comforts.... and my wife will join me more if I have a nice place for her to stay. She doesn't tent camp and wants a bathroom. 

Edited September 3, 2016 by FLboy

[Splat03]

Yup, makes sense. I didn't even take your weather into consideration. Keep up the strong work and nice pictures. And a happy wife...