Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I like it! Nice clean installation. It is always a little nerve wracking to cut a hole in a perfectly good trailer, but some things just must be done. That is sure a well insulated ceiling. Was the other vent a factory item? Pretty sexy unit, I thought it was a speaker at first. Nice job Featherlite, she's coming along quite nicely.

McDave

Thanks McDave. I fretted about cutting this my first hole but it was actually pretty easy given the fact that the OEM framing created a guide for the jig saw. The other "Salem" vents were factory installed in locations specified by me.

I recently spent a week in my trailer when it was hot and humid outside. Highs during the day were about 95 degrees and quite humid. Lows at night were about 75 degrees. The trailer sat in direct sunlight at all times during the day. When it was 95 degrees outside, without running the air conditioner, the inside of the trailer was 110 degrees. Then I set my 8,000 btu window mount air conditioner at 72 degrees. I was plugged into 120 volts the whole time. I had all the vents in the trailer closed.

After 2 hours, the air conditioner took the temperature from 110 degrees down to 82 degrees. I left and let the air conditioner run several more hours (I was not able to get back in 2 hours to further test). The air conditioner was set on energy saver mode (where the fan shuts off when the compressor shuts off).

When I returned later on to sleep, it was 72 degrees inside. When I entered the trailer, I cracked two roof vents and a side vent (to avoid suffocation). The air conditioner fan ran continuously until around 3am, at which time the air conditioner fan started cycling. The air conditioner cycle was about 15 minutes running and then about 15 minutes off. Those are rough cycling guesstimates because I did not want to stay awake to take accurate time measurements.

Thereafter, for three days I left the trailer in the morning, left the air conditioner running all day and returned around 8pm to sleep. The results were comparable each night ... 72 degrees inside, not cycling until around 3am and thereafter with 15 minute cycles).

One day I returned to the trailer midday when it was hot. It was 72 degrees inside. I shut the air conditioner off and within an hour the temperature rose to 85 degrees.

After three days of sleeping with the air conditioner cycling at night, I switched the air conditioner to regular mode so the fan ran all night long. It was much easier for me to sleep without the cycling.

I was a little disappointed that it took so long for the air conditioner to cool down the trailer and how fast the trailer heated up when the air conditioner was shut off.

The positive side is that I am learning the performance capabilities of my air conditioner set up.

Also, I am now more motivated than ever to take time off work to paint the roof with Henry’s roof coating.

If you have not insulated your floor, that will help as well. It was 94 deg. F here today with about 85% humidity and my 8000btu kept the 7*18ft vnose at 73 and dry. About what you would expect. A 20 degree differential. You want it to run more in the high humidity to take it out. Much more comfortable that way.

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flboy wrote:If you have not insulated your floor, that will help as well. It was 94 deg. F here today with about 85% humidity and my 8000btu kept the 7*18ft vnose at 73 and dry. About what you would expect. A 20 degree differential. You want it to run more in the high humidity to take it out. Much more comfortable that way.

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Don, Thanks for the feedback. I do have R-12 insulation on the floor. Glad to know that my expectations were not realistic.

featherliteCT1 wrote:

flboy wrote:If you have not insulated your floor, that will help as well. It was 94 deg. F here today with about 85% humidity and my 8000btu kept the 7*18ft vnose at 73 and dry. About what you would expect. A 20 degree differential. You want it to run more in the high humidity to take it out. Much more comfortable that way.

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Don, Thanks for the feedback. I do have R-12 insulation on the floor. Glad to know that my expectations were not realistic.

Sounds like it did well in that heat? That is about right... mine works about the same 20 to 25 degree differential from outside with the humidity we have. One thing to consider when you pull in somewhere and it is 110 deg inside the trailer and 95 deg outside, open the door and open the ramp, turn on the Maxxair and at least get the inside equal to the ambient outside before you bother turning the air on. 110 Degrees is a lot of hot air to pull out. Not surprised it took a while. When I start mine up when it is 95degress outside, I air it out to get the inside 95 degrees and then turn the AC on. The AC will work better to start drawing in 95 degree air instead of 110 deg air and pull down in about an hour total then maintain. I really want it to run a while to start to pull all the humidity out of the air. You notice that right away.

Sounds like it did well in that heat? That is about right... mine works about the same 20 to 25 degree differential from outside with the humidity we have. One thing to consider when you pull in somewhere and it is 110 deg inside the trailer and 95 deg outside, open the door and open the ramp, turn on the Maxxair and at least get the inside equal to the ambient outside before you bother turning the air on. 110 Degrees is a lot of hot air to pull out. Not surprised it took a while. When I start mine up when it is 95degress outside, I air it out to get the inside 95 degrees and then turn the AC on. The AC will work better to start drawing in 95 degree air instead of 110 deg air and pull down in about an hour total then maintain. I really want it to run a while to start to pull all the humidity out of the air. You notice that right away.[/quote]

Thanks for the excellent advice!

Hey Featherlite,
Getting in some driveway camping? Yeah, I do that too. I don't think I could get away with it for a week, but I'm out there almost daily. I had a feeling somebody was stealing my Jameson a little at a time, but I haven't caught anybody.... yet. I'll try again tomorrow.
So the cycling issue and the fact that it starts about 3am may be due in part to the open vents and the fact that you are treating lots of "new" air. That is to say air that is saturated and higher temp than "captive" air would be when it is re-treated. I remember you had condensation issues in the winter that would require venting to allow the moisture from breathing etc. to escape. I think that process may be playing out in reverse now. Nature abhors a vacuum, and all weather is caused by uneven heating and cooling and the atmosphere trying to get everything equal. When you remove the water/heat from the cabin air the dry air is less dense than the outside air. If you have a open vent or two water vapour/heat will rush in as fast as it can. That is a lot more the air cond now must try to remove, so it runs hard until the early AM when the temp outside drops. Then it begins to cycle 15 on 15 off. Unless you are afraid the trailer is so airtight that you would poison yourself with your own CO2, I would leave the vents closed and let the A/C remove the moisture/heat that you breathe out.
It was HOT and humid in Tinytown today. But you know, rooftop A/C. Almost chilly in there.


McDave

McDave wrote:It was HOT and humid in Tinytown today. But you know, rooftop A/C. Almost chilly in there.


McDave

McDave, most likely it is less about being a "Rooftop" and more likely about being 13,500 to 15,000 BTU in a 6*12 or 6*14 insulated area in this case. What do you think... before you consult Jameson? :-)


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McDave,
Last winter, the first time I slept in my trailer overnight I had the vents closed ... I woke up in the middle of the night and thought I was starting to suffocate. So now I always keep the vents cracked a bit. And yes, I did have condensation issues last winter which were alleviated to a some extent by cracking the vents.

To clarify, I stayed for a week at a friends cottage at Lake James in northern Indiana where there was no room to park my trailer. However, my friend did own a lot about a mile away with an electrical hookup so I parked there. Having 120v electric hookup makes staying in the trailer extra nice.

Thanks for the feedback.

“Dr. Dyno” was in town today at the local independent motorcycle shop tuning Harleys. I watched him tune a couple of bikes and had a chance to chat with him a bit between tunes. He travels the country pulling a 18x7 trailer he operates out of … on his way to Sturgis next week. I noticed that he had a Honda EU3000is Super Quiet Electric Start Inverter Generator powering his 13k btu roof mount air conditioner.

The generator idled even when he started the air conditioner as the compressor kicked in … with no change in RPM. The generator is WAY more quiet at idle than my new Honda 2200i Generator because my generator must rev up to high rpms to operate my 8k btu window mount air conditioner … even in economy mode.

I am seriously considering buying the larger generator to reduce the sound levels.

Yes, those Honda EU3000is Super Quiet Electric Start Inverter Generators are very nice. I have seen a few of those. The guys with the larger RV's and Rooftops will use them. Very nice generators. They are about $2K, so a bit pricey, but worth it. Honda set the bar with that one.

I have my Honda2000i in the back of my truck running on Eco mode and it bumps up a bit when the AC kicks on , then settles right back down to a very low purr. They don't draw a lot of power when running.. just a large inrush when they start up. I think those 3000's are just quieter to start with all the way around... I know it is quieter than my 2000 which is quieter than almost any its size if not the quietest. I remember walking by one and really could not hear it much over the A/C running on top itself. If I had the need for the Rooftop size.. that is what I'd get for sure. Electric start is nice too! I'd rig a remote start in the camper so I didn't have to get out to start it or shut it down.

10-4 flboy

flboy wrote:Yes, those Honda EU3000is Super Quiet Electric Start Inverter Generators are very nice. I have seen a few of those. The guys with the larger RV's and Rooftops will use them. Very nice generators. They are about $2K, so a bit pricey, but worth it. Honda set the bar with that one.
Electric start is nice too! I'd rig a remote start in the camper so I didn't have to get out to start it or shut it down.

I have the EU3000is and yes they are very nice. There are wireless remote kits available, however It is a bit of a process to install them. I guess as nice as it would be, I am just not willing to spend the money yet. I believe a few of the competitions units are coming out with built in remote start, I keep thinking Honda will follow suit at some point.
Remote Kit
Remote Start Champion