ADV-House: An 8x18 renovation.

Converting Cargo Trailers into TTTs

Re: ADV-House: An 8x18 renovation.

Postby PigTrail » Fri Sep 28, 2018 8:47 am

Thanks for the thoughts on AC ventilation. After thinking about this for a while I ordered an RV storage locker door from recpro.com and am awaiting it's arrival.
https://www.recpro.com/custom-square-rv-baggage-door/?gclid=CjwKCAjworfdBRA7EiwAKX9HeJT4wm1HxmBSERJPa0ocjEu8a5X1gLMY9cwwiXVIBmndrxK3oBIxCBoCOTcQAvD_BwE

I plan to build a mechanism to slide the AC in and out of the trailer, so I can bypass all the intake and exhaust issues. It's meant to be outside, so I'll let it be there.

In the meantime here is an updated shot from a few days ago...

Image


Last night I finally started to piece together the lower front cabinets above the ARB refrigerator tray.

With the tray in the locked position.

Image


..and the out position.

Image

I used a 250lb slide, so it doesn't budge even when loading the fridge in place. The upper part of this cabinet will have a drawer for silverware and what-not while the lower area will house storage for water bottles, spices, and tall skinny things. The blue tape on the floor is a trace of the cabinet edge 24" from the wall.
Last edited by PigTrail on Fri Sep 28, 2018 2:38 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Richard

@DualSportDispatch on IG
PigTrail
Teardrop Master
 
Posts: 134
Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2014 3:30 pm

Re: ADV-House: An 8x18 renovation.

Postby PigTrail » Fri Sep 28, 2018 8:51 am

There is a company out of Canada called Bike Binderz that make these nice aluminum holders for dirt bikes and snow-bikes. This way generates less compression on the forks. Here you can see how the rear of the bike slides under the queen mattress supports. The midget door behind the bike still has room to open.

Image


Heather's bike is lowered and so slides all the way under the bed-frame if need be. Here I am loading both.

Image
Richard

@DualSportDispatch on IG
PigTrail
Teardrop Master
 
Posts: 134
Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2014 3:30 pm

Re: ADV-House: An 8x18 renovation.

Postby PigTrail » Mon Oct 01, 2018 8:01 am

I visited a local rough-cut lumber business and found this piece of scrap Cedar for $18.

Image



With a few cuts and LOTS of sanding I was able to make it look like this...

Image


The sealing process involves three steps, a conditioner, stain, and then polyurethane.

Applying the conditioner...

Image


and the stain...

Image


...and tonight the polyurethane. It measures about 14" x 40" and will serve as a table in the trailer. Stay tuned.
Richard

@DualSportDispatch on IG
PigTrail
Teardrop Master
 
Posts: 134
Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2014 3:30 pm
Top

Re: ADV-House: An 8x18 renovation.

Postby McDave » Mon Oct 01, 2018 9:39 am

Oh Yeah,
I love it already! I wish I had room to do that kind of creative stuff, maybe next trailer. Here is a video I found interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnKg49cXnNs

Good Luck!

McDave
User avatar
McDave
Donating Member
 
Posts: 2288
Images: 412
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2015 5:21 am
Location: Tiny Town, Montana
Top

Re: ADV-House: An 8x18 renovation.

Postby hankaye » Mon Oct 01, 2018 10:39 am

PigTrail, Howdy;

Nice slab! Check out this guy's job.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-odhju5eKo&t=543s

hank
Striving for a less complicated life since 1949 ...
Every day I beat my own previous record for number of consecutive days I've stayed alive.
hankaye
2000 Club
2000 Club
 
Posts: 2567
Images: 1
Joined: Thu Dec 06, 2012 5:35 pm
Location: S.W. New Mexico
Top

Re: ADV-House: An 8x18 renovation.

Postby PigTrail » Mon Oct 08, 2018 7:52 am

We did a kitchen renovation in 2015 and this drawer was a left-over from old cabinets. I try not to throw things like this away if I have the space, so it'll make a great addition to the trailer!

Image


Next, I roughed in the rest of the lower cabinet, installed the drawer on 20" slides, and ran wiring and flexible plastic conduit for the refrigerator. I used 10GA that will connect directly to the power-center in the front-left. The wire running top-down at the angle is for the under-counter and under-cabinet lights. The wire on the left goes back to the switch panel on the passenger side just behind the door that controls the fan, overhead lights, and under-counter lights.

The counters are rough-cut and I snapped this photo before cutting the sink-hole. It'll be on the left. The counters are stain-ready "project panels" from Lowe's that are 1"x24"x48". They're made of spruce and pine glued together. I plan to stain and polyurethane.

Image

The counter will continue around to the left, but I'm waiting for the AC door to come in from RecPro before diving into that portion.


...and we're not all work and no play. We also got out to Barnwell Mountain Recreation Area this weekend in East Texas and got Heather some seat time on her new-to-her KTM 250. We had it lowered for her 28" inseam. All smiles.

Image
Richard

@DualSportDispatch on IG
PigTrail
Teardrop Master
 
Posts: 134
Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2014 3:30 pm
Top

Re: ADV-House: An 8x18 renovation.

Postby PigTrail » Tue Oct 09, 2018 8:58 am

I've been doing a lot of reading on electrical systems. I've found the website by FarOutRide to be very useful. They have a detailed build journal and link-laden electrical summary. It can be found here: https://faroutride.com/electrical-system

The system I'm building is relatively simple. No solar or truck connection, but I do plan to use a generator (Honda 2000W) to periodically recharge my battery bank and to run things like a small air conditioner or small elec oven. Although I probably can't run two of these things at once. I will have a single 15A circuit coming from the generator, through the trailer wall and into each appliance. I am by NO means an electrician, so please tell me if I'm doing something stupid or misguided. By my calculations (watt = volts * 15 amps) I can run a max of 1650-1800 watts through the plug. This means I can run either the oven OR the air conditioner OR the battery charger, but not any two of the three. Your thoughts?

The generator was easy. I found a nearly new Honda unit on craigslist a few months back.

For the trailer wall connection I picked up a 15A plug manufactured by Marinco.

Image


Back of the plug is ready for wiring...

Image


At HD I picked up a 6' 12Ga extension cord and cut it up to look like this...

Image

Insert wires in the appropriate connectors into the back of the plug and you have a ready made trailer extension cord ready to be inserted into a circular cut-out.

Image


Inside, this unit will plug into the ac power to recharge the battery...

Image
Richard

@DualSportDispatch on IG
PigTrail
Teardrop Master
 
Posts: 134
Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2014 3:30 pm
Top

Re: ADV-House: An 8x18 renovation.

Postby John61CT » Tue Oct 09, 2018 11:23 am

Get a charger you can de-rate amps.

So whenever the genny is running, at least some charge can go to the bank.

Lead batts take 6+ hours to get to 100% Full, which is required "most cycles", at least a few times a week for longevity, a good bank properly cared for can get 6-8 years or more.

If you run the genny long enough to get the bank to 85-90% SoC in the early morning, it doesn't take that much solar to finish the job when the sun starts pumping in the amps.

Without solar you may need to replace the bank every year or two.
John61CT
1000 Club
1000 Club
 
Posts: 1958
Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2016 4:36 pm
Top

Re: ADV-House: An 8x18 renovation.

Postby flboy » Tue Oct 09, 2018 8:49 pm

PigTrail wrote:I am by NO means an electrician, so please tell me if I'm doing something stupid or misguided. By my calculations (watt = volts * 15 amps) I can run a max of 1650-1800 watts through the plug. This means I can run either the oven OR the air conditioner OR the battery charger, but not any two of the three. Your thoughts?


Your calculations are correct and you have the right idea for load management. Make sure you have a 15A main breaker coming in to protect your wiring and extension cords to the Shore power. If you get absent minded and click on too many appliances, it will just pop and limit you to the 15A.

I am running the same type 15A receptacle into my CTC. So with the AC running and Fridge running (about 750-800w) and the battery charger which I may flip on sometimes when the generator is running to top off batteries (400W)... I have to be careful about turning on the microwave (largest draw at 900w) as it will throw me over the top and pop the breaker . If I were to turn it on while not thinking, the breaker will pop before anything bad happens. I rarely run the microwave, so no big deal to shut the AC off a few minutes if needed.

Bottom line, I manage the AC appliances and all the other stuff (lighting, fans, water pump, etc.) run off the 12VDC system. .

When using the inverter (1500W with 3000W surge) ,I do not run the AC or the battery charger (duh), so just the Fridge and Microwave mostly unless I have the TV on or etc.. I could have wired it for 30A and had no issues when on shore power.. but I like the idea of running on solar and a small generator as I built my CTC to be a boondocker.


Something to consider if you ever wire up for solar and something to take maximum benefit of solar supplemented by the small generator. IMHO this is ideal for boondocking and something I thought hard about when I designed my CTC electrical system.

I did wire my CTC a 15A Main with 2 other 15A breakers after the main with separate circuits for the charger and Air Conditioner, and another breaker which gets it power through the main or transfer switch to inverter. On a hot day (usually means sunny), if I want to run the Air Conditioner via the generator, I can flip the transfer switch internally to isolate from the generator fed panel to run only the Air Conditioner and Charger. The remainder (fridge, all outlets, microwave) will then run off the batteries/inverter. So basically, on a sunny day, I can run it all with the generator and Inverter.

Excess generator power not being used by the Air Conditioner is also charging batteries in conjunction with the solar panels, so the DC system never really discharges while it runs the fridge, lighting, microwave or anything else I plug into an outlet... it is a beautiful thing. :-) I have 500W of permanent panels on the roof and a 100W portable panel I can throw in if needed.

Just throwing all that out there so you can ponder it if you ever go solar. I have schematics I can share if you decide to ever go that route

Good luck!
Don (Flboy)

YouTube Video of Finished 6x12 Trailer:
https://youtu.be/6_-8cVdWUIA
YouTube Video of 7*18 with 2ft V-nose Trailer:
https://youtu.be/MUcMM86LA2g
User avatar
flboy
Gold Donating Member
 
Posts: 4216
Images: 378
Joined: Tue May 15, 2012 6:13 pm
Top

Re: ADV-House: An 8x18 renovation.

Postby PigTrail » Wed Oct 10, 2018 7:50 am

Thanks for the comments and detailed post! Lots to ponder. I'm in the "keep it simple" stage , so will probably skip solar and be more careful about load management. I do like the flexibility of your setup and I also tilt towards boon-docking. Thanks!!!
Richard

@DualSportDispatch on IG
PigTrail
Teardrop Master
 
Posts: 134
Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2014 3:30 pm
Top

Re: ADV-House: An 8x18 renovation.

Postby PigTrail » Mon Oct 15, 2018 8:39 am

With two of the three counters cut I turned to the process of condition, stain, and polyurethane. I used a gray stain.

The first coat didn't look impressive.

Image


So I put the second coat on a little thicker.

Image


After letting it sit for 10-15 minutes I used a cloth to wipe off the excess stain.

Image


Installation required some acrobatics. At least the refrigerator hole was pretty big and I'm pretty flexible. Heather assisted in case I got stuck.

Image


Partially installed

Image


Both panels. Third one coming later.

Image


Added a few coats of polyurethane and it looks pretty good.

Image


Close-up of the sink cut-out gives a better sense of the color.

Image


Added a bead of caulk for the drop-in sink

Image


And there it is.

Image


The sink is held on with these little clips that came with the kit. I think I paid ~$60 for the sink, faucet, mounting hardware, and drain off amazon. It's sold as a package.

Image


Sink prepping to mount.

Image

The clips rotate into place once through the hole and then you can tighten 'em down.


Refrigerator snugged and strapped in its home.

Image
Richard

@DualSportDispatch on IG
PigTrail
Teardrop Master
 
Posts: 134
Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2014 3:30 pm
Top

Re: ADV-House: An 8x18 renovation.

Postby McDave » Mon Oct 15, 2018 9:29 am

Nice. Really nice work on those countertops. It is all coming together now. You will certainly have something to be proud of.
Congratulations.

McDave
User avatar
McDave
Donating Member
 
Posts: 2288
Images: 412
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2015 5:21 am
Location: Tiny Town, Montana
Top

Re: ADV-House: An 8x18 renovation.

Postby PigTrail » Wed Oct 24, 2018 9:10 am

I ordered a RV storage compartment door from RecPro to facilitate the AC unit mount. The logic goes that we only want AC ~20% of the time we're camping, so why not make the unit removable? The mental plan was that the AC unit could be set in the "window" made by the open storage door and therefore do away with all the ventilation efforts made for air inflow and outflow. With the unit hanging out the window (like in a normal house) it could do its thing.

The gap between these two support beams is 21" and the wood brace is mounted ~17 inches below the top. I ordered a small 6000 Btu unit off Amazon that only measured ~19" wide by ~14" tall.

Image


Here is the *before* on the outside. That vent is going bye-bye.

Image


Drilling pilot holes...

Image


Measure, measure, measure and then cut!

Image


The door flange needed a bit of trimming, but after that it fit perfectly between the window and front seam.

Image


I reinstalled the interior panel to mark exactly the wood that needed to be cut away.

Image


Panel with cutouts made for the Suburban heater and marked for the AC "door".

Image


Inside view after trimming the panel.

Image


Furnace install in progress

Image



In place and beginning to build-out the single-seat bench. The battery will eventually go on the tongue.

Image


I'm starting to assemble the parts for the propane line and found this thread very helpful: http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=62984
Richard

@DualSportDispatch on IG
PigTrail
Teardrop Master
 
Posts: 134
Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2014 3:30 pm
Top

Re: ADV-House: An 8x18 renovation.

Postby hankaye » Wed Oct 24, 2018 5:00 pm

PigTrail, Howdy;

Looks like you've got a nice hole-in-the-wall. Don't forget to remove the keys before closing it all up ... :roll: , ;) .
:thumbsup: , :thumbsup: .

hank
Striving for a less complicated life since 1949 ...
Every day I beat my own previous record for number of consecutive days I've stayed alive.
hankaye
2000 Club
2000 Club
 
Posts: 2567
Images: 1
Joined: Thu Dec 06, 2012 5:35 pm
Location: S.W. New Mexico
Top

Re: ADV-House: An 8x18 renovation.

Postby McDave » Thu Oct 25, 2018 9:38 am

Really like that cargo door with the latch. One word of caution about removable A/C, none of us are getting any younger. Lifting and placing or removing the unit could ruin a weekend of fun with a back injury or smashed foot, etc. If there is no reason to remove it, why risk it? I'm just speaking from experience, but the cumulative effects those type of injuries can make for some long days and sleepless nights... just sayin'..

McDave
User avatar
McDave
Donating Member
 
Posts: 2288
Images: 412
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2015 5:21 am
Location: Tiny Town, Montana
Top

PreviousNext

Return to Cargo Trailer Conversions

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot] and 7 guests