CTC Build Thread - Mid-life crisis-mobile

[McDave]

Nice rig, Sodatrain.
All kinds of potential there. Looking forward to your build.
Good Luck!

McDave

[hankaye]

Sodatrain, Howdy;

Yup, as mentioned, just some slight surface rust. Give it a coat like flboy mentioned should
be fine for a looooong time.

hank

[sodatrain]

Day 1 of Build: About 4 hours farting around with material procurement, and about 5 hours of work.

It took me longer than I had hoped (Better get used to that I spose) but I spent a couple hours buying materials at Menards. Got some foil backed polyiso for the walls and ceiling, the pink stuff for the floor, some laminate click in flooring and some T&G for the ceiling, black rustoleum spray paint, great stuff and a few other misc items. $600 in so far. Managed to spend a few hours (5?) working on the thing too. Took off the driver's side plywood, insulated, and re-attached the plywood. Tedious but pretty smooth. (didn't re-attach the inside frame of one window... lost it driving down the interstate - whoops. )

I used foil tape on one half and not on the other. I decided to skip the foil tape on the remainder of the trailer to allow for some air flow. No idea.

I'll have R-6 I believe on the walls, maybe 8.8 on the ceiling, and 9.3 on the floor. Not trying to have the floor be the highest, just easiest. Plan is to lay the flooring right on top of the 1.5" thick pink stuff. Still debating on the ceiling. I have a 1.5" space. Current plan is 2 x 3/4" foil foam thinking that is going to be pliable and may fit to the curve of the roof the best. Want to keep it easy. Also need to figure out how to run the 2.5" (?) T&G the length of the trailer for the ceiling. Don't want to drop self-taping screws into the frame for each board! Seems like too much work.

[sodatrain]

Day 2: 1 hour materials procurement (heater, great stuff for big gaps, fuel for heater) and 5 hours of work.

Local storage place is letting me (for a cost) park my trailer in their space. I live in an apartment building for now and don't have a good place to store it except on the street. Guy is super awesome and pointed out where the power is and offered that I can work on my trailer while it's parked there!

Took plywood off the front and passenger side, slapped in insulation. Really enjoyed having the Portable Buddy heater. When I shut down for the day the air temp was 17 degrees! Pretty straightforward. Front of the trailer has the same style structure as the ceiling and I think I'm just going to put in 1 x 3/4" foil backed insulation on that surface. It will be mostly storage and will be mostly walled off.

Thanks guys for the tip about surface rust. Deff sprayed black paint wherever I saw it.

Main question I'm trying to figure out is for installing the pine tongue and groove the long way front to back. What's the best way to attach it given the metal structure? Thinking attaching a few pieces of lumber across the trailer (maybe 4?) and then use wood screws to screw in the T&G into those cross members? Trying to think about insulation at the same time. RIght now I have material for 2 x 3/4" foil foam. Got the thinner for the curvature of the roof.. and not sure they had 1.5".

Planning on working on it again tomorrow. Re-hang the plywood and maybe start the ceiling?

Oh... and ordered a new window and filled the space in. It was 17 degrees and windy outside!

[Iconfabul8]

Main question I'm trying to figure out is for installing the pine tongue and groove the long way front to back. What's the best way to attach it given the metal structure? Thinking attaching a few pieces of lumber across the trailer (maybe 4?) and then use wood screws to screw in the T&G into those cross members? Trying to think about insulation at the same time. RIght now I have material for 2 x 3/4" foil foam. Got the thinner for the curvature of the roof.. and not sure they had 1.5".

My trailer came with 3/8" osb strips screwed to the roof bows and the ceiling material was screwed to them. Might work for you. Also I used a brad nailer to install my 1/4" tongue and groove, worked real well.
Picture of my naked ceiling

[sodatrain]

My trailer came with 3/8" osb strips screwed to the roof bows and the ceiling material was screwed to them. Might work for you. Also I used a brad nailer to install my 1/4" tongue and groove, worked real well.

Ill give that a whirl. I see you have the same curved ceiling I have. How did you insulate up there? Anything fancy or just cut a strip of foam and jam it up there?


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[McDave]

17 degF? We must be neighbors. It was 8f and snowing when I woke up this am. I went back to bed.
So I'm thinking just insulate and rehang plywood, then "toe-nail" through the tongue at about 45 angle back towards the groove, like installing a hardwood floor. When you get to ceiling rip off the tongue and face nail, then some type of crown molding. Remember to stagger the end joints and keep as random as possible. I would start at floor and face nail first row, tongue up, then work up, and leave a little room for expansion, maybe 1/8" above floor and 1/8" below ceiling. Cover the gap with molding.
Hope that made sense.

McDave


edit: I just saw you are doing T&G on ceiling, Not walls? Some sort of substrate, i.e. luan/ply might be helpful unless planks span entire length, then maybe just firring strips attached to roof spars and nail into those?

[sodatrain]

Mostly wrapped up the insulation today. Put in 1" foil backed foam in the ceiling. Also got the 3/8" ply attached to the frame so I can hang the T&G on the ceiling. I made it 3" wide so it extends past the frame so I can screw into that if needed and avoid hitting the frame. Planning on just screwing it to the ply strips and will use finishing washers to give it a little polish. Probably clear coat the pine at some point. Oh, was a little nervous about the 3/4" t&g attaching to the 3/8 ply. Tested it out and seems good!

Update on the quality of my Continental Cargo trailer from trailers homeroom.com - seems really good! Wiring is protected when it passes thru the frame, regular screws in the plywood, and hardly any mis/poorly screwed screws. Only problems so far is the dead bolt/inside lock on the door doesn't match up with the whole so it doesn't work. And for some reason the two LED ceiling lights don't work. Wiring, as far as I can tell, seems ok. All the other exterior LEDs work. I'll call em tomorrow.

Next:

1) make decision about rooftop AC or not. Which may influence will Generator to get.
2) any wiring work? Keeping it pretty simple so maybe not - other than possible AC
3) install some 1/2" ply partitions in the front to create a storage area.
4) rehang ply walls
5) figure out ceiling lights
6) excited to hang t&g!
7) install backup camera... Kinda waiting for a little more warm weather! 26 f here in Minneapolis today.


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[Iconfabul8]

. And for some reason the two LED ceiling lights don't work. Wiring, as far as I can tell, seems ok. All the other exterior LEDs work. I'll call em tomorrow.

On trailers I have had, the stock interior lights only work if the ignition is on. Maybe that's the prob.

[Iconfabul8]

My trailer came with 3/8" osb strips screwed to the roof bows and the ceiling material was screwed to them. Might work for you. Also I used a brad nailer to install my 1/4" tongue and groove, worked real well.

Ill give that a whirl. I see you have the same curved ceiling I have. How did you insulate up there? Anything fancy or just cut a strip of foam and jam it up there?


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As I recall I had to cut the 1" stuff into 2 pieces to get it in. I also had to remove every other strip of osb to get the foam in. I finished off by putting pieces of 1/2" foam between the osb strips to give me a little extra ceiling insulation. However, it looks like you have got it figured out.

[McDave]

I had to have the running lights from tow vehicle on to make dome light come on, switch next to side door. Now would be a good time to run a 12/3 romex up to the vent. If you go with rooftop AC that is the hardest part of install. But even if you decide no AC, you may want a fan, light, disco ball or lighted mirror in the future... Hey, I'm not here to judge. Is the vent framed to carry an AC? I had to weld in a metal frame. The vent frame was basically balsa wood stapled up there. It doesn't have to be welded or even metal, but rooftop AC is around 100 lbs so the frame needs to connect to the roof spars ahead and behind the vent to share the load. You may have ordered that frame? Wouldn't hurt to run some wiring from front to rear even if you need it now you may in future. Maybe some 14/2 along both walls at ceiling. That would handle most DC lighting, usb, TV/DVD type loads. If you might want a RV Refrig you would want 10/2. For anything AC less than 20amps 12/3 romex would work. If the wiring is there at top of wall you would just have to drop a wire wherever you wanted a outlet or light etc. as opposed to fishing wires after walls and ceiling are finished. Also if you wanted a outside outlet or connection you could just drop a wire. You can also run wiring underneath if you have to but you will need to protect those wires. Just something to consider, 60 ft or so of 12/2 or 12/3 romex (two runs down each wall) and 60 ft of 14/2 for DC stashed in the wall/ceiling could come in handy if/when your needs/wants change after living in there for a while. The area at the top corners of wall to ceiling lends itself to that purpose pretty well, the round radius corners aren't easy to deal with and make pretty.
Good luck,

McDave

[sodatrain]

. And for some reason the two LED ceiling lights don't work. Wiring, as far as I can tell, seems ok. All the other exterior LEDs work. I'll call em tomorrow.

On trailers I have had, the stock interior lights only work if the ignition is on. Maybe that's the prob.

Tried that, unfortunately! I guess it doesn't matter... I'll need to wire them to the "house" 12v system anyway.

[sodatrain]

I had to have the running lights from tow vehicle on to make dome light come on, switch next to side door. Now would be a good time to run a 12/3 romex up to the vent. If you go with rooftop AC that is the hardest part of install. But even if you decide no AC, you may want a fan, light, disco ball or lighted mirror in the future... Hey, I'm not here to judge. Is the vent framed to carry an AC? I had to weld in a metal frame. The vent frame was basically balsa wood stapled up there. It doesn't have to be welded or even metal, but rooftop AC is around 100 lbs so the frame needs to connect to the roof spars ahead and behind the vent to share the load. You may have ordered that frame? Wouldn't hurt to run some wiring from front to rear even if you need it now you may in future. Maybe some 14/2 along both walls at ceiling. That would handle most DC lighting, usb, TV/DVD type loads. If you might want a RV Refrig you would want 10/2. For anything AC less than 20amps 12/3 romex would work. If the wiring is there at top of wall you would just have to drop a wire wherever you wanted a outlet or light etc. as opposed to fishing wires after walls and ceiling are finished. Also if you wanted a outside outlet or connection you could just drop a wire. You can also run wiring underneath if you have to but you will need to protect those wires. Just something to consider, 60 ft or so of 12/2 or 12/3 romex (two runs down each wall) and 60 ft of 14/2 for DC stashed in the wall/ceiling could come in handy if/when your needs/wants change after living in there for a while. The area at the top corners of wall to ceiling lends itself to that purpose pretty well, the round radius corners aren't easy to deal with and make pretty.
Good luck,

McDave

Thanks McDave!

Yes, I had them brace for the AC when I ordered it. A little proud of myself for thinking ahead

12/2 or 12/3 Romex for the AC... makes sense. I'll do that for sure. I'll have one dedicated run for the AC. Maybe one for a TV/Xbox to keep my kids happy. I'm buying a generator and a 15A power port to feed the AC and perhaps the TV/Xbox.

For the 12v - I didn't expect using Romex for that and I was just going to buy some 10AWG wire for it (some black and some red) and just run it like they did for the other lights on the trailer. Planning on a Maxxair fan, maybe a charging port for my cell phone, 12V RV Fridge/Freezer - Dometic or other, and a couple lights. Does the Dometic Style still need 10 guage or will the 14 fly?

Edit: ooooh. Is Romex is just the three wires (pos, neg, ground) run in one piece? Would 10/2 be the same basic thing as running two runs of 10AWG (primary?) wires... right? Probably overkill for 12v but maybe easier/cleaner - especially if you needed to snake/feed the wire. Second oooohhhh the /2 and the /3 means 3 or 4 wires respectively right? /3 (4 wire) for more complicated switching perhaps right?

[McDave]

12/3 romex is usually plus ground so black white red and copper ground. (4 wires)
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Southwire-B ... aQod11QAoA
used for 220v ( L1,L2, neutral and ground) or 2 lines of 110 that share a common neutral + ground.
12/2 usually black, white and green or a copper with paper type wrapping( ground) 110v outlets etc So L1, neutral, and ground.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Southwire-B ... AQodz1MM5w

For DC I would use stranded wire. Usually black/white or black/red So if blk/wht, blk=Pos wht=neg or red/blk red=Pos blk=neg. But you can also use chassis as common(neg) so a 14/2 could carry two pos wires and then you add a chassis neg at fixture.
Reefer I would go with 10g primary, 2 wires direct to battery, in line fuse on pos.
It's late, I hope that makes sense.

McDave

[sodatrain]

Thanks guys!

Whew... head hurts. Just searched and read for a couple hours... trying to figure out how to design my electrical system.

Here is what I have so far... can you please review and let me know what's wrong or doesn't make sense? I created it using Google Drawings, so happy to "share" it and give access for editing... just PM me your email!

Goals:

1) Use shore power OR generator to power the AC, possibly a TV/Xbox, and to charge the batteries.
2) Have limited 120v for an outlet or two for things like laptop driven by the 12v batteries. I have a car inverter and may just use that.
3) Design with solar in mind in the future.

I have questions still.... but let's see how I'm doing with my understanding so far. Also, I believe I can use a PD4045 for the 120v/12v panel and converter right? Or buy separate components?