The updated Compact

[Mark Mckeeman]

Shrug,

I gave some thought to your raised roof idea on the reworked compact. Now I must warn you I cannot draw well in these borrowed CAD programs, (mostly I just stick boxes and circles together) but I think you will get the Idea from the pic I posted in my gallery.

The roof and sidewalls are solid. The sidewalls are hinged at the ceiling and fold inward. If you design the wall height to be half of the ceiling width then they can be folded flat against the ceiling and stowed for travel allowing full access to the interior cabinets. The exterior and interior aluminum angles are sealed and screwed in place over the corners direct water away from the inside as Andrew suggested. The seal can be installed to the permanent rooftop and seal the raised roof in both the raised and lowered positions. A couple of draw latches will hold the sides in place when set up.

Now the aft wall is still in development but I believe a similar arrangement would work. Add a piece of lumber to the aft edge of the raised roof to hang the hinged aft panel on so that when it is stowed it can fold up against the stowed sides. The edges of the rear panel could have the same angle and seal arrangement as the sidewall to permanent roof.

To set this thing up you would go inside and raise the roof beyond the set position in order to swing the rear panel and sidewalls past the aluminum angle water diverter. Then lower the ceiling and side/aft panels onto their sealing surfaces and latch in place. This idea should be water and wind proof.

Remember this is a concept only. All the material dimensions will need to be worked out in order to prove the idea. I hope you can understand the drawing with that annoying watermark on top of it.

Any thoughts? Mark

[AmyH]

Andrew, I really like this design as well, and I think that it would be interesting to have the roof raise at both ends. You could probably use canopy lifters to do this, although it would be a bit pricier. I still have to finish up my first tear, but this is already looking like the next project. Amy

[angib]

Amy,

I had two reasons for going with a hinged roof:
- the hardware was simple and available everywhere;
- as the table is located at the front of the 'cabin', there was no need for standing headroom here.

But a parallel lift would be nice.

I am working on a revised version of the Compact to sort out a few details that I don't think are quite right (like the bunks are too long - 82"!). But of course this job has to get to the front of the queue first....

Andrew

[AmyH]

Andrew, I was thinking that if you lifted both ends you could put in an upper bunk, similar to the type in VW campers. An upper bunk would be a great place for my two adorable neices to sleep if I take them camping with me. Plus, I must admit, that since I spent much of my youth camping in a VW camper with an upper bunk, I really like the idea of having something similar again.
Amy

[angib]

Hey, Amy, I get to use a word like 'serendipity' (or 'co-incidence', but that's not as nice to say). I have been working on the Mark 2 version of the Compact this evening.

It now has an insulated, hard-sided, parallel-lifting hardtop*. I must admit there isn't much room for bunks as I'm keeping the lifting bit to 4ft wide, so it can be made from one sheet of ply with no joins.

*Like all good ideas, it's stolen from someone else - I saw it on a British motorhome!

It should be ready soon, along with a new trailer balance spreadsheet.

Andrew

[AmyH]

Great! I can't wait to take a look. I really like the design so far, and I seriously think it is going to be the next project after I get my tear finished! I think I am going to have to build a garage big enough to hold them both!
Amy

[muir]

I'd like to offer Andrew some further encouragement. I've been reviewing his plans for the Compact, and find them intriguing. By chance I saw a Compact Jr. (not for sale) locally. It meets all of my needs except that our family is three people, not two.

I had been considering modifying the Compact design by adding an "upper bunk" as seen in the Sportsmobile top. See
http://www.sportsmobile.com/1_penthouse-top.html

The clever part here is that the mattress is stored on the ceiling during the day, and then drops down to rest in the roof opening at night.

I think the "pop-up" section of the roof may need to be longer to allow adequate bunk length and access from below. The easy way to do this is probably to make the front of the trailer more bluff and reduce the rake of the front window area. Then the pop-up can be lengthened, so that when the bunk is down there is perhaps something like 2 feet of open space for climbing up.

With regards to the bunk width, from the drawings of the Mark I, it looks like it could be 3' 6" or so, which is fine for one person, but small for two. Other than the width of available material, it seems like the pop-up could be up to a foot wider.

Another consideration for the upper bunk is the amount of available headroom. In my musings I had decided to revert to a canvas sided pop-up as that would allow more "rise" for the top than the hard-sided scheme. I'd prefer the hard-side setup, but it seems like the most rise you can get is one half of the width of the pop-up roof section (so as to allow the panels to fold in for storage when the roof is down). I'm hoping Andrew has a clever scheme to overcome this.

Finally, I'm wondering if the roof should be flat, or should have some crown to it. I notice that the fiberglass Compact Jr. has a molded in slope to each side. I suspect this helps with drainage of water and shedding of snow. Building a non-flat roof does seem to complicate the building details, however.

-Scott

[angib]

Amy, I'm working on it - when I'm not here...

Scott, my own opinion is that I suspect you're trying to squeeze a quart into a pint pot. I do have two alternatives for you:
- For a child, a transverse bunk over the adults feet - 66" x 30" will fit. Foot clearance for the adults is small (~14") but the main bunks could be lowered by 2".
- Sleep three to a bed! The main bed is 78" x 66" when the table is dropped into the gap between the two bunks. This isn't generous for three but it would do.

If the second option is too 'intimate', how about the third person on the floor between the bunks? This would give two 24" wide bunks and one 24" wide floor (because the bunks overhang the floor by 3").

I have kept the width of the pop-up down because (a) you only stand in the middle of the trailer, (b) the pop-up can be made from one sheet of ply and (c) it leaves a 12" fixed roof on either side which will hold the rest of the structure together. If you go to a full-width pop-up, I think the whole structure might get a bit floppy, so you might have to put in extra material (=weight) to stiffen it up.

I just cannot make up my mind about the roof being flat. Curved does sound good for drainage but adds a lot of complexity. But flat is just asking for a hollow to develop. Hmm.....

Andrew
(Going away to design it, rather than talk about it!)

[muir]

I think I was unclear about my own requirements, versus ones that I inferred from Amy's post. I only need to accomodate one child (and two adults), so an upper bunk of 30" wide by 66" to 72" would work for me.

I agree with the structural issues which arise when the pop-up is widened. At its current width it should be fine for one child. I gathered from what Amy wrote that she wanted to put two adorable nieces up there. I'm not quite sure how big an adorable child is, but in our case she keeps getting bigger. :-) My own thoughts were to leave the 12" fixed roof area, as having the upper bunk would impose roof loads beyond even your original design. I do envision that additional structure (and weight) will be needed to support the upper bunk. This is okay for my application, as I'm more concerned with the overall size of the trailer than the total weight.

The transverse bunk option is an idea I didn't consider. I'm still inclined to work on the upper longitudinal bunk idea. I don't think the upper bunk would provide more actual privacy, but it is, as you say, a bit less intimate. The other issue is where to put the transverse bunk when not in use. I'm guessing you would place the transverse bunk at the front of the trailer?

Actually, now that I am looking at dimensions again, it looks like one could put a 66" or so bunk up top and still have 24" of access room (it looks like the length of the pop-up opening is about 90" from your drawings). This assumes the parallel lifting top. The remaining issue is then headroom for the upper bunk. To minimize claustrophobia, it seems like 24" or thereabouts is a minimum.

Your prior work on the "Mark I" is much appreciated. Oh, and I thought I was only trying to get a pint and a half into the pint pot.

-Scott

[mikeschn]

Amy, I'm working on it - when I'm not here...

If you're not there, where are you?

Mike...

[angib]

If you're not there, where are you?

Hey, man, don't be bugging me with them "where am I?" type of head-trips.*

Andrew the animation king

* For choice I'd get Donald Sutherland to say this line in his best hippy drawl, but I'm also willing to go with the cat who didn't like the spiders in the Banana Song (Day-oh! Du-de-day-ay-ay-oh! Daylight come an' he doan go home....)

[mikeschn]

Andrew the animation king

Hey Teach... I've been practicing. How am I doing? LOL

Mike...

[angib]

Very smart! :scatter:

Though if you ask me, I'd like to see some seals on them doors....

Andrew