1st Build, a 5'x8' Foamie Teardrop on a 4'x8' HF Trailer

...ask your questions in the appropriate forums BUT document your build here...preferably in a single thread...dates for updates, are appreciated....

Re: 1st Build, a 5'x8' Foamie Teardrop on a 4'x8' HF Trailer

Postby wagondude » Fri Apr 18, 2014 8:57 pm

Nice job with the canvas. Can't wait to see the color on it. :thumbsup:
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Re: 1st Build, a 5'x8' Foamie Teardrop on a 4'x8' HF Trailer

Postby Shar » Sat Apr 19, 2014 10:04 pm

Marvelous job! The suspense level is high out here!
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Re: 1st Build, a 5'x8' Foamie Teardrop on a 4'x8' HF Trailer

Postby jseyfert3 » Fri Apr 25, 2014 10:43 pm

Quick update as a person on my other (non teardrop) forum reminded me it's been almost week since I towed it 175 miles with no doors or hatch. I had no issues on the tow. I have just been busy with my new internship, new sleep scedule, and catching up with my bother and sister-in-law with whom I am staying.

I will post in detail about the trip at some point. I will also continue to post as I continue the camper, but I've only worked on it about an hour since I've been here.
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Re: 1st Build, a 5'x8' Foamie Teardrop on a 4'x8' HF Trailer

Postby Wolffarmer » Sat Apr 26, 2014 8:01 pm

Nice looking rig. I start started reading this. Only have done the first two pages. I could not help but notice the Suzuki motorcycle in your garage. I use to have a 1983 ( maybe 82 ) Katana 1000, The original Katana and only year they made the 1000. That thing was a beast. It did not start to become comfortable to ride until you got up to around 80. Then it only began to get comfortable and no further. The speed range it liked to run was 90-100 mph. That was its grove. Nothing like putting turn signals and a plate on a race bike. And that was about what it was. A road legal race bike. I had it for about 7 years and sold it for what I paid for it. I use to do 120+ past the state cop's house out here. He was cool.

Oh, back to the TD. I will be keeping watch on your build and work my way through the thread. I see you have some videos. Those will be good.

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Re: 1st Build, a 5'x8' Foamie Teardrop on a 4'x8' HF Trailer

Postby jseyfert3 » Fri May 02, 2014 8:50 pm

Not build related but as it is for my teardrop I decided to post it here. I needed a stove for my camper, so I was watching Craigslist. Didn't really find much around Peoria, but now that I'm in Wisconsin I had much better luck. Found a Coleman advertised as using Kerosene, which I wanted to get as it's cheaper then white gas, but when I got there I discovered it was actually a white gas stove, the seller just thought white gas and kerosene were the same thing. However, I was there, it pumped up fine (no fuel), and it was $20, so I bought it. It is a Coleman Model 425E.

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Coleman 425E $20 Craigslist Stove by jseyfert3, on Flickr

My brother has a Coleman white gas stove he found on the side of the road (someone was throwing it out, can you believe it?), and his generator was all plugged up and the stove didn't run well until he opened it up and cleaned it out. We figure that that previous owner of his stove must have been using gasoline instead of white gas and eventually plugged it up, then chucked it thinking it was broke and not knowing how easy it could be fixed. As to my stove, we pulled the generator apart and it looked very clean for a used generator IMO.

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Inspecting the Generator by jseyfert3, on Flickr

Putting it back together, I added some fuel and capped it with the fuel cap from my 220F as the fuel cap it came with was the dangerous three piece type with the screw. You can see the original red cap that I put on my lantern while I was testing my stove.

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Ready to Light by jseyfert3, on Flickr

Pumping it up, I turned the lighting lever up and lit it using a utility lighter on the advise of my brother. I was going to use my Zippo but he stopped me and handed me the utility lighter and said "trust me". Good thing he did, they flare up pretty good on the initial light. I would not be afraid to use a Zippo, with care, in the future, but I'm glad I didn't for the initial light so I could see how they react on lighting. During the warmup I got a nice blue flame quickly.

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Generator Warm-Up by jseyfert3, on Flickr

We lit up the second burner after the warm up was completed and opened the gas valves a bit. Got some orange flames and sparks from rust particles or dust in the stove burning off.

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Yellow Flames from Rust on 1st Burn by jseyfert3, on Flickr

However it settled down into a nice blue flame.

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Nice Blue Flame by jseyfert3, on Flickr

I heated up the evening tea on my stove as a test. Worked quite well. The stove behind mine is my brother's that he pulled out to compare.

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Heating up Water for Tea by jseyfert3, on Flickr

After the stove cooled and I looked up how to date Coleman stove as I could not find a date, I looked under the tabs of the fuel tank. Sure enough, the left side said D66 and the right side said 966. I'm assuming this means it was manufactured in September of 1966, which corresponds well to a chart I found that listed 425E's as being made from 1967-1970.

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Left Fuel Tab Underside, D66 by jseyfert3, on Flickr

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Right Fuel Tab Underside, 966 by jseyfert3, on Flickr

I'm definitely getting the Coleman bug. I have zero desire to get a brand new Coleman but I occasionally look at Craigslist and eBay for (old) stoves and lanterns. Definitely want to get another lantern or three. Right now I want one of the cool ones with the round globes like a 200 or a 242, a "big hat" (forgot what model number those were), and one of the tiny model 222 backpacking lanterns (great for a motorcycle camping trip!).

These old Colemans are cool, there is just something about them that has an attraction I can't really explain. :thinking:
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Re: 1st Build, a 5'x8' Foamie Teardrop on a 4'x8' HF Trailer

Postby KCStudly » Fri May 02, 2014 9:10 pm

jseyfert3 wrote:These old Colemans are cool, there is just something about them that has an attraction I can't really explain.


Ah yup. :thumbsup:

They're a self contained tank, pump and carburetor that shoots flames, warms your bones, makes bright light and a soothing white noise. What's not to like?
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Re: 1st Build, a 5'x8' Foamie Teardrop on a 4'x8' HF Trailer

Postby Wolffarmer » Fri May 02, 2014 9:57 pm

Not all 3 piece fuel caps are the "dangerous" kind. The later ones have the same cuts on the inside of the threads as the one piece caps have so functionally they are the same. But really. They are only dangerous if you are to stooped to wait for the fire to go out and the stove to cool down before opening. And besides those 3 piece caps just look cool.

And even with the newer caps it is still dangerous to open the cap with the fire still going and things a bit to hot.

Nice stove anyway. I have a 425F that I have probably put 100,000 miles on it since I bought at a pawn shop in 88. Brand new never used. It is still my "Trailer" stove. Hard to say how many gallons of CF has gone through it. Only replaced the cap gasket and the pump cup as it came with the poor neoprene pump cup.

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Re: 1st Build, a 5'x8' Foamie Teardrop on a 4'x8' HF Trailer

Postby jseyfert3 » Fri May 02, 2014 11:06 pm

Wolffarmer wrote:Not all 3 piece fuel caps are the "dangerous" kind. The later ones have the same cuts on the inside of the threads as the one piece caps have so functionally they are the same. But really. They are only dangerous if you are to stooped to wait for the fire to go out and the stove to cool down before opening. And besides those 3 piece caps just look cool.

And even with the newer caps it is still dangerous to open the cap with the fire still going and things a bit to hot.

Nice stove anyway. I have a 425F that I have probably put 100,000 miles on it since I bought at a pawn shop in 88. Brand new never used. It is still my "Trailer" stove. Hard to say how many gallons of CF has gone through it. Only replaced the cap gasket and the pump cup as it came with the poor neoprene pump cup.

Randy

This three piece cap has the thread cuts. What are those for? I had been under the impression that all the three piece ones were dangerous.

The seal did not look too good in the cap anyhow though. I placed an order for a red one piece cap on eBay which I'll use instead.
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Re: 1st Build, a 5'x8' Foamie Teardrop on a 4'x8' HF Trailer

Postby KCStudly » Fri May 02, 2014 11:25 pm

The slots in the threads are intended to help vent the pressure down and away from the hot globe when removing the cap; rather than keeping it bottled up until you take the cap off then having it shoot up.
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Re: 1st Build, a 5'x8' Foamie Teardrop on a 4'x8' HF Trailer

Postby Junkboy999 » Sat May 03, 2014 11:41 pm

Believe it or not that is actually a safety cap. As KC stated above. The center of the cap is a plug. The outer part of the cap screws down and pushes the plug in to place. when you take the cap off, the cap unscrew and pull up on that screw head. It pull out the plug. If there is pressure in the tank it would all come shooting out, but the screw part of the cap still has some threads holding the plug back. The hole ( in some ) and the cuts inside allow the pressure it to drain out slowly and more controlled.

I have a few stoves (9) but prefer to keep and use my small coleman 2 burner propane stove when camping. My little camper is all wood and I cook in the galley. If I going to a bigger camping gathering and need more heat I take a gas stove for the extra cooking power and take a small table. I need to find one of these propain adaptors so I can use the Gas stove on gas or propane. It is all was nice to have a back up plan.
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Re: 1st Build, a 5'x8' Foamie Teardrop on a 4'x8' HF Trailer

Postby Junkboy999 » Sat May 03, 2014 11:47 pm

The date on the tank is Odd for sure. Usually a 3 digit number, so months like 10 11 12 can’t fin with a two digit year. So October is marked with a O, November N, and December is a D.

One of the stove I have is marked D64 on Both tabs December 1964. sure wish I can find a 564 for May 1964 :) My bday stove.
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Re: 1st Build, a 5'x8' Foamie Teardrop on a 4'x8' HF Trailer

Postby jseyfert3 » Tue May 06, 2014 10:43 pm

Ah, okay, thanks for the cap update. It certainly makes sense. Now I know!

Alright, time for an update! To start off I'll expand a bit on my trip to Wisconsin. On April 19th I had reached my deadline to leave Illinois, and had been spending a lot of time the last week getting my teardrop to the point I could at least tow it, hence the daily (or more) updates at that time. I mentioned this before, on the 18th in the morning my sister, dad, and friend came over, and with their help, we painted the outside, installed canvas on the lower half of the inside of teh front curve, installed a tongue jack, and mounting some temporary lights since the hatch was not in place. I did not take any pics that day.

On the morning of the 19th, I was packing to leave Illinois (since I stayed up drinking and having a fire with friends the night before instead of packing). My wire order from bestboatwire.com arrived as scheduled. This is all the wire I need to wire from my car to the teardrop, the teardrop, the teardrop lights, etc. I ordered 25 feet each of red and black 10 and 12 gauge (100 feet total of all), and 100 feet of 16 gauge white wire (since red was not available). The 10 gauge is from car battery to teardrop, the 12 gauge black is for the main teardrop ground wire for lights/fans/etc, the 12 gauge red will be the main power bus for the fan vent and interior lighting/cell phone charging, etc, and the 16 gauge will be the main wiring for individual lights/signal lights/phone chargers, etc.

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bestboatwire.com Order by jseyfert3, on Flickr

With the 12 gauge black wire as ground and the stock trailer wiring (which will be removed now that the trip is over) I wired up the stock lights I had temporarily installed the previous day, and tested them. They are on in this picture...not very bright. I can't wait till the hatch is finished and the LED lights from superbrightleds.com are installed. I will not have a low brightness issue with them! (Good thing, at $20 each turn signal and brake light...yeah $100 for five lights on the rear...but if anyone misses the signals, they are blind...)

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Light Check by jseyfert3, on Flickr

After packing my trailer I was ready for a test pull. The mattress, partially completed hatch, foam to finish the hatch, some OSB for completing shelves and thin ply for the door lip are inside the camper. Everything sat on the mattress and was strapped to the mattress with a single ratchet strap.

This is also the first picture I took of it after the final paint job.

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Ready for Test Tow by jseyfert3, on Flickr

As part of the test tow down a residential street, I tried a full radius turn to test my clearance I checked for during the planning stages. This is my car after going in the tightest circle it can go, still plenty of clearance. Good thing, not much could be done at this point...

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Turning Radius Check by jseyfert3, on Flickr

As I practically am living up here now, I packed my car with lots of stuff, including a lot of tools and stuff (not just for me, but some to help my brother with his house remodel). End result, look at my poor car's shocks... :(

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Leaving Peoria by jseyfert3, on Flickr

I stopped at the edge of Peoria after about ten minutes and checked the stuff in the teardrop and the bearing temps, all good. Then again after 20 minutes of highway driving at a wayside. A little paranoid perhaps, but it was the first tow!

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20 Minutes Out - 2nd Check (1) by jseyfert3, on Flickr

This was why I was worried. No hatch, and no way to strap the mattress down. But it, and the stuff strapped to it, did not budge at all the entire trip. Also checked the lights again using my hazards.

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20 Minutes Out - 2nd Check (2) by jseyfert3, on Flickr

Stopped about two hours into the trip to get a snack, checked everything again...

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Stopped for a Snack by jseyfert3, on Flickr

Overall, it towed pretty good. 40 PSI in the tires, IIRC, perhaps a hair much. I plan to check it properly with chalk when fully assembled and loaded for camping. On one bumpy road I know both tires came off the ground at least once. But overall it seemed quite stable and towed nicely. Got somewhere between 22-25 MPG, I think around 23 MPG (overloaded car can't take as much gas I think), vs around 28 MPG I normally would have got on the 176 mile trip. So not bad at all, although I did have a tailwind some (most?) of the trip. Time and more trips will work out an average MPG down the road. The car has a 2.0 L gasoline inline 4 with 138 HP and 136 ft-lbs of torque.

On the 21st, I snagged this for $15 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's SWAP (surplus with a purpose) where I stopped with my brother to get a computer for me for work (I'm interning where he works). It's a variable transformer in a case, with an optional timer (can select timer or no timer), and an GFCI outlet on the side that provides constant 120 VAC. The GFCI protects the rest of the unit, so the variable outlet is GFCI protected as well.

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Variac for Hot Wire Cutter (1) by jseyfert3, on Flickr

Remember how I burned up that dimmer with my hot wire cutter? Well, this is replacing the dimmer. Almost infinite control and a lot more capacity, and it can handle it great as it adjusts the output voltage from 0-100%. This is true analog AC voltage control, not shutting off and turning on the AC as dimmers work and inductors (transformers) do not like, which is why my dimmer was destroyed. Also handy if you need a low AC source for testing something.

Tested it on my 2x 250 W halogen work light, works great. At 0%, the lights are off, can be slowly turned on to were the filaments are barely glowing, all the way to full power. It's pretty awesome, and the knob has a nice feel to it.

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Variac for Hot Wire Cutter (2) by jseyfert3, on Flickr

One rainy day I was up here I went out and got the foam near the doors ready. Inside the wood corner junction I trimmed the foam with a steak knife flush with the surface of the wood, and trimmed off the great stuff that had leaked out from gluing in the wood door framing.

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Corner Foam Trimmed by jseyfert3, on Flickr

Other then that, I didn't do anything for a while. I meant to work on it Saturday, I lacked motivation. Finally on Sunday (May 4th) I worked on it again. Using some thin ply, I glued up a lip around the door. This is where I will attach a seal that the door will press against when closed to keep out water. I cut the first one in two pieces thinking it would be easier. This pic shows why I cut the foam flush to the wood in the corners. The wood was purposely inlaid so the ply would be flush (or close to flush) with the inside surface of the foam.

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First Lip Piece by jseyfert3, on Flickr

Here is the piece I cut that lip from.

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Remainder After Cutting First Lip Piece by jseyfert3, on Flickr

Soon I had the second piece up, completing the lip.

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Both Lip Pieces in Place, Inside View by jseyfert3, on Flickr

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Both Lip Pieces in Place, Outside View by jseyfert3, on Flickr

For the other side, I cut it out of a single piece of ply, as I realized that would actually be a bit easier to do.

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Second Side Whole Lip Piece at Once by jseyfert3, on Flickr

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Second Side Lip Piece in Place by jseyfert3, on Flickr

And that is where I currently stand. I need to get some more Gorilla Glue, almost out. Not sure how much more I'll get done this week. None this weekend as I'm heading back to Illinois to see the GF, grab a couple things, and plant some veggies in my garden (my roommate will water them while I'm gone).
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Re: 1st Build, a 5'x8' Foamie Teardrop on a 4'x8' HF Trailer

Postby Shar » Wed May 07, 2014 2:43 pm

You're a very busy man! I'll look forward to the rest of this ongoing build. :)
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Re: 1st Build, a 5'x8' Foamie Teardrop on a 4'x8' HF Trailer

Postby kudzu » Sat May 10, 2014 1:32 pm

The build is certainly progressing well. Glad you had a successful first tow.
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Re: 1st Build, a 5'x8' Foamie Teardrop on a 4'x8' HF Trailer

Postby jseyfert3 » Wed May 21, 2014 9:58 pm

Alright, a little update. No actual work on the trailer, but it is related. I dabble in some microcontroller programming and I plan to use one for my trailer lighting control to convert the two US standard combined stop/turn wires into three wires for a seperate brake and left and right turn signal wires. I have been using Arduino but somehow I had lost my ATmega328P chip set to 16 MHz which the Arduino needed. I only had one set to 8 MHz and two that couldn't be used with the Arduino. Without the chip set at 16 MHz, I couldn't use my Arduino to program other chips. So I used it as an excuse to pick up an AVR Dragon, Atmel's lowest end programmer for their AVR chips that allows me to do both ISP and HVPP. With this, I'll be able to program and configure any AVR they currently sell with relative ease to use them in standalone projects.

I got the Dragon a couple weeks ago but just finally got the header pins I needed from eBay after USPS took forever delivering them, so I was finally able to set it up. I restored the 8 MHz chip to 16 MHz and found that one of the other two I had was simply stock running at 1 MHz so the Arduino couldn't use it. Got it running at 8 MHz, which is what I will use for standalone projects. Tomorrow I'm going to see about the other chip and then see about programming some ATtiny85's and 84's, which are the chips I will use for my trailer lighting controller (and updated vehicle lighting controller).

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AVR Dragon Programming an ATmega328P Microcontroller via ISP. by jseyfert3, on Flickr

I'll stop here, as most of you have no clue what I'm talking about and so are not interested. :D (Although I will briefly touch on it again by posting the scematic when I post pics of the completed controller)
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