Rough Road Raindrop

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

Re: Rough Road Raindrop

Postby Louisd75 » Fri Feb 01, 2019 10:42 pm

No pictures for today. I spent a good portion on my back under the trailer holding up a Propex 2211 to try and determine the mounting bracket I'll need to weld up and the routing for the hoses. I also got the third brake light wired up and functional. I'll try and get some pictures of it down the road. I picked up an 11lb propane bottle and bracket from Adventure Trailers, so I need to figure out how to mount that on the tongue and run the gas tubing back to the furnace. I'm also planning on having a tee in the gas line that will allow me to connect the stove and save on the 1lb bottles. My plate wasn't full enough, so I also started sewing covers for the bed cushions. We had been using them with regular mattress pad covers but this will make them look a little nicer.

I picked up a couple of goodies from Sailrite that have made a world of difference in sewing up the mattress covers. I was having trouble finding a good way of marking the outdoor fabric I had selected for covering. Pencil didn't stick well, the sewing pencils took a lot of effort to leave a line and needed constant sharpening. I tried various markers that would either bleed or were visible on the opposite side. I ran across some marking chalk while poking around Sailrite's website and now that I've had a chance to use it, I highly recommend it. It's awesome. https://www.sailrite.com/Marking-Chalk

The other issue I've run into is keeping my fabric edges lined up right. Yeah, I've done the pins and notches and whatever else, but it's always been a bit of work trying to hold it all together til I can run it through the sewing machine. While poking around Sailrite's how-to videos on youtube I saw them using what they call basting tape. I ordered up a couple of rolls and it has greatly improved my sewing. I've still got a long way to go, but at least now things stay where I want them while sewing, and you don't have to worry about missing a pin. https://www.sailrite.com/Seamstick-1-4- ... vas-50-Yds
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Re: Rough Road Raindrop

Postby Louisd75 » Wed Feb 06, 2019 8:38 pm

I've been slowly chipping away at things. I'm done with four of the six cushion covers. I'll be happy when they're done, I'm not the greatest sewer. Here's how they're looking so far:

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I think I took that pic when I only had three done. I've gotta finish the two cushions that go near the feet for the queen size bed. I figured I should probably get the furnace installed before I make those cushions, just in case something changes with my plan, even though that never happens :roll:

Anyhow, I've been toying around with where to mount the HS2211. It's sealed, so it can go under the trailer, the only downside becomes routing the four sections of ducting (hot/cold air and intake/exhaust). It also winds up at the back end of the trailer, which is a spot that Propex recommends avoiding. So, after a distinct lack of consulting with my significant other, I decided that since she's short that she can stand to lose some foot room and I would mount the furnace vertically at the foot of her side of the bed. I don't think she'll complain once it kicks on and makes things toasty warm. I hope. The pluses of an inside mount are pretty good as well. I only need to do two 2" and one 1/2" penetration instead of two 2" and two 3". It also avoids having to kink things up to get the ducting to where I want it, and I don't have to worry about sealing the ducts as well. I do need to worry about making sure that the exhaust tubing is well sealed, but that's only one tube. The furnace is also out of the elements and wheel spray and safe from accidental dunkings.

First up, I had to make a template. The HS2200 that I had previously came with a nice template. This one, not so much. So, I grabbed a piece of scrap cardboard and cut it out to give me an idea of where I would need to drill holes.

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The holes really do line up, the picture just makes it look like they don't.

Next up, how the heck am I going to mount the dang thing. Propex recommends a minimum of 1" of clearance all the way around. Ok, no biggie. I built up a wooden frame which was then screwed and glued to the bulkhead at the foot of my wife's side of the trailer, like so:

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The top rung has a fancy name which is escaping me at the moment. It's not cut square on the top surface. I ripped the board with the table saw set at an angle. One half of the board became the top rung, the other half is mounted to the furnace so that I can hang the furnace while securing it, thus freeing up my hands. It's really going to bug me now that I can't remember what it's called. This is what it looks like hanging:

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Once I get everything else sorted I'll screw the furnace down tight, for now it's just hanging.

Oh, and I forgot about drilling the holes. I taped some cardboard scrap to the template I made and then set it on the floor in the general vicinity of where I wanted. The cardboard scraps extend off of the template the same distance as my fancy wooden mounting frame. I traced the openings and drilled an exploratory hole before crawling under and making sure I wasn't going to hit anything. Everything looked good, so out came the 2" hole saw and I went to town.

So far, I've got the intake/exhaust tubes temporarily installed. I need to pick up some fittings and tubing for the propane side of things to get that run. We're supposed to have another batch of snow roll in before the weekend, so if I hurry I might be able to get it so that I can try it out in the driveway this weekend. Or not. There's still a bit of work to be done to get this whole thing up and running. Once the furnace is mounted I plan on building an enclosure around it to box it in. I'll likely also vent that box to the outside, just in case anything starts leaking. I'd rather have it leak outside than into the trailer. Time to go crawl under the trailer for a bit, yeeha!
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Re: Rough Road Raindrop

Postby tony.latham » Wed Feb 06, 2019 8:57 pm

Looking good.

I need to pick up some fittings and tubing for the propane side of things to get that run.


I ordered a 1/4"NPT to 1/4" BSPT fitting from McMaster three days ago. The pup came running in the house with it in his mouth about an hour ago. :? There's a ripped up package on the back door.

:thumbsup:

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Re: Rough Road Raindrop

Postby Nodrog » Thu Feb 07, 2019 3:49 am

gone
Last edited by Nodrog on Sun Jan 12, 2020 3:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Rough Road Raindrop

Postby Louisd75 » Thu Feb 07, 2019 10:12 am

Nodrog wrote:Hey Louisd75- I think you are looking for the term French cleat. I get so proud when I remember something, myself! Some days, everything is a "gizmo", or if I am feeling eloquent, "gadget". Did I get the right name for that thingamajig? I hear it's pretty cold lately in Bellingham, we are chilly here in Oregon,too . Where's the rain?? Trailer looking real good, by the way!! Later....Nodrog


That's what it is! I was leery of googling it with the kiddos nearby, never know what you'll wind up with. It is cold here, and it wasn't a gradual drop. It went from the 40's to the 20's in about an hour. It was kind of neat to see. We're supposed to get clobbered before the weekend, or it might miss us completely. I'm just glad my garage is heated enough that it doesn't really drop below the mid 50's. It's getting warm enough to melt during the day but dropping back down at night, so the roads are nice and icy first thing in the morning.
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Re: Rough Road Raindrop

Postby Louisd75 » Fri Feb 08, 2019 10:16 pm

I've gotten the furnace cover just about done. I need to add some paint and screw it in. I glued & screwed cleats to the cabin and that's what the cover will screw into. I'm trying to keep it so that I can have easy access to the furnace without much hassle. I should be able to remove nine screws and either remove the forward panel or the entire thing. The corner piece is a leftover scrap of cherry that I rounded over with the router. Then I played around with the dado blade set to make it so that the 1/4" plywood covers would sit flush. The opening for the ducts and wiring is less than 1/8" from the end of the furnace duct attachments. It's plenty close enough to make plugging everything in possible while still giving me the 1" clearance required around the furnace. You can also see the two holes that I made in the shelf above the furnace. The supply/return ducts will go up to those, with the hot air going up to the passenger (and my wife's) side, the cold air will be on my side. I've got some angled vents so that the supply will blow out at an angle. I'm going to see how hot the ducting gets in practice and decided whether I want to insulate it. I'm hoping that I can leave it uninsulated so that that it can serve as a foot warmer for Mrs. Popsicle Toes. There's also enough room on the furnace cover to allow for some acoustical insulation should I find that it's too loud.

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The vents will sit on either side of my electrical control center, with the thermostat between them. I should be ok as the supply won't be coming straight out, it'll be blowing off to the side at an angle.

I braved Snowmagedden today to pick up some propane fittings. It actually wasn't bad out today, I hear that they're getting it much worse to the south. After I got the fittings, I decided it was time to address how and where to mount the propane regulator. The regulator furnished by Westy Ventures comes with a fitting for mounting it directly to the propane bottle. I'm not a big fan of that, it just seems like having weight like that cantilevered out there is asking for problems. So, I took a gander at the propane bracket I'd picked up from Adventure Trailers and realized that the width of the back panel was perfect for mounting the regulator. I measured twice, drilled out some holes, measured again and viola, my regulator is now mounted to the bracket close enough that I can get away with a one foot hose:

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You can sorta see the heads of the screws here:

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Now I need to make a mounting bracket for the trailer tongue and mounts and covers for the furnace vents.
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Re: Rough Road Raindrop

Postby Louisd75 » Wed Feb 20, 2019 8:05 pm

Today was the first firing of the furnace. It works!

I had picked up an 11lb bottle and mounting bracket from Adventure Trailers. I could have probably saved money going elsewhere, but Martyn has been a huge contributor to the ExPo trailer forum and I wanted to support his company.

I wound up having to make some mounting brackets for the propane mount. I looked at mounting the bracket directly against the front of the tongue box but then I couldn't decide on a good, safe place to mount the regulator. So, I moved the bracket forward enough for the regulator, then bent some aluminum flatstock to make the standoffs. The standoffs also serve as a place to mount a clamp for the propane line.

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You'll notice some blue masking tape on the tongue in the above picture. That was the result of me waking up in middle of the night after mounting the propane tank bracket. I had realized that I hadn't thought to check the clearance between the tailgate and propane bottle. Fortunately I found that the tailgate only goes back as far as the blue tape, so I'm good. You'll also probably notice my custom wheeled tongue jack. I had a flat bottomed one from my original plan, which was usurped by a Bal C jack on each corner. I realized after a while that it might be handy to have a wheeled tongue jack. I poked around my pile-o-junk-that-I-really-should-get-rid-of and came up with a heavy duty caster to weld to the base of the tongue jack. Of course, that made it too tall to work, so I had to cut off and weld the sleeve lower down on the jack. Now it works. It also tucks up nicely against the trailer tongue and underneath the tongue box for transport.

I wound up going with 3/8" type L copper tubing for the main line running from the bottle. I'd like to have the option of possibly coming off of a T and providing fuel to a quick disconnect for a stove. I didn't go any further than installing a T and capping it off. The tubing is reduced from 3/8" to 1/4" going to the furnace. There was one thing that I didn't realize that wound up causing me some grief. I work with tubing and pipe a lot. I'm used to working with nominal sizes. This wasn't the case with the tubing I was working with. I bought the 3/8" tubing, 1/4" tubing and a bunch of 3/8" and 1/4" flare fittings. 3/8" flare fittings don't go to 3/8" tubing. 3/8" refers to an actual diameter, not a nominal diameter. In the case of the tubing, it was the inner diameter. In the case of the flare fittings, it was the outer diameter. That was frustrating, but lesson learned. I also realized how much I dislike working with flare fittings. I much prefer compression fittings, but for some reason compression fittings aren't approved for RV use. No idea why. Oh well.

Propex recommends running the furnace exhaust tube with a slope to it. This allows any moisture produced in the combustion process to drain out the exhaust tube and drip onto the ground. This is also a huge advantage of this style of furnace over something like a Mr. Buddy... all of the exhaust and combustion products go outside. I had some aluminum flatstock leftover from the propane mount standoff, so I cut it into smaller pieces, bent them into shape and used them as standoffs for the exhaust. The first one measures 1-1/4", the second is 1-3/4" and the third is 2-1/4". It was supposed to be 1", 1-1/2" and 2" but I'm not very good with a brake yet. At least I was consistently off. I'm just using hose clamps to hold the exhaust against the standoff, each standoff is gooped and screwed into the bottom of the trailer.

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Also, just a note, in the above picture I haven't secured the fresh air intake tubing yet, but in this next picture you can see that it's secured and the propane lines are run:

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You may also see all the suds on the tubing fittings from doing my leak check. I had a bunch of 'em, which reminds me of why I'm not a fan of flare fittings. I was able to get them all sealed up without having to redo any of them with some extra tightening. Oh, almost forgot. While I'm on the topic of propane, the 11lb bottle that I bought was brand spanking new and, as could be expected, was delivered empty. There's a purging process that needs to be done as a part of the first fill. I had a difficult time finding someone who would do the purging process. If you're in the city of Bellingham, Whatcom Farmer's Co-op can do it. It cost me a grand total of $4 to have the 11lb tank purged and filled.

I strayed from Propex' recommendation of having the intake and exhaust going out the same side of the trailer. I looked around and it just wasn't going to work out without changing some things that are more easily left unchanged. So, I ran it out the back:

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You can see it there. No, not there. Look at the hitch receiver, then look to the left. It's the little round thingee. That's a 2" receiver as a size reference. It's protected from water dripping down because it extends aft a little bit.

Everything looked good, so it was time to fire it up and see what would happen. First, I turned on the fan to make sure I had power. It came on with little ... fanfare. I let it run for a minute and checked everything over again. Then I turned the knob from fan to furnace and it shut down. This is what I was expecting since I had the thermostat knob turned all the way to cold. I cranked the thermostat up one click at a time til the fan came back on. I was outside of the trailer reaching in and I waited. And waited. And waited. I was a bit bummed out because nothing was happening. Just the fan going. It wasn't til I reached down and touched the exhaust that I realized that the furnace was on. I put my hand against the vent inside and I could feel glorious hot air coming out. So I cranked up the thermostat and opened up the windows of the trailer. I wanted to give it a good burn in. All told, I ran it for about five continuous hours. I was a bit concerned due to an odor that I noticed, but I realized that the odor was coming not from the furnace but from the High-Temp RTV that was used around the exhaust where it went through the floor of the trailer. I've got some butyl tape leftover from the windows. We use it at work on our boilers, so I should be okay running it around the exhaust as additional insulation and barrier between the RTV and the inside of the trailer.

For the curious, here's some of the temps after a few hours of continuous running:

Here's the temp of the plastic grate:

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The yellow piece of wood that looks like it's just sitting there on top of the vent is doing exactly that... it's a cover for the ducting but I just had them propped in place but not actually installed. It will all be flush when it's screwed down.

Here's the exhaust tube immediately after coming out of the furnace, before passing through the trailer floo:

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I did all of the testing with the wooden furnace cover removed. I also did not have all of the bedding in the trailer, nor did I have the curtains on. For the testing, I had the windows open and the Fantastic Fan exhausting on low. It was just shy of 50* outside and the trailer it didn't take long at all for it to get up to 74* inside. I didn't time it, but I was surprised by the wall of heat that hit me when I opened the doors, even with the windows open and fan going. I wound up opening both doors for a few hours to try and air it out while the furnace was running.

One thing that I noticed while sitting inside was the noise. The furnace wasn't overbearingly loud, but it was louder than I expected and it was obvious that the noise was coming out of the duct. I'd liken it to about the same amount of sound as the Fantastic Fan on it's medium or high setting. I didn't have a lot of the stuff that would normally quiet things down, such as bedding, inside of the trailer, so that may have contributed to the volume. There is acoustical ducting available. I'll give the furnace another couple of runs with all the bedding and such and see if that makes much of a difference.

Outside, the noise didn't seem that noticeable. I could hear it if I were on the passenger side but I could barely hear it on the driver side. I could hear it working in the galley area, along with getting a whiff of exhaust every now and then depending on which way the wind was going. I wouldn't say that either would be a show stopper. I did all my testing in the daytime, with all the neighborhood daytime noises. It might sound like a jet engine on takeoff in a quiet campground at 0200. I'll fire it in the garage for a couple of minutes tonight and see how loud it sounds. There are mufflers available that would likely quiet it down a bit. My wife did not notice that it was on when she walked over to the trailer, so I guess that's a good sign.

One note about my test run. I ran it for about five hours, non stop. I don't think that this would be considered a "normal" operating situation. The temps that I posted pictures of were after hours of running. I would not expect them to be that high under normal use as the heater cycles on and off. That said, I will be adding some insulation to the hot air duct that runs near our feet, just to be on the safe side. My wife would probably love the foot heater functionality of the uncovered duct, but I'd rather not have the kiddos grabbing onto something that hot. Also a reminder, the furnace and its combustion intake/exhaust will be protected from direct contact by a wooden cover. It's open on one side for the hot air supply/return ducting, along with the control wiring. Propex calls for 1" of clearance all around and I've got quite a bit more than that on four of the sides, only two sides have the minimum clearance.

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I hope tomorrow is cold so that I can continue the testing. Who knows, maybe I'll be sleeping in the driveway :D
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Re: Rough Road Raindrop

Postby KTM_Guy » Thu Feb 21, 2019 9:20 am

Good info on the Propex install. I started to install my 2000 last weekend and couldn't find a 3 3/4" hole saw any where. Got one on order, hope it comes in before the weekend.

I'm kinda concerned about the high temps you are showing. I think Tonys test was at 180 degrees with 35 degree intake air. With such a small space to warm up that thing will be short cycling like crazy. It really needs to warm up slowly so things like the mattress can warm up and hold the heat. I can't wait to give it a try. Probably my the time we get to camp it will be to warm to use the heater.

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Re: Rough Road Raindrop

Postby tony.latham » Thu Feb 21, 2019 10:13 am

I think Tonys test was at 180 degrees with 35 degree intake air. With such a small space to warm up that thing will be short cycling like crazy. It really needs to warm up slowly so things like the mattress can warm up and hold the heat.


Todd:

Of course, the first thing I did was to hold my hand next to the vent. I was impressed by how much warm air was coming out but it didn't feel burny-hot like a heat gun. Having said that, I didn't attach the vent cover –-at least it's plastic and not metal. I was surprised when I put the temperature probe in front of it.

I think what we will do on chilly nights is pull the down comforter up to the headboard and fire the heater up for ten minutes or so prior to retiring and then shut it off. Nothing like the plywood-slab of memory foam when it's cold. And then give the heater another kick-start in the morning. Maybe a midnight pee-break bump if need be but I doubt we'll allow it to cycle through the night. We shall see.

:thumbsup:

As far as the noise, here's what Westy Ventures says about the acoustic ducting (which is $20/meter).

Image

That screenshot is a bit fuzzy... so here it is:

"Are you a light sleeper and your Propex wakes you occasionally? Exhaust too loud for your neighbors in camp? With these additions, it can be whisper quiet. 40 decibels at the inlet and outlet of the heated air, 48 at the exhaust, 42 at the burner intake.
Acoustical ducting makes a huge difference in the sound level of the heated air. The inexpensive Chinese muffler quiets the exhaust note. The little air filter on the intake is great to prevent dust or insects from entering the heater, although it doesn't really lower the sound level.
I stock the ducting, if there is enough interest I will also stock the mufflers and air filter. Let me know how many of you are interested!"


I bought one of those "25mm air filters" off of eBay for the burner intake for $3.60. It's 2" in diameter so it'll snug up nicely within the chassis and will keep the bugs from nesting.

:beer:

Now all's I have to do is get my new shop set up so I can start the new build this spring. :frightened: I need to get back to painting.

Tony

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Re: Rough Road Raindrop

Postby Louisd75 » Thu Feb 21, 2019 10:39 am

KTM_Guy wrote:Good info on the Propex install. I started to install my 2000 last weekend and couldn't find a 3 3/4" hole saw any where. Got one on order, hope it comes in before the weekend.

I'm kinda concerned about the high temps you are showing. I think Tonys test was at 180 degrees with 35 degree intake air. With such a small space to warm up that thing will be short cycling like crazy. It really needs to warm up slowly so things like the mattress can warm up and hold the heat. I can't wait to give it a try. Probably my the time we get to camp it will be to warm to use the heater.

Todd


I did the duct holes for the vents with an adjustable hole, but I was also able to clamp the pieces I was drilling in the drill press. This one is similar to the one I have:

Image

I wouldn't recommend it if you're using a handheld drill. Things could get exciting.

I poked around and found a reference showing the knob setting and corresponding temps:

https://downfallnotes.com/index.php/201 ... ing-chart/

Image


My wife checked out the furnace install last night. I ran it in fan mode and she too was a bit surprised at how loud it was. It would likely wake us up if it kicked on at night. I did find a discussion about the acoustic ducting on the Propex UK website. They had a recommended length of 1m for best results. The test setup that they did showed a reduction of almost 10dB, which is almost cutting the volume in half if I'm remembering decibels right. We may just turn it on at it's highest for the half an hour or so after we stop to warm things up, then bump it to a lower setting to let it cycle til we turn in, then shut it off for sleep. If we're camping for a bit in one spot then we'll likely let it cycle during the day time. I'm sure it's going to be a learning experience the first few times we use it. I do wish there were an option to keep the fan running and just cycle the furnace on/off.

The temps I got were higher than I would expect to see, but I also had the furnace running continuously for far longer than I would ever expect in actual camping.

I'm kind of kicking myself a little... last night it got into the 20's but I brought the trailer into the garage before going to bed. I probably should have left it outside. Tonight is supposed to get cold again but I think we're supposed to get some rain as well. I still need to finish the last two cushions, the ones that go in the foot area next to the furnace. There's always something.
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Re: Rough Road Raindrop

Postby Louisd75 » Thu Feb 21, 2019 12:23 pm

tony.latham wrote:
I think Tonys test was at 180 degrees with 35 degree intake air. With such a small space to warm up that thing will be short cycling like crazy. It really needs to warm up slowly so things like the mattress can warm up and hold the heat.


Todd:

Of course, the first thing I did was to hold my hand next to the vent. I was impressed by how much warm air was coming out but it didn't feel burny-hot like a heat gun. Having said that, I didn't attach the vent cover –-at least it's plastic and not metal. I was surprised when I put the temperature probe in front of it.

I think what we will do on chilly nights is pull the down comforter up to the headboard and fire the heater up for ten minutes or so prior to retiring and then shut it off. Nothing like the plywood-slab of memory foam when it's cold. And then give the heater another kick-start in the morning. Maybe a midnight pee-break bump if need be but I doubt we'll allow it to cycle through the night. We shall see.

:thumbsup:

As far as the noise, here's what Westy Ventures says about the acoustic ducting (which is $20/meter).

Image

That screenshot is a bit fuzzy... so here it is:

"Are you a light sleeper and your Propex wakes you occasionally? Exhaust too loud for your neighbors in camp? With these additions, it can be whisper quiet. 40 decibels at the inlet and outlet of the heated air, 48 at the exhaust, 42 at the burner intake.
Acoustical ducting makes a huge difference in the sound level of the heated air. The inexpensive Chinese muffler quiets the exhaust note. The little air filter on the intake is great to prevent dust or insects from entering the heater, although it doesn't really lower the sound level.
I stock the ducting, if there is enough interest I will also stock the mufflers and air filter. Let me know how many of you are interested!"


I bought one of those "25mm air filters" off of eBay for the burner intake for $3.60. It's 2" in diameter so it'll snug up nicely within the chassis and will keep the bugs from nesting.

:beer:

Now all's I have to do is get my new shop set up so I can start the new build this spring. :frightened: I need to get back to painting.

Tony

Image


The temp coming out of the duct was one thing that I noticed right away. I didn't think it was overly hot at all, even with my hand close to it. Same goes for the exhaust. I was surprised at how hot the vent was, but again, I didn't check it til it had been running for hours. I ordered the same vent covers that were in your HS2000 after I saw how chintzy the ones were that came with the 2211. I've got the hot air installed and angled upwards and outboard, so the hot air comes out, runs down the passenger side. This is the side my wife usually sleeps on, and she sleeps with her window closed. The hot air loops circulates around the front of the trailer and then down the driver's side to intake vent. I usually sleep with my window open, so we get fresh air coming in through there. We also usually sleep with the ceiling fan cover open, though the weather usually determines how far open we keep it.

The sound from the furnace fan drowns out any of the sounds of the exhaust from inside the trailer. You can barely hear it from outside on the driver's side and the passenger side isn't bad. Certainly quieter than the guy a few sites down who idled the engine on his Sprinter for the better part of two days at Ohanapecosh last year.
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Re: Rough Road Raindrop

Postby lfhoward » Thu Feb 21, 2019 5:25 pm

I just wanted to congratulate you on a very cool build. I like your design a lot, especially the bunk bed for kiddos in the front window area. Nice work!!
My off-road camper build on an M116A3 military chassis:
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=62581
Tow vehicle: 2008 Jeep Liberty with a 4 inch lift.
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Re: Rough Road Raindrop

Postby Louisd75 » Mon Feb 25, 2019 12:03 am

lfhoward wrote:I just wanted to congratulate you on a very cool build. I like your design a lot, especially the bunk bed for kiddos in the front window area. Nice work!!


Thanks! I wish I could take credit for the design, I leaned heavily on Camp Inn's 560 Raindrop when I was coming up with my plan.

In trailer news, I haven't had a chance to do another test run of the furnace. The battery in the truck went out and a friend came into town. I took the opportunity while replacing the truck battery to replace the trailer battery. Up to now the trailer battery was an old YellowTop that I took out of my old truck. It still worked, sorta, but it didn't hold much of a charge for very long. It was never a big deal in the trailer, especially if we were driving daily, but the voltage was pretty low at the end of three days in the same spot (10v in one case). I wound up going with a new group 27F AGM deep cycle battery. It barely fit into my battery compartment. In fact, if it hadn't been an AGM then I'm not sure I could have gone that size since I had to lower it in on end and rotate it into position. Anyhow, it's new and it's got a much higher AH rating, so we'll see how it goes.

We've had a bit of a warmer spell the past couple of days which has gotten me thinking about the front end of the trailer. I helped a friend cover the pop top of his Sportsmobile with either Monsterliner or Raptorliner and he gave me a few bottles of unmixed leftovers. I have areas on the front of the fenders that are heavily chipped up from rocks. The curved parts of the front of the trailer between the tongue box and doors are also getting dinged up pretty good from dirt roads. I'm thinking about applying the liner in these areas to help protect them, but I need to wait for warmer weather first. I also have two more cushions to finish making.

I'm also waiting on some new acoustical ducting from Westy Ventures to see if I can quiet the furnace down inside the trailer a bit. Hoping to get some camping in this weekend coming up.
Louisd75
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Re: Rough Road Raindrop

Postby KTM_Guy » Mon Feb 25, 2019 9:00 am

I posted a reply here but I don't see it. Good write up on the Propex. I think I'll order some acoustical duct as well.


Todd
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Re: Rough Road Raindrop

Postby Louisd75 » Mon Feb 25, 2019 11:59 am

KTM_Guy wrote:I posted a reply here but I don't see it. Good write up on the Propex. I think I'll order some acoustical duct as well.


Todd


I've lost a couple of draft posts myself. One thing to keep in mind with the acoustical ducting is that it's not recommended to use it outside. This wasn't an issue with my furnace mounting, but it could be if you have an HS2211 and mount it under the trailer. It would be pretty easy to have it as non-acoustical outside and then switch to acoustical inside. Sure Marine Services has a wider variety of elbows and adapters that help with routing. They also have various grills and ducting, though no acoustical ducting.

http://www.suremarineservice.com/Heat/P ... all-Parts/

http://www.suremarineservice.com/Heat/D ... -Adapters/

For some reason they don't put everything into the same section of their website.
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