Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

One Foamie at a time Please … It’s Good to dream , just keep working on the first one . You’re close now ...

Another productive day! I got all the channels carved out for the pvc pipes that I'm going to run the electric wires through. I was going to use the wire tool for it, but my tests didn't work well, and doing it with the hot rod was actually pretty manageable.



It looks pretty rough, as you can see, since the angles I have to go in at make it jagged, but then...



Once you've got the pipe in there, you can't tell at all! And it'll be filled with great stuff, so no one will ever see it.



Here's the front section. That sticking out elbow will go into the tongue box with the battery and fuse panel on it. All turned out to be much more straightforward than I was fearing.

Wasn't able to get all the pvc cut because I managed somehow to get the wrong kind of 45 degree angle join. Should be able to make a run to the Home Depot tomorrow to pick that and a few other things up, though, and will be a bit closer.

The adhesive samples were all dry, but wanted to give them a few days to really cute up before further testing. But so far they all seem surprisingly similar.


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Apologies Amanda, but we always wonder why these electrical “systems" are built into a foamie camper … Our “system" is an extension cord and GFI outlet … Completely flexible, movable , replacable , and sufficient for the need.. Maybe this is just a practice left over from Homebuilding … I just keep thinking “Hard tent” ...

Well, for me it's pretty necessary... Not really something I can do without if I'm going to be more or less living out of this thing as I go traveling for a while as I plan to. Believe me, if I could just avoid electrical altogether, that would be lovely! But my devices need charging and when it gets chillier I'll need a way to stay warm, and I'll need a way to at least plug in a fan for the heat, etc.

I know your cord would get me that when I was plugged in, but I don't plan to be plugged in 24/7. And even if I were, I then have to run the through the wall or leave a door open somehow, and the whole thing would leave me feeling pretty Jerry-rigged. A little more effort now will make a world of difference later, both in freedom and usability.

I'll also have a galley with a built-in cooler, sink and water storage, which is out of hard tent territory, but will make my life liveable. To each his own. :-)

Looking Great!!!!

Someone did a flame test a while back (NMMarauder, I think). It was more like a flying ember test than an open flame test. I think he dropped a reasonably large hot coal onto a scrap of canvased foam. He reported that the coal continued to smolder but the foam did not catch fire.

HMK wrote:Looking Great!!!!

Thanks!

me&z wrote:Someone did a flame test a while back (NMMarauder, I think). It was more like a flying ember test than an open flame test. I think he dropped a reasonably large hot coal onto a scrap of canvased foam. He reported that the coal continued to smolder but the foam did not catch fire.

Oh, that's awesome to hear! I'm thinking I'll do a timed open flame test, but good to know about the embers, as that's probably a more likely scenario...

Found it!

viewtopic.php?f=55&t=62527&start=30

Oh, that build was actually one of my early inspirations! Although I just saw the imgur album/Reddit post; never saw the actual build thread. Thanks!


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Haven't been keeping up updating this (or the blog) but have been making some fits of progress here and there.

I've finished with the channels for the electrical and started gorilla-flying the pvc pipes I'll be running the wires through in place. Gotta say, now that I've started using it, I'm a fan of the stuff. So that's nice. :-)

I used the gorilla glue to fix some magnets in place into the walls, as well. I figure I'll use them for holding the little tap lights in place, as well as for hanging the screens for the doors in place and for easy hanging for anything else I want to in the future that I haven't thought of yet. Will be interesting to see how much they stick out once I've got the fabric over then, but I'm spacklibg and crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.



No picks of them fully in yet, but here are the little hollows for sinking then in.

I also got the space for the windows in the foam doors cut out with the acrylic inserted. Originally I had a complicated plan to cut out and place and glue back in the foam around the edges.l, but luckily realized halfway through that I could just cut a slit along the slide and then slide (read: hammer) them in. I'm super satisfied, and certain that it will look significantly better than it would have if I'd gone with my first thought. Also happy with the size of the window (had to cut it down which was a slight pain but doable) in relation to everything. Still has the protective film on it until I'm ready to caulk around it, but here's what they look like:


Also finally did my burn test of my fabric-over-foam samples, after leaving them in the house for a while where it's a bit less humid (will never get used to northern VA). I had six total samples: gripper, TBII, Childers, and then each of those with a layer of Childers over them. The end result was that the Childers definitely made a different in terms of how long it took the flame to take and how easily it went out. In each case it seemed to be a matter of it taking time to get through the fabric and then burning off the gasses of the vaporized foam behind it. Left a nifty little void behind each of the scorch marks, with the Childers bubbling up the most before it eventually broke through. I think between the price, ease of application and the fire resistance, I'll go ahead and use the Childers for fabricing the inside some time in the next few days, and then revisit the issue once that's done and I see how much I have left.




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Good to know about the Childers. And not really a bad price for a bit of extra protection. Thanks for doing the test for us.

Amanda sure has adopted the Foamie philosophy , test EVERYTHING !!! Thanks !!!

Got the first of the fabric applied to one of the inside walls last night. This morning it's dry and looks pretty nice. The Childers is a good deal thicker than the gripper or the TB2, which makes it pretty nice to work with. There's one small ripple that I think I should be able to cover with molding, and a couple of the magnets are visible, but most of them appear to have been spackled and sanded well enough to be more or less invisible. So that's a good sign.




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It is mentioned in the product description that Childers I a adhesive. It really has everything a fomie builder could want in it... Glad you where able to put it to the test.

CHIL-SEAL CP-50A MV1 is a combination coating and adhesive for finishing and adhering canvas and other lagging cloths over thermal insulation. It brushes easily and forms a tough film - even over surfaces such as glass cloth or canvas. This fire resistive, water based material will not attack plastic foams or other adhesives. Easy clean-up with warm, soapy water.

Another few days, a bit more progress. After the Childers dried on the first interior wall to get its fabric, I put another layer in. It's all well dried now, and ready for paint as soon as I get it.

Filled in the channel around the pvc for the electrical with great stuff, trimmed it back and got spackle in there, as well as the same for the seam in the front cap. Gonna give that a bit longer before I sand and fabric it. Not sure about how it's going to look, but we'll see...


But the big thing is that I made up a cut list for the roof structure wood to support the skylight and the vent/fan. I decided a while back to have them go all the way across, which was a challenge, since it needed long, straight pieces, and my pressure treated wood (unsurprisingly) dried pretty warped and wonky. I saved the straightest bits for the back hat pieces, since those are most important, and made do.



Here are the pieces in the roof. They've been glued together with tb2, and then I put some screws in them to try and hold them together better. If there's one thing I definitely know now, it's that I am NOT a woodworker. :-)

I put in some generous amounts of gorilla glue, hoping the foaming action will do a good job of filling the gaps. I've got it weighted down now, with all the liftable heavy objects I could find, including my 100 amp hour battery, and my fresh and grey water tanks, filled for the first time. :-) aaaaaand a couple coolers that still haven't been emptied since the Fourth of July, when I started this project... that can't be good...



Will check it in a few hours and see if/how much I need to fill in with great stuff. Moving right along! Next up may very well be the nightmare or back hatch construction...



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