"The X-II" 5-Wide Convertible Teardrop

[wingloader]

Zach,

Above you showed how you connected the TV battery to your camper battery.

If you checkout the post from GeorgeTelford at http://ww.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=6429, he says the following regarding charging a battery from a TV:

If you were to charge via the vehicle alternator, you would be extremely lucky to get 70% of fully charged, therefore max "safe" useable power is 20 Ah ie you couls use the item for 10 Hrs Max

There is a 4 th rule avoid "charging via an Alternator" this one is much harder to explain, but say you fully charge your battery by Shore power at home, if you drive to your destination with the battery connected to the alternator, the battery will be at 65 to 70% by the time you arrive.

from fully charged at 12.93v (measured 12 hours after coming off the Sterling charger) connected bulb, it took 6 hours and 17 mins to reach 12.2v (ie flicking over backwards and forwards from 12.3v)

It was then fully recharged on the Sterling, allowed 13 hours to settle the voltage, reading was 12.94v flash 12.93v, the engine on the iveco was started, then I connected the battery using a good solid cable as before and drove this morning for 1 hour 14 mins, as soon as I got back it was connected to the same bulb (55w halogen) connected at 12 : 12 today, it started flashing between 12.3 and 12.2 at 5 : 37 PM today

Same battery, same full charge by Sterling, only difference 1 hour 14 mins of extra "charging" as knocked off 52 mins off usable power !!

If I were to just read that post, I would think it would be a bad idea to charge a battery off the TV alternator. I'm curious what you and others think about this.

Joe

[KCStudly]

For remote camping without a generator or shore power, charging off of the TV alternator is the only solution... other than solar (which cost a bit to get into) or wind (which involves more set up and hauling heavy awkward stuff around).

$0.02

[PontiacPureBred]

Hi Zach,

Wow this is really some build. You are a craftsman, a trailblazer, and a heck of a fine human being.

Now that I have kissed up properly, any chance the CAD files for your build still exist? And if said CAD files exist, could they be procured?

I love your style and I'm thinking about building something just like this (only off road) ... I already have the same RGB LED strips on my boat Seen in my avatar <---- and I had planned to use them in a TD too.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

[absolutsnwbrdr]

LOL, Miss Becky is sooo right. I saw first hand what a beautiful rig she has, and I want one that much more . Zach, your X-II is just that "X-treme" . I was reading the calender, I saw the Shenandoah and Pokomoke gatherings posted. I'm pretty much gonna be sure to attend those.

Stay safe, Keep em' tween the lines,
Jerry S.

Im not sure about the Shenandoah, but I think the Pocomoke is on my to-do list! Maybe I'll see you there.

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Zach, I wish I could make things as well as you do. You are seriously AWESOME. I would love to see your baby in person, but I'm afraid I'd be too jealous.

The pics of the X-II make it look monstrous inside. You have really made use of the space.

Jealously yours,
Joe

PS...How close are you to Ridgely MD? I fly my hang glider there on occasion. If you are around that area I'd love to stop by and show you my work so you could feel superior...

Thanks Joe. The inside may look a lot bigger than it is because of the light that comes through the top - I doesnt have a cave-effect of a fully closed in teardrop.

I'm probably about 1-1/2 to 2 hours from Ridgley. I was actually passing near that area this past weekend. I was down at Assateague Island for the weekend with some of the Tearjerkers. Had a great time!

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Zach,

Above you showed how you connected the TV battery to your camper battery.

If you checkout the post from GeorgeTelford at http://ww.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=6429, he says the following regarding charging a battery from a TV:

If you were to charge via the vehicle alternator, you would be extremely lucky to get 70% of fully charged, therefore max "safe" useable power is 20 Ah ie you couls use the item for 10 Hrs Max

There is a 4 th rule avoid "charging via an Alternator" this one is much harder to explain, but say you fully charge your battery by Shore power at home, if you drive to your destination with the battery connected to the alternator, the battery will be at 65 to 70% by the time you arrive.

First.... Your car battery is charged via an alternator. This 65-70% is perplexing to me. If this were true, then your car would be dead before you even turned it off. I have no idea where that number comes from. When my car is running, the voltage is about 13.5V because the alternator is providing energy to A) recharge the battery from the starter discharge, and B) provide voltage and current to ALL of the electronics in the vehicle. Once you turn the car off, the voltage level drops to the high 12V range, which is considered 100% state of charge. And then its ready to start your car up the next time.

from fully charged at 12.93v (measured 12 hours after coming off the Sterling charger) connected bulb, it took 6 hours and 17 mins to reach 12.2v (ie flicking over backwards and forwards from 12.3v)

It was then fully recharged on the Sterling, allowed 13 hours to settle the voltage, reading was 12.94v flash 12.93v, the engine on the iveco was started, then I connected the battery using a good solid cable as before and drove this morning for 1 hour 14 mins, as soon as I got back it was connected to the same bulb (55w halogen) connected at 12 : 12 today, it started flashing between 12.3 and 12.2 at 5 : 37 PM today

Same battery, same full charge by Sterling, only difference 1 hour 14 mins of extra "charging" as knocked off 52 mins off usable power !!

Without knowing exactly what happened in his "highly technical experiment", I can't explain why he got the results he did. There was obviously a voltage drop somewhere that he did not account for. If he left the 2 different batteries connected with no charging source attached then they could have discharged each other. This is why I use the Yandina Battery Combiner that a member on here had suggested. It only connects the batteries when there is a charge source (13.3V+) present. This prevents one dead battery from soaking up the energy from the charged battery. This is also why if you intend on having 2 batteries on your trailer wired in parallel, they should be of the same type, manufacturer, and age. But in my setup, the Yandina AUTOMATICALLY separates the trailer batteries from the tow vehicle battery when no charge is present. You can also achieve this by simply unplugging the charging-while-towing connection as soon as you turn your tow vehicle off. I can be forgetful though.

If I were to just read that post, I would think it would be a bad idea to charge a battery off the TV alternator. I'm curious what you and others think about this.

Joe

See my responses above in RED. Hope my explanations make sense. Others will back up my response too.

[bdosborn]

If you were to charge via the vehicle alternator, you would be extremely lucky to get 70% of fully charged, therefore max "safe" useable power is 20 Ah ie you couls use the item for 10 Hrs Max

There are literally millions of batteries out there that are regularly charged to 90-100% levels safely. This comment didn't make any sense when it was posted and it still doesn't. My batteries are usually at >90% after the drive home from camping. How do I know? I have a Trimetric battery meter that measures amp-hrs in and out of the battery. The last 10% takes several hours as the battery charge acceptance tapers off as it charges but it can be reached safely with an alternator

There is a 4 th rule avoid "charging via an Alternator" this one is much harder to explain, but say you fully charge your battery by Shore power at home, if you drive to your destination with the battery connected to the alternator, the battery will be at 65 to 70% by the time you arrive.

Another confusing and completely wrong post. There would have to be something wrong with the alternator if the battery was at a reduced charge level after the trip.

from fully charged at 12.93v (measured 12 hours after coming off the Sterling charger) connected bulb, it took 6 hours and 17 mins to reach 12.2v (ie flicking over backwards and forwards from 12.3v)

It was then fully recharged on the Sterling, allowed 13 hours to settle the voltage, reading was 12.94v flash 12.93v, the engine on the iveco was started, then I connected the battery using a good solid cable as before and drove this morning for 1 hour 14 mins, as soon as I got back it was connected to the same bulb (55w halogen) connected at 12 : 12 today, it started flashing between 12.3 and 12.2 at 5 : 37 PM today

Same battery, same full charge by Sterling, only difference 1 hour 14 mins of extra "charging" as knocked off 52 mins off usable power !!

Once again, this is not a typical result of charging from an alternator. Unfortunately, the post is so poorly written it's impossible to trouble shoot what the issue was and there could be numerous reasons for George's unfortunate result.

If I were to just read that post, I would think it would be a bad idea to charge a battery off the TV alternator. I'm curious what you and others think about this.

I think this horse was beaten to death years ago. Want proof? Take a look at all the RVs you pass on the highway. They're happily charging their batteries to with an alternator and somehow keep doing it for years, despite the "hard to explain" problems. That's not to say there aren't some installation pit falls to avoid when charging from the TV (voltage drop mainly) but none of the issues that George posted are going to be a problem for the typical teardrop.

Bruce

[wingloader]

Thanks guys. I thought the warning posting was nuts. I just didn't want to say it because I didn't want any hard feelings from the original post. Sorry about the dead horse...

Joe

[bdosborn]

No need to worry about George, he was so unpleasant he was asked to leave.

Bruce

[wingloader]

Tried to remove this post. I was polluting Zach's build journal and I didn't think of it until I posted this.

[wingloader]

Yeah, I'm definitely not concerned about it falling down! They are definitely stronger than what would be necessary, but its certainly not a struggle to close the hatch. It does want to spring open as soon as I release the draw latches. The strut length that I got is available in a bunch of other strengths, so I'm going to order pairs of 90lb and 100lb struts just to test them out. Whatever I end up not using, I'll just send back. McMaster-Carr is really nice to deal with!

Did you end up trying different strength struts? If so, what did you think.

On my build thread, I posted pics of my failed strut attempt. I went all off-the-cuff and got struts that are too weak (20lbs or so from my bathroom scale testing).
see here for the gory details: http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=55818&start=30

I am going to order some stronger ones but I haven't decided yet what strength.

Joe

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Yeah, I'm definitely not concerned about it falling down! They are definitely stronger than what would be necessary, but its certainly not a struggle to close the hatch. It does want to spring open as soon as I release the draw latches. The strut length that I got is available in a bunch of other strengths, so I'm going to order pairs of 90lb and 100lb struts just to test them out. Whatever I end up not using, I'll just send back. McMaster-Carr is really nice to deal with!

Did you end up trying different strength struts? If so, what did you think.

On my build thread, I posted pics of my failed strut attempt. I went all off-the-cuff and got struts that are too weak (20lbs or so from my bathroom scale testing).
see here for the gory details: http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=55818&start=30

I am going to order some stronger ones but I haven't decided yet what strength.

Joe

Hey Joe, since I'm camping just about every weekend I'm slacking on keeping up with a lot of the threads on here. I ended up with 100lb struts which work great. Just checked out your build thread and it looks like you got your strut situation worked out. Nice work!

[Kharn]

It was a pretty productive weekend! Spent about 6 hours yesterday and another 6 today getting work done!

First my friend and I pulled the trailer pieces out of the basement and bolted them together in my backyard.



After everything was solid, we started the floor framing. Its heavy duty because it will support the side walls.



Now that the trailer was together, I could go make an actual wood run!



Spent the remainder of the day framing the rest of the floor, and galley deck.



Galley deck with storage covers off...



... with storage covers in place....

Zach,
For the X-1, you had one grade 5 bolt to connect the tongue extension to each of the first two cross members, I'm assuming you duplicated that on the X-II?
Also, did you connect the tongue extension to the original coupler base via bolts (I can't see any in the photo above) or welding, or just let it freely sit inside the base and all the towing force is distributed to the two cross member bolts?

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Yeah, the tongue extension is attached the same way... grade 5 (or maybe grade 8 ) bolts... no welding. There's one bolt through each of the front two crossmembers (vertically) and then there is one more bolt through the flipped coupler base plate (horizontally).

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Got the last thing checked off of my pre-sale to do list today!

Let me start with saying VINYL TILES SUCK.

The vinyl tiles that I had put on the galley counter looked great when I first installed them. But the constant change in temperature of the past year did not treat the tiles well. They had shrunk slightly because of the cold temps and were lifting at the edges. Someone who's buying a teardrop doesn't want to have to deal with that. So it needed "remodeled".

I pulled up the vinyl tiles the other weekend, and today was a good day to finish the job. First I had to heat up the shelf and the garage so that the contact cement would grab like its supposed to. Kerosene torpedo heater and Coleman lanterns. Such wonderful aromas!



Then I cut the Formica to fit the shelf, and adhered it to the shelf with contact cement. WOW that stuff is potent!



Everythings back together now, and I added some trim on the side of the counter just to dress it up a little. I should have just done this in the beginning, but I didnt realize Formica was so inexpensive. The 30"x96" piece that I ordered from Lowes was only $42.



So who wants to buy a freshly remodeled teardrop? Its literally better than new now!