Nodrog wrote:OP!! There you are! I've been following this, very glad to see your progress! The Folding part has added quite a bit of engineering, huh? But you are gettin er done! Looks like your interior is pretty complete? I think we have about the same little fridge, I have had ours for years and just ran propane lines and lit the burner for the first time ever! The flame is so small I couldn't see it- I took it all apart to blow out the lines. But I think it was ok anyway, just a tiny flame. I figure it should run more than week on a gallon of propane, pretty economical, those dinky fridges. I ran it for a couple of hours on hi, it got down to just a couple degrees above freezing!
But anyway, how much do you have to do to finish? Do you have interior lights yet? I see you need exterior lights, me too, but sooon! What else? Exterior is just about all glassed now, isn't it? It's looking really good! I love these small trailers that are little habitats,I'm shooting for equivalent of at least a budget motel room on wheels. Let us know how you are doing, very exciting, you have to feel good, it's almost done!! Later- Nodrog
Thanks Nodrog, yes and I actually enjoyed the engineering and math for the moving parts design, especially after it worked. Interior bones are mainly complete. Still need to do a floor finish, foam mattress/sitting covers, sink hookup, folding walls interior covering, etc.. many small details to button it up, it's long list yet, but I want to make it camp able, do not require for it to be perfect so we can go out and camp in it, I can do refinements
"later". I have done nothing on electrical and lights yet. I do not know what I want to do, no plan yet, again. Initially I may have 110V outlet, converter for 12V, a one or two 110V outlets around kitchen area, 12V lights by the beds on the street side. The main thing now left is windows.. They have to be light due to being in fold down walls and therefore I plan on doing them of 1/8" thin tinted acrylic with high quality Baltic Birch plywood frame sealed and adhered and hidden behind the face with a place for D seal fixed on the acrylic edge. It should look like sheet of tinted plastic opening to outside, so it can stay slightly open in a light rain. Exterior is
almost all glassed now, two small strips in the back still left to cover plywood. After that I probably will cover it in fairing mix and go over with a DA sander, outside of single car garage.
The little fridge similar to yours I got from kijiji and it was looking almost new. The guy who sold it to me said they had used them in hotel for guests that needed a baby food storage and the fridge only worked from 110V. Yes, the flame is very small, you can compare by looking to my pictures of the build, but it works, freezer compartment gets frozen pretty good. BTW, please check your fridge power cable if it's an older fridge, my 110V cable was deteriorated inside and dangerous, while looking good on outside - see my build for more info. It should run long time on propane, for sure, its flame is even smaller than a pilot light in my trailer furnace.
I probably already said here that this project was started as a self challenge to proof the concept for this kind of design, and not without setbacks I made it work, in a garage... now need to test it on the road and outside in the elements. So my plan is to make it livable, but not completely refined. If I can get it a nice looking inside then it would be a bonus, but that is not really my main goal now. Just want it to be finished to the level of my family
be able to enjoy it. So yes, it is almost done, just some windows, electrical, interior foam covering in front and sides, and then fairing and paint... It indeed does feel good when I am looking at old postings and see where I started and how much work was done to get where I am now. It's been a long project. Thanks again Nodrog for your kind words of support!