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mike–i saw that one on amazon but says out of stock, ships in 1-2 months.
after loading the gallery of “mushroom vent” pictures on google, i found the same brand on eBay, sold by a supplier in “RV country” in northern indiana, for $12/free shipping.
here’s the link if you want to buy one for your battery box.
ken
My son has my teardrop right now so I can’t verify, but what I would try is another layer of the 3/4″ wide foam gasket that you applied to the underside of the galley hatch. Any local hardware store stocks a variety of different widths and thicknesses of Frost King gasket material. I would start with a package the same width as supplied by CLC (3/4″?) but 3/16 or 5/16 instead of 7/16 thickness. I would start at the area you think is leaking and apply a layer of the gasket a couple feet either side of the suspected leak location. The frost king material is very compressible so I doubt that the additional thickness in one area would negatively impact the areas that don’t have a double layer.
you’ve probably attached your shell to the trailer already, but if not, friz pioneered the idea of using hockey pucks as vibration dampers. several of us have done the same. they are the right thickness in my case to elevate the shell above some of the bolts that hold the trailer together.
colinspeer–a few of us have used the Northern Tools and Equipment 5×8 aluminum trailer. when i bought mine, IIRC it was around 550 with free shipping. it is aluminum, and quite rugged. being aluminum, it is easy to cut to the proper length and drill holes into for mounting the camper.
it comes with 12″ wheels, but i decided i wanted 15″ wheels for better bearing life. i also bought a set of what what northern tools calls “high-speed hubs”, and since the 15″ tires are wider than the 12’s i needed to get a set of 1 1/4 inch wheel spacers. we have a trailer mfr nearby and i was able to get a pair of fenders with enclosed backs for $40. i’m very pleased with the results.
obviously the 15″ wheels make the camper higher. the galley is at about 41″, which for me is a comfortable height. also the bottom of the door openings are about chair-height which makes it very easy to enter and exit.
i glued on the stiffener before i cut the doors. the door fit pretty well, but despite the fact that i was fighting the idea of using the strap contraption, i decided to give in and try it. on another thread, someone suggested using a “backpack clip” so you can properly tension the strap, since it would be virtually impossible to get the right tension on it while you’re trying to screw it in under the fairleads. i did that, and after tweaking the tension, the door fits perfectly. you might try that before cutting into your stiffener. i also had to use a few washers under the bottom fairlead on both doors to get the bottom rod inboard enough so it wouldn’t hit on the bottom of the door sill. finally, i thought the 7/16 thick foam gasket supplied by CLC was too thick, so i used 5/16 thick from the hardware store.
if you have an REI nearby, they stock replacement clips for $3.50. they are displayed where the backpacks are.
friz–when i got home yesterday i was able to better assess what happened. When the shell was upside down, we needed to apply thickened epoxy to the outboard edges of the galley flat (where it mates with the “legs” of the bulkhead) and the bottom edge of the galley flat where it mates with the edge of the bulkhead. then we needed to weight down the assembly while the joint cured.
either i didn’t properly weight the joint, or too much epoxy squeezed out, because the failure was of the epoxy, not the delamination of the galley flat plywood (except one area of a couple of inches length, where the epoxy joint held but after the rest of the joint failed that couple of inches of solid joint gave way). just about the entire length of the span between the legs gave way. also the fillet on the galley side cleanly broke away from the galley flat.
my initial inclination was to re-glue the joint, then use a 1×1 hardwood stiffener the length of the opening screwed through the galley flat and into the bulkhead. i realize the bulkhead is only 3/8″, and i’d need to get the screws in the center of the plywood and perfectly plumb so they don’t protrude out of one or the other side of the bulkhead.
dillon at CLC recommends re-gluing the joint (i’ll also reglue the fillet that broke loose), then as you said you were planning on doing, apply fiberglass tape to the cabin side of the joint. while i still like the idea of lots of screws, i’ll do what he recommends. i thought i should also put a strip of fiberglass tape on the galley side of the joint.
in addition, i’ll fashion some kind of floor in the galley module which will help distribute the battery weight, plus i need to install a hold-down which i hadn’t thought about.
any thoughts/recommendations?
thanks
ps–i know you have a northern tool trailer. i bought the same one. i just got back from a 600-mile round trip to see the eclipse. the aluminum piece that holds the tail lights into the “boxes” stress cracked on both sides of one taillight, and it fell out. it cracked on one side of the other tail light. just a heads-up for you. i bought 2 6×6 1-wide 1/4 inch thick corner braces at the hardware store and will replace the pretty diamond plate aluminum boxes.
adam–interesting battery holder. i’m a little skeptical about hanging 60 lb. from the 3/8 plywood bulkhead. sure wish CLC had chosen 3/4″ instead!
commcoy–a 50 amp hr battery should be fine. the only significant draw other than the vent fan is my computer, for watching baseball games. it has a 65 watt charger, but probably doesn’t draw nearly that much except when charging the battery or spinning the DVD.
where have you seen one for $350?
I know that friz mounted a sealed AGM battery under the cabin. The battery he used looks like it has a rugged case. But then I’d need to decide where to drill holes to get power from the charger to the battery and from the battery to the distribution panel.
In retrospect, you could glass the outside corner between the forward edge of the flat and the forward face of the bulkhead, before the shelf is installed. I don’t want to do that now. What I will do is re-glue (thickened epoxy) the joint then screw a 1×1 piece of hardwood onto the bottom edge of the flat into tie bulkhead. I’ll use #6x 2″ screws and work hard to make sure the pilot hole is in the center of the 3/8 bulkhead plywood, and dip the screws in epoxy before screwing them in. The bulkhead plywood won’t hold the screws real well, but if I use enough screws it should hold. I will also put some kind of floor in the galley module which should help to spread the force of the vibration from the 60# battery. As a belt and suspenders approach I will use a scissor jack in the cabin to support the joint during transport.
it’s possible that the joint failed because I wasn’t able to properly weight the galley flat when I initially glued it to the bulkhead (when it was still upside down).
I did fine with gallon freezer bags when doing large quantities of fillet material, and quart freezer bags for smaller quantities. I tried sandwich bags for small quantities, but the seams split and I had a mess.
First I put the supplied heat shrink on all the hinge machine screws (remember to put a washer on the bolt before putting the heat shrink on), then eyeballed the right size drill bit which I determined to be 13/64. I used a center punch to dent the center of the original hole then drilled the new hole. I used a couple of clamps and wide masking tape to hold the door in the proper location. Then I opened up the mortises in both the shell and the doors and dry-fit the assembled 3-piece hinge assembly. I used a 1/4″ chisel to gently enlarge the mortises until the hinges fit in just the right location. Then I followed the instructions to glue them in place with thickened epoxy. When I nestled then into exactly the right spot I used a couple of drops of CA to hold all 3 hinge pieces firmly in place overnight. Then I applied the fillets. I used the same method for the galley hatch hinges. As the manual suggests, I let the fillets cure for about an hour then wet my rubber glove index finger with alcohol and nicely smoothed the fillets. Came out very nice.
Several of the mortises were filled with thickened epoxy from previous steps. I used a 3/8″ Forster bit to remove most of the material, then used a 1/4″ chisel to clean up the corners. I used a flat file to clean up the inside corners of the tenons on the hinge pieces, which due to fiberglass and epoxy were no longer at 90 degrees.
Friz–are your panels on the camper, or do you set them up at your campground? If the former, could you pls post a picture? Thanks!
That looks interesting. I think I’d want to build a stand for it then duct it to/from the teardrop.
Do campgrounds restrict the hours for a/c operation for noise control?
