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here’s a thread from the tiny teardrop trailer forum that I stumbled on a few weeks ago re: running an AC off battery overnight.
http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=66150&sid=1042cc9fc9833f03a0e1b361b8b64a2f
the person who posted it calculates that it can be done. he plans to use a 5000 btu AC which I agree with restonthewind would be much larger than needed, but maybe a smaller one can’t be found.
the spec sheet for this 2500 btu ducted unit:
says the power draw when cooling is 480 watts. so this is twice the power consumption that the author of the post I linked to assumed ( he assumed 500watts for 5000btu/hr) so 2500 btu/hr might deplete the battery overnight. you could always wire two deep-cycle batteries in parallel which would double the available power, and still be at 12volts.
a couple of tips re: installing the cabin shelf.
1). notice that the rear corners of the shelf will interfere with the epoxy fillet on the outside walls. I didn’t realize that. had I realized, I would have cut a small triangle off the corners and if necessary those cuts could be hidden with a small fillet.
2). install the shelf before you install the door sills. due to the angle of the side walls, you need to have the shelf pointing toward the floor after you position it near the slots, ant then you can then rotate it upwards to its correct orientation. I learned that the front corners of the shelf/fiddle interferes with the door sill. I had to slide the shelf in with the front edge facing the roof, which makes for a much tighter fit due to the slant of the walls. I had to whack it with a rubber mallet, and snapped off one of the rear tabs (which the epoxy fillet will hide).
experts may have another (better!) suggestion, but here’s mine:
the white material is the very fine epoxy sanding dust nestled into low spots in the fiberglass cloth. I had that in a few places. I assumed that to get rid of the white spots I would have to sand almost all the way through the ‘glass which I didn’t want to do. so I used a stiff toothbrush soaked in denatured alcohol and was able to dislodge almost all the sanding dust from the pits.
ken
I am going to wait until my TD is finished (except for varnishing) and then experiment with positioning on the trailer before I decide on whether to shorten the frame or not. I think the issue will be balance/tongue weight. I will have my battery inside the galley module, which puts its weight well aft of the axle. I’ll see how much weight would need to be on the front of the trailer frame where I would build the box to get the right tongue weight.
pinking shears would have been great! you should add that tip to the “Bob’s tips and tricks” thread. also for folks whose mothers didn’t sew, you might describe what pinking shears are!
I don’t mean to hijack the thread, but yours is the second picture I’ve seen where a light is mounted in the hole in the door sill. is that what the hole is for? (stupid question, I know!)
thanks
I’m probably beating this to death, but… (haha)
if you happen to have an outside outlet on your house that’s within 50 ft of your garage interior, you could use a 50 ft 12-gauge extension cord. I just looked at my 50 ft 12-ga cord and it’s labeled for 15 amps, which should be sufficient for a 5000 btu a/c. chances are a 100ft 12-ga cord would also be labeled for 15 amps but I don’t have one here to check.
disclaimer: my TD is my first fiberglass/epoxy experience so take my comments with a grain of salt.
if you have any “blisters”, where there is an air bubble under the fiberglass, you definitely need to cut the blisters out and sand smooth the edges of the fiberglass. then lay in a patch and epoxy it. as for the cloudiness, I’m not enough of an expert to know whether that is just a cosmetic problem or whether it is a structural integrity problem.
what I would do is send an email to info@clcboats.com and you will get an answer within a day.
I have a stand-alone workshop, and I started my project when it was still early spring. It has a heater, and a window air conditioner. as spring turned to summer I’ve empirically determined that the sweet spot for working time with the MAS epoxy system is low 70’s.
if you have a window in your garage, I’d strongly advise that you buy a 5000-7000 BTU window air conditioner. yes, it’s another $150, but remembering that you’ve invested $2-3K on the kit and trailer, this is a small additional investment that will save you lots of grief if you can get your garage temp down to 75 or lower.
at the very least, store your epoxy and hardener jugs in the coolest part of your house, and mix it there as well. if you start with mixed epoxy that is at 70 degrees you’ll buy a little more time even if your garage is 85.
these are great tips. hopefully new owners will find this forum before they start. I didn’t find it till several weeks into my build.
I thought I had aligned #3 and #4 panels until I prepared to cut the doors out. one side was perfect; the other side was off about 1/4″. it will be OK, but there will be a bigger gap than desired between the door and frame. someone on this forum said “if you want to build furniture, build furniture”. a good reminder for us anal-retentives.
thanks to Stevie for the advice on making smooth fillets. just in time to make “pretty” fillets on the door hinges.
here’s a semi-hijack.
I read another thread some time ago about a suggestion to glue the stiffener on before cutting out the doors. yes, lots of in-and-out thru the transom while getting the chamfer on the stiffener just right. then I contemplated how to fasten the stiffener to the door while the epoxy cured.
I cut two pieces of scrap, about 2″ wide, long enough to span the length of the stiffener. I drilled 2 1/16 inch holes in either end, located so the holes would line up with the CNC cutouts for the door cut lines. then using cleats on the outside, I used some steel 18 ga wire (thinking it would pull up tighter than copper would due to the strength of steel). from the inside of the camper, I threaded the wire thru the two holes in each end of each stiffener, poked them through the CNC slots, then got out and threaded the protruding wire thru 2 holes in each cleats, and twisted it tight. it cinched tightly enough to squeeze the extra epoxy out of the joint as it should. I have since cut the doors out, have installed the window sills, but haven’t yet fit the doors. hopefully the doors have held the proper angle shape after cutting. we’ll see!
