First “big trip” done about a week ago. Found out that it leaks a little around the galley hatch, working on fixing that. I installed a pair of 6″ x 24″ ceramic tiles (Lowe’s) to act as an insulator underneath the Coleman propane stove. Used the 24″ length tiles so as to have a place to set a hot pan down and not damage the wood surface. This works well. I found out, however, that just “fiddles” are not enough to hold them in place. I have since added some small plywood catches (overhanging attached with screws) to prevent them from coming loose. Installed battery operated LED lights on the inside of the galley hatch. Could have used 12V LED lights but then I would have had wires to deal with.
I went down some pretty rough roads – yup, got it muddy.
Installed a little 12V heater, too. Draws 20 amps so it would drain the battery very fast if left on. Learned that this is quite nice .. 50F is clammy to sit and read, inside the camper, but I can go from 50F to 75F in about 5 minutes of heater run time as the cabin volume is quite small. With the headliner insulation it drops to 65F in about 30 minutes at 50F outside temp. Another 2-3 minutes running the heater, repeat as needed. Was on battery for two days and while fairly low, still had plenty of juice to run the lights, radio, fans, and computer/monitor, drawing from the 75 amp/hour battery.
