My scratch built expedition style trailer build up thread

[REZARF]

I worked with this really strange stuff all day...





























































Wood!

Man, I love working with wood compared to metal, it shapes SO nicely and with no resistance!

I cut out a piece of 1/4" plywood to span the gap over the batteries and trailer wiring junction box. I will attach the panel with a great industrial Velcro that I have had great success with before and it will work in this application with NO problems. The whole thing only ways a couple of pounds. This way I can hide all the wires underneath the panel and not have a sloppy looking rats nest of wire.

I added a few strips of ripped down 1x to make little stiffeners for the panel so it wouldn't flex over time and it will add a little strength for placing things on this little shelf.

[REZARF]

Can you believe I didn't even need a grinder to make these round overs!

I decided to use some left over marine vinyl from another project to cover the panel and dress it up a bit. I simply spray both surfaces to be bonded (the vinyl and the plywood) and wait about a minute for the adhesive to set up to a nice tack... then slap them together. Then flop it over and make sure you cut out enough material in each corner for the material not to overlap on itself too much.

[REZARF]

Next bust out a heat gun and hit one edge at a time and get the vinyl nice and hot (it will stretch much easier this way) and if you watch really close you can just see the vinyl start to get glossy before it starts to burn and right before it burns you grab the edge and fold it over for a nice clean seam and crips lines.

[REZARF]

Next all you have to do is dive in the center of your cut out with a razor and slice along the sides to open up your hole for the panel. It doesn't need to look good, it will all be covered by the overlap of the fuse panel. Then I screwed the fuse panel into the plywood for a final fit... and fit it did!

[REZARF]

Here it is all fit up and installed. Next I need to run a small harness to turn on all the different goodies on the trailer here is how things will get used...

Aux 12v Outlets
ARB Freezer
LEDs for lighting under the tent (mood lighting)
Water Pump
Interior Tent Lights
Spare (maybe an inverter)

I can order labels through blue sea very inexpensively and I plan on doing so for each of the labels above, it adds a really nice custom look.

[REZARF]

I installed the Marinco Shore Power outlet too, and here is a shot of the yet to be installed 2 bank battery charger that loads, floats and maintaines the batteries all on it own. I hope it works out well, but then with an extension cord I can have limitless power at any RV site or hotel plug in. You can use the batteries while being charged which is pretty sweet.

[spressomon]

Nice job! Are your Energizer batteries sealed/ventless? The only reason I ask is I had a similar looking battery, in my aux battery spot in my hundy, outgas/vent this summer and it was a mess.

[OlympiaFJ60]

Originally Posted by REZARF

I installed the Marinco Shore Power outlet too, and here is a shot of the yet to be installed 2 bank battery charger that loads, floats and maintaines the batteries all on it own. I hope it works out well, but then with an extension cord I can have limitless power at any RV site or hotel plug in. You can use the batteries while being charged which is pretty sweet.

That's that charger I ended up using too. It is great. Very solid and like you said, you can use the power from the batteries while it charges. Plug it in, leave a light or two on and the batteries are still fully charged by the time you get up the next morning and get everything else packed back in the trailer.

Looking good as always.

[REZARF]

Originally Posted by spressomon

Nice job! Are your Energizer batteries sealed/ventless? The only reason I ask is I had a similar looking battery, in my aux battery spot in my hundy, outgas/vent this summer and it was a mess.

Yes, they are the cheapo style, but the are working great, we don't see that much in the way of washboard roads out here and the box is vented so we are going to give it a go. A little mantience and they are good to go.

Drew

[titanpat57]

As always, I'm not dissappointed by the attentionn to detail and the quality of work, very nice. If and when the batteries do crap out, possibly consider running two 6v golf cart batteries (I think in series) and it will give you around 225-250 A/H , and also takes much longer to run down. Of course if there's power it all becomes a non-issue.


On a side note Drew, with all your skilz I'm surprized you don't have a wind turbine pop out of the rack, or at least some fold out solar panels to keep that puppy charged...lol

[boctor12]

Originally Posted by OlympiaFJ60

That's that charger I ended up using too. It is great. Very solid and like you said, you can use the power from the batteries while it charges. Plug it in, leave a light or two on and the batteries are still fully charged by the time you get up the next morning and get everything else packed back in the trailer.

Looking good as always.

I have the Guest 6 amp charger and the instructions say not to use any accessories while charging. I have tried to charge while using accessories and the lights in front start flashing. Is the 10 amp guest charger different? Drew, I am thinking about getting the same switch panel you used. One question, why did you decided to mount it inside your box, as opposed to externally on your front box, since it is all waterproof?

[REZARF]

Originally Posted by boctor12

I have the Guest 6 amp charger and the instructions say not to use any accessories while charging. I have tried to charge while using accessories and the lights in front start flashing. Is the 10 amp guest charger different? Drew, I am thinking about getting the same switch panel you used. One question, why did you decided to mount it inside your box, as opposed to externally on your front box, since it is all waterproof?

My manual says I can run and charge at the same time.

As for mounting outside, I thought it could be a bit too easy to tamper with for passers by. I thought about it but I like the security of being able to close and lock the electircal panel. Also, there could be a case where road junk could fly up and activate the switches in travel... no biggie and probably very unlikely, but I decided this place was easy accessable and out of the elements leaving me a nice place to route everything to in a central location without taking up anymore space.

Drew

[Degnol]

Originally Posted by REZARF

My manual says I can run and charge at the same time.

As for mounting outside, I thought it could be a bit too easy to tamper with for passers by.
Drew

Oh, Ye of little faith...................Rev

Ed

[KY854RUN]

Originally Posted by spressomon

Nice job! Are your Energizer batteries sealed/ventless? The only reason I ask is I had a similar looking battery, in my aux battery spot in my hundy, outgas/vent this summer and it was a mess.

Originally Posted by REZARF

Yes, they are the cheapo style, but the are working great, we don't see that much in the way of washboard roads out here and the box is vented so we are going to give it a go. A little mantience and they are good to go.

Drew

Hi Drew,

I'm blown away by the quality of your work and the details that you have put into this trailer. But, this issue with the batteries is going to bite you in the back side. Lead acid batteries out gas when they charge and the out gassing carries a small amount of the acid vapor with it. This acid vapor will condense on the inside of you electrical box, corrode the electrics and eat up that beautiful paint job inside of the box. I have seen this kind of damage inside of battery compartments before, even when the compartment was vented. The engine compartment of a vehicle has forced ventilation from the engine's cooling fan and we still get damage caused by the acid vapor of the battery out gassing. I do know that Auto Zone does sell lead acid batteries that have provisions for venting the battery out side of the vehicle. The battery in my niece's Volvo had died and I helped her replace it. It was located in the trunk and had a vent hose running to the under side of the car. The replacement from Auto Zone had an adapter hose that hooked right up to the vent line in the trunk. So, you could make this modification later when you are repairing the damage from the acid vapor.

[spressomon]

Originally Posted by KY854RUN

Hi Drew,

I'm blown away by the quality of your work and the details that you have put into this trailer. But, this issue with the batteries is going to bite you in the back side. Lead acid batteries out gas when they charge and the out gassing carries a small amount of the acid vapor with it. This acid vapor will condense on the inside of you electrical box, corrode the electrics and eat up that beautiful paint job inside of the box. I have seen this kind of damage inside of battery compartments before, even when the compartment was vented. The engine compartment of a vehicle has forced ventilation from the engine's cooling fan and we still get damage caused by the acid vapor of the battery out gassing. I do know that Auto Zone does sell lead acid batteries that have provisions for venting the battery out side of the vehicle. The battery in my niece's Volvo had died and I helped her replace it. It was located in the trunk and had a vent hose running to the under side of the car. The replacement from Auto Zone had an adapter hose that hooked right up to the vent line in the trunk. So, you could make this modification later when you are repairing the damage from the acid vapor.

This is exactly the issue I just experienced in my LC engine bay (obviously not a sealed compartment...but there would have been more damage if it would have been a sealed compartment).

FYI: Lifeline, DEKA, Odyssey have models that do not purge/vent gasses outside the box. They feature an internal expansion chamber for vapor control. I've been using Lifeline's in my Horizon box for 2+ years completely without issue.

If you think items in the trailer nose box won't get shaken: As a test just put a full soda pop/beer bottle in there on your next run and right after stopping open it up and see what happens...

[sseaman]

dang drew, of course what else is expected

[Mendocino]

Nice addition Drew.

[titanpat57]

Okay..so it's a "potential" problem. Maybe go get some of the RV white rubber roof material and contact cement it to the inside of the box, white silicone all seams and put the batteries back. Acid won't bother pure rubber. That was certainly thoughtful of you guys to bring it to his attention..you sure wouldn't want to see the gas cause any damage to all that work.

[REZARF]

This is a calculated risk. I do have a budget and big dollar batteries don't fit into it for now. The interior of the box is epoxy powder coat and it is vented. I could cry about all the little places I have cut a few corners and replace things with "the best" available, but right now, finding enough coin to fill up my gas tank just to use the trailer is getting harder.

I am not acting like the batteries in there are the best, but the fit the bill just fine. I can build 3 or 4 front boxes for the price of one high capacity Deka or similar battery. I haven't even used the trailer "off road" yet so I am not too worried about the shake rattle and roll.

Thanks for the heads up, I will keep an eye on it. You guys care more about this thing than I do! just kidding.

[spressomon]

Originally Posted by REZARF

This is a calculated risk. I do have a budget and big dollar batteries don't fit into it for now. The interior of the box is epoxy powder coat and it is vented. I could cry about all the little places I have cut a few corners and replace things with "the best" available, but right now, finding enough coin to fill up my gas tank just to use the trailer is getting harder.

I am not acting like the batteries in there are the best, but the fit the bill just fine. I can build 3 or 4 front boxes for the price of one high capacity Deka or similar battery. I haven't even used the trailer "off road" yet so I am not too worried about the shake rattle and roll.

Thanks for the heads up, I will keep an eye on it. You guys care more about this thing than I do! just kidding.

Fair enough! Sorry I didn't mean to sound battery elitist or otherwise. You've done a great trailer project Drew all the way from original design to some pretty amazing fabbing. Not to mention all the extra time and effort of documenting the process with such detail for the benefit of many including myself! That in and of itself had to add several days if not more to your project timeline!

[REZARF]

No worries mate!

I just don't want you guys to loose sleep when I am surely not loosing any!

[OlympiaFJ60]

Oh, I think I ended up getting the 20 amp (10/10) charger. Me things it be way over kill now. Added to the "things I would do differently" list.

[crawler]

nice build drew. you put alot of detail into it. what was the total cost? i am building my owne now and am making a rough estimated cost of everything i need and i would like to compare to your acual price.