Camping Equipment for Our Trucks

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In the past I've mainly bought preassembled kits from Adventure Medical.

Another option if you want to support a local guy...there's a former paramedic in Greenville, SC who now has a business selling medical kits and supplies. He also does trauma training classes and has a YouTube channel. No affiliation; I ran across him on YT and looked at the website, but I haven't bought any products yet. His company is called Medical Gear Outfitters.

Medical Gear Outfitters, LLC
 
weejub said:
RVs are ROUGH to move around :\
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Nothing wrong with a little AC. Lol took my portable AC unit and put it in the trailer to test it out. didn't leave it on long as it got cold quick. Once the RTT is on top with the annex room installed I am curious to see how it does.

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recognizing that it's not permanent as installed, Im going to suggest that the hot air output of the AC unit not be pumped out directly under the trailer like you have it.
 
I noticed yesterday when i was getting my battery system operational, my aircon ran slower, less efficient, and a bit noisier (electrical noise) while on the 1500 watt modified sine inverter vs straight ac current. I assume a pure sine would theorhetically be closer in waveform than a modified. I was a lil bummed that it took down my batteries quicker than i anticipated....or i was running them a lot longer than i thought i was....ya kinda lose track of time doin stuff
 
jamesurq said:
recognizing that it's not permanent as installed, Im going to suggest that the hot air output of the AC unit not be pumped out directly under the trailer like you have it.
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Oh yeah. That was literally just tossed in there for test fitting purposes.
 
stevezero said:
I noticed yesterday when i was getting my battery system operational, my aircon ran slower, less efficient, and a bit noisier (electrical noise) while on the 1500 watt modified sine inverter vs straight ac current. I assume a pure sine would theorhetically be closer in waveform than a modified. I was a lil bummed that it took down my batteries quicker than i anticipated....or i was running them a lot longer than i thought i was....ya kinda lose track of time doin stuff
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@Rice for the Physics of it, but it looks complicated to me.


This is very timely as Heather (my Wife) has approved an @jamesurq -like trailer build.

THE key issue is AC and 12v. This sounds like a tough issue as we just experienced a lot of issues with a 39-foot RV not working well on a poor 30 amp system, let alone a really small trailer.

Some bad press on the issue w/ refrid-based AC:

The (Almost) Fantasy of Solar-Powered RV Air Conditioning

Are the evaporator types all you need in a hot day?
 
My teardrop was one of the first rustic trail models to use an inexpensive haier 5000 btu window unit for ac. they had been using an expensive climate rite external unit, but many have failed in a very short period of time.

If you can come to the triad dinner tomorrow night, I'll have it there
 
stevezero said:
My teardrop was one of the first rustic trail models to use an inexpensive haier 5000 btu window unit for ac. they had been using an expensive climate rite external unit, but many have failed in a very short period of time.

If you can come to the triad dinner tomorrow night, I'll have it there
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I'd love to, but Tue nights are my "work until Midnight night." I can't complain - don't have to work much on Fridays :)



Found this which pretty much explains things, too, from @jamesurq trailer build from @Rice

Rice said:
You're baiting me, right?

. . .

Anywho, If they are Group 31's that puts you close to about 200 AH of storage, of which you "might" be able to get 80% out, so about 160 AH of "real" storage.

Invertors are fairly efficient ..... generally above 90%. Let's call it 90%. That leaves 144 AH of usable storage.

At 650 watts (i.e. nothing else running) the A/C will pull 54 AMPS DC!!!

One catch ... pulling large amounts of current from batteries, even lead-acids, also causes the battery to be a source of loss (internal resistance) and it loses capability.

All told I'd give it a little more than 2 hours.
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From the perspective of the smaller trailer, youre only in there to sleep and the door is closed, and you set a reasonable temp on the AC thermostat - it doesn't have to work that hard. The fan will still pull some watts when it's not running the compressor but don't forget to factor in the tiny 50 sqft space.

That said. Congrats on the trailer approval! Insulate it well and this will be less of an issue.
 
jamesurq said:
That said. Congrats on the trailer approval! Insulate it well and this will be less of an issue.
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It looks like crap....... oh wait you said insulate not insult.... my bad. Carry on
 
i've been keeping my eye on this product for a few years just in case I ever built a trailer.

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Um, that's a 220v split system. It's massive.

You'd only have a small hole in the front, but you'd also have this massive compressor mounted somewhere as well as a 220V generator whirring away...
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You've seen my setup for AC. Portable, removable (for the fall/winter camping) and cheap. Not as cheap as Steve's Haier is - but I didn't have a good spot for the butt end of an AC to stick out...
 
jamesurq said:
Um, that's a 220v split system. It's massive.

You'd only have a small hole in the front, but you'd also have this massive compressor mounted somewhere as well as a 220V generator whirring away...
View attachment 1495400

You've seen my setup for AC. Portable, removable (for the fall/winter camping) and cheap. Not as cheap as Steve's Haier is - but I didn't have a good spot for the butt end of an AC to stick out...
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I'm considering anything right now as I am not spending money right now :) so it is easy to talk like this. Assume I will get an indoor like yours, James, but it is fun to research everything.

From what I have read, the Mitsubishi split is probably the most efficient 6K BTU out there and the outside unit should fit easily on the tongue of the trailer.

50A RV service is becoming pretty common at electric hook-ups for state parks and 220V is possible with it.

Tying my truck with 100Ah + 100W solar to the trailer with 400+Ah of batteries and 400w solar may be enough to power it for just enough time to cool off or warm up when no electric is available. We may simply ONLY camp in nice conditions without power and save our summer/winter camping for only spots with 50A service available. I will also have my 50L ARB fridge and other stuff on this system.




Pic of a different 9K BTU outside split on a tiny camper:



More info that I have been reading:

Anyone actually install mini split heat pump on camper? - Page 2 - Expedition Portal

The 50-amp 120/240-volt 3 pole 4

Using a mini split a/c heat pump on your unit - Fiberglass RV
 
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