Camper Trailer Modifications

[iandvl]

My original post about the acquisition of my camping trailer is here: viewtopic.php?f=29&t=1680

I thought I'd start a new thread in this section, as this is the build and modification section... And this is where I shall post my builds and modifications for the trailer...

As I specified in my original post, the priority for me at the moment is the electrickery. I will be chucking a battery system in at some point when I have dosh lying around. Ultimately, I want everything to run off 12V. Shall install a battery in the nose cone with a dual battery system so that I can charge it from the brad harrison on my towbar whilst driving. In addition to this, I'll be putting a 220V caravan "power inlet" plug so that I can also charge the battery from a dedicated 220V charger also installed in the nose cone. And the standard semi-water-proof caravan multiplug thing. As per the ones in the pictures. The only difference is that the multiplug-thing I got is also black... I bought these connections from Lynnwood caravans a while ago, but things have been absolutely chaos the last couple of weeks and I've not got around to doing a further thing since then...

The inlet has bolt holes so that it bolts securely to the bodywork. The multiplug thing will be installed on the side of the trailer above the wheel. What annoys me about the multiplug thing a little is that it has no very definitely positive way of being attaching and I don't want to rely totally on "good luck and glue" for it to stay in place.

So the first "build" item has been a bracket I welded up yesterday. This fits around the multiplug from the inside of the trailer and the multiplug will be bolted to it at the back. When installed, the bracket will be inside the body-work and pull the lip of the multiplug against the outside of the body. Hopefully creating a very proper fit...

I don't have a photograph of the bracket currently. The last coat of paint was still drying this morning and I did not want to get my hands dirty on the way in to office. But I'll post some photographs when I can.

[jakeslouw]

Nice Ian. My only advice is to split the 230v and 12v patch panels from each other. Don't mix voltages in a DB or patch panel.........and as you know, more fuses are better..........

[Mad Manny]

You don't need 220v outlets.
I have them.
Never use them.

[iandvl]

You don't need 220v outlets.
I have them.
Never use them.

I don't need 220V - except for charging the 12V battery. The teenagers will however also be camping with us occasionally. So I will need them. High-capacity cellphone chargers and hairdryers don't work well on 12V. And there is no way I would be able to force two teenage girls to forgo such frivolous luxuries.

[iandvl]

Nice Ian. My only advice is to split the 230v and 12v patch panels from each other. Don't mix voltages in a DB or patch panel.........and as you know, more fuses are better..........

This is the plan.

[HenriSteyn]

We have camped for 15 years. On my My first trailer I did many modifications, and the multiplug was one of the first electrickery items fitted. It definitely served its purpose many times, especially on long stays, and long trips. It is a wise choice.

[iandvl]

Paint is dry. A few photos of the bracket. I should have followed Manny's advise and done more grinding... But it works, and it will be out of view when installed.

Sadly, I'll only have a chance to fit everything next weekend. Maarnouwat.

[Saxj]

You don't need 220v outlets.
I have them.
Never use them.

I don't need 220V - except for charging the 12V battery. The teenagers will however also be camping with us occasionally. So I will need them. High-capacity cellphone chargers and hairdryers don't work well on 12V. And there is no way I would be able to force two teenage girls to forgo such frivolous luxuries.

I have a "Samsung super fast dual charger" a bit pricy, but it has a 15w and a 45w port, so charges stuff in a hurry.

[Erin]

My 130 had both 12 volt and 220 volt inputs. I installed a plug socket for each, and then a multiplug, which I could just plug into the 12 volt or 220 volt plug socket. The 220 volt socket could be fed from an external source (caravan plug type input, or from an inverter installed in the cab. The 12 volt socket was fed by the auxiliary batteries, or by solar via a solar controller. The auxiliary batteries could also be isolated from the cranking battery via a manual override switch, which also allowed to link them when winching etc.

As I type this, it sounds a lot more complicated than it was.

Of course, plugging the mutliplug into the wrong socket could result in the loss of quite a lot of smoke, so everything was very clearly labelled.

[Bugger]

So how did you find your first outing with the Teailer to YEF 2022

[iandvl]

We really enjoyed the trip. Only the second time I've set up the tent, and originally got confused on which poles go where, but once I'd figured that out (and made notes about it so that I don't make that mistake again), it was perfect. The tent did not leak at all and withstood all the wind too.

I'd originally thought it was possibly a little overkill, as it was only Liana and myself, and we could probably have coped fine with the RTT and awning. However, considering the rain and wind, I'm very happy we took the camper.

I cracked a joke with Rechard yesterday morning saying that with our first trip with the camper, we'd really been exposed to unpleasant elements. Rain. Wind. Manny...

Now that we've done the inaugural trip, we've worked out how we're going to do the kitchen, and lights and similar. So proper building of these items can begin as time and money allows....

[iandvl]

Feeling brave over the weekend, I decided to cut the holes for the inlet and plug thingies. I've also partially completed wiring of the 220V electrics, but don't have photos of that yet and I've not finished yet as I forgot to get a 20mm hole cutter.

I've opted for placing the inlet on the right hand side of the nose cone. It sort of makes the most sense as the battery will live here one day when I get one.

The 3-outlet plugs are on the right hand side over the wheel arch. The reason for this is that this is the side where the tent opens up - which makes it nice and convenient. Also, since the trailer top tent is mounted slightly offset to the right-hand-side, this provides additional cover for both the inlet and the multi plug.

I'll document the 220V wiring when that job is done and I have photographs.

The marks are just grindings from where I did the cutting. I took the photographs before cleaning everything.

[iandvl]

I spent some time over the weekend wrapping up the 220V electrics. After a chat with a sparky friend of mine (who also has a caravan park - albeit on that is wired properly), I opted to install a second earth leakage unit as well. Don't really want the "bakwerk" to get live should there be a short one day. There is an earth strap / peg that bolts onto the side of the nose cone (I don't have a photo of this) and 220V is all in conduit. The chassis earth can be seen in one of the photos. I'd also not reattached the cover of the 220V inlet when I took the pictures, but that has been done subsequently.

Whilst cutting holes, I also cut holes for the separate conduit which will be for the 12V bit one day when I get around to that.

In short, I've got the three plugs on the right hand side of the trailer for use inside the tent. I've got a double plug at the back for the fridge and a double plug in the nose cone for when I get around to putting in a 12V battery and installing a charger. The double plugs are overkill, but this is that I had at home at the time.

[Mad Manny]

Please get to the 12volt side of the installation.
220volt is for Glampers who take airfryers and hair dryers on a camp trip....

[iandvl]

Apologies - I have been deathly quiet on the interwebs for a few weeks. I've been on leave, and considering the nonsense last year, I decided to switch off the laptop and not use the phone very much. This was helped on a little by the fact that I camped at Klein Kariba for a week with family where reception is not fantastic.

Prior to the trip, I discovered one issue with my installation. The 220V electrical inlet was just bolted on and did not have a backing plate. So I gathered there was a bit of water ingress when I washed the grindings off. This was easily solved. I designed a backing plate for the thing, and did a relatively quick 3D print in ABS. This bolts on behind the power inlet on the inside of the nose cone, and allowed me to seal it properly with silicon.

After our camp at the YEF at Lekwena, Liana had also gathered how she wanted the kitchen set up, but there was one issue. The table she wanted to use for her kitchen (it has several shelves and such things) was marginally shorter than the two-burner gas stove. So this was also solved using a quick design and 3D print. Sadly, my black ABS filament was depleted just before the last "foot", so three of the feet are black and one grey. These clip onto the sides of the table top, and have sockets for the feet of the gas stove. It works fantastically. Rock solid.

Anyways, the camp was awesome. The teenagers loved it. We went ziplining and quad biking and whilst everyone went to the pool I sat and ironed out some of the shortcomings of my upcoming Namibian trip.

We drove back on Sunday the 8th. This trip was hell. Apart from the traffic (about a 2km queue for the Carousel plaza), Liana's father's Audi was overheating all the time. Not very lekker doing 40km/h in the emergency lane on the N1 when the road is that busy. Eventually I had one of the party drive ahead to drop his trailer off at home so that he could come back and tow the Audi's trailer back as it seemed as if the vehicle kept overheating under load.

We exited the N1 at the Murrayhill offramp so that we could take the quieter old Pta<->Bela-Bela road back to Pretoria. We made it as far as the Bon Accord Spar at which point Derrick re-appeared with his Pajero. He towed the Audi's trailer back, but the Audi did not make it home. It's over-heating shennanigans started again about a km down the road from the Bon Accord Spar. We put it on a roll-back at a filling station near Wonderboom airport. I'm still waiting to hear what is actually wrong but I suspect a blown head gasket. I could not confirm as the silly vehicle does not have a dipstick, but there seemed to be water in the oil when I tried to check it through the oil filler cap. In any case - what should have been a 90-odd minute drive back to Pretoria turned into a 5 hour ordeal.

Anyways, back at work again. And so my normal sarcastic and snide comments on this forum shall be more regular again...