Thread: almost finished camper

Hi Frostyblue, looking good. Feel free to tell us more about the build when you have the time. Cheers, 130man.

looks cool, care to share whats inside the box? maybe a bit of a run down on the specs.

Leroy

thanks guys, It all started with an aluminium ute tray, the chassis was built using 50x100x3mm rhs and drawbar 75x50x3mm rhs, fully mig welded, all new 1000kg axle, 2000kg springs and new 6 stud hubs, alloy 16" rims, I used the outriggers from the tray and was bolted and welded on, every 6mm gusset that is welded to the chassis is bolted to the tray with 13mm bolts and nyloc nuts, every bolt on the trailer has been replaced with nyloc nuts, the frame of the cabinet is 20x20x2mm rhs and also mig welded, 13mm booga rod was put thru the uprights on each corner and bolted thru the tray, because the rod is inside the rhs it looks neat and tidy, the rod is also put thru plate so it cant be pulled thru the ally tray, all walls are 10mm marine grade ply with the sides being 17mm due to cutting out the doors as 1 piece and leaving a nice and strong 50mm surround, all corners and edges have been sealed and covered with ally stripping, tail lights are led waterproof with an extra led strip light (red) that I made up, It has full length led white strip lights for the interior lights, the tray inside was covered in high density matting (blue) to quieten it down a bit, it has 2 roll out awnings 1 on each side, 2.5 x 2.0 mt, on top of those I have 2x 1 each side 1300 lumen led floodies, 60 litre water tank with electric pump to a swing out water tap (like your laundry), 4 jerry cans, 2 deep cycle batts in front box, homemade switch panel with 4 waterproof switches, 2 cig lighter sockets, 2 extra toggle switches and a 600 watt inverter, car radio, 120 watt solar panel on roof with waterproof regulator, inside is 650 watt 4 stroke genny, chainsaw, portable BBQ, toilet,shower, slide out kitchen bench, 50 litre waeco, at rear end is a new rooftop tent sitting on 2 welded rails running full length of cabinet , the roof top tent will fold out over rear end so I can utilise the annex that came with it, 2 slide out outriggers to stabilise and stop trailer from tipping when the tent is folded out, offroad coupling just about covers it, I have lots of photo's during build up if you would like to see them, underlined items not yet fitted, wiring up the switch panel is next as all the wiring has been run, blue colour was done to kinda mimic the D2.
cheers

ken

Finished fitting 1 batt, 1 to go, should fit really neat as they are so thin, also finished switchboard, all wired up, nearly finished, cant wait, some piccies

Cheers

Just about done, extra batt to go in, checkerpalte on rear wall to stop twin spares from rubbing thru paint.

cheers

ken

Hi Ken and all that work looks great but your battery compartment appears to be a totally sealed enclosure.

You must NEVER house lead acid battery in a non vented compartment.

The way you have the batteries hermetically separated from the rest of the electricals is brilliant but all lead acid batteries can gas and having them in a sealed enclosure is setting up for a situation where an explosion can occur.

Thanks for the comments, they are not lead acid they are 100 amp deep cycle gel and according to Fiamm specs they are totally sealed and have optimized internal gas recombination?, spill proof and non hazardous, as you are in this type of industry your expertise and comments would be welcome

cheers

ken

Hi Ken and sorry mate but someone has been giving you grossly misleading info, and I bet it was the company who sold you the battery.

Your battery is a lead acid battery and it is NOT totally sealed.

The labelling of lead acid batteries stating they are sealed, means they are sealed against SPILLAGE of electrolyte, not against gassing.

Many of the battery manufacturers are now changing their labelling from “SEALED” to SPILL PROOF because of the misleading advice many battery sellers give their customers.

All lead acid batteries can gas and all lead acid batteries have some way of allowing that gas to escape to avoid a pressure build-up in the battery.

Causing a battery to gas can be done from something pretty simple.

You only need to hit a bump a bit hard and you can cause an internal short in any battery and this will then cause that battery to gas while being charged, whether it is by Solar, an alternator or a battery charger.

Note, the most common cause of battery gassing, and this applies to batteries in good condition, not just one with some form of fault, is overcharging caused by faulty battery chargers and one of the best known brands of battery chargers is renown for suffering from runaway charge voltages.

Once gas escapes from a battery it must be vented to atmosphere otherwise, in a small enclosure like that, it can easily explode.

So again, Ken, you really need to vent that box, both at the top and bottom, to cause a natural air flow and reduce the chance of any gas build-up.