Battery Bank Usage
So far, we been doing really well on the battery system. We have 3 85 amp hour deep cycle marine batteries. Which means we have an effective battery bank of 127.5 amp hours. For those doing the math, it is 85 x 3 batteries x 50% = 127.5. The 50% is how low you can discharge the deep cycle battery without hurting it.
So far running the everything we haven't had an issue with bank. We had a similar bank in the 5th Wheel and it didn't seem to do as well. We believe there must of been a drain somewhere in the system.
Right now we seem to be able to run the following (within reason of course) without issue.
- Toaster Oven at Night for a about 40 min
- TV for 4 or 5 hours at night
- Speaker system at night
- Mini Fridge and Freezer Overnight.
- Laptops during the day.
- Hair Dryer during the day.
In General during the day, with the panels, we pretty much have no issues. We have to see how that changes when it is really cloudy. It is primarily at night that worries us, but so far even with some usage, we have only had to use the generator once and that's when used the crockpot and toaster oven for a long time. Even then I'm wondering if we could have made it through the night without running it.
Conversion Photos
The new trailer
The new trailer before we started doing anything.
Various layouts we were trying. The hard part was figuring out where the dump tanks we able to go, so we could build around it.
Tanks and platforms above the tanks installed.
Toilet Installed
This is battery storage area under the bed. Yes it has plenty of ventilation for the deep cycle batteries. This is also where the inverter and charge controller for the solar panels will go.
Yes it is a mess but we are putting the power center near the bed. The shelf above the power center will be where our small TV goes.
Close up of the power center install.
Some of the outlets we installed in the trailer.
The 45 Gallon Fresh Water tank. It cramed in near the bed but suprisely, we don't have an issue with it.
A friend helped up make the frame of the bed, the battery will go there and there is storage under the bed as well for boxes and stuff.
Early look at the kitchen area. You can see the sink installed nearby.
Buiding some walls for the shower and toilet area.
Shower and Sink area.
Some Views of the semi-finished inside of the Trailer.
This is a custom box we built. Inside is the propane tank and the water hoses. On the outside we have the shore power connection and and outside outlet.
Lack of Updates on the Conversion
I really meant to do a whole slew of pages on the conversion process. Needless to say, doing the actual conversion took priority over doing a series of blog entries.
In the end, we did get the following hooked up into the conversion.
- 45 Gallon Fresh Water Tank
- 40 Gallon Black Tank
- 40 Gallon Grey Tank
- 20lbs Propane Tank
- 2 Burner Stove Top
- On Demand Hotwater Camping Shower
- On Demand Water Pump
- 800 Watts of Solar Panels
- 3 Deep Cycle Batteries for Storage
- 2000 Watt Inverter
- Power Center
- 5 AC Outlets (1 outside/ 4 inside)
- Shore Power Connector
- Inside Toilet
- Mini Fridge (We also have a small freezer in the truck bed)
Overall, we did pretty good. It should be noted that we also have two 55 gallon water barrels in the truck that we only fill to about 50 each. So when filled between the RV and the truck, we have about 140 gallons of fresh water (which should be enough for about two weeks).
Finishing Up Storage Platforms
I have to say the waste tanks have been the hardest to work on so far. We have a lot of starts and stops. Some of it had to do with that flooring we are going to put down. Or which sink we were going to put in.
In that later case, we needed to figure out which sink we were going to do so we could finally decided where the drain hole was going to be. That was not easy by any stretch of the imagination. We look at many different options and finally decided on one that was cheap and allowed us to install it the way we wanted to install it. Once we knew that, we were ready to go on the drain pipe hole.
That in turn finally allowed us to screw all the boards down and put sidewalls on the platforms.
Now the fun is installing the flooring. Which will allow is to put the sink in, put the shower pan down, and install the toilet. Not to mention the vent pipes for everything.
Waste Storage Install Part 3
What a week. We have not gotten as far as I would have liked on things but where the tanks were going to go kept moving around as we were undecided about where other things were going to go.
Finally after we decided to not use a few things were going to recycle, we come to a design that we initially had. We finally got some screws in some wood and we got started. The hardest part has been getting the tank box built in a way the wife approves of. Now that we have that done, I think we can make progress. I know the wife fears will will not have this done until next year. I don't think we can survive the current RV that long. I know I do not want to.