Showing posts with label battery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label battery. Show all posts

Friday, June 13, 2014

Etrailer.com Success Story

I decided to put a hitch on my other vehicle.  It gets considerably better gas mileage than our CRV and I am planning to take it on my first really big road trip out west.  By all reports, it's pretty easy to install.  I'm looking at it as an adventure.

I ordered it and all the wiring I need from etrailer.com.  The whole process was efficient and very pleasant.  I ended up ordering online, but realized I had forgotten a few key pieces, like the tow ball!  So, I needed to call and adjust my order.  The sales staff was incredibly helpful and knowledgeable.  They knew everything about what my vehicle needed.


Because my order was over $99, I earned free shipping, which would have been considerable since the hitch itself was quite heavy and large.  It arrived within a few days with no issues at all!

A few days later, I realized that I needed to come up with a solution for charging my teardrop's battery while on my upcoming road trip.  Most camping facilities in National Parks or Bureau of Land Management/National Forests out west do not have water or electric hook ups available.  So, I was going to need a way to charge the batteries while on the road to each new spot.

I had done a lot of reading on the Teardrops and Tiny Trailers Forum, but being a visual learner, none of those discussion threads really helped me visualize it.  That's when I came upon the Q & A on etrailer.com.  Someone had the same situation and there was an excellent answer posted online.  This seemed like the solution I needed.  It was a battery isolator that cut off the power to the teardrop's battery when the ignition was switched off.  This would ensure that both batteries would not run down when using lights/fan/CPAP machines in the teardrop.

While this solved the charging situation, it did not prevent the teardrop's battery from overcharging.  I'm glad I thought of this because the potential for overcharging could be very possible on long road trips.  That's when the knowledgeable sales staff at etrailer.com came through for me again.  The salesperson queried me about what I was using the isolator for.  He had no idea what a teardrop was, but when I explained how the power system in the teardrop worked, he came up with a Tekonsha Two Stage 12 Volt DC Battery Charger.





This charger will prevent overcharging and is small enough to neatly fit into my electrical cabinet.  I plan to mount it opposite the AC charger I have for when I'm plugged into shore power.  I'm amazed at how 'complicated' the 'super simple' electrical system I've built has become.  Another way to do this would be to add a solar panel to the teardrop.  A solar panel would allow a trickle charge to the battery but would require a whole lot of other devices along the way; maybe at some point that will become a viable option.  For now, I think my system will work well.


Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Crazy Weather

Today was an interesting day.  Mostly cloudy, warnings of lots of bad weather, but so far only a teeny bit of rain.  I got a lot done today.

I built the slide out shelf for a laptop and/or to place iPhones or other I suppose even a fan, heater or whatever.  

Once I had figured out the dimensions of the shelf and how I was going to mount it, I needed to figure out how I was going to get the 12 volt power ports into the cabin.  I decided not to put them behind the slide out shelf because it would have been really hard to get to them.  Instead, I put them to the right of the shelf.


Here is the housing for the power ports.

Drawer slides in place and open.

Pull out shelf installed.

Open.


Power ports installed.

The next big project was to get all the cables cleaned up and organized.  This is the battery strap which holds the battery in its place.  


My simple on/off switch for the battery.  Simply twist it to the right to turn it on; twist it to the left to turn it off.


Everything tidied up and strapped down.  I installed the fire extinguisher too.


Doors and all hardware installed.


The galley is complete.  The only thing I need to do is install the sliders on the cooler slide out tray.  Still need to fix and install the reading lights again and install all the additional insulation.  Not too much more inside work left though.