sabconsulting
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Re: Compressor Refrigerator opt 12v?
I've been running a Waeco 140 litre compressor fridge for 6 years. When the compressor runs (cuts in and out depending upon the temperature) it draws about 6 amps (at 12v). In hot weather it could be running 50% of the time or more. When I have hookup the fridge will switch to running off mains instead to preserve battery power. I love that I can park anywhere however unlevel and the fridge will work. E.g. when hiking in the hills and mountains we rarely find anywhere level to park. I also like that it gets down to temperature quickly and stays there. I have 160w of solar and 1 AGM battery. I recommend at least 2 batteries. With a compress fridge you need to keep an eye on your battery usage. Remember that even with solar your fridge is draining your battery over night or when parked in the shade or on cloudy days since there will be no appreciable power coming from the solar panels. If you want to stay camping in one location for several days without hookup, a generator or plenty of direct sunshine on solar panels, you will need to be pretty careful about monitoring battery state. Other things to consider: Being that it has a compressor we can just about hear ours running over night. It doesn't disturb me, but I am aware of it. Steve.450Views0likes0CommentsRe: Shadow Cruiser Campers Anybody heard anything about them?
Joe417 wrote: sabconsulting has a shadow cruiser. He rebuilt part of it. May be in the library. PM him for more info. Yep - still got the old Shadow Cruiser. I have the short bed hardside one with no bathroom. A 1991 model that has suffered a fair amount of rot causing me to have to re-skin the roof and repair a few other parts of the timber structure. Steve.814Views0likes0CommentsRe: Anyone carry a ladder?
When I carry the kayak I also carry a ladder. It is the light-weight 2-part extending loft ladder (about 6ft extends to about 11ft). I attach it to the camper ladder, and when loading or unloading the kayak from the roof use the ladder to access the roof at the front of the camper. Steve.620Views0likes0CommentsRe: Danger! Tree Limbs!
Damage like that sucks. Ironically I have the advantage that where I live there are tree limbs and other obstructions everywhere - the advantage is you get used to looking out for clearance wherever and whenever you drive - as long as you remember you have the camper on the truck. Steve.620Views0likes0CommentsRe: Trip Report: Across country delivering Sleepy's camper
btggraphix wrote: ...But it appears there has been some sort of international incident, that could precipitate another revolutionary war or something, so evidence is being gathered. If you have any information about this person, please notify the proper red-coated authorities I admit nothing - I was nowhere near this international incident when it occurred, honest, or at least I was not squeezed into the illustrated toilet cubicle - I'm sure it was someone with a bigger beard than me. Check with the guy who came in at the same time to unblock the shower drain - I think it was all his fault. Actually - did he say anything? After walking in on a large man standing astride a toilet, seeming to take a dubious selfie! Steve.827Views0likes0CommentsRe: Trip Report: Across country delivering Sleepy's camper
Thanks for the comments everyone. Sorry the pictures disappeared for a day. I usually resize pictures down to 640x480 for trip reports, but I mistakenly downsized them to 1024x768. Having done that I thought I would just go with it and see how the report looked. The pictures were nice and big, but the portrait format ones needed some scrolling to see the whole picture. Initially the major problem with this size was how long it took for the page to render all the images. Subsequently the size of the images (in Mb) caused the views of the report to trip DropBox's daily limit on the number of Gb downloadable from a free account. Reverting back to 640x480 images seems to have fixed that. A few replies: Cewillis: Chet's Duramax is a 2006. At idle or when coasting or using little throttle it is fine, but at any sort of engine load, e.g. when pulling up a slight slope, then applying just enough throttle to get it to go results in this bang, bang, bang, bang until you lift off the throttle. It sounds like one cylinder. It didn't get any worse over the trip. Chet is pretty much deaf from an industrial accident so he can barely hear it. Dakonthemountain: Thanks Dak - we got home safely. Sleepy: Yes, I kicked myself when I found the blankets in that cabinet when clearing the camper :S Rexlion: Well spotted. I will admonish Sally for misuse of an OHV trail. I mean, we really struggle to find any trails to drive in Britain, so what does Sally do when she finds a good one? Washes her hair in it :B Oldtymeflyer: See my reply to Cal above - I think there is something wrong with that engine, although I imagine it can't be anything too deadly (like a failed bearing) or it wouldn't have made it 4500 miles. Hotrodfords: Thanks for the info on Atomic City. Our route was heading through the north of Idaho, so we probably wouldn't have had a chance to incorporate that visit. I have to be careful and ration the number of facilities like this that we visit in one trip. I could happily jump between hard-hat tours of dams, generating stations, factories, military complexes - you name it. But there are only so many of these facilities I can drag Sally around on one trip before it becomes bad for my health. We've visited White Sands, but the national monument, not the missile range itself and past the Trinity site, but it wasn't open when we were there. 67avion: We loved your piece of the earth, and it wasn't just the mint juleps :) Let us know if you ever make it out to Britain - it would be lovely to meet up again. Skipbee: Many couples don't do anything together, almost living separate lives, so we are really lucky to share interests like this. I hope you get a chance to use your camper again soon, and hope it doesn't need too much of a refit. Jefe: Good to hear from you. 10% off $400. Hmmm, I think I could pass on that offer too. Most of us don't mind putting in a bit of effort to document our hobbies, but if we are spending dollars then we want to spend them on our hobbies, not just posting pictures. Flaxi: Hi Felix - glad you can now see the pictures from Germany. Cheers, Steve.373Views0likes0CommentsRe: Trip Report: Across country delivering Sleepy's camper
I realised my problem was uploading 1024x768 pixel images rather than the 640x480 images I usually use. I've adjusted that now. I received an email from Drop Box indicating I had gone over their daily Gb download limit. So I am hoping that this daily counter will be reset tomorrow resulting in the images being visible again, and with the smaller image sizes we might be OK from then on - fingers crossed. Steve.255Views0likes0Comments
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