mordecai81
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Re: Help/Advice - First time water damage repair
We had a 2011 Mini-Lite. The roof and floors were a lauan-styrofoam-lauan laminated sandwich. I've never heard of a reasonable way to repair that structure once compromised. If the trailer is going to be static I would look at getting what is wet dried out then building a peaked roof over the whole rig.2.8KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Didn't Think Much of These - Screws Under Vinyl Insert Trim
I pulled all that vinyl off, backed the screws half-way out(there are scores of them)sealed the exposed threads with a tiny eternabond strip, tightened screws and reinstalled vinyl. A previous trailer had some delamination from the screws wicking water along the threads so this was my solution. Going on six years on this stored outdoors trailer and so far so good.930Views0likes0CommentsRe: Lithium for dummies: need advice in simple terms
I don't use a monitor, per se. We've had this rig long enough that I've gotten pretty good at estimating the amp/hrs we've used and I keep track of the total amps charged through the solar charger and the cheap monitor I've wired between the stand alone charger and the battery. Kind of a cheesy set-up but it works for me. If there's any doubt I just charge the batt to full in the evening and know I've got enough juice to last for 24 hrs. It's a 125 a/hr batt and the most I've ever used is about 75 a/hrs a day when camping in below freezing weather. I may get ambitious and wire up a Victron but it's not a high priority. With a capable charger and a small battery bank it's feasible to get to full every day and then not have to worry about exactly what your state of charge is.469Views0likes0CommentsRe: Lithium for dummies: need advice in simple terms
I like making things more complicated than they need to be as much as the next guy, but it's actually pretty simple, even with the battery living on the tongue. I set up the heater per the manufacturer's instructions. It keeps the batt above 37 degrees-ish. The solar does it's thing. If I'm short amps in the evening I fire up the genny, charge at 45 amps for between 20-60 minutes and call it a day. Easy peasy. It most likely woulb be more complex at -30c but whose crazy enough to camp at that temp:)468Views0likes0CommentsRe: Lithium for dummies: need advice in simple terms
Our LiFePo4 is in a Century Plastics box with an Ultraheat heating wrap around the batt and then some closed cell foam top and bottom of box. I think the temp sensor allows power from the batt to flow to the wrap when the sensor hits 38F and turns off at 45F. We've been down into the teens overnight and the heater keeps the internal batt temp within that range. The power draw is about 1 amp/hr so you have to budget for that. We've had this system for 3 seasons and it's worked well for us. If you end up with a lithium without an internal heater go to the Ultraheat site and call the number provided. The gentleman was very helpful.308Views0likes0CommentsRe: Lithium for dummies: need advice in simple terms
I went from an 83lb 150 a/h lead acid battery to a 33lb 125 a/h lithium in large part because of the weight. My battery lives on the tongue wrapped in a battery heater wrap that is powered by the battery itself, so I can charge in below freezing temps. There are now many batts with internal heaters that would be an easy solution to low temp charging. Besides the weight savings, the other main reason for us going to lithium was the faster generator charging to full on low solar days. I've cut my genny running time by 2/3 when parked in the shade, which is typical for us on days we aren't traveling. I do have a good stand-alone 60 amp charger with a lithium setting. You can use almost all the available a/h in a lithium. If you don't have a good battery monitor and are just guesstimating the amps in and out you'll have to be conservative and leave a decent buffer on the bottom end to ensure the fridge and furnace keep running through the night.177Views0likes0CommentsRe: Black Tank Odors
We had a similar issue last year with our 4 year old TT. I sniffed around and the stink seemed to be coming from the toilet pedestal. Upon removing the toilet I found that the foam seal that seats into the floor flange had compressed and was not sealing properly. Replaced the foam seal/gasket and took the opportunity to give the nooks and crannies of the whole throne a thorough cleaning. Took care of the problem. I plan on preemptively replacing that seal every few years.433Views0likes0Comments
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