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Ran D. St. Clair · 11-07-2010, 08:47 PM

Odds and Ends

The Stealth Camper is essentially done, but there is still a seemingly endless list of tweaks, fixes, and improvements.

The fuel filler for the main diesel tank wasn’t working very well. I had to hold the filler nozzle at a particular angle and run it at about ½ speed or less in order to avoid backwash that would cause it to trip off. That and it would drip fuel the entire time I was filling the tank. I dug into it and found the tail piece that was screwed onto the tank was only put on finger tight. Also, the angles of the tail piece, rubber tubing, and the filler opening didn’t line up very well. I tightened up the tail piece with some Teflon tape on the threads, and reworked the angles on the tubing to make it as straight as I could. Now I can fill the tank at full speed and it doesn’t drip, even when filled to the very top.

My telescoping ladder arrived, so I worked out a mounting system under the truck between the frame rails. It’s nothing fancy, Just a wooden cross piece between the frame rails with a couple of notches to match the ladder legs. I added a bungee to hold it down and keep it from extending. I could add a security cable and a lock but I don’t think it will be necessary. It is pretty well hidden up under there.

I ordered Plexiglass acrylic mirrors from

http://www.eplastics.com/Plast...d?range=49%2C66%2C66

They cut the sheet to the exact sizes I needed and even sent me the scrap. I didn’t need any special edge treatments, but they would have done that too if I had asked them.

I was impressed by the quality of the mirror finish. It is every bit as good as a glass mirror. I assume it will scratch, so I don’t want to scrub it with a paper towel, but it really works well.

I mirrored the entire front of my refrigerator including both the refrigerator door, freezer door, and the valance on top that hides the cooling coils. Now I have a full length mirror, with gaps, for dressing. As a side benefit, it will reflect the heat from my radiant heater so it doesn’t warm up my refrigerator. I also mirrored the side of one of my kitchen cabinets for a convenient head and shoulders view. Finally, I mirrored a portion of the microwave door over the sink. I could have mirrored the entire door, but I wanted to be able to look inside the microwave when it is running to see when things are boiling over. The small mirror on the microwave is perfect for shaving when leaning over the sink.

I finally got around to adding the small AC exhaust fans in the bunk beds. The intent is that they will gather heat from the TV, DVD, and most importantly from the PS3, and push it out of the bunk and into the adjoining closet area. This was more necessary in my original design that was based on my son’s PS3. More recently I noticed that Sony has come out with a “PS3 Slim” that uses about half the power (and makes about half the heat) of the original PS3. I decided it was worthwhile to go ahead and buy one, so now my son has a PS3 in the truck, and one in the house as well. The kid is spoiled rotten I tell you.

I also added the last of my task lights under the shelf over the computer monitor. Sometimes the computer desk is just a writing or eating desk and some additional light is needed. My tiny little truck now has 7 task lights in addition to the two main overhead lights. None of them is overly bright, but they all put the light exactly where you need it and draw very little current.

Speaking of current, my electrical system monitor has been invaluable for learning what is drawing power and when. As I live with the truck I am finding many more dependencies in terms of what can be used at the same time than I had anticipated. For example, my laser printer sometimes draws very short bursts of high current. If the microwave happens to be on at the same time then the inverter shuts down. I always knew the microwave was a power hog, but it turns out that the coffee maker draws almost as much current, but fortunately only for a short time. The waffle iron also draws quite a bit. It’s almost scary to see the charger dumping 90 amps into the batteries at the same time as the inverter is sucking almost 200A out of the batteries, meaning the inverter is really drawing almost 290A. That 3,480 watts, and the inverter (rated at 2,500W) won’t support it for long. If I didn’t have the current monitoring system I wouldn’t know what was happening until the inverter shut down.

All of these heavy loads are short term so the total energy consumption is modest. I stealth camped near work for a couple of nights, meaning I never went home. (You have to really love a 1 block commute.) It’s hard to know how much battery capacity I had left. I know the no load battery voltage was still about 12.7V, and when I fired up the generator it was almost immediately in voltage control mode, meaning the current was starting to taper down below the 90A maximum. One half hour later the charge current was down to about 40A so it was probably 90% to 95% of full charge. I connected the truck and house batteries together for the drive home. 45 minutes of stop and go traffic later everything was fully charged again.

I am living in the Stealth Camper almost full time now. Even as I sit here typing, I am warm, and a nice warm bed is beckoning. The S&B (Sticks and Bricks house) is becoming my weekend home. I am mostly moved out except for the garage. I still have a lot of sorting, and storing, and selling, and just plain trashing of stuff to do, but most of what I need to live my daily life is in the truck now. If I combine the truck with the facilities available at work there is almost nothing left that I really need. A washer and dryer would be nice, but that is what Laundromats are for.

Oh, and one last thing. I just put new front tires on the truck. The old ones were worn on the outside edges, presumably due to hard cornering before I bought the truck. The sidewalls were also starting to crack just from age. Little by little, the stealth camper is becoming long term life and road worthy…

To be continued.

11-07-2010, 08:47 PM	#248
Ran D. St. Clair Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 212	Odds and Ends The Stealth Camper is essentially done, but there is still a seemingly endless list of tweaks, fixes, and improvements. The fuel filler for the main diesel tank wasn’t working very well. I had to hold the filler nozzle at a particular angle and run it at about ½ speed or less in order to avoid backwash that would cause it to trip off. That and it would drip fuel the entire time I was filling the tank. I dug into it and found the tail piece that was screwed onto the tank was only put on finger tight. Also, the angles of the tail piece, rubber tubing, and the filler opening didn’t line up very well. I tightened up the tail piece with some Teflon tape on the threads, and reworked the angles on the tubing to make it as straight as I could. Now I can fill the tank at full speed and it doesn’t drip, even when filled to the very top. My telescoping ladder arrived, so I worked out a mounting system under the truck between the frame rails. It’s nothing fancy, Just a wooden cross piece between the frame rails with a couple of notches to match the ladder legs. I added a bungee to hold it down and keep it from extending. I could add a security cable and a lock but I don’t think it will be necessary. It is pretty well hidden up under there. I ordered Plexiglass acrylic mirrors from http://www.eplastics.com/Plast...d?range=49%2C66%2C66 They cut the sheet to the exact sizes I needed and even sent me the scrap. I didn’t need any special edge treatments, but they would have done that too if I had asked them. I was impressed by the quality of the mirror finish. It is every bit as good as a glass mirror. I assume it will scratch, so I don’t want to scrub it with a paper towel, but it really works well. I mirrored the entire front of my refrigerator including both the refrigerator door, freezer door, and the valance on top that hides the cooling coils. Now I have a full length mirror, with gaps, for dressing. As a side benefit, it will reflect the heat from my radiant heater so it doesn’t warm up my refrigerator. I also mirrored the side of one of my kitchen cabinets for a convenient head and shoulders view. Finally, I mirrored a portion of the microwave door over the sink. I could have mirrored the entire door, but I wanted to be able to look inside the microwave when it is running to see when things are boiling over. The small mirror on the microwave is perfect for shaving when leaning over the sink. I finally got around to adding the small AC exhaust fans in the bunk beds. The intent is that they will gather heat from the TV, DVD, and most importantly from the PS3, and push it out of the bunk and into the adjoining closet area. This was more necessary in my original design that was based on my son’s PS3. More recently I noticed that Sony has come out with a “PS3 Slim” that uses about half the power (and makes about half the heat) of the original PS3. I decided it was worthwhile to go ahead and buy one, so now my son has a PS3 in the truck, and one in the house as well. The kid is spoiled rotten I tell you. I also added the last of my task lights under the shelf over the computer monitor. Sometimes the computer desk is just a writing or eating desk and some additional light is needed. My tiny little truck now has 7 task lights in addition to the two main overhead lights. None of them is overly bright, but they all put the light exactly where you need it and draw very little current. Speaking of current, my electrical system monitor has been invaluable for learning what is drawing power and when. As I live with the truck I am finding many more dependencies in terms of what can be used at the same time than I had anticipated. For example, my laser printer sometimes draws very short bursts of high current. If the microwave happens to be on at the same time then the inverter shuts down. I always knew the microwave was a power hog, but it turns out that the coffee maker draws almost as much current, but fortunately only for a short time. The waffle iron also draws quite a bit. It’s almost scary to see the charger dumping 90 amps into the batteries at the same time as the inverter is sucking almost 200A out of the batteries, meaning the inverter is really drawing almost 290A. That 3,480 watts, and the inverter (rated at 2,500W) won’t support it for long. If I didn’t have the current monitoring system I wouldn’t know what was happening until the inverter shut down. All of these heavy loads are short term so the total energy consumption is modest. I stealth camped near work for a couple of nights, meaning I never went home. (You have to really love a 1 block commute.) It’s hard to know how much battery capacity I had left. I know the no load battery voltage was still about 12.7V, and when I fired up the generator it was almost immediately in voltage control mode, meaning the current was starting to taper down below the 90A maximum. One half hour later the charge current was down to about 40A so it was probably 90% to 95% of full charge. I connected the truck and house batteries together for the drive home. 45 minutes of stop and go traffic later everything was fully charged again. I am living in the Stealth Camper almost full time now. Even as I sit here typing, I am warm, and a nice warm bed is beckoning. The S&B (Sticks and Bricks house) is becoming my weekend home. I am mostly moved out except for the garage. I still have a lot of sorting, and storing, and selling, and just plain trashing of stuff to do, but most of what I need to live my daily life is in the truck now. If I combine the truck with the facilities available at work there is almost nothing left that I really need. A washer and dryer would be nice, but that is what Laundromats are for. Oh, and one last thing. I just put new front tires on the truck. The old ones were worn on the outside edges, presumably due to hard cornering before I bought the truck. The sidewalls were also starting to crack just from age. Little by little, the stealth camper is becoming long term life and road worthy… To be continued.