We will be getting back to our electrical build next post, but I did want to mention an issue that cropped up this week during the storm that I should have seen coming and totally missed: the heat loss from our hollow-core door.
I used a narrow interior closet doorjamb (and door) for the trailer. Interior doors and closet doors in particular are not insulated anything like exterior doors, which we discovered during the storm. Ice built up in the lower jam area from moisture accumulating on the inside face of the door and made opening the door difficult, not to mention sucking heat from the front of the trailer.
To address this problem, I drilled a few small holes and foamed the door voids with low pressure canned foam for doors and windows, then refinished the interior door.
I have considered putting a layer of foam over the exterior door, but at this point the advantages of a clean, professional looking door seem more important than improved insulation.
True stealth depends on the cleanest, most professional-looking build possible. Once again, we want invisibility gained from fitting the viewer's expectations. No one notices a work trailer, so we want to look like one as much as possible. If you have the cash to start with a $6000 cargo trailer, excellent. But if you are low-balling the build, you need to shape your effort to the expectation.
Another minor problem we discovered was various tiny cracks around the door frame. With the door closed and us stuck inside all day, we had time to notice a few things... like you could see thin slivers of daylight in a few places where the outer frame was screwed into the actual doorjamb structure. My solution was to dampen a piece of TP with Gorilla Glue, double it over and pack it into the crack with a scraper blade. Once the glue activated and began foaming up, it filled the cracks perfectly and even strengthened the door frame.
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Friday, January 22, 2016
Crapstorm of the year on the way
Whelp, the snows started and the wind's picking up.
Will let y'all know how the Monocoque handles 60mph gusts and two feet of snow....
Update: 23 inches of snow, 55 mph gusts. The trailer build came through like a champ. We chose to shelter in a commercial parking lot for this, parked near buildings that would help us with the hard gusts of wind expected. The tow vehicle was under a 10 foot drift thanks to my poor choice of a "sheltered" parking spot, but other than having to shovel out that insanity and the occasional slight rocking of the trailer during the worst gusts, we rode it out with no issues at all. We both woke up at three am to perfect silence and the moon shining through tree branches and into our skylight. Romantic and beautiful.
Last year this time we were freezing, crammed almost full-time into the bedroom of a crappy Philadelphia two story walk-up in K&A. The rodent invasion we were trying to prevent once it got cold, the poor insulation, the terrible drafts, the horrible gas heater... it was hard to look forward to fixing up the house amid the constant insanity of the seller's family butting into everything and sabotaging our efforts at every turn.
Our monthly gas bills for the winter there were more than we paid for our boondocking trailer.
This year we are warm and happy in our fully paid-off stealth tiny house, and our stress is a tiny fraction of what we had. Weather bad? Worried about getting to work after the storm? Move closer! My monthly heating bill is averaging a little over $22 in propane. My only regret is that we didn't get started on this sooner.
Will let y'all know how the Monocoque handles 60mph gusts and two feet of snow....
Update: 23 inches of snow, 55 mph gusts. The trailer build came through like a champ. We chose to shelter in a commercial parking lot for this, parked near buildings that would help us with the hard gusts of wind expected. The tow vehicle was under a 10 foot drift thanks to my poor choice of a "sheltered" parking spot, but other than having to shovel out that insanity and the occasional slight rocking of the trailer during the worst gusts, we rode it out with no issues at all. We both woke up at three am to perfect silence and the moon shining through tree branches and into our skylight. Romantic and beautiful.
Last year this time we were freezing, crammed almost full-time into the bedroom of a crappy Philadelphia two story walk-up in K&A. The rodent invasion we were trying to prevent once it got cold, the poor insulation, the terrible drafts, the horrible gas heater... it was hard to look forward to fixing up the house amid the constant insanity of the seller's family butting into everything and sabotaging our efforts at every turn.
Our monthly gas bills for the winter there were more than we paid for our boondocking trailer.
This year we are warm and happy in our fully paid-off stealth tiny house, and our stress is a tiny fraction of what we had. Weather bad? Worried about getting to work after the storm? Move closer! My monthly heating bill is averaging a little over $22 in propane. My only regret is that we didn't get started on this sooner.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Solar panel mount, wiring and distribution panel design: juicing your trailer
Ok, we have a shell on our trailer. We have a skylight, so we can see inside in the daytime. But what about about after it gets dark? We need food storage, we need lighting, we need to be able to charge goodies. Time to mount the solar panels and build our distro panels.
You can just go out and buy a full solar panel setup at Harbor Freight, or from a big box store.
But a little research will quickly show you the excess costs and reduced power of buying these kits.
The HF kit uses (3) 15-watt panels, and costs $130 on sale. You get some wire, a crappy 5-amp solar controller, (2) florescent (huh?) lights, and that's about it. No battery, no inverter, nada. 45 watts isn't much.
Lowe's or Home Depot will sell you bigger kits, but for $500-900 you are getting at best a poor or minimal system compared to what you can build yourself for not much more.
Let's see how I approached this.
I bought (2)100-watt, 12v panels w/ 30y warranty from Grape Solar from Home Depot for $100 each on sale. I went on Ebay and found a 1500 watt true sine wave inverter for $75, a 30-amp solar controller for $20 and a bunch of MC-4 connectors to wire it all up with for around $20. I salvaged some 6g jumper cables for heavy wiring the 12v components, and 10g wire for the rest. A sealed, 4D, 12-volt, 200AH industrial-grade Acid Glass Mat (AGM) battery was $370, but it's HUGE, vibration-proof, nearly indestructible and a steal at that price. One last Ebay purchase was a handful of LED automotive strip-style 12v, 0.33A running lights for $3 ea.
I located a recycled 12v blade-fused trailer distro panel for a few bucks and bought a 2 circuit 120v panel box at the ReStore for $10. So for around $700 I have a 200Watt, 200 Amp-Hour Solar Panel system. The system is robust, durable, and puts out way more juice than anything I could have bought for the same price. I can run a computer, microwave, or anything else I want on the true sine 120v circuits, and light the box with the high output 12v LEDs while using way less power than the HF kit's CFL lights would have used.
Step one is to mount the Panels. I strongly recommend putting them on top of the Ladder rack even though they are way more visible there. Any shade on your panels will reduce panel output by 50% or more- for example, the shade from the ladder rack uprights will kill output. Likewise, overheating of the panels massively reduces panel power output, so raising them up off the roof to allow airflow underneath is very helpful.
In our case I bolted each of them to (2) superstrut stringers, that were in turn bolted to the top of our ladder rack (also made of salvaged superstrut). This made for a VERY strong structure, compared to the flimsy-ass solar panels, which are mostly glass, aluminum angle sides and epoxy.
The next step is to figure out where you want the Battery box to go, and how you are going to route your Solar Panel wiring to it. Keeping the wires short and fat is helpful; this is a low-voltage current.
I used jumper cables here, and fused the panels before running the leads into the solar controller as a safety measure.
Your next set of wires from the Controller pass through another set of fuses and go to the battery. Once again, you want to use heavy-gauge wire and good fuses. A 4D 200AH AGM is three times the size of a car battery and this particular model is capable of delivering 2000 Amps for 5 seconds, which is terrifying. It can easily cook any stupid people who short it out.
Next you want to place your remaining electrical components near to the battery, but solidly attached, so that wire runs are kept short. These wires run to the 'load' output on the Controller, except for the inverter, which connects directly to the battery, and from the inverter to the 120v panel. 12v DC power does not transmit nearly as well as 120v AC, and needs much heaver wire to boot. You need to mount both the 12v and 120v panels, and run your wires.
The 12v LED lights get mounted and wired up with a switch, and then run to the 12v distro panel.
I used a cut-down steel sheetrock c-channel as a reflector/heat sink, glued and screwed onto one edge of the ceiling. Then I placed the LEDs in there to cast light across the ceiling as indirect lighting and concealed them in a cove. Placing the lighting above eye level and behind a cove means good lighting without blinding glare. The same cove has additional space deeper in the open wedge that can conceal the down line from the solar panels.
Copyright © 2016
Tags:Solar Power, Solar power setup, Wiring trailer interior, Boondocking, Solar tiny house, Solar small house, Gypsy camping, Living simply, Vandwelling, Workamping, Autocaravana, Solar stealth Trailer, Casa Rodante, Fulltime RVer, Stealth Camping, Dry Camping, Shunpiker, Dispersed Camping, Wallydocking, Allstays, Shunpiking, Wohnwagen, Housetruckers, Fulltiming, Véhicule Récréatif, Travellers, Wild camping, Housecamping, Gypsy faire, Peace convoy, Mobile Eco-communalism, New Age Traveler, Tiny house ninja, On the road, Ninja camping, Christian camping, Small is beautiful, DiY, Do it yourself, Handmade housing, Kiwi Housetrucker, Wallydocker, Handmade trailer, Monocoque construction, Appropriate Technology, Cloth over Foam, Harbor Freight Trailer Build, DiY Camping.
You can just go out and buy a full solar panel setup at Harbor Freight, or from a big box store.
But a little research will quickly show you the excess costs and reduced power of buying these kits.
The HF kit uses (3) 15-watt panels, and costs $130 on sale. You get some wire, a crappy 5-amp solar controller, (2) florescent (huh?) lights, and that's about it. No battery, no inverter, nada. 45 watts isn't much.
Lowe's or Home Depot will sell you bigger kits, but for $500-900 you are getting at best a poor or minimal system compared to what you can build yourself for not much more.
Let's see how I approached this.
I bought (2)100-watt, 12v panels w/ 30y warranty from Grape Solar from Home Depot for $100 each on sale. I went on Ebay and found a 1500 watt true sine wave inverter for $75, a 30-amp solar controller for $20 and a bunch of MC-4 connectors to wire it all up with for around $20. I salvaged some 6g jumper cables for heavy wiring the 12v components, and 10g wire for the rest. A sealed, 4D, 12-volt, 200AH industrial-grade Acid Glass Mat (AGM) battery was $370, but it's HUGE, vibration-proof, nearly indestructible and a steal at that price. One last Ebay purchase was a handful of LED automotive strip-style 12v, 0.33A running lights for $3 ea.
I located a recycled 12v blade-fused trailer distro panel for a few bucks and bought a 2 circuit 120v panel box at the ReStore for $10. So for around $700 I have a 200Watt, 200 Amp-Hour Solar Panel system. The system is robust, durable, and puts out way more juice than anything I could have bought for the same price. I can run a computer, microwave, or anything else I want on the true sine 120v circuits, and light the box with the high output 12v LEDs while using way less power than the HF kit's CFL lights would have used.
Step one is to mount the Panels. I strongly recommend putting them on top of the Ladder rack even though they are way more visible there. Any shade on your panels will reduce panel output by 50% or more- for example, the shade from the ladder rack uprights will kill output. Likewise, overheating of the panels massively reduces panel power output, so raising them up off the roof to allow airflow underneath is very helpful.
In our case I bolted each of them to (2) superstrut stringers, that were in turn bolted to the top of our ladder rack (also made of salvaged superstrut). This made for a VERY strong structure, compared to the flimsy-ass solar panels, which are mostly glass, aluminum angle sides and epoxy.
The next step is to figure out where you want the Battery box to go, and how you are going to route your Solar Panel wiring to it. Keeping the wires short and fat is helpful; this is a low-voltage current.
I used jumper cables here, and fused the panels before running the leads into the solar controller as a safety measure.
Your next set of wires from the Controller pass through another set of fuses and go to the battery. Once again, you want to use heavy-gauge wire and good fuses. A 4D 200AH AGM is three times the size of a car battery and this particular model is capable of delivering 2000 Amps for 5 seconds, which is terrifying. It can easily cook any stupid people who short it out.
Next you want to place your remaining electrical components near to the battery, but solidly attached, so that wire runs are kept short. These wires run to the 'load' output on the Controller, except for the inverter, which connects directly to the battery, and from the inverter to the 120v panel. 12v DC power does not transmit nearly as well as 120v AC, and needs much heaver wire to boot. You need to mount both the 12v and 120v panels, and run your wires.
The 12v LED lights get mounted and wired up with a switch, and then run to the 12v distro panel.
I used a cut-down steel sheetrock c-channel as a reflector/heat sink, glued and screwed onto one edge of the ceiling. Then I placed the LEDs in there to cast light across the ceiling as indirect lighting and concealed them in a cove. Placing the lighting above eye level and behind a cove means good lighting without blinding glare. The same cove has additional space deeper in the open wedge that can conceal the down line from the solar panels.
Copyright © 2016
Tags:Solar Power, Solar power setup, Wiring trailer interior, Boondocking, Solar tiny house, Solar small house, Gypsy camping, Living simply, Vandwelling, Workamping, Autocaravana, Solar stealth Trailer, Casa Rodante, Fulltime RVer, Stealth Camping, Dry Camping, Shunpiker, Dispersed Camping, Wallydocking, Allstays, Shunpiking, Wohnwagen, Housetruckers, Fulltiming, Véhicule Récréatif, Travellers, Wild camping, Housecamping, Gypsy faire, Peace convoy, Mobile Eco-communalism, New Age Traveler, Tiny house ninja, On the road, Ninja camping, Christian camping, Small is beautiful, DiY, Do it yourself, Handmade housing, Kiwi Housetrucker, Wallydocker, Handmade trailer, Monocoque construction, Appropriate Technology, Cloth over Foam, Harbor Freight Trailer Build, DiY Camping.
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Trailer and Propane safety: protecting yourself and your boondocking trailer
We still have a lot to discuss about completing our monocoque stealth trailer build, but before we move on, I want to spend a minute discussing propane safety.
This past week, a lot of you probably read about the bikini barista who died in a tiny trailer propane fire in Washington. The primary cause was reported to be storing her propane tank inside the trailer.
According to the US gov statistics, there is at least one trailer fire involving propane every single day. Most of these are fatal, because they are intense and in a very closed space. The heat, flame, and toxic gasses involved in a propane fire in such close quarters are extremely lethal. Many of them involve improper storage of the propane bottle, like that of the barista we were discussing above. Obviously, a girl in a bikini didn't want to go outside in winter to deal with changing a propane tank- it's frikkin' cold, right? This same situation happens in duck blinds, ice-fishing trailers, and many other enclosed spaces that people live in, like a tiny house or stealth trailer situation. The tank's more secure inside, it's less noticeable, it's cold as hell outside...surely those are the biggest concerns when you are ninja camping....
Actually, federal law prohibits storing propane cylinders above 1 pound in any living space, and the main reason is fire safety and explosion risk. A police officer or trooper stopping you and glancing inside such a trailer can and will cite you on the spot and refuse to allow you to even move the trailer until that cylinder is removed from inside the trailer box.
No doubt, our deceased barista thought she was being safer (and warmer!) keeping her tanks indoors, but the fact is, enclosed spaces allow explosive gasses to build up quickly when changing tanks or lighting a burner. Small leaks (especially in rubber hoses like the Little/Big Buddy's lines) are all too common. An explosion can result. And if a tank or gas line catches on fire, the blowtorch-like jet of flame is all too likely to block your immediate exit from the trailer, even as it ignites everything in the box.
The tanks are far safer stored outside, no matter how annoying it is to swap them. If security is a concern, lock them up or chain them. A pass-through panel in a wall may allow you to turn on the exterior tank from inside or to reach the tank with a wrench, enhancing your safety. Be sure that your propane tank storage position is correct in terms of venting gas in an emergency.
But no matter how tempting it is to keep storing the tanks inside, rethink your design at the first opportunity and move them out.
Your life depends on it.
Tags: Propane safety, Propane tank, Heater safety, Tiny trailer safety, Tiny house safety, Stealth trailer safety, Boondocking trailer safety.
This past week, a lot of you probably read about the bikini barista who died in a tiny trailer propane fire in Washington. The primary cause was reported to be storing her propane tank inside the trailer.
According to the US gov statistics, there is at least one trailer fire involving propane every single day. Most of these are fatal, because they are intense and in a very closed space. The heat, flame, and toxic gasses involved in a propane fire in such close quarters are extremely lethal. Many of them involve improper storage of the propane bottle, like that of the barista we were discussing above. Obviously, a girl in a bikini didn't want to go outside in winter to deal with changing a propane tank- it's frikkin' cold, right? This same situation happens in duck blinds, ice-fishing trailers, and many other enclosed spaces that people live in, like a tiny house or stealth trailer situation. The tank's more secure inside, it's less noticeable, it's cold as hell outside...surely those are the biggest concerns when you are ninja camping....
Actually, federal law prohibits storing propane cylinders above 1 pound in any living space, and the main reason is fire safety and explosion risk. A police officer or trooper stopping you and glancing inside such a trailer can and will cite you on the spot and refuse to allow you to even move the trailer until that cylinder is removed from inside the trailer box.
No doubt, our deceased barista thought she was being safer (and warmer!) keeping her tanks indoors, but the fact is, enclosed spaces allow explosive gasses to build up quickly when changing tanks or lighting a burner. Small leaks (especially in rubber hoses like the Little/Big Buddy's lines) are all too common. An explosion can result. And if a tank or gas line catches on fire, the blowtorch-like jet of flame is all too likely to block your immediate exit from the trailer, even as it ignites everything in the box.
The tanks are far safer stored outside, no matter how annoying it is to swap them. If security is a concern, lock them up or chain them. A pass-through panel in a wall may allow you to turn on the exterior tank from inside or to reach the tank with a wrench, enhancing your safety. Be sure that your propane tank storage position is correct in terms of venting gas in an emergency.
But no matter how tempting it is to keep storing the tanks inside, rethink your design at the first opportunity and move them out.
Your life depends on it.
Tags: Propane safety, Propane tank, Heater safety, Tiny trailer safety, Tiny house safety, Stealth trailer safety, Boondocking trailer safety.
Friday, January 8, 2016
The basic tiny stealth house is half complete - working inside a shell without drawing attention
If you are pressed for time, the tiny stealth house we have described so far is now usable to a limited extent. It's rough, but functional.
Keep in mind that you have no storage yet other than a few shelves in back, No bed frame or seating, you still need to weatherproof the door and maybe where panels attach to the floor, no painting has been done yet, no interior wiring or solar yet, Floor work remains, no heating....
Nevertheless, it's functional.
This is the point at which we started using the shell. When I decided to paint the interior, the matress and other contents were dumped onto a tarp on the ground, and I stepped inside and painted it. Likewise, when I built the folding bed and installed the storage cabinet, I had to empty the shell again to make the room to work. Renting a storage unit simplifies this process, gives you a place to work if your existing living space isn't really available for the build, and lets you stage the supplies you will be using in a secure place. A friend's garage is a good fallback position.
Get the shell painted as fast as you can, because it's hard to work inside without getting paint everywhere, including on yourself. I see a lot of people going for a bare wood finish in their tiny house for style points, but it's important to remember that our boondocking trailer is small and good lighting is an issue. Painting it white or a similar bright color inside maximizes your available ambient light from the skylight, and stretches your interior electric lighting farther.
Get your bed up off the floor as soon as you can. The floor has air moving under the deck, so it's always going to be colder then the room proper. If you are cold, you will burn more propane, and it's an avoidable waste.
If you are burning propane in a little buddy or something similar, there's always the chance of minor CO buildup, and it accumulates down at the floor, so being up on a bed frame with a CO detector down there is a strong safety measure.
Finally, the storage space under the bed/couch is significant, and once the bed is off the floor you probably won't have to empty your tiny house again to do any remaining part of the build.
Keep in mind that you have no storage yet other than a few shelves in back, No bed frame or seating, you still need to weatherproof the door and maybe where panels attach to the floor, no painting has been done yet, no interior wiring or solar yet, Floor work remains, no heating....
Nevertheless, it's functional.
This is the point at which we started using the shell. When I decided to paint the interior, the matress and other contents were dumped onto a tarp on the ground, and I stepped inside and painted it. Likewise, when I built the folding bed and installed the storage cabinet, I had to empty the shell again to make the room to work. Renting a storage unit simplifies this process, gives you a place to work if your existing living space isn't really available for the build, and lets you stage the supplies you will be using in a secure place. A friend's garage is a good fallback position.
Get the shell painted as fast as you can, because it's hard to work inside without getting paint everywhere, including on yourself. I see a lot of people going for a bare wood finish in their tiny house for style points, but it's important to remember that our boondocking trailer is small and good lighting is an issue. Painting it white or a similar bright color inside maximizes your available ambient light from the skylight, and stretches your interior electric lighting farther.
Get your bed up off the floor as soon as you can. The floor has air moving under the deck, so it's always going to be colder then the room proper. If you are cold, you will burn more propane, and it's an avoidable waste.
If you are burning propane in a little buddy or something similar, there's always the chance of minor CO buildup, and it accumulates down at the floor, so being up on a bed frame with a CO detector down there is a strong safety measure.
Finally, the storage space under the bed/couch is significant, and once the bed is off the floor you probably won't have to empty your tiny house again to do any remaining part of the build.
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Trailer Exterior Lights: the most common trailer problem
The single most common problem with trailers in general is the rear lights. Trailers and automobiles typically use a frame ground. Cars are enclosed, so a ground to the chassis typically causes fewer problems.
But trailers, especially kit trailers, use an exposed wiring harness and they ground to the frame.
The wiring and the frame are exposed to the weather, road salts, corrosion, excessive vibration and foreign object damage. Inevitably the connections suffer and the lights begin to fail. If we are trying to boondock camp in our trailer or ninja camp in town, we don't want to draw the wrong kind of attention from the Law. Being stealthy means NOT drawing attention, and making every effort to blend in. Tail lights being out is a famous way to draw attention from bored cops.
If you have had a light failure even though your voltmeter shows 12v at the socket, you've been on the receiving end of one of these problems. Running a new ground to the attachment point of the light from the harness plug will probably fix the issue.
Much of these problems can be mitigated by switching to lower-current LEDs, and enclosing the wiring in flexible conduit when you run the harness for the trailer. While you are at it, run a separate ground wire (white) to each rear light from the harness plug.
In this case, I ran flexible conduit to the rear and to the opposite side of our tiny house trailer. All of the trailer exterior lighting that connects to the tow vehicle is below the deck. All of the interior power runs are in conduit above the trailer deck. I'll discuss the details of the dual-voltage interior wiring and lighting in a few future articles,but for now we will stick to the standard trailer lights.
The goal was to have no accidental cross-connections to the interior power circuits and to be able to inspect or work on the exterior lighting without having to tear into the structure or pull up the decking and insulation.
In addition, I built a removable rear panel and needed the rear lights to be capable of disconnecting from the harness to make access and repair easier.
The enclosed lower half of the deck before I laid on the side panels and sealed up the deck side trusses. The circuit boxes are bolted to the back half of the tongue frame supports through existing holes in them, which made things easier. The 1/4 ply just slid under the boxes and was bolted to the frame cross members, and any previously cut zip ties for the conduit were replaced.
Once I got around to installing the lights, I replaced the cheap incandescent lighting with LEDs. The LEDs will run on far less power (so issues like corrosion will matter less) and burn out less often.
Tags: Trailer light issues, Stealthy tiny house, Boondocking trailer, DiY exterior lights, DiY trailer lights, Stealthy trailer lights, Avoiding trailer light issues, Most common trailer problems, Wiring trailer lights, trailer light conduit.
But trailers, especially kit trailers, use an exposed wiring harness and they ground to the frame.
The wiring and the frame are exposed to the weather, road salts, corrosion, excessive vibration and foreign object damage. Inevitably the connections suffer and the lights begin to fail. If we are trying to boondock camp in our trailer or ninja camp in town, we don't want to draw the wrong kind of attention from the Law. Being stealthy means NOT drawing attention, and making every effort to blend in. Tail lights being out is a famous way to draw attention from bored cops.
If you have had a light failure even though your voltmeter shows 12v at the socket, you've been on the receiving end of one of these problems. Running a new ground to the attachment point of the light from the harness plug will probably fix the issue.
Much of these problems can be mitigated by switching to lower-current LEDs, and enclosing the wiring in flexible conduit when you run the harness for the trailer. While you are at it, run a separate ground wire (white) to each rear light from the harness plug.
The goal was to have no accidental cross-connections to the interior power circuits and to be able to inspect or work on the exterior lighting without having to tear into the structure or pull up the decking and insulation.
In addition, I built a removable rear panel and needed the rear lights to be capable of disconnecting from the harness to make access and repair easier.
Once I got around to installing the lights, I replaced the cheap incandescent lighting with LEDs. The LEDs will run on far less power (so issues like corrosion will matter less) and burn out less often.
Tags: Trailer light issues, Stealthy tiny house, Boondocking trailer, DiY exterior lights, DiY trailer lights, Stealthy trailer lights, Avoiding trailer light issues, Most common trailer problems, Wiring trailer lights, trailer light conduit.
Monday, January 4, 2016
Attaching the 'ladder rack' and roofing the trailer
On top of the roof we will be putting solar panels, so we will want a rigid attachment point for security reasons. Solar panels also perform up to 60% better if they can stay cool, so raising them up off of the roof is a smart move. Making them less noticeable is a good idea as well. The best way to mount them is on a ladder rack.
Rather than buy a roof rack, I salvaged some galvanized superstrut type B steel struts from a local junkyard, cut them into uprights and crossbars and then painted them white. They were fitted with end plugs and bolted onto the trapeze before putting on the roof. The solar panels will be bolted to superstrut stringers that rest on the ladder rack and are bolted there. We will go into more detail on the solar electrical system later, but it's important to understand the need to bolt on the ladder rack uprights before fitting the roof.
A watertight roof is critical to the trailer's longevity, safety and comfort. There are hundreds of amp-hours worth of batteries in here, clothes and bedding, and a propane heater. Basically a tiny house trailer is a big pile of kindling and accelerators, all in one, so keeping it dry is a large part of keeping it safe.
Wood also loses strength quickly when wet and rots, which is a common trailer killer.
For our build, I made a double layer of the skinned 2" foam, giving us a 4" R-27 roof. Each layer was attached with heavy duty liquid nails, each joint staggered/lapped to improve the strength and water resistance of the foam even before I applied waterproofing.
At that point I had two options, liquid EDPM compound, or a cold-process roof, both of which tend to be pricey and a little complicated. Alternatives to traditional cold-process roofing exist. To save money, I used returned 60-mil PVC shower pan liners. These are available in 5- and 6-foot widths, and when returned as wrong lengths to the store they are typically sold at about half price. I was able to cover the roof for about $70 with the stuff, bought over a few weeks time, which eased the purchase.
Pan liner is very tough, so wear gloves and cut it with a box knife with a hook blade. I cut and ran a 8" band around the edge of the roof and folded it over onto the roof. This formed a watertight drip edge. Then I laid the top panels onto the roof and lapped them from back to front. This allows water driven along the roof when driving to not be driven into the roof joints. We then overlapped the panel sides down onto the edge band and glued it there, giving me a strong seal. If you are penetrating the roofing with a ladder rack or skylight, I strongly suggest pushing the penetrating material upward through a smaller hole than needed and adding an overpatch for strength. This will give you a tight seal and help roll water away from the joint formed. High quality full silicone caulk will stick to this stuff, and I pumped it under all of the joints in the roofing before gluing any panel down.
Errors:
I made more mistakes on the roof than everywhere else.
The pan liner joints need to be wide, and well glued. I was stingy with glue in a few spots on the deck, and let the glue dry too much before rolling the joints. As a result, I had several dry joints that failed after a good hard rain. The foam panels limited the damage to a few drips. Re-gluing the joints fixed the problem, but I should have checked the joints after a day or two, and I didn't. Laziness can cost you.
My second error was I set the window too low into the roof, flush with the first layer of foam. This meant that in order to avoid a lake on top of the window, I had to run a drain for the top of the window tothe side. After some cussing about getting a watertight drain in place, I said screw it and further covered the triple pane window well with a Lexan sheet laid flat to the top of the roof. I found the sheet for $7 in a hardware store and laid it into a fat bead of full-silicone caulk. 3''x4' Lexan sheets are usually $70, so that was probably the deal of the week. Lexan will protect the window from bad things like hail, and water now runs off of the flush mounted panel instead of accumulating on the window to look for a leak before draining out the pipe I put there.
I do see some minor condensation under the Lexan in cold weather, but nothing major.
I'll post some pics of this later.
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Rather than buy a roof rack, I salvaged some galvanized superstrut type B steel struts from a local junkyard, cut them into uprights and crossbars and then painted them white. They were fitted with end plugs and bolted onto the trapeze before putting on the roof. The solar panels will be bolted to superstrut stringers that rest on the ladder rack and are bolted there. We will go into more detail on the solar electrical system later, but it's important to understand the need to bolt on the ladder rack uprights before fitting the roof.
A watertight roof is critical to the trailer's longevity, safety and comfort. There are hundreds of amp-hours worth of batteries in here, clothes and bedding, and a propane heater. Basically a tiny house trailer is a big pile of kindling and accelerators, all in one, so keeping it dry is a large part of keeping it safe.
Wood also loses strength quickly when wet and rots, which is a common trailer killer.
For our build, I made a double layer of the skinned 2" foam, giving us a 4" R-27 roof. Each layer was attached with heavy duty liquid nails, each joint staggered/lapped to improve the strength and water resistance of the foam even before I applied waterproofing.
At that point I had two options, liquid EDPM compound, or a cold-process roof, both of which tend to be pricey and a little complicated. Alternatives to traditional cold-process roofing exist. To save money, I used returned 60-mil PVC shower pan liners. These are available in 5- and 6-foot widths, and when returned as wrong lengths to the store they are typically sold at about half price. I was able to cover the roof for about $70 with the stuff, bought over a few weeks time, which eased the purchase.
Pan liner is very tough, so wear gloves and cut it with a box knife with a hook blade. I cut and ran a 8" band around the edge of the roof and folded it over onto the roof. This formed a watertight drip edge. Then I laid the top panels onto the roof and lapped them from back to front. This allows water driven along the roof when driving to not be driven into the roof joints. We then overlapped the panel sides down onto the edge band and glued it there, giving me a strong seal. If you are penetrating the roofing with a ladder rack or skylight, I strongly suggest pushing the penetrating material upward through a smaller hole than needed and adding an overpatch for strength. This will give you a tight seal and help roll water away from the joint formed. High quality full silicone caulk will stick to this stuff, and I pumped it under all of the joints in the roofing before gluing any panel down.
Errors:
I made more mistakes on the roof than everywhere else.
The pan liner joints need to be wide, and well glued. I was stingy with glue in a few spots on the deck, and let the glue dry too much before rolling the joints. As a result, I had several dry joints that failed after a good hard rain. The foam panels limited the damage to a few drips. Re-gluing the joints fixed the problem, but I should have checked the joints after a day or two, and I didn't. Laziness can cost you.
My second error was I set the window too low into the roof, flush with the first layer of foam. This meant that in order to avoid a lake on top of the window, I had to run a drain for the top of the window tothe side. After some cussing about getting a watertight drain in place, I said screw it and further covered the triple pane window well with a Lexan sheet laid flat to the top of the roof. I found the sheet for $7 in a hardware store and laid it into a fat bead of full-silicone caulk. 3''x4' Lexan sheets are usually $70, so that was probably the deal of the week. Lexan will protect the window from bad things like hail, and water now runs off of the flush mounted panel instead of accumulating on the window to look for a leak before draining out the pipe I put there.
I do see some minor condensation under the Lexan in cold weather, but nothing major.
I'll post some pics of this later.
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