Powerful Scamp

After I did the battery upgrade, I decided to update my 12 volt outlet that I'd installed years ago next to the street side dinette seat. I was impressed with the units that Jeff selected for his rig, and decided to follow suit. I removed my Blue Sea outlet and replaced it with a Cllena combo unit. The street side installation was quick and easy since I'd run in a new circuit when I installed the Blue Sea outlet that I was able to leverage.

The curb side install was more work but I didn't get a picture while I have everything opened up. Ended up with both seat tops off so I could run a new circuit from the power panel across the back of the trailer. It was actually amazingly easy to fish the wires through the chase that conceals the pex water lines.

The new circuit supports the outlet that I installed on the curb-side of the dinette, midway between the water pump switch and the wall.

It's going to be nice to have power on both sides of the dinette and to have USB sources as well as the classic 12 volt cigarette lighter style.

Juicy

Back in the dark ages, i.e. before the beginning of this blog, I switched out the single 12 volt battery that was delivered with the Scamp for a pair of 210 amp hr Interstate GC2 batteries. We've had six years of excellent service from those batteries, but the calendar was telling us we'd certainly received our money's worth. With summer plans that include extended periods in solar challenged locations like Vancouver Island, it seemed appropriate to follow Jeff's lead and put in a pair of U.S. Battery 2200 232 ah batteries from The Battery Guy.

One of the things I've disliked about our gravel guard is the extra work to service the batteries, so this time I picked up the Pro-Fill onboard battery watering system from Flow-Rite.

The 'speed cap' assembly was removed from the batteries and replaced with the individual caps provided in the Pro-Fill set.

Each of the Pro-fill caps incorporates a hole in the top of the cap that accepts a fitting from the flexible manifold. The caps have float valves built into them so that if the fluid level in the battery cell is low, water can flow from the manifold, through the cap, into the cell. If the cell level is correct, the float valve closes off flow from the manifold.

It looks a bit busy! Positive is upper right, negative is upper center-left, and the tube to the fill point exits upper left.

The tube from the battery manifold terminates in a special fitting with a beefy rubber cover. This connector is now ty-wrapped to the frame under the battery box where it is out of the way, but accessible without removing the front cover of the gravel shield.

The hand pump is a separate component. In my case, I ended up buying it from a different Amazon vendor because of pricing.

One end of the hand pump assembly mates with the special connector on the end of the manifold tubing. The other end goes in a jug of distilled water.

I was really impressed with how easy the installation was, and even more so, how easy the system was to use. Should have done it years ago!!

Last Little Bus Project

Jeff did some research (sometimes known as what would Technomadia do?) and selected the EezTire TPMS system for his rig. Initially, he was planning on the flow-through sensors but we ended up selecting the cap style sensor since they were notably smaller.

He decided that he wanted the system installed using the supplied vaccum mount so that there weren't any new holes added to the dash. The selected position keeps the sightlines to the mirror and the windshield clear.

We had a couple options for power, but wanted to avoid even more cigarette lighter style plugs with cords dangling around. The other option was to used the provided direct wiring cord. I just needed to find a source of keyed power so that the TPMS would be powered only when the ignition key was turned on.

I started at the fuse panel below the dash in the left front corner but bombed out on anything that was easily accessible. Finally found what I was looking for at the back of the radio override switch. This switch had a ground wire, several always hot wires, and one keyed power wire.

I got my work area set up. I discovered there are some advantages to having an inverter. Works great for when you need to power the soldering iron and don't want to start the noise maker. It's worth noting that Mickey D's iced coffee is essential fuel for this project!

I half stripped short sections of the ground and keyed power wires, and then soldered the lead that was provided with the TPMS system.

Some electrical tape on the connections, sliding the conduit back in position, and we were good to go.

The best part was that Jeff arrived just in time to deal with the wire routing behind the dash.

He was also responsible for taking us to the airport a couple hours before he picked up his family and started the first segment of their multi segment roadtrip to Alaska with their motorhome.

Power & Light

Time is running out to get all the projects done on Jeff's Vista, but the list is getting very short as well. One of the projects was to change the stock lights above the bed. The stock puck lights are powered through a single switch and point straight down which isn't very conducive to one person reading while the other tries to sleep. They got re-purposed for lighting in the rear luggage bay.

They were replaced with a couple flexible LED fixtures that we picked up in Quartzsite.

Like nearly all RVs today, the manufacturer seems to assume that you're going to be plugged in or willing to listen to a generator. This rig needed more 12 volt outlets to be functional for dry camping. Dual outlets were placed on each side of the bed pedestal. One outlet has two USB ports while the other outlet accepts a cigarette lighter style plug.

The project was relatively easy since the power converter lives in the same space. It was just a matter of taking the plywood cover off the top of the area behind the converter and the faceplate from the converter, drilling the holes for the outlets, and then running the wires.

I made it a point to run the wire more neatly than the factory wiring. Apparently they figure no one will ever look...

We were fortunately enough to have one empty slot on the 12 volt side, between the blue 15 amp and the brown 5 amp fuses. I picked up the positive feed there and installed a 10 amp fuse.

I was going to run the wire in a plastic conduit but the conduit I brought with me was too small so I used the same technique that the Scamp factory uses to route their wiring - it's tacked in place with hot glue. Both power and ground have a second pigtail soldered into the main lead about 10" back to feed the second outlet. The solder joint is then insulated with shrink tubing - blue because that was what I had in stock.

With these projects done, I think there's just one thing left on the list. I still need to install a power lead behind the instrument panel to power the TPMS system.

Too Much Ruckus

One of the cool items that was stock on Jeff's Vista XL is a set of automatic hydraulic levelers. So much nicer that stacking up boards or Lego blocks.

The manufacturer requires that the jacks are deployed before the slides can be extended. The engine must be running to deploy the jacks or slides, BUT... they're very concerned about someone driving away with the jacks still deployed.

They installed a warning light, but their ergonomics engineer was absent when they did the design. It's not at all visible when an average height person is in the driver's seat.

You must lean significantly forward to find the light shining brightly, but totally hidden behind the steering wheel.  It's just a light, installed in a hole in the plastic dash. Apparently no one has ever considered moving the light to a position much more obvious to the driver.

Since the light is essentially useless for its intended function, they also include a horn. The horn should have a warning to not use it near a cemetery because it will wake the dead!. It's so loud that it becomes a safety issue because you rush to get everything closed up so you can kill the horn. Of course, the horn is buried just about as deep as possible, forward of all the circuit breakers by the driver's left leg.

Removing the fairing around the circuit breaker panel provides hand access, but it also makes the horn more painfully loud while you try to locate it.

Removing the hydraulic leveler control panel gets an angle so you can get some light into some of the darkest recesses of this corner. It's fair to say access is neither easy nor comfortable.

Yup, it's this little critter that is making so much noise it can be heard 200' away with the coach door closed. We debated about removing it entirely, but decided to try a muffler first. I constructed a housing out of 1/2 inch foam that went over the horn. It's still loud, but at least it's not painful. He's going to use it a while and see if that's enough or if it needs even more muzzling.

Lost Dutchman Testing

It was a first for us. We've enjoyed our Scamp for over seven years, but we'd never stayed at Lost Dutchman State Park. BJ spent many hours in the park and surrounding area as a member of the Search & Rescue group, but we'd never camped there. Too close and usually too full.

Since Jeff is leaving his new rig in Arizona for the winter, they came down for a long weekend and we managed to reserve a couple sites right across the road from one another.

We both had to suffer with this view. In our case our large back window framed the mountain while in Jeff's case the front window provided the best seats in the house.

We did work on a couple mods for his rig, but I also got a chance to go geocaching with our grandson for a while one morning until the heat got to be too much.

Always nice to be young - makes the tree climbing easier!

I even loaded up some charcoal and brought a dutch oven for one of our dinners.

Pot roast - the easiest thing to fix - was excellent. Our daughter and son-in-law came out so we managed to have everyone together in one place. The pot was empty when we got finished!

We enjoyed great weather, excellent time together, and beautiful sunsets. No wonder valley visitors rave about Lost Dutchman State Park!

Vista Solar, Part 3

With the controller and the portable panel components in place, it was time to install the roof-mounted panel. We'd already determined that our feed cable would pass down the wall the creates the inboard side of the bathroom and serves as a wire chase for all the annunciators, slide controls, etc. The vent pipe is in the forward end of that wall.

A 3/4 inch Forster bit made quick work of drilling through the fiberglass roof without getting crazy with the 3 inches of foam below the roof.

A matching hole was drilled in the center of a 4x4 plastic junction box and then that box was attached with the fiberglass roof with 3M Very High Bond tape, followed by a bead of 3M5200 marine adhesive sealant around the outer edge.

The mounts that we got from AM Solar came with 3M VHB tape pre-installed on the feet. I marked where they were going to go and wiped down the fiberglass roof with alcohol to insure a clean surface before sticking one pair and then the other to the roof. Like contact cement, you only get one chance! A bead of 3M5200 sealant around the edges of the feet completed the installation.

With the feet in place, the cable was run through conduit from the junction box to the panel and then connected to the panel with the same style waterproof heat-shrink connectors that I used on the portable panel. Both panels have an in-line fuse installed at the panel end of the wiring.

I used flex conduit to provide UV protection to the solar cabling. The conduit is attached to the fiberglass roof with 3M5200.

There's lots of real estate left if additional panels are desired.

I left extra cable in the junction box. If extra panels are added, the junction box can serve as a combiner box.

Inside the bathroom at the ceiling is a triangular box. I'd hoped I wouldn't have to open it, but I couldn't get the solar wiring to feed more than 18 inches down the wall so I popped the four staples that held the wall covering in place to make it easier to feed the wires.

The vent pipe that I pointed out on the roof is at the right side of the wall opening. The solar cables go through a pre-existing hole in the floor, across the top of the grey tank*,

over to the corner of the sink cabinet,

and then down through a hole I drilled in the tunnel cover just ahead of the grey tank,

leaving a short run to the terminal blocks.

* The grey tank has inlets from the shower, the bathroom sink, and the kitchen sink. When we went to pull the wires from the electrical chase to the kitchen cabinet, we discovered the top of the grey tank was wet. Turns out one drain had a hose clamp, one had a hose clamp that had never been tightened, and the kitchen sink one didn't have a hose clamp AND WASN'T EVEN ALIGNED with the tank port. Quality Assurance anyone???

With both panels wired, but being too lazy to go back up on the roof and tilt the roof panel, it was time to install the Bluetooth adapter to the controller and see what we had for results.

This was about 9 a.m. with neither panel oriented optimally. Can't complain! I wasn't sure that the Bluetooth dongle was going to be worthwhile, but once I've played with it a bit, I'm convinced it's required equipment.

The solar install has been fun. Time to do some more mods one of these days soon.