Re-imagining a 1948 Boles Aero Trailer

  The Boles originally had a propane floor furnace - basically a grate in the center of the floor with an open burner below it that was also open to the outside. I guess the heat would rise and the CO2 would exit down when the furnace was burning. It was also an excellent door for field mice. It was pretty beat up because it was the low point for the trailer and caught on things. When I got the trailer it was mostly peeled off. Obviously it needed to be replaced. I don't really plan any really cold weather camping so something to keep the trailer reasonably warm in the morning and evening in the spring and fall is all I think I'll need. I searched around and found that the Propex HS2000 is a popular unit in the van community. It's small, burns clean and the blower is very efficient. Another attractive feature is that the combustion gases enter and vent down through the floor so I wouldn't need to cut a hole in the side of the trailer. The unit is so popular that I neede...

  210W Newpowa Solar Panel Installed on roof I really need to go back and blog the electrical system as installed (vs as planned). I've been busy and not blogging, plus I wanted to wait until things were "done" before I blogged. Maybe another day. Today I'll cover the solar system. I've mentioned that I installed an MPP Solar 1012LV-MS "all-in-one" inverter, battery charger, and MPPT solar charger. I got most of the system up and running a couple weeks ago, but this weekend I got the solar going so that I can charge the battery without being plugged into an outlet someplace. The real driver for having solar power is the refrigerator. The Boles originally had an icebox, no fridge. I decided that I didn't want to use a 3-way fridge (AC/propane/DC) because it would require some sort of vent system for the propane and 3-way fridges generally aren't very efficient on DC power. But going all electric drove some choices. I needed an efficient fridge. I ...

  Xiaoxing BMS App I'd originally planned to install two 100Ah AGM batteries to provide DC power and run the inverter occasionally to use the microwave I plan to install in the Boles. My very rough calculations indicated that 200Ah should keep the Norcold NR751 fridge running for a weekend plus allow use of the fan and lights. I preferred lithium batteries because they are much lighter and allow deeper draw down which translates into more power per rated Ah, but they are also much more expensive. I watched some YouTube videos on constructing your own lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4 or LFP) batteries and it seemed straight forward and well within my comfort zone. So when I found that they could be ordered from the manufacturer in China for 1/2 the MSRP in the US I decided to go for it. I order a set of four 200Ah Liitokala battery cells on AliExpress. They were $312 and lead time was 60 days. My credit card fraud alert immediately tripped when I made the purchase, I guess because ...