Re-imagining a 1948 Boles Aero Trailer

  Kitchen Area with Formica Countertop I considered a lot of different options for the counter and table top but I settled on Formica. Specifically the "Navy Grafix" color. I'd considered some more colorful options and also patterns, but I decided I'll work splashy colors in with the easily replaceable soft goods like throw pillow. 3/4" Baltic Birch counter with components dry fit Formica countertops are easy enough to install and there are lots of good Youtube videos available. Of course I made some design choices that made it harder than it normally would be. Namely I decided to use and "undermount" stainless steel sink and mount it flush with the top. This means that the sink needs to be recessed and hung from the top rather than attached to the bottom. I used a router to cut in a recess for the lip of the sink to rest on and glued in the sink. The sink lip needs to be perfectly level with top of the birch plywood. I needed to fill any gap created wh...

  Norcold NR751SS The trailer originally had an icebox not a refrigerator. If I was doing a "restoration" I probably would have used on of the conversion kits to turn the icebox into a fridge, but this is a renovation so I wanted to take full advantage of newer, more efficient technology. I installed a Norcold NR751 SS (SS means stainless steel vs black). It's a  2.7 cuft electric fridge (no propane) that can run off either 12V (or 24V) DC or 120V AC. If wired for both DC and AC it automatically switches to 120V AC when that's available. I picked it up as a "Used Like New" on Amazon for a substantial discount. It was a slight ding in the frame (you may see it on the left hand side) and the shipping foam was obviously abused but otherwise it seems fine. The ding is definitely offset by the ~$400 savings! This is a rugged unit with a steel frame enclosing all the pieces. It features a SECOP compressor so it's relatively energy efficient. Your mileage may v...

  MPP Solar PIP – 1012LV-MS I did an earlier post on my electrical installation plans. This post covers the "as-installed" system which is always a bit different. The electrical system has three distinct but interrelated parts:  12V DC - essentially battery power. Runs most of the electrical devices required for typical use. 120V AC inverter - The MPP Solar "all-in-one" (AIO) converts battery 12V DC into 120V AC that is routed to a few outlets (e.g. where the microwave is plugged in). Power output is limited to 1000W continuous. 120V AC shore - power supplied from an external source like a house or RV park. This is wired to the MPP Solar "all-in-one" and when shore power is available (ie the trailer is plugged into an external 120V source) it is used to run the battery charger and also will bypass the 120V AC inverter to provide power wherever the inverter would have provided power. The refridgerator has a feature where it will automatically switch from 12...

 This is a rather mundane subject but I actually had a bunch of questions and could find no posts or detail online to answer them. I guess everyone thinks it's so obvious and boring that they don't detail it. So I guess this is a public service post. Worthington 20lb Aluminum Propane Tank When I got the Boles it had dual steel 20 lb propane tanks with the typical side-by-side tray and hold down arrangement. The tanks were long expired, the regulator arrangement consisted of two separate devices, and the lines were basically straight copper (no flex lines). My propane needs would be limited: a two-burner cooktop (no stove) and a small 6500 BTU furnace. I'd also have significantly more insulation so the furnace wouldn't need to work so hard. I did some rough calculations and figured a single tank would probably last me a year of the camping I was likely to do. Looking at a Boles Aero advertisement from the era it looked like they originally used a single tank. Maybe even ...

  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 ...