SKarosser Copy Scratch Home build?????

Self builds and DIY projects
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wonkywheel
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Re: SKarosser Copy Scratch Home build?????

Post: # 28928Post wonkywheel
August 9th, 2020, 2:47 pm

After a quick visit to Zildjian to pick up the free PIR sensor an afternoon fiddling about to test if it actually worked and when it did the best position to fit it. I will need to seal the wiring hole with a blob os silicon but it works a treat. Thanks, Zildjian.

Image

While I was over there I borrowed his industrial scales as we were talking about demountable weights with regards to truck air bags.
This morning I put the scales under the camper to see how I was going with my intended lightweight camper :o
It is true that the bed is made, there is half a tank of water and two gas bottles so in theory, it could be ready to go but it did weigh in at 615 Kg
That was quite a more than I expected but on reflection I realised I had put in quite a few more PVC sheets for wall cladding, strengthened some wall and door areas with plywood. Also the two new batteries and the solar panel have added about 70Kg on their own.
Although the awning sections were laying on the bed, I did wonder about the weight of the rest of the other socialising clobber I tend to carry. Tables, chairs, Cadac, firepit, a 4.5m event shelter with 4 sides, large Coleman cool box, etc.

Image The will add another 60Kg

It was then back to checking the VIN plate on the truck and the empty truck weight on the weighbridge.
Vin plate puts max gross at 3020Kg
Weighbridge puts truck at 1960Kg
Left 1060Kg

So the truck with the camper me,and stuff, is going to put the gross up to 2735Kg

I consider 285Kg a reasonable lee way to play with depending on the axle loadings for other things I might want to add.
13.5kg farm jack, 14Kg for a pair of waffle boards, and such like.

On the plus side, as far as I can see these will be maximums as when the camper was weighted it was full of tools, boxes of screws. :roll:
"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm" .......(Winston Churchill)

2007 Ford Ranger "Thunder" 4x4
Camper aedificavit domum
2016 Ford Ranger "Wildtrack" 4x4


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zildjian
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Re: SKarosser Copy Scratch Home build?????

Post: # 28954Post zildjian
August 11th, 2020, 7:19 pm

You could always build a 'socialising kit' trailer of course,

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derestrictor
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Location: gotham Nottingham

Re: SKarosser Copy Scratch Home build?????

Post: # 28959Post derestrictor
August 11th, 2020, 9:37 pm

all those screws and glue and materials must all add up in making your own camper but without building on a weigh bridge or
jotting down everything as its used it would be impossible to keep track

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wonkywheel
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Re: SKarosser Copy Scratch Home build?????

Post: # 28961Post wonkywheel
August 11th, 2020, 10:43 pm

I don't think its the screws and glue in the build. Its things like the PVC sheet. It seemed like a good idea but even at 2mm thick, it's still quite heavy. and there are 10 off 8x4 sheets (plus I could still do with another one)
The wood that strengthens the hatch area's, even the lined heavy duty bedroom curtains is surprisingly heavy now I come to think about it. I will weight all the tools and boxes of screws and fitting that are all laying inside to see how much difference it makes because there are still things I want to add.
A diesel warm air heater (should be coming Saturday) a TV/monitor for my Raspberry Pi computer, and a porta-potty are definites.

The main problem is probably over-engineering the build. If I were to do it over I would use composite walls with a minimal framework and probably a little smaller.
I suppose its not just a camper build, its a hobby as well.

Dont laugh but I had considered a small trailer, especialy when the VIN plate says the train weight is over 6000Kg I still have the bare bones of my teardrop. It would either mean altering the camper again or fit an extension tow bar. :o :idea: Perhaps???
"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm" .......(Winston Churchill)

2007 Ford Ranger "Thunder" 4x4
Camper aedificavit domum
2016 Ford Ranger "Wildtrack" 4x4

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wonkywheel
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Joined: June 5th, 2017, 7:31 pm
Location: East Northamptonshire

Re: SKarosser Copy Scratch Home build?????

Post: # 28985Post wonkywheel
August 14th, 2020, 4:26 pm

No time to worry about adding weight.
I said I thought about a Chinese diesel/air heater. I had been watching one or two on eBay for a week or more

ImageWell here it is 8-)

One I had been watching, priced at £84.99, with only a few days left to run, went down 7% to £79.04. That, and it being pension day, said it was meant to be. I have been on a diesel heater forum for a long while and there have been conflicting reports on various suppliers. I rearly picked this one based on the 99.5% feedback and the fact it said it was UK stock. One of the main gripes on the heater forum was a long delivery time, even before the Corvid-19 problems. I ordered it on Tuesday morning and received an expected delivery date of Saturday/Monday. To my surprise it was here Friday morning.

ImageSo well done Ytaiuk

I was suprised that I had all that was shown in the advert and more. There was not an exhaust silencer in the pictures and another gripe was parts missing from the contents. I had already noted this and found an alternative silencer supplier on amazon (£15)
Everything was there, including a silencer and a fuel filter container.

Image
The fuel line had a little diesel left in it and the fuel tank smelled of diesel. Whether it has been fired up or not I dont know

Image


The controller, which can be uncliped and used a short distance away is what I think of as a 2nd generation one. There is a newer version availible but I prefer the tried and tested one.

There is even a key fob remote for on & off and temp up/down

Image The slider covers the buttons in transit

It will be interesting to see how bench tests go. (That's required by the heater forum alomg with a report)
The fuel tank I believe holds 4 liters so with an estimated 0.1l an hour consumption it could run continuously for 40 hours. That is never going to need to happen. Living in a house with no upstairs central heating I am most comfortable in a cool bedroom.

The heater is supposed to be rated at 5Kw which I belive is probably way too much for my needs but I am hoping it will run on ✔ over shall we say. From what I have read, they use battery power for the glow plug until up to operting temperature then its just the circulation fan and fuel pump. (About 10 amps for 10 minutes so turning it on and off might be a problem. Also it runs on after switched off to use up the fuel and cool down for another 10 minutes)
"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm" .......(Winston Churchill)

2007 Ford Ranger "Thunder" 4x4
Camper aedificavit domum
2016 Ford Ranger "Wildtrack" 4x4

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wonkywheel
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Re: SKarosser Copy Scratch Home build?????

Post: # 28996Post wonkywheel
August 15th, 2020, 6:31 pm

Initial tests on the heater worked well. After a few false starts, I managed to prime the heater and get it running. The first thing that was obvious was that without the silencer the exhaust was quite noisy. Not too bad with the silencer on though.
It certainly throws out some heat. I set the thermostat at 30 with ambient at 23 and it only took about 15 minutes and I was cooking.
The heater then started to power down but there was quite a temperature overrun prompting opening the door and a window. As it was only a quick test I didn't leave it long enough to get a full idea.
It did become apparent that out of the 5 types of controllers that these heaters are available with, 2 look the same but when switched on have a different display configuration. One is compatible with a high-tech controller called an afterburner the other is not. Unfortunately, I have the wrong one. :roll: Not that I had any way of knowing other than it was so cheap I should have guessed. The afterburner would have allowed far more control over the heater and its operation. I still have the feeling that a 5kw heater will be too big and even at ✔ over it will be hot enough to grow tomatoes :lol:
Now I know it, and its remote work, I can sort out the positioning and wiring for a permanent installation. I say permanent but I might want it movable because I have seen them installed in tents and event shelters for cold weather socialising 8-)
"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm" .......(Winston Churchill)

2007 Ford Ranger "Thunder" 4x4
Camper aedificavit domum
2016 Ford Ranger "Wildtrack" 4x4

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wonkywheel
Posts: 481
Joined: June 5th, 2017, 7:31 pm
Location: East Northamptonshire

Re: SKarosser Copy Scratch Home build?????

Post: # 29034Post wonkywheel
August 20th, 2020, 9:47 pm

I am slowly getting the wiring sorted.
Having had to move the solar controller once. I was not happy with the position so I have finally fixed the ply backboard to the back wall of the wardrobe with Gorilla grab adhesive so there is no going back now.
I am trying to do the wiring in such a manner that some essential things come straight off the battery while other more power-hungry items come off the controller load connection (If the voltage drops for any reason I don't want to be caught out in the dark when the controller switched the load off)
As such, I have two wiring circuits to contend with, in effect going in opposite directions with the battery at one end and the controller at the other.

Image

I will tidy up the wiring and clip it down when I have it all in place.
So far the controller has not got too hot but I antcipate needing a couple of vents for cooling at some stage. I have a sheet of perspex earmarked to put in front of the wiring when I want to use the wardrobe again.

I have done a couple of fairly heavy power use tests to see how things held up. When the sun is out, so far, I have enough power to keep everything going without drawing on the batteries. I had the 6-speed roof fan going flat out, the stereo belting it out and my Halfords Mains/battery coolbox and I was still in credit (as it were) The coolbox draws about 4 amps all the time it is running but it did drag the internal temperature down from 27C at startup to 13C in about 2-3 hours, although it was empty at the time.

The heavy-duty cable for that is wired to a cigar type connector. I only have one at the moment so I swapped connections to the coolbox for my Chinese diesel heater. The first test run was done outside using the old leisure battery.(which seems to be standing up quite well) so I had no data on exactly how much power it used.
Running the heater up from the cigar connector meant I had the infomation on the controller panel.
At startup, when the circulation fan is running slowly and the burner fan, diesel pump, and glow plug are all working the heater draws between 8 and 10 amps. But this is only for about a minute then the glow plug goes out. After about an hour running. Everything was up to temperature and the heater was in effect at ✔ over it seemed to only using 0.8 amps but with 5 levels of heat output that will vary on use. It was warm enough without trying max heat settings. I will wait untill it is a lot cooler for that.

I have put more wood effect vinyl wrap on but its not finished and I have no photos as yet.

No more untill after the weekend as, although I can't camp, I intend to trip out to Santapod Raceway each day 8-) :lol:
"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm" .......(Winston Churchill)

2007 Ford Ranger "Thunder" 4x4
Camper aedificavit domum
2016 Ford Ranger "Wildtrack" 4x4

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zildjian
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Re: SKarosser Copy Scratch Home build?????

Post: # 29050Post zildjian
August 22nd, 2020, 8:23 pm

Looks like we were both wrong then, I was just watching some SJ youtube and came across this one fitted with brushcutter wires


Image

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wonkywheel
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Re: SKarosser Copy Scratch Home build?????

Post: # 29069Post wonkywheel
August 24th, 2020, 8:45 pm

Perhaps not the best idea when the vehicle has a drop-down windscreen. :roll: :D
"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm" .......(Winston Churchill)

2007 Ford Ranger "Thunder" 4x4
Camper aedificavit domum
2016 Ford Ranger "Wildtrack" 4x4

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