SKarosser Copy Scratch Home build?????

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

Post: # 25309Post zildjian
March 23rd, 2019, 8:24 am

screenshot-demountablecampergroup.com-2019.03.23-07-23-53.jpg
screenshot-demountablecampergroup.com-2019.03.23-07-23-53.jpg (10.01 KiB) Viewed 2037 times
:)

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

Post: # 25310Post wonkywheel
March 23rd, 2019, 4:52 pm

Quite impressive :lol:
I didn't think I had been back that many times :shock: :roll: 8-)
Also in another 2+ months, I will have been posting 2 years :shock:
That's has gone quick hasn't it :roll: At least its near enough to use ;)
"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: # 25359Post wonkywheel
March 28th, 2019, 8:25 pm

I managed to get the small locker done as well.

Image


Before I can do the gas locker I need to move the camper away from the fence that side. I mounted it up on the truck to move it. With only about 50mm clearance each side on the tub I fell foul of not lining up square and had a go at pushing it off the blocks at the back :oops:
While it is on I decided to have a go at fitted wing mirrors. The cheap strap on extension ones I brought would only just fit the large mirrors on the truck. One of the clips pinged off when I was traveling at speed and I didn't like the fiddling about putting them on and off. I will try to fix them to the corners of the cabover then they will go on and off with the camper. It's just getting them far enough out to be able to see down the sides of the camper, high enough to be able to miss them with the doors and rigid enough not to vibrate. Pictures, if it works ;)
That task needed too much prep work to continue what with getting out and setting up Mitre saw, drills, belt linisher and being able to access both sides of the camper so I spent my time fitting pipe clips to the outside copper gas pipes. With 8mm gas pipe, 15mm pipe clips fit just right if you get a piece of old out of date propane hose split to slip over :idea:
Picture next time I'm crawling about under the camper with either my camera or phone handy ;)
It's surprising how long these things take especially when a mate pointed out its only 3 weeks and 1 day before he will be in the staging lanes at Santa Pod Raceway :roll: :lol: 8-) Finger out then :shock:
"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: # 25360Post zildjian
March 28th, 2019, 10:50 pm

Only seen mirrors on cabover once, the earlier Clemenson (French) used them though never saw if they conflict with truck doors,

Mike's unknown camper *I think* has one fitted

mjb666
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Re: SKarosser Copy Scratch Home build?????

Post: # 25365Post mjb666
March 29th, 2019, 7:24 pm

Hi Mark & Zildjian

Yes my De-mountable has a mirror attached underneath each side. I did do a thread about them. They do stop the doors opening fully and they do have potential to get ripped off but that's what i got.

I'm sure Mark will have a nifty way around the potential issue's, after all the designing/build work so far.

Three weeks & counting!!!

Mike
2005 Mitsubishi L200 Single Cab 4x2
Unknown Demountable

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

Post: # 25366Post wonkywheel
March 29th, 2019, 8:39 pm

I haven't been able to find a picture of Mikes unknown camper?


Anyway, a picture of the pipe clip from under the gas box.
Image

I posted earlier how I felt I missed out on a large storage area by leaving room for the tailgate. This next photo not only shows the gas pipe run through to the valve locker but shows all the wasted space.
Image
I am hoping to utilize this space as possibly drop down chair storage or some other lightweight option.
I considered using it for fresh and grey water storage but think being so far back it might be the straw that breaks the Rangers back :lol:
Still plenty of other ideas.
One of which might fly is to remove the spare wheel from under the tub and try to use that space for either water or even a gas box??
It's just the thought that on my last trip to the weighbridge it was recorded that the front axle was 40kg lighter with the camper on.
My reasoning is that if I put the spare wheel on the nose above the cab it will redistribute the load more evenly particularly as the cab over is designed to sit on the roof bars. The only downside is the verticle center of gravity :( . I'm not sure how much body roll that would induce. Or whether the weight of 2 gas bottles in place of the spare would cancel it out. :geek: I suppose I could calculate the C of G change but that would entail a very understanding man at the weighbridge and a number of differential weights on and off a car ramp for each wheel. :ugeek: Even after all that I would only have a figure that wouldn't tell me if the truck would feel unsafe. It might be a case of suck it and see, when all the other jobs are done. :roll:

Other Jobs :?
Image

You can see where the space for the drop-down steps go. :cry:
The strengthening bar that needs fixing to the underside rear :cry:
The framing for the cupboard to the front of the gas box :cry:
The doorless shower/toilet compartment :cry:
The calculations on the inside of the door as to how much smaller to make those "Bloody Doors" fit correctly. Oh, and insulate and skin the inside. :cry: Image

As I was looking into fixed wing mirrors I thought I do a bit of a test.
Image
Ignoring the sash cramp and other clamps, it still looks ugly :lol:
Made up from scrap pieces of angle and box I was able to build the mirror into a position where I could see down the side from the driver's seat and the truck door missed it ;)
The next problem :shock:
Having used a plane flat mirror, the image that you can see is a bit like looking down a telescope :oops: :lol:
It's alright when you are close to a flat mirror, you get a true appreciation of size and distance. When you are farther away :o :(
I need a larger convex mirror :idea: it it is to work.
More tests are needed, so that I can see if it will also work for the nearside too.
Image

Having taken the camper off to go out in the truck, and put it back on again, it has made me more aware of the mounting and dismounting problems. I know at present I am still using my trusty farm jack with legs that have stop pins in them but I could do with some system to centralize the camper in the tub. It might only have 50mm clearance each side but that means it could be out quite a bit. An engineers eye 8-) :roll: picks it up when standing back and looking at it. I will be trying wedges, packing shims and I did wonder about a few old valve springs with a metal chute/ramp :?: It could be something as simple as a packing block the correct size dropped in the biggest gap ans a spreader clamp to push it over :?:
At the minute the jack outer box section is screwed to the camper meaning screwing ang unscrewing all the time to stow away. That too needs to change so I am now thinking of hinged units that will fold up out of the way( similar to the actual SKarosser I think) :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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wonkywheel
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Re: SKarosser Copy Scratch Home build?????

Post: # 25367Post wonkywheel
March 29th, 2019, 8:41 pm

Thanks, Mike. You must have posted while I was rambling :lol:
I'll have a look for the post
"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: # 25496Post wonkywheel
April 12th, 2019, 8:45 pm

This week moving on a bit. But then again it needs to if I'm going to use it next weekend :?


The first job was to try to tidy up some of the wiring to the running lights. My plan is to have the amber side running lights on whilst running :?: , but the to have them flash with the indicators :idea: I saw this on a continental artic and was impressed by the look. This means I need separate wiring looms for each set of lights. The rear red running lights are to also be brake lights. I have found If I put a resistor in the circuit to reduce the voltage I can vary the brightness of the led's. When the brake lights come on full voltage gives a brighter led :idea: :geek: .
When I put the front running lights on I was a bit pi**ed off, I ordered a set of 10 warm white led's. out of the 7 that are on the front 6 are warm white with 1 cool white :evil: Iknow I can change it (later) but the led's are screwed to the frame work, glued to the fiberglass with 512 and sealed with silicon :shock:

Image Its just a case of tucking the wires behind the panels

Looks quite neat when sorted although I did have to take them off to find all the light tails :roll:
Image

The next job was to find all the bits to the roof vent which were spread about the shed after being in there over 12 months :o
Found them eventually whilst having a major search for a lost set of house keys that had fallen out my pocket.

Image

All put together frame and all. It will have to come off and be refitted when I get more PVC sheet for the roof lining.
Run some power to it and test it out :D

Image Very impressed

This is one of the new Omnivent fan units and has 6 speed suck and blow 8-)

Now a bit of internal wiring

Image
The fuse box will be in the top cupboard, when I have one :lol: , so, for the time being, is stuck to the wall. The battery was fitted with a cut off switch (a lesson never forgotten :oops: ) then wiring for lights, radio, car socket, cooker and water pump run around the walls to be covered with PVC panel later.

The next job, gas.
I have decided on being able to use either Propane of Butane to cover all eventualities, plus I already have a part bottle of each ;)
A new continental motorhome switchover regulator was purchased to enable this.
:ugeek: Propane uses a 37mb pressure but Butane 27mb. these dual-use regulators are 30mb and can be used on both :)
A pair of pigtail pipe connectors, with non return valves, to suit allowed both bottles to be connected at once.

Image

The white knob on the center of the unit has a red /green pressure indicator on it as well as being able to point to either bottle :?
When the indicator points to a bottle, if it has pressure the markers are green, If there is insufficient pressure they are red. The knob can then be pointed to the other bottle. The regulator unit is designed for a 2 bottle setup for a quick change over of the empty.

I did find this unit very good in as much as it has a test nipple to check the system is gas tight. I was going to invest in a manometer to check for any leaks but so far I don't need one.
Image

With the gas feed traveling under the camper and into the valve box, it is possible to turn all the outlet valves off, pressurize the system by turning the bottle on then off. The regulator then shows that the system is pressurized and gives a green flag :) As the gas leaks out of any bad joints, the pressure drops and I get a red flag at the regulator :cry: The first attempt took about 2 minutes :(
Leak detection spray is all very well but you are never really sure there is not a leak :roll: If you know there is then you can use it to find it ;)
It took 4 attempts to be happy with that first section of pipework (it does have the most compression elbows and connectors in it)
The last check showed the pressure had not dropped enough for a red flag for 6 hours. We will see what the morning shows :?:
I will do the same on the next sections in turn.

When I purchased the sink/cooker combo off eBay the seller said that one of the burners did not stay alight. I thought it would just be a thermocouple gone down (an easy fix) I was more than a little miffed to find a new one was about £30. The cooker has one large and one small hob ring and it was the large that did not stay alight. I thought I would change the thermocouples over so I would at least have the large burner working. To my happy surprise after taking the thermocouple out and cleaning it up..... it worked :lol: :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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wonkywheel
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Re: SKarosser Copy Scratch Home build?????

Post: # 25515Post wonkywheel
April 13th, 2019, 5:18 pm

By morning the system had lost gas pressure so I haven't sorted all the leaks yet. :( This is the longest section of gas pipe with most of the elbows in it and it is outside. I could not see any visible signs of bubbles when using the leak spray so I am at a bit of a loss at the minute. I will go through the joints again to see if I can find the problem
but it takes so long to lose pressure I am not sure how significant it is.

I might go down the route of getting a gas sniffer. They should respond to 40 parts per million so that would give me peace of mind and I do have 3 gas drop out's in position. One in the sealed bottle box(well it will be) one under the selector valves and one under the cooker( the only one inside the cabin)
Image The gas selector valves are under what will be fridge/coolbox cupboard which can be accessed from outside.
"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: # 25847Post wonkywheel
May 17th, 2019, 10:28 pm

Just another quick update.
I have been busy working on the internals, cupboards, electrics etc.
I rewired my 4, 6volt solar panels and connected them to my new charge controller. The last one died with what I think was over voltage on the input. Hence the rewire. The original set up was 3 in series (3x6=18) with one in parallel. This time I have 2 in series connected in parallel. It seems to work well. I had worries about overvoltage from the setup. The panels were a cheap bargain :oops: At a tenner each but through my learning curve with solar systems, I have managed to kill 4 car radios by disconnecting the battery before the solar panels giving about 24 volts no load from the panels :o

The new solar controller was purchased from Coastline campers in Newquay who, I must say, were very helpful and gave me answers to my many questions. When I upgrade the solar panels I will be looking to them for a larger system.


The interior is, I am afraid, more practical than finished? The shakedown visit to Santapod helped formulate my priorities list.
First thing was to sort the leg out for the table. I originally had a piece of box section for a leg. Now I have a piece of box section with a homemade hinge for a leg which folds down to double up as a leg for the bed position :geek:
The overhead cupboards, well, shelves as they are at the minute, are made up using the remnants of the fiberglass sheet and PVC sheet. As we are into "Camping" season I an reluctant to do anything that I consider will jeopardize my ability to actually use the camper. So things like the unfinished, ill-fitting doors, (those bloody doors) have to wait until I consider there is enough time to complete them.
As it is the "shelves" will house the carrier bags of clothes and such like until I have time to sort an alternative arrangement.
Although I have spent a lot of time designing and making parts for the jack legs I did test out one of the electric trailer tow jacks that I purchased prior to starting the build and find the all-electric approach does appeal to me instead of alot of hand winding. I tested that one would lift one end on its own, and it does with ease :)
The beauty of a home build is that you can change your mind :lol:
With a few attempts at loading and unloading the camper, I am now considering using the trailer toe jacks, one front, one back, in conjunction with some internal drop down legs.
That and the design on the drop-down steps for the back are yet to be finalized.

A heap of more pictures to follow, no doubt, :lol: When I purchase some more batteries for my camera. Some super Duracell rechargeable 2450mAh batteries, to my dismay, would not operate my camera :shock: It appears being rated at 1.2 volts and not 1.5 volts meant they would not fire it up :?
Oh well another costly lesson learned.

Another trip to Santapod this weekend and a 4 day stop over next weekend at the Pod means there will be little improvement but a lot of enjoyment. :roll: :lol: :o :D :shock: 8-) 8-) 8-) 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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