When I last posted about the trailer, it looked like this:
Though most of the changes are inside, it now looks like this:
When we first started car camping, it was before the age of cheap commonly available usb power packs, LEDs, and the like. Thus, we set ourselves up with 12 volt accessories/cords, and generally ran off the car whether it was 110 from an inverter, or 12v from the battery. Over the years, we aquired quite a number of 12v appliances, even a hair dryer lol. It is for this reason, along with the fact that the new car has a tiny battery, that I decided to add more to this module.
Added, was an 80AH 12v AGM deep cycle battery mounted on its side, a dell DPS-500CB 12 volt server power supply, a VMAX on board charger for AGM, power in/out ports, and fanned vents I made closable, front and rear. The server PSU puts out 41 amps of clean 12 volt power and was like 13 bucks on ebay. I wired all of the above, through a multi pole rotary switch like you see in some RVs. The switch is wired so that center position of the switch is dead (nothing to the sockets), Left position (pointed at the battery) connects battery power to the sockets, and right position (pointed at the PSU) turns the PSU on, connects PSU power to the sockets, turns on the charger, and powers on the vent fans.
The drip/leak shield was cut from a broken storage tub I had laying around, and the metal tape you see, is due to the fact that the lid seal sticks to painted surfaces, but not to the metal tape.
AC in, 12v DC out, and vent.
Finding a cheap simple lightweight way to make the vents closable probably took me the most time, but venting with the PSU running and/or battery charging is a must, and we live in a dusty area and have to pull the thing over 5 miles on dirt before we hit pavement, so it was necessary:
Closed.
Open.
The idea is that whenever and wherever we go, whether we are plugged in somewhere with electricity, or camped in the boondocks, we can always use the same accessories, wiring, have plenty of reserve power, and don't have to worry about the battery in the car. In fact, we no longer even have to be in close proximity to the car for access to 12v power at all.
The box under the cargo carrier, made out of wood scraps we had left over from another project. It isn't the prettiest thing in the world, but it functions well enough.
CMD