Category: 2018 Camper Build

I started a new phase in the camper this morning. Skinning. I’m using a technique called “poor man’s fiberglass” which involves canvas or bed sheets and paint or glue. I chose canvas and paint, specifically Glidden Gripper. I tackled what I think is the hardest section first, the tapered front end. In the pictures you can see the canvas and paint on the top front. Next is that same piece of canvas anchored behind the rigid foam. The anchor is probably not really necessary but I had a gap that would collect water so I’m filling the gap and securing the canvas the will take the brunt of the wind. Finally while I had the can open I put canvas on the front hatch. I picked up a $10 paper coverall from HD before I started which should last me for a while. Once covered a few layers of cheap paint will go over this and then some better paint.

To misquote Tom Hanks, I Made Power! I’ve done a connection test to see if I understood it all. John Reed can feel free to critique my setup as I picked his brain for this. I cut the outlet end of a cheap extension cord to stand in for the 30 amp power cord that will ultimately be there. Two 20 amp circuit breakers feed the two outlets on the left, one each. An LED bulb lamp is plugged in to the outlet. The power source was plugged into a power strip with surge protection just in case but it all worked as planned. One minor detail is the bus is expecting a larger wire and I couldn’t get it to close on the extension cord so I had to screw that in one of the other screws on the bus. But it’s all one piece of metal so I figured the worst that could happen is the entire city would go dark. In the camper on breaker will supply the charger/converter and the other will supply two GFCI outlets in the cabin. Room for two more should I need it.

Not knowing if I was throwing away a hard earned 8 dollars and change, I ordered 6 LED 12 volt daytime running lights from Ebay for the camper. They looked pretty bright in the ad. They arrived a couple days ago. Today after painting, I found a converter to give me a few amps of 12 volt DC. Using some alligator clip testing connectors I hooked two of them up. They seem pretty bright. I plan to use them as overhead lights in the cabin. Given how bright they are I might put each pair on a separate circuit with its own switch.

They are kind of flimsy but I’m sure I can adhere them to a backing to sturdy them up.