[atari4x4]

i'd make a rack to raise it up off the lid as there is a skirt around the bottom of the tent that folds down when unpacked & if it's pissing down i reckon it will wick up the skirt & wet the tent/bedding etc if it's sitting on the lid.

[christover1]

Depends on floor construction.
Mine was 2 sheets of thin aluminium, sandwiching foam.
It had 2 ridges running through, that original pack rack mounts used.
I drilled and bolted through them, and use large flat washers to spread the load..
Ply floor would be easier I guess.

[atari4x4]

chris, i don't think many of the RTT's are made with ply floors these days, mine is the composite sandwiched alloy floor & i'd still suggest raising it off the lid... years of camping in canvas & nylon tents tells me that having anything touching the canvas etc will promote the wicking effect.

this is moph's set up with the skirt resting on the lid, i think he used the 2 rails for mounting to roof racks to bolt it directly to the plywood lid & i'm sure he had drama's with wet bedding during a wet trip.

[christover1]

That bit sticking out would cause heaps of bed wetting, tent has to hang over I agree.
Mine don't bolt to a lid of any kind, it is the lid itself.
If I was to build it again, I'd fit it on racks, as I have raised in 50mm now anyway.

[atari4x4]

mine is just smaller than the lid length ways, but it's raised enough for the flaps to not touch, another 30mm's on moph's set up would be fine.

[christover1]

I built my trailer to be smaller than the tent.
Shep's looks much bigger, and your idea is possibly a better one.

[atari4x4]

yeah something like a 50mm rack would probably do it.

shep wrote:

It has ended up being 1240x1800 and the drawbar is 1600 long.

RTT's folded up are 1200mm x 1400 from memory so he's got a bit of overhang front to back.

in the old money it works out to be about 4'1" wide X 5'11" long,

[shep]

Righto will make some sort of rack.

[shep]

Anyone know how to work out what struts are needed to hold up my lid?

Also scored a 1000w pure sine generator and 3x40w solar panels with a tricky controller, 2x100amp battery's and 800w inverter so pretty much have the power stuff sorted.

[atari4x4]

i just used some off a mazda 626 wagon, they're pretty damn firm. i think zukenutter used an ebay kit from memory.

looks like the kits range from 300n to 1100n

http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/?_from=R40&_ ... gas+struts

[Pubic]

You need to work out:
- the weight of the lid
- how far out you are going to put the struts from the pivot point
- how high you want your lid to open
- this will be determined by how long your struts can be which is determined by how deep your trailer is

Once you have that, you can calculate the force required to open the lid.

I vaguely remember something from physics and engineering studies at school..
mass(kg) x 9.8n.. there was a bit of triganometry in there too to factor in on where to put the struts?

n = newton
gravity = 9.8n of down force

draw an end view of your trailer and post it with how high you want the opening at the side/ back - include the weight of the top/lid.

[shep]

Crap. I can't do that thinking stuff^^^ so will just use the old trial and error method.

In the process of sorting out my solar stuff and as usual I have no idea what I am doing

The panels have this type of connector, one for - and one for +



My solar charge regulator has this type of connector



Seeing as I can't plug one into the other can I just chop the plugs off and solder the string together? Are solar panels hooked up in series or parallel?

[atari4x4]

shep wrote:

Crap. I can't do that thinking stuff^^^ so will just use the old trial and error method.

that's how i worked mine out, the struts came from a 90's mazda 626 wagon. i've got them set up so they over center just before the lid closes so the struts are holding the lid closed.







i have moved the lid end to the top hole to reduce the over centering effect as it was a bit of an effort to be able to crack the lid open. you've got to put a bit of weight on the lid to close it even with the RTT on it so there is zero chance of it blowing closed or falling on your noggin'


NFI about the solar strings, the old people at www.myswag.org would be able to help... but be warned they smell like old people.

[tonyevans]

Shep - They are standard panel plugs and cheap as chips on Ebay - I can send you a few if you need them faster.

As far as how they are connected depends on the panel and the result you want - Just think of them as batteries - Hook them in series and you increase the Volts - Hook them in parallel and you increase the amps.

There will be a label on the back that tells you voltage etc of the panel.

Tony

[shep]

Thanks tony, which ones are the standard sort? The plugs from the panels (redarc) are different to the others.

[tonyevans]

The ones on the panels - Are the ones on the inverter for the panel connection or the battery? Do you have a regulator with it all?

Normal is Panel array to reg - Battery to reg - Inverter to load terminals on the reg ONLY if the reg can handle the amps - Most can't so hook the inverter direct to the battery's.

[shep]

Got the tent onto the trailer. Think I might raise it a bit higher and build a slide type thingo under the tent to mount my solar panels to. Then they re out of the way when traveling and when parked up they can slide out and charge the battery's.



Ended up with 2 600n struts, a little bit stronger then needed but that means I can stick more crap on the lid

[atari4x4]

time to get on the turps & sleep in it!!

[shep]

atari4x4 wrote:

time to get on the turps & sleep in it!!

Heaps more stuff to do to it yet

[Jezza86]

atari4x4 wrote:

time to get on the turps & sleep in it!!

I swear my pod is the most comfortable thing to crash in after a big night...
it will be even better on the trailer cos I wont have to use a ladder drunk anymore..

[christover1]

Jezza86 wrote:

atari4x4 wrote:

time to get on the turps & sleep in it!!

I swear my pod is the most comfortable thing to crash in after a big night...
it will be even better on the trailer cos I wont have to use a ladder drunk anymore..

I probably get one of them once rooftop tent is past its prime

[got_bar_work]

The panels have mc4 connectors wich is the right one the other is some.crappy plug
u need to work out the input volts of the reg using volts open circuit voc
Do not go over the volt input limit of u will cook the reg
mc4 need special tools to undo so i would sugest just getting Anderson plugs that way its easy to undo

[tonyevans]

The regulator is limited by the amps it can handle not just volts - Most regulators today are auto sensing and switching for volts but the components used will limit the amount of current they can handle.

[shep]

I have a 10 amp controller and 4 x 2.25 amp panels

[tonyevans]

Right on the limit but may be OK depending on the make and components used - I use a rule of thumb with the cheap Chinese ones of 2 to 1 and have had no problems.

When hooking up - for safety - always hook up the positive from the battery first then the negative then everything else.

[got_bar_work]

When sizing. stuff for solar u should be timesing ever thing by 1.5 to allow for below 25 deg but really sunny .
put a 10a fuse on the solar cables and carry spares then u will not cook ur reg
U can buy inline mc4 fuse holders that take solar hrc fuses or u could just put a auto motive fuse in. u should be right as the voltage is only really low. if u go over 48vdc i wouldn't be using anything other then proper solar gear .
Just remember to use proper start up and shut down procedure
to start
connect panels to reg
reg to batt
batt to inverter
to stop
disconnect inverter
disconnect batt
disconnect solar

[tonyevans]

A fuse will never blow fast enough to protect the components in a regulator and I have never seen a regulator that did not tell you to connect battery first in the install instructions but then I have only been building my own stuff (Panels included) for 20 years so what would I know.

If I can help at all Shep please just PM me;<}

[got_bar_work]

Sorry they might. i haven't worked on that much dodgy small suff . i work on big systems and if u connect the panels to a load then ur going to draw a masive ark and start a fire

[shep]

The instructions say what to do



If I blow it up it doesn't matter as I know the fella that does the warranty claims

[got_bar_work]

That completely backwards to a normal system
must be because its so small it doesnt matter about switching under load
if u did that in a house it would burn to the ground
sorry tony u were right
If u parrallel the 4 up u should have a fuse on each panel as well to protect them
if only 2 u dont need to but 3 or more u do
wat size panels are they