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Old 06-02-2014, 05:38 AM   #1
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Powering on the road

I had a few eyebrows raised to say the least, so bare with me.

We were planning a long haul trip this summer and a few of us guys have those toys in mind, gidgets and gadgets. I like to create and experiment when a thought comes to mind I'm all over it.

As a cartoon character with a cloud over my head with question marks inside.......

I thought: rather than run precious propane to keep my fridge running I would use AC powering. (disclaimer: 'precious' was my justification for having fun and being creative. Plus... Why not? )

Just prior to last Christmas (the day when most of us buy our own toys), I saw a 2,000 watt AC inverter on sale for half price. I couldn't buy that fast enough. Fast forward.

After mapping things out of how I wanted to hook things up.
I rigged up a 150AMP fuse at the car (Explorer) battery to a # 2 welding cable. Drilled a hole in a strategic location on the passenger side firewall.. I used appropriate split-loom and caulking to secure and prevent chaffing. and terminated that connection on the passenger side kick panel, but inserted the cable into the female-end of a welder's quick disconnect fitting. I did alter the factory battery clamp and changed to the old more traditional battery clamp so I could add this eyelet connector.

With more # 2 cable and now the male end of the welder's twist connector I continued running cable towards the back of the truck and hooked that up to the inverter. I already had a preassembled ground cable with connectors left over from my ham radio days. A bazillion years later of stock piling it came in handy. I knew I'd use that cable one day

I grounded that to the rear bench seat bolt-down in the floor.

1) the fuse needs to be high rated for any future maximum draw
2) the fuse has to be as near the battery as possible
3) if anything was to happen at any time for any reason that fuse is the first to go / blow. Safety first worry about the rest later.
4) The cable I used is a communications cable used for powering with several layers of its own insulation, plus the split loom and the caulking all adds up to a great protective insulator for going through the firewall.
5) the rear seat bolt down was the best available spot for grounding.
6) I'll keep the inverter sitting on top of anything that we pack for the trip so that the fans on the inverter will keep it cool. No burying and no mounting at this point.
7) I use the welder's twist connectors for quick and easy disconnect, yet have a high current available.
When not needed I can disconnect this system and remove it in seconds. want to sell my truck? add another 2 minutes for the battery disconnect.

Now I can run my fridge or anything else while traveling an keep my precious propane

Head scratcher.... my wife still doesn't understand why I'm doing this. I also have a couple of non-technical friends that don't understand my thinking.

Please...tell me I'm not loosing it?????
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Old 06-02-2014, 03:23 PM   #2
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Nope, your not losing it. You done lost it. The money spent would pay for a lot of propane, epically the amount a refrig uses. But hey it's nice to have AC available when needed
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Old 06-02-2014, 06:34 PM   #3
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I have to agree with Jim. Your fridge uses the least amount of propane of any appliance in your trl. Maybe you can use it for something else which I have no idea what it would be, but what a great endeavor.
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Old 06-02-2014, 07:19 PM   #4
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Like I said earlier, the main reason I built it, is because I could, so why not? It's not just about the propane.
The concept is not just for the trailer. My son volunteers for a local Christmas parade and he's often need an inverter or generator to power external lights and music on a float trailer that he tows.
This inverter will be put to use down the road for wind or solar power, purchasing one piece at a time.
it's fun to build and create for what ever reason
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Old 06-02-2014, 08:04 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jim44646 View Post
... You done lost it. ...
Yup! ... but then again, I use to love to put together things like that just for the fun of it. Things that "normal" people don't do.

On the other hand, I could probably run my fridge all summer on less than one 20# bottle.
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Old 06-02-2014, 08:53 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JerryJ View Post
Please...tell me I'm not loosing it?????
Nope. I'm not tellin' ya!

I'm guilty of doing the same thing to a GL500 Interstate I had. (Similar to that one, but with rear seat and carrier instead of the trunk.) Not the fridge thing of course, but a project of similar "because I can" mindset. Could have probably bought a device to do the same thing, but....

I rode 100 miles or more (r/t) to work at that time, and it got kinda foggy along WV rivers in the morning. I wasn't comfy with the steady "On" tail light alerting the drivers behind me to my presence. I wanted something easier to see. That bike didn't have the fancy flashy lights they do now.

I made an alternating turn signal flasher (school bus style) using a 555 timer chip as a fixed multivibrator and a 4-bit driver chip for powering the turn signal lamps. Didn't want to jeopardize my turn signal circuits, so I used a selector switch to isolate the bike's turn signal circuits and replace them with my timer/alternator circuit. When I got into low-visibility situations, I'd flip the switch. It disabled the turn signals while I had it on, but who needs 'em then anyhow? When on, they had a cycle of about 1 second. Mounted the selector switch on the left side panel in the fairing where the glove compartment was.

Have I lost it, too?
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Old 06-03-2014, 04:29 AM   #7
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I recall about 20 or so years ago I was enamored with having a standby gas driven Honda generator. Could afford one or justify one but just the same I thought they were cool and wanted one. Good enough reason for me.

I already had a horizontal shaft engine that I salvaged off an old rototiller.
In my imagination I drafted up how things would be built by using a car alternator (ya you heard that right). Creative but not very practical, yet it did work.
I didn't have a the proper coupler to drive the unit so I used a pulley set-up off the engine and the alternator keeping in mind the difference in ratios for pulley sizes and direction of rotation.
Then I found I had to use a small Lead acid battery just to excite the alternator. Good grief, what next?

Big, bulky and ugly it was my pride-n-joy with no practical use.
I later learned, it's not always what you build but the thought process involved to get there. It didn't take long before I tore it apart. I did it because I could. It was a thought about something that nagged at me and Ta-Da, there it is.

After I got my Ham Radio ticket I built many extremely odd-ball antennas for HF, some worked great, others, nothing special.

I worked at the cable company as an RF specialist so it tied my hobby and career as one. Couldn't get to work fast enough, most mornings.
The company gave me the freedom of creativity because most of my mad-scientist projects was about the technology which to them translated into money savings or a better way to do things.

You would not believe the antennas on my work truck as I had almost every RF toy in the truck. With company logo and always kept cleaned and waxed (inside and out) it was a wee bit intimidating to the unsuspecting. It sure kept the cable theft rate down which was revenue for the company. Doing things the way I did, kept the red-neck philosophy thoughts away.

Have you ever heard a joke at a camp fire or a party and THAT joke reminds you of another one that YOU could tell the group?
It's the same with innovations. While the one you're working on might not be the cat's meow, parts of it could lead to your next brainstorm.

Not good enough to be an inventor but maybe an innovator I helped our industry do things better, but more importantly I had fun and it keeps the old brain cells active.

In my early years I worked in the service department (kind of a gateway job to prove yourself, prior to any promotion). In service I visited all kinds of homes and families. You would not believe half the people (customers) I met that lived on their couches with no ambition in life. Their living space was proof of that; dirty, dull and dingy. No motivation and poor grammar I just couldn't understand how some people just don't get it. That's ok, usually my next customer would of affluent status. Education and ambition was key for me.

I vowed to myself never to be like that and became self-motivated and maybe to an extreme. Since those early years I took on all kinds of night school courses always to better myself. Yet I don't regret a moment of my madness
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Old 06-03-2014, 06:39 AM   #8
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Camper ham antenna. It's made of the remains of an old 10 meter beam the tubing slides inside one another it is full 1/2 wave on 10,12,15,and 17 meters. At 17 it is pretty big (around 26') but I have a killer signal! I have a 700 watt inverter that I plug my camper power cord into when I'm parked to charge little batteries and watch a little TV. My ham gear, solar panel, and inverter all use 50 amp connectors that plug directly into the dual batteries on the tong there is also a 50 amp connector in the load center at the back of the camper.The mount on the rear bumper allows me to walk the mast up. DE N3LYT
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Old 06-03-2014, 09:46 AM   #9
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That reminds of an antenna that I built. Not sure if you heard of the "ATTIC antenna"

That was a design created for people that live in town houses or condos where external towers and antennas were not allowed.


Attic Antennas - Ham Radio Library

Basically cut to length and add a series of traps. Enough though I have my own tower I built the attic antenna just to see how it worked. Not bad really.

I thought this antenna would be great for camping hanging in between trees at the camp site. When finished just coil it up into a bag or small box and tote around and takes next to no space
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Old 06-04-2014, 05:47 PM   #10
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I'm not a big fan of traps I like BIG antennas! I have a 1/2 wave dual band 40/80 meter wire (twin lead ladder line) that replaces the rotatable dipole on top to the fiberglass mast now that takes up a lot of real estate!
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Old 06-05-2014, 06:44 AM   #11
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as far as efficiency is concerned I will agree with 100%. However, for restricted areas the user can at least have something.
Mine worked great at 80M. Actually it was most resonant at 80M which was our local band for the guys.

I made a dipole wire antenna which stretches from back yard to front. I had to install two weenie traps just for the sake of space. Too many trees in our yard for a beam. Everyone does what's best for them. But nothing beats the real thing
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