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It's a lot simpler to just carry a couple of batteries and a charger that plugs into the cigarette lighter. Then you can use the batteries on any tool you have with you. Dewalt makes one-hole and two-hole chargers that handle all their NiCads and LithiumIon batteries from 7.2-18 volts. I...

If you can afford to give up the space, sheet the interior with a highly efficient foam panels, like polyisocyanurate. Even a 1/2" sheet will help a lot. R-value is about 6.0 per inch, but varies by manufacturer and by the chemicals that are used to blow the foam. Norm used to be about 7.5 per...

Because walls are never airtight, and the insulation, whether foam or fiberglass batts or cellulose or whatever, is there to keep air from moving through the cavities. Same reason, to keep air from moving around. And it provides some crush resistance to the flexible plastic shell. The crush...

It's all true. Dead air is a great insulator, and if all the tubing joints are sealed, you have dead air. Not a perfect insulator but pretty good. The vast majority of the heat will be lost through the metal. If there are openings in the tubing that allow for convection currents, then the...

Not a camper or truck application, but I use the foam a lot in residential remodeling for just those reasons. Anytime you can keep a panel from vibrating, it should make things quieter. Won't really cut down much on noise from outside the vehicle because it actually can provide a better...

Re the insulation value of foamed metal tubing: heat is like water and will follow the path of least resistance. That metal is the path of least resistance and heat will flow out of the camper through the metal, regardless of what is inside the metal. To insulate the tubing, you need to cover...

A little late but I finally got out my MaxTrax and measured them in anticipation of changing my storage and packing routine. I have four of the series-2 MaxTrax. Actual measurements are 45-3/16"L x 12-15/16"W. Stacked height for a pair is 3-1/8"H. Stack of four pieces is 4-9/16"H. This...

"Sort of" hitching a ride on fluid dynamics. Still works, though.

I spent some time this afternoon talking with a guy who had all the windows in his newish (2014?) Ford minivan filmed with no tint, and he said that the difference in interior temps is amazing. The film he used was the stuff that I had bookmarked but could not remember the name of, 3M...

Well, MythBusters is not the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, but everybody agrees that black heats up faster than white. MythBusters stunts are seldom rigorous enough to withstand scientific scrutiny, but they are usually what we would call "directionally correct." Leave the cars out...

Well, alrighty then. First let me state the anything put out by the California Energy Commission is immediately suspect. You need to consider their agenda and their tactics in evaluating anything they state as fact. These are the guys who at the time of this report wanted to ban dark colors...

Whatever you say...

If you leave two of anything in a given set of conditions, they will eventually stabilize to those conditions. In this case, they will stabilize at the same temperature if left in the sun long enough. Look up "thermodynamic equilibrium" for more detailed discussion. Heat is transmitted in...

I missed the part about Sweden, but for those of you in North America, be aware that the Optima Blue marine batteries are not all deep cycle, so be careful if that's what you are buying. Optima makes a Blue marine starting battery and a Blue marine dual purpose (starting and deep cycle). I...

It is significant, but as pointed out by another poster, there are a lot of variables. And if you leave a black truck and a white truck out in the desert sun all day, the black truck will heat up faster, but by mid afternoon they will both be at about the same temperature inside, assuming same...

Or look at the Painless Performance battery isolator. Puts a toggle switch on your dash that connects to their solenoid and allows you to manually select which batteries are starting or charging or out of the system. You choose, nothing automatic, but you can do it from the driver's seat, even...

Warn used to, but discontinued. May still be some around. My big Warn single cylinder puts out 12cfm free air flow without a tank. They also had a twin cylinder that put out about twice that.

I've had three separate separate early stage melanomas removed in the last four years. Not fun. Watch your time in the sun, wear SPF and a hat that covers your ears. Baseball caps don't cut it.

I would not use that stuff for thermal insulation. The reason it works as a sound deadener is that it adds mass to the metal panels and reduces vibration and harmonics. That mass is the reason it would not help with heat insulation and may even make things worse. It adds thermal mass that...

Get your doc to write you a letter or email telling you that you need to protect yourself from the sun and from UVA/UVB rays because you are susceptible to skin cancer. Sun damage is cumulative and if you don't have skin cancer now, you will eventually if you are like the rest of us. Keep a...