2024 Casita 17' Spirit Deluxe

eatSleepWoof

Do it for the 'gram
My converter is lithium capable, it says it right on the front and in the paperwork. Solar controller is good to go as well. This is more about the voltage profile and the battery being a lot newer tech and capable of a much higher voltage rate than what the chargers are setup for before they go into float in anticipation of overcharge.
Hmm... Interesting. I haven't heard of lithium-compatible chargers (converter/solar) not being actually compatible with some (newer) lithium batteries. Seems like if they advertise lithium compatibility it should handle ALL lithium batteries.

My OEM converter has no problem charging the battery up to 100%, but my lithium batteries are much cheaper and like older tech vs. yours.
 

Tex68w

Beach Bum
Hmm... Interesting. I haven't heard of lithium-compatible chargers (converter/solar) not being actually compatible with some (newer) lithium batteries. Seems like if they advertise lithium compatibility it should handle ALL lithium batteries.

My OEM converter has no problem charging the battery up to 100%, but my lithium batteries are much cheaper and like older tech vs. yours.


Well that's just it, I think it's the voltage profile on this new tech, as @Kingsize24 put it, it's a new high performance battery and the converter and chargers I have just aren't capable of that profile. I am going to look for a dip switch on the converter, it's probably over 100 degrees in the storage unit at the moment so I'll wait until this evening to go over there and dig around inside of the camper. Either way, the new charger coming will get it up to 100% and all cells fully balanced for this initial charge and then it'll be fine from there on.
 

Tex68w

Beach Bum
The converter claims it's capable of a lithium charging profile all the way up to 14.6v so in theory it should be able to do it. I think my issue is that I am charging via the available 15amp outlet in my unit instead of the full 30amp as it's designed for. If I had a 30amp hookup nearby I could plug it in and see if it would then take it the rest of the way. I might rent a space at one of the local RV parks here in town later this week and leave it overnight to see if it'll take it the rest of the way.
 

Buddha.

Finally in expo white.
Some of the lithium compatible converters will change over automatically after a charge cycle. Some of them have a tiny little switch on the board, you have to take off the cover front cover.
 

Tex68w

Beach Bum
Some of the lithium compatible converters will change over automatically after a charge cycle. Some of them have a tiny little switch on the board, you have to take off the cover front cover.

Yea I couldn't find a switch and the literature claims it does all of it automatically. I plan to call the manufacturer WFCO tomorrow and see what they have to say.
 

DFNDER

Active member
These look great for comfortable camping, but since this is an overlanding site, I have to wonder how any of these will hold up after lots of washboard or rough dirt roads. Obviously none of these are suited for anything crazy, but even with a lift and AT’s, it’s not clear to me that the construction of any of these will hold up to the kind of abuse we associate with overlanding. Curious if anyone has pushed these to the limit and found out if they hold up.
 

Tex68w

Beach Bum
These look great for comfortable camping, but since this is an overlanding site, I have to wonder how any of these will hold up after lots of washboard or rough dirt roads. Obviously none of these are suited for anything crazy, but even with a lift and AT’s, it’s not clear to me that the construction of any of these will hold up to the kind of abuse we associate with overlanding. Curious if anyone has pushed these to the limit and found out if they hold up.

Well, seeing how it has no nails, staples, or major screws (aside from a few small decorative strips, nothing structural) they hold up worlds better than the majority of your traditional campers and even some of your off-road oriented trailers as there's no structural wood or panels to rattle loose or fail. No leaks, better structural rigidity, better thermal retention, better durability to exterior debris and weather, etc. They don't have some wild off-road suspension under them (shock kits are available) but even that has been done with some of them sitting on 5,000-10,000lb axles with beefed up frames and full suspension (some even on Timbren axle-less setups). Check out the work of Texas Customz on the World's Toughest Casita's.

I specifically chose a FGRV for this role due to their attributes in terms of strength, rigidity, ruggedness, durability and improved thermal characteristics over traditional camper construction. There's a reason why FGRV's hold their value so well and are so sought after on the secondary market. This trailer is more than up to task of being used as a light weight off-road camper and others here have used them as such long before myself. I have a full bath, I can fully stand up inside of my trailer without converting the top, I have a full kitchen along with a furnace, a massive AC with a dinette and plenty of storage to boot. It has over a foot of ground clearance, sits on 30" all-terrain tires and has a full steel frame underneath of it's 17ft chassis and it all weighs in at a featherlight 2500lbs.

This might be an overland focused forum but the mass majority of users here use their trailers in the same terrain and scenarios as I've built this one for. Traversing gravel and dirt roads, forest and fire roads, traveling to a trail head only to be left and used as a home base or hub of sorts for daily travel out and back. We've done the tear drop off-road trailer towed down the trail behind us daily thing and it's far from practical or ideal in many scenarios and we found that type of travel is simply not for us.

Very few here are anything more than weekend warriors doing their best to find time to break away in their busy lives a few times a year for a week or so of exploring and getting back home in one piece. If you're looking for around the world travel builds and $250K end of the world rigs that are self-sustaining for weeks on end then you're going to want to ignore 95% of all threads you find on this forum lol. Thanks for your input and concern.
 

deminimis

Explorer
I like the cut of your jib, sir. We were searching hard for the right Casita, but a Nest fell into our lap last week. I would have rather started with a Casita, as I have to go a lot further to get our Nest even mildly trail ready, but it was just one of those things. Great build!
 

Todd n Natalie

OverCamper
Very few here are anything more than weekend warriors doing their best to find time to break away in their busy lives a few times a year for a week or so of exploring and getting back home in one piece. If you're looking for around the world travel builds and $250K end of the world rigs that are self-sustaining for weeks on end then you're going to want to ignore 95% of all threads you find on this forum lol. Thanks for your input and concern.
Hey! I resemble that remark!

Side note, if you want a way to carry more water but not use up space have you heard of the Aquatank 2 water bladders?

Keep it empty, when you need to refill your water tank, fill it up in the back of your truck and use gravity or water pump to refill the trailer.


 

eatSleepWoof

Do it for the 'gram
Hey! I resemble that remark!

Side note, if you want a way to carry more water but not use up space have you heard of the Aquatank 2 water bladders?

Keep it empty, when you need to refill your water tank, fill it up in the back of your truck and use gravity or water pump to refill the trailer.


Yes!

There are hundreds of "water bladder" options on Amazon, and even more if you also search for "boat ballast," as they can have some non-standard dimensions that are sometimes necessary.

I recently picked up this 30gallon one. Pretty heavy duty material, and passed my leak test. I'll carry it empty to camp, then drive out to a water source, fill the bladder, and back at camp pump water from the bladder into the trailer's tanks.
 

Mekcanix

Camper
Well, seeing how it has no nails, staples, or major screws (aside from a few small decorative strips, nothing structural) they hold up worlds better than the majority of your traditional campers and even some of your off-road oriented trailers as there's no structural wood or panels to rattle loose or fail. No leaks, better structural rigidity, better thermal retention, better durability to exterior debris and weather, etc. They don't have some wild off-road suspension under them (shock kits are available) but even that has been done with some of them sitting on 5,000-10,000lb axles with beefed up frames and full suspension (some even on Timbren axle-less setups). Check out the work of Texas Customz on the World's Toughest Casita's.

I specifically chose a FGRV for this role due to their attributes in terms of strength, rigidity, ruggedness, durability and improved thermal characteristics over traditional camper construction. There's a reason why FGRV's hold their value so well and are so sought after on the secondary market. This trailer is more than up to task of being used as a light weight off-road camper and others here have used them as such long before myself. I have a full bath, I can fully stand up inside of my trailer without converting the top, I have a full kitchen along with a furnace, a massive AC with a dinette and plenty of storage to boot. It has over a foot of ground clearance, sits on 30" all-terrain tires and has a full steel frame underneath of it's 17ft chassis and it all weighs in at a featherlight 2500lbs.

This might be an overland focused forum but the mass majority of users here use their trailers in the same terrain and scenarios as I've built this one for. Traversing gravel and dirt roads, forest and fire roads, traveling to a trail head only to be left and used as a home base or hub of sorts for daily travel out and back. We've done the tear drop off-road trailer towed down the trail behind us daily thing and it's far from practical or ideal in many scenarios and we found that type of travel is simply not for us.

Very few here are anything more than weekend warriors doing their best to find time to break away in their busy lives a few times a year for a week or so of exploring and getting back home in one piece. If you're looking for around the world travel builds and $250K end of the world rigs that are self-sustaining for weeks on end then you're going to want to ignore 95% of all threads you find on this forum lol. Thanks for your input and concern.
I too resemble this remark. I really wish I knew more about camper construction before we bought the Nobo because I have next to nothing for wood working skills and my preferred medium of construction is steel and welding, so its been a learning experience. I love threads like yours and eatSleepWoof gets a Winnie. great info and ideas thank you

John

 

Tex68w

Beach Bum
It took numerous attempts at different adapters to find the correct one for this awkward combination of metric and standard threads in order to fit this silly little pivoting head, adjustable aerator to the kitchen sink. In the end the adaptor cost me more than double what I paid for the aerator itself lol. The silly missions we go on for trivial little mods and creature comforts. It's scary how much I enjoyed completing this accessory, man I am getting soft as I age lol.


WpPSsMM.jpg
 

Tex68w

Beach Bum
I threw the new charger on the battery, turned it up to 15amps and it only took 8 minutes for the battery to fully charge the last 2%/7Ah and balance all four cells. I'll stick to the plan of throwing the battery on this charger each time I put it back in storage post trips.
 

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