eatSleepWoof gets a Winnie

[Downytide]

Nice FLX!

How are the Truma appliances treating you? That's a major upside the FLX upgrade carries, which unfortunately can't be retrofitted (within reason) to non-FLX minnies.

I had a Thuma propane air/water heater in a previous trailer and really liked it. Would love to have one again, along with their 12v A/C!



I didn't take photos during the build, but I typically do rabbet joints in the corners as well as walls to floor. Then it's carpenter's glue on all matching surfaces, join them together, brad nails to hold them in place, clamp them down for 30 minutes. When dry, clean off any glue, give every surface a quick sand, and apply edge banding tape to the top edges. Protruding edge banding gets removed with a flush-trim router bit and sharp chisel (for inner corners that the router can't get), another light sand on the edge band edges, then stain/finish/mount.

Do non-FLX have the same water heater/furnace? I love how efficient the heater/furnace is, we've had our unit since Aug 2022, we are still on the same 2 tanks of propane, we've gone on about 20+ trips so far, and we camp starting in May and into November in Ontario, we just avoid cooking inside.

The A/C is great, but to be honest we've used it may be 5 times.

Our unit had a major electrical break down in 2023, so spent about 3 months fixing it and rewire almost the entire trailer, what I've learned is that non-Flx and Flx is pretty similar in a way, they literately based off the normal trailer in terms of wiring, incld solar system, after re-wiring the whole trailer I was trying to get a new one, was interested in Airstream tradewind, but $180k + taxes is a hard pill to swallow, saw other "off-grid" trailer but they are literately the same size as Micro Minnie and costs same as Airstream.

So went a bit overboard on "updating"

 

[eatSleepWoof]

Do non-FLX have the same water heater/furnace? I love how efficient the heater/furnace is, we've had our unit since Aug 2022, we are still on the same 2 tanks of propane, we've gone on about 20+ trips so far, and we camp starting in May and into November in Ontario, we just avoid cooking inside.

The A/C is great, but to be honest we've used it may be 5 times.

Our unit had a major electrical break down in 2023, so spent about 3 months fixing it and rewire almost the entire trailer, what I've learned is that non-Flx and Flx is pretty similar in a way, they literately based off the normal trailer in terms of wiring, incld solar system, after re-wiring the whole trailer I was trying to get a new one, was interested in Airstream tradewind, but $180k + taxes is a hard pill to swallow, saw other "off-grid" trailer but they are literately the same size as Micro Minnie and costs same as Airstream.

So went a bit overboard on "updating"

That's a shame, but at least now you know it's all done properly!

The non-FLX do not have any Truma appliances. My trailer has a "normal" Dometic hot-water heater (5 or 6 gallon capacity, can't recall), and a separate Dometic furnace.

So far we've camped approximately 12-14 nights (most of which required running the furnace all night, some also required running it during the day), and had the hot water heater basically running all day; used up a single 20lb propane tank. Pretty minor expense for the convenience, IMO.

 

[eatSleepWoof]

Scored this dinette, brand-new, three minute drive from me, for a measly $200. Borderline theft!

It's an almost perfect colour match to the interior (note my original, fold-out couch in the back) in both structure and cushion colours. Depth/height are perfect, length is about an inch shorter than my slide-out's inner size, so I'll probably need to use a spacer or two. Or I might just make a slightly wider table and figure out how to make up the gap in cushions, if there even is one.

Might keep the crib in place and only install half the dinette for now; will play around with it and see what makes sense. In any case, super happy with this purchase!

 

[Obsessed2findARuggedHybid]

Scored this dinette, brand-new, three minute drive from me, for a measly $200. Borderline theft!

It's an almost perfect colour match to the interior (note my original, fold-out couch in the back) in both structure and cushion colours. Depth/height are perfect, length is about an inch shorter than my slide-out's inner size, so I'll probably need to use a spacer or two. Or I might just make a slightly wider table and figure out how to make up the gap in cushions, if there even is one.

Might keep the crib in place and only install half the dinette for now; will play around with it and see what makes sense. In any case, super happy with this purchase!

That's what I call good Karma

 

[eatSleepWoof]

New dinette is in!

I first mounted the two seats. When setting them up, I realized that the "vertical" wall of my slide out and the "vertical" walls of the dinette are anything but. When tucking the bottom corner of either dinette seat against the corner/wall, I still had a good half-inch (!!!) gap between the wall and the dinette at the top of the seat... on both sides.

So I took the "storage unit" that was against this wall originally, and cut it down so as to do two things: allow me to cover all gaps between the dinette and the wall in full, and also cover/hide all original mounting holes in the wall. As yet another upside, it adds some of the original panelling colour back to this area, tying everything together.

The table from this dinette is about 3" too narrow, but it's trivial to make a new tabletop when we actually need it (in a few years). The cushions do fit nicely even as-is, but I can make them an even better (tighter) fit by putting a pool noodle between the cushion and the wall on one of the two ends.

As it happened, the room between the two seats allowed for a perfect fit of our existing "mini crib" (which was already in the trailer), with about an extra inch to spare. Couldn't ask for a better fit!

I added a pair of tie-downs (one per seat) that I then used to secure the crib in place.

I also installed new (silver) trim all around the outer edge of the slide out. Original trim did not cover all of the edge, and only went a few inches under each end of the couch, so 90% of the largest surface area was exposed. It was also too narrow to cover the holes from the couch's mounting hardware. New trim is a combination of 1" flat stock which I used for the vertical piece, and 1 9/16" x 1/4" edge trim on the horizontal. It took an eternity to get things right, but I'm happy with how it turned out.

Also made a slide-on arm/mount for the baby monitor. Thought I'd need to screw it in (thus the two pre-drilled holes at the bottom), but it seems to be plenty stable enough as it is. Will leave it loose for now.

Finished product!

 

[Mekcanix]

Thats awesome. I love your creative solutions

 

[eatSleepWoof]

Can't stop, won't stop... fixing Winnebagos crap!

These trailers are notorious for having the black-tank valves seize up and get stuck. Ours has been very difficult since day one (this spring!) and completely seized in the open position after the last trip. I had previously opened the underbelly to have a look at how it was setup, and found that the handles on the exterior of the frame operate bowden cables, both of which run all the way across the trailer, do a full 180 degree turn, and then connect to the actual sliding-gate valve. The valves themselves open towards the passenger's side, not the driver's side (where the handles are). The cables are long, have tons of friction inside, and eventually corrode and seize up. Fun times.

(Most of the following is a copy of another Winnie owner's modification from a few years ago - the post was on Facebook somewhere and I saved snippets of it.)

So I opened up the underbelly and removed the original handle, cable, and the cable's attachment on the black tank valve, leaving me with just a metal rod that has 1/4-20 thread on the end.

I then picked up some 1/4-20 threaded rod from Home Depot, along with some PEX to slide overtop of it. I also grabbed some coupler nuts, regular nuts, washers, etc.

I threaded a nut, washer, and then the coupler nut on to the valve's thread, and locked the two nuts together (along with plenty of loctite). I then did the same thing on the other end of the coupler, this time threading in the rod I had bought.

I then applied some adhesive-lined heat shrink over the whole thing.

I drilled a hole in the frame of the trailer (just like the original holes on the other side), touched it up with spray paint, fed the rod (inside PEX) through it, installed the original black-tank-valve handle and an acorn nut, followed with another piece of adhesive-lined heat shrink.

Valve now operates smoothly, easily, and will hopefully never give me any more trouble.

 

[Mekcanix]

I have had similar woes with our Nobo, but it was the grey. I ended up replumbing the grey to the black drain and installed the valve at that location by cutting in a T to the black discharge line. I also then shortened the black cable and filled it with silicon lubricant. it works great now and I went from a drain connection on either side of the tire to a single connection behind tire.

 

[Tex68w]

Just now catching up on this thread, great progress.

 

[Downytide]

Can't stop, won't stop... fixing Winnebagos crap!

These trailers are notorious for having the black-tank valves seize up and get stuck. Ours has been very difficult since day one (this spring!) and completely seized in the open position after the last trip. I had previously opened the underbelly to have a look at how it was setup, and found that the handles on the exterior of the frame operate bowden cables, both of which run all the way across the trailer, do a full 180 degree turn, and then connect to the actual sliding-gate valve. The valves themselves open towards the passenger's side, not the driver's side (where the handles are). The cables are long, have tons of friction inside, and eventually corrode and seize up. Fun times.

(Most of the following is a copy of another Winnie owner's modification from a few years ago - the post was on Facebook somewhere and I saved snippets of it.)

So I opened up the underbelly and removed the original handle, cable, and the cable's attachment on the black tank valve, leaving me with just a metal rod that has 1/4-20 thread on the end.

I then picked up some 1/4-20 threaded rod from Home Depot, along with some PEX to slide overtop of it. I also grabbed some coupler nuts, regular nuts, washers, etc.

I threaded a nut, washer, and then the coupler nut on to the valve's thread, and locked the two nuts together (along with plenty of loctite). I then did the same thing on the other end of the coupler, this time threading in the rod I had bought.

I then applied some adhesive-lined heat shrink over the whole thing.

I drilled a hole in the frame of the trailer (just like the original holes on the other side), touched it up with spray paint, fed the rod (inside PEX) through it, installed the original black-tank-valve handle and an acorn nut, followed with another piece of adhesive-lined heat shrink.

Valve now operates smoothly, easily, and will hopefully never give me any more trouble.

This is a great solution, I'm going to do it on mine.

I'm also going to machine an alloy extension for the tongue jack, been using those yellow Camco cone for last 2 years, and start noticing cracks developing on them and want to machine teeth on them so it'll grab on grass.

 

[eatSleepWoof]

This is a great solution, I'm going to do it on mine.

I'm also going to machine an alloy extension for the tongue jack, been using those yellow Camco cone for last 2 years, and start noticing cracks developing on them and want to machine teeth on them so it'll grab on grass.

After I shared this mod on one of the Winnebago facebook groups, it was pointed out to me that one can loosen the 4 bolts holding the actual black, and rotate the whole thing in place (without removing it) - so that way it may be possible to orient it such that the handle is still on the driver's side of the trailer. Worth looking into IMO. FYI.

I also considered extensions for the tongue jack, as it's set high enough that disconnecting from the vehicle is sometimes a problem. For now I'm using two of these jack blocks which definitely helps a lot. Keep in mind that an extension on the jack's tube will act as a lever should there be any forces applied side-to-side vs. just up-down. I think blocks are a bit of a safer approach.

 

[eatSleepWoof]

Black tank valve is working out great. Smooth as butter during the last use.

This weekend I added a few more nice-to-haves:

1. Replaced the cheap, plastic, horrendously inconvenient blind above the kitchen window with a waterproof, blackout, roll-up blind that can be operated with one hand.

2. The trailer came with a quick-disconnect and coiled up hose for the exterior water fitting, and we've found this to be inconvenient. The hose always needs to be hung up somewhere (otherwise it's laying in the dirt), you have to hold the sprayer with one hand in order to have it running, so washing hands is inconvenient, it sprayed way too high pressure which got everyone/everything wet, etc.

This is:
- Quick connect to garden hose adapter
- Pressure regulator (turned the pressure from ~45psi way down to about 10-15psi)
- Faucet/bib with garden hose thread on the end
- Garden hose to 1/2" adapter used purely to hold an inner filter-type thing which reduces spraying and makes water flow a bit nicer

--

The last time we were out at a local provincial park we were camping in 30C+ temperatures and the interior of the trailer got to 33C during the day. This proved problematic for putting the toddler to bed, and even at around 9:30pm, it was still 27-28C inside. The fans, while good, simply couldn't cool the trailer enough.

Everyone around us was running generators, so, after much deliberation, I did the ungodly thing and joined the horde of generator heathens. I hate these things with a burning passion, but it's the simplest (and cheapest) way to have enough power for AC use, and I gave in for convenience's sake. (We've also decided to avoid formal parks like the plague, just like we did in the past, and instead go back to camping in the "wild".)

The generator is a Champion 2500w model, gas-only. Conveniently, it was on a 25% sale right when I needed it. Here it's pictured in the test-run, and it powered the AC without any issues:

It has two 20a ports (5-20R), a 12v socket (~9a), and other niceties that I'll never use. Rated at 53db at 23 feet and 1/4 load, which seems to be inline with my testing. At full extension of my ~25ft, 30a cord (with the appropriate 30a to 20a adapter - not pictured), and behind the trailer, I measured 49db at idle and 60db at full load (powering AC). This is decent, but still too loud for my taste. (A few years ago I had a Honda eu2200i, and even that was much too loud for me.) It's also worth noting I had the generator running right next to my house, which would have reflected noise back to me; this wouldn't be an issue in camping.

I initially tried a exhaust extension + muffler meant for a diesel heater (the fitting sizes matched up really nicely), but it made a meagre 0.4db difference. Not worth even using. Seems that the vast, vast majority of the noise is not from the exhaust, but rather the unit itself.

I'm in the final stages of building a sound-deadening box, and I anticipate/hope it'll be good for at least a 10db noise reduction. I should have it done tomorrow and will then test + share details.

The box is largely done, just needs handles (which should arrive tomorrow). I haven't weighed it yet, but to my feel it seems to be at least twice as heavy as the generator itself (which is 39lb).

If the noise deadening box proves to be as good as I hope it'll be, I may be able to run the generator basically all day to recharge the trailer batteries. The onboard converter is rated for 55a, but the exterior plug is a 30a one, so I'd imagine that's the absolute best case for charge going into the trailer.

I know I've been able to run the trailer AC + a bunch of garage equipment off a single 15a, residential circuit, so I'm hopeful that the AC only needs around 10-11a. If so, that should leave at least 9a of charge going to the trailer batteries whenever the generator is running. That would be nice to supplement (or completely replace) the DC/DC charging from idling my tow vehicle.

 

[eatSleepWoof]

The generator sound-deadening box is unfortunately another failed experiment. An expensive one. ($150 on parts/materials + nearly a day of work.)

I made four separate, noise-deadened panels, and then glued+screwed them together. Each panel has:
- 1/2" red oak plywood
- 2mm sound deadening mat
- 3mm mass loaded vinyl
- 10mm sound deadening, high-density foam
- 1/2" red oak plywood (second layer)

The measured sound difference at load, with and without the box is anywhere from 4-5db. I was really expecting at least 10db, if not closer to 20db.

I previously used these materials (in smaller/thinner amounts) on sound deadening my old Tacoma and it made a WORLD of difference. Not here. Maybe the sound frequencies produced by the generator pass through these materials, or who knows what else.

// edit

I looked over the sound-frequency portions of my sound tests, and see that initially (pre-box) I had a ton of waves in the 325hz range, and in the 3990hz, both around the same noise level. The high-frequency waves got completely silenced with the noise box (they went to sub 20db), but the low frequency waves barely changed. So it's the low-frequency stuff that's still giving off noise; those waves are longer and need more (thicker) material for good deadening.

// end edit

The one upside I did find is that placing the generator on grass (vs. concrete) immediately nets me a 6db loss in noise. I guess concrete reflects a lot of sound waves that are otherwise absorbed by the ground.

 

[jgaz]

So much for the keyboard “Experts” that always responded with,
”Just build a box to silence your generator”

 

[eatSleepWoof]

So much for the keyboard “Experts” that always responded with,
”Just build a box to silence your generator”

I did a bunch more reading on this topic last night and it looks like you can effectively deaden low-frequency waves, but you need walls 3"-6" thick, filled with fibreglass insulation. That's not even remotely practical for a mobile application, but could be easily achieved for a stationary (at home) generator box. Live and learn...

I'll likely pick up a 25ft cord extension (in addition to my existing 25ft cord) and simply place the generator that much further away. That'll likely be of more help than the noise deadening box.