McZippie
Walmart Adventure Camper
When you have time, a lot more pictures from different angles and close-ups too of inside and outside.
New Kamparoo Trans-Continental
- Thread starter kevint
- Start date
When you have time, a lot more pictures from different angles and close-ups too of inside and outside.
kevint
Adventurer
The Build - Electrical
For those of you considering a Kamparoo or equivalent, this section may not interest you. I intend to follow up with a post on functionality so hang in there.
This is where I started meddling with the Kamparoo and you can blame it on Goal Zero. I haven't been so immediately enamoured by a product since I was suckered in by that Handi Bundler info-mercial 10 - 15 years ago, but when I first laid eyes on the Goal Zero Extreme 350 (http://www.goalzero.com/shop/p/64/Extreme-Adventure-Kit) I was absolutely corrupted by the power I could easily add to the Kamparoo. I included the link above to the Extreme 350 in order to make up for the fact that, in the end, I chose to assemble my own system. Sorry Goal Zero. I still think you have the coolest stuff on the market.
I got so excited about solar panels and storage batteries that before I came up for air, I had digested enough information from the internet to decide that I could assemble more storage for the cost than I could buy pre packaged. Now, in all fairness, in the process I have learned that I couldn't do this as cheaply as I had expected and I've made a number of mistakes (some of which I still need to correct) but even if it were all stolen or taken out in the aforementioned thermo-nuclear blast, I would still assemble my own replacement system. Still, I find myself visiting Goal Zero's website and drooling over their ads in Overland Journal. Now I'm drooling over the Goal Zero Yeti and I might have succomb to the urge if I thought I could lift the thing.
At the heart of my decision to build my own system is probably my biggest mistake as well. It is the batteries. Somewhere early on I read that for overlanding one should use a sealed battery but in most of my reading about solar I kept seeing one name pop up, Trojan T-105. The Trojan T-105 is 6v lead-acid wet cell golf cart battery with a whopping 225 amp-hours of capacity. I ended up dropping about $300 for two T-105s, put them in a Norco dual 6v battery box and strapped it to the storage tray on the top of the Kamperoo kitchen box.
The storage capacity of the T-105s is amazing. We just completed our 3rd shakedown trip with the Kamparoo to a state park and camped in the section without hook-ups. We were pretty frivolous with the lights and fan and over a two night camping trip expended about 15% of the 225 amp-hours of power storage. A little over a day after the trip I measured the static voltage of the batteries at 12.55 volts and the average specific gravity of the electrolyte at 1.244. That means that with the setup we have we can essentially use all the power we want and not have to think about charging the batteries for about 6 days which is about how long it would take to draw the T-105s down to 50% of full capacity. It also suggests that with a 12v fridge I'd still have about 3 full days until my batteries are at 50% depletion. I've measured most of my loads and my calculations suggest I shouldn't be doing quite this well but since the voltage and the specific gravity agree I think I have the depletion about right.
The mistake I made with the T-105s is that they are wet cell batteries. Before the Kamparaoo arrived, we did a camping trip off the Old Ore Road in Big Bend National Park and I took my 2 T-105s along in my Norco battery box and with an inverter in the back of my pickup for a test run. The batteries performed wonderfully, again exceeding my power capacity calculations, but in running up and down the Old Ore Road and in some steep driving situations outside the park, I splashed a few teaspoons of acid out each of the cells and into the battery box. THANK YOU NORCO for protecting my pickup. Obviously, wet cell batteries are not the ticket for the backcountry. I neutralized the acid with baking soda and cleaned up the batteries and the box, added back a few teaspoons of electrolyte and everything appears to be working well but someday, I'll have to change out the batteries. The white haze you see in the picture of the batteries is the baking soda that I didn't get all washed off.
I think it would be great to someday add a solar panel but with six days of capacity in the batteries it doesn't make sense for me right now so I installed a charger/converter from IOTA, the DLS-55 with built-in IQ4. I'm pretty sure this charger is oversized for my batteries but I read a book on the topic that recommended sizing your charger by dividing the amp-hour capacity of your batteries by 4 which would be just about right for the DLS-55 (55 peak charging amps). I later found where Trojan recommends charging at a rate of 10% - 13% of the amp-hour rating of your batteries. That would have led me to save a few dollars and go with the DLS-35. Hopefully, it won't hurt my batteries since the DLS-55 doesn't stay at 55 amps for long. I also added a 60 amp breaker at the charger. This is all connected to the battery with 6 ga wires which are probably a little undersized but the distance is very short so hopefully, it won't be much of an issue.
Please disregard the hammer. It is not related to the electrical system unless things begin to act up. All of this is installed in the end of the kitchen box and the wires pass through liquid tight grommets on the back of the kitchen box. I had to do a little work with a dremel tool in an awkward position to maintain the seal of the liquid tight grommets but in the end I was quite pleased.
I wanted to be able to keep the kitchen box watertight which meant finding a way to plug in the charger at a campground with hookups without leaving the door open. Marinco sells a charger inlet for boats that accepts a common extension cord. (http://www.marinco.com/product/15a-125v-board-charger-inlet-black). I like this better than some of the inlets with dedicated cords as a replacement will always be as close as a hardware store. It is designed for you to cut the plug off your charger and wire to the inlet. I preferred to get a short extension cord and cut the female end off with about a foot of wire and wire that. I cut a hole in the aluminum diamond plate of the kitchen box with a bimetal hole saw, did a little flatening around the hole with a dremel tool and installed the charger inlet.
I drop an extension cord from the ceiling of my garage which is in place to plug in to the charger when I return home to keep the battery charged and maintained for my next trip.
At the top of the picture above of the batteries, you'll notice a grey connector on the end of the cables. That is an Anderson connector. In transit this connector is stowed inside the battery box with the batteries. The other end I tuck inside the Kamparoo when I close it up. Since the connection is broken, I know that I'm not getting a power drain into the camper and I don't have to worry about a fire. When I open up the camper, I pull out a section of cable, plug it into the battery box leaving drip loop and I'm ready to glamp.
Inside the camper, I've run 6 ga (probably undersized I now realize) cabel to a convenient location where I have a 100 amp (probably oversize I now realize) master to a blue sea fuse block. From the fuse I have runs to strategically placed cigarette lighter outlets and some interior lights. I also pass to an 800 watt inverter (probably oversized I now realize).
I have since also added a master fuse at the positive battery terminal which should theoretically make the breaker in the camper redundant but I use the breaker in the camper as a master switch to cut off any phantom loads when we're away.
Underneath the inverter in the picture above is a dimmer switch. This dimmer controls 3 strips of LED lighting I have placed along the interior tent support tubing.
If people are relaxing in the camper and reading or playing a game, they can crank up the lights but in the evening when we are going in and out, I leave the lights very dim to extend battery life. Also, if we need a little light in the middle of the night to find a pair of shoes for a potty trip, we can get just a little light without waking eveyone up.
There are only a couple more topics I want to post about: 1) Functionality and 2) Enabling gear I have found useful. I'll post those later.
For those of you considering a Kamparoo or equivalent, this section may not interest you. I intend to follow up with a post on functionality so hang in there.
This is where I started meddling with the Kamparoo and you can blame it on Goal Zero. I haven't been so immediately enamoured by a product since I was suckered in by that Handi Bundler info-mercial 10 - 15 years ago, but when I first laid eyes on the Goal Zero Extreme 350 (http://www.goalzero.com/shop/p/64/Extreme-Adventure-Kit) I was absolutely corrupted by the power I could easily add to the Kamparoo. I included the link above to the Extreme 350 in order to make up for the fact that, in the end, I chose to assemble my own system. Sorry Goal Zero. I still think you have the coolest stuff on the market.
I got so excited about solar panels and storage batteries that before I came up for air, I had digested enough information from the internet to decide that I could assemble more storage for the cost than I could buy pre packaged. Now, in all fairness, in the process I have learned that I couldn't do this as cheaply as I had expected and I've made a number of mistakes (some of which I still need to correct) but even if it were all stolen or taken out in the aforementioned thermo-nuclear blast, I would still assemble my own replacement system. Still, I find myself visiting Goal Zero's website and drooling over their ads in Overland Journal. Now I'm drooling over the Goal Zero Yeti and I might have succomb to the urge if I thought I could lift the thing.
At the heart of my decision to build my own system is probably my biggest mistake as well. It is the batteries. Somewhere early on I read that for overlanding one should use a sealed battery but in most of my reading about solar I kept seeing one name pop up, Trojan T-105. The Trojan T-105 is 6v lead-acid wet cell golf cart battery with a whopping 225 amp-hours of capacity. I ended up dropping about $300 for two T-105s, put them in a Norco dual 6v battery box and strapped it to the storage tray on the top of the Kamperoo kitchen box.
The storage capacity of the T-105s is amazing. We just completed our 3rd shakedown trip with the Kamparoo to a state park and camped in the section without hook-ups. We were pretty frivolous with the lights and fan and over a two night camping trip expended about 15% of the 225 amp-hours of power storage. A little over a day after the trip I measured the static voltage of the batteries at 12.55 volts and the average specific gravity of the electrolyte at 1.244. That means that with the setup we have we can essentially use all the power we want and not have to think about charging the batteries for about 6 days which is about how long it would take to draw the T-105s down to 50% of full capacity. It also suggests that with a 12v fridge I'd still have about 3 full days until my batteries are at 50% depletion. I've measured most of my loads and my calculations suggest I shouldn't be doing quite this well but since the voltage and the specific gravity agree I think I have the depletion about right.
The mistake I made with the T-105s is that they are wet cell batteries. Before the Kamparaoo arrived, we did a camping trip off the Old Ore Road in Big Bend National Park and I took my 2 T-105s along in my Norco battery box and with an inverter in the back of my pickup for a test run. The batteries performed wonderfully, again exceeding my power capacity calculations, but in running up and down the Old Ore Road and in some steep driving situations outside the park, I splashed a few teaspoons of acid out each of the cells and into the battery box. THANK YOU NORCO for protecting my pickup. Obviously, wet cell batteries are not the ticket for the backcountry. I neutralized the acid with baking soda and cleaned up the batteries and the box, added back a few teaspoons of electrolyte and everything appears to be working well but someday, I'll have to change out the batteries. The white haze you see in the picture of the batteries is the baking soda that I didn't get all washed off.
I think it would be great to someday add a solar panel but with six days of capacity in the batteries it doesn't make sense for me right now so I installed a charger/converter from IOTA, the DLS-55 with built-in IQ4. I'm pretty sure this charger is oversized for my batteries but I read a book on the topic that recommended sizing your charger by dividing the amp-hour capacity of your batteries by 4 which would be just about right for the DLS-55 (55 peak charging amps). I later found where Trojan recommends charging at a rate of 10% - 13% of the amp-hour rating of your batteries. That would have led me to save a few dollars and go with the DLS-35. Hopefully, it won't hurt my batteries since the DLS-55 doesn't stay at 55 amps for long. I also added a 60 amp breaker at the charger. This is all connected to the battery with 6 ga wires which are probably a little undersized but the distance is very short so hopefully, it won't be much of an issue.
Please disregard the hammer. It is not related to the electrical system unless things begin to act up. All of this is installed in the end of the kitchen box and the wires pass through liquid tight grommets on the back of the kitchen box. I had to do a little work with a dremel tool in an awkward position to maintain the seal of the liquid tight grommets but in the end I was quite pleased.
I wanted to be able to keep the kitchen box watertight which meant finding a way to plug in the charger at a campground with hookups without leaving the door open. Marinco sells a charger inlet for boats that accepts a common extension cord. (http://www.marinco.com/product/15a-125v-board-charger-inlet-black). I like this better than some of the inlets with dedicated cords as a replacement will always be as close as a hardware store. It is designed for you to cut the plug off your charger and wire to the inlet. I preferred to get a short extension cord and cut the female end off with about a foot of wire and wire that. I cut a hole in the aluminum diamond plate of the kitchen box with a bimetal hole saw, did a little flatening around the hole with a dremel tool and installed the charger inlet.
I drop an extension cord from the ceiling of my garage which is in place to plug in to the charger when I return home to keep the battery charged and maintained for my next trip.
At the top of the picture above of the batteries, you'll notice a grey connector on the end of the cables. That is an Anderson connector. In transit this connector is stowed inside the battery box with the batteries. The other end I tuck inside the Kamparoo when I close it up. Since the connection is broken, I know that I'm not getting a power drain into the camper and I don't have to worry about a fire. When I open up the camper, I pull out a section of cable, plug it into the battery box leaving drip loop and I'm ready to glamp.
Inside the camper, I've run 6 ga (probably undersized I now realize) cabel to a convenient location where I have a 100 amp (probably oversize I now realize) master to a blue sea fuse block. From the fuse I have runs to strategically placed cigarette lighter outlets and some interior lights. I also pass to an 800 watt inverter (probably oversized I now realize).
I have since also added a master fuse at the positive battery terminal which should theoretically make the breaker in the camper redundant but I use the breaker in the camper as a master switch to cut off any phantom loads when we're away.
Underneath the inverter in the picture above is a dimmer switch. This dimmer controls 3 strips of LED lighting I have placed along the interior tent support tubing.
If people are relaxing in the camper and reading or playing a game, they can crank up the lights but in the evening when we are going in and out, I leave the lights very dim to extend battery life. Also, if we need a little light in the middle of the night to find a pair of shoes for a potty trip, we can get just a little light without waking eveyone up.
There are only a couple more topics I want to post about: 1) Functionality and 2) Enabling gear I have found useful. I'll post those later.
kevint
Adventurer
Functionality (#1)
I have a few observations on functionality I'd like to share. First, and I think Glen said something like this the first time I talked to him, the Kamparoo isn't for everyone. Neither are most of the camping (expedition, overland, adventure) solutions on this website though. If you want to sit in your air conditioned camper and watch satellite TV while cookies bake in the oven the Kamparoo is not for you. It is a glorified mattress on wheels.
For us, some of the selling pionts were:
Ease/speed of setup and takedown.
Fits in our garage
Not sleeping on the ground
Could be towed by our minivan (for fuel savings) when we don't need to go offroad.
Kitchen solution that is ready to use with little effort.
The other thing that to us is a positive is that we don't want a camper that draws us inside. We want a solution that is optimized for cooking, eating and relaxing outside. We only want to use the inside for sleeping unless weather is inclimate. For this reason, we actually were slow to decide on the optional walls for the awning, but a cold, wet, windy weekend of tent camping sold us on the option of enclosing the awning.
Storage:
I recently saw a Harry Potter movie with my kids which portrayed a tent that was much bigger on the inside than on the outside. This would be a great feature for the Kamparoo in its deployed configuration but in it's closed configuration, it already seems that way to me. When I look at the Kamparoo and imagine what is inside, I know there is a mattress, a frame and a tent. That seems like about what should be able to fit, but we have been able to store a lot inside the camper for transit. In addition to the mattress, frame and tent we currently are carrying 2 large cots, 5 pillows (1 humongous) , 4 sleeping bags, a couple of quilts/blankets, a box fan, all the walls for the awning, awning poles, 4 medium duffels, 2 small canvas bags and large duffel for dirty clothes.
Loading/unloading the Kamparoo is a breeze. Before closing up the camper, we open the doors, Then, to load/unload we just open the camper half-way like this:
We place the cots and sleeping bags at the head of the mattress since they stay in the camper at all times. In the pictured position, they are under the tent at the front. The fan, walls, etc. are in a storage well that is covered by the mattress when the camper is in use. Everything else gets piled in through the doors.
Yep. Piled.
Here is a peek at the storage well when not piled under a bunch of stuff.
In addition to the inside storage, the rail on the top of the kitchen and the rack (which I currently use for bikes) really add a lot.
I'll address this further when I discuss enabling gear, specifically the Rola Wallaroo.
I have a few observations on functionality I'd like to share. First, and I think Glen said something like this the first time I talked to him, the Kamparoo isn't for everyone. Neither are most of the camping (expedition, overland, adventure) solutions on this website though. If you want to sit in your air conditioned camper and watch satellite TV while cookies bake in the oven the Kamparoo is not for you. It is a glorified mattress on wheels.
For us, some of the selling pionts were:
Ease/speed of setup and takedown.
Fits in our garage
Not sleeping on the ground
Could be towed by our minivan (for fuel savings) when we don't need to go offroad.
Kitchen solution that is ready to use with little effort.
The other thing that to us is a positive is that we don't want a camper that draws us inside. We want a solution that is optimized for cooking, eating and relaxing outside. We only want to use the inside for sleeping unless weather is inclimate. For this reason, we actually were slow to decide on the optional walls for the awning, but a cold, wet, windy weekend of tent camping sold us on the option of enclosing the awning.
Storage:
I recently saw a Harry Potter movie with my kids which portrayed a tent that was much bigger on the inside than on the outside. This would be a great feature for the Kamparoo in its deployed configuration but in it's closed configuration, it already seems that way to me. When I look at the Kamparoo and imagine what is inside, I know there is a mattress, a frame and a tent. That seems like about what should be able to fit, but we have been able to store a lot inside the camper for transit. In addition to the mattress, frame and tent we currently are carrying 2 large cots, 5 pillows (1 humongous) , 4 sleeping bags, a couple of quilts/blankets, a box fan, all the walls for the awning, awning poles, 4 medium duffels, 2 small canvas bags and large duffel for dirty clothes.
Loading/unloading the Kamparoo is a breeze. Before closing up the camper, we open the doors, Then, to load/unload we just open the camper half-way like this:
We place the cots and sleeping bags at the head of the mattress since they stay in the camper at all times. In the pictured position, they are under the tent at the front. The fan, walls, etc. are in a storage well that is covered by the mattress when the camper is in use. Everything else gets piled in through the doors.
Yep. Piled.
Here is a peek at the storage well when not piled under a bunch of stuff.
In addition to the inside storage, the rail on the top of the kitchen and the rack (which I currently use for bikes) really add a lot.
I'll address this further when I discuss enabling gear, specifically the Rola Wallaroo.
atavuss
Adventurer
looks great! the only thing I would do if you have not done so already is to add some insulation to where your positive cable passes through the gromment, maybe it is the picture but it looks like that wire is right against the aluminum box and will eventually rub through and short out.
kevint;
no worries now, i'm at home. i guess our work blocked the pictures. thanks for posting those. i also have recently [ easter weekend ] purchased a used 2002 kamparoo weekender. originally from glen also. not as fancy as yours but it sure beats sleeping on the ground as you say. ours doesn't have the pullout kitchen, it just has a pullout drawer on the side with a sink and a place for a camp stove. i use ours for lake fishing and strap my boat on top. it sure is easier than loading it on top of my 2004 tacoma 4X4. most lakes have a sloped access and it seems my arms a bti too short. we do a lot of backroad fishing and camping in bc's interior and so far the kamparoo has followed us every where even on ugly roads. i plan to modify a few things as well and when i do i'll be sure to share on this forum. i didn't think there was room for anything on top of the bed. i'm going to check that out. i read on another post that one guy had stored his poles in a pvc pipe. keeps it out of the unit. the pole with the thumb screws are a pain to set up by yourself so i'm going to buy some with self locking poles. all you have to do is pull them up and they self lock. so far all i've done is mount some ratchets to the top for the boat straps and bought a portapoti for the little lady which stores under the bed. i'm looking forward to having it camping ready so all i have to do is hook up and leave. what an economic way to be rv-ing.
roli
no worries now, i'm at home. i guess our work blocked the pictures. thanks for posting those. i also have recently [ easter weekend ] purchased a used 2002 kamparoo weekender. originally from glen also. not as fancy as yours but it sure beats sleeping on the ground as you say. ours doesn't have the pullout kitchen, it just has a pullout drawer on the side with a sink and a place for a camp stove. i use ours for lake fishing and strap my boat on top. it sure is easier than loading it on top of my 2004 tacoma 4X4. most lakes have a sloped access and it seems my arms a bti too short. we do a lot of backroad fishing and camping in bc's interior and so far the kamparoo has followed us every where even on ugly roads. i plan to modify a few things as well and when i do i'll be sure to share on this forum. i didn't think there was room for anything on top of the bed. i'm going to check that out. i read on another post that one guy had stored his poles in a pvc pipe. keeps it out of the unit. the pole with the thumb screws are a pain to set up by yourself so i'm going to buy some with self locking poles. all you have to do is pull them up and they self lock. so far all i've done is mount some ratchets to the top for the boat straps and bought a portapoti for the little lady which stores under the bed. i'm looking forward to having it camping ready so all i have to do is hook up and leave. what an economic way to be rv-ing.
roli
Kevin,
Love your write ups! I actually feel rather weird for encroaching in this all-male domain, but you may have answers to my questions. I have questions regarding the Kamperoo like clarification on some minor details, how to make deals? Lol
The other wonderful thing is that you are also in Texas... So ... Can I PM you?
I've spent weeks trying to find that "almost perfect... Or at least 80% customer satisfaction". Never knew buying from other countries could be such a headache... Lol
Thanks!
Love your write ups! I actually feel rather weird for encroaching in this all-male domain, but you may have answers to my questions. I have questions regarding the Kamperoo like clarification on some minor details, how to make deals? Lol
The other wonderful thing is that you are also in Texas... So ... Can I PM you?
I've spent weeks trying to find that "almost perfect... Or at least 80% customer satisfaction". Never knew buying from other countries could be such a headache... Lol
Thanks!
Kevin,
Could you include some pics of your suspension? I saw that shock absorbers are now added to the suspension and was curious about seeing some pics of the springs and shocks. We just returned from a camping trip to CO and ended up braking the main spring leaf on one side. No biggie, was able to get it welded up and did some other things to make it home w/o any issues. Ten year old springs that I've personally beat the crap out of on many wheeling trips - not a bad track record in my book. I'm on the fence about ordering a spring from Glen or simply converting over to a set of 2,500lb slipper springs (made in USA) and a Dexter axle with Ebrake.
Thanks.
Ali
Could you include some pics of your suspension? I saw that shock absorbers are now added to the suspension and was curious about seeing some pics of the springs and shocks. We just returned from a camping trip to CO and ended up braking the main spring leaf on one side. No biggie, was able to get it welded up and did some other things to make it home w/o any issues. Ten year old springs that I've personally beat the crap out of on many wheeling trips - not a bad track record in my book. I'm on the fence about ordering a spring from Glen or simply converting over to a set of 2,500lb slipper springs (made in USA) and a Dexter axle with Ebrake.
Thanks.
Ali
kevint
Adventurer
For now, what I can provide are a couple of pics that Glen sent during the fabrication:
Hope this helps. I'll try to crawl under and take a few pics later this week.
great, thanks for the pics. It's good to see that slipper springs are still being utilized. Looking forward to seeing your pics, particularly how the shock is attached to the frame. I wonder if the shocks help with the bouncing! If you happen to find any info on the shock, let me know. I should be able to order them stateside, I hope.
I see that the TREG attachment to the chassis is still kind of strange (to me). I was hoping they'd make that more elegant by now. No biggie, still works fine just a personal observation.
I see that the TREG attachment to the chassis is still kind of strange (to me). I was hoping they'd make that more elegant by now. No biggie, still works fine just a personal observation.
kevint
Adventurer
I just realized that I never closed the loop on this. Are you still interested in seeing more pics?