Trailer- Electrical, Ventilation, Water
Speaking of research a few of my big remaining questions. We live in Northern CA.
Necessity of having a second battery?
Right now I have the 6" vent recommended by Treeline for Norcal Teardrops vice the 14". The 14" is a pretty big fan and requires a mod to the SCT roof rack. Seems like the larger fan could possibly leak. Thoughts?....
Really torn on the 30 Gal tank. Right now I have 2 Scepter can holders along with some RotopaX. We will probably do 3 day weekend trips for the foreseeable future if not overnights. The 19 gal water tank is interesting but not sure I want the pump faucet. Recommendations?
What does everyone do for dishwashing?....
ELECTRICAL: I have two, group 31 batteries in my trailer. (Deka Intimidator AGM #8A31DTM) These batteries are rated at 105 mins @ 20amps. Just keep in mind when sizing the electrical storage that realistically you only have access to about 50% of the rated capacity. It was recommended to me that I NOT draw down batteries below a 50% charge. (which for 12v systems is about 12.2 volts) We can usually run several days before needing to recharge- if we don't have the solar panel set up.
IMHO, The only advantage of 2 batteries is the length of time between charging. Keep in mind, no matter the number of batteries used or the size of the battery, if you use 100 amp hours from your electrical storage it will take over 100 amp hours of charger input to replenish your battery. (i.e. if you have a 10 amp charger, you should fully expect to have to run the battery charger in excess of 10 hrs to replenish the 100 amp hrs used from battery. 10amp x 10 hrs= 100 amp hrs)
VENTILATION; I also have the Fantastic (14") fan. You will appreciate the amount of air it moves on those warm nights. The fan is reversible, which means you can pull air in, or push air out, the top. No leaks to date. (knock on wood)
The fan is also relatively quiet for the amount of air it moves. I highly recommend.
(keep in mind the fan draws from 0.4 amps on low to 1.6 amps on high- if you run it all night - 8 hrs - you will have depleted your electrical storage from 3.2 amp hours to 12.8 amp hours- that may impact your electrical system design)
WATER: The onboard water system gives you a couple of options you may want to think about. The first is the convenience of having a pressurized water source. The hand held sprayer, along with the pressure pump, makes it very easy to rinse dishes, brush your teeth, get a glass of water, etc. We typically leave the hand held sprayer attached to the mixing valve and just turn the pump on and off when we need water. Beats a jerry can with a hose bibb attached. (done that too)
The other convenience of having a pressurized system is when you want to take a shower. We use a Zodi Extreme shower (basically a stainless steel, pump up, bug sprayer). We use the Zodi for the hot water source. The onboard water is the cold water source. We heat the water in the Zodi to about 160 degrees and then use the shower mixing valve to temper the hot water from the Zodi to a comfortable temp. This allows 2 of us to take a shower with only one Zodi container of hot water. (typically we pour about 1/3 of a tank of the Zodi's contents back into the tank.)
I don't know how you will use your trailer, but water IS the limiting factor for how long my wife and I can stay out unsupported. We carry about 30 gallons of water. (25 of that is on board) That amount of water allows us to stay out 11-15 days before having to reprovision.
IMHO, the onboard water tank takes advantage of the unused storage space on the bottom of the trailer. To me, that is an efficient use of that space. It also puts the water, which is heavy, down low on the trailer helping to lower the trailer's center of gravity. Obviously, my vote is FOR the onboard water tank.
Keep in mind that my trailer is the Adventure Trailer version of the SoCal trailer. I assumed the water system is setup the same on both - but you know what they say about assumptions :sombrero:
Good luck on the trailer build!