My mods

Fourman110

Knife Holder
I found a knife set that came with a flat holder. Ended up cutting a lot of the knife holder away with a bandsaw, but what remains serves it's purpose well. The hard part was making sure it didn't interfere with the door (took me several attempts). Command strip adhesives were used to hold it to the door.

Cabinet Shelf
In looking at the space available in the galley cabinet, it's a pretty hard to utilize the space so I made some shelves. I also wanted to protect the plumbing while traveling so I came up with this mod which is basically three pieces. The shelves are all readily removable (Once again I rely on command strip adhesives). It's utilitarian, but some day I may pretty it up or do it again with better materials.

One part covers the drain valve (aside: why in the deuce is the drain valve put in this location and not tight against a wall? I know there's a lot of design decisions but were so limited on space to begin with, why put the drain 1/4 way into the very limited amount of space). I'm going to store cutting board and a griddle in this spot (ie. flat stuff). This part is basically a board on top of the tank with some vertical pieces added to protect the drain valve. It took trial and error to get the board above the drain valve. I ended up gluing a piece of 1/4" plywood to space the part high enough to get above the drain valve.

The second part is a shelf to split the right side of the cabinet up. I test fit some pans underneath it before picking sizes. I used three 1/2" by 1/2" legs to support the shelf that I nailed into the side walls and put some pieces on the sides to protect plumbing and keep things from falling off the shelf. The shelf is held in place by command strip adhesives. If I were to do it again, I'd put a threaded bolt in the corner leg and hold that down with a wingnut.

TV Antenna
With the Boondock model, you get a Yakima rack. It seemed to be a no brainer to use an end of the rack to hold the TV antenna up, but I had a heck of a time trying to find a latching mechanism to hold it. I wanted something quick detachable as this antenna/setup will not survive towing. Basically I'll toss it up at the camp site. It's really rigid and takes just a few seconds to attach.

I used 3/4" plywood to attach the clamps and antenna, but recommend a solid piece of wood. I painted it several times with a truck bed liner spray (Menards for something like $4) to help weather proof it (plywood doesn't like water). To give something for the clamps to grip into, I used 1" stair tread tape. Something like Gorilla tape would work as well.

BBsGarage

Nice ! I really need to do something with our cabinet as well.

LuckyJ

Nice work!

This is what I did with mine.can also be undone in a few minutes, but I used screews. We also have a non XL, witch gives us more space under the counter. But I also used 3/8 plys wood insted of a thicker piece. Since space and weight is always an issue, I prefer to go thin and light when possible (I have a tendancy to over built other items).

But also tought that the pipes could have been better protected. So all is conceled behind the hinge pannel. Just in front, enough space for cutting boards and other flat things, behind the hinge panels, in the pipi g compartment, kitcken clothes and other light stuff.

LuckyJ

Forgot to ask, what ar those clamps?? They look nice!

Fourman110

@LuckyJ said:
Forgot to ask, what ar those clamps?? They look nice!

Hi LuckyJ,

I’ve got a picture with the brand (Minoura) and part number. Had a devil of a time finding the right size.

LuckyJ

@Fourman110 said:

@LuckyJ said:
Forgot to ask, what ar those clamps?? They look nice!

Hi LuckyJ,

I’ve got a picture with the brand (Minoura) and part number. Had a devil of a time finding the right size.

Is that a web find, or a shop purchasse?

Fourman110

Web find. eBay if I remember.

LuckyJ

@Fourman110

Thank you!

CampHub

Fourman110 and LuckyJ you guys inspired me to mod my 5wide under sink cabinet. I used 1/2 plywood and small angle brackets to attach. It can be taken out in under 10 mins (Tetris skills are helpful). It gives a little protection to the plumbing and gives a space for soft items like plastic bags around the tank drain.
Thank you and enjoy!

Fourman110

I’m jealous of your cabinet space. Mymicrowave has got to go....

Fourman110

Mods for the Fathers Day weekend.

1. Installed an inline power switch to the TV to get rid of that annoying blue LED at night.

2. Installed sheet metal edging around the hole in the back of the tub. Must have caught my watch 20 times while fooling around with solar and the battery.

3. Cut out the propane tank holder, pulled the undersized battery out and installed two 6 volt batteries ala Lightningdon. Hardest part was removing the tank holder. Nucamp really welded it in well. Used self tapping pan head screws to mount the battery boxes.

4. Added a switch between the solar controller and the battery. Ended up buying a wire harness with two 30amp breakers. You can see the switch on the sidewalk of the tub.

5. Completed the job with a bottle of a malty red ale we brew. It was a hot day and I may need another.

CFD614

Do you mind sharing the part numbers for the 2 batteries and how you wired them? after my trip out with the T@G i realized i need more power than the one 12v battery. thanks!

TomD

Hmmm. Malty Red Ale. What was it you were doing? You’re going to love the extra power. Takes a lot of stress out of the equation.

CampHub

@Fourman110 This post is back! I started the galley and cabinet thread when this one disappeared. Sorry for doubling up. Nice job on the dual 6v battery mod, guessing your over 400ah in there.

Lightningdon

CFD, not to answer for Fourman, but I used dual 230 AH Duracell golf cart batteries in my conversion. It appears 4M used the same. Might have used the 215aH in his mod. You can see my quick and dirty dual 6V battery mod here:

http://teardrop-trailers.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/179/dual-6-volt-golf-cart-battery-upgrade#latest

CFD614

So it looks like if I turned the 2 batteries like Fourman I could fit my 10 gallon propane tank I have from my last trailer in there? So for the wiring I just use the existing wiring and add 1 jumper between batteries? Also trying to find the right batteries from batteries and bulbs looks like the 230AH are now $119ea. Definitely worth the change to dual 6v than the stock 12v? I want the longer boondock time

Lightningdon

Definitely worth the switch. The tongue box Fourman used is bigger than the factory T@G box. I was not able to fit my batteries in the tub while in the battery boxes. And yes, use the original factory wiring, positive leads to the positive terminal on one battery and the negative leads to the negative terminal on the second battery with the heavy gauge jumper on the other terminals.

CFD614

Mine came with that tongue box on the boondock so I think it should work. Do you have a link to the batteries you used?

TomD

Lightningdon...nice setup

Lightningdon

I used 230 AH Duracell SLIGC115
https://www.batteriesplus.com/productdetails/SLIGC115

Fourman110

@Lightningdon said:
I used 230 AH Duracell SLIGC115
https://www.batteriesplus.com/productdetails/SLIGC115

Just realized I never chimed in. Mine were Duracell GC2s. Picked them up at Sams Club.

Craig315

Where did you end up putting the propane tank?

Lightningdon

I downsized to the screw-on 1 lb portable tanks on an adapter in the tongue box.

WilliamA

@Fourman110 said:
I’m jealous of your cabinet space. My microwave has got to go....

I know there are lots of folks out there who use their Microwave's and good on them, but ditching my own microwave and putting in the cavernous drawer has been a fantastic addition for me. I can get pretty much my whole supply of dry-goods in there now. It also moves some weight back behind the tongue which is nearly always a good thing.

WilliamA

Fourman110

@Craig315 said:
Where did you end up putting the propane tank?

Currently I follow Lightningdon’s 1 lbs idea though I’ve got a larger tow vehicle now with a much higher max tongue weight so I’m tempted to put the 25 lb-er back on (for the virtue signalers out there, even with higher max tongue weight you need to be careful about balancing the load). I’d need to add a new secure holder if I go that route. The 1 lb cans seemed to last a fair amount of time and they’re readily available and I’ll probably just monitor usage over the summer, making a switch later in the summer if needed.

I still love the battery mod....

WilliamA

I like the idea of using the smaller cylinders too, but have had some issues with getting enough pressure in cold weather. I had been using them but ran into a no-stove situation in Utah when the weather was cold. The stove would burn, but only with a tiny flame that wouldn't boil water for coffee. I've switched back to the middle-ground 5lb cylinder and have had no problems since with low temp cooking.
Just something to think about....
WilliamA

tagurit

Since the boiling point of propane is -44 F regardless of tank size, there is plenty of pressure in a 1lb tank to run the cooktop in the T@G when it is cold, in fact, the appliance regulator on the cooktop only requires 0.5 PSI. Where you might have an issue is with resistance in the T@G propane regulator and line. We connect our 1lb cylinders right under the cooktop with a short hose and adaptor and have never had any problems cooking even when camping in winter.

rfuss928

@tagurit said:
Since the boiling point of propane is -44 F regardless of tank size, there is plenty of pressure in a 1lb tank to run the cooktop in the T@G when it is cold.

The vapor pressure of propane rises dramatically from 0 to 90F (about 6X) which determines the rate of vapor production. In addition, the volumetric rate is directly proportional to the surface area of the liquid.
Bottom line - smaller tanks and lower temperatures produce gas at a lower rates than larger tanks and higher temperatures. Twenty degrees and/or more than 4 times difference in the surface area can make a dramatic difference in the amount of propane available to run your stove or furnace.

LuckyJ

@rfuss928 said:

@tagurit said:
Since the boiling point of propane is -44 F regardless of tank size, there is plenty of pressure in a 1lb tank to run the cooktop in the T@G when it is cold.

The vapor pressure of propane rises dramatically from 0 to 90F (about 6X) which determines the rate of vapor production. In addition, the volumetric rate is directly proportional to the surface area of the liquid.
Bottom line - smaller tanks and lower temperatures produce gas at a lower rates than larger tanks and higher temperatures. Twenty degrees and/or more than 4 times difference in the surface area can make a dramatic difference in the amount of propane available to run your stove or furnace.

I am not a fan of the small bottle, but I do think that in his case, since the bottle is under the stove in the cabinet, it must absorbe a little heat from the stove from radiant heat, probably helping with the temperature.

tagurit

Please don't take this the wrong way, but I just had to check! It was 29F last night, 34F just now with a 27F wind chill (our dish soap bottle was frozen!), I got one of our Flame King refillable 1lb bottles out of an unheated shed (felt about half full), packed it in snow for an hour, and set 24 ounces of water (what it takes to fill our French press for morning coffee) on the stove uncovered, took seven minutes to get to a rolling boil (don't heat it that hot for coffee, anyway). This works for us but can't say what would happen at minus 20F (although the propane vapor pressure would still be 11 psig and per Dometic the stove uses 11 to 14 wc which is about 0.5 psi. And, as much as we love camping, we're probably not going when it's going to be below zero!


!

LuckyJ

Hey, I do use my propane barbecue year round i. Temps that are way below freezing and it works with a 20lbs bottle. It might not be working with a one pounder. But you have a solution that works for you in the temps you are using it. This is great!
'And if you have a problem one morning, it will be easier to take that 1 lbs bottle in your jacket to warm it up than a 20lbs tank. Lol.

But just so you know about snow, it is not colder than the ambiant temperature. It is even an insulator. Most of the time deep snow will be warmer than surface snow and prevent windchill factor.

In a snowy location, you could even pack snow under the trailer walls to help with cold.

Oh and last, you surelly already know this, use a lid on your pan, you will reduce warmup time in half.