Ex Army Trailer

[Steve F]

Originally Posted by Gildo

Roof top tent? Rear drawers?

Non of that, it has no tailgate (one complete box) so is 100% waterproof and floats, I'll keep it that way. It's purely for loading camping gear in as it will do double duty as a standard box trailer. We have a Jet tent for fast put up and have done 21 days straight in a rooftop tent so my wife is not keen on that option I also use pelican boxes for the gear, they stay packed most of the time so it'll just be drop in and go

Cheers
Steve

[Steve F]

Started doing the wiring to connect it up to the dual battery setup in the Jeep, still want to use it as a box trailer so trying to keep it out the way and discreet from the outside. The plug attaches to the inside of the tub where the ribs are, see the post above, so you can't see any screws from the outside.







And on the back, this was where the Army had a NATO socket but it is long gone, perfect for an Anderson plug though.





Just waiting on some plugs so I can finish the battery box now.

Cheers
Steve

[Redemptioner]

Just remember to install a DC-DC regulator/charger for the trailer or accept it won't fully charge the trailer battery off the jeep

[Steve F]

Originally Posted by Redemptioner

Just remember to install a DC-DC regulator/charger for the trailer or accept it won't fully charge the trailer battery off the jeep

Yep, Im 50/50 at the moment as the battery won't be used until camp so will be fully charged (from home) anyway and then solar connected to it. The charge from the Jeep is really an emergency backup and because the Jeep is already setup for it.

Cheers
Steve

[Steve F]

So I was going to put a DC-DC charger between the auxiliary battery in the back of the Jeep and the 105AH in the trailer, as after hooking it up I was loosing 1.3v at the trailer battery connection. Then I realised the Anderson plug to battery clamps that I grabbed from my solar panel bag were really only meant to handle 10A and were way to small so it wasn't a good test.

I made a proper cable to go from internal trailer plug to battery and now I get 13.8V at the trailer battery when there is 13.9V at the Aux battery in the Jeep. So no need for a DC-DC charger in between as this is really only to keep the battery fully charged while on the road to camp as solar will be plugged in when I set up and the battery will be fully charged when I leave home. That's a few hundred saved.

Next to put all the plugs and things on the battery box so it is self contained.

Voltage at the trailer battery



Voltage at the starting battery and second battery setup in the Jeep.



Cheers
Steve

[indiedog]

Looks good Steve. 6 or 8 B&S? I have my Anderson Plug on the trailer which I swap from car to solar when we are at camp. Like you I also fully charge before departing so the trickle from the car isn't really necessary and the solar does a good job of keeping it topped up. We only use the battery for LED lighting at night, and the odd bit of phone charging. You can make this charging stuff over complicated without too much trouble and it's often not necessary. A good solar panel without expensive management systems will usually do the trick.

When we had the Jayco I dismissed the trickle from the car as a viable charging option and hooked up permanent solar and it never missed a beat. Now we just use portable panels and it still does the job. So wish I hadn't sold all that 6B&S with the Jayco though.

[Steve F]

It's all 8AWG, anything thicker was overkill since the fridge will plug straight into the battery at a socket on the battery box. Really the Anderson plugs at either end of the trailer are for the solar panels to plug into and they will top out at around 10A at most.

The main reason I decided to hook it up to the Jeep for charging is because I'll have my 50lt Waeco in the trailer when on the road, but it will already be cold and the battery full charged so I don't expect it to be a big load, plus the Jeep was already setup for it

I also have a CTEK for those times when the battery needs a top up and there is power around.

Cheers
Steve