R/C Foolish

My Feedback: (6)

Russ,

That's exactly what I have except I have doubles. You never can have enough outlets and the doubles are just as easy to wire.

John

hookedonrc

Just a quick comment on the pictures you posted. I am referring to the picture that shows the red toolbox with drawers. If you could put in a door that opens and then slides back on the right side, it might make a better set up. That way, when traveling the door could be closed and locked, but when parked the door could be slid out of the way on the side. Then you would not have the door blocking the entry or inside the trailer in the way. (Just a thought.)

Sunny_B

I recently purchased a Transport DLX by Haul Mark in the 6x12x6 size. It is their economy model and fit my budget nicely. It came with 2 barn doors in the back, a side door up front and interior paneling, lights, etc.. I'm into a project similar to yours. I have an older 1800 Watt Honda generator I want to use. I'm trying to come up with a wiring plan and how many outlets, lights, switches I need and whether they should all be 110v or some 12v for chargers etc.. I plan to use the trailer not only for my planes, but for my grandsons' RC racing cars, so it is necessary that I also quiet it down quite a bit, maybe with some kind of enclosure that still allows for air flow cooling. Any ideas? I would appreciate any suggestions, web sites, or references you guys might come up with.
Thanks

rcguy1

I bought a Briggs and Stratton generator and it has a muffler installed. It is rated at 74 decibels which is a lot quieter than glow or gasoline engines we run on our planes. These engines run between 92 to 110 decibels. I'm not sure how to keep a Honda engine quiet but I suggest you contact the manufacturer. I don't believe there is much you can do about the noise, except get a real long extension cord and put the generator as far away from you as the extension cord allows. Just kidding. I'll post pictures of the diamond plate box with generator when it is completed.

As for the 110 volt wiring, I'll run 14-2 Romax from the outside box in parallel to the four double receptacles. Not very complicated. I'll post pictures of the process. Now I'm off to pick-up the outside box from my Road Force dealer. Update they didn't have the box, so I told them to forget it. I went to an electrical supply house and got the parts to put one together. I saved about $40.00 to boot.

Hookedonrc, nice heads-up on the cabinet door blocking the entrance of the side door. I didn't pick that up. Calls for a design change.

JohnVH

My Feedback: (38)

Keep the progress pics coming! I got the first coat of paint in mine tonight, took a whole gallon, and will need one more to finish
But sure brightens it up!

rcguy1

John, how big is your trailer to take a gallon of paint for one coat? Are you using water base or oil base paint? Gloss, satin or semi-gloss paint? A Picture would be nice.

JohnVH

My Feedback: (38)

I bought an interstate 12'x6'x6' Its water based latex I think. Got one decent coat on the walls all the way around, and one good coat on the floor. Hopefully its dry enough tonight for a final coat.

Siskiyouline

My Feedback: (1)

JohnVH - where did you get those lights that are on your fenders? Were they original equipment or aftermarket? I have a older trailer that is sadly lacking in the marker light department. I have seen these lights on other trailers but they were usually going in a different direction.

Thanks!
Bud

rcguy1

If you look closely at post #1, the lights are on my trailer also. The trailers come with the lights on the fenders from the manufacturer. They illuminate in both front and tail sections. I'm sure any auto, boat trailer or RV supply will carry these standard 12 volt lights. One question, how many times will you be driving with the trailer attached at night?

rcguy1

I started installing the weather proof electrical box and wiring for my 110 volt AC system. Nothing complicated about the wiring. Using a ground fault receptacle for the outside box and will run four double receptacles inside the trailer in a parallel circuit. The generator has its own built-in circuit breaker.

JohnVH

My Feedback: (38)

The lights came with mine also.

Keep showing pics of the wiring process, have to do that to mine too!

Thanks

rcguy1

Here is some of the insulation installed. Tip: I used liquid nails to hold the insulation in place until I install the walls. It's R-13 and I hope I'll be able to re-installl the plywood. The insulation expanded to 3 inches and I only have an inch. I know that by compressing the insulation, I'll get less of an R factor but it will still be better than the solid insulation. If you look closely you'll see the wiring in the ceiling of the trailer. I plan on insulating the ceiling and finishing the ceiling.

rcguy1

I had open the plastic on the insulation and remove half the glass insulation because I could not re-intall the plywood wall. I resealed the plastic with aluminum tape.

I installed the box 40" from the floor because I'll have a work bench counter top in this area and they are a standard 36" high.

sirrom

My Feedback: (4)

RCGUY1,
Question for you. I have a Cherokee 12x6x6 trailer also that I got used but was already customized. The way mine is setup it has a 12V deep cycle marine battery in it, a automatic charger, an inverter and a RV Switch. When plugged into AC power the trailer runs on the AC but also charges the battery. When unplugged from AC it automatically switches over to battery power. This is nice because I am never without power unless I let the 12V battery go dead which I try not to do. I also have it rigged so that when I am towing it has a plug that provides the power for the trailer and charges the battery. All of this is stored away in a nice box in the front of the trailer. Why couldn't you go this same route with your trailer and only use the generator to provide power to charge the battery or when you need the big draw power tools to work on a plane (my small electric tools i.e. dremel, drill, etc all work fine off the battery). It is nice to have the constant power in the trailer as I can charge my blower for my jets at the field on a long day or I can leave my planes on charge overnight at a fly-in and just plug into a power outlet to recharge the big 12V battery in the trailer. The only downside to this is that I have been to some flyins where there has been no power outside, but the generator for you should solve that problem. Your trailer is nice and I would like to see how it turns out. Keep up the good work. And you will find out a nicely accesorised (spelling) trailer is very very very nice to have.
I love mine and can't see how I got along without it.

Patrick.

P.S. If you want pics let me know I will see if I can dig some up or take some new ones.

spitgy

I'm envious of you guys working on your trailers as I watch the snow fall. Lets see those pics, Patrick - it will serve as a mental holiday that I can put into practice come the spring!

Darryl

rcguy1

Patrick, I could have gone the route of inverter/deep cycle battery. I'm sure it would have worked fine and be a lot less expensive but then again what about the fresh hot brewed coffee in the morning or a hot lunch at a field that doesn't have 110 service. Then there's the microwave. And don't forget about those power tools. You see we're going first class.

Why don't you post some pictures of your custom trailer. The purpose of this thread is to exchange ideas on customizing trailers for our chosen sport/hobby. I'm sure I could steal a few ideas from your trailer.[8D]

Darryl, I feel for you guys in Canada this time of the year. I'm from the NYC/Jersey area and moved to Florida in 1989. Hear there is a blizzard going on right now in the Northeast. Don't miss that stuff. A cold front is coming to Tampa and it's going down to 40 degrees here tomorrow (Sunday) morning but by Monday it will be back in the mid 70's again with little wind. Great flying weather. Russ

R/C Foolish

My Feedback: (6)

Hey Russ,


Send some of that warm stuff up here. 18" already on the ground and it's not supposed to stop until tomorrow. My trailers not going anywhere for a while.

John

rcguy1

I wish I could send some warm stuff up north. You guys need a break but winter is still two weeks away. Question John, do you leave your planes in the trailer in this weather or do you bring them inside where it's warm?

R/C Foolish

My Feedback: (6)

Russ,

For the cold weather I leave a heater on in the trailer so it is actually pretty warm inside. For the warmer weather I have a turbo fan that creates a nice breeze to cool things off. I'll take out the ones that I won't fly for the winter.

John

spitgy

Russ - I'd love to post a pic or two but its just an empty trailer painted white with a white tile floor. When I get the chance (break in the weather) I'll duck out to Home Depot (about 120 miles from where I live) and check out the shelf brackets you spoke of earlier.
I'm going to be hauling bicycles in mine so it has to do double duty (hence the vinyl floor).
To attach the wall brackets, I'm thinking of using a bolt with a lag screw on one end which will go into the framing and the other end of the bolt has a 1/4-20 (or larger) thread so that I can wing- nut the brackets on for planes, off for bikes.
Actually, the US got most of the snow that blew this past few days. We are on the lee of Lake Huron and saw only a few cm (less than 2").

Keep up the good work Russ
Darry

rcguy1

Haven't done much work on the trailer because the weather has been great for flying the past couple of days. All I did was wire-up the outside box to a ground fault receptacle. Black wire to gold lead, white wire to silver and ground to green lead. This was done on the load side of the ground fault receptacle because I want the other receptacles in the circuit to be protected by the ground fault.

I'm going into great detail for the person or persons who have no experience wiring a 110 electrical circuit.

spitgy

Weather too good to work on a trailer, so you have to fly...too bad!
Your wiring comments are no doubt appreciated by the guy who has never done any.
How is your box coming? Give us the dimensions and details how you plan on mounting it on the tongue, when you are at theat point.
Darryl

rcguy1

The aluminum diamond plate box and the generator are still at the fabricators. Should take delivery within the week. The rear of the box is 48" in length and will taper down following the tongue's taper. I needed the rear dimension of the box from the fabricator before I installed the outside electrical box. I will be posting pictures of the install soon.

paperairplanes

My Feedback: (10)

Started this last year, before moving from Savannah to Corpus Christi. Took about 4 months to get it to this pint. Have some trim on the outside to complete yet. Been working on the house and a couple of big birds to stick inside this thing. Anyways, someone posted eariler about putting down self stick carpet panels. Where were they purchased from? Was going to do sticky tile in a black and white checkerboard, but from seeing some posts here, think it would be too slippery. Also, I want to put a/c on the roof, and possibly a small refrigerator. Could I run these off of an inverter plus maybe 1 light? Or would I be better off with a generator. Wouldnt mind having a genny around the house anyways in case of power failure.

Heres a link to show some building pics of my trailer!!!!
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_52.../tm.htm#526574

rcguy1

Paperairplanes, nice job on that custom trailer. That is really a custom trailer--built from the beginning. As far as running a air conditioner and frig off an inverter, I don't believe that's possible without a large bank of batteries. If you were to use small power tools, small light and charge your planes batteries all you would need is a deep cycle battery/inverter but to run an air conditioner no way. A 10,000 BTU Window AC needs 1200 running watts and 3000 starting watts. A refrigerator/freezer needs 800 running watts and 2400 starting watts. Other examples are microwave 1000 running/ 1000 starting, electric drill 1000 running/2000 starting, table saw 2000 running/4000 starting, circular saw 1500 running/3000 starting and a TV 500 running/5000 starting.

So if you plan on using any of these tools or appliances you would need a generator. Since I live in Florida, it's also nice to know I have my own (electric company) power supply if the local electric company goes down. If you missed it, I purchased a Briggs & Stratton 3250 running watt generator and it produces 4550 starting watts. I will post pictures of the installation in the next week or so. I'm still waiting for the fabricator to finish the trailers tongue box. Russ