The latest project, removable camper project, OZ Trail 8.

[losh1971]

Camper worked great all weekend. The solar set up was able to keep the deep cycle battery charged while running phone charging and a fridge that rarely switched off during the day. I reckon I can even run an inverter at some point. I'll add a sine wave one to my wish-list. I have a modified square wave, which can do some things, but sine wave is really the go as they are more efficient.

The Bunnings camp kitchen was faulty so it was returned tonight and I got my money back. There was a manufacturing fault, which meant the wind barrier didn't slot into its groove. Somehow the the ali top had slits at the front but the back slits were underneath so the wind barrier would move and not drop in. I was offered a swap, which I declined thinking others may be the same. Instead I think I have an old wooden fold up table in the shed. I will use that instead.

Decided to leave basically everything in the trailer ready for the next trip, rather than pack it back on the camping shelves. Couple of things I need to sort. One is being prepared for unlevel ground. The other is I need about another 40-50mm of height so the tent sides don't sag. I thought about my options, one was raise the wooden sub-frame by adding in another lot of timber. Then I thought about 16s. Both will cost money, so I have decided to carry timber blocks and slip those under the wheels. I also need to find another cheap screw jack to use as another stabiliser that I can raise to get the trailer level. So far I have one from the old Jeep, which worked great. I just need to pack the winder handle as a screwdriver wasn't the easiest method of winding it up. I can probably get away with a jack stand in the interim as I don't want to pay any more than $10 for another jack. The other thing I didn't think I would need was a multi-meter. I used to take one camping to keep and eye on the battery voltage, prior to having the panel. I needed it this time as well as I thought the battery was down below the recommended 11.8v. Turned out when I tested after getting home it was about 12.2v, so probably had a few more hours on the fridge without the panel when we were packing up. Having said that inbuilt lithium battery was enough to keep he fridge running for a few hours after disconnecting it from the main battery.

 

[hademall]

Have you thought about something like these ramps?

 

[losh1971]

Have you thought about something like these ramps?

I have but I don't want to spend money right now.

 

[hademall]

I have but I don't want to spend money right now.

Four 50mm pieces of timber it is then

 

[losh1971]

So while we're were away a couple was selling a queen mattress for $25. We had a look at it and it was decent and really comfortable. Snavelled it and its now in the camper. This means my really good double mattress has come out ready to go inside when the bed that's in storage in my shed gets move into the house.

Also been looking to get a new hose for the gas stove as the old one was off a BBQ and leaked gas because it wasn't suitable for my stove. Haven't looked real hard, just Mitre 10 and BCF. Turns out the hose I thought might work with some adapters is a no go. Mitre 10 have one other option but I need to take the stove in to see if it fits. If it doesn’t then my next step will be Bunnings or Randall's. If that also doesn't work out it will unfortunately mean a new stove.

 

[greenacc]

So while we're were away a couple was selling a queen mattress for $25. We had a look at it and it was decent and really comfortable. Snavelled it and its now in the camper. This means my really good double mattress has come out ready to go inside when the bed that's in storage in my shed gets move into the house.

Also been looking to get a new hose for the gas stove as the old one was off a BBQ and leaked gas because it wasn't suitable for my stove. Haven't looked real hard, just Mitre 10 and BCF. Turns out the hose I thought might work with some adapters is a no go. Mitre 10 have one other option but I need to take the stove in to see if it fits. If it doesn’t then my next step will be Bunnings or Randall's. If that also doesn't work out it will unfortunately mean a new stove.

How many different fittings are there for gas stoves?
Apparently POL BBQ fittings have more been replaced by some new 'safety' thread fitting. Why? Because the old ones required people to tighten them up so they didn't leak, according to the internet.

 

[losh1971]

How many different fittings are there for gas stoves?
Apparently POL BBQ fittings have more been replaced by some new 'safety' thread fitting. Why? Because the old ones required people to tighten them up so they didn't leak, according to the internet.

Don't know. There is a new reg fitting being phased in. All my bottles are the old style. The camper currently has a small gas bottle with the smaller camping bottle size thread. The issues I had when camping was the hose was too short and the end that screwed into the stove has two holes in it, which the gas escaped, yet it was fine on the BBQ. I have a 4.5kg to fit at some point. It's empty and out of date. I can swap it or I could fill it myself. Was looking for the least out of pocket way out, which will be the $42 Mitre 10 hose and reg. But this means filling the empty gas bottle, which requires borrowing a mates hoses to do a self-fill. I found a gas hose in the shed but I think it needs a reg and then an adapter to fit my stove, which Mitre 10 don't sell. Why Mitre 10? Because I have a voucher and a trade account.

 

[chrisp]

How many different fittings are there for gas stoves?
Apparently POL BBQ fittings have more been replaced by some new 'safety' thread fitting. Why? Because the old ones required people to tighten them up so they didn't leak, according to the internet.

I believe it’s more to do with the rubber seal being in the bottle side of the fitting rather than relying on an o-ring on the appliance end. I think the thinking is that the refiller will be able to maintain the seal better than the sub-average gas bottle user. Also, the bottle won’t open until the fitting is screwed in firmly.

And POL will still fit to the newer gas bottles.

 

[chrisp]

Don't know. There is a new reg fitting being phased in. All my bottles are the old style. The camper currently has a small gas bottle with the smaller camping bottle size thread. The issues I had when camping was the hose was too short and the end that screwed into the stove has two holes in it, which the gas escaped, yet it was fine on the BBQ. I have a 4.5kg to fit at some point. It's empty and out of date. I can swap it or I could fill it myself. Was looking for the least out of pocket way out, which will be the $42 Mitre 10 hose and reg. But this means filling the empty gas bottle, which requires borrowing a mates hoses to do a self-fill. I found a gas hose in the shed but I think it needs a reg and then an adapter to fit my stove, which Mitre 10 don't sell. Why Mitre 10? Because I have a voucher and a trade account.

Be aware that the hose arrangement has changed over the years. Very old hoses that leaked or caught fire would, or could, let the gas escape at an uncontrolled rate. Newer hoses have a restriction at the gas bottle end (i.e. before the actual hose) so the rate that the gas can escape is more controlled if the hose develops a leak or burns.

But there is a bit of a catch that can catch people unaware ( damhik). The gas can sometimes recondense back to liquid in the hose if the bottle is higher than the appliance. From memory, liquid gas has about 17 times the energy density of gas vapour. If it makes it to the burner it is very spectacular! So, many of the newer stoves will stipulate that the gas bottle is to be kept below the level of the stove.

I changed to the newer ‘low pressure, high output’ stove which works much better and is much safer. These have a regulator at the bottle and the gas in the hose is at a lower enough pressure that it will remain as vapour (and not liquid).

It all something I learnt the hard way when looking at options of using a camping stove with a bottle still attached to the camper trailer.

 

[losh1971]

The hose I'm next looking at has a low pressure reg and will fit a larger fitting gas bottle. The bottle is lower than the stove. Good to know that can be an issue.