Project Choose Your Own Adventure

[ScottyB]

Any updates on this joint?

a hole for a finger-grab

awww yissss  

GRAB 'EM BY THE PLYWOOD!!

lol how did i miss this series of zingers?

been gone for a while.  things are gonna pick back up this year.

2018 was kind of a shitshow.  my poor wife went through multiple health issues out of the blue which left me basically taking care of everything at home for 9 months.  the poor camper sat dusty, forgotten, and filled with boxes in the corner of the garage since April when put that galley counter together.  not to mention all the other projects that need attention around this olde house.  

one of the results of my wife's diagnosis is she now needs an APAP machine to help her breathe at night as a result of sleep apnea.  i had no plans to run A/C power in the camper (for simplicity and efficiency), only D/C, so this meant making some running changes to the electrical system so she can plug the machine in somewhere in the cabin.  had i gone ahead and wired the camper as i intended, and then sealed it all up under the wood skin we would be screwed.  i'd have had to rip the skin off to add that power line back into the walls, so by yet another bout of Pure Dumb Luck™, the slow down gave me time to figure out how to add this wiring.

first order of business was grabbing a little 300w pure sine inverter to run off the battery and convert the DC power to AC, and send it to a little power strip in the cabin.  this little Samlex PST-300-12 fits perfectly in the tongue box, where it'll be hardwired to the battery.  a little more expensive than the other China-verters in its range but such a quality piece.  on our battery, i think it'll run the APAP on a nightly shift with ease along with the LED lights and other USB chargers, possibly even 2 nights in a row without putting much dent in the charge.  that said i'm still glad we are mounting a solar panel to supplement some passive recharging back up during the day if we can't plug in to campground power.

i found a piece of laminate plywood scrap that was just the right size for a mounting plate.


m'lady handling m'wood HAHAHAHA how am i not single


every dad worth his salt has a pile of wood scrap and a random plastic bucket of leftover screws for just such an occasion.  i found 4 mounting screws and 3 bolts to connect the inverter to the plate and the plate to the tongue box.  its tight but there's still plenty of room to route cords and wires especially once i finally get them all trimmed up and bundled with zipties.


next was figuring out the best way to run A/C power to the cabin, and galley.  we know we'll need power access in the cabin for the APAP and maybe a laptop charger, but in the galley we won't run much - both due to the modest capacity of the inverter and the fact that any cooking needs will be taken care of by propane or open campfire.  but, we're running A/C to the back of the cabin already now, so i might as well figure out a way to get an outlet another 2 feet further back to the galley in case we ever need it.  the most efficient way to deliver that power is to just turn an extension cord into an outlet.  the cord just makes a short run from the powerstrip under the bunk to the location up on the galley pantry.  the powerstrip cord will run from the inverter outlet, into the cabin, and will stay hidden 99% of the time under the matress.  you'll only see the cord running up the wall at the back, but its mostly out of sight anyway.  i still have to cinch the yellow wire down to the wall and floor with cable tie downs.

 

and up...


and then into the galley pantry.  


i had to add that walnut trim around the outlet as a mounting aid.  the electrical box is meant to be surface mounted, so there was no way to secure it in the hole i cut out.  as a result the walnut trim is glued to the wall and provides a "collar" between the cover and box, and keeps them both from falling through the hole.


finished outlet.


wiring was simple.  just strip and separate the extension cord wires, then Black to hot, White to neutral, and send Green to ground and then on to the ground point on the weatherproof outlet box.  i chose a weatherproof box because i wanted a metallic ground point and because it had a cover in case we get a little rain blowing in before we can shut the hatch.  or to keep dust out.  

while i was there, i also cut a chamfer on the edge of the counter and added a decorative thin strip of Purple Heart wood to cover a gap i didn't like.  the chamfer is necessity, i didn't calculate my hatch thickness correctly and have to remove that material to make room.


lastly i had a gap between the counter and the galley side walls.  found some walnut scraps and chiseled/sanded some plugs to fill the space.


looking forward to making more sawdust this spring.  i've got a couple other wood projects that are finally in process too, so now that i've got the momentum i'm not planning to hit the brakes any time soon.