S-280 camper build

[muthkw25]

Have you decided if you are going to run a solar setup as well to power the lights inside the shelter?

 

[m16ty]

I could run some solar if I could find some cheap panels.

Even if I'm out somewhere without generator or shore power, it will only be for a couple of days at a time. No more than the lights draw, I think the deuce batteries will hold up fine.

 

[OilfieldRoughneck]

I could run some solar if I could find some cheap panels.

Even if I'm out somewhere without generator or shore power, it will only be for a couple of days at a time. No more than the lights draw, I think the deuce batteries will hold up fine.

are the harbor freight solar panels not good enough? I've been thinking of buying some

 

[m16ty]

I worry about the quality of a lot of the HF stuff. I'll admit I haven't checked out their solar panels though.

 

[m109a2]

A friend of mine bought the Hf set up junk just junk.

 

[m16ty]

I'm running way behind schedule but I did get some work done on the shelter the last few days.

Got the lights hooked up

Added a standard 3 prong plug for power hook up.

Did some work on the beds. On the bottom bed, I've made a removable center section. The plan is to remove the center, have some legs to go under it, and convert it to a table with a bench on each side. The top bunk is on hinges so it will fold up out of the way.

 

[Tracer]

Thanks for all the pics there are some good ideas here. I'm interested in the S-280 for my M35, or an S-250 for my M105A2.

 

[m16ty]

Well I noticed it's been almost a year since I started this thread. It's been a slow process and I had to put this project on the back burner due to other things coming up. It's starting to get warm and the kids are wanting to go camping so I've got to get this thing going.

Worked on it a little this weekend and got the air conditioner installed. I figure if I go ahead and get the a/c working for those hot summer nights and some mattresses, we can go ahead and start using it.

I picked up this LG 8,000btu a/c last fall from Govdeals. I fabbed up a aluminum tray to hold the unit. I plan on getting my cousin who's in the glass business to cut me a piece of glass for a window under the a/c.

 

[Another Ahab]

I picked up this LG 8,000btu a/c last fall from Govdeals. I fabbed up a aluminum tray to hold the unit. I plan on getting my cousin who's in the glass business to cut me a piece of glass for a window under the a/c.

He'll know; but in case he doesn't understand where you're putting it, you'll be sure to let him know you want it tempered or laminated.

You know that already, right?

 

[m16ty]

It will be laminated safety glass. Glass shops can't cut tempered glass, it will just shatter when you try to cut it. Tempered glass has to be cut to the final dimension before going through the tempering process.

 

[DanM7890]

Any updates to this as I will be trying to pickup a s-280 for my lmtv soon.

 

[DanM7890]

Well I picked up a s-280 shelter and im going to build a camper out of it. Just wanted to see if you're still working on yours?

 

[Tracer]

Would love to find a S-280 or S-250 shelter in the Reno area.

 

[m16ty]

Yes, I'm still working on it. It's been a slow process but I've just about got it ready enough to take a trip with.

Beds are finished, A/C installed, and I put a counter with cabinets back in that was in it when I bought it.

Only thing I need is to find some mattresses for the beds and come up with a generator to run the a/c and a few lights. I've priced some materesses at the the local place and found out they cost a lot more than I thought so I'm looking for a deal there.

I've also got to pick up a generator. I've been looking at a 2kw Honda but I just got a sale paper from Northern Tool that has their Powerhouse brand 2kw for about half the price. I've seen mixed reviews on the Powehouse so I'm kind of reluctant to go that route.

 

[Another Ahab]

Yes, I'm still working on it. It's been a slow process but I've just about got it ready enough to take a trip with.

Only thing I need is to find some mattresses for the beds and come up with a generator to run the a/c and a few lights. I've priced some materesses at the the local place and found out they cost a lot more than I thought so I'm looking for a deal there..

Have you checked out the air beds?

They're usually less cost than a mattress and sometimes even more comfortable than one too.

Cabela's carries some:

http://www.cabelas.com/browse.cmd?categoryId=734095080&CQ_search=inflatable%20mattress&CQ_st=b

(And by the way, that red-haired lady -shown on that first item in the link- is not included with purchase)​

 

[m16ty]

I've got a cheap air materess (I think it's Coleman) that I've used in tents and the deuce bed and the comfort level is lacking. I have laid on a nice one though (don't know the brand) and it was real comfortable.

The problem with the really thick ones is I will loose a lot of headroom on my bunkbeds. I also don't need the built in air pump with a deuce air supply handy.

 

[m16ty]

This was the last thing I needed before we head out on our first camping trip. Now I just need to find some time off work to go camping.

I went with this little inverter because the MEP is just too big to lug around and way too noisy. After doing a bunch of research, of course Honda is top of the line but all the camping forums have nothing but praise for these little Champions. It was about half the price of the Honda. Did a test and it ran all the lights and 8,000 BTU air conditioner fine.

 

[tim292stro]

Yamaha EF2000iS, while being twice the price, is the one INI Power modifies for multi-fuel. It would be interesting to see if the Champion was suitable for the same modifications.
https://youtu.be/MwDweYZG7Pc

Basically they use ether to start the engine running, retard the timing, and keep the engine running hotter (spark plug temperature of about 155-175°C, measured with a comon CHT sensor).

The US patent is public record (and conveniently online). Put on a CNG/LPG adapter and you can basically run any fuel you can find.

 

[m16ty]

Yamaha EF2000iS, while being twice the price, is the one INI Power modifies for multi-fuel. It would be interesting to see if the Champion was suitable for the same modifications.
https://youtu.be/MwDweYZG7Pc

Basically they use ether to start the engine running, retard the timing, and keep the engine running hotter (spark plug temperature of about 155-175°C, measured with a comon CHT sensor).

The US patent is public record (and conveniently online). Put on a CNG/LPG adapter and you can basically run any fuel you can find.

Sounds pretty cool but I don't see them getting very far with the military without the primary fuel being diesel. Try getting any of the fuels he listed or even straight gasoline through the military supply chain out in the field. Under ordinary conditions, none of the fuels he listed will be available but there will be plenty of diesel.

I also don't buy that you can dump handfuls of sand into the fuel tank without issue. I'm sure it would work for a demonstration (as would most any ordinary generator) but sooner or later that sand is going to get in the filter, stop it up, and you'll be dead in the water. If I were out in the boonies and had to use contaminated fuel, I'd at least strain it through a piece of cloth to keep out as much trash as I could.

 

[tim292stro]

Indeed, I do believe the people at INI Power are prone to hyperbole. That said, being a carburetor type engine, it doesn't have the sub 20-micron orifices that a conventional diesel has, so there is a bit of "slack" which can be cut for fuel contamination (but I totally agree with you, coffee filters make a great "emergency scrounge" pre-filter). Here INI Power shows running it on JP-8 as a demo before the product being offered to the military (aparently the Marine Corps was interested to the tune of $24Million US):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M31lylXE5Ks

The "special button" in the guy's weak sarcasm which is pushed for roughly 3 seconds, is a nozzle-hose on an ether can mounted to the back of the generator, which according to the patent, soaks the air filter with ether to run the engine until it gets warm enough to vaporize the liquid diesel. The vaporization temperature is the reason they run the engine so hot, as diesel has a higher vapor temperature. Diesel will ignite with a spark at the right temperatures, and I read that in testing the generator would do about 15% longer run-time on diesel, so it does seem to be burning somewhat near the expected energy density gain by using diesel.

I'm not saying this design is perfect, but it is a good case to study. I came across their product when looking for a sub 5kW inverter generator that was listed as multi-fuel - I was thinking "Does it burn? Well I can run on it" when I was thinking "multi-fuel". What I like about their method is, if the compression and engine design are correct, you can convert basically any off-the-shelf spark engine to run on any fuel. I hadn't thought to even try this before reading the patent.