Electrical system

 Several people have reached out about the electrical system, what I have for batteries, etc.  I am by no
means an expert here - I have enough knowledge to be somewhere in that spectrum between slightly dangerous and mildly competent, but that's about it.  I did a lot of research, looked at a ton of youtube videos (thanks Will Prowse! ), plus numerous others on what they did with *their* trailer or van.  I also had the advantage of having purchased a number of 50A cells for a boat project that I didn't move forward, so I had my batteries already.  I will add the major electrics to my source list later, but here's a brief writeup on the electrical.

The core system is 24v, with a 12v converter to power lights, fans, and other things that only use 12v.  The major power draws (inverter, air conditioner, fridge) all run on 24v, so no power loss is required to step the voltage up/down or invert.  The 2500W inverter is, at the end of the day, grossly oversized as it was initially sized to power a room air conditioner.  Powering an instapot or other appliance is overkill, and I may still replace that with a smaller unit.  

Anything that looks like a loose cable just hasn't been secured yet.  I'm still working on getting shore power installed and the transfer switch wired in.  I came up short on working space for it, and made a 'strategic decision to relocate it - so that bit of wire still needs to be run!  And then everything separated and tidied up.  
The battery cells are in a fitted wooden box that is secured to the bulkhead, and protected with a shelf over the top of the cells.  It is still _possible_ for debris to reach the cells, but pretty unlikely anything metallic/conductive can get in.  

The specs:

• 24vDC 100AH LiFePo4 battery pack - Grade 1 Chinese cells, 3.2v 50A arranged 8S 2P.
• 200W flexible solar cells (2x100W serial connected)
• 20A 24vDC MPPT solar controller
• 5A 24vDC out charger (120VAC in)
• 2500W pure Sine Inverter
• 30A transfer switch for shore power, with 15A breaker on galley outlet and 10A up front. (which will likely never be used).

Most of the wiring is 8ga, with 4ga to the Inverter.  Device wiring 10-14ga depending on anticipated load, and yes - mostly oversized, marine grade copper.  I *did not* want to worry about fishing a broken wire out of the ceiling runs.  There are fuses/breakers at multiple points in the system, hopefully protecting each individual component as well as the system overall.  

 From left to right: 

DC breaker to disconnect Solar panels  

MPPT control/display
Battery disconnect switch

24v distribution/fuse panel 
12v distriution/fuse panel

In hindsight, and if I didn't already have the batteries, I'd probably get a pair of 12v 200AH batteries and an integrated controller.  But it would've been a bit more money, and I would not have had the fun? of doing it myself.

First road trip

 After the past few weeks of jamming on details (and a few not so small items), it was time to go camping. So we loaded up the fur kids and headed 'up nord' as a good Minnesotan might say.  We did almost 1000 miles over 4 days, stayed mostly in state park campgrounds, tested out a few systems, and mostly took it easy.  

Boy was I glad I spent the time to seal all the seams.  That came out 'ok' from a look standpoint, and I'll go back over them again soon just to make sure I don't have any gaps.  The very first night out, there was a significant thunderstorm that dropped a half inch or more of rain on us.  No problems at all.

The trailer tows like a dream. Tracks true, soaks up any bumps.  I never really noticed it back there.  Except on the gas guage - it pulls mileage down about 5mpg.

Things that worked: 

The electrical system.  It charged just fine with solar, ran the fridge the whole trip, lights and MaxxFan as
needed.  We didn't need heat or air conditioning, which is good - because neither was hooked up!

The mattress was surprisingly comfy.  Six inches of foam beats a thermarest all to pieces!

Venting seemed about right.  With both door windows open, and the fan on low, there was enough air flow to keep things pleasant.  Had it been really hot or sticky, we could've run the AC by extension cord.  

The stove.  Camp Chef Everest 2X.  This was a treat.  It just worked, the temp was very controllable, and cooking on it was easy.  The slide-out shelf was positioned pretty well.  And it's really nice to turn the stove on in the morning and have it heat water for coffee as fast as the one at home does.

Next up for the galley will be a set of drawers that fit between the fridge/electrical bay and the stove bay.  Having a storage spot for kitchen stuff is a must.  We'll also plan what goes above the stove - that wall is a blank slate at the moment.  Winter project!

And there are still a bunch of projects to finish up:

• Bike rack
• Shore power
• Permanent propane hookup
• Heater
• AC wiring (part of shore power)
• Rear light bar
• Decide what to do on the hatch (winter)

The nice thing is that none of these are show stoppers, and we can camp for at least the next few weeks without any of them happening, although winter is coming, and heat will soon become an issue so I'd better get that squared away!