POD: Homebuilt foam core fiberglass skin pop-up camper build thread

[pods8]

Busted out the tape, here's the two general thoughts, I'm leaning towards wrapping the white. Also here's the two actual color samples (the grey color chip is lighter in person FYI should match the truck/bed decently):

 

[Overland Hadley]

Personally I like the white coming down the side some. It has a classic look to it.

 

[SLO_F-250]

I personally like the color to go all the way up. That is of course unless you are going to do some white striping somewhere else. I recently painted my camper to match the rig and at the transition of the roof/side painted the trim black to match the other black striping. But if you have no other white striping I would not bring the white down. My 2 cents.

It will look great either way. Good luck!

 

[kcatto]

I am new to this thread but I read it all the way through tonight.... I have worked with laminates for years in aviation, your camper looks sound... I am thinking of a build with niddacore or phenolic honeycomb, but your use of the foam has got me thinking differently. very well done... I like the white top just coming over the sides and a small accent strip on the side of the camper, maybe tying the small accent stripe to a white pinstripe you put on the cab... it is subtle but very impressive, when done right.... just some ideas...

 

[Hoosier 45]

Hi,
I have been following along for quite sometime. Again very nice.

Do you know the projected weight of the shell and how many square feet of glassed foam the will be? Maybe pound per square foot?

Thank,
Martin

 

[pods8]

I am new to this thread but I read it all the way through tonight.... I have worked with laminates for years in aviation, your camper looks sound... I am thinking of a build with niddacore or phenolic honeycomb, but your use of the foam has got me thinking differently. very well done... I like the white top just coming over the sides and a small accent strip on the side of the camper, maybe tying the small accent stripe to a white pinstripe you put on the cab... it is subtle but very impressive, when done right.... just some ideas...

Something like that would need to be on the lower half the camper if I were to do it I think, the upper half is either over the truck or probably doesn't go down past the windows of the cab.

Hi,
I have been following along for quite sometime. Again very nice.

Do you know the projected weight of the shell and how many square feet of glassed foam the will be? Maybe pound per square foot?

Thank,
Martin

Look back to post #22 I put some estimates together there. I have a mix of 2ply, 3ply, 2ply over plywood. Off hand I've just been saving 500 or so for the shell structure, that'll jump up as windows/acuators/etc. are added to just make it a shell. Obviously jump more with the interior/appliances. In general I've been thinking maybe it'll be 1000lb dry when finished but the proof will be in the final product numbers. (http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...op-up-camper-build-thread?p=860140#post860140)

 

[pods8]

Finished off an initial sanding pass, identified some defects to repair. Planning to do that this afternoon.


Also working on the jack brackets some. I thought it perhaps a decent idea to wrap the bottom corner a bit for extra vertical support (overkill) and to give the corner a bit of protection. I'm limited in tooling so I made up a quick jig with some scrap metal conduit I clamped to my bench to create a radius. Its not perfect but I figured I'd bed the brackets with a layer of sikaflex so it should be good enough.

 

[bphang10]

hi,
i'm another long time follower just now getting into my build using nidacore for a soft side pop-up on a flatbed tundra. i'm in the process of figuring out roof lift/actuator controls. plan on using progressive automation 400lb actuators as i need a 20" lift. i would like a remote control with a hard wired back up option and came across this:
http://www.gamainc.com/site/epage/130322_941.htm
then i came across this one, operates 4 separately or all at once. might do the trick for evening out different lift rates due to load and resistance?
http://www.gamainc.com/site/epage/131599_941.htm
would appreciate your opinion.

 

[pods8]

hi,
i'm another long time follower just now getting into my build using nidacore for a soft side pop-up on a flatbed tundra. i'm in the process of figuring out roof lift/actuator controls. plan on using progressive automation 400lb actuators as i need a 20" lift. i would like a remote control with a hard wired back up option and came across this:
http://www.gamainc.com/site/epage/130322_941.htm
then i came across this one, operates 4 separately or all at once. might do the trick for evening out different lift rates due to load and resistance?
http://www.gamainc.com/site/epage/131599_941.htm
would appreciate your opinion.

Interesting. Well the later item doesn't have any wired controls which means you'd still need to wire all those in separately as well which could get a little messy. The all or individual controls are nice. It would be a lot cooler if it had the same set of controls that are on the remote on the unit itself, that would be the best of both for redundancy and an all in one unit.

In general the idea of a remote is nifty but is it really practically needed? Off the get go I'm thinking no so I'm just putting in 4 DPDT rocker switches for now (sustained ones you don't have to hold down). As long as they're reachable through the doorway they can all be clicked on and since the lift isn't super speed you can still walk around the vehicle to inspect things if needed. They can be individually manipulated to level things out if needed.

So far the folks that have used actuators in their builds haven't had enough speed difference to bind up so I'll see how well things work off the bat as well. Manipulating wire size/length can help crudely affect speeds, also the use of PWM speed controllers can be a consideration if there is enough speed difference that things bind over the course of the lift. I'll skin that cat when I get there.


I'm actually hoping for a test run on the actuators over the next week to make sure I don't have any structural conflicts before continuing on with the fairing/painting. However I'm just using some of the bulk 14ga wire I got for this temporary stuff where as I'll be using 10ga in the actual installation so it won't be a good test of speed differences for my final product (plus the solar and fans/lights aren't installed yet either nor the drag from the seals).

 

[Bergum]

hi,
lift. i would like a remote control with a hard wired back up option and came across this:
http://www.gamainc.com/site/epage/130322_941.htm
then i came across this one, operates 4 separately or all at once. might do the trick for evening out different lift rates due to load and resistance?
http://www.gamainc.com/site/epage/131599_941.htm
would appreciate your opinion.

One reason for not using these, is interference can make them operate unintentionaly. Find one that is encrypted, then it will stop if interupted.

 

[bphang10]

lot's to think about. main reason for wanting remote is to be able to watch from the outside while raising it in tight camp spots, ie under trees or a palapa in mexico seeking shade. come to think of it, in my current camper with heco lift, i crank it 1/2 way, block it so it does not fall, walk out and have a look. remote would just be convenient. also considering building up a wired box with a long cord.

i don't think my roof loads will vary by more than 40lbs. solar panels on 1 side, 1 or 2 surfboards on the other side, and fans in the middle. i'm hoping lift rates will be close enough to not require individual controls. as you are way ahead of me, i'll be interested in your results.

bergum, the disaster of an unintentional activation while driving did cross my mind. also thought of it somehow being activated while sleeping, or someone or something hitting the switch manually. was thinking of having a manual disconnect to the battery for driving and while camped?

yep, lot's to think about.

 

[pods8]

If you want a wired lead you'll want to use relays in the camper to switch the actuator loads (two per actuator) and then just SPDT switches to trigger those relays, that way the wires in your remote are only carrying the small load to trigger the relays. That means you can use smaller wires and also not make the current going to the actuators take a really long path. Bonus on doing relays is you can add in a fifth switch to trigger all 4 actuators (you need to use diodes on the signal lines from the master switch though). I was originally planning to go the relay route for the master switch but initially I'm just going with 4 DPDT and see how I like it, simpler to setup for now while I have other things more pressing to work on and also delcity has a overstock on DPDT rockers right now so I got them for $1.68ea which sealed the deal for now.

In general though you're looking at likely a full minute to lift the roof up so there is time to watch things (or lift half/then look).

Considering I have 3 kids under 3yrs old and thus lots of little curious hands I will most certainly have a power kill to the actuator switches in my finished design.

 

[riveroceanandmountain]

3 kids under 3!!!! how do you find time to build anything? I remember those days fondly... enjoy... they are very short

 

[pods8]

3 kids under 3!!!! how do you find time to build anything? I remember those days fondly... enjoy... they are very short

Hour or two bursts in the weekday evenings and sometimes a bit longer on the weekends. There was only 1 kid when I started and didn't realize how reduced my tinkering time would be (and also completely underestimated the work involved) so its all factored into the length of this build. I didn't do much in general on it last summer once we had two kids in the mix as things were more stressful then. Both my wife and I were working and we had a long commute too, then once we got home all the chores/dinner/etc. took precedence so I burnt out. But we've moved, I walk to work now, wife is home with the kids and is able to chip away at things during the day so everything isn't stacked up for the evenings/weekends so after dinner and the kids are settled in I can get at things in a less stressful manner so I'm back at it with new motivation.

 

[pods8]

Made up a quick a dirty controller with 4 DPDT switches to run the actuators, its crude but works for this stage. Sorry the lighting really sucks at times in the garage. Also here is a quick video to the roof going up on actuators! (Sorry I rotated my phone to get more of the camper in the shot and thought the video would auto rotate to landscape for me, it didn't and I don't know how to fix it. ) http://s532.photobucket.com/user/pods8/media/IMG_0084_zps3ce73603.mp4.html