Bob C

I plan on installing my inverter next to the coach battery as suggested here. I think that the wire from the isolator to the coach battery is currently an 8 ga. I plan on installing a 4 ga from thealternator to inverter to the breaker and from the breaker to the battery. Basically putting in heavy wire all the way through. Does the existing wire go to the 120 v converter for some reason? How do I route the heavy wire? Can I go from the breaker straight to the battery to keep everything as short as possible? Sorry for all the questions but I want to do it once and do it correctly. Thanks for the help.

Welcome to the forum Dophhindriver. I am sure that one of the expets will be along pretty quick. I suspect that your only option is going to be replacing the converter. I will be doing that to my Escaper this summer when it comes out of storage.

I was thinking about raising the top of the cabinet. I have to get into the RV to see what would be involved.

Waiter-Thanks for the information and link to your photos. My frig looks about the same size as the one shown in your link. The one that I found is about 40" tall. I guess it may be too tall but will try to get into my RV and measure it. I doubt that it will fit after looking at your pictures. Thanks Bob C

My problem is that the previous owner removed the 3 way frig and put in an electric dorm sized one, I think about 4 cu ft. The RV is in storage at the county fairgrounds and I can't get to it until contacting the storage guy. I do not know what size the opening is. I know that the frig fills the hole in the cabinet that comes to about my chest for height (I am 6" tall) but do not remember how close to the floor the frig hole goes. The used one will probably sell before long and I don't want to miss it. I do know that the frig is not the small one, I had one of those in my pop-up and I think that this one is about twice as tall. I need to know someones' best information about how big the hole would be. I have a rear door, passenger side refrig unit. I do not know how close the frig gets to the floor. If I could get into the storage unit, I could measure it, but I have to find the guy first. The greatness of cheap storage at the county fairgounds in the middle of nowhere.

Are most of the refrigerators in Touhouses about the same size? Mine has a mid-sized (dorm style) frig installed but I do not know how big the install can be. I need to find a refrigerator for my Escaper but can't get to the MH (in storage) for a week or so. I found a used RV refrigerator (lp/12/120) locally but do not know if it will fit. Could a couple of you measure your refrigerators to see what size they are?

The 185R14 is a truck tire. Passenger car tires have the extra number in them. Truck tires do not. Truck tires have stiffer sidewalls which is important with duals, (so i was told by a tire dealer. I found a shop near my house that had them, I ordered 7 new ones and the guy went out of business before they came in. LUCKY for me, I did not pay for them when I ordered them. Now to find another dealer that will order and install them in the spring. I am looking now.

There is another problem with the wingnuts that hold the bike racks together. Most people lock their bikes to the rack and a theif can just unscrew the wingnuts and the rack falls apart. A better way to lock your bike to the MH is to loop the cable around the rear bumper. At least then they have to cut comething to steal the bikes, someone may notice the cutting.

I was planning on putting a hole near the bottom of the box to let the air flow by convection. I guess I will mount the inverter a couple of feet away with 6 ga wire that I already have.. Is this wire heavy enough for a run that short?

I just informed my wife that it is now down to 105 days until the RV comes out. I also noticed that this is post #100 for me. I love this site. I get so much information from it and hopefully will be paying for my information with helpful posts in the future. Someone on here said that there is nothing NEW in our Toyhouses. I have been using pop-ups and a counterfeit Scamp for years and they all use the same technology. It makes repairs and maintenance so much easier with shared parts and methodology. Thanks for welcoming this 5 month old newby with so much help.

My battery is installed under the sofa/bed and is vented to the outside by a hose. I was thinking about making the box from exterior plywood, caulking it and venting using the same hose to the outside. I can mount the inverter separately but was trying to save space. I had not thought about the gas from the battery except in terms of being explosive.

The coach battery box in my Escaper is broken. I want to install a large deep cycle battery in the spring. Nobody sells "vented" battery boxes locally and the mail order joints all want $35 to $50 plus shipping for the larger sized boxes. Can I build one from wood and vent it out the same hose that my old small sized box uses? I saw what I thought was a wooden battery box in one of "waiter's" posts. Is this ok to do this? I would think that as long as it seals up and not conductive it should work. I also like the way that he installed his inverter. I just bought a 750 w and was thinking about using his idea on the location for the install.

Hi RonSherry, Where do you live in WI? I live just outside of Baraboo (most people give Wisconsin Dells for reference but I have driven through there twice a day for 23 years and don't like the place.)

Your 760 watt will run a load of 760 watts but has some reserve for the start-up of the appliance.

I also thought about putting the inverter next to the coach battery. I was concerned about the fan noise on the inverter. My hearing is terrible but the frequency range that I hear pretty good seems to be the same as the small fans used on the inverters. I know that it would be better for the inverter to be mounted inside. Maybe I will mount it behind the refrigerator and run some heavy wire from the battery, including a circuit breaker right by the battery. That way I would not be hearing the fan noise as much.

starter battery

I was going to have the inverter turned on only while under way. I used a 12 volt refrigerator in our pop-up for many trips. I learned quickly that you turned it off unless the engine was running. Failure to do so resulted in the use of jumper cables. Only needed to happen once. I was going to install a relay to handle the switching of the inverter to allow it to be connected only while the engine was running. I tried an inexpensive 400 watt unit but it went to overload immediately. I think that the inverter I tried said 500 watt max. I will try a 750 watt unit when the RV comes out of storage. They are pretty reasonably priced and I want an inverter on board anyway. Is it ok to mount the inverter under the hood in the engine compartment to keep the 12 volt cable short? I will have to make sure that water does not get at the inverter.

I am not sure about the frig in the MH because it is in storage. I have another frig, same size in the basement, the plate says current usage 1.4 A, 83 watts, 115 volts. I calculated this to be about 161 watts. I tried a 400 watt inverter that a friend let me try and it went to overload as soon as I plugged it in. The frig runs on house current really well with a very fast cool down. I know that start up requires more surge power that to run the unit. I was told that the starting surge is sometimes double the power it takes to continue running the frig. That does makes sense to me. I have looked this up on the net and according to several sites, the 400 should have been enough power.

I have a stock alternator in my 1988 22RE Toyhouse and would like to know what is the largest inverter I can install. The previous owner installed a 4 cubic ft refrigerator and it is 120 volt only. I am looking for a used gas/electric frig but until then I would like to run the 120 v unit while driving. I never trust my calculations with Ohm's Law so I am asking you "experts." I have only been here for about 5 months but have learned so much. I definitely had luck finding the MH that I bought with your help. I avoided several units that I may have bought without your knowledge.

I have painted a sunfish sailboat with a roller and a Scamp fiberglass camper by spraying with Interlux Brightside paint. That stupp is amazing with the way it smooths out when using a roller. The paint is easy to work with but you have to do a good job os thinning when spraying. My neighbor helped with the spraying and I was surprised how thin he wanted the paint in the sprayer. I never thought of using it for the Toyhouse but it would be a good option.

When i bought the Toyhouse, I was praying that the wife would be interested in camping again. She had a stroke 10 years ago at age 43 and has some mobility problems. After 3 camping trips this last summeer, she is solidly hooked again. She informed me that in 118 days (April 1) we will be getting the RV out of storage and she wants to go camping the first weekend that it is out. She has plans for about 15 trips around Wisconsin already for 2012 and is planning a big trip for 2013 that includes heading to Alabama and meandering up through New England with the trip taking around a month. Now I hope that this enthusiasm continues.

I have an old pop-up in the back yard that I tore apart. Just the frame and old deck weigh almost 600 pounds. This is the second pop-up that I have torn apart. They are strong but heavy like you said. I have only seen a couple with torsion axles, most have springs and straight axle. My friend tore on apart just for the axle. 3500 lb axle for free. Not bad. I will be building mine out of a Dexter axle (torsion)

If you are going to build your own trailer, consider using an axle with rubber torsion suspension. They bounce a lot less than steel springs and give your stuff a softer ride. They also make trailer construction extremely easy because they bolt straight onto the frame. I am considering buying a light weight motorcycle to pull on a homemade trailer. If I could get an '85 Honda Nighthawk (650 cc) I could have a total weight of about 700 lbs. I currently have a Goldwing and the cycle itself is almost 800 lbs.

Please remember to install a CO detector in your MH. I would hate to loose friends that I have begun to know in the last 5 months. By the way, when you burn propane (LP) the exhaust is water vapor and carbon dioxide. When the oxygen level starts to be depleted, it turns to water and carbon monoxide. This is the deadly stuff. A friend of mine was using a Mr. Heater in his ice fishing shack with a window cracked but the result was an eternal nap. I miss the old geezer and his stories about hunting and fishing. Please don't join him on the dark side of the sod. CO detectors are only about $35. That was the first thing that I did with our MH when we bought it.

Why not go with air bags? They wouldn't cost much more and would be adjustable.