Hummingbird Is Finally Home!

[illini trekker]

I too would like to thank you for this post! It's given me lot of mods to do on my 17RB! If Promod is still hanging around here's a pic of my two 6 volt batteries. Had to remove the old supports and add new. Hope this helps! Thanks again

[01tundra]

Nice job with the two 6v's!

I really wanted to do that but our tongue weight and GVWR are maxed out at this point and I've shed everything we can live without.

[Campster]

Originally Posted by 01tundra

Bought it from Amazon -

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks for that quick response, 01. Yep, got it ordered from Amazon. Appreciate the sharing here. Hopefully, I will get the HB set up to where I know what I'm doing and post some things, too.

Campster

[Isaacs]

Originally Posted by 01tundra

I believe I achieved the "room to grow" goal, I didn't think the shelter was high enough until I backed our TT in and saw the clearance.

Got to wash the nasty roof and hopefully it will stay clean for more than a day now.

Next project on the shelter is installing a weather-proof switch and GFCI outlet box on the back corner post and LED string lights along each side hung from the trusses.......might as well go for that cabana feel now

We have around $2,250 into materials for the finished shelter. That's not bad considering we were looking at around $2,000 for a metal shed that was much smaller and less substantial. Plus this construction style matches my blacksmith shop that I built up by the house a few years ago, so it fits in with the surroundings much better than a prefabricated metal carport.

If I could go back and do anything different I would've probably went with 2x6 roof purlins instead of 2x4's. Not for strength purposes, but for ease of hitting them with the metal deck screws and for comfort while my big butt was climbing around up on them......it doesn't look that tall until you're up there looking down!

I like your new shed, but something concerns me. I see you have bracing to prevent movement from end to end but nothing for side to side. Are you sure you're ok for a stiff wind from the side?

[01tundra]

Originally Posted by Isaacs

I like your new shed, but something concerns me. I see you have bracing to prevent movement from end to end but nothing for side to side. Are you sure you're ok for a stiff wind from the side?

The scissor trusses act as the lateral braces and are through-bolted and nailed at the post connections.

It is very solid and we don't really get winds like you're thinking. We are in a valley with tall hills on each side.

We had three 200+ lb people moving around all over the roof and there was no sway. If the wind was strong enough to lift three 6x6's out of the ground with 100 lbs of concrete on the bottom of each post then cross bracing would likely be the least of our worries.

The real danger in one of the huge trees coming down on top of it due to wind up high, but they are such large trees that there's nothing that's going to stop them if they decide to fall.......

[Isaacs]

Originally Posted by 01tundra

The scissor trusses act as the lateral braces and are through-bolted and nailed at the post connections.

It is very solid and we don't really get winds like you're thinking. We are in a valley with tall hills on each side.

We had three 200+ lb people moving around all over the roof and there was no sway. If the wind was strong enough to lift three 6x6's out of the ground with 100 lbs of concrete on the bottom of each post then cross bracing would likely be the least of our worries.

The real danger in one of the huge trees coming down on top of it due to wind up high, but they are such large trees that there's nothing that's going to stop them if they decide to fall.......

Good!

[Promod]

Originally Posted by illini trekker

I too would like to thank you for this post! It's given me lot of mods to do on my 17RB! If Promod is still hanging around here's a pic of my two 6 volt batteries. Had to remove the old supports and add new. Hope this helps! Thanks again

Nice! That's exactly what I had in mind nice to see it fit in practice. I just did a big 150ah 12v crown GC class, added the disconnect etc... I have a Morningstar Mppt charge controller and 200w worth of 12v panels I am going to do portable. Swapped the TV to a 12v as well. Should give me what I need with good sun even in the winter to top off what I use per day. Also added a true voltage monitor inside to keep up with the charge and a real IOTA 25amp 4stage IQ smart charger for when it's plugged in. If it's not enough I will go your route as well. Thanks for the pics.

[Promod]

Originally Posted by 01tundra

Nice job with the two 6v's!

I really wanted to do that but our tongue weight and GVWR are maxed out at this point and I've shed everything we can live without.

Man I don't how you get that much weight in yours! Those storage compartments are so small where do you put it? Mine was 3050 as delivered even with the water tank full and the extra weight in the battery swap i have a ways to go.

[01tundra]

Originally Posted by Promod

Man I don't how you get that much weight in yours! Those storage compartments are so small where do you put it? Mine was 3050 as delivered even with the water tank full and the extra weight in the battery swap i have a ways to go.

I'm honestly not sure, the front compartment is far from full and I don't feel like we have that much inside since we are pretty much minimalist, but I've been over the CAT Scales about 10 times this year so I believe them at this point.

I'm saving up for a 100W solar suitcase now. Between the solar and the Honda EU2000i we should be covered. I am planning on getting a Micro-Air Easy Start for the AC unit at some point.

[ttavasc]

It adds up quickly. I inventoried everything that I keep in the various storage compartments permanently and weighed it in order to have a idea of how the weight was distributed. There is still a fair amount of room in most of the storage areas so it's not like we've crammed it full of unnecessary stuff.

This included the weight of the dual Group 24 batteries, 6 gallons in the hot water tank, the ~12 gallons we keep in the fresh water tank when traveling. Heck - the 3" gel foam mattress topper weighs 15lbs. The full propane tank is excluded as per the yellow sticker that weight is included in the as-delivered weight.

That totaled up to ~465lbs tools, gear and water that we don't roll down the road without. With 735lb CCC available for my unit this leaves only ~270lbs for food, drinks, clothing and other items we may pack for a given trip. Not much to work with for sure.

[01tundra]

735 lb CCC? Well there's the answer.....

[ttavasc]

Yes - that would certainly be the root cause. It's really hard to not load these smaller units up close to the GVWR. Compromises have to be made at some point in order to stay within the limits and it makes you think about it every time you add something new to the storage area. I re-evaluated some of the gear we keep in the front storage when I added the second battery and pulled a couple items that we almost never use to help offset the weight increase. When we are packed for one of our longer trips (7-10 days) we usually top the scales around 3700 with 3260 of that on the axle and 440 tongue weight (~12%).

[01tundra]

Did a few things to the Hummingbird today. Installed a new charge center where the factory USB outlet was and sealed up all the gaps on the underbelly cover with spray foam and flashing tape.

Bought the tape at Home Depot for around $20. It's 6' x 50' of flashing tape made by Nashua. I unrolled the entire roll and cut in in half lengthwise so I would have to sections of 3" x 50'. It applies and sticks really good and allowed me to cover over some large gaps left from the factory.

The charge center came without wiring, so I wired it so that the switch energizes everything, that way we don't have extra draw on our battery when boondocking. The volt meter is dead on with two of my multi-meters, including the Fluke. I was surprised to see how accurate it was. It's a very nice unit for $30. Each individual outlet is held in place with a plastic lock nut on the back, so you can arrange them in any configuration.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[RufusBC]

Dang you’ve given me two more jobs to catch up on! Charge centre looks perfect. [emoji1360]

[Promod]

That control center is a must! Just finished installing the Honeywell stat and vent covers today, now I have another project LOL

[01tundra]

On the charge center, I traced a template from the cardboard sent with the unit. I wired it per the diagram on Amazon.

I used a 1" hole saw to drill the individual holes for each module, but since I already pre-wired the unit I ended up using a razor knife to connect all the holes that I had drilled, I used the factory hole for the lower left hole.

[Promod]

Thanks for the instal tips. Just ordered mine so looking forward to getting it installed.

[01tundra]

Forgot to mention, do yourself a favor and have tin snips and file handy (or a grinder) to take the two sharp corners off the black water valve pull L-bracket.

I almost knocked my head into the corner while crawling around under the TT, that would've resulted in guaranteed stitches to the head.

It only takes a minute to round the corners.

[01tundra]

Installed a Camco screen door handle this evening, I believe it's going to be a instant hit.

[01tundra]

Finally got our Renogy 100W solar suitcase.

I removed the factory 14 ga. battery wire from the controller and installed 25' of 10 ga. landscape wire with a 10 ga. SAE plug soldered on the trailer end of the lead. It's as simple as plug-n-play now.

I bought an inline fuse to install between the factory SAE plug on the tongue and the battery, while I was under there trying to figure out where to put it I noticed that Jayco had already installed a 20 amp circuit breaker for the solar plug (you can see it on the front wall of the TT with the red rubber cover) - sweet!