I had a few of mods I want to make. What do you guys think - Hi-Lo camper travel trailer forum

Bennay1990 · 04-16-2018, 12:24 PM

The first modification to my 1998 Tow Lite 21tl camper is to remove the booth and benches and replace them with a desk to free up some floor space. My question here is if anyone had any ideas on where the master switch and lifting controls could go.

The second modification has to do with solar panels on the roof that can follow the sun I have uploaded a quick sketch of an idea I had using those slotted steel bars lifter arms and an electric dc motor. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Superstrut-...-Strut/3128119

The third mod is to move the thermostat next to the bed so I can section off the bed area for really cold nights so I don't have to heat the whole camper and save some propane.

Lastly, I would like to wire a newer thermostat that can control the Duo-Therm ac as well as the heat instead of the simple knob (Warm....Cool) currently on it. I have no idea where to even start to bypass the knob. So any info on this one would be greatly appriciated.

thatguy · 04-23-2018, 11:47 AM

good ideas. Here are my thoughts.

1) I opened up space by taking one booth out and shortening up the table. I also made it removable. You can see it in the pic up near the oven. (mod not completed yet)

2)The mod also allows more heat directly to the bed area.

3)Your solar idea is cool but that sounds like too many variables to go wrong. I'd somehow rig it to the tv antenna and rotate from the inside as needed. This could be done a lot easier with a lightweight/flexible type solar panel

JackandJanet · 04-24-2018, 09:03 AM

Clever ideas, Bennay, but I don't think I'd bother with trying to create an "adjustable" solar panel angling system. If you had solar panels on your house, where the location is fixed and you wanted to position the panels so that they were perpendicular to the sun's rays, it would make a lot of sense. You could adjust for the difference in the sun's angle during the changing seasons that way.

But, in a trailer, you're limited to how you have to park the thing in camping spaces. Assuming you have the hinge running along the "long side" of the trailer, that hinge would have to be facing south for the angle to be effective. If your trailer was parked so that it was facing north, it would be useless. And if the trailer was parked so the hinge faced either east or west, it might help somewhat in the morning or evening, but that would be all. I hope I'm making sense - I know what I'm thinking, but am not sure I'm saying it well.

It just seems a complication for little gain, in my opinion. My panels are mounted flat on the roof and except for when we camped in full shade at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, they have delivered all the power we needed.

- Jack