Metal enclosure?

[Wake.BC]

I like your ideas! That enclosure would be great for my 5th wheel and the solar powered fan for the boat.
Do you mind sharing your parts used for the solar panel fan?
Also what was used for the structure of the tent? I can’t see pvc pipe holding up, so metal? Wanna share some links or send me a pm? Thanks


Sent from my iPhone using PLT Nautique

[Infinity]

I installed a 3 sided metal building for my boat....just tall enough to back in (12ft tall), 20ft wide and 26ft long....the boat trailer is just slightly longer than roof even with folding tongue so I put heavy duty tarp along the front to protect it from sun/rain. I do not cover the boat and I leave a fan inside the boat running with seats cracked. It does collect some dust, but I wipe it down occasionally during storage...my only issue is occasional spider webs. Besides the temp ghetto tarp on front, I love the set up. Was fairly cheap ($3,500 for metal building with install), and keeps boat fully protected at house so I know its safe and can work on it when I want during layup.

[DW SD]

PVC on my barn is uv grade 1” conduit in bundles of 3 for the main hoops. Like lawn sprinkler pipe. But which isn’t uv rated. In my opinion it will last forever. The tarp is going strong at 2.5 years
Without any obvious decline.

If you PM me your email I will dig out the email for the solar panel and charge controller. I did have the first charge controller fail twice so I’ve bought a cheap but American made one. About $60 vs $30.
Not the battery charge controller also
Tops off the batteries so they are at 12.7V every time I come and pick it up.


The fan setup with timed relay is going strong. It runs for 4 days after I plug it in.


Sent from my iPhone using PLT Nautique

[Wake.BC]

Sent you a pm.

I also found one on eBay for super cheap the only thing is it’s always running when plugged in and the solar panel is in the sun


Sent from my iPhone using PLT Nautique

[Randy1833]

It it will most likely be the humidity that damages your boat, versus the temperature, if you are covering it in an enclosure. Although both are usually dependent on one another, higher temperature often means higher humidity. Here is a dehumidifier solution, basically took an Eva-Dry dehumidifier and added a barbed fitting on the drip tray and a hose run through the drain plug. Amazon and Ebay for around $60. You never need to empty the drip tray. As per The Commercian Sewing website, Nautique covers, seal your cover vents and run the dehumidifier, less chance for mildew.

[DW SD]

Sent you a pm.

I also found one on eBay for super cheap the only thing is it’s always running when plugged in and the solar panel is in the sun


Sent from my iPhone using PLT Nautique

Hi,
If you found one you like on Amazon, you can just wire this in. It took me an hour of watching the videos to program it, but seems a nice little unit. It has 25 modes. You can set it up as a countdown timer relay with a 12V computer cooling fan. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Buy an LED when you are shopping to use for programming the relay.

To clarify:
In my case, I connect to the boat batteries to the solar panel's charge controller and to the timed relay and run the 12V computer cooling fan around the clock for 4 days and use this charge controller to keep the batteries topped off. I mounted the fan and the relay and harness pigtail in a tupperware container with epoxy, so I can coil the pigtail and close the lid to keep it water tight while we are using the boat. The fan is mounted (epoxied to) the tupperware lid and I prop the engine cover to circulate warm engine from the warm engine bay in to the rest of the boat.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Ive neve come back and had any dampness inside.

I have a 2.5' x 18" solar panel. I'm guessing it is rated @ about 50W. Something in 50W to 100W range would be fine. I think mine was $50.

I'd suggest you also wire in a switch between the panel 12V+ and the charge controller. best to kill voltage to the charge controller before connecting / disconnecting. I speculate that without a switch, the voltage surges killed my first charge controller. But the same model died only a year later and I ran it always with the upstream switch to disconnect the panel before unplugging.

This was my first POS charge controller (don't buy one of these or its twins - all kinds of brands with the same looking housing on AMZN): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Next, I use this type of simple plug in connectors - same as the hard wired trickle charge battery chargers. One connection for the batteries to the charge controller and a second for the time relay and circulation fan. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Occasionally, I've had to use a bit of a 3M pad to keep the connection solid. In short, these are wired in parallel.

One more thing, I sewed up a blanket with some velcro straps which completely covers my engine and locker covers. The blanket is made of duck cloth on one side and flannel on the other. The velcro straps keep it in place, attached to the handles outside of the lockers. Only the clean flannel touches the engine lid upholstery. This prevents any condensation that collects on the cover from dampening the upholstery. My old boat had black-mold spots and I wanted to prevent this. So far, it is working!

I also separate and / or tip up the seat cushions so they don't touch and remain wet allowing mold. I read that hear on the planet.

Hope this all helps!

Doug

[hondaprlud]

I also separate and / or tip up the seat cushions so they don't touch and remain wet allowing mold. I read that hear on the planet.

Doug

We do this too every time we put it away for more than a day. Call it ransacking the boat. It helps a lot.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk