Spring 2017 – Getting Ready for the Summer

This winter has been a long and cold one, as spring approaches I am starting to think about our upcoming summer travel plans.  This summer our Boler will be used more than usual, our retirement allows more time for adventure and to join more fibreglass gatherings and events.  Even though the snow is still piled high the planning and preparation needs to start as soon so I am ready to jump into the Boler upgrades and maintenance as soon as the snow melts.

Anyone who has seen Buttercup (our Boler) quickly notices the curved wood arches on each wall, these clear, unfinished, cedar arches were never intended to be feature items, they were intended to be painted white to blend into the walls.  I painted the aches next to the door opening white but never made painting the remaining two a priority, over the past few years many friends have commented (some even threatened) that it would be criminal to paint the arches white, they should be finished to highlight the woods beauty with a clear varnish or stain.  I listened so this spring I will sand the paint off the doorway arches and finish all four arches in a way to enhance and protect the woods beauty.

The second item on my “to-do” list is to upgrade the roof vent fan and inside trim.  If you look in the Modifications section I have instructions for a DIY power roof vent, this system using two computer fans has worked quite well but as you know a trailer rides quite rough when on the road and the many miles and aging plastic on the vent trim has cracked around the mounting screws.  Also this summer we are going to some hotter locations so I want to try a much larger single computer fan (230mm vs 140mm) mounted in a low profile wood frame.

Item number three is the power centre.  Like almost all RVs we have been using a deep cycle battery, monitoring the power use of this large and heavy item I believe it is complete overkill.  The few LED light in the trailer consume very little power, the water pump is run for only short bursts, our portable 80 watt solar panel recharges the current battery to full capacity easily so this summer I am going to try an experiment.  I am going to replace the large group 27 deep cycle battery with a very small 5AH sealed gel cell designed as a backup battery for trailer brakes.

And last at this time is the usual spring maintenance, repack wheel bearings, check all the frame for cracks or problems, inspect tires, a thorough cleaning, waxing …..

2 Responses

  1. Paul Williams
    | Reply

    Interesting about the deep cycle battery. We use a 60W solar panel which keeps it charged no problem. I don’t know how much energy we use, but we’ve never run out of power for our interior lights and low wattage fan. It’s a heavy beast, that battery and I’m looking forward to hearing how the alternative works out.

  2. David Alger
    | Reply

    Hey Ian;
    We are just back after a month of Bolering in southern Califormia/Arizona. We have a small 7ah sla (sealed lead acid) battery in our Boler to run 2 led lights and one small fluorescent light. The battery worked great and needed recharging with the solar panel, only a couple of times during the month. We also used our Luci light, which we just love. We would hang up the Luci outside, to light the picnic table or awning area, on warm evenings. And then bring the Luci light in the Boler, when we were done outside. I plan to install the computer fan system that you described in one of your “how to” posts. Keep up the good work!

    Cheers;
    David

    https://www.amazon.ca/MPOWERD-Luci-Original-Inflatable-Solar/dp/B00DQ1RDWS

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