eatSleepWoof gets a 2022 Micro Minnie 2108FBS

[Fred L]

ESW... loving the mods, but i seem to recall reading that this time you planned to camp and not do all the mods...
Im still in the pre-purchase mode. Expecting a 2108TB in the future, but also do a lot of boondocking and FS roads. Am looking forward to your future reports. BTW, used to pull a 23D airsteam with my 2006 Land Cruiser and did well. Did need to replace front wheel bearings and differential, not sure if my hitch was poorly adjusted and put too much weight forward? Pained me to take the AS on logging roads, so sold it.

[eatSleepWoof]

Originally Posted by Fred L

ESW... loving the mods, but i seem to recall reading that this time you planned to camp and not do all the mods...
Im still in the pre-purchase mode. Expecting a 2108TB in the future, but also do a lot of boondocking and FS roads. Am looking forward to your future reports. BTW, used to pull a 23D airsteam with my 2006 Land Cruiser and did well. Did need to replace front wheel bearings and differential, not sure if my hitch was poorly adjusted and put too much weight forward? Pained me to take the AS on logging roads, so sold it.

Haha. That's exactly what my wife keeps telling me!

The TB is a nice layout. You'll have access to much more useable storage above the beds than we do!

We've already done two nights in the trailer, I just didn't post it here. I'll copy/paste what I shared on Expedition Portal:

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First trip out with the Winnie this weekend. Been camping all my life, but have never had such comforts before. Hot, daily showers in camp are definitely a new (and much enjoyed) luxury.

We had freezing temperatures at night (from -1C to 0C both nights) - ran the interior propane heater, but did not even turn on the water tank heater; zero issues.

Fridge ran the entire trip. Used all interior appliances, heater, water, lights, etc.

Went through 73ah (of my 200ah lithium total) in the first 24hrs. More than I anticipated. Thankfully I installed a 40a DC/DC charger, and was back up to 100% battery in just over two hours of idling the car. Will very likely add two more 100ah batteries to bring the total up to 400ah.

The 31 gallon water tank showed "empty" right at about hour 26, despite very conservative water use. The water pump still pumped water without an issue, so perhaps the water level sensor wasn't super accurate. I brought a spare 20 gallons of water in cans, poured those into the trailer, and that was more than enough to last the rest of the trip (2.5 days, 2 nights). Will absolutely have to sort out additional water storage and re-fill options ASAP. We cook a proper meal 3x a day, clean the pots/pans/dishes, don't use anything disposable. That seems to be at least 95% of our water usage, and it's not something we can minimize much more than we already do.

All in all, a great shakedown trip. Identified lots of little things that need usability improvements (storage, storage, and more storage).

[Fred L]

Would be surprised if you used that much water in 24 hours of conservative use?
Id be interested to know if the sensor is accurate.
Only one way to find out and fill 31 x 1 gallon buckets from the hose, checking the monitor often.
Great pics.

[Fred L]

Quick question on the upgraded connection for the batteries. Saw you routed the cable back outside for the connection where the original battery was located near the tongue. Was there any thought on moving the connections into the storage area? im not (yet) familiar with the wiring. "assume" that aside from the powered jack, that the wiring goes directly to the cut off switch?

[eatSleepWoof]

Originally Posted by Fred L

Would be surprised if you used that much water in 24 hours of conservative use?
Id be interested to know if the sensor is accurate.
Only one way to find out and fill 31 x 1 gallon buckets from the hose, checking the monitor often.
Great pics.

I was very surprised, too. The "camping time" before/after re-fill (from water containers) was approximately the same, and yet the 20 gallons of water from the refill not only "lasted" the rest of the trip, but we brought a good chunk of it back home.

Then again, the water tank is 31 gallons, and since I managed to fit 20 into it in camp, it suggests that no more than 11 gallons were left at the time of the refill.

Next time I'll use fresh water until the pump starts struggling, and see how long that lasts.

[eatSleepWoof]

Originally Posted by Fred L

Quick question on the upgraded connection for the batteries. Saw you routed the cable back outside for the connection where the original battery was located near the tongue. Was there any thought on moving the connections into the storage area? im not (yet) familiar with the wiring. "assume" that aside from the powered jack, that the wiring goes directly to the cut off switch?

I thought about it, but the juice wasn't worth the squeeze. The front of the trailer has several auto-reset breakers and a whole bunch of wiring going to it, connecting in a bit of rat's nest, and I had no interest in re-doing a dozen (if not more) wires, connections, etc. Plus, this way it's super easy to re-install the batteries at the front of the trailer if that should ever be wanted.

[eatSleepWoof]

In order to make re-filling the water tank easier in-camp, I mounted a 12v water pump inside a plastic tool box.

This pump puts out 3.5GPM, can pull water from as far as 130ft, and can push it as high as 9ft up. It draws up to a max of 9a.



I've added a regular 12v socket plug, with a built-in on/off switch. This will plug into my portable Jackery 300 power station, but can just as easily plug into a car, trailer, or other 12v source.

On the output side is the blue, 15ft potable-water garden hose. I can add my inline Camco water filter to this right before it feeds into the trailer.

On the input side is the white, 25ft Camco potable-water garden hose. This can go into any water source (water canister, lake, river, etc.). I also have three more 50ft Camco hoses to connect/extend the water intake line as much (or as little) as necessary. The same hoses can be used to connect to a water supply line in any official park (without using the water pump at all).

Outside of the three, 50ft hoses, everything else fits neatly inside this single box.



I can now easily refill the trailer from my water containers, a campground water supply, or any body of water.

[Fred L]

ESW, just happened to be going through Jim's (Marine359) gallery and saw a pic of that rats nest on the tongue and completely understand.