Meandering to Maine and Back: T-6 Days (June 17th) or Austin Goes Off-Grid

Another productive day of pre-trip preparations. This blog involves some of the basics of our version of off-grid living.

During our Boston or Bust trip, we used a cooler and ice, with all of the problems that come with that method of refrigeration. However, because of our skoolie we have upgraded certain aspects of tiny space living. A significant up grade has been the Refrigerator/Cooler, known simply to us as RC. It’s a Linson 54 quart and we bought it in 2020 for $310. It has served us well, as it is the refrigerator full-time on the skoolie and has already been camping with us.You can get it off Amazon now for $299, which surprised me. It runs off both AC and 12 volt DC. 

At about that same time we purchased a 450 Watt capacity Jackery power station. That one will cost you $239 on Amazon now, but we only paid $200 at the time. These little power stations are fantastic and there are many more options at cheaper prices than there were back in 2020. 

The only part of the power trifecta that hasn’t survived was a 60 Watt Jackery Solar Panel we bought to charge the power station. It simply stopped working one day and I haven’t taken the time to look into the why. We replaced it with a generic 100 Watt solar panel for much cheaper, added an adapter cord, and this combo has worked great. Those ran us around $120 dollars. 

 

Together that equipment can keep close to a weeks worth of food from spoiling as long as we have the sun shining. When we boondock I usually spend part of the day chasing the sun around with the solar panel, keeping the Jackery charged so the it’ll make it through the night. We’ve experienced some hot days, but nothing like we’re expecting in the desert south. Another drawback is that the solar panel is pretty big, approximately 3’ by 4’. It takes up a lot of space, has to stay in cardboard box for protection, and isn’t the lightest piece of equipment. All of which are disadvantages for mobile living.

And this trip is going to involve a lot of mobile.

So I bolted the panel to the top of Austin.

The first obstacle this project was it had to be removable eventually. A second was any supporting hardware couldn’t damage Shar’s brand new baby boy. Thirdly, it had to be sturdy enough to hold up under high speeds on freeways and bumpy off-road driving. Lastly, it had to sit high enough we could still use the sunroof. The last obstacle being the hardest to overcome.

I started by cutting a couple pieces of conduit that I measured to span the gap between Austin’s two roof rails. I spray painted them a dark oil brushed bronze so they would blend in with the rest of Austin’s trim. The support pieces attached to the rails with bolts and a piece of flexible iron. I’m not sure what the real name of this construction material might be, but it’s 1/16th inch thick by two inches wide and has holes every inch running down the center. Gray foam was placed between the brackets, conduit, and Austin’s rails. On a prior weekend I tested the conduit and bracket system, then bought the bolt I hoped would be long enough to include the foam. Everything was brought back to Coos Bay for final coats of paint.

The frame of the solar panel is made of sturdy aluminum. Along each short side I drilled four 1/4 inch holes to attach it to the the conduit.

I included all the pieces I had created when I packed the truck, bagged up all the bolt, washers, and nuts, and I left Coos Bay for the last time until August.

Designing a project like this in a vacuum is hard because Austin was in one location and all the construction materials and tools were in another. 

When I started working on putting all the part together I immediately found that I had forgotten the bolts, nuts, and washers that would attach the solar panel to the conduit. Luckily, it is a short drive to a hardware store, so off I went. But I got back and found out that the ones I bought were too long. So after two trips to the hardware store, and probably and hour, I managed to have the solar panel and conduit attached together.

It turns out that the open sunroof height and the height of the rails are nearly identical. The bolts I used to attach the solar panel poked out below the conduit about a quarter of an inch. This meant that as the sunroof opened they would hit the ends of the bolts. Definitely something I didn’t want happening. I just didn’t want to go to the hardware store a third time, so I fumed a little, vented at Shar, then took a shower.

After regaining some rational thought I simply reversed the bolts connecting the panel and the conduit. One challenge solved.

Then I added three layer of foam to the top rail to increase the distance between the sunroom and the bottom of the conduit. Lastly, I made sure the inside of the bracket bolts were wide enough not to get hit by the sides sunroof as well. Then I checked and double checked everything before slowly opened the sunroof, my finger on the reverse button just in case. I tightened the bolts, triple checked the clearance, and called Shar to celebrate.

 

Our first test was to cruise north on I-5, hitting 75 mph several times (Shar likes her turbo). I watched the panel like a hawk, prepared to have Shar pull over if necessary. It didn’t even jiggle. The power cord is wrapped and securely attached, but it did great as well. It looks awesome on top of Austin, hardly looking out of place, and we couldn’t be more pleased.

So we have a power supply for the Jackery when the engine isn’t running. We don’t have to fussy with the panel every time we stop, or worry about it walking away while we’re off and exploring. 

Next up T-3 or where is all this stuff going to go?