Thought I'd make my own adventure trailer...

[StarCruiser]

The thing is that the word 'earth' gets used for many things.
Considering the 230V side for a minute.
Your trailer 'chassis earth' or 'frame' is earthed to the inverter and the shore power supply to let you know (by going pop and tripping an MCB or in your case tripping the RCD) if a fault has occurred that could cause danger. In other words that a live wire had touched down and made the trailer live. Without that connection you wouldn't know your trailer frame was live, until you touched something that was earthed that is. The same kind of goes for the battery.

When the trailer is hitched up to your tow vehicle, the trailer body is connected to vehicle chassis earth through the tow ball and then by your charger to the battery so I would say it is best to take a heavy cable from battery - to trailer frame.
One thing I would say is to check the info from the inverter manufacturer but it should be perfectly fine to do this.

In any case, the inverter could be fitted to a motor home for example which would necessarily have both vehicle and leisure battery connected on the - side to the chassis along with 230v shore power earth.

 

[Chris]

Appreciate that Rich, when I say earth I'm really referring to the cable that's neither the live nor the neutral, rather than anything or body of a particular potential or anything fancy. Just the green and yellow wire. Or black. Sometimes not there at all. Used to be plain green? Or was it blue. Anyway it's the one that is usually safe to lick with your tongue as a test.

I'll stick a cable on there. I can't see one directly but then there are quite a few going here and there. It's also 'earthed' to the car via the great big charging cable to the alternator system never mind the tow ball.

 

[froggy Steve]

Sometimes too much information at hand is a distraction, but I would not go without some form of battery monitoring system. The Victron 700 range is fantastic in my view. I would like to put one in the trailer but that may be a step too far. I think when you have two batteries, the capacity is such that you probably don't need an electric fuel gauge like the Victron. At present I have a simple digital voltmeter and that seems goods enough. I've used the batteries for 4 days and they never dropped below 12.5 v. OK only using lighting / fridge and so on but think about it, with a good battery you could leave your headlights on all night and still start the car in the morning. How much power do you need?

Great answer, expensive, but lots of info! Really, all we need is a fridge, and an occasional light (LED), so no great power needed. I guess in the main we will be camping overnight and moving during the day, so car alternator will keep the charging up. When stopped in one place for any time (a few days) we will be on a site and can plug into their supply (hence charger,) and can run fridge of the mains. Water heating will be one of your nifty little gas water heaters. So, maybe I dont need 2 batteries, just a big leisure battery as you say - solar panel charger can clip direct onto the battery terminals I guess. Just have to remember to unplug car each time we stop!

 

[Chris]

You could certainly go that way Steve. Though the solar option doesn't really have much of a 'push' behind it in terms of shoving power into a big battery. Good for keeping a battery topped up when parked for long periods with no draw from it but as a way of replacing charge as you draw it off it's not much use in my experience. Not unless you have some sort of solar array the size of a cricket pitch. It does fair better if you go through a DC to DC unit though.

 

[froggy Steve]

Solar array bril
Actually, I would need that for when its parked up all summer

I think I will go simple to start with, if we manage to use it more then will improve as we go. Thanks for the advice, very helpful

You can have your thread back now, sorry

 

[Chris]

oooh look. Not sure how Postie is going to get this through the letter box ...

 

[Shayne]

Lucky you i have searched for a bigger tongue box every evening this week and currently a salt grit box is the odds on favourite !

 

[Chris]

Shayne, I have a an ally front box that I reckon might just fit your trailer you know. It's a quality thing. You might also like the stainless thing that I am going to take off. I don't have a use for that once my nose cone arrives.

 

[Shayne]

Cheers Chris but the trouble i'm having is dimensions and they all seem very similar to what i have already . It wants to be over a metre long by about a a half metre wide and i can go quite deep to so how does that measure up to your spares ?

 

[Chris]

Looks like

this Shayne. Over a meter wide.

 

[Shayne]

I won't be putting gas bottles in that then but if you don't want it send it on and i will find a use for it

 

[Chris]

Deceptively roomy actually Shayne. It's a bit TARDIS like.

 

[Chris]

Been having a few braking issues with the trailer and have tracked it down to there being uneven wear in the brake shoes. Poor maintenance I'm afraid. On full adjustment I cannot get one of the brakes to set correctly causing the opposite side to lock up - I think. So got some new shoes today. Utterly superb service from Knott Avonride in Burton on Trent. Ordered yesterday delivered today. Numerous mails back and forth from their technical team. So they'll go in this weekend and I'll see how that works.

But in the meantime, I bought this little trinket to go on the end of the drawbar. Bit more beefy that the pressed head coupling and also makes it a little less steal-able. Not a much but a bit. Not everyone runs around with a NATO hitch. Just thought I'd give it a go having had the hitch in the garage for several years. Can't see this failing.

 

[Shayne]

Can't beat em , i have heard the rattle some complain about but but lighten your foot an the accelerator for a second and its gone .

 

[Chris]

Yes, they aren't a snug fit like a ball coupling, I know and I figured there might be a bit of a rattle or clunk. But I like the fact that it's extremely strong and I'm not going to lose the trailer. Because the NATO hitch can swivel too, if I do go anywhere really twisty, I can unlock it and not worry about it tipping and damaging the coupling. I guess there are pluses and minuses to all of these. I could have just gone with the UK spec plant ring and pin type too. That would have dropped the tow point slightly which would be good. So it looks like bigger wheels and tyres then. Arf.

 

[Jente]

Looks awsome Chris, lots of gadgets in there!!

Me and a mate are also building something:

Is a foldable caravan thingy, that we used as a base. The standard smaal torsion axle is gone, and we put a semifloat rear axle of a 60 series underneath. It's still under construction, buut looks good

 

[Chris]

Indeed it is. Go for it. I love mine. Adds a new dimension to camping. Need to get the awning room sorted though. Good for wet weather and when there are too my insects to sit out.

 

[Chris]

Here's a sneaky shot of the new Metalian colour. Mmmnnnn

 

[clivehorridge]

I like the way that even the trailer has a tow hitch!

 

[Julian T]

I like the way that even the trailer has a tow hitch!

Must be a south african trailer then.
The law was that no combination of towed vehicles may exceed 21 meters as measured from front bumper to rearmost point.
Or at least it was, there may have been some changes since I did my test in 89