Budget Basecamp (AK Camper on a service bed)

LilKJ

Adventurer
Im all ready jealous and now you rub it in, haha

The stove, so you're going to SEMA !!

Stove doesn't have any markings on it, unfortunately. It's a very cool setup that I salvaged from a train car. It was almost built into the cabinetry and was meant to run in there without burning the place down. The upper door is the double-wall firebox, lower door is the ash bin with a big air gap under that. You can rotate the fire grate to dump the ash into the lower box without throwing any sparks. While the top half gets warm, you can touch the sides of the stove with bare hands at any point and not get burned. Pretty cool toy for an application like this.
 

LilKJ

Adventurer
Big step done today... finished the table and it collapses into the bed. Also built my daughter's bunk so we can all sleep comfortably. Bunk collapses and fits under the dining bench. Will need some sort of rail that clamps on so she doesn't roll off and land on me, but that'll be an easy fix.

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LilKJ

Adventurer
More progress is coming along, mostly been electrical work at this point. Got a 100aH AGM battery which should be overkill for my needs at this point. Battery fits well in what has become the electrical cabinet. Automatic charger, 800W inverter, fuse panel, etc will all be in here along with the tool battery charger. No shortage of space there.

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Also got the ceiling up and the recessed lighting installed on the dimmer. At the moment it has LEDs in every cabinet on automatic switches, 4 USB plugs, 2 12V sockets, and recessed lights on a dimmer. Waiting on some more connectors to arrive so I can finish wiring up the charge controller.

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Also got some drawers built to start filling in the blanks.

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LilKJ

Adventurer
Wood is in place to act as an insulator in the electrical cabinet and give me a place to mount the components. Once my master fuse and some connectors show up I can get everything hooked up.

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Also got the drawers faced and ready to go. Now they just need some paint and hardware. Cant believe how much space I gained with these.

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Lastly, I'm testing out a double-wall stove pipe for a couple burns to see how it does. I like the safety of a double-wall pipe, so hopefully it doesn't trap too much heat.

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Total cost at this point: around $2200.
 
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zgfiredude

Active member
Nice work, it's coming together nicely!

One question, and it may simply be by default......any concerns with the cooler next to the wood stove?
 

LilKJ

Adventurer
Nice work, it's coming together nicely!

One question, and it may simply be by default......any concerns with the cooler next to the wood stove?

Perfectly reasonable question. Unless I changed the layout of the whole camper, I'm stuck with that part. There is cement board and 2 inches of foam insulation between the two. During my last test burn with the stove, the wall of the cooler compartment was cool to the touch.
 

billiebob

Well-known member
I love yer rig, but the wood stove has to go. This is my vocation, I install, service and inspect wood burning appliances. Please have a local guy look at it. The US has an incredible professional association.


I go to their events all the time in the PNW.

On the most basic level, cement board only work if there is a 1" air space between it and combustibles. Without that air flow, you only delay combustion. But since you say the stove has no labels, even with code compliant shielding you need 16" to combustibles on the sides and rear plus 48" in front........ plus you need a height from the hearth to the ceiling of at least 82".

If the stove jack is combustible plastic/rubber it is flat out illegal.
 
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s.e.charles

Well-known member
Stove doesn't have any markings on it, unfortunately. It's a very cool setup that I salvaged from a train car. It was almost built into the cabinetry and was meant to run in there without burning the place down. The upper door is the double-wall firebox, lower door is the ash bin with a big air gap under that. You can rotate the fire grate to dump the ash into the lower box without throwing any sparks. While the top half gets warm, you can touch the sides of the stove with bare hands at any point and not get burned. Pretty cool toy for an application like this.

not to mention the genuine deck screw hinge accessory!
 

pith helmet

Well-known member
Enjoying this cool build. I have an small potbelly wood stove from a ICRR caboose that I had in a cabin. I bet it takes very little fire to heat that camper and I can’t imagine you could even stay inside that camper with a fire with duration of heat that would become dangerous to the plywood behind the cement board.
 

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