Hola, from the East Coast

May 15 2009 by Darrin.

Greetings from Baltimore, Maryland.  Before departing Wyoming, work continued on the AATREC and she wound up with some preliminary internal systems up and running.  Most notable is the supply wiring for the AC/DC distribution center and Inverter/Charger.

  Here’s the electrical center, installed and hot…

And behind it…

It’s important to keep things organized here!  You virtually can’t use enough tie-wraps, cable clamps and clips.  The more you support your wiring, the longer it will last.  And by keeping it clean, you can find problems later, if any arise.  If you see a better way to route a wire, DO IT!  You won’t be sorry down the road.

 The plumbing systems are almost complete too.  I only lack the hoses to the sink faucet, and the shower valve.  Here you can see one of two hydronic galley heaters…

  Like an automotive heater core, these water-to-air heat exchangers use spare engine heat to warm the camper.  When the engine’s not running, coolant is heated by an Espar hydronic furnace and pumped through these heat exchangers if cabin heat is required. In the above photo, you can also see the 1-1/4″ transfer pipe, that connects the two 50-gallon fresh water tanks.  The 1-1/2″ drain is also visible as it exits the floor (upper right of image).

In the following image, you can see the water compartment. It’s accessible from the outside through a hatch, or internally underneath a bunk lid.  To the left is the supply pump and accumulator tank, in the center, another ducted heat exchanger, and on the right, a water-to-water heat exchanger for producing domestic hot water (from engine heat.)

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