Building a dedicated shore diving trailer

[CanadaDan]

Extraction fan system is in. Up to 400cfm with lots of cross turbulence. As high as I could get it to pull hot humid air out of the trailer. I’m pretty happy with the location and it’s out of the way over a shelf.

Thanks tbone for the advice about this one.

 

[CanadaDan]

My son just observed that it looks like I’m building a portable grow-op lol

 

[lowwall]

My son just observed that it looks like I’m building a portable grow-op lol

Tank and irrigation hose - I mean rinse hose - going on next?

We'll know for sure when you are done with the lights

 

[CanadaDan]

Tank and irrigation hose - I mean rinse hose - going on next?

We'll know for sure when you are done with the lights

If I lived near saltwater there would actually be a water tank lol

 

[broncobowsher]

Those lights, they are for sterilizing the gear.

 

[CanadaDan]

Finally got to load, haul and test the trailer yesterday.

Load stayed put. Had a towel drop off it's hanger and that was the worst of it. Mix of bad city roads, highway and gravel roads. Even had a hard braking situation.

Bad day for hauling as we had heavy headwinds coming home... gas mileage was lousy. At the worst I was using twice as much fuel as I normally would. Under normal winds the trailer barely made a difference.

Using the trailer as a change room worked great. I installed rechargeable lights and a latch on the side door so it can be secured from the inside. My step-daughter was quite happy to have a little privacy.

Best part is the air extraction system. At half power the trailer's main system dried the wetsuit, BPW's and drysuit perfectly by this morning.

Likewise the dryer box got the hoods bone dry. The inside of the wet-boots were a touch damp after 14 hours but I expect by this evening they will be perfect. Still better than simply hanging for an evening. Dive weekends should be as perfectly comfortable on the second day as they are on the first.

The passive flow on the highway got the hanging bathing suit almost dry after a 45 minute drive.

All in all I'm really pleased... best part was when we got home I put the trailer in the garage, locked it up, plugged it in and done! No more hauling gear in and out.

The only way to make it better would be to install a series of fill whips with a single external hookup then a long hose at the LDS... This way I could pull up to the back door, hook up the lines and fill!

 

[tbone1004]

The only way to make it better would be to install a series of fill whips with a single external hookup then a long hose at the LDS... This way I could pull up to the back door, hook up the lines and fill!

they're really nice.... I have a 4:1 whip splitter and 100ft of fill hoses, it's how we fill when teaching and when I have a bunch of doubles

 

[CanadaDan]

they're really nice.... I have a 4:1 whip splitter and 100ft of fill hoses, it's how we fill when teaching and when I have a bunch of doubles

The idea is awesome… the cost is prohibitive lol.

6 DIN fill ends, hoses, splitters etc… I can see hitting USD$1000 really fast. I’d rather carry tanks and spend a week on Blackbeard’s ;-)

 

[tbone1004]

The idea is awesome… the cost is prohibitive lol.

6 DIN fill ends, hoses, splitters etc… I can see hitting USD$1000 really fast. I’d rather carry tanks and spend a week on Blackbeard’s ;-)

double that
fill ends are $50 each
the leads to those are going to be about that
manifold is is going to be about $100 or so
Line valves, check valves, and gauges will be another $500 or so
The long whips are what is really expensive though at a couple dollars per foot, and you'd want it on a reel since they are very stiff, so you're in for $2k to do 6 of them. About 1k to do a pair of them.

 

[shopguy]

Wish I had a picture of mine. It has that cheap corrugated metal (was $10/sheet at Home Depot) on all sides, and built on top of an old boat trailer frame. It has a propane tank on the front (warm water showers), and a hinged awning (rains a lot) on the side -- so the only hassle we get are people asking if they can buy a taco or hot dog... looks like a food truck I guess.