Vagabond Drifter Camper Buildout and Mods

More on condensation - I don't mind the condensation too much as I have several microfiber cloths to soak it up in the morning (when it's not frozen), but I do want to figure out how to keep the condensation off my bedding, making sleeping colder and damp.

I camped this past weekend where lows were in the 20's. Slept for 12 hours and in the morning, the walls had some condensation (not as much as other times when it was colder). The side that was in the sun had already dried, but the other side was wet and like usual, my blanket & comforter on that side was damp. Most of the roof panel had condensation on it.

I have been thinking about a heater and running some 1" ducting/hose along the channel next to the mattress to put some heat out down at the bottom of the wedge as well as hot air coming out down in the truck bed and let it naturally rise up into the larger part of the wedge.

Insulation
I have the Drifter lower insulation package, mountain hatch on the tailgate, BedRug on the bed that covers the mountain hatch, and a custom Reflectix cover on the rear window.

 

@MapJunkie Thanks! That's pretty much in line with what I was expecting, but wanted to hear from someone with firsthand experience. Perhaps I'll give the Mr. Heater a try.

If I camped often in the winter, the Propex would be a no-brainer... but I might camp four times a year where I'd *really* like a heater. That's way too few times for me to justify the thousand bucks on the Propex. I'll just shiver a bit and deal with the condensation...

 

I have a gasoline heater that heats the tent up to 70F and I still get condensation on the far end of the wedge. Ice forms on the aluminum channels as well. I usually wipe it all down in the morning. Only way to avoid this would be to pump warm air into the far end.

 

So I’m about to buy a 2kw Chinese diesel heater.

Questions:
Should I go with a 4 port or single port?
These can be run off kerosene right?

 

Be careful - I've seen many people think they're buying 2kw and a 5kw shows up.

 

Yeah, I don't believe I've seen a legit 2kw 4 port... Could be wrong though.
Personally, I wouldn't want to deal with 4 separate ducts anyway. It's a small enough space that it shouldn't make much difference.

 

The easiest way to tell if it's a true 2KW heater is by looking at where the intake and exhaust are. If they are center, it's a 2KW and if it's offset it's a 5KW. If the description says 2-5KW it's a 5KW.

 

Strawfoot made an alternate fan cover for the Drifter that fits much better. If you want this alternate design then I think you can request it to be made this way.



Here is how the original one looks:

 

Yeah I only brought it up from the last couple posts of people ducting air to the end to keep condensation down.

Amazon has quite a few now, will have to see the reviews if it’s actually 2kw. I think reading around here 5kw is pretty overkill.

 

Anyone tried hanging one of these in their drifter?Just curious if it would dry the air enough below dewpoint so condensation doesn't form on the cold surfaces.

$20 DampRid Hanging Bag, Moisture Absorber, 1 box of 3 bag (16 oz. each bag.), Blue

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B072LN492H/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I'd say it depends...
I've only had my 5kw installed for a couple weeks, so feel free to take my experience with a grain of salt. And I'm not sure what the limitations or potential are with tuning the 2kw either.

But a couple things to maybe help you decide:
As a test, I ran my 5kw on low (1.1hz) all night on a 50 degree night at sea level, and even with the side windows open at the top, it was 80 degrees inside by morning. However, I wouldn't actually be using (any) heater all night in the same scenario.
I probably wouldn't run the heater all night unless it was maybe 35 or lower. Running it for a while before going to bed or after waking up makes more sense a lot of the time, and in those cases it's nice to have the option to crank out more heat for a short amount of time.
If you have the ability and learn how to tune it (which I'd recommend), then you may want the extra power if you spend a lot of time at high elevation. I haven't actually put this to the test yet, but based on how I've got mine tuned for sea level, I calculate that my max fuel setting at 10,000ft would only be 2.7hz to account for the decrease in oxygen.
So far with my specific installation, I would probably say that the noise is less obnoxious at higher settings than low, because the ticks of the fuel pump kind of blend together and the fan helps drown it out to make it more like white noise vs the slow "knock" of the pump that I get at the low settings.

Having said all that, I wouldn't necessarily lean one way or the other if I did it over again, and since they have the same mounting plate/ports, you can always swap the size (assuming you leave enough room for the bigger 5kw if you go 2kw initially).
......Edit - maybe I would lean slightly towards the 5kw just based on the controller options and stuff.

As far as the condensation/heat circulation, I just plan to use a little USB fan to push the hot air into the front of the wedge or whatever.

 

Just do the 5kw one if you’re on the fence! I freaking love mine. Probably have ran it for over 100 hours now.

My buddy and I took a trip together and he went to sleep earlier than me. I turned the heater on by remote to warm up the camper. It was 23°F outside, and when I walked into the camper to sleep, it was 92° inside and DRY.

 

Yeah I have. It helps but it’s more long term moisture collection vs. something like a fan or heater. I would fill one of those bags up in ~1.5 months. At one point the bags just started leaking and I stopped using them

 

Sorry for the late reply! I only get on TW once in a while. It would be pretty subjective and reduced to a quick initial impression (unless they have an overnight testing lab with room service ) but I could go down there if you’d like. For a baseline, the drifter mattress was a little firm for me as I’m a side sleeper so I got a cheap 1 1/2” foam “egg crate” topper and that is enough for me to be comfortable.

 

I had been putting off buying a heater due to information overload and analysis paralysis.
Then I found this guys multi-part video series on diesel heaters specifically Chinese ones.
https://youtu.be/mKN2isuA7Gc
John McK 47
Basically, my take away from his comparison of the 2k 5k 8k is that the 5k is the better option for efficiency. In his test, he proves that the 5k can use less power and less fuel and put out more heat. So this also equates to the sound from the fan and fuel pump.
And as @snwbrdr852 said with correct tuning you can run the heaters on low without creating any issues (soot build-up)
It took me a week to get through all his videos on heaters but now I have the confidence to do any maintenance or repair work myself.
In the end, I got this one.

maXpeedingrods 12V 5KW Diesel Heater Super Quiet Running with Bluetooth App Remote Control for Car, Campervan, Outdoor Camping, Big Truck, Boat, Yacht

https://www.amazon.com/Diesel-Parki...er&qid=1609867863&sprefix=dies,aps,246&sr=8-9
Was packed well and came from a USA warehouse in about a week.

 

Happy New Year folks,

Here's a question. Yes, perhaps to some it may be a flaky question, but hear me out.

Family discussions on the Drifter purchase continue. We're discussing now whether we indeed want a Drifter camper on a Tacoma since it seems to me, its a practically permanent set-up. Permanent as in, unlike for example a plain old fiberglass shell, the Drifter and any cabinetry takes a good deal of time to install, and thus also remove. In other words, I can't just call up the neighbour and ask him to help lift the Drifter of the bed and plunk it down in the garage so I can use the bed for a few hours to move some furniture...it would take a bit more effort than just loosening the 6-8 clamps my old ARE shell used.

We love the Tacoma, but in large part due to the bed being available with little effort - i.e. its got a shell most of the time, however if I need the whole bed, I need about 20 minutes to remove the shell and then another 20 minutes or so to put it back. Cumbersome if only for a few hours, but not something to shy away from.

The Drifter with any sort of cabinetry isn't the same is it?

Interested in what owners of a Drifter think, and whether or how this consideration figured in the decision.

 

Buy a trailer for $300. Bam, fixed all your issues and you got more space than your bed!

 

Thanks for the link I will take a look. I don't need to sleep in 80 degs haha. I actually prefer 60deg and will be using this for winter camping in 20-30deg temps. (Ha I need to get this done before winters over). Which is why I think the 2kw was good, but maybe Ill get the 5kw.

 

More on heater opinions - I don't mind sleeping in the cold either. 20 degree weather is totally fine (and actually a bit too warm with long johns + hat) when I put a 1 liter Nalgene with almost boiling water under the down comforter.

I mostly am exploring the idea for reducing the condensation.

 

It depends on how much of the interior you build out. With my Goose-gear cabinets, it would take about an hour to remove. I could probably do it in 30 min but I was always careful removing everything.