When making modification or alteration to most thing, I developed a habit of not overlooking the utilities what being removed that may seem obsolete or no longer needed. Often when one making altering something the focus is the incoming new, and the outgoing old is regarded as something to be disposed.
I was hoping being able to receive the parts from Amazon for the trailer winch power supply in time to use at the race track. Unfortunately only the battery cutoff switch that I order last arrive first, and the rest was delayed by a day.
Brunnhilde is built on a Mercedes Benz T1N Sprinter that was designed and developed in the late 90s, and mainly as a commercial van with immense cargo or passenger capacity and fuel efficient. Much conveniences of a modern sedan or even SUV or truck were not the the things the designer had in mind in those days. One of these is the ability to operate the front power windows without turning the ignition key to the engine run position.
Brunnhilde is known to haul all sort of thing, including a car trailer fully loaded across the Continental US. For most street cars converted into track cars, I have no problem driving the cars up and down the trailer with the ramps. However, with radical race cars they are next to impossible to do so because of the aggressive racing clutches, and non-existent flywheel mass due to sequential gearboxes.
We have been wanting to do this a very long time. That stupid landline POT jack on the rear of the camper is finally due for repurposed for something useful to meet a new need. I once planned to install a jack for portable solar panel. But I soon realized storing even a modest size panel is challenging, not to mention I have to worry about strong wind blowing it over. Very often at the race track I get to plug into 120Vac for light usage. This means nothing over a couple of hundred watts or less.
Last year while camping at the racetrack a freak storm came with violent wind. I immediately rushed into the bath to close the slightly open skylight. I was a second or two too late, Before I could unlatch the handle which requires raising the skylight slightly, the wind ripped the skylight right off. I reckon the peak windspeed was no less than 60 miles per hour. It came towards the rear of the camper which made the skylight very vulnerable.
The fresh water level sensor in Brunnhilde failed in June of 2013. I had since replaced it with a "new and improved" one that is constructed of a stainless steel tube rather than a plastic tube. Just when I thought it should last much longer than the original one of 9 years. Not so fast. In the owners' forum in North America there has been many report of the "new and improved" sender failed of late.
