Teardrop Trailer Galley

The galley is the heart of the teardrop trailer. The trailer is more than just a place to sleep. Now, you can eat and sleep, and wash up, fix a hot meal, and have a cold beverage. There is a supply of fresh water, and a place to discard soapy dishwater. The galley lid provides some shelter from a light rain - depending on the wind, of course, and there are good lights for night time cooking and cleanup. Eventually there will be side curtains to provide better wind and weather protection. This galley is a work in progress. Pink insulation is still visible around the refrigerator. Some things could probably be stored better. I installed some air springs or struts, to support the galley lid. They worked well before the lid liner was put in, and now the lid is a little too heavy for the struts. They do seem to work somewhat, when we are in areas that are a great deal warmer than in Two Harbors. I'll either remove the struts, or have to get heavier ones if I decide to stay with them. Otherwise, the door prop works just fine - except in very windy conditions. The shelf that supports the stove,  the vertical divider under the shelf, and the divider to the right of the refrigerator are all easily removable if I have to get at something in the rear of that space. The upper section with the drawers is removable as a single complete unit, also. This means the galley can be easily modified or repaired.

the hand pump in the middle, next to the refrigerator has been removed

As you can see in the picture, the refrigerator is a Waeco™. When I was researching refrigerators, I saw that this unit was popular among Australian 4-wheeler enthusiasts who beat around the outback in their 4x4s on weekends and holidays. If this was rugged and reliable enough for them it will certainly be good enough for my needs! It just sips electricity, and so is perfect for my energy setup. It can freeze its contents, so it certainly will do a fine job of just refrigerating food and beverages. It is also extremely quiet, so it does not make a noisy racket while we are trying to sleep. You can tell it is a refrigerator, because the light comes on when the door is open. The lid is easily removed and there is a nice metal basket that comes out of the main compartment, so it is easy to clean. It opens from the top, so the chilled air does not spill out every time the door (lid, actually) is opened, an excellent feature. It runs on 12 volts, and it is also possible to run it on 120 volts AC, if you wish.

The stove shelf is on a full-extension shelf glider, and you can see my favorite Calphalon™ rummage sale skillet (50 cents and in very good condition). I modified the skillet by removing the rivets that held the handle in place. I use three bolts with wing nuts to mount the handle. The skillet is much easier to store with the handle removed. I use a bungee cord to hold the stove in place on the shelf, when it is not in use. You can see one eye bolt at the front of the shelf. There is a matching one on the back edge. When the stove is in use and the shelf is pulled out, the bungee cord is used to lock the shelf in place. The bungee cord hooks are hooked into holes in the shelf slider, holding it in place. The fuel hose for the stove runs down to a small refillable propane tank, a bit over a gallon in size. This was a special order, through my local propane dealer. This is more cost-effective than using disposable propane tanks. I can still use one in a pinch if my tank goes empty and there is a disposable tank available nearby. The stove itself is a cheap one, from a big box store in Duluth. It has a built-in igniter, which is certainly convenient - though I have had to fiddle with it a few times to keep it working. I added the metal rings which encircle the burners, to make them more wind-resistant. When we were camping at Kitty Hawk it was so windy I could not heat up a pan of water, even though the burner was turned up to full.

The biggest single improvement Micky and I want to make to the galley is some kind of side curtains or other enclosure to keep out rain and high winds.

The upper picture shows the gray water tank is ready to receive some dishwater or wash water. The next picture shows the fresh water filler uncovered. The center hole is the filler. A hole at the 1 o'clock position in the picture is the vent line for the tank. The gray water setup is similar. The funnels for the gray water and the fresh water are not interchangeable. You can also see that the covers are different sizes as well. This way I can not contaminate my fresh water with gray water cooties. The hand pump in these pictures delivers fresh water from the tank, and if that is not fast enough, I can simply bend over and open the fresh water drain valve which is just visible under the trailer bed (the white and red thing.) The drain valve has a threaded plug in it for two reasons - to keep the outlet of the valve clean, and to act as a second barrier for the drain valve. Note: I have removed the hand pump since these pictures were taken. It was just too messy, and it also interfered a little, with the storage area where the dishpan is. Now, our only way of getting water is with the drain valve under the bottom of the trailer. This is still convenient. You can see the black cap for the gray water drain, just to the left of the fresh water drain, in the upper picture. It is a 2 inch fitting with a slide valve, just like its bigger cousins on the larger RVs. A 2 inch corrugated hose screws into this connection when I want to drain the gray water tank. This connection is also closed with a screwed-in plug. The plug is screwed in tight enough that a wrench is used to unscrew it. I want to make sure it does not vibrate loose. It will also slow down mischief makers.

Looking straight into the galley, you can see the storage battery strapped down in the center. Behind the battery is the fuse panel for the whole trailer. To the left of the stove is a dual outlet for 12 volt equipment. On the right side is a small, refillable propane tank. This is about 10 pounds of propane, or about 5 quarts. I had to special order this tank, as it is not a size commonly found in my town. It was a little spendy, but well worth it, for the convenience of refillability and capacity and ease of storage. The tank is held down with a bungee cord. A basket kept in front of the propane tank stores some smaller items or dry foods used in the galley. Just above the stove is a shelf which is fastened to the galley sides. This shelf supports the upper drawers. The shelf also has the guides which hold the divider next to the refrigerator. Not visible is a length of threaded rod which runs the width of the galley and insures that the galley sides do not spread. One end of the threaded rod and its hex nut are visible in the picture above, which features the stove.

I have set up my dishwasher. Ordinarily, I'd have it set up on a folding table I carry with me. The basin is a 2/3 size standard steam table pan, stainless steel. I made the drain pan from aluminum, annealed and shaped over a suitable wooden form. The dish drainer is a compact RV dish drainer that will hold several dinner plates, silverware, and a few glasses or cups. On the left edge of the picture you can see a white plastic dishpan that will nest inside the steel pan. Everything nests nicely together and is stored in front of the battery, as you can see in other pictures.

I had started with a different cooler, which had different dimensions. The light switches for the galley lights were turn buttons that stuck out about half an inch from the surface of the galley lid. When the lid was shut, the left-hand switch did not interfere with the front of the cooler. When I changed the cooler for a 12 volt refrigerator in these pictures, the light switch smashed into the front handle of the refrigerator. I had to make a recessed switch of some kind. The metal forming method by now was familiar to me. I cut the metal somewhat oversize, and annealed it with my propane torch, quenching it with water as soon as the metal was at the right temperature. I centered the metal blank over the cavity in the wooden mold, and gradually peened the depression partially into the blank. I annealed the metal again, and then centered it over the cavity in the wooden mold. Now, I took the oiled male plug form and placing it over the depression in the metal began hammering it into the metal disc. I used several firm but not hard blows to drive the plug form into the disc. I did not want to tear the metal by hitting the plug form too hard. When I was satisfied with the forming job, I trimmed the shaped metal to the size I wanted, and drilled the center hole and the two screw holes. I like this switch setup so much, I may convert the other switch some day. Right. Like I am just looking for something to do in my spare time.

Micky likes blue. She also made the stencils and did the stencil designs for the galley. The designs are creatures found in northern Minnesota, including of course our two cats and a dog. The scottie dog died a couple of years ago, so we have since added a picture of our "new" dog, Mac - a user-friendly laptop dog from the Duluth dog pound. The cats stay home, while Mac travels with us. This set of five drawers holds our dishes, eating utensils, nested set of pans, knives, seasonings, and all the other impedimenta for a kitchen. Dishtowels are kept in the space above the drawers. A turn-button secures the two lower drawers. The space on either side of the cabinet is clearance for the lid struts, plus plastic bags and anything else that might get stuffed in there.

the galley storage cabinet is made to be installed or removed from the galley as a compete unit - one of the drawer guides is shown, above I should have made the drawers with a somewhat looser fit. When they were painted, they needed some wax to slide freely.

first page  the frame  the floor  the sides  plywood sides  the roof  the flooring  the shell  wiring and insulation  sheet metal  molding   hatch lid  doors  fenders  light fixtures  cabin cabinets  solar panel  tanks  galley  other stuff  some lessons learned  some sources