Introduction: Glow in the Dark, Low Voltage Monitoring Station With USB and Fan

By Davisons' Blog
About: William Davison Jr lives in the Tucson, Arizona area and works in the satellite defense industry. He keep busy with his many hobbies (old BMW car restorations, LEGO Robotics and Halloween effects/costumes). He…

In November of 2022 I bought a 1961 Scad-A-Bout teardrop camper.

I had been planning to build a small camper from scratch for over 4 years, but this teardrop camper came up for sale in my area for a really good price and in fairly good condition. New tires, new rims, clean rust free fame and all of the electrical with plenty of fuses was done right. So, I decided to add a few extras that I have seen on newer teardrop campers that provides some nice features while out on our camping adventures.

  1. Having a USB port for charging phones and other electronics would be nice.
  2. A way to measure the voltage on the main battery would allow me to quickly see the state of charge of the camper battery.
  3. I also wanted to add a fan near the roof vents that has a switch to draw in fresh air.
  4. Since the car stereo already installed into the inside of the camper AND has an auxiliary input port, I thought it would be nice to add a input port so we could run our cell phone audio to our sound system.

Wanting all of those functions in one central location inside the camper, I looked around on line and either it didn't have everything I wanted or it would cost much more than I wanted to spend. So, I figured I would design and build the Voltage Monitoring Station, USB power, Audio input and fan control panel myself.

Using tinkerCAD I designed the panel that would hold all of the electronics.

I drew up a schematic, printed the panel with Glow-in-the-Dark PLA on my 3D printer and built up my panel.

Purchasing the electronics from " https://theelectronicgoldmine.com/" I was able to put together a 'bill of materials' that was a good price and allowed me all the features I wanted.

The next few steps detail the build.

Supplies

Bill of materials:

Electronics:

Miniature 2.5VDC to 30VDC red three digit voltmeter

Resistor, 1K Ohm

Resistor, 330 Ohm

5 Volt DC regulator 7805

2 - 0.1 micro Farad capacitor

Computer fan

2- switches, single pole, single throw

2 USB ports

Wire, as required, red 14 gauge

Wire, as required, black 14 gauge

Red LED

Blue LED

1/8 inch audio jack

Push button switch

Heat shrink

Fuse and fuse holder; 2 AMP spade fuse

Wood:

MDF 3/8 sheet cut to fit, approximately 13 inches by 5 inches

Other items and tools needed:

PLA glow in the dark, as required

Access to a 3D printer

Old map

jig saw

drill

1 inch drill bit

Mod Podge glue

solder

solder iron

Hot glue gun

micrometer

3 inch hole saw



Step 1: Schematic and CAD File

Using simple components I drew up a fairly easy schematic for the control panel. A fuse, a power switch that controls the entire panel is the input section from the 12 Volt Camper power.

I 3D printed the panel out of glow in the dark PLA and measured all of the components so that they would all have a solid connection that would be easy to see in the dark of the camper.

I used a black permanent marker to go over the raised letters on the panel so you can read each function of the panel.

service panel

Step 2: Fit Components and Solder

Soldering the components and wires I used my schematics to correctly wire each point. I used heat shrink to cover areas that wires might short out other components.

Step 3: Cut Out Wood Panel and Fan Hole

The specific size for my mounting area was measured and I cut out a section of MDF and drilled holes for the fan and the cut out for the glow in the dark panel.

I used screws and hot glue to mount each component into the panel and the panel into the small cut out in the board.

Step 4: Paint or Decorate

I did not get a photo before I glued the paper map to the wood board. But this could have been skipped if there is no need to decorate the panel. You could paint it, but I have a theme in the camper that I have been using old maps to glue on counter, cupboard doors, and now the panel. You want to do this prior to attaching the fan and the electronics, as it makes it much easier to work on.

Step 5: Verify All Functions Operational and Install

I used metal brackets and small screws to mount the panel.

Mated the fuse wire to the power bar of the camper power and the ground wire to the ground bar.

I closed the doors and verified the glow was not too over powering and let my eyes adjust, I know over time that the glow will reduce and shouldn't be too big of a distraction in the sleeping area.

The reason for the fan, directly above the fan in the roof are three small exhaust holes covered by screens and will allow the air circulation to be a bit more controllable by turning on or off the fan.

Check out some of my other Instructables as I show other projects in my teardrop camper.