The Wizard of Modz

The Wizard of Modz The Wizard of Modz mod shop specializes in modifications and repairs to teardrop and tiny campers.

All loaded up and ready to head back east. Between 2 quilters, one Wizard, 3 sewing machines, plus all all our gear and...
08/16/2026

All loaded up and ready to head back east. Between 2 quilters, one Wizard, 3 sewing machines, plus all all our gear and luggage, Old Blue is filled to the brim.
The 12 volt fridge setup got a real stress test. Temps were in the mid to high 90's everyday, lows in the 80's so the fridge had to run a lot. I duplicated a setup I see in a lot of campers, a 100 amh battery, PWM solar controller, and one 100 watt solar panel. I did this just to see if it would be enough knowing it would not be but I wanted to verify in real world conditions to back upbwhat I try to explain to owners.
Here is what I proved. With a CIGS solar panel a PWM controller leaves too much power unused. Spend the extra 25 bucks on a Victron MPPT solar controller. Its worth every penny. I replaced the PWM with the MPPT Friday afternoon and the difference was obvious right off the bat. But then we had 2 days of rain and cloud cover. There was no way to recover the power we lost with just solar.
So before we head west we will be making some changes. The second 100 watt CIGS on the hood is going to tied in with the roof panel in series since the truck is usually in clear view of the sky. I am adding a 12 volt automatic transfer switch that will power the fridge off the truck when its running and off of the lipo battery when its not. Also adding insulation to the fridge as it really needs it.
We hope to put a video out on this little test to help inform new owners so they can make better decisions whe ordering their campers. I always cringe on what manufacturers charge for simple setups that won't meet the owners needs in real world conditions.

My favorite part of coming on this quilt retreat with Cindy is visiting Bontragger's Shop in Jamesport MO. Its an Amish ...
08/15/2026

My favorite part of coming on this quilt retreat with Cindy is visiting Bontragger's Shop in Jamesport MO. Its an Amish offgrid "superstore" that has so many neat items. We think we are really doing something camping offgrid but the Amish have been living offgrid since the grid started!
I have been there enough now that the guy remembers me. I showed him the CIGS panels on my truck as he had never seen them. He really like the Victron app and really wished the Bishop would let them have smart phones!
You know your in Amish town when the ceiling fans are air powered and the lights are lp powered.

Karen Benjamin Egel is very excited to have the Emma Mac mod done on her camper. No longer does she have to worry about ...
08/14/2026

Karen Benjamin Egel is very excited to have the Emma Mac mod done on her camper. No longer does she have to worry about water leaking inside the camper while her air conditioner is running and her air conditioner is going to be thanking her profusely for getting it outside the wall so it can breathe properly.
As Karen learned from watching me do this it's not exactly a easy modification to do or a quick modification to do but it's one that's worth every minute and Penny that it cost!

On location in Kansas City this morning working on a customer's camper. Have the roof cleaned off ready for the Maxair f...
08/13/2026

On location in Kansas City this morning working on a customer's camper. Have the roof cleaned off ready for the Maxair fan install while sealer dries on the first stage of the Emma Mac AC mod.
Looking forward to enjoying KC Bar B Q tonight with several other owners from the KC area.

We made it to the quilting retreat that Cindy comes to each year in Brunswick MO. I will crash here tonight before headi...
08/12/2026

We made it to the quilting retreat that Cindy comes to each year in Brunswick MO. I will crash here tonight before heading into Kansas City tomorrow to do work on campers. Doing my quarterly taxes today, ugh...
One of the ladies who comes to the retreat remembered that I also sew and work on campers. She made me some really neat cookies. I gotta say, these quilters have a really nice place to meet up. We are in a brand new building that is huge and the rooms are very nice.
I already have 2 machines to work on for the ladies once I finish my taxes. I think they like when I come along LOL

08/12/2026

First road trip after spending 2500 bucks replacing every moving suspension part in the front end of my truck as well as new tires, then a front end alignment. Was it worth it? Absolutely. Drives like a new vehicle and now all my joints have grease fittings so I can actually grease them like you should have been able to do all along.
While this may sound like a lot of money to spend on a vehicle repair, that was probably half or less of what it would have cost had I taken it somewhere to get done. I did all of it that I could myself, and I know a guy, who did the other things I did not have the time or the special tools to do for a very reasonable amount.
The Mobile Mod shop is ready to hit the road and head to west coast in just a few weeks!

Passing through St Louis on our way to Kansas City. Scotty was excited to finally make the travel team. He has pretty co...
08/11/2026

Passing through St Louis on our way to Kansas City. Scotty was excited to finally make the travel team. He has pretty company in the back of the truck with Sylvia, Cindy's Jeep Chief blue Featherweight, and Portia, Dorothy's Porsche red Featherweight.

The bottom is cut out of another Apache case. This can only mean one thing. Another owner is getting the Emma Mac AC mod...
08/11/2026

The bottom is cut out of another Apache case. This can only mean one thing. Another owner is getting the Emma Mac AC mod!

A few last minute mods before we head off in the mobile mod shop to Kansas City. I am tired of dealing with ice in a coo...
08/10/2026

A few last minute mods before we head off in the mobile mod shop to Kansas City. I am tired of dealing with ice in a cooler. We wound up with a spare 12v fridge from our cabin so we are going to carry it in the truck instead of a cooler with ice for our beverages.
I used the 100 amh lipo from my Licitti box and whipped up this setup with a 12v Bluetooth shunt and a simple PWM solar controller to power the fridge. My truck has 2 100 watt CIGS solar panels on it that will keep the battery charged.

Mod time for my Licitti AC PPS. I've been using this now for almost 3 years to power our camper 12 volt needs when we're...
08/09/2026

Mod time for my Licitti AC PPS. I've been using this now for almost 3 years to power our camper 12 volt needs when we're camping and when we're not camping it goes everywhere with me in the backseat of my truck.i use it all the time to run power tools or a battery charger for my tool batteries. It's just a handiest portable power station that I own for what I use them for. I've been running it off of the same 100 amp hour lithium iron phosphate battery from the very start. It's worked great but when I saw that they came out with 165 amp hour group 31 size batteries I knew exactly where one of those was going to wind up.
So today is the day. I removed the 100 amp hour and replaced it with the 165 amp hour. We now have 60% more battery capacity than we did before in the same group 31 size format. It's a tight fit because I also upgraded the solar controller in this from the 10 amp internal solar controller to a victron 15 amp mppt controller. It all fits but it's snug.
I really like this 165 amp hour battery for the size and power density that it has. I just wish the price on them would come down because they are pretty salty but I feel like they're worth it in the end for what you get. The fact that it has internal Bluetooth to the BMS is also a big positive for me because now I don't have to run the external shunt that is on top of the original 100 amp hour battery I removed.
That original battery is going to continue to see service powering our drink refrigerator in the back of the truck while we're on the road.

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Seymour, IN
47274

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