Hey all,
I want to add a hatch for my diesel heater to one of the panels. I want to remove the panel to make my cut.
Is there an easy way to remove the panel from the topper without screwing it up?
You can disconnect the struts, remove the end cap on the hinge then slide it right off. You can also use the odd shaped aluminum flatheads above the panel to remove it with the hinge, but in my experience it is WAY easier to slide it out.
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Way easier to just make the cut with it still installed. Then it won’t move around and you have something to brace it against. I made some decent cuts on mine and it was a non-issue. Just a little cleanup after.
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Thanks! What vent is that? What hole saw did you use? Any tips on the cut?
The vent is my own make/design that I 3d printed out of a carbon fiber nylon.
For the cut I used a 2-3/4" hole saw. I think it was diablo or Milwaukee I can’t remember. The trick is just to get a good center for the hole saw to make sure it doesn’t walk during the cut. Luckily the thin aluminum of the GFC panel isn’t hard to cut
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Do you need to leave a panel up top off to feel the heat, or does the heat penetrate through the panels pretty easily?
I find myself camping with myself up top and a friend down below pretty often. I only use the heater through that port in such cases with at least one square panel removed for heat transfer. Those panels are intended to be very insulated, so you would get pretty minimal results without one pulled.
It should be noted that when you aren’t bunk bedding or hanging out down below that it is super inefficient and you’ll have much better results with less power/fuel draw just piping it up to on of your tent flaps from the outside.
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That makes a lot of sense. Thanks
I ended up making a T junction that allows me to run heat up into the tent and/or into the bed. Works well. If you don’t need to heat below, ABSOLUTELY don’t waste your time cutting into the panels. just zip up the tent.
In the end, it was really easy to cut into the panel without taking it off. I used this metal hole saw in 60mm, which fit my vent perfectly for my Planar heater.
I would note that I would get a regular non metal carbide if you are cutting up into the honeycomb. This one didn’t make as smooth of a cut as I had hoped.