Van Update... Bed Finished

Solar panels for the van

Frame sizing

Fiberglassing even more holes!


Frame installed

Bed in place! Look at the mess underneath!

My new dog Chica, enjoying her spot. Notice the walls???

Phew! Its been a while since I have last posted! I was reminded recently that I needed to update my blog and when I checked I saw the date of April 6th!!!!! That is just totally unacceptable! So much has happened since then that it is literally impossible to recount.

I picked up the solar panels on sale at Harbor Freight for $160. They provide 45 watts of power which is not very much but I figure like this.

Stereo @ 50 watts / 12volts = 4.16amps per hour x 5 hours = 20amps

Laptop @ 50 watts / 12volts = 4.16amps per hour x 3 hours = 12amps

Lights @ 80 watts / 12 volts = 6.66amps per hour x 2 hours = 13.3amps

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= 45.3 amps/day

IF I run everything listed and for as long as I have estimated. Trust me there will be DAYS at a time I will not power on that laptop! Anyays, the panels will pump out 3.5amps X 8hours = 28amps if the conditions are right. I have metering setup on my battery to watch it closely as drawing it below 50% greatly reduces the number of cycles (times) it can be discharged and recharged. I know my panels are a little undersized and I have been considering selling them to pick up something larger (130watts = 7~8amps per hour roughly) but its very $$$. The average 130watt panel will cost you around $600 new but I have been able to source some used bulk panels for about $350. The problem is, you have to buy 2 most of the time and I DO NOT NEED 260watts of power and the roof space it will consume. ugh... decisions. The good news is I am installing a battery isolator which basically allows my "house" battery to be charged by the altinator as the engine is running WITHOUT affecting or drawing power from the main starting battery. If I run my house battery dead, I will still be able to start the engine with the main starting battery.

Enough battery/solar talk! The bed install went pretty smooth other than the bed being too close to the frame rails that run up the walls (check the pics closely). Basically, every drill we owned was too big to fit in this gap so I had to do a lot of hand screwing of 2.5" wood screws through 2x6s and that my friends was NOT fun. Ive been monitoring the temps inside the van with a little gadget I picked up and they are pretty close to ambient when I have the windows open during the day. I have seen her hit 117F inside with all the windows closed!!!!!!! I will be installing reflectix insulation on the ceiling and windows soon. Then I will install some new carpet over the reflectix in the ceiling and paint it black as it is not quite the color I want. Floor carpet is also coming in soon.

I also recently purchased a roof vent with a built in 12v exhaust van, RV shower head with a start/stop button on it to conserve water while soaping up and washing hair, and a DPDT switch. The switch will allow me to run power to my stereo in a special way. I can run power from the main starting battery (woops, I said no more battery talk didnt I?) and from the rear house battery to this switch. As Im driving I can tell the car stereo to run off of the starter battery but when Im parked/camped, I can switch the power source to the rear house battery so I wont draw from the main. The switch even has an OFF position to totally kill the radi o from any type of power draw!

Well thats been about it that I feel like typing. Ill keep you guys posted on my progress... just 70 more days to go! Wooo Hooo!!!