We made our second visit to the Huntington Indiana facility to discuss our Sportsmobile plans based on a 170” Sprinter. See our current configuration here:
http://www.davidelmore.com/Sportsmobile.html Our Sprinter order has been submitted and our SMB will be built starting in October. An important goal for us is to have long dry camping times in both hot and cold weather. We talked to Nancy, Don, and Chad.
Batteries. The Sprinter has an option for a second battery in the engine compartment. SMB tried to use that in parallel with other house batteries and ran into problems with the van computer and with the fact that the batteries are different. It is good practice to use identical batteries in parallel. However, it is a shame to waste that space up front. We will have three batteries in the back. When the Sprinter engine is off the house electric can charge the Sprinter battery but not vice versa.
Black tank. We want at least 10 gallons which should last 10 days for two of us. The standard marine toilet they use comes with a 5 gal tank under the toilet above the floor. There is a 10 gal version that needs to extend under a cabinet behind the toilet. This will work great for us if we put a closet behind the toilet and the water heater will go above the tank.
Macerator repair. If the built-in macerator gets stuck on something that should not have gone down the toilet (pill bottle etc) then I don’t want to be stuck with a full black tank half way to Alaska where I can’t get it fixed. Chad assured me that it will be very messy, but I will be able to remove the macerator and dump with a large diameter hose until I can get it fixed. He said it is best not to flush toilet paper. We already use a trash can for TP on our big rig.
Water heater. We considered electric but this requires too much power and we can’t use it in parks that have no electric hookup and no generators allowed. Diesel heaters are too expensive and not worth the maintenance headaches, so we will go with propane. SMB prefers the Atwood water heater. We will use the 6 gal Suburban propane water heater SW6D because it requires only 12x12” opening in the side of the van. It will go right behind the driver seat because if on the other side of the bath it would be between the two windows where there is a post you can’t cut into.
Mattress/cushions. The bed mattress can go all the way back to the rear door and will have rear corners cut off to make room for the door mechanism. The rear mattress will not have button tucks. The dinette cushions need button tucks to keep the cover from rotating around the foam after sitting many times (SMB does not fix under warranty if no buttons). The buttons are pulled tight into the foam and I did not notice any discomfort when lying on them. Not sure why there have been complaints about them in this forum.
Awning. They demonstrated it and it is easy to open and looks well built.
Screen door. SMB does not provide, but they suggested I install a Magic Mesh Magnetic Screen. I read on a forum that it does not work with the Sprinter (a Roadtrek). I am thinking I could install a permanent hardwood frame in the opening to provide a vertical rectangle to attach it to. If the Magic Mesh doesn’t work, I will try a retractable screen door kit by Glide Screen.
A/V and antennas. I want AM/FM, Sirius, CD, MP3, iPod, CB, 4G, TV, DVD, good stereo speakers, capability to add Blu-ray later, maybe a subwoofer later. SMB can install a TV/DVD combo with built-in speakers, but I want more than that so I will provide most of this. The Sprinter radio works only on the Sprinter battery and so is not a good solution for radio and CD except while driving (I think this advice from SMB may be wrong per above info under batteries). I will probably go with Jensen products AWM975, JE2212LEDWM, and MSX60RVR. SMB will install a Winegard wind-up TV antenna. I will need to provide and install antennas for CB, FM, Sirius, and 4G Wi-Fi before I deliver the van to them.
Generator. We listened to the PowerTech Diesel generator on one of the Sprinters in the lot. It is noisy compared to the Onan Quiet Diesel in a compartment in our present big rig, but the only other option is a propane generator that uses up the propane tank in 1 day and probably is just as noisy. The PowerTech is installed centered right behind the axle. We will need skid wheels on the MB hitch to protect it.
Furnace. With the large Fridge, propane water heater, and full bath there is not a place for a propane furnace since you can’t have penetrations on the right behind the sliding door (is this why Roadtrek puts the counter on the left?) Anyway with cold-weather camping the propane tank would not last long enough, probably just a few days. So we are going with the Espar D4 diesel furnace for which the exhaust goes down through the floor. The only place left to put it is under the sink. If the gray tank gets in the way for that then it will have to be installed under the van floor somewhere else.
Front table. We brought 20x20 and 24x24 boards to test space for a table up front (see drawing). I was very pleased that, when the front seats are rotated towards each other and slid back against the doors, our knees did not collide, and there is plenty of space for the 24x24 table, and I can still get out of the driver seat without removing or even rotating the table. I will have to build a special mounting bracket on the floor since we can’t put holes in the floor above the transmission and can’t limit access for transmission service. I will probably use the same mounting to rig up a laptop computer stand for Delorme GPS use while driving.
Water system. We want to use our SMB in freezing weather. Only the gray tanks and macerator will be below the van, but I am concerned that pipes on the van floor will freeze since there is no insulation in the floor. The macerator will need pink liquid since freezing will damage it --We need to pump until pink comes out, then close the valves. Water pipes can handle freezing without pink liquid if we turn off the water pump and open faucets. The water lines will have some insulation under them, but I am also considering a closed loop pump on the hot water to keep all pipes and fresh water tank warm. We will add a 2 gal expansion tank so the pump does not have to run as often and to keep the water heater from building up pressure.
Comments on all this are welcome and I hope my info will help others.
David
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