OPTIMA Batteries SEMA 2015 Build

[BroncoHauler]

So, the plans for the van after SEMA....?


Herb

[86Scotty]

Originally Posted by BroncoHauler

So, the plans for the van after SEMA....?


Herb

Yep, inquiring minds want to know. I wonder who owns it? I'm sure that's probably not going public.

[boywonder]

MG: I see you've kept the stock plastic foot well for the barn doors.......curious how you dealt with the new floor and the foot well? Is the foot well raised up or is the floor the same height as the stock carpeted floor?

[mgmetalworks]

Thank you everyone for the comments!

and now it's time for Q&A

Originally Posted by SixCardCharlie

Do you mind me asking what seat/bed that is?

The seat is 100% custom made. Tube frame, laser cut brackets and mounts, latching mechanism, the custom leather, upholstery...all of it custom made specifically to fit within the framework of the interior.

Originally Posted by 86Scotty

Yep, inquiring minds want to know. I wonder who owns it? I'm sure that's probably not going public.

The van's owner is the Director of Sales & Marketing for Optima Batteries. It will be used as a mobile command center for many of their automotive events throughout 2016. At SEMA the plan is to use it for a small meeting room 2-3 people inside Optima's big booth in the center of the main hall. It is privately owned though, not a corporate rig. When it isn't needed for automotive events, it will be used for camping and family adventures.

Originally Posted by boywonder

MG: I see you've kept the stock plastic foot well for the barn doors.......curious how you dealt with the new floor and the foot well? Is the foot well raised up or is the floor the same height as the stock carpeted floor?

The floor just butts up against the factory foot well. Since the floor is rigid, the foot well was reinforced along the edge that butts up against the floor. Under the foot well lip is a spacer to keep things solid. The floor and the trim are roughly the same level.

[shenrie]

mg, your attention to detail is amazing...along with all the work ive seen form you. thanks for taking the time and sharing all the pix throughout this process even though you had such a constrained time frame.

...and be careful, a line is gonna start forming in front of your house for campervan build-outs whether you like it or not doing work of this caliber, lol.

[mgmetalworks]

Originally Posted by shenrie

mg, your attention to detail is amazing...along with all the work ive seen form you. thanks for taking the time and sharing all the pix throughout this process even though you had such a constrained time frame.

...and be careful, a line is gonna start forming in front of your house for campervan build-outs whether you like it or not doing work of this caliber, lol.

Thank you! Imagine what could be done with an appropriate timeline (and budget).

The line started already. The first in line is my wife. She thinks our van looks like poop now that she's seen the SEMA van take shape.

[Viva]

Originally Posted by mgmetalworks

The line started already. The first in line is my wife. She thinks our van looks like poop now that she's seen the SEMA van take shape.

Lots of us are feeling that way now. Thanks heaps.

[E350]

MG: Can I ask you how the house battery/alternator/charger/inverter was set up?

[mgmetalworks]

Originally Posted by E350

MG: Can I ask you how the house battery/alternator/charger/inverter was set up?

According to the instructions...

Oh...did you want a better answer than that? Ok. Scalf77 can chime in here too in case I miss something. Greg was a HUGE help in laying this out and getting the systems installed.

here's a list of components in the system:
-4 big Optima Batteries on the rear skid (see pics earlier in this thread). 300A fuse right off the batteries then a run of wire up to the driver side just in front of the wheel well. A Positive and Negative bulkhead connector goes through the floor in an accessible spot. Then on the inside, the both leads go to buss bars.
-The inverter is a Promariner True Power Combi 2000PS. http://promariner.com/products/marine-c ... r-combips/

Inverter connected to the buss bars mentioned above.

The shore power plug is mounted below the bumper, opposite the trailer plug then a run of wire up to approx. the same location as the battery cables to another pass-through. House wiring is then split off into a fuse panel from Paneltronics

http://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?pa ... 4&id=51318

Microwave, fridge and a single GFI outlet are hard-wired into this panel. Fridge is also wired to 12V fuse panel that is fed from the buss bar (complete with big fuse to protect the panel and individual fuses to protect each circuit). fuse panel and main 12V fuse are from Bluesea systems. The inverter has a remote control panel that is mounted under the rear seat next to the outlet and house fuse panel.

-The starter batteries and house batteries are linked via the dual battery system from IBS.

http://ibs-tech.ch/en/products/dual-battery-system.html

Control panel is mounted on the dash just to the left of the stereo. The IBS system is also complimented by the Relay Booster Module

http://ibs-tech.ch/en/products/dual-bat ... modul.html

Everything here is top quality stuff in my opinion. Some of these components are from sponsors and were decided on well before I got involved in the project so I can't answer any questions about why they were chosen. I can say that hooking them all up was simple (once Greg came over and talked me through it ) and everything works perfectly. Wiring the power mirrors was more difficult than any of these AC or DC systems.

[carringb]

AMZAING!!!

I wish the all the RV builders would offer something cleaner, simpler, and more contemporary like this van is. For the life of me, I can't figure out why most of the industry is stuck on fake woods, terrible floral patterns, and cheap flimsy materials.