Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 05-18-2015, 10:41 AM   #21
Senior Member
 
rockbender's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Bend, OR
Posts: 800
Progress

I managed to get quite a few little things done over the past couple days.

I got the electrical pretty well cleaned up securing the battery bank and installing the permanent cables:


Circuit breaker installed coming off the starter battery before heading to the separator:

As discussed earlier, I should probably used 100A circuit breakers with my #4 wire but these are the parts I had already purchased so I moved ahead. I know I can force the separator off, but it is nice to have a shutoff here too. I got everything working as it should but when I fired up the van I was surprised to see my alternator putting out about 14.9V! This voltage level has me a bit intimidated that I could prematurely screw up my AGM house batteries, so for now I just have the circuit breaker open while I figure that out.

Here is what the rear platform section will look like:

There is a slot between the storage platform and sleeping platform. This will house a 2'x4' camp table. We loved having this little table with us on the last van, but it sat underneath the rear foam and was a pain to pull out and put back with bedding, etc. stacked up on the rear bed. This should make that table super easy to get in and out.

Now for the big glory moments of the weekend. I filled up my propane tank for the first time and low and behold the Propex fired right up! Hooray for heat!

It doesn't quite put out the heat like the little Espar D2 did - I really loved that heater! I think that this will work pretty well though. I'm sure I'll have more to say after we get to use it a bit.

Stove fired up too!


We actually drove the van around town a bit for the first time since it was just a cargo van too. It seems to drive great and should make a nice travel rig - looking forward to some camp trips this summer!

Still plenty left to do - more finish panels, cabinet pieces, flooring, etc, but having most of the systems functioning makes me pretty happy.

__________________
Josh
2009 Express AWD, CCV Top & 50-ish home build. Daily driver/camper/kid hauler
rockbender is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-18-2015, 11:21 AM   #22
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Bay Area, CA by necessity - Sun Valley, ID if I had a choice.
Posts: 55
Re: Name TBD: AWD Express / CCV Poptop

Awesome progress Josh.

You need to update your signature since "Boring 2009 white Express AWD (with an awesome CCV top!) in the planning stage" no longer applies.

~Peter
__________________
1998 Pleasure Way Excel with serious SMB envy
2014 R-Pod 182G
pjmjunior is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-18-2015, 01:45 PM   #23
Senior Member
 
86Scotty's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: TN
Posts: 10,222
Re: Name TBD: AWD Express / CCV Poptop

Looking really great Josh. I see a big water tank in the pics but no sink or obvious place for one. Did you cover this and I missed it? What are your plans for water?

86Scotty is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-18-2015, 03:08 PM   #24
Senior Member
 
rockbender's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Bend, OR
Posts: 800
Re: Name TBD: AWD Express / CCV Poptop

We had a small sink in the last van - about all it was good for was to use as a drain. We didn't want to sacrifice the cabinet storage that a sink big enough to do dishes in would accommodate. We always ended up doing dishes in a couple wash bins on the camp table which also helped keep the mess down in the van too.

My wife's request was to have hot water this time around though so she didn't have to boil water for dishes. The plan for the water tank (I think it is somewhere between 12 and 15 gallons) is to utilize an instant hot water heater mounted to the rear door so that we have water on board for dishes, hosing off kids, rinsing bikes after a bike race, etc. Perhaps make an enclosure for a shower? I don't have this system 100% figured out as our first couple trips this summer are at campgrounds that have water, so this part of the project goes to the back burner. I still need to buy a pump and get all the plumbing done. We'll just carry water bottles and a 2 gallon jug of water to make sure we have plenty of drinking water along the way for now.

We'll see how this system works. In theory it should work well for our needs. I've ran a propane line to the back of the van so I will just hook up the hot water heater with a quick coupler. I'll be able to easily hook up a camp stove too if we decide to cook near the van.

Without a sink, I see the biggest inconvenience we'll face is having to drain our pasta water off into a nalgene or the thetford. We'll see! As you've proven before, we can always reconfigure.
__________________
Josh
2009 Express AWD, CCV Top & 50-ish home build. Daily driver/camper/kid hauler
rockbender is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-18-2015, 04:31 PM   #25
Senior Member
 
Viva's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 879
Re: Name TBD: AWD Express / CCV Poptop

Your build is really coming along nicely - I've picked up several things for my "ideas" file.

One note on the battery jumpers. I may be seeing this wrong due to the lighting, but it looks like you may have the positive jumper and negative jumper pulling from the same battery. This is not a great setup because it makes the loads on the various batteries imbalanced. A better way would be to, say, keep the positive one as-is, and then run the negative jumpers the opposite way (so the "feed" comes from the battery at the opposite end).

This would lengthen the overall length of your battery jumper wiring, so may mean #4 is not large enough -- I don't know how close you had it figured.

Here is a bit more:

http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/batt_con.html
Viva is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-18-2015, 04:51 PM   #26
Senior Member
 
86Scotty's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: TN
Posts: 10,222
Re: Name TBD: AWD Express / CCV Poptop

Quote:
Originally Posted by rockbender
We had a small sink in the last van ...............As you've proven before, we can always reconfigure.
Well, you've probably seen some threads on this, but when you do go for a tankless, which I highly recommend for the price, get this one:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001J4AU2E/ref ... IDI5&psc=1

And not this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Eccotemp-L5-Porta ... ecotemp+l5

86Scotty is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-18-2015, 10:39 PM   #27
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 230
Garage
Re: Name TBD: AWD Express / CCV Poptop

I haven't followed any threads on the tankless heaters... Can you give me a quick rundown as to why the triton is better than the eccotemp?
ert01 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-18-2015, 11:20 PM   #28
Senior Member
 
rockbender's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Bend, OR
Posts: 800
Re: Name TBD: AWD Express / CCV Poptop

Quote:
Originally Posted by pjmjunior
You need to update your signature
Good call, Peter!

Eric - I totally went with the smaller Triton based mostly on reviews from the folks here.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ert01
I haven't followed any threads on the tankless heaters... Can you give me a quick rundown as to why the triton is better than the eccotemp?
Brent has the next size bigger, but here is his input:
viewtopic.php?f=40&t=14773&hilit=triton
I can't find any other posts at the moment, but I think he sums up his experience with both quite well.

Quote:
Originally Posted by viva
...it looks like you may have the positive jumper and negative jumper pulling from the same battery.
Good eye, and thank you! I had no idea the impact was that profound. Since my loads are typically very small (ie, if I had all the lights on, fridge going, and furnace running I MIGHT be pulling 10A) I don't know that it would have that profound of an effect, but for the price of a 2' piece of cable I think it would be totally worth it to at least make the switch to have the negative pull off the other end of the array. I could easily just replace those jumpers with #2 up to the shunt too. I don't know if they are the right application, but I am temporarily pleased with the lug connectors I am using on the negative side and they will make short work of a wiring reroute. I just need to remember that I may need to retorque them occasionally.
__________________
Josh
2009 Express AWD, CCV Top & 50-ish home build. Daily driver/camper/kid hauler
rockbender is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-20-2015, 06:10 AM   #29
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Griffin GA
Posts: 163
Re: Name TBD: AWD Express / CCV Poptop

I'm I Ford guy but your setup would really make me consider a Chevy. Outstanding interior work!
jydog is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-20-2015, 07:13 AM   #30
Senior Member
 
86Scotty's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: TN
Posts: 10,222
Re: Name TBD: AWD Express / CCV Poptop

Quote:
Originally Posted by ert01
I haven't followed any threads on the tankless heaters... Can you give me a quick rundown as to why the triton is better than the eccotemp?
I bought the Eccotemp (L5) cheap on Amazon because it had great reviews. Generally speaking I think it does a good job. Brent (Haywoodphotomaccom) bought one and tried it but he's out west and quickly learned it doesn't do well at high altitude, as is the case for many propane appliances. He replaced it with a Triton and has been really pleased. I got frustrated with my Eccotemp after I winterized my van and it still burst because water was caught in it somewhere. I have since patched the burst pipe and am hoping for the best, but overall I just haven't been too impressed with the finicky nature of the Eccotemp. I'm hoping the Triton is a little more stable, but I have not replaced mine just yet. If you are at low altitude you might be just fine with an Eccotemp. Keep in mind these things need to be vented well. They put out a LOT of fumes and heat from the top. I would never use one in a closed van.

For only $10 more I would recommend the Triton based on Brent's research.

86Scotty is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off

» Sportsmobile Registry

(No name yet)

Orv

Ford

fabtechmfg
Add your Sportsmobile
» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sportsmobile SIP or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:12 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.