Flow is a Go!

The second-most important system in Ansel after the electrical system is the water supply.  While I could have easily survived on a portable supply of water like I do when I tent camp, I wanted to have a fixed water storage tank.  There were two primary reasons for this: one, to avoid the need to periodically find a source of fresh water, and two, to avoid the hassle of handling a heavy container every time I needed water.

I also wanted an electric water pump versus the other option, a manual foot pump.  The reason for this is obvious, I think, and since I was already planning on a fairly robust electrical system, the cost of adding an electric pump was fairly minimal.

The only remaining decision was whether to have hot water.  The primary reasons for wanting hot water would be for showers and washing dishes.  However, from my experience I knew that I wouldn't need to take many showers (even though I love my showers, there are other options for staying "clean & fresh", including truck stop shower facilities) and that I could easily heat up water on the propane stove for dish-washing (a little less convenient, but it works).  This and the fact that adding a water heater would be expensive and require more power capacity made my decision easy: no hot water!

I calculated that about 8 gallons of water would be more than enough for an extended trip, but I when I visited the RV surplus store at the start of the conversion process, I found a 16-gallon tank at a very good price so bought that.  Next I needed a pump and an "accumulator", both of which I ordered from Amazon.  An accumulator is simply a small pressure vessel to help maintain a constant flow of water and prevent the water pump from frequently cycling on & off, such as when washing dishes.

Once I had the tank, the pump, the accumulator, hoses and associated devices installed, it was time to test the system.  I put some water in the tank and got ready to power up the pump.  I didn't have the pump wired to the on/off switch (which is needed to prevent the pump from inadvertently running when not using), so I simply did the "touch two wires together" thing.  First attempt I heard very faint pop and discovered the fuse had blown.  I put in a bigger fuse, and the same thing happened.  Up-sizing one more time did the trick, and I had water flow!!  (Regarding the fuse issue, I'm guessing that even though the fuse was properly sized for the continuous amp draw of the pump, there is a large power surge when the pump first starts.)

The remaining part of the water system is the sink & faucet and gray-water storage.  These are not installed yet, but I will show these in coming blog posts.

Water fill port on exterior of van (from previous post)

The fill and air vent hoses coming in through wall.

The full set-up, including 16 gallon tank.  The suction hose to pump is located at lower right corner of tank.  (Note 2x6 at front end of tank.  This is to help hold tank in place in case of a sudden stop.  When full, the tank will weigh over 130 lbs!).

The set-up from above.

Close-up of the pump (center) and the accumulator (left).  The small device to the right is a filter.

In-Soo-Lay-Shun (Insulation)

Sounds kinda like some Indian name, right?  (well, maybe not, but regardless, my apologies to our indigenous American friends)

The insulation for Ansel is mostly complete.  Once I have finished running all the wiring (next step) and before I put up the sub-walls, I will finish it off by stuffing insulation into the many nooks and crannies.

In the various van conversion blogs & videos that I consulted, people typically have gone to great lengths to insulate their vans.  While I appreciate the fact that you want to have good insulation if you are living in the van year-round, many times the insulation -- in my opinion -- seemed to be overkill and sometimes even irrelevant.  

My thinking is that if  it's very hot or cold outside while you are away from the van for an extended period, it will be very hot or cold inside the van when you return, no matter how well it's insulated.  And, once it gets hot or cold inside the van, it will not necessarily be easy to get it to a comfortable temperature unless you have independent air conditioning or heating systems...again, regardless of the adequacy of the insulation.  (Note: many van-lifers do have independent heating systems, but rarely independent air conditioning systems.  I'll have neither for cost and power consumption reasons.)

So, how will I manage the temperature in the van?  First, it makes sense to have at least some insulation, so I did put in insulation on all interior surfaces, including the floor.  But, in keeping with my mantra, I tried to keep it simple and cost effective (even then, I probably did more than I needed).  In addition, in warmer weather, I will rely on the ceiling fan and a wall mounted fan to stay cool.  If absolutely necessary, I can start the van and run the AC to help cool things down.  In colder weather, I have purchased a "buddy heater" to warm things up inside the van.  These things work great, and again if absolutely necessary, I can start the van and put the heater on high.  Finally, I have a zero degree sleeping bag to keep me warm while I'm sleeping.  That all said, I can choose when I go on a trip and thus to some extent avoid (or minimize) crazy severe temperatures. 

Overall the insulation process went pretty well, though it was not something I enjoyed a whole lot.  There was a lot of tedious, custom fitting, and I had some issues with getting the ceiling insulation in particular to adhere to the roof (not to mention the situation where I ran out of adhesive while installing the floor insulation). 

For those of you who might be interested (and if you're not interested, what's wrong with you?), I ended up using used five different types of insulation:

1. 3/4" Extruded Polystyrene (XPS) - I selected this for the floor insulation because of its high compression strength and slightly higher R-value.  Since I had some left over, I also used this for the side walls in the garage.
2. 1/2" and 3/4" polyisocyanurate ("polyisio") - I used this for the walls and ceilings.  I used the 1/2" for the cut-outs at the head and foot of the bed that I talked about in the previous post and 3/4' for everything else.  This stuff is extremely easy to work with.
3. Mineral wool ("rock wool") - This is a batt-type insulation similar to fiberglass, and I used it for the rear & sliding doors and also to stuff into gaps.
4. Reflectix - This is a roll type insulation similar to bubble wrap.  The R-value isn't great, and it requires an air gap, but I thought it would work fine for the wheel well covers (plus it looks kinda "spacey").
   
5. Spray Expanding Foam - Some of you might be familiar with Great Stuff (TM).  I used the Loctite brand, which is very similar.  Since mineral wool wouldn't likely stay in place for any gaps in the ceiling (unless I used an adhesive, which I didn't want to do), I used this instead.  It's extremely messy, but effective.

So there you have it!  In coming posts, I talk about the water system and the completion of the electrical system.  After that: cabinetry!  Still on track for my October trip if all goes well.

XPS installed on the wall of the garage.

Polyiso on the walls with mineral wool stuffed in around the edges.

Note the "triangular peak" in the middle of the insulation sections.  This is a result of the shape of the lower van wall sections.  Initially I cut each individual piece and glued in place, but then I discovered that I could score the insulation and simply allow it to "fold" over the peaks.  The center vertical piece of insulation is covering a structural support.

Reflectix insulation on one of the wheel wells.  (The tubing is for the water system which I'll talk about in a future post.)

Gluing up insulation on the ceiling.  Initially I had a problem with the insulation adhering.  While part of this was the long set time for the adhesive I was initially using, I realized the real problem was that the roof is slightly curved such that the insulation does not make good contact.  So, I cut the insulation into three segments and used a pole to hold the segments in place till they were secure.

Close-up of ceiling insulation showing the spray foam in the gaps.  After about an hour, it's easy to trim with a saw or a knife.

Ceiling fully insulated.

The "buddy heater".  Don't need it quite yet, but I got a good deal on it.

Max Headroom

Remember Max Headroom from the 80's?  Bizarre but (sometimes) amusing. 

I'm not talking about that guy.  I'm talking about making some extra head (and foot) room/space for the bed in Ansel.

In Anatomy of a Bed, I referred to "cut outs" at the head and the foot of the mattress.  These are to not only maximize the length of the bed when placed crosswise in the van but to also eliminate the need to trim the full-sized memory foam mattress.  Initially I thought I would have to trim an an inch or two off the mattress, but when I "deployed" the mattress (it comes tightly rolled up in a vacuum sealed bag), it easily fit between the two van walls.  While it might be a little tight making the bed, I figured there was still enough room for about 1/2 inch of insulation and the shiplap wall on each end.

Since I wanted to maximize the length, I avoided use of a sub-wall and simply glued the faux-shiplap to the insulation board.  I then framed everything with wood and stained it black in keeping with the van color scheme.  On our inaugural camping trip, we recognized that it would be nice to have some kind of shelf above our heads to lay our books, phones, etc.  As a result, I also designed in a little cubby.  I added a small drawer for lip balm, keys, etc. in the center.  On either side there will be dimmable LED reading lights with USB ports for charging our phones.

It's starting to materialize!!!

The faux-shiplap being glued up.  I bought a 4x8 decorative panel and then ripped into 5-1/2" wide "planks".  When installing, I used nickles or other spacers to create a gap and the illusion of real shiplap boards.  Much cheaper!

The "foot side" cut out.

The head side cut out.  Note the wires on either side for the reading lamps (I actually want to raise these a few inches).

Close-up of cubby and small drawer

View looking towards rear of van so you can see both cut outs.  You'll also note insulation on walls and ceiling, which I'll talk about in a future post.

Catch-Up

I've been making steady progress on Ansel, and I'm on track to meet my interim goal of having the conversion ~95% complete by the end of September (I'm planning to take the first big trip with Ansel early October).  

In this post I thought I would just catch everyone up on some things that I've done in the van but that haven't fit neatly into any of the previous blog post topics.  

Note: if interested, you can click on any image to see a larger version of that image.

I. Decorative Door Panels

The rear doors and the sliding door have various recessed areas.  These are either to accommodate optional windows (which Ansel didn't have) or to house door operating mechanisms.  In case of the latter, the areas are typically covered by removable black plastic panels.  The previous owner had replaced the plastic panels in the rear doors with diamond plate that had brackets to hold tools or parts.  Initially I thought about keeping these but they were pretty beat up.

My plan was to cover the recessed areas with stained wood panels.  For the areas that originally had black plastic panels, this was relatively easy as they were designed to have flush panels installed.  The other areas were a little more challenging as there was nothing to which to attach the panels.  So I had to build custom supports.  The rear doors are complete, but I have yet to do the sliding door (I'm not looking forward to it). 

There were also some recessed areas in the rear corners of the cargo area, also covered by black plastic panels (these were really ugly too).  I removed these and replaced with stained wood panels in the same manner.

In the end I think the stained wood panels contrasts nicely with the dark gray painted metal.  What do you think?

One of the original rear doors with the diamond plate over the bottom recessed area containing the door operating mechanism.

 

The same rear door with diamond plate removed and primed.  The red areas are body putty...my feeble attempt to smooth out some of the more banged up areas in the doors.  In the end I just said "It's good enough!"

The door in progress with custom supports for the recessed center panel.

The finished product.

Before & after of the rear corners.  The panels were extremely odd shapes -- and not flat at all -- but fortunately I could use the plastic panels as templates, and the thin plywood easily flexed to fit in place.

 

II. The Floor

 

It took me awhile to figure out what I wanted to do with the floor.  There are several options for campervan floors, each with their pros and cons.  In the end I decided to go with luxury vinyl plank flooring in the main living area.  It was a little more expense than sheet vinyl or laminate flooring, but it's very durable and doesn't expand/contract.  Plus, it's easy-peasy to install!

Originally I was going to install some kind of flooring in the garage area too.  But for now I will just leave as plain wood...it's a "garage" after all!  If I want, I can always install flooring later, though in the meantime I will paint or seal it.

Before laying down the floor, I needed to install the sub-base for the galley cabinets.

...and for the refrigerator and toilet.  I wanted the toilet ready to go for our camping trip to Cheboygan State Park (which I did in fact use one night...it worked fine).  I was able to get the refrigerator temporarily wired up as well...which worked amazingly well.  Eventually it will be permanently housed in a cabinet (the cargo strap is temporary).

The flooring installed.

Another view.

I was pretty happy how the custom cuts turned out!

III. Other stuff

While the battery to battery charger is not hooked up yet, I had to run a pair of 4 gauge wires from the starter battery (which is under the driver's side floor) back to the electrical panel in the garage.  To do this, I had to remove 5 plastic panels, drill a hole in the panel shown above (the gray tubing is called wire loom, which is designed to protect wires from abrasion), run/secure the wires through the spaces behind the panels, and then re-install the panels!

The bed all made for the camping trip.  It was VERY comfortable!  (The plywood panel at lower right was temporary.  We took our dog Roxie with us, and I didn't want her sniffing around all the live electrical components!)

They are not nailed in place yet, but I had to lay in place the wood bed slats lest the bed sag too much.

We needed a place to set our things during the camping trip, so we set up this small folding table.  Turns out its almost exactly the same size as the galley cabinets so you can get a vague sense of the galley layout.

The driver's seat especially was pretty worn, so I purchased some neoprene seat covers.  Not a perfect fit, but they do the job and are pretty comfortable.  I also bought a cover for the steering wheel.

The past couple weeks have been miserably hot, so I've had to set up fans to help stay cool.  Even then I've had to take lots of breaks!  This has slowed me down a bit, but fortunately it appears some cooler weather is finally here!

BREAKING NEWS: We Have Ignition!

Ansel now has power!

In preparation for a trial run camping trip -- which I'll talk about in an upcoming post -- I wanted to establish some basic power functionality in Ansel.  Namely, I wanted to get the roof fan operational, which meant as a minimum I had to connect the battery to the system and wire up the converter/charger (for shore power).

A secondary goal, if possible, was to get the solar panels installed and wired to the solar controller so the controller could help "condition" the battery.  Fortunately my brother-in-law was visiting and was able to work with me to mount the panels on the van roof.  This was a huge help as aligning the panels, drilling the bracket holes, and getting the bolts installed was definitely a two-person job.  All I had to do after that was wire them up.

Then the moment of truth came.  After I checked all the wiring one last time, I was ready to turn the main battery disconnect switch to the "on" position.  Would everything work?  Would I hear a "snap, crackle, pop"?  What would I do if things didn't work?  Would I be able to quickly diagnose and fix the problem, whatever it might be?

Somewhat nervously I turn the switch, and all I heard was a very faint hum.  I looked at the LCD panel on the solar controller, and it showed that current was flowing from the panels.  That was a good sign.  Then I plugged an extension cord into the shore power outlet to fire up the converter/charger.  It seemed to be working too.  Finally, I checked the battery monitor (which shows the status of the battery itself).  It indicated that the battery was indeed charging.  Whoohoo!  

But, the real test was to see if the roof fan would work.  I grabbed the remote and hit the power button.  The fan immediately powered up, and the rain cover opened automatically.  No issues!  We were in business!!!  

I still need to connect the inverter and the battery-to-battery (DC to DC) charger, which I will do a little later.  Next, however, I need to focus on framing, insulation, and running the remaining wires for things like lights, outlets, etc.   Bottom line, this was a huge milestone!

The three 100W solar panels.  We staggered them so they could be installed a little closer together and so they were bolted through different parts of the roof, thus increasing structural stability.

Close-up of panels.  Note interconnecting wires.  Because of the rain channels on the roof, I had to get creative with the bolting scheme since the bracket holes were wider than the channels.  Once again luck paid off as I was able to find some hard plastic spacers the exact depth of the channels at the local hardware store!

The back-side of the electrical panel with wires in place.  Note the huge-a** wires from the battery (1/0 gauge for all you geeks).  Once other components are wired up, I will install wire clamps to prevent wires from moving.

The battery monitor.  The monitor will eventually be installed in a finished panel, but temporarily the box the monitor came in worked perfectly.  The image on the front cover was the exact same size as the monitor itself, so all I had to do cut out the image with a utility knife!  The device to the left (BT-1) is a Bluetooth transmitter for the solar controller, which enables me me to see power being generated by solar panels.  Fun technology!

'Cause the Power You're Supplying, It's Electrifying!

The most complex part of Ansel's design has been the electrical system, from the overall design and selection of components, to the size of wires and fuses, to the physical layout of everything.  While the process wasn't overly difficult, there was definitely a big learning curve, and I had to create a spreadsheet just to keep track of the details!

The spreadsheet!

In the process I had to make a number of important decisions, such as:

• How many watts of solar did I want?
• Did I want to have the ability to connect to "shore power"? (Shore power is an external AC power supply such as you'd find in many campgrounds.)
• What size inverter did I need?  (An inverter converts DC power from the battery to AC power, which is used to power AC devices, such as a laptop, which is really the only AC device I plan to run.)
  
• How many lights, 12V outlets, etc. did I need?
• And, most significantly, what type and size battery did I need?

The last question was dependent on a number of variables, but most importantly cost and how long I wanted to be able to run off the battery without any charging.  Originally I was going to go with an AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) battery due to cost, but they are extremely heavy, and I would've had to get at least two to satisfy my desired battery life.  And there were other negatives as well.  So in the end I purchased the crème de la crème of RV batteries, a lithium battery (or more technically, a lithium iron phosphate, or LiFePO4, battery).  Other than the van itself, this was the single-most expensive item I bought.  But, I found a good quality one at a reasonable price, and the size (200ah) will theoretically supply my worst-case power demands for approximately two days without charging, even from solar (which is unlikely to happen)!

The battery fresh out of the box (it weighs about 60 lbs)

The battery in its final home.  The cargo strap and 2x4's are to keep it securely in place.

One of the major challenges was where to locate and orient all the major electrical components.  The goal is not only to have ready access to these components for repairs & future modifications, but also to minimize length and a mish-mash of electrical cables.  During my on-line research, I found one van-life couple who used two sides of a piece of plywood for their electrical panel, thus making use of three dimensions versus just two, which is what many van builders do.  I thought this was a brilliant idea and decided to emulate this concept.  So, I traced out the panel on a piece of cardboard and kept moving the components around until I felt I had the best configuration.  I didn't know exactly what the back side would look like until I actually started running wires, so I needed to use some imagination and rely somewhat on faith.

I decided to mount the panel at a right angle to the van wall and over the wheel well for space and access reasons.  This resulted in an unusually shaped panel, which only added to the layout challenge.  After insulating the van wall and sheathing with plywood, I added an outlet for shore power and mounted the converter/charger on the wall.  I then cut out the electrical panel, mounted it in place and installed the rest of the components.  

Next step: install the solar panels and start running cables.  Then, first power-up.  Keeping my fingers crossed!

The insulated side wall of the garage before plywood sheathing is installed.

 

Side wall with plywood sheathing and with converter/charger mounted (converter/charger is plugged into box which is connected to external shore power connection).  Note also insulation over wheel well.

The electrical panel before installation.  The oval slots and some of the round holes are for cable pass-thrus to the other side.  The remaining round holes are for isolation switches.

The electrical panel in place before mounting components

The panel with components mounted (clockwise from upper left: the solar panel controller, the 1000W inverter, the fuse box, and the DC to DC charger).  The round red & black items are isolation switches, and the small black rectangular items are breakers.

The back-side of the panel with bus bars (top left) and couple in-line fuses.  You can see I've started to run a couple wires already.

Fan-Tastic!

After my buddy Jim helped me install the window, I decide to tackle installation of the roof ventilation fan by myself.  I figured, hey, I can do this!  And, actually, it wasn't too bad, but I did discover (not surprisingly) that my metal-working skills are nowhere as good as Jim's.  Unwittingly, I made one cut with the angle grinder about 1 inch too long.  Fortunately, this would be underneath the mounting flange and easily sealed up with butyl tape & sealant.  Phew, that was close!

The fan was one of the few, if not the only item I purchased that was top-of-the-line.  The Maxxfan is widely regarded as the "Cadillac" of RV roof ventilation fans, and I purchased their deluxe model, which includes 10 speeds both in & out and a remote control.  Originally I wasn't going to get the model with the remote, but where the fan is located (above the bed and near the rear doors), it would be cumbersome to operate the controls manually.  So, I went all out!  

I decided to locate the fan above the bed for a couple reasons: one, it would create some cross-flow ventilation in the van with the window was open, and two, it would enable cooler air to be brought in at night (I'm one of those people who like to have air moving while sleeping).

The Maxxfan Deluxe, fresh out of the box

 

The first step of installation process was to cut a square opening in the metal roof.  Like the window installation, this was a little scary, but I was up for the challenge.  I started with a jigsaw, but towards the end the metal got too wobbly, and I had to switch to the angle grinder.  Using the grinder for the entire cut probably would have been best, but I found that it was difficult to control the grinder since I was kneeling on the roof and working only from one direction.

After cleaning up and priming the edges, the next step was to install the roof flange in place using butyl tape and screws.  I built a wood frame on the ceiling and around the fan opening to provide some extra strength and to have something for the screws to grip into besides just the roof metal (which is pretty darn thin).  Then drop the fan into the roof flange, secure with screws, and seal everything up to prevent water from getting into the van (I used both butyl sealant and a rubberized sealant spray).  Overall, I think it was a success!  (It rained pretty hard the next day, and there was no evidence of water leakage...yay!).

The cutting line

The opening -- notice the "oops" at the upper right-hand corner!

Installed fan -- front view (looking towards rear of van)

Installed fan -- side view

Installed fan -- inside view.  Note the wood frame

 

My biggest challenge during the whole process was getting onto and off the van roof.  Initially I had planned to access the roof via the rear ladder.  But, when I tried to do this, I realized there would be no graceful -- and probably safe -- way of getting off the ladder onto the roof, and vice versa (which begs the question of the utility of this ladder for me going forward...but hey, it's there!).  So, I got an extension ladder and set it up on the side of the van.  Getting on the roof the first time was no issue, but I realized that getting down might be a bit more hazardous.  I wasn't afraid of being on the van roof (slanted roofs are another story) or climbing the ladder itself, but I was a little nervous about the potential for the ladder to shift when stepping onto it to get off.  Fortunately, our neighbors across the street were having a garage sale, so I yelled over to Evan to help hold the ladder for me.  He also helped hand me some things I forgot to take up with me (like my drill when I forgot I needed to pre-drill the holes for the flange or an extra battery when the battery on my jigsaw died).  Thanks Evan!

The only remaining roof project would be installing the solar panels, but hopefully I won't even need to get onto the roof to do this.

Moving forward!!!