aVANger Build

[Staryder61]

that's when ya say "oh hey there, could ya pass the charmin"?

[bdosborn]

Time to build the queen size bed 40" above the floor to make room for the bikes. We are using the east/west bed configuration which means we'll sleep with our heads next to the wall of the van. Tall guys needn't bother, you wouldn't fit. Luckily, Ford had a row of holes already punched that were at the right height. Here's a test fit of the bed height, the rails are Skorva from Ikea. They are surprisingly strong and they telescope to whatever length you want. Oh, and I picked up some wheel house covers to make it look more finished (and found out they are called wheel house covers).



Then I had to weld the steel for the support frames. I won't show any closeups of my welds, the tubing is thin walled and I really struggled making these. I think it took me a month to make the frames. But they are surprisingly light compared to other van bed frames I've seen online:





The slats are Luroy from Ikea as well. I couldn't have made these cheaper than what they cost and they are already finished:



I used velcro to fasten the slats, I can take the bed apart in a few minutes if I need to use the van to carry larger stuff. Leaving the bed out for now will really make it easier to install utilities and insulation.



I threw the trailer cushions up to see what the finished bed will look like. I still haven't decided on what kind of mattress I will use:



I found a rattle can color that matches the van interior accents, it's amazing what you can cover up with paint:



Next it's more metal work for the battery and water stands.
Bruce

[Tom&Shelly]

Looking great Bruce!

Tom

[bdosborn]

Thanks Tom.

[Staryder61]

Outstanding Bruce
What's the weight rating for those rails and slats? On the east/west bed configuration, what is the width measurements available?
Inquiring minds need to know these things.
If your welds hold and you're satisfied, close ups not needed.
Sure like the way this is coming together. The more I watch, the more I look at our mini and think bigger might be better.
I could do away with the bike rack, and do duel pullouts. And lower the bed frame some.
Keeping a close watch on this one..

[bdosborn]

I don't know what the weight rating is, it's not listed at the Ikea site. My wife and I both climbed up on it and it seemed fine. There's about 6' of width on the bed, depending on how thick the insulation is you use. Another reason we are using Thinsulate as it's about 1-1/2" thick.
Bruce

[bdosborn]

More metal working, on to the battery and water tank stands. I'm mounting these over the wheel houses in order to try and use a space that isn't real useful otherwise. Here the LiFePo4 battery rack:


Nothing quite like admiring your welds and realizing you welded the bracket on upside-down. Doh! I had to cut it off and do it over.


Painting the rack; Rust-Oleum 365143 Driftwood is a pretty good match for the Transit interior grey trim.


The water tank stand is the same kind of construction, except I added some hold down loops in order to strap the tank into the rack.


I remembered to take a picture of a trial fit, (unlike the batteries):


More Driftwood paint:


Both of these racks use the factory tie down points over the wheel. I figured it would be a good stout point to tie the racks into the van body. I do not want big heavy batteries or a water tank coming loose if I rear end someone.

Bruce

[JasenC]

Coming along nicely Bruce.

And thanks for posting up the bed slats. I'm thinking of going this route but hadn't been able to find the parts or good info to build them correctly.
Shoulda known, Ikea.

[bdosborn]

I had my bed parts delivered to the house and the shipping charge was crazy. I'd pick them up at a store if you can.

Bruce

[JasenC]

Theres a blue box about 30 miles from me, but its still a margin call, stupid store lay out and the wondering herd or stupid high shipping cost
I really dislike that place.
Last time I was there I was buying a clients closet systems, had my P/U loaded nearly to the roof.

[bdosborn]

We insulated the van, we are using two different kinds - Havelock wool and thinsulate. They share two things in common, they work well in a moist environment and they are way more expensive than I would like. The wool comes in batts and is a dream to work with, just tear it into the shape you need and stuff it loosely into the body pockets. It's not itchy either.




Thinsulate sheets comes in a 60" wide roll and we laid that over the wool. There are a lot of heat bridges in a van where the sheet metal on the inside is connected directly to the exterior skin. There are a ton of debates about how effective it is to stuff insulation in all the various little channels like the roof beams. I decided to just cover the interior walls with thinsulate, reasoning that insulation inside of the beams wont break the heat bridge but covering it might:




I used snaps to hang them up as I couldn't bring myself to spray the walls of a brand new van with messy glue. I also didn't want to permanently block off access for repairs or service. I'm glad I did as it has been convenient to take the thinsulate down as I fit the utilities backboards. The cabinets an interior skins will hold it up too. I took the interior door skins off and stuffed insulation in there too:

Back door:



Slider:



I've got the roof insulation cut to fit and I'll glue it to the roof skins to put it up.
Bruce

[bdosborn]

Time to build the electrical system, my favorite part. First, here's my one-line diagram of the system:



I started with plywood backboards on the side of the van that I previously mocked up with cardboard:


Then I built most of the electrical on a table in the garage. What a luxury to be able to build this way!


I did several trial installs to make sure everything would fit. I packed everything in there to save space but I tried very hard to keep everything serviceable. I'm too old to be crawling around trying to fix things.


I added 12W beehive heaters below the batteries that are controlled by the Victron Cerbo. The Cerbo has thermostats and relays that make it super easy to build a heater, as long as the heater load is below the relay rating of 6A.


I ran some wires across to the other side of the van for future electrical loads. This will be covered with a scuff plate.


And then BOOM! It's magically finished! I'll just ignore the weeks of tweaking I had to do to get all the controller settings dialed in.


Everything that is on the power wall:

Victron 2000W Multiplus Compact inverter/charger
120V 30A input AC breaker, surge suppressor, AC meter
120V AC GFCI main output, three 20A AC load breakers
Victron Cerbo GX with three temperature sensors
Surecall Cell Booster
CALB SE 200A-hr LiFePo4 cells in a 2P4S configuration for 400 a-hr at 12V
Electrodacus SBMS0 BMS
Victron 65A Battery Protect for load disconnecting
Victron 100A Battery Protect for charging disconnecting (that I'm not using because of reverse current flow issues)
Victron 30A DC/DC Smart charger for alternator charging
Victron 100/50A PV Smart Controller
Victron BMV-712 Battery Monitor
Electrodacus 20A PV Charge Controller
Assorted switches, shunts, fuses and breakers
Strip light

Here's a full load test, note the battery load is 2500W or about 208A at 12V. Yeah, I overloaded the 2,000W inverter. It was cool outside so it carried it but I got an email that it was overloaded:


What was I doing that needed so much power? Why, making a cup of tea!


It took about 4 minutes to boil a cup of water, and used 8% of my 400A-hr battery capacity.

Next it's on to mounting the 620W of solar panels...


Bruce

[Staryder61]

Totally amazing Bruce, (scratches my head) in aweeeee.
I wouldn't know the first part of starting that, but sure glad that there are people that do..
I knew this would be a build to keep watch on..

[Philip]

Nice work on that electric panel.

[bdosborn]

Thanks guys!
Bruce