aVANger Build

[featherliteCT1]

Those curtains sure look good. Hope they make a difference for you when you cold weather camp.

PS: They look better than my harbor freight moving blankets I hung in my trailer to partition the garage space from the sleeping space.

[bdosborn]

Thanks! Its pretty nice having a wife who can sew so well.
Bruce

[S. Heisley]

Awesome job!

[bdosborn]

Thanks Sharon!

[bdosborn]

The raised bed in the van means the rear view mirror is useless so I installed a Wolfbox G840S rear and front traffic camera. I never would have guessed that not being able to use the rear-view mirror would be an issue but here we are....



I stuck the rear camera on the IKEA bed rail using a magnet and pointed it out the back window.



The rear defroster lines are visible but other than that it works well enough for me (that glare isn't there typically). I'll try this approach for awhile and see if it bugs me enough to move the rear camera to the outside of the van.
Bruce

[Staryder61]

Hey there, been awhile..
I like the camera Now for the other part inside or mount outside?
Let' see, from what I remember this is Bruce we're talking about.. you'll put it on the outside..
Might as well do it.. IMHO

I want to see how yours works.. bought one back when we had the mini van. Never made it on it.
So thinking I would put it on the back of the Cargo Camper..
So I'm watching to learn..

[bdosborn]

Hey there, been awhile..
I like the camera Now for the other part inside or mount outside?
Let' see, from what I remember this is Bruce we're talking about.. you'll put it on the outside..
Might as well do it.. IMHO

I hate drilling holes in the van, sawing the hole for the roof fan about killed me! I predict the camera will be just fine where it is.
Bruce

[bdosborn]

The Transit van has a smart alternator that makes using a battery to battery (B-B) charger problematic. The alternator voltage will go down as low as 11V while driving, which causes the B-B charger to disconnect. Then the voltage bounces back to 13V and the B-B charger connects again. This cycle repeats every 10 seconds or so and results in no practical charging to the house battery. My fix has been to turn the headlights on, which stabilizes the voltage at 12.8v or so. The van has an electrical feature that turns on a high power mode, where the alternator behaves like a traditional charger, i.e. the voltage goes to around 15V and stays there. There's a socket under the drivers seat where grounding a pin toggles the mode. I added a switch today to control the feature, luckily there was already a hole in the seat base for the switch (since I hate drilling holes)

We'll see if it works on the next road trip.
Bruce

[Tom&Shelly]

luckily there was already a hole in the seat base for the switch (since I hate drilling holes)

Bruce

Aeronautical engineers call that "penetrating the airframe" which seems to accurately communicate the seriousness of the process.

Tom

[bdosborn]

Aeronautical engineers call that "penetrating the airframe" which seems to accurately communicate the seriousness of the process.

I'm pretty sure there's a dirty joke in there. But I get what you're saying.

Bruce

[featherliteCT1]

My fix has been to turn the headlights on,

Bruce

Me too. I have a Victron DC to DC charger and I turn my headlights on to obtain optimal charging.

[bdosborn]

Me too. I have a Victron DC to DC charger and I turn my headlights on to obtain optimal charging.

My theory is that the alternator is kept at constant voltage when the headlights are on to keep them from flickering...
Bruce

[bdosborn]

We set our phones, wallet, keys, etc on the kitchen counter at night. I've been looking for a better place to keep stuff and I think I found it. Its a swing down shelf mounted to the bottom of the kitchen overhead cabinet:
Here it is swung up, which is were it will be during the day:


Here it is swung down, which is where it will be during the night:

I mounted a USB charger in there so I think this will clean up a lot of the clutter on the kitchen counter.

Oh and I added L track to the bike slider, it will be nice to be able to lash stuff down there when we don't have the bikes:


Lots of small updates lately, I've got larger projects planned for when it gets warmer out.
Bruce

[featherliteCT1]

Those are two neat modifications you made.

[bdosborn]

I think the phone shelf is the first thing I've posted in this build that is directly compatible with Teardrops!

Bruce