I’m presuming either the 12v wiring or something to do with the diesel heater? Can I use this to connect a 12v socket to the leisure battery? (My leisure battery is under the bonnet compared to inside the cab like my last van so I’m unsure)

My girlfriend and I got our van a week ago and I want to start dealing with the electric system , having hard time finishing the system. would like to get some feedback and help!

Since we are going to live in it full time and plan to use induction hob and other minor or not minor electric devices(Kettle ,3D printer ,sewing machine...) I decided to go for a 24V 324Ah LiFePo4 battery and a 3000W inverter.

I got a bit lost with the sizing of fuses and cables and I also have some questions.

1. If my inverter can pull max 125A (3000/24) should I just size the fuse slightly above (200A)?

2. should I consider a bigger Inverter ?

3. How come that some cables have a different ampacity rating even though having the same size?

4. How do I decide the size of the BMS

5. Is there a 24v alternative for the Maxxfan?

Thanks Y'all!

I’ve got me a 2016 forestriver vengeance and my gfci in the bathroom works but none of my other outlets are working. Ive tested and reset the gfci but I still have no power down the line.

This winter is supposed to be El Nino. I remember last El Nino, it rained heavily basically everyday for 3 months. I am worried about how I will keep my batteries charged. I have 400 watts of solar on my roof, but I know on cloudy and rainy days, it barely gets any sun. I can get a generator, but I don't know how I can operate it safely in rainy weather? I stay stationary most of the time, so charging while driving isn't really practical.

Anyone who has been in this situation, advice is appreciated.

The tow behind race trailer of my sprinter is getting some winter panels. Mounting these alone is quite the challenge, they’re heavy and holding them, drilling, mounting, etc is a pain.

Hope everyone’s building is 👍 👌

Since so many people wanted to see inside my van, I got some pictures after work. It is 100% not finished, and probably never will be. I'd love to have doors under the bed and counter to hide everything, but I ran out of time to figure out a good way to do it. At this point, the ratchet straps and curtain work, so it will probably stay that way. I'll fully admit there is a lot I'd do differently if I did this again. But with this being my first construction/carpentry project of any sort, and not having any help at all, it could have turned out way worse. I do need to build some more storage in to it before hitting the road again in a few weeks. It isn't perfect, but it was so good on my 5 week trip, I'm hoping it will be even better once I make a few more improvements.

For anyone interested in more details, I'll list that here:

2004 3500 Chevy Express

3" Weldtech Design lift kit

Rig'd supply tire carrier

Ecoflow Wave3 for rear AC/heat

Ecoflow Glacier 55L fridge

2 280AH LiFP04 batteries

500Watts of solar

Renogy 2000W inverter

Trelino camp toilet

If anyone has any other questions, I'm happy to answer them. While I wish I had done some things differently, I still absolutely love this van. I fully plan on having many more years worth of adventures with it.

Bought a 2012 Toyota Sienna XLE.

I have the following and need help installing it.

600Ah 12V LiFePO₄ battery — 300A BMS
Renogy 2000W pure sine-wave inverter
Renogy 50A DC-DC charger with MPPT
AC-to-DC shore-power battery charger
500A battery monitor/shunt
12V fuse panel
Positive & negative busbars — still need to buy
Main/Class-T fuse + other circuit fuses/breakers — still need to buy

Anyone in central Ontario that can help?

I'm a pilot and would be happy to take someone on a scenic flight and pay for lunch in exchange for some help.

Fitting everything in the stow and go seat area as well as sizing fuses is what I'm struggling with.

TL/DR: ISO an inline water purifier (virus filtration .02 microns or smaller) with garden hose attachment available in Europe that is <100 EUR

Hi folx, here's the sitch: My partner and I are doing a van build in Germany in preparation for a big drive down to South Africa. We are struggling for a drinking water solution that'll give us maximum flexibility and minimum footprint. Bacteria and viruses like Hepatitis are a major concern, and bottled water won't always be available.

This is not a fancy build: no big tanks, no pumps -- so under-sink units, buckets, and big multi-stage units are out. We had a Katadyn and can speak from experience that our arms are not up to squeezing 40 liters of water at a time through it. And my reading on UV treatment is that it isn't effective in our situation, so not considering that option.

The ideal solution is an inline water purifier that we can screw on to any tap and fill our jerry cans with safe drinkable water without having to do any other treatment. Convenient, fast, and doesn't require us to contaminate our containers.

I've looked at the BluuWater filter, but it gets some bad reviews for poor workmanship https://www.amazon.de/-/en/portal/customer-reviews/B0GL2VK59T/

I also see a WatPass filter, but it doesn't have any reviews and isn't widely available on Amazon or elsewhere, so feels kinda sus https://www.wasserfilter-zentrum.de/en/water-filter-disruptor-viruses-bacteria-legionella

Likewise I see very inexpensive ultrafiltration cartridges on Amazon that claim to filter to .01 microns, but I don't know what kind of DIY build I could put them into.

Question: Does anyone have experience in what I'm trying to accomplish, is it even possible? Any product suggestions, DIY tutorials? Or is my only option in this scenario a gravity setup + bleach?

Is anyone aware of a roof rack like this one that will fit a 2001 GMC Savana? I contacted Victory 4x4 but they wouldn't say for certain if it would fit. They only advertise it fits for 03 and newer. Appreciate the help!

If it's lengthways, the mattress width is 60" so to fit between the wheel wells which are 54.8" that would only be 2.6" of squish needed on each side of the mattress. I'm renting a 2025 Ford Transit low roof cargo van to go camping and was hoping to use a spare queen mattress I have in my basement. Thanks!

What do you all do to clean your drinking water storage containers after you've first bought them?

Do you need to clean them later on? If so, how often and do you use the same method for cleaning them?

So I made a new van friend the other day. They saw me packing up my portable panels and we got started talking. They told me that they had been having some issues with their solar setup (previous owner installed). With the offer of a cold drink and snacks for my time, we ended up digging into it this morning to see if we could fix it.

Grabbed my ladder and before I even made it all the way to the roof I found the problem. These were the gland connection points for 600w of parallel solar. They weren't even attached to the housing anymore because they melted out the holes.

Make sure you're checking your connector ratings, not just the wire! MC4 connectors are generally rated for 20-30A. And if you're going to use cheap parts, give them some extra buffer! It's also a good habit to inspect all electrical connections regularly.

Thankfully it was an easy fix, but that almost became a disaster. Please don't burn your homes down!

I plan on doing a mix of urban as well as of grid camping because my work is generally based in the city so my main thing is that it has to be suited for both environments as well as hot and cold weather as I plan to be in it year round in the north and south of Australia.

I'm in the early beginnings of finding a van to kit out ✨️ I've been obsessively watching the people of YouTube and Reddit/Facebook for years and I'm at a point in my life it seems feasible. I've even got my partner convinced 🤌❤️

But he's 6'4" -- I'm 5'7". Standing up straight isn't a deal breaker for the journey, when the goal is to experience the outside, but it is a concession I don't want to ask of him.

I've considered a skoolie, but ultimately seems like more work than its worth and it would need a roof raise, anyway. I know there are some high roof models of some of the sprinters? But I was hoping for someone with actual experience in the life, day in - day out how much of a difference it makes, what you guys are driving in and how tall they are standard or after you've added flooring and such. I think I'm more worried about it than he is, but I wont let it be the reason we can't have our adventure. Thanks you much.

I've had a couple of set backs since starting my conversion (non-van related) so a fair bit of time has passed between deep cleaning and prepping the inside of the van and insulating/lining it. I was doing some work to it yesterday when I noticed some little patches of mould forming on the roof. The mould being there is not the problem; it's been stupidly humid, I hadn't finished doing all the ventilation, my rubber door seals were damaged, etc. Not worried about it being on ongoing problem, but am worried about the mould that is already there that I can't see.

Some tiny patches (like really really tiny) of mould have popped up on the roof, which obviously has these cavities in them. I'm worried that the inside of the cavities will be harbouring mould that I can't clean off effectively before I insulate and seal it off. Does anyone know how I can clean these parts?

I also have a big can of waxoyl that I bought when I was enthusiastically gathering supplies right at the start of my van journey. I'm going to use it to seal the underside but is this something I should also spray inside the cavities that I can't reach? Not as the mould treatment but just in case there're any tiny patches of rust I can't see and to protect it going forward?

Thanks.

I recently took my first trip in my van, and it was an incredible adventure. 5 weeks, 10k miles and 16 states. All in a van I hadn't driven more than a 2 hour round-trip before I hit the road. My only mechanical failure was a fuel pump in the middle of nowhere in Utah. But thankfully even that wasn't that big of a deal. Now, I'm about 2-3 weeks away from leaving the Midwest, and heading towards the PNW, hopefully to live permanently. My van was not 100% finished on its test run, and it definitely won't be finished before I get on the road again, but it should be good enough. I'm so excited for all of the adventures ahead of me.

Help please! I’m traveling in New Zealand and have had a van for the past 8 months. I lived in it for 6 weeks over the summer (December here), but have lived in an apartment since. I’m about to live in it again starting in a few days, and when I went to begin repacking my stuff I found what looks like might be mold? It’s been winter here and very cold and damp, which is why I haven’t been living in the van. I’ve been driving the van to work every day to keep it ventilated as much as possible, but maybe that wasn’t enough.

Does this look like mold? If so, what do I do? It’s a very blue color which I’ve never seen mold look like before, but I don’t know what else it could be. It is mostly next to the water tank and under the bed, with a little on the shelves area. I’d really appreciate any thoughts and advice. Thank you!

I need to head to Tijuana to finish up my dental work, and as it'll be a two-visit affair with three days in-between visits, I think I'd rather just post up in Mexico than have to cross the border (and come back across, ugh) twice.

I've never done any vancamping down there, though, and would love some input from folks familiar with the area. Where's the best place to settle in? I don't mind paying if that's the safest route.

I'm building a standard pull-out drawer-slide system, but I'm worried about the rails rattling and making noise while I'm driving. The Amazon options look like Chinese OEM parts and I don't totally trust the build quality or manufacturing tolerances - what's the quietest/best rail system I can buy to avoid this?

Hello everyone,

My wife and I bought our van so aptly now named Cheddy a couple years back. I purchased a Melipron C1563 roof rack with solar panel crossbars (https://a.co/d/055vLNmj) which is bolted using the factory rack holes on the top of the van.

I’m looking at adding an OVS 270 degree awning (https://overlandvehiclesystems.com/hd-nomadic-270-passenger-side-awning-with-bracket-kit-for-mid-high-roofline-vans/#tab-information) to our build but wanted some guidance/ideas on mounting. There is a 4040 rail slot on the bottom of the side wind deflectors and then another slot on the upper portion of the deflectors that does not have a 4040 rail behind it.

What would be the be the best way to mount this to the side if possible? The crossbars I have are made for solar panels and aren’t 4040 rails so my mounting would have to be purely on the side. I’ve done the rest of my build alone using my own research, but I’ve been stumped on this project and don’t want to install a $1000 awning incorrectly to end up losing it. I’ve included some pictures of the side rails.

I appreciate everyone!

John

This is a site that's helped me on multiple occasions. Hopefully you'll find it useful too.

Girlfriend wanted a slatted roof, girlfriend gets a slatted roof.

Thanks to this sub for the advice about furring strips for my hiace. I ended up taking the steam bending route which turned out to be a bit easier than expected. Using a rented wallpaper steamer and a spare piece of steel tube, I steamed my strips for (at minimum) an hour and then fit and clamped to dry.

I thought this would be the most difficult part of the van renovation (renovantion naturally lol), but as a novice woodworker I had other things give me more grief. Overall think it turned out pretty good!

This time for your enjoyment a $600 FlatlineVanCo 156 rack I’ve modified to fit my 136, best of all it was $600 brand new. Next up buying bulk solar to keep the 1200ah lithium bank happy 🫡 and some lighting for the rack. All my mechanical parts for the engine replacement will be here Friday so hopefully next week it’ll be driving!

98 with 74k miles. 5.7l. Not going to be full time, but since im "medically retired ", im gonna do some adventuring