Anybody know anything about converting a van to a camper?

Im not sure if your refering to your 15 amp you mentioned. If it is it probably dont have even tempered glass.

What I did on my westy was mount the panal in the luggage place in the front and topped it with a peice of lexan plexiglass to stop glass breakers.

I put a picof my old westy in my gallery for ya flying as well as some new ones of my current vans workings.


I hear folks talk about batts and panals.....after many rides with such hears what ive came up with.

Pick good quality deep cycle batts, if you getting more than one for either in series or para. depending on 6 or 12 volt do this.

Look at the date of manufacture and get the most recent ones made.....

Take a volt meter and check the idle voltage...I got 4 that when new all read in the 12.5_ range and some varied as much as .4 volts so its worth checking.

Use the common less exspensive lead plate/acid deep cycles batts.....people brag on the gel filled sealed batts......But you can NEVER add water to them so if you have sealed batts and have one bad overcharge your done.

Ive a 85 watt 19 volt panal with a morning star controler at idle it keep all 4 batts equal at 12.7 volts and at charge its set to 13.7 at 6 amps and still charges in cloudy weather.

You cannot overdue the panal if you have a good controler.

Flying mentioned a 15 watt panal but didnt mention the amps which I figure is probably like 2.5 amps or so which is equal to a trickle chager in full sunlight. Thats good if your gonna use only 12 volt items and not an inverter also that one panal will struggle if you have one large or two batts.

Ive never had to but if I get in a pinch ive rigged a switch from my alt to my house batts for a recharge while on the go but also have a regulator in this circuit as well as not to shock my batts with a fast high amp charge.

Ive never ran my current set up down and have tried.

 

Thanks for all the info! Saved it in my folder of notes.

The panel's a "solar flat", 15 watts maximum (15 volts at 1000 mAh) with a charge controller, and I'm curious to see how much it'll stretch my 2nd battery. I mostly just want lights and some radio in the evening, but if I like how it works I'll probably invest in a more extensive solar array.

Man I can't wait for the warm weather...

 

15 volts at 1000 mAh.......... thats 15 volts at one amp.....is the control unit built in?

Where did you find this unit?

 

Got a Brunton solar flat, $109 here. Came by UPS today well packed and in good shape.

Ordered a separate control unit for like $30.

I don't know much about solar, just sort of dipping my toe in. Getting the capacity to really run a techie's camper looks like it would take a pretty big initial investment.

 

As I thought, the panal your are getting has a built in controler and unless you run a bunch of the ones your ordered in series you wont need the controler you also ordered.

This is my third solar set up and I will tell you where I gathered most my info that I didnt already know.

Some good high class friends who drive a 40 ft rv gave me about 7 years worth of two diff. camping and rv mags and from about 4 articles over the 7 year time span plus all the reader input and feedback ive done what ive got now.

 

Did you get your setup?

 

Yeah, I've got a mountain of stuff in my apt. to be installed when we get some warm days...the waiting is killing me

When're you gonna post some more pix of your conversion?

 

I got alot more pics of new work but I just dont want to bore folks with my rants.....yes I loves my van, ive alot of time and cash in it but dont want to run the subject in the ground.

Ive said this is my third campervan set up ive done and I do know many different ways of doing things if folks are on a strick budget I can go that way.

Im just in a spot right now to put some good cash in this one.

 

Hey, if someone doesn't wanna see it, they shouldn't click on the thread about converting vans to campers, they can choose from a 1001 forums about weed, permits, yoga, and other stuff.

I'd be very interested to see more in-progress pix, and I'm sure someone else will too. Easy to find photos of completed campers, but documenting the process gives the world access to all your good ideas, painful lessons, etc.

 

So now I have a practical question for someone - I want to put in a second battery, but I'm a little overwhelmed by the profusion of kits and devices meant for this purpose.

I have a stock alternator, and a solar panel for trickle charging. I need the device to manage the current from all of these automatically (ie, charge both batteries from both power sources, automatically switching as necessary, not over- or discharging). Can anyone recommend something?

I'm also finding mixed opinions of Optima batteries. A big plus is that they can be turned on their side, allowing me to wedge one into the storage space under the driver's seat (1985 Volks vanagon), but I've heard a few people complain that it's easy to kill 'em.

Ideally, I could run the second battery down, go off hiking for a couple of days, and come back to a charged battery, without having to manually switch or monitor.

It would of course also be good if the second battery could be used for starting/driving in the event the main battery fails.

 

First, why limit yourself on batt size buy restricting yourself to putting it under the drivers seat?

On my westy I had one under the counter right behind the seat and one under the rear seat near pass rear wheel well to equal the weight out a bit.

They make a kit that allows you to hook up your house batts to your alt. which will charge them when needed but does not allow a backfead in current.

Like I wrote before ive a manual toggle swich from my alt. to my house bayys if I ever need to charge on the go but have never had to.

This switch could also be used to equalize your starter batt if your starter batt went dead and you needed to draw from the house batts.

But remember you cant really crank you motor right away if your starter batt is dead off your house batts as the wire capacity wont handle that much current.

Without a gen set and alot of pricey relays and such your gonna have a hard time getting all this automated, ive a nice lil switch panal and it works great.

Alot of my switch panal is due to alot of the things I run want to draw power even when idle.

One more thing, I myself need to do also is run a fuse block as well as a master switch as well as a inline fuseable link to prevent a total meltdown if somthing should ever go to ground in a big way.

If you start this from day one you can use your body and frame as your ground and then you only need to run one hot lead all over.

 

hey nigga joe,, how much is the sattalite internet gonna cost to set up,an how much for say 6 months subscription?

Some folks in a thread in communal livin seem interested...

 

My whole unit was $2600 cause its use on the fly and no matter where ya park, turn...ect.

One could take the home sat. net setup and use it while stationary on a tripod which brings the cost down to under 400 for the gear.

Usually they want about 70 a month for the service but if you do a three year deal you can get it way cheaper.

If I wasnt as hard core about my van id just do a cell phone with a laptop but here again your at the mercy of a cell tower and if your phone dont work neither does the puter...

But with the sat. net you could park in the middle of utah away from the world and still be on the net.

 

thanks ill do the leg work an post it over yonder..

luv n lite