[coguzzi]

SO SMART

now im giving away my industry secrets

 

[NW_Freedom]

Maia that is awesome. You are going to love that big electrical setup you have this ski season. No worries at all! While most are trying to conserve you can do as you please.

 

[gregoryx]

@NW_Freedom with leaving the fridge on super cold and the inverter on and the maxxfan on full blast for 18 hours I was able to get the batteries down to 85%. (My lights are out right now due to ceiling work so these were the only ways to try to drain the system.)

At idle right after starting up I was getting between 1950 and 2100 watts from the alternator. I was driving by myself so couldn’t monitor while driving, but I went to the DMV 10 minutes away and when I got there it was up to 96% charge. When I got home it was 100%.

View attachment 162935

Get that VRM login setup and you'll see graphs of the charge rates and all that... 😄

Of course, if you aren't going to connect to /their/ system, then you've got some work to build your own graph engine and all that. My security paranoia is not as high as it used to be.

 

[maia]

Get that VRM login setup and you'll see graphs of the charge rates and all that... 😄

Of course, if you aren't going to connect to /their/ system, then you've got some work to build your own graph engine and all that. My security paranoia is not as high as it used to be.

Oh I've been wanting to connect to VRM but TinyWatts kept me on lockdown about it. They finally gave me access (wtf this is my equipment) with saying "oh it's really just for us to remote support / troubleshoot" which like fine I get it but holy **** maybe you should actually GIVE REMOTE SUPPORT THEN. A little salty about this lol. The other issue is no place I've been has strong enough wifi to reach where my van is parked, so I haven't been able to upload all the data yet to VRM. Probably going to get a hotspot for the van but undecided as of yet. ~~stay tuned for nerdage~~

 

[gregoryx]

...Probably going to get a hotspot for the van but undecided as of yet. ~~stay tuned for nerdage~~

We finally bit the bullet and went full-time-connected on the last rig - and moved it to this one, of course. The GLI MUDI works well enough.

Looking forward to the nerding! 😁

 

[maia]

Got the ceiling upholstered and hung. It's amazing how much having it in makes it feel like major progress is happening. As noted before, I'm using the AVC Rig wall panel kit. It came with three 1/4" baltic birch panels with a total of 16 holes in them: 8 for puck lights (just 1/2" wire pass holes) and 8 for access spots to some plusnut locations in roof ribs.

I used scrap from the shipping box the kit came in (1/2" baltic birch) to make furring strips to the ceiling to give the panels something to press against, and in case I needed to add some extra support somewhere. I used these awesome fasteners to attach the furring strips.

I drilled out the 8 light holes to the proper size for these dimmer-compatible LED puck lights. (This was a few weeks ago so I don't remember the size.. roughly 2 1/4" iirc.)

I test fit the front panel a while back, and this week I fit the middle panel and located the fan cutout in the rear panel. Then I test fit the whole shebang.

The whole thing is held up by 8 1/4-20 bolts into plusnuts in existing holes in the ceiling ribs (I did have to drill them out slightly and paint with rustoleum). In the front driver side, two of the bolts will be where I attach my upper galley cabinets, and in the rear on the passenger same story for uppers there for clothes.

I glued an 1/8" closed cell foam to the panels using 3M 90. Then I laid the panel foam side up on the ground and laid out my fabric on top, right side up, and cut to size. I used this perforated marine vinyl. Once the fabric was aligned, I folded back 1/3 of it and applied 3M 90. Then I slid my track saw track under the fabric flap and pushed towards the edge to evenly and gently lay the fabric down. Next I folded back the other unglued 2/3 and applied the glue and used the track saw track the same way. It came out pretty great without any bubbles or lumps. I did some trimming and gluing and folding to finish up the edges and then I tacked some Low-E insulation to the back side.

After that my dad helped me hold the panels in place while I bolted them on. This was hard! The panels need to flex and it's hard to locate the plusnuts blind this way. It was a lot easier when I had the bigger unupholstered holes to poke through because I could see where to alightn the bolt. Anyway, we got it done with only one fight, which was about my dad pressing too hard with his fist rather than his palm which resulted in fist indents in my ever so carefully upholstered panels 😭😭😭 I rubbed them out as much as I could and I'm hoping with time the foam will expand to make them invisible. As of now you probably wouldn't notice them unless I pointed it out.

After everything was up I put in the lights. I love the look of the vinyl and I think having a white ceiling is going to make the van feel nice and open. In the end, there will only be 4 bolts visible since 4 of them will go to support 8020 uppers. I might add some structure at the seams between the panels but I"m going to wait until my upper cabinets are in to see if it seems necessary.

 

[MsNomer]

Beautiful fit!

Don't be too hard on your dad. I suspect you won’t be able to find those dents in a few days.

 

[Canuck77]

It looks great! How did you find bending the 1/4 birch to the ceiling? The Transit has that intimidating heavy slant, at least in our high roof, I'm always amazed when I see folks bend their ceiling slats or ply to it.

 

[maia]

It looks great! How did you find bending the 1/4 birch to the ceiling? The Transit has that intimidating heavy slant, at least in our high roof, I'm always amazed when I see folks bend their ceiling slats or ply to it.

it’s plenty flexible. Did have to press into it to get bolts started but then once the bolts are in, it bends beautifully. It’s the right amount of flex to be rigid and hold its shape while also contouring to the van.Having furring strips for the edges to press against is key for a nice fit.

 

[takedown]

Oh I've been wanting to connect to VRM but TinyWatts kept me on lockdown about it. They finally gave me access (wtf this is my equipment) with saying "oh it's really just for us to remote support / troubleshoot" which like fine I get it but holy **** maybe you should actually GIVE REMOTE SUPPORT THEN. A little salty about this lol. The other issue is no place I've been has strong enough wifi to reach where my van is parked, so I haven't been able to upload all the data yet to VRM. Probably going to get a hotspot for the van but undecided as of yet. ~~stay tuned for nerdage~~

That's really strange. In fact when I connected to VRM I had to approve access for the victron distributor. I'd be salty too, that's part of the victron package, not some extra thing that they subscribe to.

 

[gregoryx]

That's really strange. In fact when I connected to VRM I had to approve access for the victron distributor. I'd be salty too, that's part of the victron package, not some extra thing that they subscribe to.

Interesting. That seems odd... didn't see that myself. 🤔

 

[coguzzi]

we got it done with only one fight, which was about my dad pressing too hard with his fist rather than his palm which resulted in fist indents in my ever so carefully upholstered panels 😭😭😭 I rubbed them out as much as I could and I'm hoping with time the foam will expand to make them invisible

if you have a steamer, steam will remove the indents. steam is an upholster's best friend, should have seen me doing a VW Karmann Ghia headliner on the hottest day of the year once. just a guy and his steamer hanging out together in the smallest space he could find. in a past life i worked in sports apparel industry, ive always had a steamer--most people do not

 

[maia]

I’ve been taking advantage of every moment of unseasonably snow-free weather here in Tahoe so I’ve neglected this post a bit. Here’s what I’ve been up to:

• Installed the shroud for the fan
• Installed the shade for the Arctic Tern window. It does just barely graze my flare when the door is fully open so some sort of bracket stop will be made, similar to @VanMode in this post
• Built a countertop and then ruined it, only to decide that I need a different shape anyway
• Installed slides for the Airhead toilet only to realize that the orientation I have them gives a 150lb rather than 500lb pound rating, which is fine for me but not for long term or for everyone who will be in my van. I have a plan to fix it
• Installed my backsplash
• Started working on bed slats
• Upholstered and installed panels in the bed area
• Upholstered more of the van metal
• Started working on upper cabinets
• Installed bed reading lights
• Test fit my faucet

 

[maia]

More photos:

 

[Rolf]

Nice progress looking really goodsI like those bed lights what brand
are those and where you get em ?

 

[maia]

I like those bed lights what brand
are those and where you get em ?

So far I like them, but I think these are maybe the same one that @Bazz99 just took out of his van? I think whether they make sense for your build or not depends on your layout. These are up above the bed out of the way. They have a nice rubbery soft touch feel, and have dimmer ability and USB ports.

Amazon.com: acegoo 12V LED Reading Light, RV Boat Bedside Reading Lamp, 12 Volt Flexible Gooseneck Bed Light for Camper Van Trailer Truck Motorhome, Push Dimmer Switch & USB Charger 12-24V : Automotive

Buy acegoo 12V LED Reading Light, RV Boat Bedside Reading Lamp, 12 Volt Flexible Gooseneck Bed Light for Camper Van Trailer Truck Motorhome, Push Dimmer Switch & USB Charger 12-24V: Exterior Lighting - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

[NW_Freedom]

Did you run the Balmer or Wakespeed regulator? I'm thinking what you did with the nations alternator is the way to go.

 

[PNW_Camper]

Looking great, Maia!

When you upholstered more of the van metal, particularly along those rounded inside corners, did you find that using 1 continuous piece resulted in wrinkles? It looks like you went with shorter pieces, and the technique of folding the edge looks very nice.

On a related note, did you (or try and ended up abandoning the idea) to insulate under the fabric?

 

[dhagberg]

Looks like you get lots of questions today with all those pics -- one more for the list:

Are your Flarespace rings the ones from Flarespace themselves? Are you happy with how they maximized the E-W space? I'm still pondering if I want to order theirs or try to build my own in future-van.

 

[Bazz99]

So far I like them, but I think these are maybe the same one that @Bazz99 just took out of his van? I think whether they make sense for your build or not depends on your layout. These are up above the bed out of the way. They have a nice rubbery soft touch feel, and have dimmer ability and USB ports.

Amazon.com: acegoo 12V LED Reading Light, RV Boat Bedside Reading Lamp, 12 Volt Flexible Gooseneck Bed Light for Camper Van Trailer Truck Motorhome, Push Dimmer Switch & USB Charger 12-24V : Automotive

Buy acegoo 12V LED Reading Light, RV Boat Bedside Reading Lamp, 12 Volt Flexible Gooseneck Bed Light for Camper Van Trailer Truck Motorhome, Push Dimmer Switch & USB Charger 12-24V: Exterior Lighting - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

I actually liked the lights but in my build they were in the way, they look great in your build!! A lot of progress, van looks great!!