[red490]

Yeah, I did this as prophylaxis rather than treatment. I used this one, because it's what I found linked on another forum. I learned more about these when doing some research for lighting (need to boost to 24V) so if I would do it again I would probably use one with a cover and built in voltage display (for easier adjustment rather than using my multimeter). Like this one maybe.

I've been having a fault with my Maxxair that I assume is voltage related as well as a flicker with my LED lights. Would I add one of these regulators on the input side of the whole DC fuse block or just after the output to the specific circuits I wanted to regulate?

 

[takedown]

You'd need something that could supply quite a few amps if you did it on the input side of the DC block. And if it was on the input side it wouldn't be protected by a fuse. I think you'd be best off either running two devices or look into a unit that can provide higher amp 12v stabilized output. I know Victron makes one for going from 24v to 12v, but I'm not sure of what is out there for 12v-15v to 12v.

 

[Tcaschy021]

I've been having a fault with my Maxxair that I assume is voltage related as well as a flicker with my LED lights. Would I add one of these regulators on the input side of the whole DC fuse block or just after the output to the specific circuits I wanted to regulate?

Just buy two and put one after the output of your fuse block for each circuit. One going to maxxair and one going to LEDs. Simple and you don't have to worry about sourcing a large enough amperage wise for everything!

 

[maia]

I've been having a fault with my Maxxair that I assume is voltage related as well as a flicker with my LED lights. Would I add one of these regulators on the input side of the whole DC fuse block or just after the output to the specific circuits I wanted to regulate?

Yeah, get 2. Check the amp rating to make sure it's enough for each load.

 

[red490]

Cool. Thanks for the clarification!

 

[maia]

Lots more progress lately. I'll update as I can with a couple of posts on different topics below.

Here's what I've been up to:

• Got the Espar heater fully functional with @Bazz99 's help dropping the tank and running the fuel line.
• Started countertop construction
• Started bench framing
• Installed ceiling lights
• Installed garage lighting
• Began upholstery / trimming out of flares
• Working on ceiling

 

[maia]

After a few "ships in the night" meetups rescheduled due to weather or skiing, I was able to make it down to Reno last week to get @Bazz99 's help dropping the fuel tank to finish the Espar install. I had previously mounted the heater and run the intake and exhaust, but I was scared about the fuel tank part.

Although I have the kit from Esparparts that comes with the standpipe and small fuel line, I opted for @Bazz99 's technique which uses the Ford fuel port and wider hose. I made a trip to O'Reilly to grab 5' of fuel line that is the right inner diameter for the Ford fuel port exiting the tank, a simple line reducer, and 12' fuel line of the right inner diameter to fit the Espar fuel pump and intake.

After sorting hose clamps and such, @Bazz99 and I crawled under the van and unbolted the straps holding up the tank (they're M13 bolts iirc). The most important thing is to keep the right bolt with the right hole since they are different lengths, and to keep the straps in the right order to make sure reassembly is easy. We numbered the bolts and the holes with a sharpie as we took them off, and made sure we kept the straps in the correct fore-aft order and east-west orientation when we slid them out from under the van. We started in the back and undid two straps, then propped the tank on some leveling blocks. We moved forward and undid the front straps and propped the (nearly empty) tank on a small lunch cooler (lol). This drops the tank enough that @Bazz99 was able to reach up and pop the aux fuel port and install the Ford adapter. After that it was just a matter of running hoses, tightening fuel clamps, etc. But that took surprisingly long! One issue we ran into is clearance tightening the clamp onto the heater intake line since I had used the mounting plate and only drilled two large holes rather than a big rectangle. Clearance and tolerance for tools in there was tight, but we got it done. If using a mounting plate, I'd recommend jigsawing out a large rectangle rather than the two hole saw holes that I had done.

The next day I tackled the medusa of a wiring harness. I watched this video and it helped a lot. I ran th epower for the fuel pump and got then turned on the power to the circuit aaaaaand nothing. (Hence the multimeter in the photo)

Turns out my murdering of some molex-style pins due to not having the right crimp tool and completely failing at constructing one of the clip connectors was the issue, so I just said eff it and cut the connector off and used butt splices. Way easier. There's no need for so many clips and pins and adapters, especially with how much extra service loop lead they give you on the wiring harness.

Then everything powered up just fine! And I got the dreaded H1 fuel supply error. I expected this though since the lines needed to be primed. After five or so cycles still getting the error I got sad and scared and went inside to think about what I'd done. Half an hour alter I was taking some parts up to the van and when I opened it up it was WARM INSIDE omg. It works! Phew.

Many thanks again to @Bazz99 !! I couldn't have done it without ya the first time. But now that I've done it, I think it's not as bad as I thought and DIYers should feel totally comfortable doing this install.

 

[maia]

I've been working on trimming out the flares. After not having a good enough plan the first go round and then ripping out foam and fabric, I was more careful this time.

I needed to locate the flare trim rings in the AVC Rig wall panel so that I could cut out the opening. To do this, I set the flare trim ring in place then held the panel up to the wall and noted where I needed to cut out for my frame. After cutting that out, I set the panel in place on top of the flare and tacked the bottom edge into the fiberglass flare trim ring. I wasn't able to remove the panel with the trim ring attached (my bed frame makes it really tight---which is nice since it holds everything in place! So I backed out the screws, took both pieces out, then reattached. Then I used a router with a flush trim bit to cut out most of the cutout. I wasn't able to cut out the front vertical part of where the trim ring is due to the curvature (the router bearing couldn't reach the trim ring), so I traced and then used a jigsaw. Once I had the driver's side panel routed, I clamped it to the passenger side panel and used it as a template to cut that side out with the router.

Then I test fit everything again and it was all looking good! AVC Rig uses sheet metal screws to attach their wall and ceiling kit but I wanted to use bolts since I'm the owner of the van and removability/servicability is more important to me than quick construction. I set 1/4-20 plusnuts in all the holes around the edge of the panel that were the right size. Then I threaded set screws into the holes, set the panel in place, and banged over top of each one with a hammer into a wood block to make marks on the back side of the panel. I drilled out the marks and was pretty amazed at how well this technique worked---everything lined up!

On to upholstery. I couldn't wait to cover up that ugly scraped-off foam from my previous foray into this part of the build.

First I wrapped a smaller panel to get some upholstery technique down. I learned that if the 3M 90 can sputters or you apply too much glue in one spot, it can bleed through and stain the fabric, so less is more. To finish out the flare panel, I cut a piece of 1/8" closed cell foam to rough size and then attached the Marathon Tweed fabric to it using 3M 90. I tacked down one edge, then sprayed the foam and fabric carefully and evenly, then used my track saw track to slide the fabric along onto the foam. I put the track under the flap of fabric and slowly pushed forward, keeping even pressure. This worked great and I didn't have to worry about air bubbles or wrinkles.

I trimmed the foam-backed fabric to size to fit inside the flare bumpout for easy installation, then I glued it to the flare, again using 3M 90.

I test fit with the trim ring and it looked great!

Then it was on to wrapping the wall panel. I glued foam to the panel using 3M 90 and then trimmed flush with a razor knife. I glued fabric to the foam and then trimmed leaving some overhang. I did my best to cut notches in the corners but I definitely could have done a better job of stretching the fabric through the curves. The next panel will be better! I started with one that's going to be half covered by a cabinet anyway.

Finding the 5/16" holes through the fabric and foam was surprisingly hard. The marathon tweed is very good at self-healing. The technique that worked for me in the end was to punch through the hole from the back first with a center punch, then use a razor knife to cut out the foam, then insert the bolt through the front face. So I got all the bolts set in place before bringing the panel into the van and bolting it on.

In between here somewhere I also wrapped the D-pillar with the fabric since the panel would overlap this area. I just cut a piece to rough size, pulled off the weather stripping, cleaned most of the grease, used binder clips ot hold up the fabric, then used 3M 90 to glue it on, carefully working my way down from the top.

I think it came out totally good enough for my first real attempt at upholstery, and I am sure the passenger side one will come out even better. I'll be covering the bolt heads with decorative pro-dec hex caps, and I may add some screws to hold the panel tight to the flare, but honestly right now it doesn't seem like it needs it.

 

[MsNomer]

That looks really professional—no, better than professional because you focused on "right" rather than "quick".

 

[gregoryx]

Well done. Thanks for sharing the tips and photos.

 

[NW_Freedom]

Have you had a chance to see what your batteries are charging at? I'm now thinking solar and charging at 70 amps for winter while camped out for days in a ski resort parking lot isn't going to cut it.

 

[maia]

Have you had a chance to see what your batteries are charging at? I'm now thinking solar and charging at 70 amps for winter while camped out for days in a ski resort parking lot isn't going to cut it.

You mean with the second alternator? I’m not using much power and this is my daily driver, so they barely get below 97%, but I’ll leave some lights and the fridge on and then see what the alternator puts out. It’s supposed to be 200A at idle.

 

[JamesVanCat]

Hi Maia,
It looks like you have attached some of the 80/20 directly to the van body. Does heat conduct from the van's skin onto/into the 80/20 that is attached to the van body?
Great work so far! Enjoying seeing the progress pics.

 

[maia]

Hi Maia,
It looks like you have attached some of the 80/20 directly to the van body. Does heat conduct from the van's skin onto/into the 80/20 that is attached to the van body?
Great work so far! Enjoying seeing the progress pics.

I used weather stripping along any pieces of 8020 that are touching the van metal. You can see that noted in this post earlier.

 

[Rolf]

Nice progress and good work, looks really good and the upholstery you did a really nice
job with that, what kind of cloth or canvas did you use for that? And how much more extra width
do those flares give you and each side?

 

[njvagabond]

Looks great. Impressive rate of progress. Thanks for the detailed documentation.

 

[maia]

Nice progress and good work, looks really good and the upholstery you did a really nice
job with that, what kind of cloth or canvas did you use for that?

Thanks! I'm using polyolefin tweed (color is grey mix) on top of 1/8 closed cell foam.

And how much more extra width do those flares give you and each side?

I haven't measured with everything in but I think it's 80". I'll try to get a measurement soon.

 

[coguzzi]

Finding the 5/16" holes through the fabric and foam was surprisingly hard. The marathon tweed is very good at self-healing. The technique that worked for me in the end was to punch through the hole from the back first with a center punch, then use a razor knife to cut out the foam, then insert the bolt through the front face

best thing to do is burn through the fabric with an old soldering/wood burning iron. dont use the one you want to use for future soldering (or buy a cheapie). best way to open the holes and keeps the fabric from fraying as well

 

[maia]

best thing to do is burn through the fabric with an old soldering/wood burning iron. dont use the one you want to use for future soldering (or buy a cheapie). best way to open the holes and keeps the fabric from fraying as well

SO SMART

 

[maia]

@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%.