Ford Transit USA Forum banner

Build Thread: Sidetracked - mobile lounge

6K views 53 replies 13 participants last post by  jkmann 
#1 ·
“Sidetracked” captures so much of our experience already that my wife and I decided on that as our van name. We also like how it can be used jokingly as in “We got ‘sidetracked’ last weekend.” Sorry, I think that’s a bit of dad-level humor.

Our overall build objective is primarily just a comfortable place to hang out when we are in or near a beautiful place, but taking a break from outdoor activities. Think of it as a mobile living room with a couple of couches for sleeping and a small kitchen. We would also like it to serve adequately as an emergency get-away if we get caught in some kind of unfolding natural disaster that California specializes in lately. Also, as a “kitchen tent” when we go camping with our adult kids.

We expect to stay mostly in campgrounds or friends’ driveways, with only occasional dispersed camping or boondocking. The idea of just getting in the van and taking off for a week is pretty appealing.

I’m trying to keep the van operationally simple. I don’t expect my wife or kids to remember to turn on or off switches frequently to control the systems. Realistically, that’s just not going to happen. So I’m avoiding anything that has to be actively managed and anything in the engine compartment.

I’ve recently retired, so this is also a project to keep me busy ^-^

We bought a 2021 Ford Transit off a dealer lot in February of 2021. It was a canceled special order and we snapped it up immediately after our test drive for MSRP (remember those days?). It’s a 148HR AWD with factory swivel seats.

I’ve started the conversion, but everything has been moving slowly. Nevertheless there are a few interesting angles to this build and I’ll do some catch-up posts that focus on those. As a quick overview of some of the equipment and capacities:

HVAC
Dometic RTX2000 12V Air Conditioner
Propex HS2000 furnace
Floor-exiting fan
Opening passenger side window (Tern awning)

Electrical (mostly Victron and BlueSea Systems)
10,000 Wh of batteries (4 x 200AH at 12.8V)
640 watts of solar
800 watts of B2B charging
1,500 watts of shore power charging (15A shore power connection)
Victron Multiplus 12/3000 Inverter/Charger

Seating:
Front factory swivels
Two side-facing auxiliary seats in the back with seatbelts

Kitchen:
Microwave/broiler combo
Top opening chest refrigerator
Small sink / no water heater

Bathroom:
Folding toilet chair and wag bags
Sponge bath set up
Laundry bucket

Insulation:
Noico sound deadener
One layer of ⅝” Ensolite plus one layer of Thinsulate where feasible
Still working on how to deal with the back doors/side door/front cabin

Please share your feedback and suggestions as this unfolds. I very-frequently learn new things just by reading forum posts, so I know that many of you have a lot more knowledge than I do.
 
See less See more
1
#3 · (Edited)
Frame for two Victron Orion B2B charges in parallel.

Why:
Based on the HD alternator specs we should be getting about 110A at idle on a hot day, which translates to about 70A available to the house system at idle. So two Victron Orion B2B 12/12-30 chargers pulling 70A together are "about right" for the van to handle in almost any situation. At least the BEMM leads us to believe that Ford has some protections in place. There are two main reasons to use the Victron Orion chargers. (1) they have a relay switch that integrates with other Victron components that shuts down charging if the batteries are not in a condition to take a charge, and (2) they can be set to play nicely with other Victron components to provide a consistent charging profile. However, in an already complex electrical cabinet, two sets of connections rather than one is not appealing. This frame helps out. some Also, from the spec sheet you can see that ventilation of the cooling fins makes a big difference and this frame improves the ventilation. Since two of these chargers together generate about 100W of waste heat when they are at full power this is a significant consideration.

Rectangle Font Circle Number Logo


What: I just used some scrap aluminum and scrap wood to make a frame to hold the two chargers. The overall dimensions are 12" high, 16" wide, and about 5" deep. The fusing on the incoming side is using an MRBF fuse block, but two ANL fuses bridged to take just one connection would work as well. In the top view you can see that the chargers are held off the vertical aluminum pieces by 1/4" spacers. That improves the ventilation of the cooling fins. In any case this frame makes the installation a little more modular and a bit more effective.
Circuit component Electrical wiring Electronic component Electronic engineering Gas


Top view, notice the spacers.
Rolling Bumper Gas Rolling stock Wood


One more view:
Circuit component Electrical wiring Hardware programmer Electronic engineering Electronic component


Issues: The main issue that I encountered in making this was binding of some of the stainless steel fasteners. I could have resolved this with a dab of anti-seize, but didn't. I had to cut off one fastener twice. Otherwise the install went smoothly. Obviously it will be a bit messier when the rest of the cables are in.
 
#6 ·
So I assume your robust electrical system comes from the emergency shelter requirement? I think a lot of people would benefit from this if they stopped to think about it.

My only advice: remember that you will be spending more time in bed than anywhere else, and other than sleeping, you will be sitting at a table. Those two activities cover 95% of your time in the van, so give sleeping and sitting the high priority that they deserve.
 
#7 ·
So I assume your robust electrical system comes from the emergency shelter requirement?
My wife, early in the process, requested that we be able to run the AC on battery for about 10 hours. That would take about 6,000 Wh--that drove the battery size and voltage since that AC is 12V only. She also wanted to be able to use two kitchen appliances at the same time: think Instant Pot and microwave at the same time. Thus the large inverter/charger.

I'm quite far along with the electrical. It's not really that large of a system physically. I'll post pictures in the near future.
 
#9 ·
@jkmann Great Van. She's a beauty. Wishing you the most success with it and your family.
If you don't mind. A few questions regarding your charging system.

1. Why not go with the new Sterling BB 120A charger instead of two Orions in parallell? You have a 250 Amp rated HD alternator, so as long as you can maintain your input voltage at around 14V, you should be able to generate full power from the device. CCP2 should also have large enough wires to supply this load without voltage drop.

2. How do you know your alternator at idyl outputs 100 amps? I have been trying to find out this information and not in the BEMM.

Thanks
 
#12 ·
Somehow it works on mine, I have a full size 2016 transit with a 150 amp alternator. I am using a 60 amp Sterling. The ecoboost engine and the few vehicle accessories I have draws about 45 amps so that is almost 100 amps right there. At idle. But the only idling I do is at stoplights, It has not caused a problem in six years. The often shallow depth of discharge on my house batteries may play a part in that.
 
#13 ·
According to Ford your 150A alternator's total output at idle should be about 90A vs. 110A for the 250A alternator. In other words, the 150A alternator produces only about 20A less than the 250A at idle. Not intuitive right?

So maybe you are just sneaking in under 90A, or maybe your house battery is contributing briefly, or maybe these output curves are too conservative.

Rectangle Slope Font Parallel Pattern
 
#15 · (Edited)
Artic Tern Window Install on Passenger Side
What:
Install a window on the passenger side. I used: Arctic Tern Double-Pane RV Window (450x610mm) 1 3/8"-1 3/4" (35-44mm) together with the Satsang Van Works Jamb.
Why: I wanted a double pane window since this is going to be part of the air conditioned area of the van.
How:
1) Use a Dremel tool and a small abrasive cutoff wheel to cut off two sheet metal stiffeners inside the van. This was reasonably quick and easy.
2) Mark out the exact install location with a Sharpie and tape around the edges to prevent scratches to the finish. Cut out using a jigsaw and a Starrett BU224 blade. Those blades are perfect for cutting the van sheet metal as they leave a very clean edge and don't bend the sheet metal. I put a zero-clearance insert on my jigsaw which probably also helps.
Hood Automotive design Art Creative arts Electric blue

3) Affix the inner jamb with Bostik 75-05A adhesive. To do this properly, you really need some way to clamp the inner ring to the van sheet metal. I cut out a piece of plywood to do this and used a bunch of clamps all around the edge. It looked pretty funny, but it did a great job of creating a flat surface for the window to be installed on. That Bostik adhesive is expensive, but I was pretty impressed by it and strongly recommend using it. In addition to being a really great adhesive it has very-good flexibility after installation. However, if it's not available, I think Liquid Nails Fuze-It Max would also work well. Once installed there is almost no movement or vibration of that sheet metal section.

Once the inner jamb is attached, you can fine tune the opening if needed. I cut the hole just very slightly smaller (like 1/16") and cleaned up the edges and enlarged the hole with a belt sander held parallel to the cut, not across. This took me about half an hour to get perfect, but it's better to have the hole exactly right than just a little off.
Gas Rectangle Sky Audio equipment Wood

4) The metal window retaining ring is a weak point for insulation, so I added foam tape in the channel. I don't remember the exact dimensions of the channel, but I think this is a good idea to improve the thermal performance of the window.
Bumper Automotive exterior Eyewear Wood Rim

5) After that it's just a matter of carefully screwing on the window retaining ring from the inside.
Window Motor vehicle Plant Mode of transport Fixture

And, then the hose test, of course.
Wheel Tire Window Vehicle Plant

My impression of these windows is that they are well made, but not quite as robust as I was expecting. You have to be careful to follow the instructions, and especially not to overtighten the screws when affixing the retaining rings. The operations of the opening mechanism feels solid and the window looks great. There is also a roll-down insect screen and shade that comes with the window.

I bought this window from Campervan HQ. They have good install info, and carefully following the instructions is a good idea. I am glad that I got the Satsang Van Works inner jamb as this does improve the installation and would be a pain to make myself.
 
#20 ·
I wish Sterling made a 12v-24v 120amp charger that would put out 60 amps to the 24v batteries. The options for 24V systems is to use the Orton ways of DC-AC-DC or to use multiple Victron or other DC-DC chargers. The bummer is Victron only makes a 12/24/15, so I would need 4 of those to get a 120 amp in and 60 amps out.
 
#24 · (Edited)
Noico Butyl plus Ensolite Insulation Layers

What:
Installed a layer of butyl deadener and Ensolite.

Why: My wife and I are both light sleepers, so sound deadening when stopped is at least an equal priority to making the ride quieter. Also, since have an air conditioner, thermal insulation is critical.

An insulation layer that actually stops heat BEFORE it gets into the van interior is especially valuable. The outer skin of the van can get to over 150 deg. F, which is enough derate any wiring that's nearby, for example.
Automotive tire Hood Motor vehicle Automotive design Automotive exterior

How: Our insulation plan is basically in three layers. Sound-deadener butyl (think Kilmat), 5/8" Ensolite, 1.5" Thinsulate. And, stuff insulation wherever feasible. I've just put in the first two layers and have a quick report, especially on the Ensolite. Ensolite has a service temperature of -40 deg F to +200 deg F, which is acceptable for use against against a van wall. Not all foam is suitable for this purpose. I bought three of the 96"x58" sheets of 1/2" Ensolite from Foam N' More and have used all but a small amount. Although nominally 1/2" the foam was actually 5/8". I cut the foam with a regular utility knife (aka boxcutter), often using a straightedge to help out.

Ensolite is quite easy to work with. If you cut it a little bit large you can compress it into your install location quite easily. I adhered the Ensolite with Liquid Nails Fuze-It Max. The Fuze-it is very tacky, so even the ceiling pieces just needed to be cut to shape, coated with some lines of Fuze-it and then adhered to the ceiling. Once pressed to the surface, the weight of the material is not enough for it to sag or come off. After pushing the Ensolite against the van surface I used a rubber brayer to ensure that the lines of Fuze-it adhered well to both the van metal and the Ensolite. I did not spread out the Fuze-it on the Ensolite with a spreader or something like that. It's important to get all the air out from behind the Ensolite. I only had one bubble that I had to pierce in the whole installation. If you work from the center out with your brayer, it goes pretty well.
Black Rectangle Wood Automotive tire Gas


Fuze-it has a service temperature of -40 to 300 deg. F. This is a much wider range than many other adhesives, which was a reason that I chose it. Also, this material does not get as brittle as an epoxy, for example. I also tried a tube of a neutral cure Silicone caulk, but the Fuze-it was a bit better at adhering to the Ensolite. If I was building a recording studio type of installation I would probably go with the Silicone, but use twice as much as I used of the Fuze-it. Anyway, both work.

After installing some of the Ensolite, I checked the surface temperature with an IR thermometer and got a reading of 98.6 deg. F for the van metal:
Fluid Gadget Finger Gauge Measuring instrument

And then the Ensolite read 86.0 deg. F:
Temperature Measuring instrument Gas Gauge Machine

So a reduction of 12.6 deg. F in the surface temperature that needs to be cooled. In other words, that layer of Ensolite, although quite thin, made a very large difference in heat penetrating into the fan.

The sound reduction effect is also impressive. While you don't notice as much difference when the Ensolite is first installed, after a few weeks when the Fuze-it has cured, the sheet metal where the Ensolite has been installed is basically quite "dead". Driving the van the interior is now reasonably quiet ... like driving a passenger sedan.

It's also not bad as an "interim" look while you continue to do other work on the van. Where I had to butt two pieces of Ensolite against each other, I used a bead of black silicone to dress or fill any gap.
Hood Automotive tire Motor vehicle Automotive lighting Automotive design



Conclusion: I would definitely do the Ensolite again. While it's a bit pricey, the results are dramatic. Also, there are quite a few places where the Ensolite can be used where other insulation is awkward to apply.

A reasonable question is whether you need to do both the butyl and the Ensolite. My impression is that both help, but that doubling the amount of adhesive could completely substitute for the butyl. The butyl is primarily adding mass to the sheet metal with some vibration damping and you could do this with more adhesive as well.

For the ultimate in sound deadening, I would use a really thick layer of neutral cure silicone between the Ensolite and the van wall, but when you use more adhesive you can also have more issues with air bubbles, so the installation would be trickier.
 
#25 ·
Lots of luck, For half of my adult life I slept 12 feet from a 500 Kw diesel electric generator, There were two walls between me and it and one of them was insulated with fiberglass insulation. The constant rumble and vibration was easier to sleep with then you might think, I almost miss it today.
 
#26 ·
Lots of luck, For half of my adult life I slept 12 feet from a 500 Kw diesel electric generator, There were two walls between me and it and one of them was insulated with fiberglass insulation. The constant rumble and vibration was easier to sleep with then you might think, I almost miss it today.
Big, low rpm, 12 and 16 cylinder diesels in locomotives and the Alaska Ferrys- like a lullaby.
 
#29 ·
2015 To 2019 transits were HPAS, 2020 Or newer are Epas. The 2015/19 have no load shedding, The 2020 and up do have load shedding
2019 And before one Bemm used to cover all model years, There was only one Bemm, In 2020 we got a bemm for each model year. I am guessing parts newer model year Bemm's are still a carry over from that single bemm concept with early models and later models mixed together.
 
#35 ·
Dometic RTX 2000 Installation
What: Install a Dometic RTX 2000 in the front-most position on the roof.
Why: After studying how to install a Midea U-Shaped (ultra-efficient) AC I ended up feeling like the installation and maintenance hassles outweighed the efficiency savings. The Dometic is "good enough" for what I need and is relatively straightforward to install in comparison.
How: Well first of all you have to figure out how you will support the AC during driving loads, including bumpy roads. The AC is pretty heavy at 73 pounds, so you can't just cut a hole and sit it on the sheet metal. I started by making some little blocks of plywood that could slide into the ceiling rib openings, and put in 5/16-18 threaded inserts. I put these into place using construction adhesive. Then, bent some threaded studs by 5 degrees in the middle so they could hang straight down and epoxied those in place. There are 8 studs in total.
Tire Automotive tire Wheel Motor vehicle Bumper

Then I used 3/4" marine plywood to make a support frame, supported by barrel nuts attached to the studs. I later added some stiffeners and painted this piece light grey.
Hood Motor vehicle Personal luxury car Bumper Gas

Then a sturdy frame to press right against the sheet metal so the seal would have something supporting it solidly.
Rectangle Wood Flooring Hardwood Composite material

Then cut a hole in the roof using a jigsaw. I used the full-size cutout specified by Dometic. This makes it easier to deal with the power cord, and gives a wider base to support the AC side to side.
Hood Wood Naval architecture Composite material Rectangle

Add the roof seal, some butyl tape at the ribs, and some sealant. Then added a lifting arm to the support frame that I used when working on the roof, and some pieces of plywood to support the AC while lifting.
Table Plant Tree Outdoor table Wood

Then with a few extra pairs of hands we just lifted the AC up high using a pully on an oak branch, drove the van under it and used the support frame to gently lower it in place. Then from the inside installed the hold-down bars.
Grille Hood Motor vehicle Automotive design Bumper

Whew. And that was easy compared to doing something with the Midea.
Conclusion: At the time that I did this, the Hein adapters were in their early iterations and didn't seem solid enough for me. I'd probably try to use Hein's adapters if I did this again, maybe with some additional support. Having really good support for the AC is important in every way that I can think of. I haven't gotten the electrical hooked up, but will share my experience with the AC after using it in the heat.
 
#42 ·
I had a 14,000 btu portable air conditioner in my well insulated transit camper back in 2016 and it took quite a while to cool down a 100 degree van, I would say about a hour.
Half inch of R-Maxx and a half inch of Poly-Iso foamboard in the walls, Floor and ceiling. The cargo van doors were uninsulated at the time but I had 5% 3M limo tint on all of the windows. I had a front bulkhead so little or no heat coming from the front of the van.
It took up too much floor space so I removed it after the first year, Since it only pulled 11 amps I had dreams of it running off of a inverter.

 
#43 ·
I had a 14,000 btu portable air conditioner in my well insulated transit camper back in 2016 and it took quite a while to cool down a 100 degree van, I would say about a hour.
That sounds pretty rough, but I understand how it could take an hour to cool down if you have a lot of thermal mass like a water tank in your conditioned space. Did you ever try to measure the R-value of your conditioned area?

A little understood fact about heat gain when you have a mix of insulation levels.
If you have an equal area of R1 and R6 insulation the effective
U value is (1/1 + 1/6) / 2 = 0.666 which translates to an R value of 1.5.
In other words, a small amount of uninsulated area really wrecks the overall insulation level.

When I say a space is "well-insulated" I'm referrings specifically to an effective insulation level of R-7 or better. If you aren't getting to R-7 then you are going to need a lot more heat and cooling. And obviously you have to look after any window openings.

I have a 5,000 btu AC in my office, which is exposed on three sides and has four windows in it and with a cathedral ceiling, so I get heat gain that way as well. The surface area is at least twice that of the living area of the van yet my litle 5,000 BTU AC keeps it cool on 100 degree days. I think the blended insulation level might be somewhere around R-10. I have to keep my shades drawn to keep up with the heat.

Anyway, back to the real world, I think the RTX 2000 has been installed by quite a few people now and seems to be enough cooling.
 
#44 ·
@Michael Ophus before sizing my electrical system I went through a lot of calculations. My spreadsheets on this are a bit hard to follow, but if you want to play around with different factors for cooling load on a van, you might find the cooling load calculator at Calculator.net interesting. I did a quick calculation using a 60 square foot floor space and 6 foot height to simulate a van, hot weather, and very sunny exposure. You can play around with different variables if you are interested in this.

Calculator.net

Rectangle Font Parallel Screenshot Number
 
#49 ·
Mounting Solar Panels on the Roof

What & Why: Cover the available space with high-efficiency panels, but don't hang over the van sides to avoid problems in cross winds. The best size fit that I found was two of: Heliene G1 All-Black Solar Panel - 320W (HSPE_60M_G1_320BLK). I picked these up in person from Real Goods.
Sky Daytime Window Fixture Wood

How: The roof mounts are from Unaka Gear Co. ... they are robust 1/4" aluminum. To the roof mounts I attached 2" aluminum angle 3/16" thick to make rails that could support the panels even extended beyond the roof mount locations. To strengthen the panels I attached black anodized 1.5" aluminum angle 1/8" thick to the leading and trailing edge and then used those aluminum angle pieces as the cross bars attached to the rails.

The front panel and back panel are mounted with about a 1/2" gap to encourage hot air to escape on hot days. The panels are mounted about an inch higher than some people mount their panels. The reason for this is to allow ventilation under the panels when parked. By allowing some ventilation you get better performance from the panels (solar panel output decreases with increasing temperature) and also get a shading effect on the van roof, instead of a hot attic effect that @GaryBIS documented in one of his many experiments. I'm sure that there is some impact on gas mileage by mounting them an inch higher than the minimum, but anyway that's what I decided made sense for this build.
Automotive tire Hood Automotive exterior Motor vehicle Cloud

Everything went pretty smoothly in the end, but the Transit van's manufacturing wide tolerances never cease to surprise me. One roof mounting hole was partly covered by sheet metal and required enlarging the sheet metal opening with a small grinding wheel on my Dremel. The mounting holes are not in an exactly straight line, but were within the adjustment range of the Unaka mounts, which have oblong mounting holes. Finally, and this surprised me a little, the driver's side and passenger side of our van had mounting flats at slightly different angles to vertical. So to square everything up I used a couple of small silicone tabs (orange) and bedded the passenger side mounts in neutral cure silicone caulk.
Food Ingredient Cake Rectangle Cuisine

Unaka offered to send me another set of mounts, but everything I could see indicated that the problem was with the Transit, not with the mounts.

Conclusion: I'm happy with this installation. It was a little fiddly to get everything squared up, but the result is very solid.

To bring the wires into the van I'm using a pretty standard two-cable gland (aka bulkhead fitting, aka wet-location multi-cord grip) that fits in one of the existing access holes on the passenger side of the van at the very back of the roof. This photo is of a plastic one, but mine is stainless steel.
Automotive tire Camera accessory Automotive design Rim Automotive wheel system
 
#51 ·
@RideOrDie, thanks for your comment. I chose the Unaka because they were made from 1/4" aluminum, very robust, and were are a good height for what I wanted. I'm sure that other options would have worked, I just liked the simplicity of the Unaka design.

I'm doing the 320W panels in series. My solar controller is a Victron 150v/45A controller, which actually would be the same for parallel or series. While I understand that parallel gives you some benefits, the space taken up by the panels is really not that large, so parallel vs. series didn't seem like a big issue to me. The series wiring obviously gives you less wire-resistance loss, so I went in that direction.
 
#54 ·
Electrical Diagram
This design has gone through several iterations. I'm going for simplicity in terms of the fewest components and connections, clarity in the arrangement of components, and physical compactness. In some cases I used 1/4"x1" tinned copper bar instead of a cable, which is rated to handle 400A+, but show this as #4/0 for convenience. I didn't show the negative wiring or the BMS control channels in this diagram. The 65A Battery Protect as a relay-controlled switch is there because I have an extra one, and probably there are cheaper solutions to that. Unfortunately this won't print well, so you will have to look at it online. Happy to hear your thoughts and especially anything that looks off to you. I'm often surprised by the little gotcha's in an electrical system and, for example, just switched to breakers from fuses for my B2B chargers.
 

Attachments

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top