[NW_Freedom]

What is your plan for bikes with the bed so low?

 

[cycle61]

What is your plan for bikes with the bed so low?

Interior storage of bikes didn't make the priority list when designing the van. Mountain biking is a small percentage of our usage, so we'll probably go with some version of a vertical 1-up rack on the back door, passenger side.

 

[njvagabond]

Finish looks great. I'll bet it looks even better in person.

Channel routered into the underside of the counter overhang, this will receive an LED strip for some ambient downlighting.

Great idea, especially for no to kick cabinets.

You probably know this but, I thought it was a good mounting tip.

 

[cycle61]

I like how he did that. Countertop is currently attached with some angle brackets, but I'd like to eventually have it more substantial while allowing seasonal movement.

 

[njvagabond]

I like how he did that. Countertop is currently attached with some angle brackets, but I'd like to eventually have it more substantial while allowing seasonal movement.

He is on the forum as @cargovanconversion. Has not been here in quite a while. Still active on his YT and cross posts some of that to his website.

 

[cycle61]

Quick add-on before heading to the mountains for some avalanche training and skiing this weekend. Mopeka Pro tank level sensor. We're currently using a standard 20# propane bottle, so checking level is as easy as giving it a quick shake, but eventually the van will have an installed tank.

Stuck it on the bottom of the empty bottle, paired it to the Victron Cerbo, set a couple min/max calibration values, and it's working!

Moved it to a partially full bottle, went back to the main screen, and now the tank level is visible. I'm going to fill the bottle this afternoon and will recalibrate the 100% level at that point, but this should be close.

 

[Rolf]

nice… I like how that oil and stain turned out some thing different than the typical red flavored stains
Did you make the counter slap yourself ? Or if you bought somewhere .. I wonder if you can buy
different thickness?

 

[cycle61]

The countertop was pre-made, bought it from one of the big box stores. I the backsplash piece, sold separately for exactly that purpose. We really like how it came out looking, not thrilled about all that weight for no real reason, and you can certainly buy butcher block countertops in almost any thickness you want.

 

[cycle61]

Update, propane filled and sensor calibrated. Since Victron only allows tank size in whole numbers and a standard bottle is 4.5 gallons, I set the maximum to slightly above what it can actually hold so it shows very close to the correct value.

On the road towards the mountain now, heater is probably going to run continuously for the next 48 hours so it should be interesting to see how much it uses.

 

[bdosborn]

I have the Mopeka water tank sensor and it is working well with the Cerbo GX. I coudn't bring myself to drill a hole in a perfectly good water tank for a sensor so the Mopeka was just the ticket. I have another one I'm planning on putting on the diesel heater fuel tank when it gets a little warmer out.
Bruce

 

[kenryan]

I have the Mopeka water tank sensor and it is working well with the Cerbo GX. I coudn't bring myself to drill a hole in a perfectly good water tank for a sensor so the Mopeka was just the ticket. I have another one I'm planning on putting on the diesel heater fuel tank when it gets a little warmer out.
Bruce

I have the propane sensors but I was unaware of the water sensor. I would love to use this for my under chassis gray tank, but I am concerned about the sensor coming loose. It seems like the combination of the slippery polyethylene polypropylene combined with the design of the Mopeka mounting system (the spring action of the plastic mount is constantly trying to pull it away from the mounting surface) might be problematic.

Is yours mounted on the bottom of a polyethylene polypropylene tanK? No issues with it sticking to that slippery surface?

@cycle61 will your installed tank be horizontal or vertical? Didn't I read in the Mopeka instructions that they are only for use on vertical tanks?

 

[bdosborn]

I have the propane sensors but I was unaware of the water sensor. I would love to use this for my under chassis gray tank, but I am concerned about the sensor coming loose. It seems like the combination of the slippery polyethylene combined with the design of the Mopeka mounting system (the spring action of the plastic mount is constantly trying to pull it away from the mounting surface) might be problematic.

Is yours mounted on the bottom of a polyethylene tanK? No issues with it sticking to that slippery surface?

They have a kit that includes special adhesive for a polytank. I was pretty skeptical that it would work but I stuck mine on the bottom of the tank in August and its still attached.

Mopeka Pro Check-Water Sensor (Bottom Mount w/Collar)

Bruce

 

[kenryan]

Update: I contacted Mopeka regarding adhesion to poly tanks. They got right back to me, even on a Saturday! Here's their response:

"The same 3m strip and primer we send for the Aluminum tanks are used for the water tanks. If you use the 3M primer and strip, it should form a chemical bond that would require a chisel to remove that collar. The adhesive strip on the collar alone is not enough hence the 3M primer stick that makes the strip chemically bond to the tank."

Pretty impressive.

 

[Smoobly]

Very interesting. I was looking for a level sensor for my propane tank, and found a few from Mopeka on Amazon. But there was a substantial volume of negative reviews for them, saying they didn't work, they were cheap, the workmanship was shoddy, and so on. Scared me away.

But your experience with Mopeka products has been positive? I'll definitely take another look.

Anybody else has experience—good or bad—with Mopeka and their products?

 

[bdosborn]

Ray from Love Your RV has been using the propane tank sensors and had one fail. I don't think I'd use them on an exterior tank...

Bruce

 

[cycle61]

I hadn't done a ton of research on the sensors, other than they're natively supported by Victron and mentioned in the manual. Considering this one a trial to see if we have any issues before committing to them. @kenryan our installed tank will be horizontal, and the instructions state this is fine with their sensor. Worked great this weekend, although it wasn't too tough of a test. Ran the heater for two days straight and could go easily another 30+ hours

EDIT: didn't take many pictures this weekend, but here's my buddy about to drop in on a decent little hill we were using to teach avalanche safety.

 

[wayneIII]

Two coats of oil/stain and a coat of wax later, the countertop is ready to go back in. We love how it looks, and hopefully it'll hold up decently.

While the countertop was off, took care of a few details underneath the cabinet. I printed some screw-in cable clips, these are much more sturdy than the stick-on ones and the color matches all the victron equipment, which is obviously the most important factor.

New hole to send the 120v circuit back up the wall for a kitchen outlet, and then will probably continue to the upper cabinets...TBD. Everything else secured to a couple of clips.

Channel routered into the underside of the counter overhang, this will receive an LED strip for some ambient downlighting.

And in place, ready to go!

[/QUOTE

coming along nicely!

 

[ntransit]

Anybody else has experience—good or bad—with Mopeka and their products?

I've used the Mopeka tank check on my #20 LP cylinder in the van for two years.
Works great. Just remember to remove it before swapping tanks

 

[cycle61]

@ntransit I figure there's a good chance I give this away at a gas station someday. Lol.

 

[cycle61]

Working on choosing a material for our wood strip ceiling. Cut and planed 1/4" strips of a handful of different materials to see how they look with different stains. Top to bottom is cedar, calico maple, hard white maple, and poplar. These all started 3/4" thick. Cut strips 2.5" wide and then stood them on edge and cut in half before planing to final thickness. My table saw was definitely near it's limit taking a full depth rip cut in that maple. A large bandsaw would be much better for resawing but I don't have one.

Personally, I want to go with the cedar since it's light weight, has a better R value than the hardwoods, and will take the bend of the roof well. The color isn't right for what we want to do though. TBD whether I can get maple to conform to the curves.